Glass Swallow by Julia Golding

Author:Julia Golding
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780192757548
Publisher: Oxford University Press Children's Books
Published: 2011-07-06T22:00:00+00:00

Shard 10

Silver Grey

The disturbance that prompted Sly to clash together the cooking pot lids proved to be a large group of looters approaching from the gates. They were carrying weapons and towing empty handcarts in anticipation of making off with anything they could find.

Assessing that they only had a minute to spare before the invaders reached the courtyard, Peri quickly lifted the boy on to Conal’s horse.

‘Who’s this?’ asked Sly.

‘The Master,’ Peri replied.

‘You’re joking, right?’

‘No, I’m deadly serious. Hurry.’ Peri realized that the main approach was impassible with so many after easy pickings. Horses were too valuable to let pass. ‘Is there another way out?’ he asked the boy.

The Master nodded and tugged a chain out from around his neck. On the end hung a gold pentagonal disc.

‘This is the key to a gate on the river side of the palace. It goes down to my private landing stage. There’s a barge there.’ His face took on a stubborn cast. ‘That’s if the jettan families left it when they fled.’

‘It’s better than trying to ride three valuable horses through that lot,’ said Conal, jerking his head at the approaching crowd. ‘If there’s no barge, we can always wait down there until they’ve gone.’

There was no time for further debate. The double-mounted horses trotted swiftly away from the looters, following a path that wound through the gardens. Once they emerged from the cover of the trellis fence, they heard a shout behind. The looters had seen them. Peri urged Nutmeg to pick up his pace. Anxiety spiking, Rain clung on to his waist like a limpet.

‘Don’t worry, sweetheart: I won’t let them catch us,’ Peri said confidently.

She wished she felt so certain; instead she pressed her head to his back and closed her eyes, accepting that she had no control over what would happen next. With the boy’s directions they reached the gate without losing their way in the gardens. Peri handed the reins to Rain and slipped off. When he reached the ground, the boy tossed him the key. The gate was a smaller version of the ones leading from the city, the pentagon crafted to fill a leaf-shaped keyhole near the handle. He pressed it into place, finding it fitted snugly in the mechanism, and opened the gate with hardly a sound. Wasting no time, Conal and Sly urged their horses through the portal. Peri took Nutmeg’s bridle and guided him safely over the narrow threshold so he could lock the gate behind them. When he mounted, the other two horses were already out of sight—welcome news as their pursuers had not given up. He could see people running through the trees headed in their direction, and the fence, though tall, would not stop a really determined man from scaling it. Peri remounted and dug his heels in. Nutmeg clattered down the steep gravel path, hooves struggling to find purchase on the sliding surface. Peri dared not make him go any faster for fear of taking a spill. Rain’s

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