The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt

Author:Tonke Dragt [Tonke Dragt]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781782690429
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Published: 2013-09-05T16:00:00+00:00

Morning came, bright and cold, but later in the day it warmed up. Piak pointed out a small, flattish peak to Tiuri and said, “That’s my lookout tower. How about climbing up there and taking a quick look? It’s not much of a detour. We’ll be passing close by.”

Tiuri didn’t want to disappoint Piak and, when he was standing up on the peak, he didn’t regret the short climb. Piak’s lookout tower offered a fine view over the land to the west, and the clear weather meant they could see a long way. They saw fields and meadows and forests, and Dangria, like a city from a fairy tale, and small dots some way beyond the city that were probably villages, and a glistening ribbon that might be the Rainbow River. It seemed like a fantastically beautiful place to Tiuri and he thought how much he’d like to be a knight-errant, so that he could constantly travel to strange and distant lands and see new sights.

“How far is it from here to the foot of the mountains?” he wondered out loud.

“Shouldn’t take us too long to get down there,” said Piak. “Maybe two and a half days. I’ve never been far beyond Filamen, and we’ll be there tomorrow evening.”

So in two and a half days’ time, I’ll have to say goodbye to Piak, thought Tiuri. He didn’t like that prospect. He was going to miss his companion. In fact, he was going to miss him more than Sir Ristridin and his company. He could be more himself with Piak and they had become good friends. And Piak’s cheerful nature kept Tiuri’s fears at bay.

“Is something wrong?” asked Piak.

“No,” said Tiuri. “Why do you ask?”

“You look so terribly serious. You’re not thinking about spending the night in Filamen, are you?”

“Why? Oh yes… No, we’d better not.”

“That’s right,” said Piak. “We need to travel without leaving any trail. We’re sure to be noticed in a place as small as Filamen. But I have another idea. An uncle and aunt of mine live up in the hills above Filamen. They’re called Taki and Ilia, and they’re both really nice. We can go there. They’ll keep our visit a secret if I ask them to. And they’ll feed us too. No one can cook like my aunt.”

Tiuri smiled. “That does sound appealing,” he said.

“Yes, and there’s no need to worry. They won’t say anything, and they live all on their own up there. Menaures knows them too. He sometimes used to visit them. So what do you think?”

“Lead the way,” said Tiuri.

“Let’s be quick about it, then,” said Piak. “Maybe we can get there before dark.”

The rest of the journey downhill went very quickly. Piak walked in front most of the way, to set the pace. Actually, it was more like falling forwards than walking, as he jumped from one rock to the next. Tiuri kept up with Piak, even though he felt a shooting pain in his arm with every step. By the afternoon, the landscape had become calmer and gentler and then they heard the tinkling of bells.

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