more tightly.
‘I think I’ve lost my power, Merry. I think it’s gone.’
‘You think?’ She could hear the doubt in his voice. And in truth, she was guessing. She’d only recently learnt about points of intersection: places where normality was stretched thinner, where it was possible to pass from one realm of existence to another, if you had the skill. The Black Lake was just such a place. A gateway. Ronan had been able to exploit this gateway to escape, and she and Finn had followed him.
Finn was tugging on one earlobe, frowning. ‘But why hasn’t it affected your magic, then?’
‘I don’t know. Perhaps you were in shock after Jack attacked you?’ Somehow, she and Finn had become separated as they passed through the point of intersection, and Merry had woken up on her own in another part of the forest. ‘Why don’t you try again now?’ She stood up and looked around. There was a beech tree close by with shrivelled brown leaves still clinging to its branches. ‘Get those dead leaves to fall off the tree.’
Finn sighed, but he pushed himself to his feet and stared at the tree. Stretching out one hand, fingers extended, he muttered a couple of words in Latin. Nothing happened. He held both hands up and said the words again. Still nothing. Pushing up his sleeves he strode towards the tree and began chanting a longer spell:
‘Iubeo folia cadere, evolare, evanescere sicut aer …’
He repeated the spell over and over, his voice getting louder, until he was shouting at the tree, pressing his hands against its trunk – but the leaves remained stubbornly in place.
‘Finn …’ Merry put her hand on his arm.
He let go of the tree, dragging the back of one hand shakily across his face. ‘It’s no good. I just can’t … feel it.’
Merry bit her lip. What had happened to him? And was it going to happen to her next? Sighing, she pushed the thought to one side: there was little point worrying about it now. ‘I’m sure it’s not permanent. And in the meantime, we’ll just have to manage the best we can. At least you can handle a sword. The way you decapitated that harpy was pretty impressive.’
‘Huh.’ Finn didn’t sound particularly comforted. ‘All the boys in the Kin Houses know how to fight with pleb weapons.’
The Kin Houses: families of wizards where the sons – and only the sons – inherited magical ability from their fathers. Kin House wizards were at the top of the social pile: better than other wizards, and infinitely superior to witches. At least in their own eyes. They were also, in Merry’s experience, sexist and arrogant: even Finn, although he tried hard to overcome his upbringing. Merry guessed the Kin House girls, non-magical and mainly valued as pawns in dynastic marriages, didn’t get to learn how to use a sword. They probably had to stick to needlework. She sighed and laid her head against Finn’s shoulder.
‘Don’t worry. We’re going to find Leo, and get back home, and then everything will be normal again. You’ll see.’
There was a noise behind them. Jack was standing there, watching them, his horse next to him. The expression on his face was softer; perhaps he pitied them? Tying the horse’s reins to a branch he drew nearer. ‘It’s nearly midday. We should leave this place.’
For a moment, Finn’s gloom was replaced by surprise. He could obviously understand what Jack had said. But his expression soured again as he looked up at the other boy. ‘Where are you proposing we go?’
Jack controlled his surprise better, but he pointedly addressed his answer to Merry, not Finn. ‘There’s a cave, less than a day’s walk from here. You can rest there while I seek out news of your brother.’
Finn stood up, shaking his head. ‘C’mon, Merry. Jack’s already told us everything he knows. I can’t see the point of wasting a day walking to this cave. We need to start looking for Ronan ourselves. Leo’s probably still with him.’
‘I would not reject my offer of help if I were you.’ Jack’s voice sharpened. ‘You may be happy to put your companion in danger, or to rely on her protection. But the land is no longer safe for her kind.’
Finn squared up to Jack, reaching for his sword. ‘I don’t know who you think you are, pleb, but I assure you, I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself and Merry …’
Merry jumped up and put a hand on Finn’s arm, gently tugging him backwards. ‘Finn, please don’t. Jack’s right: we need to get our bearings. This place just isn’t what I was expecting …’ She glanced uneasily at the ashes of the harpy. ‘I think we could use a little local help. We could definitely use more information. I mean, shouldn’t we work out what we’re up against? What Ronan’s been doing since he arrived?’
Finn’s eyes were stony. But he turned his back on Jack, brushing some dirt off his sleeve. ‘Leo wouldn’t even be here if I hadn’t stopped you killing Ronan while you had the chance. So, it’s your call, Merry. Whatever you think best.’
Merry squeezed Finn’s hand, then turned to Jack. ‘Very well. We’ll go with you – hopefully we’ll find news of Ronan and Leo. But no funny business.’ It didn’t come out right in Old English, but Jack seemed to understand what she was saying. He led the horse forward and tied Merry’s pack on to its back.
‘Sorrel here can carry your bags. We have a long way to go.’
At some point, Merry had lost track of how long they’d been walking. And now it was impossible to tell where they were. The forest seemed to stretch on forever, in all directions: acres and acres of almost identical trees. Sharp-needled yews, so dark a green as to be almost black, or broad-trunked oaks, twisted with age, their leafless fingers stretching out above the narrow path. Snow lay everywhere on the ground, and as the day waned they all stumbled more and more often into deep drifts. Merry had wanted to use magic to clear the path, but Jack wouldn’t let her; he didn’t want to risk attracting the attention of the creatures, magical or non-magical, that lived in the wood. He even objected to her using witch fire to light their way. Merry, peering into the darkness between the trees, shivered. She couldn’t make out anything lurking in the shadows. But still, there was a vigilance to the forest that set her teeth on edge. Something was watching them; something that didn’t want them there. So, she hadn’t argued with Jack. Instead, they toiled on, hour after hour, even after the daylight was gone.
At least there was a full moon tonight. It had risen high, and was now hanging in the strip of sky directly above them. Merry, trailing behind the other two, stared up at it. She wondered where Leo was, whether he was looking up at the same moon and asking himself why his sister had abandoned him. Tears clouded her vision. She stumbled into yet another deep, snow-concealed rut and plunged forward on to her face.
Finn hurried back and pulled her out of the drift, hauling her upright and brushing the snow off her legs. ‘Are you all right?’ It was the first time he’d spoken for hours. He waited for her to nod before turning on Jack. ‘This is ridiculous. It’s almost pitch-black, we’re slowly freezing to death, we’ve been walking for ages, and we’re not getting anywhere. Where the hell is this cave you’re supposedly guiding us to? If it’s not near, we should stop to rest.’
Jack raised his eyebrows. He whispered something to Sorrel and walked over to Finn and Merry. ‘Do you not trust me? Wizard?’ His voice was low, but the sarcasm in it was unmistakable. Finn flushed and half-stepped towards Jack, one