Diana Wynne Jones’s Fantastical Journeys Collection

The man who nodded and went off was, I was sure, the same man I had glimpsed dodging back through the locked door earlier. This time he went to a different door, which opened quite as easily.

“They’re all unlocked,” my father said, seeing me staring, “except the one we came in by. We’re taking part in a farce here.”

“Which we’d better get on with,” Prince Alasdair said. “The Ministers will be here any minute now.” He went to his couch and climbed nimbly back into the dreadful bandages. One of the other prisoners brought him a large box of powder which Alasdair applied to his face with a bundle of feathers. In seconds, he was a pale, wounded invalid once more. “You new arrivals had better sit about looking gloomy, being upset at being taken prisoner, you know.”

None of us knew what to make of this, but we spread about the great room, doing our best to look miserable. Ivar, Riannan and Rees sat together on the floor, cross-legged and mournful. Aunt Beck went and sat next to Finn, where she eyed him until he guiltily hid his mug under the seat. Green Greet settled droopingly on the back of Finn’s chair. Ogo and I, with natural curiosity, went over to the archways to see what was beyond.

Nothing was beyond, except a terrace with a few chairs on it. There was a low fence at the edge of the terrace and, beyond that, a huge drop down to the courtyard where we had come in. From our height it looked as small as this page of paper. The place did make a perfect prison. A spacious, airy, perfect prison. Once all the doors were locked of course.

My father had come over there with us. He still seemed embarrassed. Ogo said to him, “I suppose you’re all secretly busy making ropes?”

My father laughed. “We could be. But what good would it do? We could get to the ground easily enough, one way or another, but we’d still be in Logra, behind the barrier.”

While he was speaking, there seemed to be a low, growing roar coming from the city beyond the courtyard. We saw the courtyard gates slam open and two horses galloped in and stopped as if they could go no further. Even from up here, I could see that the beasts were covered with foam. The men on their backs, who were both wearing some sort of flapping purple robes, flung themselves off the horses and staggered, obviously as tired as the horses. People ran from the gates and the buildings around, shouting excitedly. Meanwhile, the roar from the city grew and grew.

“I wonder what’s going on,” my father said. “Those look like—”

He was interrupted by a green whirr. Green Greet shot out of the archway right beside my ear and plunged out over the fence.

“—wizards,” my father finished, leaning over to watch Green Greet plummet until he was a tiny green blur, then spread his wings and sail this way and that around the courtyard. “Does he do that often?”

“No,” I said. “He’s rather a sober bird really.”

The tired wizards were being helped into the palace by an eager crowd now. When they were out of sight, my father turned back into the wide prison, saying, “Best get into our act, then.” And sighed.

And Green Greet was there again, soaring over the terrace on wide wings. “The barrier is down!” he screamed. “The barrier is down!”

“Perhaps,” Ogo suggested, “we ought to start making ropes now.”

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Green Greet had barely landed back on Finn’s shoulder when there was a rattle of bolts at the locked door. It was a useful noise. We had time to sit on the floor in suitably doleful attitudes. But Aunt Beck simply stayed where she was, sitting very upright on the couch beside Finn, and looking every inch her usual self. In fact, I think she looked better than she ever had. She had colour in her face and a near smile.

The door was flung open and soldiers marched in, followed by Gold-coat who announced menacingly, “The Regent’s Ministers to interview the Prince. Show respect.”

Show respect? Why? I wondered, as a group of lavishly-dressed fellows followed Gold-coat into the room. There were pasty, pompous ones, small weaselly ones and large loutish ones, and a couple who were just plain ordinary. And I could see at a glance that every one of them was an empty-headed fool. They looked majestically around and the soldiers hurried to bring them chairs so that they could sit face to face with Prince Alasdair. While they were arranging themselves, one of the doors further along – one of those that looked locked but obviously wasn’t – came open and the man who had been sent to ask about fruit put his head around it. He saw the Ministers and dodged hurriedly out again.