The Oracle's Secret (The Oracle Saga Book 1) Read online

  It’s a small space, but it looks like it’s expecting us. There’s a table laden with food, and my mouth starts to water - I haven’t eaten much these last few days. In a corner there’s one large bed. There’s a fireplace set in the floor, already laid with twigs and small branches, with a stack of wood beside it. The walls are the same cave walls that I’m quickly coming to expect. The floor is smooth rock.

  ‘What is this?’ Tarian wonders.

  I frown. ‘Maybe it’s meant to keep us here, to delay us from getting to the stone.’

  I want for it not to be true, but we can’t afford to lie around relaxing any more. I look around, see another door at the other side of the room just like the one we just came through, and lead Tarian towards it. I knock on it, and wait.

  Nothing happens. We keep waiting. Still nothing.

  ‘Maybe we’re just supposed to go through,’ I say.

  I push at the door. It doesn’t open, but there’s a pinpoint of light in the corner of my eye, and I notice that the door is surrounded by a pattern of the tiny light crystals. They’re studded all around the door in spirals, not randomly like the ones in the walls and ceiling but in a clear, deliberate pattern. They’re much smaller than the others, too. Only this one is glowing at the moment, the others are all dark. As we watch, a second crystal lights up next to the first one.

  ‘What does it mean?’ I ask. ‘Tarian, is this the right way?’

  He nods. ‘The path we want is definitely through there.’

  I push at the door again, then try shoving it with my shoulder. While I’m doing that, a third tiny crystal lights up. I have a thought.

  ‘Maybe the door only opens once all of the crystals are lit,’ I say. ‘That’s why there’s food and a bed in here. We have to wait until the door is ready to let us in.’

  ‘That would deter anyone who’s not serious about getting the Lightstone,’ said Tarian. ‘It’s going to take hours for all of the crystals to light up.’

  Part of me is frustrated by the delay, but I can’t help being glad of the break, since there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m itching to attack the table full of food, but before that I want to rinse out my clothes, maybe actually get some of the layer of mud off them. I don’t mind being naked with Tarian but sooner or later we’re going to see other people again and I want to be halfway presentable.

  It turns out to be easier said than done. Even when I scrape as much mud as I can off my jeans, they’re stubbornly dirty and there are tears and worn patches all over them. My shirt, being made of thinner material, is even worse off. My boots are barely recognisable as boots any more. I’m rinsing the shirt out out anyway and resigning myself to being dressed in rags for maybe the rest of forever when Tarian calls me over.

  ‘There are spare clothes on a shelf by the bed,’ he says.

  I wish I’d looked there before I spend ages trying hopelessly to wash mine, but this is good. There’s a simple cotton shift dress that fits me perfectly, and for Tarian there are some loose trousers that remind me of the ones people wear to do martial arts.

  I try to light the fire, but I’ve never used a real fire with actual flames before and I’m making a total mess of it. Tarian comes and lights it on the first try. The smoke curls upward and disappears through what seems to be a tiny airhole in the ceiling.

  ‘How did you do that?’ I ask.

  He laughs. ‘My home has a log fire. If... when we get out of here, I’d love to show it to you someday.’

  ‘I’d like that,’ I say.

  His answering smile makes me melt, but for the moment hunger is more of a priority than anything else. We sit at the table, side by side on a wooden bench, and eat. I know that this food must have got here by magic - the spell guarding the Lightstone seems to be an incredibly powerful one, and this must somehow be part of it - but it’s clear that all of the foods come from Sherwood itself. There are nuts and berries and fruits and honey, fish from the rivers, meat that I think must be venison, wild vegetables, all of it perfectly prepared. I load my plate and try some of everything. All of it tastes wonderful. I wonder if that’s just my hunger talking, but no, the flavours are incredible. I’m not sure I’ve ever tasted anything better.

  ‘Try this peach,’ says Tarian. ‘It’s incredible.’

  He cuts a slice and touches it to my lips. I take it. It’s sweet, delicious, full of golden sunshine. I eat that bite and then I take his hand and suck the juice dripping from his fingers, filling my mouth with the taste of the juice and him. We eat the whole peach that way, taking it in turns to feed one another pieces, making sure not a drop goes to waste.

  We take a loaded plate to sit by the fire then. I kiss him and I can still taste the peach on his lips. He kisses me harder, urgently. I respond, ripples of want running through me at his touch. He runs his hands up my legs and inside my shift, and a few moments later we’re naked again and he’s drizzling honey down my body as I lie in the flickering firelight. The honey is warm and sticky where it touches me. Tarian leans to lick the pool of it that’s collecting between my breasts, his tongue moving slowly, tantalisingly. He follows the line of sweetness down to my belly button, alternately licking, sucking and kissing. He licks the pool of honey that’s gathered by my hip bone and I writhe with pleasure, my need for him growing, filling me. I moan. I’m wet with desire and eager. I can see and feel that Tarian is, too.

  This time is different than the first. This time I’ve had no vision, I have no idea how this is going to go, and it makes it exciting. His arm tightens around my waist, and it’s new. His mouth crushes mine and it’s a fierce surprise that makes me kiss him back harder, both of us desperate with passion, not holding anything back. Without the visions to guide me I rely on my simplest, most animal instincts - I’m nothing but lust and desire, every part of me wanting him. I clutch at him and I pull him closer, shifting so that he can thrust harder, better, hitting the spot inside me that turns my legs to jelly. I move with him, crying out in primal need with every rocking motion, my voice echoing around the cave, amplifying the sound of my pleasure as the pleasure itself builds to a crescendo. I’m so close, so close, close enough that I can feel the vision that’s going to descend, but I push it away, now that I know how, battering it aside so that I can be fully in my body for this moment.

  I come, clenching around him, screaming his name, and it tips him over the edge too, he clutches me tight and groans in release. Every inch of my body is alive with pleasure, and it feels a hundred times better for the pure physicality of it. My senses are working overtime and I can feel and see and hear everything - the firelight on our bodies, the scent of our sweat mingling, both of us panting, gasping. He kisses me hard again, a perfect coda, and we lie back and look at the glowing stones in the ceiling, unable to do anything else, totally drained.

  I’m not sure how long we lie there, but after a while he leans close to me and we kiss again, languorously, and he gets up to put his trousers back on and tend the fire. I remember that we’re here for a reason and look at the door. Not even half of the crystals are lit yet. We still have plenty of time.

  I wonder what’s behind the door. Will the Lightstone be through there, or will there be yet another wait, some other difficult journey or terrifying obstacle? I’m staring at the door, preoccupied with this thought, when I feel the vision that I managed to put off earlier coming back.

  And I get an answer to my question. I see the door opening for us, and I see what’s beyond. I see us climbing something high, then trying to solve some kind of puzzle, then I see only darkness but I know I’m walking forward, alone. Then, three doors side by side, and a last door made entirely of the glowing stone.

  The vision ends.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ I say.

  Tarian hurries towards me. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asks.

  ‘A vision,’ I say. ‘But... I think I might have controlled it. I was just thinking about what was beyond the door, and I think that’s what the vision
showed me. I couldn’t make much sense of what I saw, but I wanted to know what would happen through there, and I got an answer.’

  ‘Livya, that’s amazing!’ he says.

  ‘Yeah,’ I say, still stunned. ‘I’ve never had any sort of control over it before. I’ve never had any control over anything before. My whole life I’ve just waited for visions to come and told the people in charge about it. Ever since I was little, I’ve known that was my duty. But nobody ever said I could control it.’

  ‘Maybe they didn’t know,’ says Tarian. ‘There are so few Oracles...’

  I nod. ‘Maybe. But you’d think there’d be records. When I was being trained, my handlers seemed to know a lot about Oracles, but none of this ever came up.’

  ‘Your handlers?’ he asks.

  ‘Yeah,’ I say. ‘When I was younger, they didn’t trust me to report every vision I had. They were worried I would forget about one and avoid giving them crucial information. So I had handlers. They stayed with me and watched me, day and night, so that if I had a vision they could get the details from me right away. They taught me how to describe my visions, how to make sure I noted everything I saw and heard. For a while I even had a handler who could read thoughts. The moment I came out of a vision she would read my memories of it to make sure that I was reporting it accurately.’

  Tarian just whistles, his face shocked. I slip back into my shift and shuffle close to him so that we’re sitting side by side. He puts his arm around me and I nestle into him, looking into the fire.

  ‘I was sixteen before they trusted me enough to let me report my own visions,’ I say. ‘And I’d been at court since I was four. Twelve years of constantly being watched, never being alone for a moment. I had barely any friends, even though there were other kids at court. Who wants to invite the girl who has to have an escort all the time to a sleepover? Cherry was the only one who stuck by me.’

  ‘That sounds horrible,’ says Tarian, and I can hear dismay in his voice.

  I shrug. ‘It was and it wasn’t. I’m used to it. Even once I turned sixteen, I had to report to the Prince at least once a day, and once more to a handler. And if I didn’t report enough useful visions I’d be watched again until I did. The Prince used to make me sit in his audience chamber and watch the proceedings every day, so that if something happened there - an assassination attempt, a political development - I’d be in the room to see it, so I might have a vision about it. That was all I did, until I ran away. I never went anywhere. I’d never even been further than the centre of Salisbury until a few months ago, apart from when I was really small, before they found me.’

  Tarian makes a sad sound.

  ‘I was only four,’ I say. ‘I’d been having visions for as long as I could remember, but Mum always told me to hide it. I never let anyone but her know. We were so careful. Every time anyone started to pay attention to us, we’d move away. Looking back, she must have known what my life would be like. She was scared all the time, but I didn’t know any better. I was happy enough. And then they came - I still don’t know how they knew where we were. But that was it, and we’ve lived at court ever since.’

  ‘Livya, I’m so sorry,’ he says, and there’s pain in his voice.

  ‘It’s all right,’ I say. ‘Everyone has their lot in life, right? This is mine. It’s not so bad really.’

  I look into the firelight for a while, chasing the dancing flames with my eyes. I’m suddenly so tired I can hardly think. I droop against Tarian, and I’m only half-aware of him scooping me into his arms and carrying me to the bed.

  I wake under the blankets with my arms still wrapped around him. I have no idea how long we slept, but I feel better for it, especially since the last sleep I got was when I was tied up on the cold ground. I turn and look at the door. The lights are almost all lit.

  ‘Tarian,’ I say. ‘Time to get ready to go.’

  By the time I’ve combed fingers through my hair and we’ve picked at the leftover food and we’ve both decided that going barefoot is better than wearing our ruined shoes, the door is about to open. We stand there as the final stone lights up. Without any touch from us, the door swings open. We walk through.

  Chapter Nineteen

  We walk over the threshold and the door closes behind us. I turn, but there’s no handle on this side, and I already know it must be magically sealed. We can only go forward from here.

  A faint red mist forms around us, and coalesces into the shape of a man, insubstantial but still there, looking at us.

  ‘Welcome,’ he says, and his voice sounds echoey and faraway. ‘I am an echo the Nineteenth Prince of the Southern Kingdom. I am the one who locked the Lightstone away. If you have come this far then you have reached the final obstacles. Before you take this on, be certain that you really want the stone. You will be tested before you reach it - tests of strength, wisdom, foresight and judgement. If you fail these tests, the price might be your death. Do you wish to reach the Lightstone?’

  ‘Yes,’ I say firmly, at the same time as Tarian.

  ‘Good luck, then,’ he says, and fades away into a mist again before totally disappearing.

  The first test seems to be a physical one. Far in the distance we can see another door, but we’re kept from it by a series of obstacles. They look challenging but not impassable - a wall to climb, a rope swing over a little ditch, a pool to wade through, a group of pillars to weave through.

  ‘Come on,’ says Tarian. ‘This doesn’t look too hard.’

  The wall is at head height for me, shoulder height for Tarian, and there are plenty of hand and footholds. I don’t see how it’s going to take us more than a few seconds to climb over it, but the moment my hand touches the wall, it suddenly soars above me.

  ‘Oh,’ I say.

  Tarian jumps back. ‘It looks normal if I’m not touching it,’ he says.

  He puts his hand on the wall again. ‘Unless we can fly over it, it looks like we’re climbing the long way,’ he says.

  I start to climb. It’s not too bad at first. There are so many footholds it almost feels like a ladder, and Tarian is beside me. Just knowing he’s there makes me feel safer. But then I make the mistake of looking down. The ground is far below us, and I sway in place, suddenly reminded of standing at the top of the falls, looking down and knowing that I’d have to jump.

  ‘Keep going, Livya,’ says Tarian beside me. ‘It’s no different than it was at the bottom. You’re doing the exact same thing.’

  ‘You’re right,’ I say.

  I keep climbing, pretending that I’m still near the bottom. I don’t make the mistake of looking down again. I try not to wonder how long we’ve been climbing. My arms are starting to ache. Then, we come out at the top, and instead of a wall we’re on a wide platform. And I see that the rope swing over a ditch from before is actually a zip line over a deep chasm.

  ‘Oh, great,’ I say. ‘More death-defying heights. They’re starting to be my favourite.’

  There’s no harness or anything, just a handle to hold onto.

  ‘You’ll be all right,’ says Tarian. ‘Just stay calm and it’ll be over before you know it.’

  ‘How are we both going to get across?’ I ask.

  He frowns. ‘Good question. I can’t see how the pulley gets back up here. Maybe we should go together.’

  He goes to the pulley and tugs at it appraisingly. ‘I think it should take both of our weight,’ he says.

  ‘How do you know?’ I ask. ‘Are you an expert?’

  ‘I know a few things,’ he says. ‘I worked at an outdoor pursuits centre for a while, back home. Come on, this’ll be fine. hold onto me. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.’

  He smiles, and those eyes charm me again. I’d believe anything he tells me. He leads me to the edge of the shelf and I hop up so that my legs are wrapped tightly around his waist and my arms are looped around his shoulders. I lay my head on his chest, burying my face. I don’t look, but I feel his arms move as he grabs
the pulley and jumps.

  We’re flying then, hurtling through the air. It’s like the waterfall but not, the same rushing speed but forward, not down, and I can feel every movement of Tarian’s body, his shoulders flexing beneath my arms as we swing to our destination.

  We land with a jolt and I unhook my legs, sliding to the ground. He hugs me and I realise I’m shaking.

  ‘There, that wasn’t so bad,’ he says, kissing my cheek.

  I peer down into the chasm we just crossed. I can’t even see the bottom. It just seems to go on and on into darkness. I shiver. At least that must be the worst part.

  The little pool I remember is a vast stretch of water with a strong current moving across it, leading to sharp rocks on the far side. I’m not even surprised at this point. Tarian is probably a strong enough swimmer to handle it, but I’m convinced that I’ll end up smashed to pieces. I look over my shoulder, wishing I could still go back - but what good would it do? There’s my blood oath to consider. My life’s not my own. This is what I have to do.

  ‘Can you make it across?’ I ask Tarian.

  He nods. ‘You’re going to have trouble, though. I’ll tow you.’

  I feel guilty and embarrassed. He’s carried me across all of these obstacles so far. I may as well be a dead weight.

  ‘Are you sure?’ I ask.

  ‘I can do it,’ he says. He sees the look on my face and gives me a comforting smile. ‘Livya, it’s not your fault you can’t swim, you’ve barely left court,’ he says. ‘If you’d spent your whole childhood learning, like I did, it would be different.’

  ‘I know,’ I say, but I still feel useless, especially when we step into the water and he puts his arm around me to keep me close and starts swimming, strong and fast, cutting through the water like an arrow while I just stay still and try not to get in his way. The current batters us but he keeps us on target and away from the jagged rocks. I watch through the spray that obscures my sight. I’m almost grateful when a vision arrives, pushing onto me before I have time to try to force it back.