The Emerald Quest Read Online Free PDF

Malindra, don’t you?’
    Tia shook her head again.
    â€˜Maybe it’s just as well,’ the man grunted. ‘What’s your name?’
    â€˜Nadya,’ Tia said.
    â€˜I’m Tryg. Come with me.’
    Tryg led Tia down corridors and up steps. Though Tia was used to winding tracks in the Drakelow Mountains she was confused by all the twists and turns and flights of stairs in the castle.
    Eventually she found herself on a long balcony overlooking a stone-flagged courtyard with cages around the walls. The big cages held snow leopards, wolves and bears but smaller animals were kept in tiny cages piled on top of each other at the far side of the courtyard.
    Tia had only seen wild animals roaming around freely and couldn’t help saying, ‘They look so sad!’
    Tryg caught her arm, swung her round and shookher. ‘Don’t ever talk about HER animals! Especially like that. You never know what might be watching or listening. Now come on.’
    Tia followed him down steps leading from the balcony to the courtyard. She rubbed her arm and wondered how such a huge, strong man could be so very scared.
    Tryg showed Tia how to feed and clean out the animals. They snarled and growled when she approached them.
Maybe
, she thought,
they’ll trust me once they’re used to me.
    She worked hard all afternoon and when she’d finished Tryg gave her two bronze coins. ‘I’ll give you a silver mark at the end of the week if you carry on working well,’ he said.
    Tia was just about to thank him when the animals began to howl and roar. The wolves and leopards circled frantically in their cages and the bears pressed themselves against the walls as far away from the bars as possible.
    â€˜SHE’s coming!’ Tryg said. ‘Stand to one side, keep your eyes down and whatever happens, don’t say a word. Understand?’
    Tia nodded. It must be Malindra. At long last Tia was going to see a High Witch. A High Witch… and her aunt!

Chapter Seven
Malindra
    M alindra was very beautiful. She was tall and blonde-haired and held her proud head high. She wore a white dress covered by a thick green cloak edged with black-tipped ermine. A wolf pelt wound over her shoulders as a collar and the head hung down over her right shoulder.
    Perched on her other shoulder was a jackdaw. He had a thin gold chain fastened to one leg. Malindra held the other end.
    â€˜How are my animals?’ Malindra asked Tryg.
    The Beast Master bowed and said, ‘Well, Lady.’
    The High Witch lifted her hand and Tia saw a flash of green. It was the jewel of power that enabled anyone who touched it to speak to animals.Malindra had combined this power with her magic so that she could command creatures to do as she wished. She wore the emerald in a ring which she had twisted round and the stone lay in her palm.
    She pointed at a snarling snow leopard wearing a heavy collar. ‘Be quiet!’

    The leopard stopped growling and fell into a crouch.
    â€˜Bring him to me, Tryg,’ Malindra ordered and the Beast Master unlocked the cage, attached a chain to the collar and led the crawling animal to the High Witch.
    â€˜Now bow down to me,’ she said.
    The leopard lowered his front legs until he was crouching with his head between his paws.
    It was so undignified and sad that Tia couldn’t help letting out a gasp of protest. Malindra whipped round. ‘Who are you?’ she demanded.
    â€˜I’m Nadya, Lady,’ Tia said in a very small voice.
    Malindra looked Tia up and down. ‘You have Trader clothes and a Trader name but you look more like a Tulayan. How is that?’
    â€˜The Traders found me after a storm, Lady.’ Tia furiously worked out her story as she went along. It might’ve been fun if she hadn’t been so frightened. ‘My parents were killed and the Traders took me in.’
    â€˜Where were you found?’ Malindra asked, suddenly using the