Hilda - Lycadea Read Online Free Page A

things to be beautiful.
Beauty, for instance," William agreed.
    "The castle is quite big, yes. There are
guards, but perhaps not in the armour that you think of. I've seen
better stuff. The things they wear look like hand-me-downs. But
don't tell anyone I said so. I'll deny everything."
    "Perhaps we should find out," William thought
out loud, "if the king already heard about this ship. If he has, it
would be good to let him meet Maurizio and Rebel. Either here or in
the castle. After all, this is his country."
    "True," Hilda said.
    Maurizio prodded Rebel in the ribs and got a
solid slap back. Rebel did not seem to appreciate being the
punching bag. "Mama Mia, that would be fantastico," the captain
said. "Can you go and find that out now?"
    "Hey, hold on," Hilda said, "I'm the one
asking the questions here, remember? So, when are you going to
leave?"
    "That depends on the light and the crystal,"
Maurizio shrugged, "we can never tell when the situation is
good."
    "The light and the crystal?"
    Rebel explained as well as she could: "Did
you see the large oval crystal on the bow? That is what generates
the wormhole that sucks the ship in. We need a specific lightfall
on the crystal for it to create the wormhole, and since light
conditions are different in every place we pop up, it is always a
surprise when it happens."
    "And if it happens," Maurizio added.
    "True," Rebel said, "we've been worried more
than once that we might not be able to get away again. Usually from
the places we really wanted to get away from."
    There was a gentle gong-sound coming from
somewhere. "Moro? The locals demand their witch back," a voice
said.
    Hilda jumped up, wand in hand, as she tried
to locate the source of the voice. "What's that? You have a crystal
ball somewhere?" To her chagrin, William grinned along with Rebel
and Maurizio.
    "Sweetwitch," the wizard said, "this ship
seems to have some communication system. It is not a crystal ball,
it is electronic. Usually. I must say that a crystal ball looks
better."
    "What's an electronic?" Hilda snapped, even
though she did not want to. She felt outnumbered and seriously out
of control. Especially the latter was devastating for her. "Oh,
don't even answer that. They will leave and take all that stuff
with them anyhow, so why do I care. I have to go and see what the
villagers want." She looked around, trying to find the door that
had let them in. "Crappedy crap," she said as she popped up her
wand. "Ostium expositus."
    The door had no choice. It opened. Maurizio
and Rebel jumped from their sacks and stared as Hilda gathered her
cat and marched out of the lounge. William picked up Obsi and rose.
"Looks like the coffee break is over. Thanks, Rebel, good coffee."
Then he hurried after his witch. The two people who had arrived on
the Mimosa hurried after the wizard.
    Hilda had progressed halfway through the
corridor when she started to hesitate. "Crappedy crap, where am I
and where did we get in?" All the doors in the corridor looked the
same, with the yellow panels and nothing distinguishable. Grimalkin
squirmed herself free from Hilda's hands, dropped to the floor and
padded along the corridor as if it was home sweet home. The black
animal trotted along until she reached a door that was slightly
larger.
    "Good girl," the witch said. She did her wand
trick and the door opened. Hilda breathed in, relaxing as she saw
the iron ornaments on the other side of the door. Normality was
near.
    William had caught up with her as she stepped
through the door and went up the short staircase. "This is not your
style, is it?" he grinned.
    "Down there, that's no style, William. That's
all white. Even Snow White would boggle at that, take my word for
it." Hilda scanned the large deck. Most of the sailors had
dispersed, apparently there were things to do after all. Only two
of them stood near the railing with a few other people. Hilda
recognised a few of them; they were from the village.
    As the two magicals reached the small