The Sapphire Quest Read Online Free

Finn.
    The next day, while the others were sleeping, she took her silver-tipped pen and green book out of her bag and wrote:
    Finn – I am well. I have discovered where the next object is. I will take it soon. T
.
    She tore the page out, rolled it up and tied it with a piece of thread pulled from her shirt. That night, when they went through the trapdoor, Tia dropped the message. When they returned, the paper had gone.

Chapter Five

The Great Statue
    Tia worked very hard during the next few days. She scrubbed and sewed in the castle kitchens at night and sat at the table with Sindri, helping him learn his runes, when the work was done. Back in the cellar she told him stories of Prince Kaspar and the Skrimsli Bear before he went to sleep. Very often she saw Bryndis and Ingvar listening too. She pretended not to notice and concentrated on telling the tales as skilfully as she could. She always ended with a soft sweet lullaby that sent Sindri off to sleep.
    â€˜Where did you learn that song?’ Bryndis asked one morning.
    â€˜I don’t know,’ Tia said. To her surprise she realised it was true. It wasn’t a Trader song or a DragonSong so where had she heard it? For a fleeting moment she thought she remembered a warm embrace and awoman singing sweetly, then the memory was gone. ‘I’ve just always known it.’
    When Tia settled down later and fell asleep, the song was echoing in her mind.

    A sound of cheering and the blare of a trumpet woke Tia. A second blast of sound had Bryndis, Ingvar and Sindri shooting up from their blankets.
    â€˜What was that?’ Sindri said.
    â€˜Let’s find out.’ Ingvar unbolted the trapdoor and raised it cautiously. Tia joined him and they looked down the street to the square. ‘It’s a procession,’ Tia said. ‘Where are they going? Why are they so excited?’
    â€˜No idea. Wait here, I’ll go and see.’ Ingvar climbed up into the deserted street. He walked a little way, paused in a doorway and watched the excited crowd.
    Tia was annoyed. If Ingvar could go out in the daytime then why couldn’t she? She scrambled into the street, ignoring Bryndis’s fierce, ‘Stop!’, and joined Ingvar in the doorway.
    â€˜What’s going on?’ she asked.
    Ingvar glared at her. ‘You should be in the cellar.’
    â€˜I wanted to see.’
    More and more people were lining the square. The excitement built. A trumpet sounded again.
    â€˜There it is!’ A man pointed to the open gates. The whole crowd started cheering and clapping as a team of eight horses hauled a waggon into the square. It stopped and Tia gasped. In the waggon, secured by ropes, was an enormous marble statue glistening white in the sunshine.
    â€˜It’s Skadi.’ Tia turned and saw Bryndis staring open-mouthed in astonishment at the statue. Sindri was hopping up and down in excitement beside her.
    â€˜Let me see!’
    â€˜Hush, in a minute,’ Bryndis said.
    Tia turned back to the scene in front of her. So this was Skadi, feared High Witch of Iserborg – and her fourth aunt. The sculpture was magnificent: dignified and with a beautiful face, though Tia thought the lips were twisted in a cruel smile.
    A herald rode up to the waggon. He blew a fanfare on his trumpet and the crowd stopped shouting and listened.
    â€˜All you subjects of the mighty High Witch, the Lady Skadi, are ordered to gather before her at the gates of the castle,’ he announced. He blew histrumpet again and led the waggon towards the castle. The crowd surged after it, leaping and cheering.

    â€˜I wonder what Skadi wants now,’ Ingvar said.
    Tia wondered that too.
    â€˜It’s too dangerous to follow,’ Bryndis said. ‘We have to get back to the cellar.’ She reached out her hand to her little brother. He wasn’t there.
    â€˜Where’s Sindri?’ Bryndis looked round wildly.
    Tia pointed at the end of the