The Hidden Princess by Katy Moran Page A

tangle of red-brick Tudor chimneys on the rooftop. I let my eyes travel up that way, remembering the day Rafe and me had climbed out of the attic window and hidden among the chimney stacks as the Fontevrault searched every inch of the house below, hunting us down because we knew too much about the Hidden. The gardens had been tidied, though – that overgrown lawn mown into a smooth green carpet, flower-beds jammed full of colour. It was like being at a proper stately home, the kind Mam dragged me to as a kid.
    Lissy’s here
. So close, but so far away. Trapped.
    I looked away from the gardens and back to the Reach itself, watching the huge old front door – ancient wood bleached almost white by the sun – till I could be sure Connie had gone inside and wasn’t coming back. I climbed out of the van and stood on the driveway, gravel crunching beneath my boots; I knew where I was going, even though it was wrong. Even though it was completely bloody daft. No. Worse than that: stupid. Dangerous and stupid, but I couldn’t stop myself. The grass was still wet with dew, staining my boots as I crossed the lawn, closer to the lake with every step. Closer to the Gateway. The reeds and bulrushes had been hacked back and lilies floated on the dark water. It was like some kind of ornamental bloody pond, not the gateway to another world.
    What would happen if I just walked right in? Found myself in that white, glittering cave again, just like years ago? Would Lissy be there still or was she lost somewhere in those endless black tunnels? How were the Hidden treating her? Was she kept as a prisoner? I remembered running into the water after her as she went with the Swan King, Rafe and Adam holding me back, the sheer desperation of it. How could they do that? How could they just let her go? None of this was her fault. Lissy in exchange for Connie’s life, that’s what the Swan King had demanded, no doubt convinced that once he’d got Lissy on his side of the Gateway, he’d be able to convince her to open it. He hadn’t so far, but Christ only knew what lengths of persuasion he’d gone to, what she’d been made to suffer. And in exchange for Lissy’s freedom, we’d got Connie and Rafe, for what they were worth. Adam had been forced to choose between his children – to let Connie and Rafe die or Lissy go as a prisoner. I couldn’t help wondering if he ever regretted that choice, given that Connie had turned out pretty much nothing but a royal pain in the arse, and Rafe hadn’t been home in years.
    Deep cold travelled up my legs and I shivered, wrapping both arms around myself. My feet were wet. I looked down, and I was ankle-deep, walking into the waters of the Gateway without even thinking straight. Just thinking about Lissy. It would be so easy to cross over, no danger to anyone else but me. I shuddered with sudden cold, and a wind blew up out of nowhere, shaking the branches of the old yew tree. What harm would it do, really, if I carried on going, walking into the water till I found myself in that other world? If I just crossed over into the Halls of the Hidden only to see how Lissy was doing, if she was treated OK? If I knew that she wasn’t being harmed, I might be able to forget her, just a little bit. Find some nice girl, have a normal life instead of hiding up on the fell with Grandad.
If, if, if, bloody if
.
    But you don’t want a nice girl, you daft bugger. You want her. You want Lissy
.
    I knew that was the real truth of it. I wanted Lissy; I never even knew if she wanted me. Wanting her was enough. For the thousandth time, I asked myself what difference would it make to anyone if I just disappeared into the Halls and was never seen again? I was a pretty crushing disappointment to Mam and Dad as it was. Maybe it’d be better if I just went for good. At least I’d be with her. Otherwise I’d be like bloody Miles Conway the rest of my life, pining after a Hidden girl I’d never, ever be able to forget, just like