Chapter 19
The men who dragged Maddy through the gate into the garden were not gentle. Although, if she was being fair, she could hardly blame them. She’d kicked both of them, bitten one, and elbowed the other in the stomach so hard that he’d doubled over and not straightened for a good minute. But despite her exertions, she’d been unable to escape, and Rodric seemed amused by her efforts.
Now though, as she was dragged through the gate and into the garden, her attention was taken by something else. That strange structure that Rory had been so interested in rose from the center of the garden like some bizarre piece of modern art, all crooked angles and strange lines forming a lop-sided arch. As before, it seemed to defy Maddy’s eyesight, as if it didn’t all quite fit.
A circle of people stood around the structure, robed and hooded, having fixed their lanterns to the long poles she’d seen people driving into the ground earlier.Disinherited,she thought.That’s who they are. Rodric’s people. What is this all about? What is going on?
She looked around frantically but could see no sign of Rory. Her two guards held her firmly, strong hands clamped around her forearms and she knew there was no chance of escape.
Rodric walked into the middle of the lantern-lit circle and raised his arms. A hush fell over the gathering.
“Friends!” he called. “Tonight is the night we have been waiting for! For many years we have labored, working in the shadows, toiling out of sight. All for this moment. Finally, we will have the reward that was promised to us! Tonight we open the portal and take the future!”
He gestured towards the gate and two more disinherited entered, leading a small figure between them.
It was Rory.
“Rory!” she screamed.
“Mama!” he cried on seeing her. He tried to run to her but the two Disinherited held him fast.
Maddy struggled and fought with all her strength, desperate to reach her son, but her guards had learned their lesson and she wasn’t able to land any blows or break free.
“Let him go!” she bellowed at Rodric.
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Let him go? Are ye serious? Why would I do that when I have worked so hard to bring him here, to this place and this moment? He is the key, Madeleine. The key to everything I need.”
“He’s not the key to anything. He’s just a boy!”
“Wrong. He isnae just a boy,” Rodric replied. “He’smyson. And that means he has a power that none other has.”
He was a madman. She saw that now. His eyes were alight with a kind of fervor and she knew there would be no reasoning with him.
She looked up to the heavens, imploring any deity that might be listening to help her, and it was then that something caught her eye. Two shadows were moving along the top of the wall that circled the little garden. Wait, not shadows. Men. And Maddy recognized both of them.
Deryn and Craig.
Her heart swelled with hope, sending it hammering in her chest. The Disinherited were so caught up with Rodric’s words that nobody had spotted the interlopers.
Maddy had to ensure it stayed that way.
She glared at Rodric. “You’re insane, you know that? You think you have power? You don’t! You’re just a pathetic man play-acting at being something you’re not. You’re nothing special, Rodric. You never were. It’s just a pity I didn’t realize that when we first met.”
Fury flashed across Rodric’s face and for an instant Maddy thought he might strike her. His shoulders hunched and his hands curled into fists. But he didn’t move.
“Is that right? Ye are a fool, Madeleine. Ye have given me everything I need to hand the future to my kin!”
“What are you talking about?”
