It seemed to Rye, however, that Sonia’s time beyond the Wall had changed her, as it had changed him. She had discovered things about herself that she had not known before—among them the magic that, like red hair, was surely her mother’s legacy. Somehow that new confidence had helped her to let much of her bitterness go.
One day, perhaps, she would even come to pity and forgive the vain, jealous, fearful man she had seen face to face only four or five times in her life. Perhaps she would not. But in any case, the old pain would be less in the clear air beyond the Wall.
‘Annocki and I have no choice at present,’ Sholto was saying cheerfully. ‘She wants to be near Sonia, and I need to organise supplies of myrmon for Tallus, so Dorne in the present is clearly our best base. But later, perhaps …’ His eyes strayed longingly to the silver Door.
Faene was looking at the golden Door, tears welling in her eyes. Rye’s heart ached for her. How must it feel to know that your world, your time, was so far in the past? That the people you had loved had been dead for centuries, and your old home had been changed utterly?
But FitzFee’s many descendants thrived on the farms around Fell End and Riverside, raising the descendants of the horses Faene had left behind her. The lady Janna’s ancestors, it seemed, had been among the Fleet exiles. And Janna had promised to meet Faene at the little park in Riverside, so they could stand together beneath the ancient bell tree and see what lay at its roots—the stone that bore Faene’s parents’ names, respected in the new town as it had been in the old.
As it happened, however, Faene’s next words showed that she was not grieving for herself, but for someone else.
‘I hate to think that Eldannen died in despair,’ she said. ‘He was my parents’ friend and—such a good man.’
‘I do not think he died in despair, Faene,’ Sonia said, taking her hand. ‘He ended his days with the Fellan, who loved him. And he was certain that one day another would come to do what he could not. That is why he left his memories in the pool, and told the Fellan to keep his nine powers safe until the right person came to claim them.’
Rye shrugged. ‘I still cannot be sure that I was the right person,’ he said, touching the little brown bag that now once again hung around his neck. ‘It was pure chance that I was carrying the bell tree stick. And it was pure chance that Sonia was with me when I went through the golden Door.’
Dirk clapped him on the shoulder. ‘Right or wrong, you did well enough, little brother,’ he said.
‘Better than well enough,’ drawled Sholto.
‘No one could have done better,’ said Lisbeth.
‘Rye,’ Sonia whispered. ‘Let us go! It is time! Farr and the Fellan are waiting!’
And Rye stretched out his hand, and with rising joy, opened the Door.
ALSO BY EMILY RODDA
THREE DOORS TRILOGY
1. The Golden Door
2. The Silver Door
3. The Third Door
DELTORA QUEST 1
1. The Forests of Silence
2. The Lake of Tears
3. City of the Rats
4. The Shifting Sands
5. Dread Mountain
6. The Maze of the Beast
7. The Valley of the Lost
8. Return to Del
DELTORA QUEST 2
1. Cavern of the Fear
2. The Isle of Illusion
3. The Shadowlands
DELTORA QUEST 3
1. Dragon’s Nest
2. Shadowgate
3. Isle of the Dead
4. The Sister of the South
ROWAN OF RIN
1. Rowan of Rin
2. Rowan and the Travellers
3. Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal
4. Rowan and the Zebak
5. Rowan of the Bukshah
Copyright
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Text and graphics copyright © Emily Rodda, 2012.
Cover artwork copyright © Marc McBride, 2012.
Design and graphics by Kate Rowe.
Print edition published by Omnibus in 2012, an imprint of Scholastic Australia.
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Australia Pty Limited in 2012.
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EPUB/MOBI eISBN 978 1 921 98963 6
Teachers’ notes for The Third Door are available from www.scholastic.com.au