Jasmine gasped, her eyes wide and alert. “He is alone,” she repeated. “Alone! Where is the queen? Where is the heir?”
The others were silent. Their shock had for a moment driven all other thoughts from their minds. But now they saw that Jasmine had seized on the really important question.
“Father said Queen Sharn was strong,” Lief said. “Strong — and brave. Not at all the spoiled, petted palace doll she appeared. Perhaps she refused to stay with Endon, once he began to listen to the Shadow Lord, once he began to become the Guardian. Perhaps she took the child, and fled.”
He turned to them, his face alight with hope. “And if that is true, if Sharn and the heir are living safely somewhere else, it does not matter what Endon has become. The heir has always been the one we had to find.”
At that moment, somewhere in the palace, he heard footsteps and low, growling sounds. Coming closer. His skin crawled.
“Quickly!” he muttered.
He hurried into the small room, with Barda and Jasmine close behind him. Together they approached the table and stood before it.
But before Lief could lift a hand, there was a sound at the door. The Guardian was standing there, his seamed, ruined face writhing with astonishment, fury, and baffled pride. Behind him, the monsters snarled.
“So,” spat the Guardian. “You discovered my name. Did it surprise you?”
“A little,” said Barda evenly.
The Guardian sneered. But Lief thought he could see, deep in the red eyes, a gleam of reluctant respect.
“Only one other has ever done so,” he said. “And he — he found the truth so hard to bear that he refused to enter this room and claim his prize. He left the valley, cursing me. Saying that he and his cause, whatever that may be, wanted nothing that had been tainted by my possession.”
With a jolt, Lief realized who that man must have been. The man who had travelled far and wide across Deltora, seeking allies for his cause and money for arms and supplies. The man who had warned them so earnestly against coming to the Valley of the Lost. Who had always said, so bitterly, that the battle for Deltora must be fought without the king, without magic. Who had told them so firmly that their quest was pointless.
“Doom,” he murmured, and felt Jasmine and Barda stiffen beside him.
The Guardian laughed mockingly. “I never knew his name, though he, at last, knew mine. It is a shame that he did not stay. There was a bitterness and hatred within him that warmed my heart, and made my creatures glad.”
He stroked his beard, looking at the companions slyly. “Will you follow his example, and run?”
“No, we will not,” said Barda boldly. “We will take our prize.”
Lief put his hands on the golden casket. His neck burned as the Guardian’s red eyes stared from the door. The Guardian. His father’s friend Endon, hideously changed.
And Doom has known it all the time, he thought angrily. Yet he did not tell us. No, he kept it to himself. As he keeps everything. Trusting no one. No one but himself. Whatever the cost.
The beasts at the door whimpered and growled. Lief knew they could feel his anger. It was like meat and drink to them. This was not the time to think of things that did not matter. He pressed the catch. The lid of the casket flew up.
And inside, nestled on a bed of black velvet, a great diamond gleamed.
Lief snatched up the gem and whirled around, clutching it tightly.
“Get out!” the Guardian hissed. “Take your prize, and go!”
The door leading into the valley swung open. Mist billowed into the room, mingled with the sound of soft, sighing voices.
“Lief!” urged Barda, trying to pull Lief towards the opening.
But Lief stood his ground, feeling the blood rush into his face.
“Why do you stay?” snarled the Guardian. “Is it not enough that you have won? Must you jeer at me, too?”
“You have cheated us,” Lief cried, his voice trembling with anger. He held out the jewel, gleaming on the palm of his hand. “This gem may be a diamond. But it is not the diamond from the Belt of Deltora!”
“I never promised you more than what was in the casket!” the Guardian blustered. “I said to you clearly, ‘you may take your prize and go.’ That is all.”
“You told us your treasure was the diamond from the Belt of Deltora,” Lief insisted. “And the real gem was here, when first you showed us this room. But now it has gone.”
He moved a step forward, ignoring the monsters’ snarls. “You moved it, Guardian, once we were safely out of the way, searching other parts of your palace,” he shouted. “You replaced it with another gem. So that even if we won your game, your real treasure would not be lost.”
The Guardian’s eyes narrowed. “How can you know this?” he spat.
“It does not matter how I know,” Lief cried. “The important thing is, you have lied and cheated. You, who make so much of following the rules.”
“And did you follow the rules?” the Guardian jeered. “Yes! I took my jewel from the casket, and hid it outside in the mist. The gem I put in its place should more than satisfy your greed.”
Panting with rage, he moved towards them, his creatures growling around his feet. “But who was watching me?” he spat. “Who stole the diamond from its hiding place, as soon as I turned my back? The fourth member of your party. The one who refused to play the game. Who pretended to have left the valley!”
“Neridah?” gasped Lief. “But … we knew nothing of this!”
“So you say,” sneered the Guardian.
“Of course we did not know!” Jasmine was already at the doorway, almost hidden in the swirling mist. “If we had, would we have wasted our time on your stupid game? Where is she? Which way did she go?”
The Guardian shrugged. “It does not matter to you,” he said. “You have your prize.”
Lief stepped forward, his fists clenched. The creatures snarled.
“Lief, no!” snapped Barda. “Forget this. We must try to find Neridah’s tracks. By now she will be hours away.”
But Lief paid no attention. His eyes were fixed on the Guardian. “Where is Neridah?” he asked softly. “She has not left the valley, has she? You know where she is, and the diamond, too.”
“And if I do know,” the Guardian said, just as softly, “I will not be telling you. Did you really think I would give you the most important thing in my life? The thing that is the symbol of my lord’s favor? The thing that has brought me power and riches?”
“It has brought you dust and ashes, Guardian,” spat Lief. “It has surrounded you with misery. You gained it through cunning, trickery, theft, and violence. Its curse is upon you. And in your heart you know it.”
Something flickered in the red eyes. “Who are you?” the Guardian murmured. “Who are you, that you know so much?”
“I have read The Belt of Deltora, as you have done.”
“It is more than that, I think,” the Guardian said. “I think you are the ones! The ones of whom I was told.” He nodded to Jasmine and her hand reached up unwillingly and pulled the cap from her head. Her black hair fell, tangling, to her shoulders.
The Guardian smiled grimly. “And so I was deceived,” he said. “The black bird, of course, remained outside the mist. And the fourth member of the party, the thief, was merely following you to profit by your cleverness. Ah — how nearly I let you slip through my fingers.”
Once again his red eyes turned on Lief. “Give it to me,” he commanded. “Give me the Belt of Deltora!”
Lief felt his hands move to his waist. His fingers found the clasp of the Belt. Sweat breaking out on his forehead, he forced them away from it, pushing them with all the force of his will over the gems that studded the medallions. His hand slid over the topaz, the ruby, the opal … and came to rest on the lapis lazuli, the heavenly stone, the talisman. He curled his fingers over it, and held it fast.