45
Reparations

The five survivors of the Fabula settled into the Citadel with the Coronador. Hob, who had dreamed of being admitted to the place for so long, was beside himself. He strode along the corridors and galleries, ignoring the general dilapidation and exploring every nook and cranny with an excitement that he couldn’t contain. He got lost in secret passages several times, and Malva had to go and find him. In the evenings he walked in the now wild gardens, his eyes riveted to a particular place in the sky. Orpheus guessed that he was talking to Peppe.

Babilas and Lei found what quarters they could in old lumber rooms that the bad weather had spared. Malva refused to go back to the room that had been hers as a child. She asked Orpheus to help her move a bed to the alcove of her bedchamber in the South Wing. The little room was damp, the window panes were broken, but apart from that nothing had changed.

‘This is where I want to sleep,’ said Malva, looking at her reflection in the dressing-table mirror.

She lifted her long black hair and then let it fall over her shoulders again, remembering the night when she had given herself a hedgehog haircut … she smiled as she remembered Philomena’s cries of horror, and then sighed. Where was her chambermaid now? Would she ever see her again? She banished these gloomy thoughts, and looked at Orpheus.

‘I’d like it,’ she said, blushing, ‘if you were to share this bed with me.’

Orpheus gave a start. He placed his hands on Malva’s waist.

‘Settle in here with the Princess?’ he said, smiling. ‘Isn’t that against all protocol?’

‘There isn’t any protocol now,’ replied Malva.

Orpheus nodded. His heart was thudding wildly.

‘In that case, I’m happy to say yes,’ he told her.

The days and weeks went by. There was so much to do in the Citadel! Babilas set about repairing the leaking roof in the East Wing. Lei and Hob took over the horses; they spent whole days in the stables caring for the old nags there. Once again, Lei’s medicine had to work a great many miracles.

Malva and Orpheus put the Coronador’s affairs in order. They installed themselves in the Council Chamber and classified, arranged and copied the official records, so that the memory of the country would be preserved. It was tedious work.

Now and then Malva raised her head from the account books, looked at the Galnician flag hanging above the hearth, and remembered the day when her father had made her burn her notebooks. She no longer felt the humiliation that had gnawed at her heart so long.

‘One day I’ll write our story,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘The Galnicians must know what happened to us in the Archipelago.’

‘And there must be new maps too,’ added Orpheus. ‘The limits of the Known World should be pushed further south. How astonished the scientists at the Maritime Institute would be if they were still here!’

He picked up a pen and sketched the outlines of the islands, adding their names: Catabea’s island, Jahalod-Rin’s island, the island of the Unseen …

‘Here’s the rock where Zeph was trapped, there are the reefs on which the toothless men ran aground, here are Finopico’s reefs. And there’s the site of the Immuration, where Peppe threw himself in …’

Malva shivered. The friends they had lost were sadly missed. To banish her melancholy, she went back to work with a new determination.

The Coronador was growing weaker every day. He spent his time sitting in a rickety armchair, looking at his gardens as they began to emerge from their neglected state. Malva often went to see him, though they did not talk to each other much. What could they say after so many years of silence?

As the weeks went on, news of Malva’s return spread to the old provinces. The boldest of the Galnicians decided to come to see for themselves if the rumour was true. They arrived by the road from the north, alone or with their families, bringing their possessions, and came to the gates of the Citadel. Malva was glad to welcome them, and they in turn raised their eyes to heaven to thank Holy Tranquillity for preserving their Princess’s life.

Referring to the city maps and the records she had restored, Malva gave all the new arrivals a place to live. A dozen families set up house in the Lower Town, and children could be heard playing in the streets again.

Further off, in the port, Babilas had begun repairing the ships. He caulked the hulls, stood the masts erect and repainted the landing stages. Some fishermen came back, and on certain mornings set up their stalls on the quayside and sold their catch. It was all on a very small scale, but Malva could feel her country’s soul slowly reviving.

‘Don’t you ever feel any regrets?’ Orpheus asked her from time to time.

‘About coming back?’

‘Yes. About not staying in your ideal country.’

‘I wouldn’t have liked it in Elgolia without you,’ Malva replied. ‘No, I have no regrets.’

One morning Lei and Hob called Malva to come out of doors, where the weather was fine. The trees in the orchards were coming into bud. Lei and Hob were sitting proudly astride two chestnut mares who were pawing the ground outside the stables.

‘Look!’ cried Lei.

She dug her heels into her horse’s side, and set off for the sycamore avenue at a gallop, followed by Hob, who was laughing whole-heartedly. At the other end of the avenue they turned and rode back to Malva.

‘Those were the last two!’ Hob told her.

‘Horses all healthy now,’ Lei added. ‘Thirteen in good condition.’

‘See what this one can do, Princess!’ cried Hob. He shorted the reins, dug his heels into the mare a few times, and she reared and turned round on her back legs before doing a little dance, which delighted Malva.

‘I didn’t know you rode so well! You could almost compete with the Baighur horsemen!’

‘I know!’ said the boy. ‘Lei’s promised me we’ll go by way of the steppes!’

Malva looked at him, unable to believe her ears. Hob at once looked downcast, realising that he had given away a secret.

‘What’s this all about?’ asked Malva with concern, looking at Lei.

Lei sighed, and then resigned herself to telling Malva her plan. She told her how much she missed her country and its customs, and above all her family. Her heart felt a little heavier every day. So now that the horses were restored to health, she wanted to go home to the kingdom of Balmun.

‘My place there,’ she added. ‘And Hob …’

The boy blushed, and went closer to her. He had grown a great deal recently, and riding and looking after the horses had made him sturdier.

‘I’ve decided to go with Lei,’ he said. ‘I feel too sad here in Galnicia without my brother. I must go away again. A long way away. I’m going to escort Lei. What do you think, Princess?’

Malva opened her mouth, and found she had nothing to say. She had not marked the passage of time since their return. Day had followed day, and she hadn’t noticed Lei’s sadness.

‘You’re going by way of the Great Azizian Steppes, then?’ was all she said.

Lei nodded.

‘Good,’ sighed Malva. ‘When are you going to leave?’