The Lake of Tears

Nij and Doj led the three companions into a large, bright kitchen with a stone floor. Polished pots and pans hung from hooks above the big fuel stove and a large table stood in the center of the room. It reminded Lief of the kitchen in the forge, and he would have been happy to stay there — especially as, like Barda and Jasmine, he was wet and muddy.

But Nij and Doj seemed shocked at the idea of their guests sitting in the kitchen, and bustled them into a cosy sitting room beyond. Here an open fire burned, and there were comfortable-looking easy chairs and a woven carpet on the floor.

With many nods and smiles, Nij gave Jasmine, Lief, and Barda rugs to wrap themselves in, and made them sit by the fire. Then she and Doj rushed away again, making signs to say they would return.

Soon Lief could hear clattering and murmuring in the kitchen. He guessed that the two old people were heating water for baths and perhaps preparing a meal. “Retaw liob,” Nij was saying busily. And Doj was laughing as he worked. “Noos taem hserf! Noos taem hserf!” he was chanting in a singsong voice.

Lief’s heart warmed. Whatever these people had, they would give to help the strangers in trouble.

“They are very kind,” he said lazily. He felt relaxed for the first time in days. The fire was cheery, and the rug around his shoulders was comforting. The room, too, made him feel at home. There was a jug of yellow daisies on the mantelpiece — daisies exactly like the ones that grew wild by the forge gate. Over the fireplace hung a framed piece of embroidery, no doubt made by Nij’s own hands.

“Yes, they are very good,” murmured Barda. “It is for people such as these that we wish to save Deltora.”

Jasmine sniffed. Lief glanced at her and wondered at the restless look on her face. Then he realized that, of course, she had never been inside a house like this, never met ordinary people like Nij and Doj before. She had spent her life in the Forests, among trees, under the sky. No wonder she felt uncomfortable here, instead of at peace as he and Barda did.

Filli was hunched on Jasmine’s shoulder with his paws over his eyes. He was not happy, either, though Nij and Doj had made him welcome, smiling and trying to stroke him.

“Lief,” Jasmine whispered, as she saw him looking at her. “Is the Belt safe? Is the topaz still in place?”

Lief realized with a small shock that he had forgotten all about the Belt until this moment. He felt for it, and was relieved to find that it was still securely fixed around his waist.

He lifted up his filthy shirt to look at it. Its steel links were clogged with mud and slime. The topaz was thickly coated, its golden lights hidden. With his fingers he began to clean the gem of the worst of the murky grime. It seemed wrong that it should be so fouled.

His work stopped abruptly as Doj hurried in from the kitchen, carrying a tray. Lief cursed his own carelessness. The rug which was wrapped around him hid the Belt from the doorway, but this was just a fortunate chance. Nij and Doj were kind and good, but it was vital that the quest for the Belt of Deltora was revealed to as few people as possible. He should have taken more care.

He sat perfectly still, his head bent and his hands clasped over the topaz, while Doj set down the tray, which was loaded with drinks and a plate of small cakes.

“Here, scum!” said Doj. “Enjoy your last meal on earth.”

Lief’s scalp prickled with shock. Was he hearing things? Was he dreaming? He stole a look at Barda and saw that he was smiling pleasantly. Jasmine, too, seemed undisturbed.

He felt a nudge on his arm and looked up. Doj was smiling at him, handing him a cup of what looked like sweetplum juice. But with a thrill of horror Lief saw that the old man’s face was horribly changed. The skin was mottled and covered in lumps and sores. The eyes were yellow, flat, and cold, like snake’s eyes, over a nose that was just two flaring black holes. The grinning mouth was greedy and cruel, with crooked metal spikes for teeth and a fat blue tongue that crept out and licked at swollen lips.

Lief shrieked aloud and cowered back.

“Lief, what is the matter?” cried Jasmine, alarmed.

“What are you thinking of?” growled Barda at the same moment, glancing in an embarrassed way at the horrible monster who was still holding out the cup.

The blood was pounding in Lief’s head. He could hardly breathe, but his mind was racing. Plainly, his friends were not seeing what he was seeing. To them, Doj was still the kindly old man that Lief had once believed him to be.

But that vision had been a lie — an illusion, created by some evil magic. Lief knew that now. He also knew that at all costs the hideous being must not find out that for him, at least, the spell had been broken.

He clutched at the topaz beneath his shirt and forced himself to smile and nod. “I — was dozing,” he stammered. “I — woke with a shock. I am sorry.” He mimed sleeping and waking suddenly, and pretended to laugh at himself.

Doj laughed, too. And it was horrible to see his bared, shining teeth, and his dripping mouth gaping wide.

He handed the cup to Lief and walked back towards the kitchen. “Reverof peels nac uoy noos,” he said, at the door. Again he licked his lips. And again Lief heard the words for what they really were: “Soon you can sleep forever.”

The words were not a strange language, but ordinary words turned backwards! His head whirling, phrases and comments coming back to him, Lief saw that every sentence Doj and Nij had said had been turned backwards.

In a daze of horror he watched Doj leave the room. He heard him begin clattering round in the kitchen with Nij, raising his voice in the same sing-song chant: “Noos taem hserf, noos taem hserf!”

“Fresh meat soon, fresh meat soon!”

Lief’s whole body shuddered as if blasted by an icy wind. He swung round to Jasmine and Barda, and as he did he saw the living room as it really was.

It was a grim, dark cell. The walls were stone, dripping with greasy water. The soft carpet was made of the skins of small animals, roughly sewn together. But the embroidery over the mantelpiece was still complete. For the first time he stared at it with clear eyes:

“Lief, what is the matter?”

He tore his eyes away from the terrible words and looked at Jasmine. She was watching him in puzzlement, a cup halfway to her lips.

“Do — do not drink that!” Lief managed to say.

Jasmine frowned. “I am thirsty!” she protested, and lifted the cup.

Desperately, Lief struck it from her hand and it fell to the floor. Jasmine sprang up with a cry of anger.

“Be still!” he hissed. “You do not understand. There is danger here. The drink — who knows what is in it!”

“Are you mad, Lief?” yawned Barda. “It is delicious!” He was leaning back on the stinking animal skins. His eyes were partly closed.

Lief shook his arm frantically, realizing with a sinking heart that the big man had already drunk half of his drink. “Barda, get up!” he begged. “They are trying to drug us! Already you feel the drug’s effects.”

“Nonsense,” drawled Barda. “Never have I seen such kindly people as Nij and Doj. Are they husband and wife, do you think, or brother and sister?”

Nij. Doj … Suddenly the names turned themselves around in Lief’s head and he saw them, too, for what they really were.

“They are brother and sister,” he said grimly. “Their names are not Nij and Doj, but Jin and Jod. They are two of the sorceress Thaegan’s children. They were named in that rhyme the guardian of the bridge repeated to me. They are monsters! When we are asleep they will kill us — and then eat us!”

“That is a poor joke, Lief,” Jasmine frowned.

And Barda just blinked in concern. He looked around the room, and Lief knew that all he was seeing was homely comfort. Barda’s own eyes were telling him that fear had turned his companion’s wits.

“Noos taem hserf, noos taem hserf!” chanted the monster Jod in the kitchen. And his sister joined in, her voice raised over the sound of a sharpening knife. “Wets ylevol! Wets ylevol!”

Barda smiled sleepily. “Hear how they sing at their work?” he said, leaning over and patting Lief’s arm. “How could you think they were anything other than what they seem? Rest, now. You will be feeling better soon.”

Lief shook his head desperately. What was he going to do?