‘I shall forget what it’s like to have to go and find food,’ said Brock with his mouth full of bilberries, but in spite of himself and all the wonder and magic of this place he found himself thinking of Silver Wood with a little ache of homesickness.
‘I suppose once we have seen the Lord Wychnor we shall leave,’ said Nab, who knew how the badger was feeling but whose excitement did not allow him any room to think of home. He knew that he was about to learn about himself, and his apprehension at the thought of this, coupled with an intense curiosity, made him begin to feel terribly nervous and to realize that, in their fascination with everything around them, they had forgotten the main purpose of their visit.
When the bowls were empty again and the animals were replete, Nab pushed open the door to their room and they walked back along the corridor and down the stairway into the hall where they had waited last night. It looked different now with the sunlight streaming in through the entrance, making the corners it didn’t reach seem dark in contrast and throwing great bands of light on to the mossy floor, turning it into a bright emerald green: the colour of the young beech leaves when they first start to unfurl in the spring. There was much coming and going with elves rushing in and out through the doors leading off the hall, meeting and talking and laughing as they went about their business, going outside and coming in again. To the animals they gave the impression of always being on the move; full of a restless vibrant energy with quicksilver minds and bodies that danced about ceaselessly. Their voices filled the hall with music and reminded Nab of the sound of the stream behind Silver Wood as it chuckled and tinkled its way over the pebbles on its sandy bed. In the sunlight the glow from their bodies seemed less bright than it had done yesterday evening but it was still there and as they moved it seemed to leave a trail behind so that it was difficult to see exactly where they were at any single moment except when they were standing still, which was never for very long.
The animals made their way through the hall slowly, feeling ponderous and slightly clumsy as well as extremely conspicuous. The elves all seemed aware of their presence and none showed any surprise as they walked past; each one giving them a different greeting but all bade them welcome before going on their way.
Nab emerged first into the sunlight and had to screw up his eyes for a short time until he got used to it. Then they all walked down to the shore, scrunching over the oak leaves on the ground which were still crisp with frost, and made their way around the edge of the pond. They found themselves strangely relieved when they realized, after walking for a while, that they were out of sight of the entrance and they settled down on a stone behind some tall rushes and sat for a long time without saying a word, staring down at the water and listening to the sound of some little waves, stirred up by a light breeze, as they lapped gently against the shore. It was good to be on their own again and eventually they all felt more relaxed and began talking about everything that had happened to them since they first entered Ellmondrill. Soon they were all talking at once, each with his different ideas and views and opinions, until Wanigal interrupted.
‘Come on, we’d better be making our way back. It’s almost SunHigh,’ he said, and a little sadly they got up and, with the sun on their backs, went back to the entrance and through it into the hall.
The bustle of the morning had subsided now and there were just a few elves passing through. It seemed very dark inside after being out in the bright sunshine and it took a while for their eyes to adjust so that they could see clearly. Reev had spotted them from the other side and he came over to address them before they had had a chance to see him.
‘You enjoyed your morning,’ he said. ‘You smell of sunshine. Come; Lord Wychnor is waiting,’ and he walked off up the main stairs. The animals followed him as he went up the way they had gone to their room last night, past their door, along to the end of the corridor and then up a new flight of stairs which seemed to go on for ever. Every so often there was a crack or a hole in the wall and, when they peeped cautiously out, they realized that they were climbing higher and higher as the clearing grew smaller beneath them and soon they came level with the tops of the trees on the other side of the pond. They could see the great squirrels’ dreys nestling amongst the stark black winter branches and sometimes they saw a squirrel sitting patiently on the twigs and staring out over the tops of the trees in the rest of the wood to the fields beyond.
‘They keep a constant vigil for signs of danger, approaching Urkku and so on,’ said Warrigal, when Nab asked him what they were doing.
A door suddenly appeared before them; a great door set in a high curved archway, heavy and laid across with bands of silver which formed a criss-cross pattern. A rope made of many bramble briars woven together hung down to one side, and Reev pulled it while the animals waited nervously. Then the door opened and they were ushered into a high circular chamber by two elves dressed in green and brown who led them along an aisle which ran straight through the middle towards a raised dais at the far end. Nab, his heart in his mouth and his stomach fluttering with nerves, stole a glance around him and saw elves gathered in little groups; some were dancing, others were seated on the floor and appeared to be working with their hands while still others were making music from strange instruments, some of which were composed of strings which they plucked with their fingers and others which they held to their mouths to produce cascades of high pure crystal notes. Nab felt the music take his soul and send it soaring through the air until it felt as if it had broken through the roof of the chamber to fly off into the grey, winter sky; it filled him with energy so that, as he moved, the rhythms of his body coincided with the spirit of the music and he found himself dancing in time with it as he followed Reev. He also became aware of the fact that they were all being looked at with some curiosity by the elves, and there was a sustained level of animated discussion as the elves stopped what they were doing and put their heads together to talk excitedly amongst themselves. Nab felt that he in particular had been singled out for special attention and, as he walked down the centre of the enormous chamber into which the sun was sending streams of light through the little windows in the outside walls, he could feel hundreds of pairs of eyes watching him and hear the hubbub of voices rise as he got near and then fall as he passed by. Eventually, after what seemed like an age, they reached the dais at the end. They went up some steps to it and then walked nervously across until they came to where the Lord Wychnor sat waiting for them.
‘Welcome,’ he said, and the music of his voice sent shivers down their backs. ‘I apologize for their rudeness; they should not have stared but you understand that they were curious to see you. Come; we will go through into my own room where we can be private and talk.’
He stood up and his great green and silver cloak fell to the floor and swept along after him as he walked towards a little door and, opening it, ushered them through. Nab glanced back at the huge throne where he had been sitting; made of black oak it seemed to grow out of the floor. In fact it did not seem to have been made at all but rather to have always been there; there was no decoration except that which was in the wood itself, and the ends of the arms shone where the Elflords’ palms had rested on them since the beginning of time, polishing them so that they glistened like water. The throne was bathed in a pool of sunlight which poured through a window high up in the roof. The sun shone against the black wood and brought out the colours; blues, purples, and reds from deep within.
