Free The Cornerstone by Nick Spalding Page A

Max the second they’d been captured.
    Lined up along the back wall were several enormous men in armour - the Chapter Guards Merelie had been afraid of running in to. They’d marched Max up to this room against his loud protests.
    He could attest to both the strength of their grip and the hardness of their armour - nursing a painful bruise on his left elbow due to the latter. It was like the Kevlar bullet proof vests he’d seen American soldiers wearing, but coloured the same green as the desk. They wore helmets as well, adorned with the odd looking coat of arms.
    Sat behind the desk was a man looking at Max and Merelie over steepled fingers. He was tall, thin - just this side of gaunt, in fact - and bald, with a wreath of short grey hair at the sides. He had the same piercing blue eyes as Merelie.
    He wore a long cream coat, buttoned to the neck and dropping almost to the floor. The coat of arms was embroidered in green on the left breast.
    This dude looks like he should be standing on the bridge of the Enterprise, telling that one with the pastie on his head to ‘make it so’.
    The man noticed Max’s attention and focused his gaze. ‘Has my daughter even bothered to tell you whose house you’ve trespassed in, boy?’ he said, cutting through any pleasantries.
    ‘No she hasn’t,’ Max replied, adding a hasty ‘sir,’ at the end, because good manners couldn’t hurt in a situation like this.
    Merelie’s father favoured her with a stern look. ‘I’m not surprised at all,’
    Merelie said nothing.
    ‘My name is Jacob Carvallen, Chapter Lord of this House,’ he announced.
    Max felt something was required of him at this point. ‘Erm. Ok. Good name… sounds impressive.’
    ‘And you are?’
    ‘I’m Max Bloom. I come from Farefield. In England. Er… on Earth.’ There wasn’t much more he could add.
    ‘I know where you’re from, boy. It was our House that discovered the pathway to your world.’
    ‘Right… gotcha. Good for you.’ This wasn’t going well at all.
    ‘How is it we have not heard from the Wordsmith appointed to watch the doorway?’ asked Jacob Carvallen. ‘Why did I have no warning of your unauthorised use of The Cornerstone?’
    ‘Imelda, you mean?’ Max looked at Merelie, who nodded. ‘Well… the book wouldn’t let her contact you.’
    ‘What do you mean by that?’ Jacob asked, looking down at The Cornerstone.
    ‘It wouldn’t let her use it. She said it was being stubborn.’
    ‘It knows father, The Cornerstone knows!’ Merelie blurted out. ‘It knows something’s coming… that’s why it wouldn’t let your spy talk. That’s why it brought Max here!’
    ‘Be quiet Merelie!’ Jacob snapped and looked at Borne. ‘Arma, how could you allow this? She should have been under your supervision at all times.’
    ‘Your daughter is more than smart enough to elude me when she wishes to, sir.’ Borne replied. ‘She’s committed to her cause and believes everything she says. Perhaps you should listen before dismissing her fears completely.’
    ‘I have been listening for a long time, Borne and there is no evidence that this great evil of which she speaks exists!’
    Max lent forward in his chair. Merelie’s angry father looked like he was about to spill the beans.
    ‘I have had the custodians searching the void,’ the Chapter Lord continued, ‘Wordcrafting for days at a time, and they have found nothing!’
    Merelie jumped out of her seat. ‘Father, you never told me that!’
    ‘I’m not a stupid man, Merelie. If someone I trust warns me of impending doom, I look into it.’ Jacob gave Borne a meaningful look. ‘I listened and did what I thought was appropriate.’ He turned his attention back to Merelie. ‘But there’s been nothing. No sign that the void between worlds is about to spill out a monstrous evil that will lay waste to us all.’
    Merelie sat back in her chair, deflated. ‘But the dreams, father. The way the words have come to me… it must be