Blade Singer

by Martha Wells

  "It is you who shame our people, assassin," Etienne said. "There is no greater treachery than to turn against your sovereign."

  Grim laughed, a bitter sound. "Humans are no better. It is only due to Magneric that I am here." Manny saw the queen flinch. Grim continued, "I recognize no sovereign but Queen Mab. It is for her glory that I take your lives now."

  Manny lifted the Fae silver dagger, wincing as it made his head swim. He drew on Remy's skills, took aim, and threw it at Grim's chest. He stared, shocked, as Grim just batted it away with his sword and the dagger flew across the room to bang harmlessly into the far wall. Adriana had said not to throw the dagger; Manny wished he had taken that advice.

  Grim stepped toward Etienne, smiling coldly, and lifted the point of his sword. "So much for the great swordsman Etienne," he said. Manny did the only thing he could: he ran forward, snatched up Amechanteur, and yelled, "Leave him alone!"

  In his heart, Manny didn't expect this to work. He hoped it would distract Grim, that Etienne would have time to recover, that some more Chevaliers would rush in and save them. But mostly he thought that Grim would kill everybody in the room, starting with him, and he couldn't just stand here and watch.

  Grim cocked his head, his smile still cold but a trace more amused. He advanced on Manny, lifting his blade, the ebony streaks along its edge swirling like oily droplets in water. "Your bravery is admirable, boy, but futile. Prepare to pass from this world."

  Manny saw Etienne groping blindly, desperately for a weapon. Cold with fear, Manny lifted Amechanteur.

  Then Manny heard the whisper. Grim must have heard it, too. He stilled, staring. "Manny," Etienne gasped. "It's the sword. Call on its power, boy!"

  Confused, Manny looked at the sword that was suddenly warm in his hands. It was like the first time he touched it, when it pulled him into the guard room to pick it up. "I don't know how—"

  Etienne grasped at the air, trying to locate Grim. "Manny, let the sword act through you!"

  Manny focused on Grim, who weaved back and forth like a snake. Then the images flooded into his mind. Everything around Manny faded: Grim, Etienne, the queen and her son, even the room itself.

  Manny lay in his bed in his parent's house, his father sitting at his bedside. His dad was smiling, his expression full of tenderness. "You're the only one who can solve your problems, son. I can show you the way, but only you can walk there."

  Then he was in his kitchen, watching his mother cook breakfast. "Always try to shine, Manny," she said, nodding at him, her eyebrows raised, as if what she was saying was as obvious as the nose on her face. "The world is brightest when people shine."

  Then he rode in the truck with Beto, who was slipping on his favorite pair of sunglasses. "No one tells you when you're a man, jefe. That's up to you."

  Then he was on his aunt's front porch watching his Tia Licha water her garden. "I love you, mijo, the way my roses love the rain and the sun."

  Then he was back in the royal bedchamber holding onto Amechanteur and facing Lord Grim. The crystal sword hummed. A powerful compulsion gripped Manny, like the sword was suddenly in charge of his body.

  Grim's expression had lost the cruel amusement and turned wary. The sword glowed, the fire inside the crystal calling light out of the dying candles, the gold and glass bowls and porcelain vases, the polished wood tables, illuminating the room.

  Grim bared his teeth and lunged, the blood red blade of his sword coming straight for Manny's face. And Amechanteur parried it, effortlessly flicking upward to deflect the metal blade. Grim snarled and attacked, coming at Manny with a flurry of cuts. In Manny's hands, Amechanteur parried them all, and didn't even seem to be moving fast. The crystal sword was just there to block Grim's blade, as if it knew where Grim meant to strike long before Grim did. Manny wasn't wielding the sword; it was wielding him.

  Is this the sword or Remy? Manny thought, wide-eyed as the sword fought Grim off as if a much stronger and faster person than Manny held it.

  Remy's voice in his head said, It sure isn't me! I couldn't do this.

  That settled it, this was somebody's else's magic, something in the sword itself.

  As the sword parried Grim's blade, the clash of Fae crystal against steel grew louder and louder, until it rang in Manny's ears like the roar of the wyrm. It was harder to keep hold of the hilt, as the sword yanked and dragged him back and forward. Sweat ran into his eyes and his arms ached with the strain. Gritting his teeth, Manny held on, knowing if he let go the spell would break and Grim would kill him, Etienne, the king and his mother and everybody else he could catch.

  The ringing grew louder, and Manny heard a voice in it, the sound forming words he couldn't understand. But Grim's furious expression said he knew what it meant all too well. He slashed at Manny and leapt toward the wall to repeat his spider trick. But he passed too close to where Etienne slumped on the floor. Etienne lurched upright and grabbed Grim's ankle.

  Grim staggered and almost fell, then kicked free, knocking Etienne aside. If Grim climbed across the wall, he could reach the king. Manny darted between Grim and the wall.

  Grim turned back toward Manny, his face twisted with fury. Snarling, he lunged. Amechanteur's ringing song hit a pitch that almost split Manny's eardrums as it parried Grim's sword and swung up and around. It moved fast, faster than thought, and Manny saw Grim try to lift his sword to counter. Amechanteur bashed his sword aside and sliced Grim's neck. Manny felt an instant of resistance, then the sword went still.

  Grim's body collapsed to the floor and his head landed beside it. His blood, black and steaming, stained the marble floor.

  The sudden silence was like a slap. Manny stared, caught between horror and relief. The room seemed to sway and his knees were suddenly weak, as if Amechanteur had leeched all the energy out of him.

  He lowered the crystal sword to the floor, and pried his numb hands off the hilt. His head pounded and his ears still rang with Amechanteur's powerful song. He stumbled around what was left of Grim and sank down beside Etienne where the elf lay sprawled on the floor.

  Etienne's eyes were barely open, his breathing harsh and strained, but he reached for Manny's hand. Manny held on tightly, dimly aware of shouting in the distance and boots pounding down the corridor outside the room. Then darkness descended and Manny slumped to the floor.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Manny woke slowly, feeling bleary and confused. He lay on something so soft he sank into the mattress, far softer than his bed at home. That was when he remembered he wasn't at home.

  He sat up abruptly, then grabbed his aching head, groaning. Blinking, he looked around, wondering where he was.

  It was a big room, with blue and gold wallpaper and a marble floor. There was a marble fireplace, blue and white china vases filled with flowers, and the paintings had gold frames. The furniture was richly polished wood with spindly legs and bits painted with gold. Or maybe it was all real gold, because this had to be a room in the palace. Three tall windows in the far wall let in bright morning sunlight.

  Manny struggled to the edge of the deep feather bed and clambered to the floor. He was wearing a long nightshirt and all his cuts had been cleaned, though the bruises still ached like crazy. Gingerly he picked his way across the gold marble and the silky rugs to the big windows, and pushed the heavy velvet curtains aside.

  Yes, this was definitely the palace. He was looking down from a third floor window on a long garden courtyard with rows of trees, flower beds, and a fountain, surrounded by the light-colored stone wings of the building. A couple of gardeners worked in the flower beds and palace guards walked along the colonnade next to the building. Everything looked calm, nothing was on fire, so Manny guessed everything was okay. But where was everybody?

  He turned away from the window to go look for the others, even if he had to do it in his night shirt. Then he saw Adriana, lying asleep on a couch against the far wall.

  Relief washed over Manny in a wave. He ran to her side. "A
driana!"

  She jerked awake, blinking, and sat up. She was wearing the same clothes, but the shirt under her doublet looked new and clean and a little too big for her, and he could see the edges of the bandages just under her collar. The bruises around her throat looked terrible, like a black and purple ring.

  Manny found himself staring at her face. He had noticed before that her features were sharper, her face more angular than his mother's, but now her eyes were lighter then he remembered, her lips not so full. The transformation he had seen in the palace courtyard hadn't been a trick of the light; Adriana didn't look like his mother at all, had never looked like his mother. The whole thing had been in his head.

  In a voice that sounded husky and strained, she said, "Manny, it's so good to see you awake. How do you feel?"

  Manny tried to stop staring. He wasn't going to tell her; he didn't want to sound crazy. "I'm okay, I guess. What about you? You don't sound very good."

  "I sound better than I did yesterday, believe me." She touched her throat.

  "What about Etienne and Gaudulfus? They were hurt really bad." He held his breath, waiting for the answer.

  "Alive," she said. "Gravely injured, yes, but the palace physicians said they would recover." Her smile was wry. "They are both very stubborn men. Far too stubborn to die."

  "Oh. That's good to know." Manny let out his breath and sat down on the rug. He had come to think of Gaudulfus and Etienne as part of his family. He especially liked Gaudulfus and felt the world would have been a much poorer place without him. As for Etienne... Does he not look like my dad anymore? If he'd imagined that resemblance too... Maybe Tia Licha was right and I do need to talk to somebody.

  Adriana watched him worriedly. "Are you sure you're well, Manny?"

  He looked up at her. Even though she no longer looked like his mother, she was still Adriana and she was still his best friend. "I'm just really glad to see you. It's like I'm seeing you for the first time."

  Adriana smiled and sat beside him. She put her arm around his shoulders and said, "I'm delighted to see you, too."

  Glancing around, Manny said, "We're in the palace, so I guess that means everything's okay?"

  "Magneric was discovered trying to leave the city disguised as a soldier. He's been arrested and thrown into the Foundry." Adriana shook her head. "He claims that the murder of the king was not part of his plan, that it was only a scheme to unite all of Aquitania, humans and Sidhe alike, against Albion by making it appear that agents of Queen Gloriana had attacked the palace. But one of Vasseur's men revealed that Magneric meant for the king and queen to be kidnapped, to spark a war against Albion. They say Magneric pledged to help Morrigan lead a rebellion against Gloriana. Once Morrigan reclaimed her throne, the royal family would be released and Magneric would be hailed as the hero who secured their rescue and maintained the peace."

  "Oh, man," muttered Manny.

  Adriana nodded. "He's a wily one, but too clever again by half. Who will be believed, and if Magneric will rise or fall over this, no one knows yet."

  Manny supposed kidnapping was less evil than murder, but it was still pretty evil. There was one thing Adriana hadn't said, and Manny asked worriedly, "Where's Morrigan? In the Foundry, too?"

  Adriana sighed. "She escaped, Manny. The Chevaliers and the Minister's Guards have been united under Captain Corvus for the time being, and are searching the city for her. But they think she has fled Aquitania."

  Manny took a deep breath, trying to be okay with that. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, expecting Morrigan to be hiding under the bed or in a closet. But if he was trapped in this world, he had the feeling that's what would happen. "So the king and the queen are okay? Grim didn't hurt them?"

  "They were unharmed, though several guards and servants gave their lives to slow Grim down until Etienne reached him." Her expression was very serious. "And their sacrifice would have been for nothing, if you hadn't been there, Manny."

  "It wasn't me, it was the sword, Amechanteur." Manny had a vivid memory of the sword coming to life under his hands, of the tremor through the hilt when it had sliced Grim's head off. He shuddered and scrubbed his hands on his night shirt. He wasn't sorry about Grim, who had killed who knew how many people. But he wasn't sure how he felt about being the one holding the sword when it had happened. Not so good, really. "It just took over. If it hadn't, we'd all be dead, but... It was creepy."

  Adriana nodded thoughtfully. "That's what Etienne said." She added, "Not that it was 'creepy,' but that the sword seemed to take you over. As if it responded to something in you."

  If there was something in him that made magic swords cut people's heads off, Manny thought he might want it removed, even if it had come in handy this time.

  "And that's not the only thing it did." Adriana patted his cheek.

  "What do you mean?"

  Adriana stood and walked over to a dressing table. She picked up a hand mirror and held it out. "Take a look." She was smiling.

  Puzzled, Manny took the mirror and looked into it. Then he blinked, startled. The face in the mirror was haggard and had the worst case of bedhead he'd ever seen, but it was a young elf boy's reflection. He touched his face. "I'm not—Remy's not—a goblin anymore."

  Adriana said, "No, you're not. You're just a simple elf again. Well, maybe not so simple."

  "Amechanteur did that, too?" Manny added, "That sword should come with a manual." He glanced up at Adriana's puzzled frown. "That's a set of instructions."

  Adriana nodded absently and continued, "The queen has sent for Lord Merlin from Albion to help in the search for Morrigan, and I think Etienne means to ask him about the sword."

  "Lord Merlin? Merlin the Magician?" Manny stared. Okay, that may be cooler than anything else that's happened yet.

  She smiled. "Yes, the greatest wizard of Albion's court. You know of him?"

  Manny nodded. "My world has stories about him. It's kind of hard to explain. But I was thinking..." Not only would meeting Merlin be awesome, but a wizard might be just what Manny needed. This could be it, this could be my chance to go home. "Could we ask him something else? Since he's going to be here, and everything."

  Adriana understood immediately. "You want to ask him how you got here, and if you can return to your place and Remy to his. Yes, I think we should ask him for help." She nodded to herself. "And fortunately, the king owes you a great favor."

  Manny sighed in relief. "Where's Etienne? I'd really like to see him."

  "That's good," replied Adriana, "because he's eager to see you as well."

  ****

  Etienne and Gaudulfus were recovering from their wounds in an adjacent palace suite. Adriana and Manny arrived at the doorway as a palace servant backed out with a tray.

  Gaudulfus was shouting, "For the last time, I don't need broth! I require something of more substance! Considerably more substance! Bring me a decent meal!"

  Etienne was sitting up in bed. He glanced at Manny and smiled. Manny thought, I was right. Etienne didn't look like his father anymore.

  "Go in, Manny." Adriana gave him a nudge. "The physicians didn't forbid visitors."

  Manny stepped into the room. Etienne's hair was dark brown, not blond, and his eyes were hazel, not pale blue. But his features were still strangely familiar, as if Manny had somehow known the Chevalier's true face but only now was able to see it. "Hi," was all Manny could manage as he stopped at Etienne's bedside.

  "Hello yourself," Etienne said, reaching out to squeeze Manny's shoulder.

  "So good to see you up and around, lad," said Gaudulfus, walking stiffly to scoop Manny up. He gave him a great bear hug, then winced and put him back down.

  "Stop that, you great oaf," said Etienne. "You'll open your wounds again and bleed all over the costly bedding."

  Gaudulfus snorted. "You're looking quite handsome these days." He gently thumped Manny's nose.

  "Oh, yeah," said Manny. "It was the sword. It changed me."
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  "No, lad," replied Gaudulfus with a quiet smile, "I don't believe that was the sword at all."

  He means I ungoblinated myself—ungoblinated Remy—by being a good person, Manny thought. It was a good thing to hear. He noticed Etienne looking intently at him. "You think it's pretty cool that I'm an elf again, huh?"

  Etienne shook his head. "That's not why I'm looking at you."

  "It isn't?" Manny reached up to touch his own face. "Is there something wrong with the way I look?"

  "No, it's not that at all," replied Etienne, leaning forward as if to whisper. Manny bent close to him.

  "It's just that I've never before seen a Blade Singer," Etienne said.

  Chapter Thirty

  Three days later, Merlin was due to arrive on a special skyship that would dock in the palace courtyard garden. Manny stood outside to wait for it, with Adriana, Etienne, and Gaudulfus. The official greeting party, which included Captain Corvus, the Captain of the Palace Guard, and some other important people, waited a short distance away.

  The last few days Manny had been mostly resting, hanging out with Adriana in their rooms or the palace garden, or keeping Etienne and Gaudulfus company. It wasn't boring at all, because he got to hear about past battles and adventures, and he got to talk to Rabican, who had lots of funny stories, and to meet Captain Corvus, and their other visitors.

  The palace servants were nice to them, and the food they were served was really good, though it came on very delicate china that Manny was terrified he was going to break. Manny had even gotten presented to the king and his mother, and got called a hero and formally thanked. It was all really neat, except they hadn't caught Morrigan yet, and Manny didn't sleep well at night thinking about that.

  Manny wasn't sure what to expect, if the skyship was going to be a blimp like the one that came to football games sometimes, or something far stranger. When it finally appeared, he bounced with excitement.