The Heartwood Crown

by Matt Mikalatos

  She looked away. “Or so I should have been, if things had been different.” She looked back to Darius, her gaze softening. “Perhaps I did not understand some things, like your Madeline.”

  Darius leaned back in his chair, struck mute with wonder. Not only was Mrs. Raymond Mary Patricia Wall, she was married to the necromancer king of Pastisia. He couldn’t have been more surprised if Hanali had announced that he was going to wear only simple brown robes from now on. It went against everything he thought he knew about this woman. He had assumed her to be merely a sort of servant, doing a drudge job in the Sunlit Lands because of some deal she had made years before. But that was not the case at all. She had some other reason to be here, and Darius had no idea what it could be.

  Mrs. Raymond stood, moving out of the dining room before Darius could say another word. “We will dock in Pastisia soon,” she said over her shoulder. “I will send servants to dress you appropriately.”

  “Wait, your servants?” Darius asked, his voice full of wonder.

  “You should have seen the ceremony when they welcomed us aboard,” Hanali said, delighted.

  “A good woman,” Break Bones said, licking his fingers. “Strong. Forthright in her opinions. And it appears she also hates Hanali. I say again, a good woman. A pity she is married to a necromancer.”

  20

  FELES EX MACHINA

  I will teach them about the fruits that are good to eat, and I will show them where the wild berries grow. I will show them the cool places to lie on hot days, and the shady spots in the river that are best for catching fish.

  FROM “THE GOOD GARDENER,” AN ALUVOREAN STORY

  “Okay, David, spill,” Jason said. “You seem pretty chummy with the Alu-whatever-eans, so did you know they were about to betray us and turn me over to the Elenil?”

  “Whoa,” David said. “You know me better than that, bro. I was fighting them right alongside you. Or I should say, I was fighting them while you were sitting nearby, not doing much.”

  “He speaks truth,” Baileya said, “yet does not answer the question.”

  David took a deep breath. “No, man, I had no idea. You know I wouldn’t send you off to your doom without fighting every single soldier along the way.”

  “Good enough for me,” Jason said. It was, too. David had been a good friend to him back in Far Seeing, and Jason had never known him to be anything other than honest.

  The Aluvoreans Lin and Lamisap had been suddenly eager to help them with various things, as if they hadn’t just tried to turn them over to the Elenil. Lin had called for two urudap—animals that looked like a cross between a yak and a shrub—to pull Gilenyia through the forest, and a third that Madeline could ride on. Even with the Queen’s Breath on her neck, she was weak. She could breathe better, could talk better, but she was tired. Slow. Jason was reminded that she was sick whenever he looked at her. No, not sick. Dying.

  The urudap were slow-moving, intensely stupid animals. One of them had walked face-first into a tree and then stood there, unable to figure out where to go, until Lin grabbed it by the scruff and turned its head away from the trunk. You would have thought she’d made the tree disappear by the shocked expression on the urudap’s face.

  Lin had offered to lead them to Patra Koja. “No,” Madeline said. “After you tried to turn us over to the Elenil? We will find the way ourselves.”

  “Please,” Lin had begged. “Your presence here . . . Lamisap and I have risked much to bring you. Please let us help you, please.”

  Madeline had never been as hard as she needed to be in moments like this. Her anger wavered, and she agreed to let Lin join them. “You move ahead as our scout, though,” she said.

  Jason and Baileya had purposely cornered David and fallen back from the others so they could have this conversation. Jason regretted it a little now, because of course David wouldn’t betray him like that. But he had needed to hear it said aloud.

  David said, “I should catch up with Madeline. She and Shula are going to have to move Gilenyia, and . . . and it looks like they might need help.”

  Jason had hurt David’s feelings. Of course he had. Jason awkwardly grabbed David’s wrist, preventing him from leaving just yet. “David. Hey, I didn’t—”

  David grinned, then hugged him. “We’re all good, Jason. Go slay that dragon or whatever.”

  “Slay? I’m pretty sure I’m just supposed to talk to him. Which is good, because I’m more of a talker than a slayer.”

  “The Elenil will be coming to look for Gilenyia soon,” David said. “You’ll want to get moving.”

  “Thanks,” Jason said. They clasped forearms.

  “War Party, to war!” David said.

  “Three Musketeers, unite!” Jason said, laughing.

  David disappeared down the track made by the urudap. “I still don’t know why Kekoa wanted us to pretend to be French dudes!”

  Jason watched him go. The reminder of Kekoa made him feel bad. They hadn’t even tried to connect with him yet. And it wasn’t just Kekoa, who could more or less take care of himself—Ruth was with him too, and she was all of nine years old or something. And Kekoa had sent word asking for help, which had to mean he was in pretty serious trouble. Jason felt torn that they hadn’t found a way to get out there and bring Kekoa and Ruth back. Not that they hadn’t been busy, but still. Something about the whole thing reminded him of Nightfall, and it stuck him in the gut like a knife. That poor Scim kid, killed by the Elenil right in front of him, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. He shook himself. He hoped Kekoa and Ruth were okay.

  Baileya squeezed his shoulder. He looked up at her, still amazed that this tall, powerful woman was his fiancée. “The Elenil,” she said.

  “Yeah, yeah, ‘Faster, Wu Song.’ It’s time to run,” he said. She laughed.

  “Delightful Glitter Lady has strayed into the underbrush. I will retrieve her.”

  “Thank you.”

  She flashed a glorious smile at him. “This will be a story of great value, Wu Song.”

  Sure. If they managed to survive it. Of course, among Baileya’s people, that just meant all her stories would go to her people. The story of her death would care for the people of her family by buying them food and shelter. None of which changed the fact that he had no idea where they were going. Unlike Madeline, he didn’t have mystical knowledge, or even a very good sense of direction.

  Lamisap came to him, hesitating, then running her hand through her mossy hair. “Can I be of service, friend?”

  Friend. Ha! And after she had just tried to turn him over to the Elenil. “How does one find a dragon?” he asked, taking on the exact mannerisms of his history teacher back home. “Yes. Does one look for smoke in the woods? Or merely cry out, ‘O dragon, where are you?’” He raised his eyebrows at Lamisap, as if expecting an answer.

  “I do not know this word, dragon,” she said.

  “I thought the magic of the Sunlit Lands translated everything for everyone.”

  “For the Aluvoreans, it is different. We must learn the Elenil language.”

  “Oh yeah.” He had forgotten that the magic of the Sunlit Lands made him speak flawless Elenil. He wondered if there were words he couldn’t say. Like in Chinese, words like guanxi or lihai didn’t really translate. He wanted to experiment. Even though this wasn’t the time. “Effervescent,” he said. Hmmm. Of course they had a word for effervescent. “Fop.” Nope, that seemed to work fine. “Antidisestablishmentarianism.” He looked at the Aluvorean woman. She had no idea what he was saying, but he definitely felt like the right words were coming. “Never mind. The question, Llama Nap—”

  “Lamisap.”

  “That’s what I said. The question, L-person, is how we find this Arakam.”

  “Arakam? Oh, that is easy enough. You need only decide if you would rather brave the kaska shram or the raskan . . . for Arakam lives near the great allae to the north.”

  “Ah,” Jason said. “I have no idea what you’re sayi
ng, but I am going to guess that you mean whether we want to go through a lollipop forest or a grove of money trees, and that the dragon lives near an amusement park to the north. Does that sound about right?”

  “I do not know these words,” Lamisap said.

  “Yeah, I didn’t think so.” He called for Baileya. “Do you want to brave the kaska shram or the raskan?”

  She emerged from the forest holding Delightful Glitter Lady in her arms. “I like the sound of the kaska shram. It is more poetic. ‘Baileya, Wu Song, and the Kaska Shram.’ Yes. It is a fine name for a story.”

  Jason nodded, turned back to Lamisap. “So. What does the kaska shram entail?”

  “The carnivorous forest, which devours all who enter.”

  “Huh. Baileya, we’re gonna go with the raskan. What is the raskan?”

  “The fields of the firethorns,” Lamisap said. “The thorns catch upon your flesh, then they roast you with their flames so that your body may be used as fertilizer for new growth.”

  “Well, it’s no lollipop forest, I’ll give you that,” Jason said. “You better give me directions to both of them, just in case.”

  “You have but to walk north to enter the carnivorous forest. Or if you prefer the firethorns, turn to the east when you reach the carnivorous forest, and when you find the firethorns, pass north. Whichever way you—”

  “Wait. How will I know I’ve found the firethorns?”

  “When you see the fires,” she said simply.

  “Maybe I should be taking notes,” Jason said. “Okay, so after I get eaten and/or burned to death, where do I go from there?”

  “Follow the river north until you come to a great waterfall. Arakam lives beneath it.”

  “Got all that?” he asked Baileya.

  But Baileya was watching the woods again. The last time she had done that, they were being secretly surrounded by the Elenil. She put Dee on the ground, and the miniature rhino came running to Jason. He scooped her up.

  “What is it, Baileya?”

  “Not the Elenil,” she said. She narrowed her eyes. “Nor my brother.”

  Lamisap froze. “Roots and stone,” she said. “It is a Zhanin. But how did he get past the sentinel plants?”

  Baileya spun the two halves of her spear and connected them into one. “Wu Song. Take Delightful Glitter Lady and run to the north. I will come for you.”

  He didn’t doubt that. She always had. “Okay, carnivorous forest it is,” he said. She didn’t answer, a sure sign that she had given her full attention to whatever was coming toward them. “I’ll take the plant lady with me.”

  Lamisap didn’t look well. Her green color was fading, and she had fallen to her knees. What was going on? He grabbed her by the arm, yanked her to her feet. Delightful Glitter Lady started twisting in his arms, fighting him. “Dee, calm down,” he said, but then she was on the ground, running away from him and toward a new, crashing sound coming from the woods.

  Two Zhanin warriors strode from the woods, dressed in their strange green leather, their hair tied and knotted at the back of their heads. As Dee ran toward them, the magic that kept her small wore off, and she rolled over one of the warriors like a boulder.

  “C’mon, c’mon,” Jason said, trying to get the Aluvorean moving. He felt bad not staying to fight, but we all need to be aware of what we do best.

  The rough voice of the Zhanin soldier filled the entire clearing. “I come seeking Wu Song and Madeline Oliver. The Zhanin have found them guilty of creating an imbalance in magic. They must pay with their lives.”

  The Aluvorean woman had collapsed. Jason pulled her behind a large log. The green had almost completely faded from her skin, leaving her an increasingly pale, sickly white, like a plant without sunlight. The moss that made up her hair began to fall out in clumps. The Zhanin could turn off magic. That’s why Dee was the size of an Earth rhino, and it must be why Lamisap was struggling to stay upright.

  “They are not here,” Baileya said, holding her weapon across her chest.

  “Do not lie to me, Kakri woman. We track them by the residue of their magic. The boy has a binding agreement with the Elenil, and we can see it. The girl has broken hers, but there is still a scent of her magic on her.”

  Baileya raised her voice, making Jason flinch. “Do not think I am some magic-empowered coward like the Elenil. My skills as a warrior are hand won and honed daily. I will not fall before your blade merely because you remove all magic from the area.”

  “I have no quarrel with you.”

  “Yet you attempt to murder my betrothed.”

  The weather-beaten face of the warrior went suddenly impassive. “It is the law, Kakri woman. I am not judge but only the one who metes out the penalties the judge demands.”

  “Can I appeal to the Supreme Court?” Jason called, immediately regretting it. The Zhanin man looked his way, and so did Baileya, a look of exasperated anger on her face.

  “So he is here,” the Zhanin said, and stepped toward him, a massive cutlass in one muscled hand.

  Baileya moved to intercept him. “Run, Wu Song, why are you still here? Run!” The Zhanin tried to bully past her, but she planted one end of her spear and used it as a mini pole vault, slamming both feet into his chest and knocking him backward. She landed easily on her feet. “I warned you, Zhanin. It has been many years since I was bested in one-on-one combat.”

  Lamisap groaned, her eyelids fluttering. Jason pulled her arm over his shoulder. “I think we should run. Do you think we should run? Yes? Okay.” He dragged her into the woods. He wasn’t sure how far he could carry her, and he wasn’t making much headway. The path he was forging would be easy to follow, too. A massive crashing came from beyond the meadow, followed by enraged bellowing from an out-of-control rhino. He snickered at the thought of one Zhanin warrior trying to stop Dee.

  About thirty yards into their journey, Lamisap started to regain consciousness. By fifty her color started to return. Another ten feet and she was standing on her own. She rested a hand against a tree trunk, gathering herself. “You stopped to help me when I betrayed you,” she said.

  “My dad always said I was a big dummy. Plus, I’ve got a weak spot for green people. The Green Giant. The Hulk. The Green Power Ranger. Uh . . . the Grinch. I don’t know, all the green people.”

  “I will help you pass the kaska shram,” she said.

  “Oooh, I almost forgot the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

  “I do not know many of these words.”

  “How do the Elenil have words for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? I’m gonna have to ask Hanali about this.” A shout and the clash of steel came from behind them. “Okay, we better get moving.”

  “This way,” Lamisap said, and started racing through the trees.

  Jason tried to keep up, but the branches kept whipping him in the face, and the ground was uneven. He was nowhere near as fast as Lamisap. She seemed to move as easily as a deer, leaping and weaving through the narrow spaces between trees without a moment’s thought. Soon he had completely lost her.

  She noticed that he couldn’t keep up and waited for him. “I will go ahead and make sure the way is safe. Follow me as quickly as you are able.” She disappeared into the trees.

  In less than three minutes he had no idea which way to go anymore. He had followed in the direction she had gone, but there was no path, and she didn’t leave any evidence of her passing. He tried looking for broken stems and footprints and all the stuff he had seen in movies, but it didn’t work. “No bread crumbs, either,” he muttered to himself. He decided shouting was probably not a good idea, and he was out of breath anyway. He put his hands on his head and tried to get his breath back, while walking vaguely in the direction Lamisap had gone.

  “I wouldn’t go any farther that way if I were you,” a voice said.

  Jason looked around. He didn’t see anyone. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

  “There’s a Zhanin just out of earshot there. There were three of them, you k
now. One is fighting your unicorn, and another is fighting the Kakri woman. A third one is just ahead, waiting for you. He already has your Aluvorean friend.”

  “I barely know her,” Jason said. “Although I have to admit I know what she looks like, unlike my present company. For all I know, you could be an invisible Zhanin warrior trying to trick me.”

  “How would that trick you? If I were invisible and already standing beside you, would I not kill you and be done?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe you’re the dumbest of the three Zhanin. Ever think of that?”

  “Hmm,” said the voice. “Getting bored now.”

  “Wait, where are you?”

  “Humans,” the voice said disdainfully. “Never looking up.”

  Jason looked into the branches of the tree above him. A tortoiseshell cat lounged on a sun-dappled branch. The tip of her tail twitched gently, and her eyes were closed in that I-might-be-napping sort of mystery face cats put on sometime.

  “Are you the cat, or should I keep looking?”

  The cat’s eyes opened halfway. “Excuse you. I am not a cat.”

  Um. Jason looked around again. Nothing but trees. “I can see your mouth moving when you talk, though.”

  “Yes, yes, I’m the one talking, but I am not a cat.”

  “Oh.” Okay. Well, the Elenil were notoriously bad at animal classifications. They called Delightful Glitter Lady a unicorn, and they called unicorns rhinoceroses. “So you’re a . . . tiger? Lion?”

  The cat moved her eyes to look at him with such a slow, deliberate intensity that he could feel exactly how annoyed she was to have to explain this to him. “Are lions cats?”

  “Big cats. Yeah, I guess.”

  “Tigers?”

  “Sure.”

  “I am not a cat. Therefore I cannot be a lion or a tiger. QED.”

  “QED?”

  “Quod erat demonstrandum.”

  “I know, I know. From math class.”

  “From Latin,” the cat said dismissively.

  Oh hey! The Elenil magic hadn’t translated the Latin.