The thought of climbing those stairs in this dress did not sit well with Madeline. The stairway was narrow enough that her dress would brush against the wall on one side and hang over the precipice on the other.
Madeline said, “I don’t think I can climb in this dress without falling. Maybe they could come down here and talk.”
The bird studied the tower. “It is not so high.”
“We don’t have wings,” Jason said. “What we do have is a rather distressing relationship with gravity.”
“Very well,” the bird said. It paused and looked at Jason. “You carry a magical artifact with you?”
Jason, surprised, said, “You mean my pudding bracelet?”
“No,” the bird said. “A dial. For animals.”
Madeline furrowed her brow. Jason had mentioned the dial, but Madeline had tried to convince him not to carry it around after he had accidentally enlarged Delightful Glitter Lady in the marketplace and crushed a vendor’s stall. Delightful Glitter Lady had been trying to get her mouth around a pink fruit of some kind. She had eaten about forty of them before Jason had gotten her shrunk down again.
“It’s for my unicorn,” he said, pulling it from a multicolored pocket. “It doesn’t work on birds.”
“Nonsense,” the bird said. “Only touch it to my beak.”
Jason did so. The bird told him to turn the dial to the right, and he did. The bird was now the size of a two-person glider. “Hold my tail,” it said, “but do not let go until your feet are on the ground.”
“Maybe I’ll take the stairs,” Jason said, but he put his hand on the tail next to Madeline’s.
The bird flapped three, four, times and then lifted slowly. It swept up and around the tower, and the ground fell away. They were over the trees in a moment, then making their way in lazy, looping circles toward the top. Something magical was at work—holding the bird’s tail seemed to require no effort at all. Madeline’s hand didn’t ache, her arm didn’t feel like it was holding any weight. She felt only exhilaration at flying and excitement to see the world stretched out below her.
“Your hat!” Madeline called. The horrible top hat had been swept away by the wind, its bells chiming merrily as it spun toward the ground.
“We’ll get it later if we survive!” Jason shouted, but by then they had landed, the bird making a windstorm that swept over the assembled Elenil on the tower’s top. The view from here was astounding. Distant mountain ranges rose out of a misty sea of evergreen trees. Madeline couldn’t imagine they were still inside a building, but distant, wispy clouds, on second look, appeared to be enormous columns, larger and taller than the tower they stood upon. It was as if an entire nation had been shoehorned into a single enormous room.
Arranged before them were eight Elenil: the magistrates. Madeline hadn’t met or even seen them before this moment. They wore, if it was possible, more clothing than the typical Elenil. More layers, certainly, and their collars crept up the back of their necks and furled out into giant fins behind their heads. In the center sat a ninth magistrate who was completely covered in a thin gold cloth, draped as though over a piece of furniture. Even the face was obscured. This figure stood when they let go of the bird’s tail.
There was a strange Scim standing near them, his hair in a ponytail. He wore Elenil clothing: long sleeves, gloves, a waistcoat, and trousers. He didn’t have tusks like many Scim, but instead had small, regular, white teeth. He stood straighter than other Scim Madeline had seen, and his small black eyes watched her with something like mirth.
On the floor in front of him was a second Scim. This one was in chains. His greasy hair fell around his face, and black swirls of tattoos covered his bare chest and arms. He grinned, and his yellow, crooked teeth and jutting tusks made Madeline shiver. His eyes fell on Jason and a low, guttural laugh came from his wide mouth. “Wu Song,” the chained Scim said. “Then this must be your friend Madeline Oliver. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
Something about the way he said it conveyed a different message. The words were polite, but Madeline could see from his face that he meant her harm.
“Uh-oh,” Jason said. He grabbed Madeline’s hand, then snatched hold of the bird’s tail again. “Fly, fly!” he shouted.
But the bird didn’t move, and the Scim’s booming laugh shook Madeline to the bones.
17
THE MAGISTRATES
Elenil rule from Far Seeing,
in lands by our master bequeathed.
The Majestic One keeps all in his sight,
Elenil first in the warmth of his light.
FROM “THE ORDERING OF THE WORLD,” AN ELENIL STORY
Jason yanked on the bird’s tail feathers several times. “Stop,” the bird said and knocked him backward with a well-placed wing stroke. Grumbling to himself, Jason pulled out his dial (which apparently worked on birds, too!) and shrank the bird to parrot size. He paused, then turned the dial all the way to the left and the bird shrank again, to the size of a sparrow.
“Now try to knock me over with your wings,” Jason said.
Madeline’s hand was on his arm. He straightened his jacket and tie.
“You were neither invited nor summoned,” one of the magistrates said. He wore a blue robe and a small gold circlet on his forehead. “You may leave us now.”
Jason crossed his arms. “Yeah, well, the magic bird says no. Besides, were you invited or summoned?”
The Elenil stiffened. “Magistrates are not summoned!”
Jason shrugged. “Invited, then?”
“Certainly not. A time was set, and I was made aware of it. I arrived at the appointed time.”
“That’s how I got here,” Jason said. “I heard about the meeting, then I came to the meeting.”
“Enough,” the archon said. At least, Jason assumed he was the archon. The guy in charge. The boss of the Elenil. He was completely covered by a gold sheet. He looked like a ghost from a poorly done Halloween costume, minus the eye holes. Only fancier, because he was golden. In Jason’s experience, the guy with the goofiest outfit might just be in charge.
The archon continued, “We have gathered with a specific purpose, and it is not to banter with children or our lessers.”
Break Bones sneered at those words.
“Let us do this quickly, that I may return to the festivities,” said another Elenil, this one in a close-fitting silver sheath, his blond hair braided, a wide hat on his head.
“We shall take the necessary time,” the archon said. “Do not worry, Basileus Prinel. Your party will await you when you are finished here.”
“What’s the deal with the weird Scim?” Jason asked.
Prinel bristled. “You forget yourself, human. Show the proper respect. Would you care to be sent back to the human lands?”
Madeline gave him a warning look, but Jason put his hands in his pockets and said, “I’ve lived up to my end of the agreement. It never said I had to be respectful of the Elenil.”
“You agreed to be in service to us,” one of the magistrates hissed. “Respect is demanded as part of your service.”
“Nope,” Jason said. “I never agreed to that. I’m here in service to Madeline.” He bowed his head in her direction. “All respect to you, milady.”
A moment of furious whispering broke out among the magistrates. “Show us your bracelet,” one of them said.
Jason pulled up his sleeve, and a magistrate studied his tattoo carefully. “The boy speaks the truth. No pattern here suggests the Elenil are even mentioned in his terms.”
Break Bones laughed heartily. “Oh, how I like you, Wu Song. It pains me that I have promised to deliver your friend’s corpse and utterly destroy you.”
“Promised to what?” Madeline cried.
“Long story,” Jason said.
“Hanali will face brave punishments for this unorthodox recruiting,” Prinel said. “Thenody, what say you?”
Jason racked his brain. He remembered the name Thenody. Han
ali had specifically said to remember that one because . . . Oh yeah. Because that was the archon’s name.
“Enough,” Archon Thenody said from beneath his golden sheet. “I have said it once, will you make me say it again?”
All fell silent.
Thenody sat down in a high-backed chair. “Bring Hanali forward.”
A door opened in the floor of the tower, and Hanali ascended to the platform, followed by the Knight of the Mirror. Jason got the idea that the knight’s presence was some sort of threat. The knight’s sword was buckled to his belt . . . No one else in this place carried a weapon. Hanali wore a slight, peaceful smile on his face. Beside them came a small girl, no more than eight years old, who wore a ragged dress and a long swath of cloth wrapped around her eyes.
Hanali turned his face toward Jason so the other Elenil could not see him, gave a fierce, furious scowl, and mouthed, Say nothing.
Hanali bowed. “Your most august Excellencies.”
“You are young,” Thenody said. “But surely not so young that you would bring a human into the Sunlit Lands without professions of loyalty.”
Hanali’s gaze flicked to Jason. “An oversight, Excellency. It shall not happen again. It must be admitted that he is, at least, entertaining?”
Thenody sighed. “Perhaps he does bring the frustrations of childhood into our presence once again, after all these centuries.”
Prinel spoke up again. “We have heard rumors among the people that this girl, Madeline Oliver, has been prophesied to bring justice at last to the Scim. Is this true?”
“True that you heard it, my lord? I can only assume yes.”
“Do not play games, Hanali. It is well known that you invent prophecies for your recruits.”
Hanali flinched as if struck.
“Please,” Prinel said. “Spare us the theater. How many girls have you brought to us saying they were messiahs or saviors, warriors or soldiers, who would bring justice to the Sunlit Lands?”
Hanali studied his gloved hands. “No more than ten.” An outraged gasp came from the magistrates. “Ah, wait. I’ve forgotten the twins from the Congo. Twelve, then.”
Jason said, “What, only girls can save the Sunlit Lands?”
Hanali’s eyes bugged wide, his scowl sharp enough to slice a cement block in half. He mouthed, Be silent.
Prinel, sarcasm dripping from his voice, said, “Hanali. Twelve is the full number, I assume. You did not do the same thing with your male recruits?”
“In my defense, Your Grace, you did ask how many girls . . .”
“Very well, how many boys have you brought and done the same? Said they were the ones who would save the world? Or bring justice to it?”
Hanali cleared his throat. “Thirty-eight.”
“That’s fifty,” Jason said.
Hanali gave him an exasperated glare.
Madeline said, “So there’s not a prophecy about me?” She looked relieved. Almost ecstatic. But Madeline had told Jason the storyteller had prophesied the same thing.
The magistrates clumped together in a tight group, murmuring among themselves. The strange Scim stood to the side, keeping a careful eye on Break Bones. Hanali folded his hands across his stomach. The magic bird fluttered over to the girl with the blindfold and whispered in her ear. The Knight of the Mirror produced a small handheld mirror from somewhere and gazed at himself with rapt attention. Wow. He really was conceited.
“If there’s no prophecy,” Madeline whispered, “maybe they’ll let us go home. Maybe they’ll still let me breathe and send us home.”
Hanali raised an eyebrow. “The Elenil follow their agreements to the letter, miss. They will not return you before the human year passes.”
“Are you in trouble, Hanali?” she whispered.
Jason snorted. “These people can’t get dressed for a party without talking to a prophet. Hanali will be fine.”
Madeline punched him in the arm. “Show a little compassion. He could really be in danger.”
The magistrates straightened and resumed their places. Archon Thenody spoke first. “Before the magistrates take further action, Hanali, son of Vivi, we shall consult with an oracle.”
Jason felt smug. “Told you.”
“However, we will not allow Madeline Oliver to be bid upon tonight. We have . . . certain concerns that our friend Sun’s Dance has brought to us.”
Hanali inclined his head. “I eagerly anticipate hearing his thoughts.”
The strange Scim took hold of his lapels with two massive grey hands. “I have heard a rumbling among my people—the Scim in this city. It is said the Black Skulls seek a human girl who cannot breathe. It is said they wish to remove her from the Court of Far Seeing.”
Break Bones spit at Sun’s Dance. “Traitor.”
Prinel sneered at Break Bones. “Traitor? Because he has walked out of the darkness and into the light? Because he has left behind a life of poverty? He rejected the foolish excuses of your kind and became something better. Do not judge him for it.”
The girl with the blindfold spoke. “Did I hear Break Bones threaten Madeline Oliver? Is that sufficient evidence the Scim seek her death?”
Break Bones laughed. “That is a promise I made to Wu Song and has nothing to do with my people.”
Madeline raised her eyebrows and looked to Jason. He laughed nervously. “Long story,” he said again.
“A story we must needs hear,” Prinel said.
Jason sighed. This whole not-telling-lies thing was getting him in a lot of trouble. “I snuck in through a magic door and talked to Break Bones. He said he would kill Madeline before he came to kill me.”
“How did he know of Madeline at all?” Hanali said, his voice high and tight. His eye twitched. Jason hadn’t seen that before, and he thought he had angered Hanali in every way possible.
Jason blushed. “I told him I’d come to the Sunlit Lands to protect someone. He asked her name, and I told him.”
Break Bones roared with laughter. “He is a strange little beast, is he not? I shall raise a glass in his honor when he is no longer in the world.”
Madeline’s hands curled into fists. “Wasn’t your promise that you would kill me first?”
Break Bones grinned. “Indeed. I told him I would bring your lifeless body as a warning that his own time had come.”
Madeline put her arm around Jason. “Then he doesn’t have much to worry about, because a miserable, sad little ogre like you won’t stand a chance against me.”
Break Bones roared with laughter, rattling his chains. Sun’s Dance yanked on the metal collar around Break Bones’s neck, choking him into silence. “You see, my lords. We cannot trust my countrymen to behave like civilized people. They do not know any better. They are uncouth and vile. They know only darkness, and is it their fault? No, for they do not know the Majestic One, having heard only the corrupted tales of our kind.”
Archon Thenody raised his arms, lifting his golden sheets as if he were a kid on Halloween trying to scare his friends. “It seems clear we cannot risk the girl in the Bidding. What if the prophecy is true? No, even Gilenyia would not protect her well enough for my peace of mind. I think she must come to the Seat of High Seeing and serve in my household.”
Hanali swooned with excitement, and Jason grabbed him by his jacket to hold him up. Hanali said, breathlessly, “Of course, Your Greatness, if you think it best for her to serve in your estate, we would be only too happy. She is quite fair for a human and could even pass for an Elenil. More than one Elenil has mistaken her for one of us. See how pale her skin is? And her hair, like gold. She’s quite lovely for a human.”
Madeline was watching Hanali as if he were a refugee from a mental hospital. “What if I prefer not to go with Archon Thenody?”
Hanali’s eyes flew wide. “A joke!” He laughed uncomfortably. “A joke, Highness. Ha ha.”
“I am serious. What if I prefer to enter the Bidding? I would rather go with Gilenyia and learn the art of healing.”
“An art that could be learned in the house of the archon as well as in Gilenyia’s,” Hanali hissed.
Thenody stood. From the look of things, he was trembling beneath his robes. Jason guessed it was a big insult to reject his offer of living at his palace. Some people are so sensitive.
“You will do as you are told,” Thenody said, his voice shaking nearly as badly as his robes. “Or you will face the consequences of breaking your contract!”
He made a twisting motion beneath his robes and reached out to Madeline. She gasped and took a wheezing breath. She fell to her knees, struggling to breathe.
“What is wrong with you?” Jason shouted. “Let her breathe!”
“It’s her own fault,” Thenody said. “Disrespecting me, the leader and head of the Elenil! Speaking back to the archon! She has forfeited her agreement! She cannot treat me thus and expect our magic to treat her well.”
Jason knocked Hanali aside and advanced on the archon. The Knight of the Mirror did not move to intervene. His eyes flickered toward Jason but then returned to his mirror. Jason grabbed hold of the golden sheet with one hand and swung his other fist at the general location of the archon’s head.
Thenody stepped back, pulling his sheet out of Jason’s hand. He pointed at Jason, twisted his arm, and said, “I will remove your magic as well!”
Jason punched Archon Thenody in the midsection, and he flew backward, landing in a heap on the ground. “Now you’re stealing my chocolate pudding?” Jason shouted, and leapt toward the pile of golden sheets.
But a stunningly fast Elenil in light armor intervened. He threw his arm in front of Jason, catching him just below the neck, and drove him onto the stone floor of the tower. With a two-handed shove he threw him back against Break Bones. “If you strike the archon again,” the Elenil said, “I will run the girl through with my own sword. I swear this on my name, Tirius, and on my title as polemarch and commander of the armies of the Elenil!”
The Crescent Stone Page 19
