Chapter Nineteen
Race from Brace
Trinka leaned over the side of the ship and gazed out at the incessant waves. On land, there had been hills, rocks, plants, and objects in the distance to break up the view. Here, there really was nothing but water, water all around. She began to see how the sailors tended to get lulled into a trance if they looked at it too long, lost to the outside world, lost in their own thoughts…
“Trinka,” Bram interrupted. “Here, I want you to have this.” He handed her a short, heavy tube with circles of glass at both ends.
“What is it?”
“A haliommat. Look.” Her father grasped the object and helped guide it up so that Trinka could look through the smaller circle. All of a sudden, the object jumped and, with a series of clicking noises, unfurled itself into an even longer tube made of pieces that spiraled out from each other. Only Bram’s steady hand kept Trinka from dropping it over the side of the ship. Two more small glass circles popped up at the far end of the instrument, blinking like eyes before focusing steadily on the view ahead.
“What do you see?” Bram asked.
Trinka, still startled, peered carefully through the glass.
“Water,” she reported with a small sigh.
“There’s more out there than that.” Bram laughed gently. He took the haliommat from her and looked through it, and Trinka watched the glass eyes grow larger and smaller as they scanned the sea.
“Are we getting any closer?” Trinka couldn’t help asking. Even though everyone on the ship said they were moving quickly, it seemed to her that they were hardly moving at all.
“Of course, can’t you tell? The wind is already getting warmer and tickling you gently every way you turn—a kile breeze, and the water looks a deeper blue—an indigo-ultramarine. Even the seaweed here is redder.”
Trinka’s stomach grumbled, and she tried not to think about the small amount of seaweed soup she’d managed to slurp down that morning.
“Try this one. It’s called dulse—it’s a sweeter seaweed.”
Trinka munched on the copper-colored piece of sea plant while Bram adjusted the haliommat. It felt like a crisp, dried leaf from the terrace garden, but with a rougher, more fibrous texture. While she wouldn’t call it exactly sweet, its lightness was certainly a welcome change from the recent fare. She downed half a dozen of them in quick succession.
“Here,” he said, adjusting the haliommat. “Try again.”
Trinka looked, and to her surprise, this time she found herself staring at a giant sea creature arching up out of the waves. His enormous, round, rubbery-looking body lifted out of the water as if he were going to fly straight out of it, then crashed back into the sea. A mighty tail broke the surface as his head disappeared, glistening briefly. When Trinka lowered her eyes from the haliommat, she could barely see a small glimmer in the distance where the huge creature had been, even though through the haliommat, it had seemed they were standing right next to it.
“An eoui,” Bram explained. “You’ll see lots of them in these waters. Look, there’s even another ship.” He pointed, but no matter how hard Trinka squinted through the haliommat, all she could see were the deep-blue waves and a bit of froth where the eoui had been. Bram guided the haliommat to the left, and the glass eyes grew even larger.
Trinka was startled to see that, indeed, there was another ship.
“There are other people on Brace?”
Bram couldn’t help but laugh out loud, and Trinka grinned. She knew it sounded stupid, but after spending all her time on Brace with her father and just eight other sailors, it was strange to think that there really was a whole world out there full of creatures and people and families. She suddenly felt herself wishing she too had some friends with her. She missed Nikolay, Oana, Jamilah… even Ewen.
“They’re probably sailing to Archiploim, the city where you were born. It’s too far to see from here.”
“Is it on land or in the water?”
“Well, it’s a floating city. Maybe we’ll go there someday.”
Her eyes hungered for more, but at the same time, the sight reminded her of why she had come, and what they were sailing for. She could tell now that their own ship really was sailing fast, because even with the haliommat, the families on the other ship were getting farther and farther away, becoming tiny dots, until even the sails of the other ship slipped from view.
The days slipped by too, one after another, and even Trinka could see and feel the difference in the water now. It was definitely warmer, red rocks jutted out from it occasionally, and bits of seaweed and debris floated by. It had a new smell to it, too.
“It’s the salt. The water gets salty close to Apostrophe,” Bram explained. “Usually, we bring them fresh water from Brace in exchange for the crystals, but…”
“We’ve gotten here so fast, they’d never expect us,” Knop interrupted.
“Besides, the water would slow the ship down, and we’ve got more important business first.” Thork winked at Trinka.
“A span further south, and then we make for the port of Jawhar?” Raido said. It sounded almost like an order, but Trinka caught the subtle questioning tone in his voice. Bram was the navigator. He would decide.
Bram nodded.
“We’ll have to sail directly toward the cliffs.”
“But is that safe? If we get too close we’ll be wrecked.”
“I’ve landed there before.”
“But what if…” Raido began.
“Hey, he’s starting to sound like someone else around here,” Vann called out, gesturing toward where Butwhat sat with Spigot and Spout.
The sailors laughed, and Raido scowled.
“We will have to be careful,” Bram said slowly. “It’s possible the coastline may have changed since then.”
Trinka peered through the haliommat.
On the edge of the cliff, Vashti’s palace loomed closer and closer. Trinka could almost see the individual windows and doors as the haliommat focused in. Through the lens, Trinka could see Vashti’s terrace garden draped with large white banners and more flowers than ever before. Everything seemed prepared for a large gathering, and Trinka had a sinking suspicion it was for much more than an ordinary dinner party.
“Dad!” Trinka paused and bit her lip. Should she tell him what she saw, and what she thought it meant? “I… I think we need to hurry.”
Bram said nothing and didn’t come to look, but his already grim face grew a little tighter, and his steady grasp seemed to will the ship to go a little faster.
“Please let us be in time,” Trinka murmured, as she looked through the glass once again. “She can’t do this. What a horrible wedding.”
“I was a wedding gift.”
Trinka jumped, startled to find Stanley the Whatler perched on the edge of the ship beside her.
“What?”
“I say, I was a wedding gift,” Stanley repeated. “From Bahir Faruq to Vashti and Musonas. Of course, anyone else would have been thrilled with such a marvelous present. But did they appreciate me? No, of course not.”
Trinka sighed inwardly and tried to ignore him as she peered through the haliommat again. To Trinka’s surprise, the garden hadn’t been expanded like it had the night of the dinner party, but all of the planters had been moved to the sides, clearing the way for rows of seats. A center aisle of scarlet made its way straight toward her and ended under an archway of fluttering white fabric. Under the canopy sat a wide, slender table with a large, empty bowl in the center and two small, red bowls of sand on either side. A few of the decorating genies twirled bits of streamers onto the chairs, but other than that, the terrace was empty. Her best chance to steal her mother away from the ceremony and get her to meet Bram would be to slip in quietly while everyone was still getting ready.
“If only I could get there sooner,” Trinka mused aloud.
“I could get you there faster,” Stanley stated.
“How?”
Without a word,
Stanley pulled a small string near his shoulder, and suddenly a cloud of rubbery fabric burst out from the back of his head, finally settling into a round, rather flat shape with Stanley’s face on the front.
“Will you look at that,” Matros called out, and several of the other sailors echoed his sentiment.
“Well, then?”
Trinka looked at her father, expecting him to be concerned, but he appeared relieved and nodded.
“Yes, go ahead. We’ll meet you there,” he pointed to the cliff. “If you can’t get away, we’ll come find you.”
The sailors helped Trinka into the raft and lowered her carefully over the side of the ship.
“We’re coming too!” Spout declaring, his handle wagging. “A boat like that is bound to need bailing.”
“And I will stay with you to the end,” Grble told Trinka, his long, rocky fingers gripping hers tightly.
“And take the rest of them with you too,” Raido handed her the genie purse as the rest of her talismans piled in.
True to Stanley’s word, the little raft sped quickly across the water, dodging rocks and splashing them all with a spray of water. Spigot and Spout gurgled and giggled with delight, and Trinka didn’t even have time to glance back at the ship before they had hit the sand. The raft deflated, and Stanley quickly resumed his usual form.
“Thanks,” Trinka told him as she scrambled off and caught her breath.
Stanley bowed briefly.
Trinka turned to look back at the ship through the haliommat and saw her father waving back at her. She took a deep breath and started toward the palace. As Trinka made her way up the steps at the back of the garden, she heard a chorus of clink-clink-clinks, clop-clop-clops, and clackety-clacks behind her as all of the talismans followed. Trinka’s first thought was to tell them all to be quiet and go back to wait on the sand, but as she turned around and saw their supportive faces, she couldn’t help but smile and think it was good to have them behind her.
As they approached the top, Trinka peered carefully over the ledge. No one was in sight.
“Grble, you can come with me. Spigot, Spout?” Trinka hesitated. “Why don’t you wait here?”
“Good idea! We’ll keep watch for you,” Spout answered proudly. Drops of water dribbled from his mouth as his handle wagged back and forth in excitement.
“And I’ll send up the alarm,” Alfredo the emergency flare added, “if something happens.”
No, don’t do that, that’s the last thing we need, Trinka wanted to say, but she said nothing as she watched the three of them scurry under the chairs to hide and wait. Trinka could only hope they’d stay there quietly and not sound the alarm too soon.
“Ullali?” The absent-minded genie was adding a few of her own colored scarves to the white ones that decorated the walls of the terrace, and was too busy with her task to answer. Oh well, thought Trinka. Best to just leave her there. At least maybe she can blend in with the other genies.
“What about me?” Stanley asked.
Trinka paused. As hard as it was to like Stanley, he had helped her a lot and might be able to help her again. And she didn’t want to leave him there alone, with no place to go.
“You can come with me, too,” she said finally. It was hard to be sure, but it looked like Stanley almost blushed as he beamed back at her. The three of them made their way cautiously around the perimeter of the garden, Stanley’s plunger leg squelching loudly with every bounce.
“Um, do you think you can follow more quietly?” Trinka asked.
Without a word, Stanley transformed. He pulled the plunger into his body, shot out six flat, finely tipped blades, and began creeping along as silently and deftly as a spider.
As they drew behind the final row of chairs, Trinka crouched down and crawled behind the planters near the palace wall.
“Grble, can you look in the window?”
Grble’s body stayed safely hidden while his eyes bobbed just above the lower edge of the opening.
“They are there,” he croaked quietly.
“Are they facing the window?”
Grble’s eyes held steady while his head shook back and forth. Trinka was about to risk peeking in when she remembered the mirror Jamilah had used to see people coming toward the room they were in. She reached into her pocket and found it still safely tucked inside. She peered into the tiny glass at the three figures who came into view.
“Jamilah, why such a sour face on such a joyous day?” her aunt’s familiar voice came to her. “It’s most unladylike.”
“I’m hungry,” Jamilah answered moodily.
“Me too!” Sabirah protested. “We didn’t even get breakfast!” But her mother wouldn’t let her wrestle away from her grasp and continued lacing up the back of her dress.
“You both had all that was necessary to feel full. And you can eat after the wedding.”
“Ouch! You’re pulling too tight,” Sabirah complained. “Why do we have to have a wedding? Why can’t we just eat?”
“Nonsense,” Vashti snapped. Her face grew even grimmer as she tied the final knot firmly. “Believe me. There will be a wedding.”
Suddenly, the three figures in the mirror disappeared, and it wasn’t until she heard steps on the stone that she realized they were coming right past her. She hunched down further behind the planters and held her breath as their skirts swept past, wondering how to get Jamilah to see her without being seen.
Carefully she slid the spy locket out in front of the planter. Jamilah spotted it as it glinted and quickly reached down to pick it up. As she bent over, she came face to face with Trinka and almost jumped in surprise. She kept her cool, however, and pretended to busy herself with her shoe as they leaned closer. The two of them locked eyes.
“Jamilah, what do you think of this table arrangement? Is it too close to the thymmel?” Aunt Vashti pointed to the tent at the end of the aisle.
Jamilah said nothing as she stood up again, but her eyes moved silently upward and her head tilted slightly toward the staircase that led from the back of a second-floor tower room to the garden below. Trinka blinked an affirmation. As soon as they were out of sight, all she had to do was creep carefully up the stairs, find her mother, and spirit her away to the ship.
Trinka was just about to risk creeping out from behind the planters when Vashti suddenly turned.
“Gracious! The guests are arriving already! Come along, girls, we must greet them.”
“When are we going to have dessert?” Sabirah whined. Jamilah tried to linger behind them so she could talk to Trinka after the others had gone inside, but her mother steered her girls firmly into the palace.
“Remember, ladies,” she smiled through gritted teeth, “a wedding is a happy occasion.”
As soon as they had disappeared, Trinka scurried toward the steps. But before she could reach them, Aunt Vashti sent her first group of guests out into the garden.
“Come, you must see all the flowers we have…”
“Quick! The kitchen,” Trinka decided, making for the door beneath the steps. She eased open the immense stone door, slipped inside, and closed it behind them. A kaleidoscope of color burst into motion before their eyes.
The kitchen was alive with activity as Trinka had never seen it before. Cakes sped through the air, platters hurtled, and in the midst of it all, streams of fabric of every color imaginable writhed and wriggled, swayed and swooped as the genies went about their business with even more enthusiasm than usual.
“Oh, hello,” a genie in green slowed down long enough to notice their visitors. “I’m Nahimana. Who are you?”
“This is Grble, and this is Stanley,” Trinka nodded toward them. Nahimana looked back at her as cheerfully and blankly as if they had never seen each other before. “And I’m Trinka,” she added finally.
“Trinka, Trinka, Trinka…” several of the genies repeated.
“Oh!” A chorus of the sounds went up all around her as the genies joined in joyful recognition. The genies
began babbling to each other in their own language, and its laughing, fluttering sounds filled the room.
It seemed they could remember far more as a group than any one of them could remember alone. Maybe that explained Ullali’s problem. She thought about asking them how she could get to Ashira, but the genies were already playfully back at work, spinning plates, frosting cakes, and whipping up desserts right and left.
“Genies,” Stanley muttered as the three of them slipped quietly from the kitchen into the narrow passageway that Trinka had first come down through the chute. They should be able to use it to sneak upstairs. Trinka paused as she heard familiar voices coming from the other side of the wall.
“And you never did find out what happened to her daughter?” Bahir Faruq was asking.
“Daughter?” Aunt Vashti feigned ignorance.
“I should think she would want to be here for her own mother’s wedding.”
“No, she definitely won’t be here,” Vashti insisted uncomfortably and immediately changed the subject.
Trinka was about to turn and slip back into the chute when Jamilah appeared in the dining room.
“How did you know I was here?” Trinka whispered. Jamilah grinned and held up the spy locket. Trinka pulled her into a hug, relieved to have someone on her side.
“Listen, there isn’t much time. The garden’s filling up with guests, and Amir’s already here,” Jamilah told her in a low voice. “I don’t know what’s happened to your mom, but she’s been acting weird lately.”
“What do you mean?” Trinka asked, wondering what part of her mother’s recent behavior had ever been considered “normal”.
“She won’t take her potion anymore, and all she talks about is wanting to go to sea.”
Trinka remained silent, but inside she was screaming gleefully.
“It’s not going to be easy to get her out of here, though. There are people coming in the front door and the back, and…” Jamilah stopped abruptly as the dining room door opened again.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” her sister’s unmistakable voice demanded. Trinka ducked back into the passageway, but there was no time for the chute. She bolted back through the kitchen door just as Jamilah slammed the door to the passageway shut.
“Nothing, I’m going right back out to greet the guests.”
“If you’re sneaking dessert, I am too!”
“Sabirah, no, you know we’re not allowed in there!” She could hear the two of them wrestling for control of the doorknob.
Stanley quickly pulled a small metal object from his arsenal of tools and inserted it in the keyhole. The doorknob stopped moving.
“Hey!” Sabirah’s shrill voice protested. “How did you do that?”
“I didn’t do it!”
“Then how’d it happen?”
“Maybe the door knows you’re not supposed to go in there.”
“That’s stupid!”
“You’re—”
“Girls! Come back out here at once. It’s almost time.”
“Almost time!” the genies exclaimed. They threw open the back door and began sending the desserts sailing through the air and onto the tables.
There was nowhere else to hide. And no way to get her mother away before the wedding. Trinka sighed, and Stanley and Grble followed her back into the garden, staying behind the genies and their whirl of activity. Sabirah had run out into the garden and was running toward the flying desserts, but her mother dragged her off to stand beside the thymmel. Trinka crouched behind the tables trying to think of a way, any way, to steal her mother away.
She peered out from behind the colored table cloths. The garden was packed with people. Bahir Faruq and Bahira Cantara were seated in the front row, with a couple and two young boys whose fidgeting reminded Trinka of Ickle and Fiszbee when they were about to blast loose. From the sour expression on the face of the woman next to Bahira Cantara, Trinka supposed they must be mother and daughter.
Without warning, the back doors flew open, and Ashira emerged in the archway. All eyes turned.
Her dress was the loveliest Trinka had ever seen—a simple, sleeveless, streaming, white gown whose sleek silhouette revealed the gentle curve of Ashira’s hips while folds of white fabric trailed behind her. Over her dark, upswept hair flowed a flaming red veil that spilled down her back. Her face, far from glowing with the elated look of love she had shown in her diary, had a clouded, far-off quality, as if she were trying to remember why she was there.
“Why does she have that thing on her head?” one of the grandsons asked, much louder than his parents would have liked.
“It’s a flamium,” Bahir Faruq answered quietly. “In the old days, they used to have weddings at dusk, and the bride would wear a crown of flaming torches on her head to symbolize her love. It’s a shame they don’t do that anymore. Remember, my dear?”
“How could I forget,” his wife replied grimly. “A bride had to walk very carefully to keep from catching on fire.”
“Yea!” the boy exclaimed. “Now that would be fun!”
“Shh!” hissed their mother.
“If she’s not on fire, why does she have to carry water?” the other boy asked, pointing to the large, gracefully curving pitcher that she carried in her hands.
“That symbolizes wealth. It’s the water she took a bath in last night.”
“Ew!” the boys exclaimed.
Ashira began her walk up the aisle. Amir stood waiting for her under the thymmel, in a white jacket embroidered with heavy gold thread and a scarlet cape over one shoulder. For the first time, Trinka felt a surge of uncertainty creep into her plans. Would Ashira want to leave her life in a jewel-strewn palace and abandon her prince and her flower gardens to eat seaweed on the never-ending waves of Brace?
Trinka’s mother stepped under the canopy. Amir tried to take her soft, slender arm, but she merely slipped from his grasp and kept walking past him. Her eyes focused not on the one who waited for her by the bowls of sand, but on the ship that waited for her by the sea. Without warning, she dropped the carafe, which cracked and shattered, spilling the precious water and causing the guests to gasp.
Ashira’s lost, clouded look melted away as her smile burst forth like a sudden sunrise chasing away the darkness. Her red veil trailed behind her as she quickened her steps, the flame-colored cloth outshone by the radiance in her face as she ran toward the stairs, not in a dream this time, but for real. The cloth broke free, flying up into the sky.
Trinka was so wrapped up in the delightful sight she didn’t realize she had left her hiding place until a handful of sharp fingernails dug into her shoulder.
“Only you could have caused this!” Aunt Vashti screamed.
“Let her go!” Grble’s strong fingers grasped at her other arm, but Vashti was not to be deterred.
“Get away from here, you horrid thing!” As she tried to release herself without releasing Trinka, they knocked over a table, spilling piles of food onto the floor.
The genies, who had just come from the kitchen with the rest of the desserts, quickly joined in the spirit of the thing and began joyously tossing cakes and creams in all directions, splattering the chairs, the garden, and most of the guests.
“Sit down!” Vashti cried in vain. “There will be a wedding!”
The guests retreated toward the wall of the palace, watching helplessly as pans crashed, decorations flew, and an entire table full of durian tarts sailed through the air and landed on the hapless Amir’s white embroidered jacket.
“Yea!” the two grandsons stood up on their chairs and cheered as their mother tried to soothe Bahira Cantara, who was pulling bits of sticky fruit topping from her décolletage.
Sabirah ran toward the food rather than away from it, sticking her face directly into a six-layered cake. Her enjoyment of the situation quickly turned to high-pitched shrieks as Ickle and Fiszbee came whooshing out.
“We’re back!” they sang gleefully in unison as they rushed around her in ci
rcles, brushing against her cheeks.
“Go away!” she screamed hysterically.
Away.
Yes, that was exactly what Trinka needed to do. She managed to pull out her genie purse and slip it to Grble. He took it and looked back at her, blinking in what she hoped was understanding.
“This is definitely an emergency!” Alfredo shrieked, his arms and head sparking wildly as he hurried past. Spigot and Spout dashed after him, trying to douse the flames, but in their excitement, ended up soaking almost everything else instead. The flowing white fabric that hung above them grew wet and heavy and fell onto a row of guests, trapping them.
As Alfredo rushed past, sparks flew onto Vashti’s skirt, and Trinka felt the grip on her shoulder loosen as her aunt shrieked and attended to the smoldering fabric. Trinka seized the opportunity and broke loose, dashing to the end of the garden and pounding down the stairs, not stopping until her feet hit the sand. She could hear the clatter of a few talismans coming down behind her, but most of their noise was drowned out by the sounds of mayhem still issuing from the garden above.
She scanned the beach desperately and spotted Bram and six of the other sailors heading toward the palace on foot while their ship waited near the cliffs. Ashira had abandoned her shoes in the sand and was making her way toward them as fast as her long dress would allow.
“What’s going on here!” Amir demanded from above, trying to muster up all the authority he could while being pelted with candied nuts.
“I know the groomsmen often pretend to kidnap the bride during the reception, but before the ceremony?” Bahir Faruq mused as he looked down at them from the railing.
Trinka quickly caught up with her mother and grabbed her hand, urging her forward.
Behind them, Aunt Vashti screamed “After her!”
A few of the guests started toward the stairs, but Stanley quickly expanded his arsenal of tools and pulled out a dozen different blades, standing guard.
“Sliced, diced, or julienned?” he asked primly.
The guests retreated hastily. Trinka flashed him a smile of thanks over her shoulder.
Bram and Ashira had almost reached each other, their happy faces oblivious to everything else that was happening, but there wasn’t enough time for them to get back onto the ship and away from all the chaos.
Unless…
“Grble!” Trinka called. “Break the jewel!”
After a moment’s pause, the gorglum’s long, strong fingers heaved the enormous crystal over his head and to the stone steps below. It shattered with a mighty crack, sending out a billowing fog that enclosed the entire area in a thick, swirling mist just like the elaphromyria.
Trinka breathed in its coolness as the others sputtered and coughed. All the noisy rancor suddenly died away, as no one could see anything, and no one wanted to move. It couldn’t have been quieter in the silent study halls of Ellipsis.
Trinka took a deep breath and grasped her parents’ hands tightly.
“Come with me!”
Solidus
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Trinka and the Thousand Talismans Page 22
