Vega Jane and the Rebels’ Revolt

by David Baldacci

  I sat up and looked wildly around.

  Had any of that happened, or had I simply dreamed it?

  I looked down at my hand. My wand was in it. It did feel different. The warmth was still there. The possibilities in my head were definitely still there.

  I thought about what I wanted to do. I thought about what Alice had told me. And in a tremendous flash of clarity, it all came together.

  33

  THE INCONCEIVABLE INCANTATION

  Five minutes later I was staring at it. Bastion Cadmus’s golden wand in the box.

  I took a breath, then reached up to lift the box off the wall. A surge of power hit me and knocked me head over heels across the room.

  Groaning, I slowly rose, rubbing my head, which had hit the stone.

  All right. We’ll see about this.

  I took out my wand, pointed it at its golden counterpart and said with a backward sweep of my hand, ‘Rejoinda Bastion Cadmus’s wand.’

  Absolutely nothing happened.

  I tried every spell that I thought might work.

  Again, absolutely nothing happened. The little box remained on the wall.

  Befuddled and irritated, I looked around the room for something, anything, that might aid me. There was absolutely nothing there. I recalled the blank diary that had spoken to me when I was in the room full of battered and bloody weapons and Gunther Adronis’s coffin. It said that if I did not want to pay the price, I could end my years in comfort and safety here at Empyrean.

  ‘Oi,’ I said. ‘I don’t intend to stay here and grow fat and old. I intend to leave and fight the Maladons and make things right. That’s my decision. Now, you promised me aid if I did that. So I’m here and I’m asking for the wand in that box. May I have it? Or was all that a bunch of rubbish before?’

  Before I had even finished, I felt something in my pocket. I withdrew it with my hand. It was the golden wand.

  Just to be sure, I looked at the box. The wand was no longer there, because I indeed had it.

  Along with it, I had a plan. And because of that, we had a chance.

  I ran back towards my room.

  But then I halted.

  I was in front of Delph’s room again. I could still hear the voices coming from inside.

  Again, I shouldn’t have done it. I realized that. But I did it anyway.

  ‘Crystilado magnifica.’

  Instantly in front of me appeared Delph and Petra. They were still perched on the bed. They were even closer to each other. Her hand was on his shoulder. I saw the look on her face and realized I had probably had that same expression on my face when I was feeling especially affectionate towards Delph.

  I felt my features harden, and there came a coldness in my heart that I didn’t think I had ever felt before. It felt strange, terrifying.

  Here I was using every bit of energy I had to come up with a plan to take the battle to the Maladons, and here Delph and Petra were, supposedly my friends, being all cosy with each other. I was their leader. They had told me over and over that I was to lead them. And this was how I was paid back? Did they think it was easy doing what I was doing? Did they think I could just come up with a brilliant plan whenever it was needed? Well, we would see about that.

  I released my spell, pocketed my wand and knocked on the door.

  ‘Hello, Delph?’

  I heard movement from inside.

  Delph opened the door a few moments later, looking awkward.

  ‘Delph, I have good news.’

  ‘What’s that, Vega Jane?’

  ‘We need to tell Petra too. Let’s go get her.’

  ‘Um,’ began Delph. He wouldn’t meet my eye.

  ‘I’m right here,’ said Petra. She sauntered up next to Delph and gave me what I took to be a simpering smile. I felt my blood flame.

  ‘Absolutely cracking,’ I said. ‘Follow me.’

  I saw them glance uncertainly at each other before falling into step behind me.

  We reached my room and entered.

  Harry Two was on the bed, and he slowly lifted his head to peer at us.

  ‘What’s the plan, Vega Jane?’ asked Delph.

  I took a few minutes to tell them.

  ‘Do you think it’ll work?’ asked Petra in what I, unfairly or not, interpreted as a condescending tone. Right now, nothing she said or did would be anything other than irritating.

  ‘I don’t know. Do you have a better idea?’ I said sharply.

  She looked taken aback and shook her head.

  ‘Now, there is another part to all of this, and you, Petra, are going to play an especially important role.’

  ‘What?’ she said curiously.

  ‘You will go to Greater True and take up a position near the centre of town. You will be my eyes and ears, Petra. When I engage this spell, I have no real idea what’s going to happen. But you can communicate with me via the wand wire incantation.’

  ‘Vega Jane, sending her there by herself, not knowing what’s going to happen . . .’ said Delph. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea. Or fair to Petra.’

  I gazed up at him with what I hoped was an expression of utter surprise.

  ‘Delph, we’re a team. We all have roles to play. Petra is part of that team. I very much trust her to do this. Don’t you trust her? Or do you think she’s not up to it?’

  ‘O’course I trust Pet.’ He hastily added, ‘Petra.’

  ‘Then I don’t see the problem.’

  ‘I could go with her.’

  I shook my head. ‘You need to stay here and prepare for the arrival,’ I said. ‘There’s going to be a lot going on and we need to be ready.’

  ‘But—’

  I talked right over him. ‘Petra will have the ring and her wand. I’ve gone to Greater True with just those two things and come back alive. I’ve gone to Maladon Castle alone with just those two things and returned in one piece. If I can do it, so can Pet.’

  I looked at Petra, slipped off my ring and handed it to her. ‘So, are you ready?’

  She nodded dumbly, glanced at Delph and then quickly looked away.

  ‘You’d better get ready to leave now. The preparations will take me a bit of time, but I want you in place. Send me a wire when you get there. Aim for near the train station and then work your way to the centre when you’ve determined that the path is clear.’

  Delph blurted out, ‘Vega, if your plan causes things to go all wonky in Greater True, the Maladons might show up in full force. Petra might get trapped.’

  ‘She has her wand. She can use the Pass-pusay spell to get back here if need be. It’s no more dangerous than what I’ve done. And I don’t remember you having a problem when it was me doing it.’

  ‘But . . .’

  ‘But what, Delph?’ I said, staring up at him.

  His voice trailed off and he looked away, beaten.

  I put out my hand to Petra. ‘Good luck.’

  She lightly shook it, turned and hurried off.

  I looked at Delph. ‘You better take up your position outside by the front door,’ I said.

  He nodded, gave me a furtive glance and then left.

  My heart was beating so fast I thought I might faint.

  The flint inside my heart started to break down a bit. I told myself that what I’d done wasn’t really that awful. We had come and gone before from Greater True without incident. Petra was invisible. She had her wand.

  But Delph was right. I couldn’t predict what would happen when I performed my spell. Petra might be caught in something that she couldn’t get herself out of. She might be injured, captured.

  Or killed.

  As soon as I thought this, my head began to pound, and then I felt something wet on my forehead. I touched it.

  It was blood.

  I looked down at my wand. There was blood there too. As I watched, the blood from my head was being soaked up into my wand.

  Then I remembered.

  The blood oath! I had sworn allegiance to Petr
a and she to me. By my actions I was breaking that oath. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me. Was I going to oblivion?

  I dropped to the floor, holding my head. Harry Two came over to me and licked at my hand. His tongue touched some of the blood and I felt a tingling sensation all over my body.

  Nothing is worth Petra being hurt by something you’ve planned, Vega. It’s wrong. If she loves Delph and he loves her, that’s just the way it is. You’re acting like a Maladon. And you are not like them!

  I wiped the blood off, jumped up and ran to Petra’s room. She was just coming out, her cloak on.

  ‘Stop,’ I said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I . . . I just figured out another way. You don’t have to go to Greater True. You can stay here. It’s OK.’

  ‘But you said—’

  ‘Right, I know what I said, but it’s OK, you don’t have to go. Like Delph said, you might get trapped there. And . . . and that would not be good.’

  ‘If you’re sure?’

  ‘You and Delph can wait outside of Empyrean.’

  She looked at me oddly and then touched my forehead. ‘You’re bleeding.’

  ‘It’s nothing. OK, well, I’ve got things to do, so . . .’

  I turned and rushed off, leaving her staring after me.

  In my room I sat on my haunches and laid the golden wand down directly in front of me.

  I touched my forehead. The blood was gone. I looked at my wand. There was no blood there either. If that hadn’t happened, would I have let Petra go? Possibly to her death? Did all the Janes actually have a bit of Maladon blood in them, as my grandfather had suggested after telling us the story of Alice’s evil father?

  I closed my eyes and then reopened them. I couldn’t think about that now. I had to focus. There were many people counting on me.

  Something that Uma had told me had given me this idea.

  He was not simply my father, but the father of all of our people.

  I was counting on that statement to be quite literal.

  From my pocket I took the book with the names of all those enslaved by the Maladons. I set it in front of me, open to the pages listing them.

  I tapped my wand against the pages and murmured, ‘Accumuladis todos.’

  When I looked at the pages, they had turned blank.

  OK, so far, so good.

  I pointed my wand at Bastion’s golden one.

  Drawing another deep breath, I closed my eyes and cast my mind back so that I could recall the incantation exactly as the Maladon had told it to me.

  Now it got tricky. I was in totally uncharted territory. Still, I supposed every spell had to be done for the first time by somebody.

  The only thing was, I was planning to use an existing spell, but in a way that it had never been used. And not just one spell. I was attempting to link three of them together and unleash them at the same time.

  In my mind I formed a clear thought of what I wanted to happen. It was actually multiple things occurring at precisely the same time.

  I drew one more long breath. I was totally focused. I had never concentrated like this in my life. I hadn’t even known I had the capacity to do it. But somehow, I had found it.

  I had three images, neatly compartmentalized in my head.

  The golden wand.

  The names on the list.

  And Greater True.

  I touched the tip of my wand to the tip of the golden one.

  Then I spoke the words tightly, curtly, firmly. Never had I possessed such confidence, such sheer willpower. It was like everything I had ever done to reach this moment, every strength that had shown itself in me on this long journey, every power developed from necessity, every obstacle overcome, every loss followed by a savage desire to triumph, had all been for this very moment.

  ‘Disassemblius projecta . . .’

  I drew a breath.

  ‘Amplifius spectrumaca . . .’

  It was as though someone else was doing the talking and using me to channel the words.

  I held my focus, my absolute concentration.

  ‘Vamon recipitcus. Agante apertus.’

  When I opened my eyes and looked down at the golden wand, it started to shake violently. But I kept the wands touching.

  A flash of blinding light erupted from Bastion Cadmus’s wand. The light covered the entire room, and I could hear Harry Two barking madly.

  I kept my focus.

  Those three images: the wand, the names and the place.

  Next moment the golden wand shattered into tiny pieces. These splinters of gold swirled upward as though caught in an overpowering funnel of air. Up, up to the ceiling they went.

  ‘Catapulus targerius.’

  Then with a pop they vanished.

  The light vanished as well.

  Still, my focus never wavered.

  I was only halfway done.

  New images replaced the old trio.

  Faces, hands, eyes.

  Words slipped from my mouth.

  ‘Erectica. Desimminus. Plutarium.’

  I took another breath, kept the images clear in my head.

  ‘Emancipatico stelara.’

  Eyes flew open in my mind. Faces regained their true character. Reason returned. Real pasts supplanted magically conjured ones.

  All across Greater True, hands reached out.

  Still I pressed on. I had more to do.

  My wand was now shaking so violently that I had to grip it with both hands.

  I supposed I was at unprecedented levels of sorcery here. It didn’t make me feel special. It made me afraid. If I failed, I had the terrible feeling that all these people were going to instantly die or forever remain in a limbo of my creation.

  Now I had two images in mind: people and a place.

  That place was not Greater True.

  That place was right here.

  Empyrean.

  I was attempting to perform the Pass-pusay spell, only remotely, to move others. And not simply one. I was going to bring fifty people here, to safety.

  My wand was pitching and heaving like a ship on stormy seas.

  Smoke started to emanate from its core.

  The poor Elemental felt like it was going to burn up in my hands.

  Yet still I held on.

  ‘Aggretata . . . Cumuladis . . . Elevata . . .’

  My wand was nearly out of control. It gave such a violent jerk that it smacked me in the forehead. I felt blood trickle down my face.

  I summoned all the energy I had left. This was the moment of truth. It was now or never, and while part of me was confident, part of me was also scared to death.

  The normal spell, I knew intuitively, would not be enough. I had transported others with me using it, but not remotely and not fifty of them.

  I screwed up my face, shut my eyes and—

  ‘Pass-pusay titanticus encapsulado principium todos.’

  I paused, building my energy to the level I knew was necessary.

  Now, Vega, now!

  ‘Domum nunc en pepertuum!’ I cried out.

  A bolt of light issued from the tip of my wand and shot straight up and through the ceiling of my room, leaving a darkened mark there.

  As soon as the light vanished, I fell backwards. Then everything went dark.

  I woke to Harry Two licking me on the face.

  I heard a commotion downstairs and Pillsbury shouting.

  I jumped up and raced out of the room and down the broad stairs, Harry Two barking at my heels.

  The foyer of Empyrean was large, but it was now also crowded with figures. Pillsbury and Mrs Jolly were running around trying to restore order, although, given most of the people who had just appeared here were unfamiliar with walking and talking suits of armour and brooms, which simply generated more alarm.

  I raced into the foyer and shouted, ‘Everyone quiet down.’ When that didn’t work, I raised my wand to the ceiling, muttered an incantation and the resulting boom was so over
whelmingly loud that only quiet followed its release.

  They all stood there staring back at me.

  There was Cecilia Harkes, Anna Dibble, Sara Bond and Clive Pippen. Over near the door was Amicus Arnold. Next to him was the cheerful Artemis Dale. On his right was Miranda Weeks, looking confused but excited. Standing next to each other were Dennis O’Shaughnessy and Reginald Magnus, who looked so much like each other they could be brothers. Dedo Datt stared around in silent wonder.

  And on and on they went.

  All fifty of them. They stared at me.

  I stared back at them. I saw, with immense satisfaction, that a full-size golden wand was gripped in each of their hands.

  My spell had worked. I couldn’t keep the enormous smile off my face.

  Until I noticed something.

  Or more to the point, I noticed the absence of something. Of two people.

  I rushed over to Pillsbury.

  ‘Where are Delph and Petra?’

  ‘They left quite a while ago.’

  The blood iced over in my veins. ‘What?’

  ‘Yes. They told me to be ready to receive what they termed “guests” and then they left. Together.’

  I couldn’t process what he was telling me. Where the Hel had they gone?

  At the same instant I felt my wand tingle and shake slightly.

  I closed my eyes and in my head I heard:

  ‘Vega, help us! We’re in Greater True.’

  It was Petra. She was communicating with me by wand wire.

  I barked to Pillsbury and Mrs Jolly, ‘See that our guests have all the food and drink they require and then find rooms for them to rest. I’ll be back as soon as I can.’

  ‘But—’ began Pillsbury.

  I shot forward and nearly collided with Alabetus Trumbull, who luckily leaped out of the way.

  Charlotte Tokken and Pauline Paternas cried out after me, but I didn’t really hear them. All I could hear was Petra’s desperate plea.

  I could not lose them. I just couldn’t.

  34

  A CLOSE CALL

  My first problem was that I could not become invisible without the ring, and Petra still had it. Thus, when I appeared on a street in Greater True, someone instantly saw me. Luckily, it was a doddering old man who continued to walk past as though someone materializing out of thin air happened all the time.