by Lori Bond
“This phone is a special prototype that Keep Consolidated will never put into production. I’ve been working on it since you got here. This phone doesn’t use commercial cellular or data networks. Instead, it uses the proprietary network I set up for the knights. Once we get your parents the other prototypes, you’ll be able to stay in touch.”
I couldn’t help it. My eyes watered up although I managed not to ruin the phone by bawling all over it.
Arthur cleared his throat and fidgeted with a cup of coffee the robots had brought, but Ginny handed me a napkin.
“Yes, well, I wasn’t happy when Tori disappeared with you, and then when we finally found you again after six years, she still wouldn’t let me talk with you.” Arthur crossed his arms and stared at the far wall instead of looking at me. “I mean, I understood the running, sort of. She had incurred the wrath of the entire Illuminati, and they aren’t a group of people you anger lightly. The governments had to form LANCE just to deal with them. I still can’t imagine what your mother was thinking trying to hack them.”
“She thought they were a typical terrorist group like she and Raul had hacked before,” Ginny reminded Arthur. “And she thought she was helping.”
“Wait. What are you talking about?” I stopped catching up on my email and looked between Arthur and Ginny. “The Illuminati isn’t real. It’s a conspiracy theory people use when they don’t understand what’s going on.”
Arthur snorted. He rubbed his hands across his eyes and then down the rest of his face. “That’s just what they want you to think. What’s that quote about the smartest thing the devil did was to convince you to forget he existed?”
Ginny tapped away on one of her tablets. “That isn’t even remotely close to the Baudelaire quote.” She turned to me. “What Arthur is trying to say is that the Illuminati is very real. To pretend otherwise would be foolish, not to mention dangerous. They’ve already tried to grab you twice.”
“And that was before they realized you were linked to Tori or me,” said Arthur. “If they’ve figured it out … I don’t trust that LANCE caught their leak.” His voice trailed off, and I didn’t ask for any more information. Arthur provided some anyway. “Well, let’s just say that Tori and Raul put a dent in the Illuminati’s coffers before the Illuminati caught on and sent their Dreki assassins after them.”
“Wait,” I said again, putting the pieces together. “You’re not saying the Dreki are the same thing as the Illuminati, are you?”
“Ding, ding, ding,” Arthur said. “Close enough. The Dreki was the Illuminati’s army of assassins, at least until the Dreki took over the entire group a couple of years before you were born. Princess, you’ve won yourself a prize.” Arthur yelled up at the ceiling, “Percival, bring in Dame Morgause.”
A knight walked in the room. It was smaller than all the other ones I had seen so far and clearly meant for a female figure. I turned for Ginny’s reaction, but she looked as shocked as me.
“I said I came bearing gifts.” Arthur’s satisfaction was palatable. “Plural, with an ‘S.’ One phone cannot be gifts. So, Elaine, meet Dame Morgause.”
All my questions about the Dreki and the Illuminati and how my mom had angered them flew out of my mind. My mouth moved a few times before I got out any words.
“Arthur,” I asked, “did I just get knighted?”
8
WHERE I FINALLY SEE WHAT ALL THE FUSS IS ABOUT
GINNY DIDN’T SEEM PLEASED ABOUT THE KNIGHT. SHE BEGAN GRILLING Arthur about the thing’s various technical specifications and safety settings, but her questions meant nothing to me. Meanwhile, I circled the armor, round and round, trying to decide how I felt.
Arthur had just explained to Ginny that no, most of my ammunitions were not live when I decided that there was no way on Earth or any other planet that I would be seen out in public in that thing.
“No,” I said to Arthur, returning to my chair. “Just no.”
For the first time since entering the room, Arthur looked put out. “What do you mean no? You can’t have live ammunition the first time you put your armor on. That would be ridiculous.”
“That’s what you consider ridiculous?” I wanted to bury my face in my hands. “Arthur, why does my armor have boobs? Weird pointy boobs?”
Arthur’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. “Well, I kind of thought your mom would have discussed this with you, but here it goes.” He stared at the ceiling for a moment as if the answers to my questions were written up there. “When a young girl flowers into a young woman, her body goes through many changes,” he started.
“Are you saying my man-made robot suit of armor went through puberty?” I interrupted.
Ginny choked on her tea but then became very interested in the lines of code on one of her tablets. Clearly she wasn’t going to enter this minefield. I didn’t blame her. I’d never been in a more mortifying conversation in my life.
“No, your suit didn’t go through puberty.” Arthur gave me a look like I was the one being dense. “But Princess, it’s designed to your exact physical dimensions. I had Percival scan you the night you got here while you were asleep.”
I chose to skip that super-creepy statement so we could stay focused on the important issues. “My body looks nothing like that.” I pointed at the cones jutting out from the armor’s breastplate. “I don’t care what Percival told you, but you shouldn’t be able to put someone’s eye out with your chest.”
Arthur shrugged. “I thought it might be useful. Besides, it’s not exactly the same size from the outside, of course, but inside you should be snug and safe.”
“I don’t care. That armor looks ridiculous. I will not wear it.”
“She has a point,” said Ginny, breaking in.
“Two of them,” I muttered with a glare at the robot armor’s two chest funnels.
“The thing looks like a Valkyrie from a bad performance of Wagner. You just need a horned Viking helmet with golden braids on the top of the helm to complete the look.” Ginny shot me a sympathetic smirk, but it was still a smirk.
Arthur didn’t get to make whatever snide comment brewed on the tip of his tongue. Instead, Will walked in at that moment.
“I’ve moved most of my things into the room next to Elaine’s,” he said. He might have been planning to say more, but his voice petered out when he caught sight of my overly endowed armor. “Is Controller Stormfield aware you plan to, um, arm Elaine?”
“I’m sure you’ll tell him in your little daily check-in with LANCE,” said Arthur with a sour frown at Will. His brows lowered as Will kept staring at the armor, especially the breastplate. “I’m beginning to see your problems with the aesthetic design,” said Arthur to me.
“You think?” I asked.
With a glare, Arthur turned back to Will. “Do you think you can keep your eyes off my daughter’s robot’s chest?”
“They are impossible to avoid,” I said, sparing Will the burden of responding. The poor guy flushed and looked like he might have trouble sputtering out an answer. Will glanced over at me and flushed even darker before glaring at the safety of the floor.
“Seriously, Arthur, what made you think I’d be okay with pointy boobs?” I continued.
“Percival, redesign the breastplate of the Dame Morgause to be less,” Arthur paused, looking for the right word, “revealing.”
“Percival,” I cut in, “redesign the breastplate to look like all the other knights from the exterior. I’m fine with having it perfectly contoured from the inside.”
“Yes, my lady,” said Percival. “I shall begin construction now.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I trust your judgment.”
“I was programmed by the best,” said Percival.
Arthur huffed and glared at all of us, especially Ginny and me.
The Dame More Goes or whatever ridiculous name Arthur had given the armor, turned and flew out of the room back toward Arthur’s workshops and the armory.
“Oh, I get t
o fly?” I gave Arthur a smile, the first one since he’d marched the atrocious looking armor into the room.
“Of course,” said Arthur. “It won’t be much use if you can’t jump off buildings.”
“You have a skewed view of the world.” I glanced at Will. He stared at the carpet, but his face had turned back to its usual color, and he had a faint smile as if he enjoyed Arthur’s discomfort. “So, you’re moving in next door?” I tried to sound like the idea didn’t leave me wanting to run screaming in terror at having to live so close to such a hot guy.
Will smiled, and his eyes met mine. “Percival and I determined that the room next to yours had the most strategic value.”
“I bet you two did.” The way Arthur stared at Will made me glad Arthur wasn’t wearing his Pendragon armor. Arthur might have put a small rocket in Will’s chest if he’d been armed. “Percival, a word.” He turned and stormed out of the room yelling something at the AI about his “precious little girl” and “hormone crazed Baby LANCEs.”
Will studied the floor again, but I rolled my eyes. Sadly, I was probably safe from those kinds of dangers. If I had learned anything from TV, it was that hot secret agents like Will tended to be into even hotter super spies with the ability to take down an entire legion of Dreki with nothing more than a pair of high-heeled shoes. So far, I had managed to turn into a quivering ball of goo when put in mortal danger. It had not been attractive.
Part of me was glad that Will would be next door. He had a habit of saving my life, and the close proximity would just make that even more convenient. On the other hand, I kind of wanted to get in the habit of saving my own life. Having Will always within shouting range might make me lazy and dependent on him. On the other, other hand, having Will living in the room next door might mean I’d get to see him without his shirt. While cowering up against him in abject fear last night, I had still noticed the guy had rock-hard abs. For a second, I imagined what a shirtless Will would look like. I had an overwhelming desire to draw him, even though I rarely drew people from real life. Arthur might be worried about the wrong teen.
“Are you sure next door to me has the most strategic value?” I only sounded slightly uncomfortable.
Ginny raised her eyebrows at me in question, but she didn’t ask me anything.
“I would have thought a security center or something would make more sense,” I plowed on. “Do we even have one of those?” I asked Ginny.
“No.” She shook her head at me. “And no, Percival and Will are right. Rooming next to you would be the safest place. I’ve been considering moving Arthur and myself down to your wing, but with Will here, I’ll be able to stay in my bed.”
“How splendid for you.” I turned to Will and stuck out my hand for him to shake in what I hoped was a friendly, yet professional, kind of greeting. “Welcome home.”
Will gave me a tentative smile and reached out to take my hand. The second our palms touched, the room around me vanished.
I sat in a restaurant or café. On the table in front of me sat two coffee mugs. One of them seemed to be mine since hot chocolate and marshmallows filled the cup. I hated coffee. Across from me, an older gentleman with what should have been a kind face gave me the most chilling smile I’ve ever seen. It was as if the Devil had somehow co-opted God’s features for his own use. For the first time, I understood how a rat felt when mesmerized by a snake.
“So what do you say, my dear?” asked the man.
“She has nothing to say to you,” said Will from behind me. I turned, surprised. I hadn’t realized he was there.
Will placed his hand on my shoulder. “Come on, Elaine. Let’s get you home.”
“She goes nowhere with you.” The man raised a gun and shot Will in the center of the forehead. The coffee shop around us erupted in chaos as customers threw themselves on the ground. I barely noticed. All I could focus on was the red hole in Will’s head and the sightless gaze in his eyes as he slid to the floor.
I started to scream and scream and scream.
I was still screaming when something slapped me across the face. I was on the floor of the small breakfast room. Will had his arms around me half supporting me into a sitting position. Ginny had both hands on my face and stared deep into my eyes.
“I think she’s coming back,” she said to Will. “Her eyes are clearing.”
Arthur came tearing into the room, a half dozen knights fanning out behind him. The knights were armed and scanned the room for probable targets.
“Unhand my daughter,” Arthur yelled. He carried his giant Pendragon sword Excalibur and brandished it at Will’s head.
“Unhand me? What is this? A bad movie?” My voice sounded weak and raspy, like I’d been to a rock concert where you had to yell at the top of your lungs all night.
“She’s back.” Ginny took her burning hands from my face and sat back on her heels. She shut her eyes for a moment before taking a few deep breaths. When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to cool, calm Ginny, not the frantic woman who must have slapped me a moment ago.
“What is going on?” Arthur asked at the same moment I said, “What was that?”
“I think Elaine just had her first fully realized vision,” said Will.
“That was like nothing I’ve ever Seen before,” I said. “This wasn’t just a picture like I normally draw or even a silent film.” My mind flitted back to that moment last night when I had Seen Will and I all cozy on the couch. That still seemed like such an unlikely future that I couldn’t bring myself to believe it had been a real vision. “Just now, I was there, one hundred percent, all the way there. I smelled my hot chocolate. I felt a draft from the door blowing across my face. I could have touched the blood.” I trailed off and turned away so I wouldn’t have to look at Will’s face.
Will’s arms around me stiffened. Arthur dropped to his knees and tossed his sword behind him. It clattered on the floor, rocking back and forth until a knight retrieved it. Arthur picked up one of my hands and patted it gently, the way my mom used to pat my hands after a bad nightmare.
“Blood?” he said, his voice surprisingly gentle. “Whose blood, Elaine? Did someone hurt you?” He tightened his grip on my hand for a moment, but then he regained control. He started patting my hand again.
I shook my head. “It wasn’t my blood. I was sitting at a table in a coffee shop with a scary guy. He kind of looked like Controller Stormfield, but this guy was oppressively evil.”
“And Stormfield is only subtly so,” Arthur said with a faint grin.
I glanced at Will to see how he was taking the veiled slander directed at his boss. That was a mistake. The Will sitting next to me holding me up might be very much alive, but all I saw was the entry wound on vision Will’s forehead. I shivered and turned back to Arthur and Ginny.
“Elaine, Princess, you still haven’t told us about the blood.”
I bit my lip, and I started to shake just the tiniest bit. Will’s arms around me tightened as if he thought he could hold me together. He couldn’t stop the vision though. For the first time, I had truly Seen the future. I had Seen him die.
“Someone, someone tried to save me from the bad guy. Someone always has to save me, doesn’t he? I really have to do something about that,” I rambled.
Ginny took my other hand in hers. “Did something happen to the person trying to save you?”
I nodded, and my eyes filled with tears. “The man, the bad man, shot him at point blank range. I didn’t see it coming. Neither of us did.”
Arthur and Ginny exchanged a loaded glance. “Did you recognize the person who was shot?” Arthur asked.
“It was Will,” I whispered.
Behind me, Will went still. He even stopped breathing as if my words alone had already killed him. I had trouble catching my breath with Will’s dead arms around me. I snatched my hands out of Arthur’s and Ginny’s grasps and scrabbled at the floor, trying to stand up.
“Air,” I said. “I need air.” The entire Roo
k, all eighty-five floors, seemed to press at me from all sides. Will’s arms let go of me, and I crawled to my feet. I ran for the drawbridge that led to outside.
“Percival, let Elaine out on the terrace,” Ginny ordered from behind me. By the time I reached the entrance hall, the portcullis had already risen, and the drawbridge had lowered. I ran around the outside of the moat as fast as I could, but I couldn’t outrun the vision in my head. I also wasn’t any freer out here than I had been inside the small breakfast room. By the time I started my second lap, Arthur, Ginny, and Will stood on the drawbridge watching me, concern etched on their faces. I couldn’t take their stares.
Slowing down, panting, I came to a stop next to one of the crenellations. I climbed up on my knees to get a better look at the panoramic view in front of me. Manhattan bustled about beneath me, the cars and taxis inching along in the traffic. Down there was freedom from eccentric superhero fathers and secret organizations. Down there, people didn’t watch their new friends get killed in visions. Down there, life was normal.
I stood up on the edge of the crenellation, holding on with one hand.
“No!” yelled Will. All three screamed my name. They were running for me, but the terrace was large, and they were too far away.
“Percival.”
“Yes, my lady?” the AI said from some speaker hidden on the terrace.
“You had better have a knight catch me.” I turned and jumped off the building toward freedom.
9
WHERE I LEARN THAT YOU CAN CHANGE THE FUTURE, BUT YOU CAN’T OUTRUN FATE
IN RETROSPECT, JUMPING OFF ABALCONY SEVENTY STORIES ABOVE New York City was not one of my better decisions. However, as I plummeted to the Earth, I couldn’t second-guess myself. I would have been more frightened if I hadn’t noticed a knight peel away from his defensive position and dart down for me. It broke into small pieces and reformed around my free-falling body. Just like at my school, the knight initialized and pulled me out of my dive long before I smacked into the sidewalk below. It turned to take me back up to the terrace.
