by Kay L. Ling
This carriage, like the one from Mierek, had no driver’s box, so one of the occupants must have gem powers. At first, the paint appeared to be deep blue, but as the light played over it she saw other colors—reds, greens, blues, and violets, glittering like Ben and Tina Ann’s sparkles. Whose carriage could this be, and why had they come?
Tyla went to the far end of the terrace and leaned over the balustrade. The carriage rolled to a stop near the rear entry.
A woodspirit stepped out of the carriage. She wore her dark brown hair in a long braid, and she was very beautiful. Her pale blue dress fell to her ankles, and her shoes matched the dress. Tyla was still admiring her when a second woodspirit stepped out. She had black hair and was dressed like the first, only in pale green. A third woodspirit emerged. This one had light brown hair, and her pale purple dress was trimmed with deeper purple at the neckline and sleeves. She held out her hand to someone inside.
A fourth woodspirit stepped gracefully from the carriage, a satchel in her hand. She wore a shimmering, silver dress. Her braid was composed of alternating sections of black and silver hair.
After handing her satchel to the woodspirit in blue, she turned and lifted her hand. The carriage door closed of its own accord, and the erum pulled the carriage off the driveway onto the lawn. Woodspirits were unsettling, even when they didn’t have gem powers. This woodspirit was definitely one of The Eight, and Tyla thought she knew which one.
She raced inside. This felt just like the day the delegation from Mierek had come early. But unlike that day, someone got there first to greet the guests. As Tyla approached the entryway, she heard Gem Master Ertz say coldly, “Kitana, what a surprise . . . and I see you brought your entire retinue.”
“We’ll need four rooms for the night. We’ll have fialazza now while I interview Sheamathan, luncheon at one, and dinner at six.”
Tyla stopped short, stunned by the woodspirit’s audacity and haughty tone.
“We are not obligated to grant interviews,” Ertz replied. “And this is not a public lodging house.”
“I will speak to whichever member of the Anen clan is in charge here. Shouldn’t you be off preparing a lecture?”
What nerve! Tyla hurried forward. One of the elders was on duty but was at breakfast right now, and Raenihel wasn’t due for another hour.
Gem Master Ertz turned when he heard Tyla coming. “Ah, here is a representative of the Anen clan. This is Tyla.”
Tyla looked up. The woodspirits were giant trees and Ertz a little gnome shrub.
Anatta had been allowed to see S, but Kitana Windan was no relation, just a newssheet publisher. Could Tyla send Kitana and her assistants away?
“You can’t send us away,” Kitana said, frowning down at Tyla. Tyla opened her mouth and closed it again. Had Kitana just read her thoughts? The other woodspirits looked at Tyla as if she were an annoying insect. “The public has a right to hear Sheamathan’s side of the story,” Kitana said, “and I have permission to interview her.”
“Permission from whom?” Ertz demanded when Tyla didn’t say anything.
The woodspirit in blue said, “From the Joint High Council, of course.” She opened the satchel and produced a dendrite ball.
Kitana took it and cradled it in both palms. “Aram DeBiggin.”
The black, fernlike shapes resolved into a face, and a voice said, “Yes, Kitana, what is it?”
“I’m at Elantoth, and they’re questioning my right to interview Sheamathan. Please tell them I have permission.”
“Yes, your request was approved by the Joint High Council.”
Kitana thrust the ball toward Ertz, saying spitefully, “See for yourself. You know Aram DeBiggin, I believe.”
Ertz waved the ball away. “Yes, I do, and that’s him.”
Kitana’s lips drew into a tight line, her eyes a challenge as she looked at Tyla. “Satisfied?”
Tyla nodded, anger tightening her throat.
“Sorry to bother you,” Kitana said, and the image broke apart, becoming fernlike patterns once again.
The woodspirit in blue returned the ball to the satchel, and they all looked very pleased with themselves.
Tyla was angry enough to find her tongue. “We have no spare rooms for woodspirits, but you can stay in the maraku barn.” She was shocked at her own daring, and the woodspirits’ eyes widened at the insult. “While you’re there, you can interview the male breghlin who sleep in the loft.”
The door guards made choking noises and turned away to hide their laughter.
Ertz’s voice said inside her head. I didn’t think you had that in you.
What was the worst Kitana could do to her?
“If you have no spare rooms, we’ll settle for yours and Ertz’s,” Kitana said with a poisonous smile.
Just then, Tyla heard something thump against the door, and when the guard opened it, four pieces of brown luggage sailed past him and dropped onto the floor, lining up along the wall.
“Now, you can take me to see Sheamathan or I’ll find her on my own. It’s up to you,” Kitana said and pushed past Tyla and Ertz.
Kitana’s assistants followed, and the one in green said to Tyla as she passed, “Don’t forget to order our fialazza. And some cheese to go with it.”
Tyla and Ertz led the woodspirits to the library and sent for extra guards, which was probably pointless, Tyla told herself. The floating luggage was impressive, and no doubt that was a minor demonstration of Kitana’s powers. When Anatta and Varkandian were here, they hadn’t used their abilities openly, but Tyla was sure they were capable of similar feats.
As she and Ertz were backing out of the closet with S’s cage, Wally stuck his head out of the office next door. “Got visitors again?”
“Unfortunately,” Tyla said. “Four woodspirits. And one is Kitana—one of The Eight.”
Wally gave an unhappy grunt.
“Do you think we can manage by ourselves?” Tyla asked Ertz, wishing he were younger and stronger.
“Certainly.”
Suddenly, the cage felt much lighter.
“Better?” he asked.
“Yes, much.”
“Some of us don’t flaunt our powers,” Ertz said in response to her surprised look.
She pushed the door shut with her foot, and they started off with the cage, which was no burden at all now. Tyla called over her shoulder to Wally, “Go find Tina Ann. Tell her there are four woodspirits in the library, and they’re demanding fialazza and cheese.”
“Tina Ann?” he repeated. “Ya want her to wait on ‘em? Mebbe ya better send a gnome.”
“No. Tina Ann will do perfectly,” Tyla said. She could almost hear Wally shaking his head as they walked away.
When they reached the library, the woodspirits were seated on S’s creepy animal-bone furniture.
Ertz said telepathically, Pretend the cage is heavy.
He apparently didn’t want them to know he was using gem powers. Tyla slowed, breathing heavily. They reached the table and set down the cage with a thump.
The woodspirits immediately came over with Kitana in the lead, and if the giant beetle disgusted them, they hid it well.
“I’m Kitana Windan from Today’s Woodspirit and Woodspirit News and Views. These are my assistants—Orma, Meckan, and Tannar.” She indicated each in turn. Their names were useful information for Tyla and Ertz, but of little interest to S, who made a chittering sound, her equivalent of drop dead. She crawled to the other side of the cage.
“I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
Orma lifted her notebook, ready to take notes.
“Go away,” rasped S.
Meckan, holding a sketchpad, went around the table and began to sketch. After a moment, she flipped to a clean sheet and drew the beetle from a different angle.
Kitana said, “I plan to publish an article about your years in the Amulet.”
Tannar said, “If you don’t cooperate, we’ll get our information from the gnomes.”
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“And I doubt they will give a favorable account of you,” Kitana said.
The woodspirits were so engrossed they didn’t see Tina Ann come in.
“If she won’t talk, try pokin’ her with a stick,” Tina Ann suggested helpfully.
They turned, and their mouths fell open. Paying no attention to their horrified stares, Tina Ann carried the tray to the table by the couch, and as she reached it, she sneezed so hard the goblets rattled. “Beg pardon,” she muttered as she set down the tray. After wiping her nose on her sleeve, she poured fialazza from the open pitcher and stumped away.
“Now that you have your fialazza and cheese, we’ll run along,” Ertz said. “As you pointed out, I have lectures to prepare.”
“And since you plan to take our rooms, I need to get them ready,” Tyla added.
They’d get two rooms, but not hers and Ertz’s. And she couldn’t say how pleasant they’d be. In fact, they were sure to be unpleasant. Smiling to herself, Tyla followed Ertz from the room.
Chapter 20
Tyla went upstairs to see the rooms she had in mind. When visiting clan leaders had come, Elias had given them all the large, well-furnished rooms and Jules had been stuck with a tiny bedroom with rickety furniture. That room would be perfect. The other room was currently a storeroom for mismatched, broken furniture.
Every morning, cleaning staff lit torches, swept the stone floors, and made a half-hearted attempt to remove cobwebs and soot from the walls. Tyla found Patty Ann, a middle-age breghlin, midway down the passageway with a bucket and rag, ostensibly cleaning, but only smearing the soot around.
The cleaning staff didn’t know Elantoth had visitors, but they would soon, since telling Tina Ann was always the fastest way to spread news.
“Tyla!”
Tyla jumped at the unexpected voice. Arenia had come looking for her.
“I ran into Ertz on my way to the library. He said I’d find you here.”
“Did you see them—Kitana and her staff?
Arenia frowned. “Not yet, and I don’t want to. Ertz says they’re incredibly rude.”
“They are, and it doesn’t help that Ertz and Kitana are acquainted and don’t like each other.”
“Maybe woodspirits and gnomes just don’t get along. When the delegation was here, there was sparring on both sides. Anyway, I hear you told Kitana we don’t have spare rooms, and they’re upset.”
“You should have heard them ordering us around! Demanding fialazza and telling us what time to serve their meals! We don’t have rooms for rude, demanding woodspirits. Come on. I’m giving them the worst rooms I can find—the small bedroom Jules used for a while, and the storeroom with the beat-up furniture.”
Arenia laughed. “Good choices.”
Tyla opened the door to the tiny bedroom, took a lightgem from her pocket, and went inside. The bed might hold two if the occupants didn’t mind elbows in their ribs all night. The only other furnishings were a battered trunk and a wobbly bedside table with a mineral oil lamp.
“Perfect! Jules built the bed to fit a human, so it’s long enough for woodspirits. They have the trunk for storage, and I’ll get a couple old chairs to lay their dresses over.”
Leaving the door open, they went down the passageway to the storage room.
“Patty Ann, you can stop that now,” Tyla said.
The breghlin paused with the dirty rag in her hand, looking slightly bewildered. Sagging jowls, and a large nose covered with bumps were her most prominent features. She was one of the more docile breghlin who didn’t get into fights, and though it seemed unkind to say so, she was rather dim-witted. Cleaning jobs suited her better than kitchen work.
“When was the last time you dumped that water?” Arenia asked.
Patty Ann shrugged. “Was jus’ about to.”
Tyla said with a devious grin, “Come with us, and bring the bucket.”
Patty Ann glanced over at the dustpan and broom.
“Never mind those. Just bring the bucket.” Tyla led her to the tiny bedroom. “I’d like you to wipe down the walls.”
Patty Ann set down the bucket.
“With that filthy water?” Arenia protested.
Tyla gave her sister a long look. “Exactly.”
Understanding dawned in Arenia’s eyes, and she started to laugh.
“The dirtier the better,” Tyla said. “When she finishes this, she can throw the dirt from the dustpan on the floor.”
Tyla and Arenia returned to the storeroom where they found two bedframes against the wall. The mattresses—ticking stuffed with feathers—lay on the floor. There were two chests of drawers, covered in dust. One had a missing drawer. The other’s drawers always stuck and had to be wrenched open. There was also a small bedside table with a missing leg, and a number of chairs that weren’t safe to sit on.
“A couple of these chairs should do nicely. Let’s take them over, then we’ll come back and turn this mess into a bedroom,” Tyla said.
They found Patty Ann hard at work. Black smears streaked the wall.
“Good job,” Tyla told her.
Patty Ann paused with the grimy rag in her hand, smiled at the praise, and then went back to “cleaning.”
Tina Ann stumbled into the room, panting. “There you be! What we s’posed to make fer them woodspirits to eat?”
“Don’t go to any trouble,” Tyla told her. “Anatta and Varkandian ate mostly vegetables, so boil whatever you have on hand, and if there’s any dry bread you were going to throw out, give them that.”
Tina Ann looked around. “What a mess you be makin’, Patty Ann!”
“I knows it,” Patty Ann replied calmly, swishing her rag in the bucket.
“We’re doing our best to make the room unpleasant,” Tyla explained. “Before you go back to the kitchen, come down to the storeroom and help us move some furniture.”
“Sure thing.” She looked happy to be included in the mischief.
As they rearranged the furniture, Tina Ann said, “They gonna have a fit when they sees this room.”
They set the chests of drawers on one wall, lined up chairs on another, and lifted the mattresses onto the bed slats. There was a rolled-up rug that would be perfect between the beds. They spread it out and congratulated themselves on the effect. Most of the reds and oranges had turned brown, and it had several holes where something had been chewing on it.
Tyla carried over the table with the missing leg and set it between the beds. When she slid out the single drawer, she found rodent droppings, feathers, and a ball of fuzz that had probably come from the rug.
They went to the doorway and surveyed the room with satisfied smiles.
“Want me to send Lou Ann up with some sheets?” Tina Ann asked.
“Yes, thank you.” She wondered whether the woodspirits would carry up their luggage or wait for Kitana to float it up the stairs.
Curious how things were going with the interview, Tyla and Arenia returned to the library and slipped in without the woodspirits seeing them. The woodspirits had finally coaxed S into speaking.
“In time, I came to regret my actions,” S was saying, “but by then the gnome clans had gone into hiding, and I could not convince them that I meant them no harm.”
“You mentioned some of them mined gems for you,” Kitana prompted her.
“Yes, they did. Quite contently, I might add. I gave them food, clothing, and other necessities and had the breghlin look after them.”
Tyla’s mouth dropped open. Arenia looked furious, but listened in angry silence.
“On our way here, we saw dead and diseased trees and areas where little grew except scrub brush. We heard you destroyed huge tracts of forest to keep the gnomes from traveling by Walking With the Wind.”
“Ridiculous! Humans devastated the Amulet and blamed it on me. For generations, they tried to seize control of the Amulet, and they finally succeeded. Then, after they turned me into a beetle, they started meddling with the Amulet barrier. It is tru
e that gnomes can finally pass through and outsiders cannot, but that was not what the humans intended. They wanted to completely destroy the barrier so they could enter.”
Tyla seethed. What other lies would S tell? Was Kitana stupid enough to believe any of this?
“I recently interviewed the gnome, Kaff,” Kitana went on. “When he kidnapped you, he believed that the barrier should be opened, and that it would take dark powers to do it, so he asked you to help him.”
“I told him the Amulet should remain closed, but he would not listen. Humans had poisoned his mind.”
“You could have refused to teach him dark powers.”
“I did refuse. If he learned dark powers, it was not from me. It was from the human, Gem Master Elias.”
“From what we’ve heard, humans don’t use dark powers,” said Orma.
“Elias turned me into a beetle by using dark powers, did he not? Bah. Go away. It is pointless to explain anything to imbeciles.”
Tyla couldn’t take any more of this. She motioned for Arenia to come with her, and they came up quietly behind Kitana and Orma. The other woodspirits, Meckan and Tannar, stood a little way off, whispering.
“Are you actually going to publish her ridiculous lies?” Tyla demanded, and Kitana whirled in surprise.
“We will publish her side of the story,” Kitana said stiffly. “What our readership choses to believe is up to them.”
“Will you be publishing our side of the story, too?” Arenia asked.
“I do. Routinely,” Kitana said with a careless wave of her hand. “A few days ago, I interviewed the gnomes who run The Emanicus and took a brief tour of the facility. It’s one of the sites under consideration for Sheamathan when she’s moved from the Amulet.”
“We’ve heard of it,” Tyla said.
“Did you write a favorable report of the place or say she shouldn’t go there?” Arenia asked.
“It’s very secure, but it’s privately run and there’s no oversight, so I don’t think she should go there. The gem masters I interviewed—” she broke off, frowning. “They answered my questions, but were strangely reserved and not very helpful.”