Wards and Wonders

by Kay L. Ling

  “They probably thought you were trying to read their minds,” Tyla said.

  “I was, and I won’t apologize for it. We need to know if they can be trusted. Sheamathan has suffered enough already. Look at her! She’s in a cage! We can’t allow her to be mistreated or tortured.”

  “Forgive me if I can’t find it in my heart to pity her,” Tyla said. “I doubt the gnomes at The Emanicus would torture her, but she deserves it.”

  “Aside from the fact that they were shielding their thoughts, there was something disturbing about them.” She shrugged. “I don’t trust them.”

  Gnomes wouldn’t want S in a woodspirit-run facility, and woodspirits wouldn’t want S in a gnome-run facility. The Emanicus, which was not a typical confinement, seemed like a reasonable choice.

  “If you’re finished here, I’ll show you to your rooms,” Tyla said.

  “Apparently, they found more broom closets,” S said nastily.

  Kitana’s news story was sure to say Elantoth was a horrible place and S was mistreated. Wait till they saw their shabby bedrooms and stale, bland food. But Tyla didn’t care. She hoped they’d be so outraged they’d get into their fancy carriage and go away.

  “Breghlin do all the cleaning and cooking here, as they did during S’s reign,” she said as she took them to the tiny room with the soot-stained walls. “Most of the rooms need a lot of work, but we haven’t had time to fix them up.”

  The woodspirits peeked through the doorway and gave horrified gasps.

  “The other room is bigger,” she assured them and led them to the room with the dilapidated furniture. Lou Ann had made up the beds but hadn’t smoothed the lumps from the mattresses, and the beds were ridiculously short for woodspirits.

  The woodspirits were clearly stunned by the squalor. They still hadn’t spoken.

  “By the time you’ve settled in, lunch should be ready. By the way,” she added, trying hard to keep a straight face, “breghlin are really bad cooks. Most of the time the food doesn’t make us sick, but it’s a good to have digestive herbs on hand.”

  The woodspirits exchanged frightened looks.

  “Before you eat anything, check for bugs and rodent droppings. Breghlin aren’t known for cleanliness, as you have noticed.”

  “How do you live like this?” Tannar gasped.

  “It isn’t easy, but we make do. Your lunch will be served in the main dining room, and there’s a privy nearby. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going down to the library.”

  She had just reached the foot of the stairs when Ertz appeared beside her. She let out a startled squeak.

  “Well done,” he said with a chuckle. “I heard you were taking them to their rooms and followed you.”

  “If they survive the day, they’ll be gone by breakfast,” she predicted, grinning.

  “I hope you’re right. I have never liked Kitana, as I’m sure you noticed. Aberell contacted us a little while ago to say she was coming. Their warning came a little late, but I appreciate it, anyway.”

  “Have you ever been to The Emanicus?” she asked as they walked to the library. “Kitana says she toured the facility and interviewed two gem masters.”

  “I was there once, years ago. The gem masters were writing about the formation of the Joint High Council and wanted information. Not only was one of my ancestors instrumental in founding the JHC, he was one of the first representatives. Emanicus gnomes seldom invite outsiders in, so I considered it an honor. Their object is to live apart from the world and devote themselves to their studies.”

  “So, Kitana was lucky to get an interview. She’s skeptical about them and doesn’t want S to go there.”

  “If she doesn’t like the place, that’s a point in its favor,” Ertz said.

  When they entered the library, they found Arenia sitting on the couch, looking through Meckan’s sketchbook. She looked up with a guilty smile. “They left this behind, so of course I had to look.”

  “What’s that on the floor?” Tyla asked, indicating a crumpled paper by Arenia’s feet.

  “You don’t want to know.” Arenia picked it up and smoothed it, revealing a drawing of Ertz and Tyla peering into the cage, malicious smiles on their faces.

  Tyla gasped. “Did you pull that out of the sketchbook?”

  “No. I found it on the floor. Maybe they planned to publish it but thought better of it and threw it away.”

  “Threw it away where we’d be sure to find it,” Tyla said, fuming. She tore it up and put the pieces in her pocket.

  Chapter 21

  When Tyla reached the kitchen to check on lunch, she was surprised to find Orma and Meckan there, watching the breghlin work. Maybe her comments had frightened them, or maybe they didn’t believe her but were curious. She was tempted to turn around and creep silently up the stairs, but then thought better of it and sat on the bottom step where she could see them but they weren’t likely to see her.

  Breghlin had gotten their share of lectures about keeping work surfaces and implements clean, so they knew how to safely prepare food, though you’d never know it to watch them now. Tyla suspected they were purposely trying to nauseate the woodspirits, and Tina Ann was probably behind it.

  Tina Ann and Maggie Ann were at the worktable, plucking feathers from two birds that would probably be the gnomes’ supper. Usually they did this outdoors, but not today. Two pairs of severed, clawed feet sat forlornly beside a gory knife. Blood dribbled from the birds’ headless necks, and feathers were flying everywhere.

  “Gimme that knife,” Tina Ann demanded, and Maggie Ann handed it to her. Without wiping off the blood, Tina Ann started chopping turnips and tossing the pieces into a bowl.

  “You wants the feet, dontcha?” Maggie Ann asked.

  “Yep. Throw ‘em in.”

  Maggie Ann scooped up the feet and tossed them into the bowl, then produced the birds’ heads from the pocket of her blood-spattered apron.

  Tina Ann said, “Glad ya saved the heads.”

  “Of course I did. Cookin’ veg’tables with a bird’s head an’ feet brings good luck.” She dropped them into the bowl.

  Meckan said to Orma, “There’s food in the carriage for the trip back. We could use some of it now, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, why bother the cooks when we can have that instead?”

  “Ern’t no trouble,” Tina Ann said. “Jus’ need ter boil this awhile.”

  “You should eat it so you have the good luck,” Orma said hastily. “We’ll get something from the carriage.”

  Smothering laughter, Tyla retreated up the stairs, wondering where Raenihel was. He was missing all the excitement. She checked the library and the Ministry of Gnome Affairs but didn’t find him. Maybe he was in the office.

  As she came down the passageway toward the office, she heard his voice.

  “These gems have all been identified and labeled, and none of them have dark powers,” he was saying.

  “But Sheamathan owned Dark gems. Lots of them,” came Kitana’s sharp reply. “There must be some here, and I demand to see them.”

  “All we have are what you see here,” Raenihel said in a calm, pleasant tone.

  “That’s impossible. They can’t have vanished into thin air. Someone must know where they are.”

  “Ask anyone here. They’ll say the same thing. We don’t want reminders of Sheamathan’s evil. We burned her throne, and there was no reason to keep its Dark gems.”

  “But they’re valuable!” Kitana cried. “You can’t just throw them away!”

  Tyla ran down the passageway. She wasn’t sure who she was angrier with— Kitana for interrogating Raenihel, or Raenihel for permitting it. He was a good-natured gnome, but Tyla had been around him enough to know that he did have a temper.

  “It’s dangerous to keep Dark gems—or so we’ve been told.”

  “Sheamthan says she had Dark gems in her vault. I suppose you threw them away, too.”

  “I never saw the contents of her vault,�
� Raenihel said, his tone cheerful and courteous. “When I looked inside, it was empty.”

  Tyla burst into the office, flushed with anger. Kitana stood with her back to Tyla, hands on hips. Raenihel, smiling pleasantly, sat behind the desk, and there were a number of open gem trays scattered across it.

  “Raenihel! What are you doing!” Tyla cried. “She’s not with a government agency. She has no business going through our gems!”

  Unruffled by the rebuke, Raenihel continued to smile.

  Kitana rounded on Tyla. “My readers have questions, and they deserve answers.”

  Raenihel looked mystified by Tyla’s anger. “Kitana is a guest, and we should be courteous to her.”

  “Guest! She’s just a newssheet publisher!”

  “Yes, and a delightful one.”

  Tyla’s eyes narrowed as it dawned on her what was wrong with him. “What did you do to him? Is it a compulsion?”

  Kitana laughed. “Of course not. He’s just extraordinarily happy, which makes him more cooperative.” Her eyes sparkled with malice. “Traits that you would be wise to—” She broke off mid-sentence, mouth open, pointing angrily at Tyla. She looked like a statue—just as Ben and Tina Ann had in the libations room.

  Ertz appeared at Tyla’s side, and Tyla jumped. He took her arm. “Sorry to startle you. I shouldn’t have let Kitana out of my sight.”

  Ertz was full of surprises. This time, Tyla was glad to see him.

  Suddenly Raenihel sat up straighter and shook his head as if clearing away the cobwebs.

  “She won’t remain this way long, and she’ll be furious when the effect wears off, but don’t worry, I’ll handle her,” Ertz advised.

  Raenihel pushed back his chair and stood. He wasn’t smiling anymore. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have shown her the gems.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Tyla told him. “She used gem powers to make you cooperative.”

  “Either phorish or minganstone, judging by the effects,” Ertz said. He looked Tyla in the eye. “Learn a lesson from this. Beneficial gems can be misused. When you’re around anyone with gem powers, you must always be on guard.” He waved a hand in front of Kitana’s face and snapped his fingers. “I’ve never used this gem on a woodspirit.”

  “She can’t see or hear us?” Raenihel asked.

  “Not unless it works differently on woodspirits.” Ertz clapped his hands in front of her face and got no reaction.

  Tyla said, “We have a problem. S admitted to having a large collection of Dark gems. Kitana will put that in the newssheet, and someone will come looking for them.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Ertz said. “Everyone knows she had them.”

  “When Frinkk and Klemmet were here, we told them we’d gotten rid of the Dark gems, and they didn’t say anything more about it.”

  “I assure you, it’s only a matter of time until Frinkk and Klemmet pursue the matter of what became of S’s Dark gems . . . and the rest of her gem collection, for that matter.” He gave Tyla a meaningful look.

  Panic knifed through her.

  “This isn’t S’s entire gem collection—far from it,” Ertz said, turning his gaze to Raenihel. “We know from historical accounts that S owned many rare, beneficial gems as well as rare gems with dark powers. I’m sure she accumulated more during her years in the Amulet.”

  Tyla didn’t know what to say. She gathered up the gem trays and put them back in the storage cabinet.

  “They can come and look, for all the good it will do them,” Raenihel said defiantly. “They won’t find any other gems here.”

  “We will discuss the matter later. We’re about out of time,” Ertz said, turning toward Kitana who continued to stare blankly.

  Tyla followed Raenihel from the office, although she was tempted to stay and see what happened when Kitana recovered. Tyla felt new respect for the elderly gnome. It took a lot of nerve to use a gem power like that on Kitana Windan.

  As they went down the passageway, Raenihel asked, “Do you think Ertz knows where the rest of S’s gems are?”

  “Probably. And if he figured it out, others will too. Everyone knows Elias turned S into a beetle, so it’s natural to suspect him. S stole gems from our ancestors during The Great Upheaval and enslaved generations of gnomes to mine more, so it’s only fair that we keep them. Elias will hide and ward the gems until we need them.”

  “With so many officials roaming the Amulet, Elias had better hide his own gems and jewelry.”

  “Yes, it would be impossible to prove they were his, not S’s.”

  “For all we know, outsiders aren’t allowed to own our gems.”

  “I never thought of that.”

  An outraged scream, “How dare you!” echoed down the passageway.

  Raenihel said dryly, “Sounds like the effects wore off.”

  “Ertz should send Kitana away for what she did to you. I wish I could have turned her away when she arrived. She’s going to print all kinds of lies. I overheard part of her interview with S, and it was sickening.”

  “What did S tell her?”

  “That she became a benevolent ruler and used her gem powers to help us.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous! Everyone in the Amulet will contradict that.”

  “Gnomes aren’t likely to believe it, but woodspirits might, and they’ll use it as an excuse to send her to a low-security site. I think Kitana planned all along to depict S as someone who’s changed and deserves another chance.”

  “We’ve waited over two hundred years for justice, and no one had better let S out of paying for her crimes.”

  They heard footsteps and turned. Kitana was storming down the passageway with Ertz behind her.

  Tyla took Raenihel’s arm, and they hurried toward the library.

  “I didn’t think Kitana looked anything like S, but she does when she’s angry,” Raenihel said. “Do you think she’s evil or just manipulative?”

  “Good question. I’ll find out.”

  Raenihel didn’t ask how Tyla planned to do that.

  As they entered the library, guards nodded to them. Orma, Meckan, and Tannar were standing around S’s cage, drinks in hand, listening to S talk about the breghlin.

  “I tried to help the breghlin, with little success. I even resorted to gem powers, but it was useless. The more I tried to help them, the uglier and more unintelligent they became.”

  Tyla could hardly believe her ears.

  “This has gone too far!” Raenihel whispered angrily.

  Orma said, “I wouldn’t want them cooking my meals or waiting on me, but the gnomes don’t seem to mind.”

  S chittered. “Amulet gnomes are an inferior breed. Few can read or write, and they have no interest in the arts.”

  “Some can use gems,” Meckan said.

  “True, but they struggle with the simplest powers.”

  “That miserable liar . . .” Tyla said through clenched teeth.

  Raenihel grabbed Tyla’s arm, holding her back with an effort.

  Kitana entered and swept by them, eyes flashing. Ertz followed and gave them a conspiratorial wink. He called to Kitana’s assistants, “Your interview is over. You should have enough lies by now.”

  “Come on,” Tyla said to Raenihel, “Let’s put S back in the broom closet.”

  They came up behind Kitana who was looking into the cage and saying regretful goodbyes. “It was a pleasure interviewing you. Thank you. I wish others at Elantoth were as cooperative.”

  “You probably used gem powers to make her talk,” Tyla said.

  The other woodspirits looked shocked, and sensing that a confrontation was brewing, set their goblets on the table and walked away.

  Tyla came closer, bumping the table and nearly knocking over a goblet. “You owe Raenihel an apology. You used gem powers to get your own way, and that isn’t right.”

  Kitana laughed. “Don’t make such a fuss. I didn’t hurt him. I just made him more cooperative. Sometimes that’s necessary in m
y business.”

  Was Kitana unprincipled or truly evil? Before Tyla could lose her nerve, she grabbed Kitana’s hand and pressed it against the cage. If Kitana was evil, she’d shriek in pain.

  “Have you lost your mind?” Kitana cried, trying to pull her hand away.

  Tyla pressed even harder. Shock and outrage contorted Kitana’s features, but the Fair Lands gems in the metal didn’t burn her. Tyla finally let go. “Don’t make such a fuss. I didn’t hurt you,” Tyla said, mimicking Kitana’s tone. “It was just an experiment. The cage incorporates Fair Lands gems, and they burn evil beings.”

  The fury on the woodspirit’s face made Tyla take a few steps back. Kitana grabbed one of the metal goblets and threw it at her. Tyla reacted instinctively with something she’d been practicing since her visit to the Outcast District. The goblet came within inches of her face and rebounded, slamming into the cage with a clang that echoed through the library.

  Kitana’s jaw dropped, and Ertz who had stepped forward to intervene, looked equally surprised.

  “Raenihel and I are putting S back where she belongs—the broom closet,” Tyla said. Silence reigned as they carried the cage away.

  “I don’t know what surprised me more—you making Kitana touch the cage or your ability to deflect the goblet,” Raenihel said once they were in the passageway.

  Tyla gave an embarrassed laugh. “The funny thing is, there was an easier way to test her, but I didn’t think of it at the time. My bracelet has topaz from the Fair Lands. I could have just touched it to her arm.”

  Raenihel chuckled. “This way was far more entertaining.”

  “Hey S,” Tyla called to the silent beetle, “What were you saying about Amulet gnomes struggling with the simplest powers?”

  S didn’t answer.

  “I suppose it’s entertaining to make up lies, and you have nothing better to do while you’re locked in the closet.” What stories would S invent between now and the trial? And would Kitana attend the trial and try to manipulate the judgmentors? That was a chilling thought. Surely the courts had wards to prevent such abuse, Tyla told herself, hoping it was true. She would ask Ertz. He would know.

  Until now, she had always gone to Elias for advice, but she couldn’t for matters like these. Like it or not, she must rely on Ertz.