Madis blinked. “Is that a joke?”
Melissa stood straight and crossed her arms across her chest. “Are you rejecting my advice? If so then you are beyond help, and I will let the people do as they will.”
“No,” Madis said quickly. She swallowed and stood straight. Madis put the palms of her hands behind her head and spoke with an uncertain voice. “The… love of the rabbit unto you.”
To her surprise, everyone in the crowd also put their palms behind their heads. “And unto you as well.”
Nodding, Melissa came over to the queen’s side and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “That is a good first step, Queen Madis, but you will have to do much more to earn back the trust of your people. Next, I think I will draw up a treaty for you to sign. And I am sure all the guest kings will be happy to sign it as well. You, and your country, will join the Alliance. We will guide and protect you, and together bring your people Unity, Justice, and Peace.”
The crowd raised their fists into the air and cheered.
XXX
On the way to the gate Waldo and his escort passed the guild. The ivory tower that climbed into the sky was gone. So were the giant eagles. Now it was just an ordinary building burning, like a hundred others. Waldo thought of all the books, all the knowledge, that had been reduced to kindling. What a horrible waste! Except for what Melissa had done to him this was the worst thing he’d seen since coming here.
The plaza was filled with bodies. They were scattered all along the length and breadth of the place. People had been butchered, hacked to pieces, torn apart, heads smashed in; the variety and degree of violence was impressive. As he was being taken across the plaza he spotted a body in crimson and gold robes. He decided to take a moment to have a closer look.
It was Leiznam. From the looks of it he’d been beaten to death.
“Still proud to be an illusionist?” Waldo asked.
Leiznam did not have an answer. Kneeling beside the corpse Waldo began to search through the pockets of his robes. He soon found what he was looking for; a spellbook. There was blood on the cover and edges, but opening it he saw all the pages were perfectly legible. It looked like he’d gotten some new spells after all. He slipped the book into one of his own pockets and got going.
XXX
Waldo couldn’t remember how he’d reached the docks. The followers had taken him to the main gate and wanted to escort him to wherever it was he was going. When he ordered them to leave him they had obeyed however. Somehow, he made it to the wharves without further incident.
“Darling! Are you all right?”
Waldo stopped and tried to focus. Alice was standing in front of him. He’d failed to notice. All he could think about was her presence in the back of his mind. He could shut his eyes and point to exactly where she was. From the strength of the feeling he knew she had to be somewhere still inside the Wall. The Death Seal was different from the Contract you made with a familiar. Melissa could not summon him or compel him to obey and there was no emotional bond between them, a very small mercy. She was not chasing him yet, but she would. There was no hiding from her now. If he ran to the other end of the world she would find him.
“Darling?” Alice put her hands gently to his face. He could sense her worry. Given what she had to be sensing from him it was more than understandable. “What’s wrong?”
He forced a smile to try and reassure her. “I’m fine. Get me to the ship.”
She nodded. “All right.”
Alice put an arm over her shoulder and helped him to the barge. Normally he would have been embarrassed, now it barely registered. Her presence wouldn’t go away, he couldn’t ignore it or pretend it wasn’t there. It was a perpetual buzzing, like some horrible bug that had burrowed into his head. How had he been so stupid? How could he have gotten himself into such a mess? The damage was permanent, there was no way to remove the seal. The only thing that would ever break their connection was death.
Alice brought him to the small vessel. Belle was waiting, along with their possessions and the five man crew.
“You okay, master?” Belle asked.
“Just fine.”
“What’s going on inside the Wall? The birthday party get out of hand?”
Waldo looked back. A very large section of the wall was no longer golden, but ordinary stone. The fires gave the city a ridiculously bright and cheerful appearance. Black smoke was rising into the night, and they could hear the faint echo of screams as well as cheers.
“It’s a riot I suppose, or maybe it’s a revolution. I don’t care.” Waldo turned to the captain. “Get me out of here, take me as far away from this place as you can, all the way to the Storm Sea would be nice.”
The captain was eager to go, he and his men cast off and the barge was soon pulling clear of the wharves and going down the Acushnet River.
“Did the drow do something? Did you get what you wanted?” Alice asked.
Waldo went through his pockets. The drow map was still there, so was his wand, his spellbooks, and even his potion ingredients. She hadn’t stolen anything from him.
Except his life of course.
He took Alice’s hand and gave it a small squeeze. The truth could wait. “I’m fine, Alice. Everything is fine.”
There was doubt in her eyes, but she didn’t question him. She nodded and wrapped her fingers around his. Waldo shut his eyes and listened carefully. He was sure he could hear the Dark Powers laughing.
THE END
The Rabbit Great And Terrible Page 36