by Kay L. Ling
The clan leaders snatched their hands away, their eyes widening in alarm.
“We curse him forever, me and my Mistress!”
The book lapsed into silence, and Jules thought that was the end of its outburst, but after a moment it began to mutter mournfully, over and over, “All his fault . . . misery and loss, misery and loss, misery and loss . . . all his fault, misery and loss, misery and loss, misery and loss.”
A chill settled over Jules. Something dreadful had happened. What, he couldn’t imagine.
Morodin whispered, “What is it talking about? Do any of you know?”
The gnomes shook their heads. The book continued its litany in an inconsolable tone, “misery and loss, misery and loss.” Finally, it fell silent, as if exhausted by grief.
Elias motioned for everyone to follow him from the room. He led them down the passageway and said quietly, “Encountering gnomes with gem powers apparently stirred its memories.”
“The name Frentian certainly stirred a few!” Vegmir said darkly.
Kerosten spread his hands, looking confused. “I find it odd that asking about its gnome owner didn’t upset it, but mentioning the Frentian clan did.”
Jules had been thinking the same thing. “I think the book’s good personality has pleasant memories of the gnome, but the bad personality hates him since it associates the name Frentian with something that harmed ‘the Mistress.’”
“I got that impression too,” Elias said. “The evil personality is very strong, and it’s in control at the moment, but I believe it’s gradually losing its hold.”
“Let’s hope so,” Morodin said. His face looked pale and drawn, and he rubbed his arms as if to dispel a sudden chill. “We need to know what the book was babbling about.”
“Does anyone know where to find the Frentian clan? Could we send for their leader?” Jules asked.
“Good idea,” Elias said. “Some of the gnomes who traveled to Six Wells Mine were from the Frentian clan. I think Franklin knows where they live. See if you can find him. Tell him we’d like to send a cart to bring back their leader. The book’s good personality may be willing to talk to him.”
“And the bad personality may curse him,” Vegmir said.
“Yes, that’s true,” Elias admitted, “but either way, the book may blurt out useful information.”
Jules nodded. One way or another they must make the book speak—whether by flattery or by making it angry. “I’ll go look for Franklin. He’s plowing behind Shadowglade today. The rain has softened the ground, and he wants to plant crops.”
Elias said, “If the cart leaves first thing tomorrow, they should be back by nightfall, assuming the fellow agrees to come.”
The book’s mysterious words circled in Jules’s head as he left to find Franklin, all his fault . . . misery and loss, misery and loss, misery and loss. The terrible event had taken place long ago, but it had upset the book so deeply that Jules felt a twinge of fear even now.
Chapter 31
Lana walked through the forest to the portal, crunching through a fresh layer of snow. She hated winter, and New York State winters seemed to last forever. The temperature had finally risen above the freezing mark after several days in the low twenties, and the morning sun felt good on her face. Even though she wasn’t a morning person, she couldn’t help being in a good mood. It wasn’t just the warmer weather, although that was definitely a factor. She was looking forward to meeting the gnome dignitaries, and she even had gifts for them. Nothing expensive, just a few Fair Lands gems. She hadn’t forgotten Elias, either. She’d brought him a bag of coffee beans, which knowing him, he’d promptly hide from his guests.
Today she was wearing new jewelry—a bracelet, necklace, and ring made of blue and white topaz. The sky-blue and white gem combination reminded her of a winter day.
Looking up at the snow-frosted branches, she spotted birds that were braving the New York winter. They hadn’t flown south, so they must not mind the cold. Well, they could have her share of it. She could hardly wait to walk through the portal into warm weather. She smiled, quickening her pace.
It was hard to believe how many things she had missed since Sunday. Thursday evening, Jules and Raenihel had been bubbling over with news, interrupting each other to get it all out, and she had barely gotten a word in edgewise. She’d been so caught up in their news she had almost forgotten hers—Jules had a cousin with gem powers. He’d been shocked and excited. Someday, maybe she’d introduce them, but she wouldn’t give his real last name.
A gust of wind rattled through the branches, knocking off layers of powdery snow. It sparkled in the air like magic pixie dust.
Twigs snapped. A deer bounded over the trail just ahead with three more following, their graceful leaps soon carrying them out of sight.
The forest was healing, she thought with a sigh of relief. The Amulet, which had expanded during the blight, would remain this size, but it was finally working the way it should, healing and protecting the land. Birds and animals were returning. Spring would be here soon. New growth would hide the dead shrubs, and saplings would grow among the recovering older trees.
Jules was waiting for her at the portal so she wouldn’t come through on her own.
“You’re shivering!” she said. “You should have waited on the other side where it’s warm.”
“Warm me,” he said with a sly smile and pulled her close, nuzzling her neck. After a moment he whispered, “I feel warmer already,” and kissed her. When she pulled away he said, “Maybe we should store up a little more heat. It’s still cool in Shadow.” She was happy to oblige him.
“I brought lots of coffee,” she told him as they started walking. “Who gets first dibs, you or Elias?”
Jules laughed. “Elias. He wins the prize for creative desperation. He smuggled a small, floor-standing brazier into his room so he can secretly heat water and make his own coffee.”
“He’s still hiding his coffee from the gnomes, then. Aren’t they content with raaka?”
“Coffee is so much better. They keep mentioning how good it is, hinting for more.”
She grinned. “That’s what he gets for letting them try it.”
Jules slipped his arm around her. “Once you know how wonderful something is, it’s hard to do without it.” He smiled, holding her eyes, and she felt her face grow warm.
They stopped in front of the portal and attuned themselves to the energy field, then stepped through.
On the other side, the weather was cool, and the sun was trying to peak through the clouds. Everything looked healthy and green, but she supposed it should, after days of soaking rain.
“Did you have any trouble getting home the other night?” she asked.
“You mean because of the crocodillos? No. They hate light, so I attached several lanterns to the cart. I had another idea you’ll see in a minute—strips of leather with metal attached. When the cart moves, they bang together and make a terrible racket. Conversation is all but impossible, but it scares them away.”
“Offering a bounty should help get rid of the crocodillos, right?”
“Yes, and the rest of the creatures, except for pythanium, which aren’t so easy to kill. It may take gem powers to get rid of them.”
Lana pictured the pythanium, dead at the foot of the stairs. Jules had killed it without too much trouble, but out in the open where the creatures could swoop down and then fly away, it would be more difficult.
“They’re evil, and they’re spies by nature,” he said. “They can’t report to S anymore, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they stay in contact with some of the breghlin.”
Lana hitched her backpack higher and stepped around a fallen tree limb. “How loyal are the breghlin? I mean, would they kill one to get a bounty?”
“Some would. Pythanium pick off animals from their herds.”
She glanced at him. “Breghlin have herds?”
“Some clans raise animals for S.”
“I didn’t
know that. How much meat could she and her staff eat?”
“It wasn’t just for them. She had to feed gnome miners, and some breghlin clans received food in exchange for labor. S didn’t allow the clans to trade among themselves. Everything came to Shadowglade so she could distribute it. And aside from wanting the meat, she used maraku to pull carts. Speaking of which, there’s our ride.”
The beast snorted and switched its tail restlessly as Jules untied it from the tree. Lana climbed onto the driver’s box.
It didn’t take long to see what Jules meant about the noise. She winced at the clanking metal strips. Jules glanced at her and broke out laughing. “I warned you it would be loud!”
Since it was impossible to talk, Lana contented herself with studying the landscape which looked different after the heavy rain. They passed fields of flattened weeds and acres of swamp. The trail was rougher than normal due to stones washed down from the hillsides, and there were gullies from the runoff.
As they approached the castle, she noticed someone had chopped down the dead trees in the courtyard. Jules slowed the cart and pulled into the driveway. Speaking over the rattling metal, he explained that the breghlin had cut down the trees and plowed up S’s garden. Lana laughed in delight. S’s former estate was getting a makeover. No one but S would miss that hideous garden.
Jules pulled around back and Lana breathed deeply, enjoying the smell of the moist, fragrant soil where green shoots had started to appear. The sun was warm on her face. Birds swooped playfully overhead. She had never thought she would feel this way, but she felt as if she were coming home. When the cart came to a halt, she jumped out, waving at Xenon as he came toward them.
“Hullo,” he said, fidgeting and not meeting her eyes. Most of the breghlin were in awe of her and treated her as if she were S.
“Thanks for rounding up my Ministry staff. I hear they all agreed to help.”
Now he looked up, his eyes lighting with pleasure. “Grace n’ Ferdinand be here today. Wally, Larry, n’ Danny is away doin’ stuff. Jules says they be Dip Low Mats.”
Lana laughed. “Yes, they are. Diplomats.”
“Elias is waiting for us,” Jules said impatiently. He tolerated the breghlin, but he was always anxious to get away from them. Lana found it amusing. Sometimes she stalled so he would have to spend a few more minutes with them. Eventually, he’d see their good side, as she did.
As she entered, the guards greeted her warmly. She and Jules used the boot scraper to clean mud from their shoes. Then Jules stuffed her backpack into a nearby storage cupboard and they went off to find Elias.
“He’s probably with the clan leaders, looking through the spell book,” Jules told her, steering her into another dimly lit passageway. The castle bore an air of neglect even though the cleaning staff did their best to remove soot from the walls and knock down the ever-present cobwebs.
“Has the book said anything lately?” she asked hopefully.
“No. It just sits there. We’ve tried to make it speak, but nothing works.”
“What about the Frentian clan leader? Is he here yet?”
“Yes. Bazzik. Nice fellow, and quite young. He arrived last night just before dark. We waited dinner for him and filled him in on everything that’s been happening. I think we overwhelmed him.”
“Does he have gem powers, too?”
“Yes. So far, every clan leader we’ve tested has gem powers. Arlic from the Yemur clan, who arrived Thursday morning, has weak powers like Raenihel, but at least he tested positive.”
As they neared S’s suite, Jules pulled Lana aside. “Elias wants Bazzik to touch the spell book today, and we have no idea how it will react. We hope the evil personality is losing its grip and the good personality is getting stronger.”
She tilted her head. “If so wouldn’t the book have spoken by now?”
“Not necessarily. Elias thinks it’s struggling with conflicting loyalties.”
Great. The spell book had become a psychological basket case. “If you don’t want to upset the book, I should wait outside.”
“Why?”
“Because I operated on it. It was pretty upset about that, remember?”
“Elias and I kidnapped it. It doesn’t like us, either.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not as bad as attacking it with pliers. And if you think about it, I’m responsible for its split personality.” She shook her head, picturing the gems littering the desk. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m at the bottom of its list of favorite people.”
Jules’s eyes took on a distant look, as if something had just occurred to him. “We could be looking at this the wrong way,” he said. “When you operated, you were dealing with the evil personality.”
“Right. Snarky Book.”
“And Snarky Book, having no basis of comparison, was content with its evil personality. But now that the book is in happy book mode, it seems . . . well, happier. If Vegmir is right, and the benevolent personality is the original personality, then you’re not the book’s enemy, you’re its liberator.”
Lana blinked. She’d never thought about it that way, but it made sense. If the good personality was coming to the forefront, the book might be glad to see her.
“I think you and Bazzik are just what it needs,” Jules went on, and some of his confidence began to spill over on her. “You’re its liberator, and Bazzik is its link to the gnome who owned it.”
Lana took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Could she and Bazzik draw out the good personality? If so, how long would it remain dominant? One step at a time, she told herself. First, they had to get the book to speak. What had it meant by “Commanding powers he didn’t understand”? Had the gnomes used unfamiliar gems . . . or used their gem powers in new ways? “All his fault, misery and loss.” What was that all about?
“We should go,” Jules said.
She reached into her pocket, feeling for the gems she had brought along to boost her infused powers: lapis, sapphires, and aquamarines.
Elias and the clan leaders rose as Lana and Jules entered the room. Elias said with evident pride, “This is my great-great-granddaughter, Lana. Lana, I’d like you to meet Morodin, Kerosten, Vegmir, Arlic, Nemit, and Bazzik.”
“It’s an honor to meet you,” she said and meant it. The gnomes gave her courteous nods and sat down again.
Jules drew two more chairs to the table where the spell book lay, and Lana sat down next to Elias, unnerved by the grim-faced gnomes. It felt like a séance. The gnomes stared expectantly at the book in the center of the table.
Lana whispered to Elias, “Jules thinks Happy Book may consider me its liberator.”
“It’s possible,” Elias whispered back, giving her a brief, encouraging smile. “See if it will speak to you.”
It was usually a mistake when she said the first thing that came into her head, and today was no exception. “Book, I’m sorry about the other day. You know, with the pliers and all, but it was for your own good.” She cringed. “Umm . . . how are you feeling? More your old self?”
Silence.
The book had probably gone into catatonic shock, remembering the operation. She snuck a look at the gnomes, and their expressions weren’t a vote of confidence.
“Yes, I am more my old self,” The book said, startling her. It didn’t sound angry or resentful. Maybe Jules’s theory was right.
“I heard you were upset the other day.” She placed a hand on the book’s cover, half-expecting it to start shouting. “You had some disturbing memories.”
“Disturbing to both of us,” the book agreed quietly.
Lana looked at the gnomes for guidance, and the one with the bushy eyebrows nodded. Elias said in her mind, “Good job. Keep talking.”
“Um, who do you mean by us?”
After a brief silence the book replied, “The self that favored the gnome, and the self that favored the Mistress.”
“I see. So, both of you agree on a few things.” She thought furiously. She reached
into her pocket and touched her gems, and they immediately grew warm. “Would you like to talk about what upset you?”
“You wish to hear about it. Your mind is pulling at my thoughts,” the spell book said.
She removed her hand from the cover, not sure whether it was upset or merely stating a fact. “Yes, we’re curious about the things you said. Your former owner was from the Frentian clan . . . its leader, we assume. His descendent, Bazzik, is here today. May he touch you?”
There was a lengthy pause as if the book was considering, and then it said, “He may touch me.”
Bazzik looked worried, but placed his hand on the cover. No doubt he’d heard about the book’s hysterical reaction to the name Frentian.
The book was silent. So were the gnomes. Tension filled the hushed room.
“Frentian destroyer!” the book snarled as the other personality took control. “You defile me with your touch!”
Bazzik jerked his hand away and shot back in his chair. The other clan leaders looked equally frightened.
Lana braced herself for a tirade, but it didn’t come. Instead, a pleasant but firm voice said, “It was necessary. If it were not for the Mistress, there would be no misery and loss. Surely you realize that.”
Lana swallowed hard. Could she lend support to the good personality that was struggling for dominance? She placed her hand on the book.
The evil personality surfaced again, but it was more subdued this time. “He used powers he didn’t understand, and what happened? Trapped! Trapped forever, as you well know. Yet you excuse him.”
“The Mistress is to blame. Admit it,” the other voice argued.
Lana looked around. The gnomes’ confused expressions said they didn’t understand this bizarre conversation any more than she did. Jules and Elias looked completely baffled as well.
As if trying to reason with a stubborn child, the kind voice said firmly, “Mistress had to be stopped. The destruction was spreading, and the Mydorians kept coming.”
“There had to be another way.”
“The Frentian plan was the only way. You know that. I will hear no more about it.”