The Width of the World

by David Baldacci

  “But they beat our ancestors in the war,” I noted.

  “Evil can triumph over good. But that has more to do with the failings of the good than the successes of the bad. Now,” he said briskly, “I must convey to you what I know and what I have discovered.”

  We all of us drew closer to him, for his voice was definitely growing weaker.

  “You’ve been to True and Greater True, then?”

  I nodded.

  “True is the place where they alter the minds of all who are nonmagic. Then they labor there with smiles on their faces until they die.”

  “We’ve seen how they do that,” I said. “But can you explain Greater True? The young soldiers they have? And the arrogant people with the slaves as servants?”

  I saw my grandfather’s face turn to a furious scowl.

  “That is the genius of it, Vega. The pure genius of the Maladons.”

  “What is?” I said breathlessly.

  “The Maladons were very quick to see that there were relatively few of them, while there were a great many nonmagicals, or ‘Ordinaries,’ as they derisively refer to them. So what they decided to do was far more diabolical.”

  “They put blokes on the top and blokes on the bottom,” said Delph.

  We all turned to him, my face full of surprise.

  “Yes, Daniel,” replied Virgil. “That is precisely what they did.”

  Delph added, “And if some blokes have it better than others, with slaves and coin and all, they’re content-like. They feel like their lives are good, so why would they want to change them. Eh?”

  “Exactly,” said Virgil, looking pleased.

  I looked at Delph with even greater respect. “That was brilliant, Delph.”

  “Yeah, brilliant,” echoed Petra.

  Virgil said, “Mark this carefully. True and Greater True are the largest towns I have been able to locate, and I have searched high and wide. The rest of this world is made up of smaller establishments, scattered villages, small homesteads, where those who live there labor hard for little. Word of these train stations is slowly spread among them. Trains that will take them to a better life.”

  I shook my head. “We’ve been to Bimbleton Station. It was so awful.”

  “There is also a befuddlement incantation around the areas monitored by the Maladons. True, Greater True and the other towns of some size. No one unauthorized can ever find their way to any of those places.”

  “Which means folks have to take the bloody train,” I said.

  “The Maladons didn’t stop there. No brainwashing plan is perfect. And of course people marry and have youngs and they grow up with certain independent thoughts in their heads. Thus, they also used a scheme to direct any natural anger or resentment that those in True or Greater True may have toward something other than each other, or worse yet, the Maladons, though their presence among even the elite Ordinaries, I have learned, is not generally known.”

  “How did they do that?” I asked.

  “You mentioned the young soldiers with their uniforms and marching?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, they have a regular army as well, composed of males, the Elite Guard they’re called. But the male youngs are compelled to be part of military training as well, from an early age, until they are ready to serve their time in the ranks.”

  “But who is their enemy?” Delph asked.

  “When you don’t want those you rule to revolt against you, you have to give them something else to fear, to hate. And everyone under the rule of the Maladons has been taught from a young age that there is a great enemy out there just waiting to invade them. They focus all of their hatred and attention on that imaginary foe, and thus they never realize that they have already been enslaved.”

  “But surely folks won’t believe that rubbish if the enemy never attacks,” interjected Petra.

  That was a good point, I thought.

  Virgil responded, “Oh, but they do attack. It’s not the ‘enemy’ of course, because there is none. No, the Maladons accomplish that any number of ways. They take innocent folks and implicate them in attacks that they themselves have performed. Or they use their magic to perform attacks against the people by these ‘enemies.’ These attacks are then repelled by the military might, and everyone ends up feeling absolutely wonderful at such grand victories. They have even taken some of the enslaved whose magic has been robbed from them and portrayed them as ‘others’ who seek to overturn the freedom of the people. They are dealt with summarily. You may not have seen this, but public executions are held in the center square of True.”

  “Public executions?” I said with a shudder.

  “Of innocent victims,” he pointed out. “And the crowd cheers!”

  We all fell silent. This was a great deal to take in, and I noted with growing alarm that my grandfather was looking weaker by the moment.

  I held up my gloved hand. “Underneath here is the mark that is on your hand. It was the Maladons’ doing. It was burned into my flesh the instant I neared the end of the Quag. I keep the glove on it, otherwise the Maladons can track me.”

  He nodded, his features somber. “I found that to be the case too. I had no glove. But I managed a particularly complex spell that rendered any Maladon who saw my mark temporarily blind.”

  That was rather smart, I thought.

  He pointed at the ring on my finger. His ring.

  “Has this served you well?” he asked. “I assume you have discovered its true power?”

  I nodded. “Without it we would all be dead. So yes, it has served us very well. How did you come by it?”

  “I traveled back in time through the portal at Stacks. Eon gave me a choice: the past or future. I chose the past. The ring was given to me by an interesting fellow: Colin Sonnet.”

  We all gasped. I shot Petra a glance to find her staring wide-eyed at my grandfather.

  “How did you come to meet him?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. When you go back in the past, there is not always rhyme or reason where you land. He owned a small shop with many interesting articles. And he had also penned several books on sorcery.”

  I know of at least one, I thought.

  “But why did he give up the ring to you?” I asked, still glancing at Petra.

  Virgil shrugged. “That was not clear to me then. He insisted that I take it.”

  “So he could see and hear you,” I said.

  Virgil looked at me with a bemused expression. “In contravention of what Eon said, yes. He could see and hear me. He seemed to think that a great war with the Maladons was nearing and, quite frankly, I don’t think he wanted the ring to fall into their hands.”

  “What was he like?”

  This came from Petra.

  He looked at her expectantly.

  She added nervously, “See, my surname is Sonnet. Colin was, was my ancestor, I guess.”

  “He was a good fellow. And solidly against the Maladons, though they had not yet adopted that name. Back then they were merely referred to as the worshippers of Necro.”

  “Solidly against the Maladons,” repeated Petra as she stared first at Delph and then at me.

  Virgil nodded. “He told me that the ring’s origin was not incantation by sorcery, for there is none that will accomplish it as far as he knew. But rather the confluence of mystical powers coming together at just the right moment. Quite a phenomenon of serendipity, but magic is often that way.”

  A silence followed as I continued to gaze at Petra, who was now looking down at her bare feet.

  I finally said, “Alice Adronis gave me the Elemental as she lay dying on the battlefield. It’s now my wand because we were family. But I can make it the Elemental whenever I want.”

  I reached in my pocket and held it up.

  “Transform it for me,” he said quietly.

  I willed the Elemental to its full, golden size.

  My grandfather stared at it reverently.

  “I never met Alice
Adronis. But I have learned of her past from various sources, and it was a tortured one. Her father was hard and cruel and wanted only sons and never loved the daughter he had instead. He cast her out on her own one night and told her never to return. Between you and me, it seems that her father, even though a Jane, had more than a bit of the Maladon blood in him.”

  At these words I shot Petra a glance. She was staring defiantly at me.

  I could read her thoughts in her features.

  So how does it feel to perhaps have a bit of Maladon blood in you too?

  I turned back to my grandfather. “What did she do?” I said breathlessly.

  “She climbed to the highest peak in the land one night when a terrible storm raged. And on that peak was the tallest tree in the land. And she climbed to the very top of it, held out her hand as far as she could to the storm raging above and swore that if she was granted the wand she felt she deserved that she would always use it in defense of good, and to battle evil.”

  Petra gasped, “What happened?”

  “A lightning spear shot down from the heavens and struck her right at the point of her finger. From that finger grew the Elemental. I don’t know if you ever noticed that Alice only possessed four fingers on her right hand.”

  I shook my head. “She gave me her glove, which she said I had to wear in order to touch it. But Astrea Prine told me I needn’t do so, and she was right.”

  “Then you are the true inheritor of the thing,” pronounced Virgil. Next he groaned and clutched his head.

  I knelt beside him. “Is there nothing that can be done? I have a stone that heals almost all injuries.”

  He looked up at me and managed a tortured smile. “Dear Vega. How I have thought about you all these many sessions. And to now be reunited for such a short period of time. It is hardly fair.”

  “It’s not fair,” I said, blinking back fresh tears.

  “Such is life, I’m afraid.” He drew a long breath. “The Maladons are everywhere. Of course at the castle, but also in True, Greater True and other places. They will look just like anyone else if they so desire. When they are at the castle they can revert to their natural form.”

  “I’ve seen them transform. They’re hideous, foul things.”

  “What you see is the culmination of centuries of hate. It can make the most beautiful among us ugly and wretched.” He paused. “I pity them, I do indeed.”

  I said incredulously, “You pity the Maladons? After all the evil they’ve done? After their leader has killed you?”

  “Yes, Vega, I do. I suppose that is what separates us from them. We can feel compassion for others, whoever and whatever they might be. And regardless of what they might have done.”

  I noticed that his image had grown so pale that it was difficult to see him.

  “ ’Tis very near the end,” he said in a weak voice.

  “Grandfather,” I suddenly cried out. “I don’t want you to leave me. I need you.”

  “All you need, Vega, my dear child, you already possess. And please know that above all else, you will carry my love for you wherever you go. For I have loved you with all my heart, dear, dear Vega, since the moment of your birth.”

  And with that he was gone.

  I DID NOT COME out of my room for the next two days.

  When I finally did come downstairs with Harry Two by my side, Mrs. Jolly had made a scrumptious breakfast, which Pillsbury served despite my protests that I could serve myself.

  I was halfway through my meal when Delph and then Petra made their appearances.

  Each of them cast me furtive looks but seemed reluctant to add voices to these glances.

  Finally, I said gloomily, “Well, it’s just us now.”

  Delph laid aside his fork and looked at me. “But Virgil told us helpful things.”

  “He prepared us, best he could,” said Petra. “And it was good to know that my ancestor helped him,” she added, glancing nervously at me.

  “Yes, it was,” I said.

  Then my thoughts ventured elsewhere.

  If only I had managed to save my grandfather in the Tower. But I had failed. I had fled. And he had been finished off by the murderous Necro. He was dead because of my incompetence. How could I expect to lead others into a war when I couldn’t even save one person?

  Delph put a hand on my shoulder and said, “I’m really sorry, Vega Jane. Virgil was a great Wug.”

  I lowered my face because I didn’t want either Delph or Petra to see my features.

  I started when I felt the hand on my arm.

  I looked up to see Petra staring at me.

  I was surprised to see that there were tears in her eyes.

  “I know what it’s like to lose family, Vega,” she said slowly. “And I know what it’s like to … to not be able to save someone.”

  I thought of her family being slaughtered by creatures of the Quag. Losing her uncle to a lycan attack and being unable to save him. I thought of her guilt in losing Lackland, of not being fast enough to use her wand when she could have done.

  But I was the leader. I couldn’t fail. Yet if I knew I couldn’t succeed? I had always thought that if I found my grandfather, he would lead and I could simply follow. That had always been in the back of my mind. Now that was not possible. Now it came down to me. The weight of this thought was crushing.

  Before I could give voice to these revelations, Petra said, “And you can never save everyone, can you? But the thing is, if you don’t try, then you’ll save no one.” She drew a quick breath and gave Delph a darting glance before turning her attention back to me. “I’ve seen what you can do, Vega. I’ve seen how many times you’ve saved us. From jabbits and the bloody Soul Takers and the like. I wouldn’t be alive but for you, and neither would Delph. So if you’re thinking you can’t save blokes, well, you’d be wrong. Because you already have.”

  She fell quiet and removed her hand.

  We all just sat there in silence, not looking at one another.

  Finally, I rose and said, “If we’re going to make a go of this, we need to make plans. We’ll be surprised, no doubt, by what we’ll be faced with, but we have to plan for that too. I don’t want us ever to be so surprised again that all we can do is flee.” I swallowed with difficulty. “And leave someone behind.”

  They both mutely nodded at this.

  “Virgil told us a lot about this world. Some we knew and a great deal we didn’t. The Maladons are well-organized and powerful sorcerers. We can’t underestimate any of them.”

  “Vega Jane,” began Delph. “Why do you think they picked now to … to kill Virgil?”

  “I don’t know, Delph. I suspect it had something to do with what was going on at the castle. There was a great deal of activity. And we need to find out what it was about.”

  “How do we do that?” asked Petra. “Go back there?”

  I shook my head. “We’ve risked going back enough as it is. I think there might be a better way.”

  “What?” asked Delph.

  “I think the answer to that lies in Greater True.”

  “Why?” asked Petra.

  “Because that’s where our army lies.”

  “Do you want to leave now?” asked Petra.

  “In just a bit. I have a few things to do first.”

  As I marched up to my room, I had to admit that my “few things to do” was really just an excuse to gather myself.

  I couldn’t actually fathom that my grandfather was gone.

  I couldn’t see how I would ever find my parents.

  And me being able to lead an “army” to defeat the Maladons seemed totally barmy. I could imagine myself telling some git like Cletus Loon what I was expected to do and hearing him roar, “Barking, you are. Totally mad. Why, you’re only a female!”

  Tosser.

  I opened the door to my room and then looked behind me.

  Harry Two had not followed me up. I wondered what that was about.

  I closed my door and sa
t on my bed. The room was fuggy. So was my head.

  I lay back and stared at the ceiling.

  It seemed like I had been running for my life ever since I stepped into the Quag, with no time to think things through.

  Only, now I had to. I had to think.

  I had set out from Wormwood — escaped really — to find the truth.

  I had bloody well found it. Now I was supposed to change it all somehow. Make everything right. I had fought my way across the Quag, survived Endemen and his men.

  For this?

  Another challenge that looked positively beyond my ability?

  It hardly seemed fair, and I was at sixes and sevens as to what to do.

  My head was swimming. I closed my eyes and then reopened them.

  And there she was.

  Uma Cadmus was hovering right above me.

  Her sad, sad eyes looked down upon me.

  I sat up and gazed at her.

  “My grandfather is dead,” I said. “Virgil is dead.”

  She nodded slowly. Apparently, she knew this.

  “I’m expected to defeat the Maladons, but I don’t know how to do so. My grandfather told me a lot, but he didn’t tell me how to do that.”

  Again, she nodded in a very knowing way. “He wouldn’t have, would he?”

  “Why not?”

  “One can only defeat the Maladons by fighting them. And in fighting them one comes up with ways and methods and strategies to do so. One cannot sit back and contemplate how to manage it. One must be engaged in the war.”

  As she was speaking, she floated down from the ceiling to sit next to me.

  I had to admit it was a bit disconcerting having, well, regret perched on my bed.

  “Your father believed that Necro wanted peace,” I said a bit crossly. “And instead he got a bloody war.”

  “My father was a good man who was fooled by a cleverer one,” she said with proper spirit. I could imagine myself defending my father in the same way.

  “Well, your father and my ancestor Alice Adronis and Astrea Prine were all great magical beings. My grandfather was an Excalibur. And they couldn’t beat the Maladons. I hardly see how I have any chance of victory.”