“I suppose a ‘Welcome back’ is in order,” said Councilman Davort. His voice was unsteady, and his gaze was locked on the ship. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “When the chamelins told us how you’d rescued the refugees, I could hardly believe they weren’t making up fanciful stories. But then Zara”—he turned to Lina’s teacher with a raised eyebrow—“claimed it was all true. It sounds as if you have a marvelous story to tell.”
“I’d like to hear it too,” said a voice that Lina recognized.
She looked over Zara’s shoulder and saw Simon working his way to the front of the crowd. Nirean wasn’t far behind him. He came right up to Lina, shaking his head, an actual smile on his face instead of his usual sour expression.
“You were telling the truth,” Simon said when he reached her. “I didn’t believe you, but you really were telling the truth about everything.”
“I told you I’d show you what I’ve been working on,” Lina said, smiling.
“You mean to tell me you knew about this?” Councilman Tolwin’s voice was sharp. He wove his way to Simon in the press of people and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You neglected to mention it to me.”
Simon didn’t flinch under Tolwin’s hand, which surprised Lina. He nodded at his teacher, not denying the accusation. Then he turned back to Lina. “Thanks for showing me,” he said to her.
“You’re welcome,” Lina replied.
“All right, that’s enough of this foolishness,” Tolwin said, refusing to be ignored. Lina felt a stab of irritation at the man even as she braced herself for his wrath. “We should get the rest of the refugees back inside,” he said. “Simon, take charge of the apprentices. Council members, I volunteer my services to lead the team of archivists from the technology division while they search and secure the ship.”
Lina and Ozben stepped forward to block the gangplank. “You can’t do that,” Lina said firmly. She’d been afraid this moment was coming. She didn’t know what to say to the archivists; she just knew that, no matter what, she couldn’t let them take the Merlin. “We did what we had to do and rescued the refugees. Now it’s time for the ship to go.”
“Go?” Tolwin repeated. The other council members and archivists murmured among themselves, but no one else spoke. “Of course it’s not going anywhere. We have to get the ship inside and seal it off from the public until we know more about what it is and where it came from.”
“I told you where it came from, Tolwin,” Zara spoke up. She offered Lina a brief, encouraging smile. “It originated from the uncharted lands, and it’s going back there.”
“How?” Tolwin scoffed. “Flown there by children? The ship came from the lower tunnels. It’s the property of the archivists of Ortana, and it should be processed and studied just like any other artifact from the meteor fields.”
“Yes,” one of the other council members added. “We have not discussed this issue in a formal council session. Now that the refugees are safe, we can consider the best course of action with regard to the ship.”
“No!” Lina burst out with more force than she’d intended. “You’re not having a meeting about this! The Merlin isn’t yours to take apart and study!”
“Merlin?” Tolwin repeated. “What kind of an absurd name is that?”
“It’s my name for the ship,” Lina snapped, “but only because I don’t know its real name. It can’t speak, but it can feel, because it has a soul. I know you probably won’t believe that, and a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have believed it either, but it’s true. The ship is alive, and it doesn’t belong to anyone. I’m going to make sure it gets home, no matter what the rest of you say.”
Silence fell in the wake of her outburst. Beside her, Ozben smiled and nudged her with his elbow.
Lina knew she should feel proud of standing up to everyone and protecting the Merlin, but she was too nervous. Would the archivists believe her? Would they really let the ship leave?
“This is ridiculous!” Tolwin said, sniffing derisively. “The girl is obviously making up stories.” He turned to Nirean. “Escort the children inside so we can proceed. We’ve wasted enough time standing out here in the cold. We can wage a debate in the council room once the ship is secure.”
Lina took a step back up the gangplank, and Ozben followed, staying by her side. “We’re not going,” he said.
“You don’t have a choice.” Tolwin’s face had turned an angry red. “I said escort the children inside, Nirean!”
But the chamelin didn’t move, and neither did anyone else.
“What are you saying, Lina?” Councilwoman Jasanna asked, stepping forward. “How do you know the ship is a living thing?”
“The same way a memory jar lets you remember important things you’ve lost, or how the same book can tell a different story to each person,” Ozben offered. “You don’t know how or why those things exist, right? You just accept that they do, and that they’re amazing.”
“But this is more than just an artifact that fell from another world,” Lina said. “It’s not lost. The Merlin has a home to go back to in the uncharted lands. The archivists who found it were wrong to keep its heart, and you’re wrong to try to keep the ship here.”
“You don’t understand,” Tolwin said. He seemed calmer now, but his steel-gray eyes passed over the ship in a way that Lina didn’t like at all. “The value of a ship like this, especially if it comes from the uncharted lands, is immeasurable.”
“So you would take it prisoner against its will, Tolwin?” Zara asked. “Is that the way of the archivists now?”
“Don’t be naïve, Zara,” Tolwin said. “This girl may have you wrapped around her little finger, but the rest of us aren’t blind to her childish games.”
Lina decided she’d had enough of being insulted. “I’m not lying!” she said angrily, and suddenly, an idea flashed into her mind. Before she could consider the consequences, she said, “You want me to prove to you that the ship is alive, Tolwin? Fine. Come and stand with us on the gangplank. I’ll show you.”
A murmur of uncertainty went through the watching crowd. Ozben nudged Lina again. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked.
“Not at all,” Lina murmured back. It was true she didn’t want Tolwin coming anywhere near the ship, but she had to do something to convince the council that she was telling the truth, and now seemed like the time for drastic measures. “What are you waiting for, Councilman Tolwin?” she pressed. “You said you didn’t want to keep standing out here in the cold, so come on. Prove me a liar.”
Lina watched Tolwin’s face carefully as she spoke. If she went too far, he’d just dismiss her as a child again. But he had to be curious about the ship. If she knew Tolwin at all, his love for technology would overcome his pride.
She was right. Eyes pinned on Lina, Tolwin walked briskly to the ship’s gangplank. He stopped briefly before he continued up the walkway to Lina and Ozben and crossed his arms over his chest. “Go ahead,” he invited. “Show me proof of your living ship.”
Lina took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It’s up to you now. She sent the thought to the ship. Let him feel what you made me feel the first time we met.
She exhaled, and a moment passed in tense silence. A fierce gust of wind howled across the bridge, making Lina shiver. She opened her eyes and gazed over the faces in the crowd, their cheeks and noses red from the cold. Nirean and Zara both nodded their encouragement. They were with her. Simon met her eyes, but Lina couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The rest of the crowd was watching Tolwin and the ship. It was as if everyone on the bridge was holding their breath in expectation of what would happen next. The moment was agonizing.
What if the ship didn’t connect with Tolwin? The thought filled Lina with dread. Or what if Tolwin wasn’t receptive to the ship’s emotions for some reason? As mean as he could be sometimes, surely Tolwin wasn’t heartless. Was he?
And then it happened.
Tolwin drew in a quick breath, and
his hand clenched into a fist. Then he closed his eyes and became utterly still. Lina tried to take a step toward him, but Ozben stopped her.
“Wait,” he whispered, his breath fogging the air. “Let him feel it.”
Lina’s heart pounded. What was Tolwin feeling? What was he thinking?
Suddenly, Tolwin let out a cry and, trembling, fell to his knees. His cry broke the spell on the crowd, which surged forward even as Lina and Ozben crouched on either side of the man to see if he was all right. In an instant, there were people everywhere, pushing to get closer to the three of them. Lina tried to scramble farther up the gangplank and narrowly missed getting her hand trampled by a group of refugees.
“What is it, Tolwin?” Councilman Davort cried from the press of bodies. “Is it true?” His question was echoed by at least a dozen others, voices overlapping in a noisy cacophony.
“Everyone get back! Give them room!” Nirean bellowed, stepping in to shield Lina and Ozben with her body. “Stop pushing!”
Then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, Tolwin’s breathless voice joined the shouts. “It’s true,” he croaked. “The ship…it…it’s sentient….We must secure it!”
Oh no. No, no, no. Panic welled in Lina’s chest. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. Tolwin was supposed to back off once he felt the ship’s emotions. But it appeared she’d accomplished just the opposite. Tolwin was climbing to his feet, shakily. Determination blazed in his eyes.
“He won’t quit until he gets on the ship!” Ozben shouted at Lina.
“I know,” Lina cried. She looked at her friend, desperate for an idea, as the crowd pushed in. Step by step, she and Ozben were being pushed back up the gangplank. She wasn’t sure whether the people were trying to get to Tolwin or to the ship itself, but either way, in another few seconds, the ship was going to be filled with people.
“Out of the way!” Zara’s voice cut through the crowd, and she and Nirean were suddenly in front of them, pulling the refugees and archivists back from the gangplank. But before Lina could separate herself from the people, Tolwin was looming over her. He grabbed her shoulder and shoved her hard. Lina screamed as she lost her balance and started to topple backward.
An arm reached out and grabbed her, yanking her back to her feet. Lina didn’t see who it was that had saved her at first, but then Simon’s forest-green tunic materialized in front of her. He reached around her and grabbed Tolwin by the shoulder, hauling him backward with a strength Lina hadn’t known the boy had. He didn’t stop until he’d drawn Tolwin off the gangplank entirely, where he held him in place by the arm. Tolwin might have been able to break free if he hadn’t just been hit with the blast of the ship’s emotions, but as it was, he struggled weakly in his apprentice’s grip.
“Thank you,” Lina said, hoping Simon could hear her over the noise of the crowd.
“You’d better get out of here,” Simon called back. He nodded to the ship. “Take it somewhere safe.”
“He’s right,” Ozben said. “Lina, we need to go now.”
“Everyone calm yourselves!” Councilman Davort’s voice boomed over the crowd. “We will have order here! Stand back from the children now, all of you!”
Lina shot a glance at Zara, who was corralling the refugees. Her teacher nodded. “Go,” she mouthed. “Be careful.”
Lina knew it was their chance. She scrambled up the gangplank, Ozben on her heels. “Close the door,” she called to the ship, but the gangplank was already lifting. A couple of the archivists tried to grab the edge and pull it back down, but Nirean descended on them, yanking them away. And with a clang, the ship sealed and the noise outside cut off.
Lina ran to the bridge. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely get herself strapped in, but somehow she managed it. The Sun Sphere glowed brightly, and the ship began to rise in the air.
“That was close,” Ozben said, the ship rising beneath them. “Are we heading for the other side of Gazer’s Gorge?”
“That’s right,” Lina said. “We can send the ship on its way from there, but we’ll still be able to signal to Nirean to come and fly us back to Ortana.”
“Good plan,” Ozben said.
Lina grinned at her friend as a wave of relief swept over her. The Merlin was free. “I do my best,” she said.
Lina set the ship down on a wide, snowy ridge on the east side of Gazer’s Gorge. In the distance, the lights of Ortana glimmered faintly. Lina wrapped her scarf around her face and pulled on her mittens, but as she walked down the gangplank, Ozben trailing behind her, she realized that the snow had almost stopped. The wind still howled and burned in her lungs, but the storm was finally past.
For a moment, Lina looked not to the west, where the ship would make its journey home, but to the east, in the direction of Kalmora.
“I hope Elinore’s all right,” she said.
Ozben nodded. “She’ll make it in time to stop the battle.” His expression clouded. “I don’t know what that means for the war, though. Even if my father reaches out to King Aron about peace talks, there’s no guarantee he’ll agree.” He smiled weakly at Lina. “I don’t think this is over yet.”
Lina touched the Merlin’s metal skin. “It is for you, though,” she said. A lump rose in her throat. “We can’t ever thank you enough for what you did, what you risked….” Her voice cracked and gave out, so instead she opened her mind to the ship and let her thoughts convey what she couldn’t say.
I will always remember you. Find your way home, but know that if you ever want to come back, we’ll be here for you. We’ll be waiting.
Beneath her fingers, the metal of the ship warmed, and Lina absorbed that warmth. The affection and love filled her until she was crying again, the tears spilling down her cheeks in cold little tracks.
Ozben came up beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. “You saved us,” he said to the ship, and his voice was unsteady as well. “I hope you have a safe journey home.”
Lina forced herself to step back, drawing Ozben with her. She knew if she didn’t let go now, she wouldn’t be able to. The rumble of the ship’s power filled the air, and for an instant, the Merlin shimmered and glowed like a fallen star. Lina’s breath caught in her throat at the beauty of the wondrous ship. Then it rose into the black sky, hovered above them as if in farewell, and began the long journey west.
Lina and Ozben pressed together, shielding each other from the cold, and watched the ship until it looked like just another star in the sky. They stood in the silence, listening to the whistling of the wind, staring up at the deep bowl of stars shining above them.
“It’s so beautiful,” Ozben murmured. “If it wasn’t so cold, I think I could stay out here forever.”
Lina wiped her eyes. “Best view I’ve ever seen,” she agreed. “But we can’t stay.” The words stuck in her throat, but she forced herself to say them. “You have to go home and see your family. You can, now that you don’t have to worry about assassins. And you were right. The war isn’t over yet—your family will need you.”
She waited for Ozben to say something, but he didn’t answer at first. He just kept staring at the sky. “You know,” he said finally, “all my life I’ve tried to make my grandfather proud of me—to contribute to our family’s legacy. But in all that time, I never stopped to think about what I wanted.”
“And now?” Lina asked.
He smiled wistfully. “I think I finally know. I do want to go home and see my family. To make sure that we at least get a chance at peace with the Dragonfly territories.”
“Of course,” Lina said, though the words were a knife in her heart. “You’ll want—”
“I wasn’t finished,” he interrupted her gently, still smiling. “After that, I’m going to come back here. I want to study with the archivists. I don’t know if they’ll take me on as an apprentice after I helped steal an airship out from under their noses, but I can at least ask, don’t you think?”
Lina couldn’t speak. Her heart was
too full. She returned his smile. “I think they’ll get over losing the ship,” she said when she found her voice. “They’ll let you stay. I know they will.”
“I hope so.” Ozben looked thoughtful. “I know the Merlin’s gone, but maybe someday, if we can learn enough, we could find a way to get to the uncharted lands—you and I. I think I’d like to try, anyway. And if we succeed, we could try to find the Merlin and the people who live on the other side of the mountains.”
Lina’s breath caught in her chest as she considered the idea of going with Ozben on an expedition over the mountains to find the Merlin’s home. It would be a long, dangerous journey—that much was certain. Maybe an impossible one.
She couldn’t imagine anything more exciting.
“Lina?” Ozben asked, his smile faltering when she didn’t respond. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”
Lina wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly, snow glittering around them. “Completely,” she said. “But I’m in. You know, Ozben, I think you’ll make an amazing apprentice.” She pulled back, her eyes shining. “And the two of us together?”
“We’ll be incredible,” Ozben said with a grin.
Whenever I visit schools to talk about writing, students always ask me where I get my ideas. I try to explain that ideas are things I collect and absorb; I let them bang around in my head, sometimes for years, biding their time, waiting for the right story. This happens a lot—with dragonflies, steam locomotives, airships, even museums.
Back in 2009, I left the United States for the first time and went to Paris. While I was there, I visited the Louvre, which is one of the biggest museums in the world, with hundreds of thousands of objects in its collection. Even better, my visit happened to fall on a day when the museum was open late at night. I descended into the underground lobby and wandered the cavernous rooms and ornate galleries with my husband, thinking it would take weeks or months to see everything the museum had to offer. Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could visit this place every day?
The Secrets of Solace Page 26