Vega Jane and the Rebels’ Revolt

by David Baldacci

  Someone had slit his neck from one side to the other. He was dressed in fine clothes that reminded me of the garments I had seen in the paintings back at Astrea Prine’s cottage in the Quag. He looked familiar, somehow, but I couldn’t place him.

  Clutched in his hands was a wand, one of the finest wands I had ever seen, though I really hadn’t seen that many. It was made not of wood or crystal, but of silver.

  I skirted around the edges of the coffin until I came to the shiny brass plate at the foot of it.

  HERE LIES GUNTHER ADRONIS, HUSBAND OF ALICE, AT THE PLACE HE LOVED MOST, EMPYREAN.

  I looked back down at the body.

  Gunther Adronis. Alice’s husband. Empyrean had been their home. She was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery, yet he was here.

  I realized that I was trembling all over. This room was so terribly sad. There was death and defeat and despair in it. I had no idea why the diary wanted me to come here.

  As if in answer to my unspoken thought, the diary began to tremble in my pocket once more. With shaky hands I took it out and held it up.

  The pages swirled, and again the same voice said, ‘You must know the price that will have to be paid. You must look upon these walls and upon that body and fully understand what is demanded of you. It is awful, but it is necessary. If you are unwilling to pay this price, then you may stay here, at Empyrean, in comfort and safety, until your last days. But if you are willing to pay the price, aid will be there for you.’

  I looked down again at the body in the coffin and my stomach lurched. Gunther was no longer there. Instead, lying inside the coffin, with necks neatly slashed, were Petra, Delph and I.

  I turned and ran pell-mell from the room, down all the stairs and back to my room. I flung myself on my bed and lay there. A moment later Harry Two, panting, jumped up and lay next to me.

  He nudged my hand, but I didn’t respond.

  So many had fought and died in that war – the war that had been lost. Did I want to sacrifice myself to that same fate? And Delph and Petra too?

  Harry Two nudged my hand again.

  I pushed him off, but he wouldn’t stop.

  ‘Harry Two,’ I began.

  And then I stopped.

  It was not Harry Two looking back at me. It was his face, but not his eyes. His eyes were different.

  I knew those eyes. They belonged to my grandfather.

  And though Harry Two could not speak, a sentence formed in my head:

  Be not afraid, Vega, for you are never truly alone.

  13

  THE PERIL OF PETRA

  I rushed from my room, down the hall and, not bothering to even knock, I pushed open Delph’s door and called out his name.

  He sat up in bed.

  ‘Vega Jane?’ he said warily. ‘Are you OK?’

  I stumbled forward, took a moment to calm myself and then perched on the edge of his bed.

  I told Delph about the diary’s message, my visiting the room, what I had seen, and the body of Gunther Adronis. And, finally, the image of our three bodies lying there in the coffin.

  As I spoke, he sat up straighter and straighter and his eyes grew wider and wider.

  When I got to the part about Harry Two’s eyes and hearing my grandfather’s voice in my head, he gripped my arm.

  ‘Y-your grandfather? Was he inside Harry Two?’

  I said, ‘Am I going mad, Delph?’

  I was suddenly so tired I lay down on the bed and curled into a small ball.

  Delph rubbed my shoulder. ‘’Tis OK now, Vega Jane. You’re safe.’

  I turned over to face him.

  ‘That’s the thing, Delph. We are safe here. If we stay here we won’t be harmed. But we didn’t come all this way for that did we?’

  He studied me. I had always known there was far more to Delph than most folks believed. Big, strong, simple Delph. Only he wasn’t simple. Not even close. He had proved that time and again.

  ‘That’s what you meant at lunch,’ he said.

  I nodded.

  He looked around the room. ‘’Tis a nice place. A very nice place. A bloke could get used to being here, all right. Especially after the Quag.’

  ‘In the Quag, everything can kill you,’ I noted.

  He nodded and gave me a weak smile. ‘But you’re right. We didn’t come here to live in a place like this. We came here for answers.’ He paused. ‘But we need to be smart.’

  ‘How?’ I said eagerly.

  ‘Well, to start with, we need to go on little scouting trips. Like me and my dad would do when we would go hunting in the forest. You find out where what you’re hunting likes to be so you don’t keep searching the wrong places; then you go out, learn things and come back to safety to sort through them. Way I see it, we nearly died in True because we had no safe place to return to. This can be like our camp.’

  ‘All right,’ I said slowly. ‘That makes sense. But I want to go now, when it’s dark.’

  ‘What do you mean, I? You’re not going to go alone, Vega Jane,’ he said firmly.

  ‘I am, just at first, Delph, to get the lay of the land.’

  He began to protest, but I rose from the bed.

  ‘It’s just the way it has to be, Delph. I’ll see you when I get back.’

  I added, to myself, I hope.

  I quickly dressed, wearing clothes that we had taken from the trunk in True, and slipping my cloak on, I retrieved my wand from the nightstand, put the Adder Stone in my pocket and took the diary as well. The thing hadn’t spoken to me again, but one never knew when it might do so once more.

  When I was done with that, I looked at Harry Two, who sat still as a statue on my bed.

  ‘You stay here, Harry Two. I’ll be back soon,’ I said, giving his solitary ear a rub.

  I left the room and hurried down the hall.

  I passed by Delph’s door. I knew he wasn’t sleeping. He would be up until I got back, I was sure.

  I next passed by Petra’s door and then stopped. I’d just see if she was awake or not, I thought, and let her know what I was doing.

  I took out my wand, pointed it at the door and said quietly, ‘Crystilado magnifica.’

  A split second later I could see inside her room. She wasn’t asleep.

  Petra was squatting down on the floor, her wand twirling in a practised fashion between her fingers.

  She pointed it at a chair next to her bed and muttered an incantation.

  ‘Mutatio hydrus.’

  As I watched in horror, the chair transformed into a writhing mass of deadly vipers.

  The next instant she calmly said, ‘Rescindo.’

  I realized. That spell had been in a book in Jasper Jane’s workroom.

  A book of dark spells.

  Even as I looked, I saw her consult a torn page in her hand.

  She had stolen dark spells from my ancestor’s room and was now practising them.

  I had told Petra that I trusted her. And I had. But now? Petra rose, put her wand and the page away, got into bed and blew out her candle. I waited long enough to hear her breaths lengthen.

  I retreated and continued on down the hall. I hope I don’t run into Pillsbury, I thought; and as soon as I thought his name, there he was.

  ‘Mistress Vega?’ he said, sounding confused. ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘Just out for a stroll, Pillsbury. I won’t be long.’

  Before he could say anything else, I opened the front door and then closed it quietly behind me.

  I looked out into the darkness and then turned and eyed the facade of Empyrean. So solid, so peaceful.

  Remaining here for life would have been so . . . easy.

  I looked down at my ring, turned it round and vanished instantly. An idea occurred to me then – an idea of where I might go.

  I reached down, tapped my right leg twice and muttered, ‘Pass-pusay.’

  I had one destination in mind.

  Greater True.

  Nothing happened.

 
OK, I thought, let’s give this another go.

  ‘Pass-pusay,’ I said, and in my mind this time my destination was not Greater True, but the town of True.

  An instant later I was standing in the middle of a street.

  I looked around. This was True all right. That’s when I realized: maybe the Pass-pusay incantation only worked if the place you wanted to go to was one you had already been to. It would have been nice if Astrea Prine had told me that, I thought irritably.

  Now I had to get to Greater True. Under cover of invisibility, I headed to the train station.

  An hour after I arrived at the station, the big marquee board announced the boarding of the early morning train with a final destination of Greater True.

  With Destin around my waist, I took to the air and waited, hovering there.

  A few minutes later, the train pulled out of the station and headed onward.

  I followed from the air. The trip included a few other stops at stations along the way. These places were far smaller than either True or Greater True. Two people got off at one stop, and another climbed aboard at a second stop. The countryside in between was dotted with small homesteads and, where the winks of lights were more numerous, perhaps tiny villages that appeared even smaller than Wormwood.

  Finally, I could see tall buildings rising up in the distance. I passed the train, reached town and landed. Unfortunately, confused by the lingering darkness, I landed in the middle of a roadway.

  The next second I leaped out of the way of a huge motor flashing past.

  I pressed myself against the stone wall of a building and took a long look around.

  The streets were empty of people, which made sense, it being so early. The buildings were larger and grander than what I had seen in True. Some were made of stone, others of fine brick. They rose higher than anything I had observed in True. As a former Finisher back in Wormwood, I marvelled at the intricate carvings, mouldings and cornice pieces. I knew that it had taken great skill to craft all these things.

  I slowly walked to my left, tugging my glove tighter over my hand to make sure the mark there was covered.

  The next second I flattened myself against the wall again as I heard footsteps racing towards me.

  Around the corner came a small, old fellow dressed in a suit, huffing and puffing.

  He was followed by three men in suits and brown bowler hats.

  It was not much of a chase. They caught up with the fellow, and one of the Bowler Hats raised his wand and the spell hit the little fellow in the back. He slumped to the pavement, crying out in pain. They advanced, wands raised.

  I pulled out my own wand, pointed it at the blokes and said three times rapidly, ‘Anesthe.’

  All three instantly crumpled to the pavement.

  I waited to see if any other Bowler Hats showed up. But none did.

  The old fellow cowered for a few more moments, his hands over his head, then he rose cautiously to his feet.

  I said softly, ‘Run.’

  That did the trick. He took to his heels and was soon out of sight.

  My own heart was pounding. Clearly, Greater True was not as peaceful as True – and Endemen’s men were here. I would have to find a place to hide until the sun came up.

  And hope that I survived.

  14

  GREATER TRUE

  I ended up huddling under a bridge, cold, wet and miserable, but at least sheltered from the torrential rain. I managed to drowse off, but was abruptly awoken by the sound of marching. It was coming from directly above me.

  Still invisible, I crept out from under the bridge. It had stopped raining, thankfully, but it was still cloudy and there was no sign of the sun, though I could tell that it was morning.

  I scrambled to a spot where I could see the top of the bridge.

  A stream of black-helmeted and booted men was striding across the bridge in a double column. As they reached the end where I was, I saw that they weren’t men. They were boys.

  They all carried what looked to be very sophisticated mortas supported by straps over their shoulders. They all wore scowls. Their arms and legs moved in perfect synchronization.

  The one leading them brandished a gleaming sword and was calling out orders. Another in the front carried a flag. On it I saw a symbol.

  It was a five-pointed star, but it had two black dots in the centre of it. As the columns drew closer, I could see that the black dots were actually eyes.

  The column marched on.

  Shaken, I looked around to get my bearings as Greater True awoke from its slumber. The pavement was slick with the rain, but the windows glistened as shafts of light broke through the shallow storm clouds and reflected upon them. Noises were starting to percolate out of various spots.

  The streets were well maintained and immaculately tidy. I couldn’t see a bit of rubbish anywhere. Even the air seemed more pure than what I was used to.

  As I watched, the wind drove the clouds away and sunlight swept down and embraced me.

  Motors were starting up, and several of them began to appear on streets near the bridge.

  I could see the people inside the motors. They were all expensively dressed, I thought. A man and woman dressed in handsome clothes came down the cobbles. They were tall and good-looking, with pompous looks on their faces.

  Walking behind them was a smaller man dressed in a stiff suit and wearing a shiny hat. His shoes gleamed. As I looked more closely, I recoiled.

  His eyes were blank. All white, no pupils. The elegant woman opened her handbag. As she did, something – a small bottle – fell out and plummeted towards the cobbles. The smaller man darted forward just in time to catch whatever had fallen and held it up to her.

  She snatched it from him. ‘You almost let it shatter, you fool,’ she snapped.

  Her companion raised his hand and struck the other man across the face so hard his bowler hat flew off his head. The smaller man didn’t respond, just retrieved his hat and followed them, rubbing at his swollen cheek.

  I was furious at what I’d seen. And my anger overcame my common sense.

  ‘Engulfiado.’

  The geyser of water hit the man and woman directly in the chest and sent them toppling backwards onto the cobbles. By the time they had staggered to their feet, they were soaked and filthy, their condescending expressions wiped clean.

  I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

  As more people emerged from the grand buildings, I noted that several were followed by either a man or woman dressed in the same fancy clothing and walking behind them like some sort of pet – and not a well-loved pet either. Their eyes were all white.

  I didn’t have time to take it in though. A crisis had presented itself. Barely a hundred yards in front of me, Endemen had appeared, three Bowler Hats behind him.

  I shrank back, watching as Endemen surveyed the streets, his gaze flitting over where I stood, invisible. Then it landed on the legion of morta-toting boys still marching past.

  Endemen strode over to stand next to a man in uniform, who was surveying the columns of marchers.

  Endemen said, ‘Their training is going well, I fancy?’

  ‘Very well,’ said the man. ‘It’s a nice crop of recruits. Perhaps one of the best yet.’

  ‘Good. Very good indeed.’

  ‘They are our pride and future, after all.’

  Pride and future? What exactly did that mean? These boys were no doubt being trained up as warriors. But the thing was, they were using mortas as their weapons. Did that mean they had no magical abilities?

  I thought of something else.

  I wanted to see what was on the palms of the people who lived here.

  Invisible, I skittered forward until I was very near a group watching the boys march along. One of the men raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sun.

  Burned on to the palm of his hand was the same symbol I had seen on the flag: the five-pointed star with the pair of hideous eyes.

  I dr
ew back, shuddering. All of these people must have that terrible symbol burned into their skin.

  I glanced back at Endemen, whose attention had now been caught by the couple I had soaked.

  He said quietly to the other Bowler Hats, ‘The Engulfiado spell, undoubtedly.’

  ‘Clearly,’ said one of the Bowler Hats. ‘We will explain it to the citizens as a water-main break. But there was no sign of the person performing the spell.’

  ‘Hmmm. What can you tell me about the other matter?’

  I was certain I knew what the ‘other matter’ was; me knocking out three men last night.

  The man said, ‘We sent a response immediately, but we were too late to apprehend the culprit. The men were rendered unconscious. We believe it was . . . not by ordinary means.’

  ‘And the quarry?’ asked Endemen.

  ‘He was captured two streets over. And dealt with summarily.’

  My heart sank. I had saved the man for the length of two streets only.

  Endemen went on. ‘I do not like what I am seeing. The breakdown of law and order. Of respect. We must come down hard on any who show similar signs of independence. I will recommend that we increase the intensity of the Mesmerizer. And we must have periodic updates on it for our, ah, friends.’

  ‘Of course, Mr Endemen. Right away, sir.’

  Mesmerizer?

  I thought back to what I had seen in True. Could the Mesmerizer be that thing on the wall that had hypnotized people and taken their minds away?

  Endemen said, ‘And there have been no additional sightings?’

  ‘None, I’m afraid.’

  ‘The matter cannot be allowed to remain in such a state,’ Endemen said softly.

  ‘No, sir,’ the man replied quickly. ‘Of course not.’ I noted a hint of fear in his features.

  Endemen nodded and strode off, followed by his men.

  Curious, I scurried after them, reaching a darkened alley in time to see Endemen take off his hat and look inside it. There seemed to be a light shining from the interior of the hat.

  He put the hat back on. ‘I have been summoned,’ he said. ‘You remain here and keep watch. Keep me informed.’

  ‘Yes, Mr Endemen.’

  Endemen rose six feet into the air, and shot off so fast that in a few seconds he was visible only as a distant blur.