Jane and the Raven King (8 page)

E
veryone started talking and shouting and laughing again. “Dinner today is roast monkey liver,” Gaius said, “in a white wine garlic sauce.”

Jane paled. “Oh.”

“I’m only joking,” Gaius said. “Go sit down. When we’re finished, Finn will show you to your room.”

Mallory flew to Gaius and said, “My lord and master, we have a message from the Great Falls…”

Gaius nodded and went with the hummingbird and Finn, leaving Jane alone.

As she walked around the edge of the tables, children stared. Most wore ordinary shirts and jeans or school uniforms or bulky jackets, but there were also groups dressed in bright robes and turbans, and even several girls wearing black, face-covering veils, like the images of people from desert countries in
National Geographic
. Jane heard German and French and sing-song Asian languages being spoken, but most of all, she heard English. Most of the kids seemed to speak English.

Just stay calm,
she told herself.
I’ll find a place to sit. I have to blend in—

Jane ran into a giant, wooden, mechanical crab carrying trays of food. The crab was as large as a trash can, and when she collided
with it, plates, saucers, glasses, silverware, and napkins went flying in every direction in a tremendous clattering, crashing smash that made everyone fall silent again. The crab’s green eyes looked from one end of the mess to the other as it struggled to balance one last glass of milk atop its front claw—and the glass fell, exploding in glittery chips and milk on the floor.

“Oh, dear,” the crab said.

“Nice job, savior!” someone called, and the room erupted into laughter.

Jane murmured an apology and stumbled away, her face bright red. She went to a far table that was completely empty except for one Indian girl dressed in an
I ♥ NY
T-shirt reading a thick book. She blinked when Jane sat.

“I’m sorry,” the girl said in a vaguely British accent. “Would you like me to move?”

“No, it’s okay,” Jane said. “I mean, you can if you want to, but I don’t mind. You don’t have to move for me.”

“Okay,” the girl said, and she went back to reading her book.

Boys at a nearby table were looking at Jane and laughing, but Jane told herself she didn’t care—except that she wanted to crawl into a corner and cry.
Why does it always have to happen like this?
she thought.
Why can’t I do anything right?

The tall dark-haired boy in the red jacket came to stand behind a chair across from Jane. Ignoring the Indian girl, he studied Jane as if she were a four-leaf clover or an Olympic medal—something rare that he knew he should respect but didn’t.

“So you’re here to save us from the Raven King?” the boy said.

He was a few years older than Jane, maybe fifteen or sixteen, and he was American.

“I don’t know,” Jane said. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Are you going to throw plates and spoons at him?”

Without looking up, the Indian girl said, “Give it a rest, Thomas.”

“It’s a fair question,” Thomas said. “Gaius said she’s the one, didn’t he?”

“Gaius doesn’t know,” the girl said. “No one does.” She smiled at Thomas. “Now please go away. I can’t read with you talking.”

She pronounced
can’t
as
cahn’t
.

“I don’t care who your family was,” Thomas told Jane. “You don’t belong here.”

“Says the boy who’s late to every meal,” the Indian girl said.

“Shut up, Manali.” Thomas looked like he wanted to say something else, but Jane sank low in her chair, eyes down, so he finally cleared his throat and left.

“Sorry about that,” Manali said. She set down her book and offered Jane a hand to shake. “I’m Manali. I’m from Mumbai.”

“You’re from India?” Jane shook her hand. “Wow, it must be so interesting to live there.”

“It’s okay,” Manali said. “You’re American? My aunt is American, from New Jersey. I’ve only been there twice, and both times I got sick. Do people there really watch American football instead of ordinary football—you call it
soccer
, yeah?”

“Yes, that’s right. I mean, yes, we do.”

“Is it true what Gaius said—that your mother or someone saved the world?”

“I don’t know,” Jane said. “I guess she might have—not my mother but maybe my grandmother. Who was that boy?”

“Thomas? Oh, he’s older—you know how older boys are, yeah?” She smiled, as if they were sharing a private joke. “Their bodies are growing too fast for their brains.”

“I didn’t want to come here,” Jane said. “But my grandmother…” She was suddenly about to cry and stopped herself. Everything was happening so quickly, as if Jane had accidentally slipped into a marathon without a chance to catch her breath.

Manali patted Jane’s hand. “It’ll be all right. One of these kids will be strong enough to stop him—maybe you; maybe someone else. Gaius will figure out which one of us it is, and everything will be okay.”

“The Raven King? What are we supposed to do—I don’t even know who he is.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it right now. He’s a bad guy—like in a storybook, yeah?—and the bad guys always lose at the end. That’s how the world works, isn’t it?”

Manali said
innit
instead of
isn’t it
.

A mechanical crab brought two covered plates of food. The first, for Manali, was a spicy red sauce of potatoes and chicken cubes over white rice with slices of warm flatbread on the side.

“Wow,” Jane said. “What is that?”

“Chicken vindaloo,” Manali said. “My favorite.”

Well,
Jane thought,
I’ve never tried it, but it
does
smell good, and
I guess I could eat it…
The second plate was a row of three chicken tacos with white cheese, refried beans, Mexican rice, a basket of warm salted chips, salsa, and chili con queso.

This time Manali said, “Cool—that looks good.”

“I love chicken tacos,” Jane said, amazed.

Each child received a different meal. Wooden crabs brought hamburgers and french fries, waffles, goat and rice skewers, soups, lobster, and plates of elaborate, colorful piles that Jane had never seen before that smelled like citrus or almonds or beef—all wonderful.

When Jane reached for a chip, Manali offered her a piece of flatbread and said, “Naan?”

“It’s called naan?”

“That’s the bread, yes,” Manali said. “I’ll give you some naan if I can try your chips.”

“Okay, but only if you’ll take a taco for some chicken vinder.”

“
Vindaloo
,” Manali said and smiled. “It’s a deal. But you’ll definitely need lots of water.”

Maybe—just maybe—Jane thought, this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

A
fter Jane had finished eating, she said good night to Manali. “I’ll see you for breakfast, yeah?” Manali said. “And call for me if anyone gives you a hard time again.” Then Jane wandered out one of the many, many side doors at the back of the room to look for a bathroom. It opened to a corridor of white-veined black marble. Bobbin masks—Jane thought they looked like wax casts—were mounted on either side, flickering with yellow-orange candlelight. But there were no candles behind them. No doors either, and the corridor grew dark in the distance.

Wrong way,
Jane thought, but when she turned to go, some one cleared his throat. Thomas was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed.

“I’m sorry,” Jane stammered. “I shouldn’t…”

“Be here?” Thomas said, and he stepped closer. “Who was it in your family? Who was so special?” When Jane went for the door, he said, “Are you afraid? It’s a simple question: Who in your—?”

“My grandmother,” Jane said. “And other women before her. What about you?”

“Me?” Thomas shrugged, as if that didn’t matter. “Do you think I was given anything? You have an easy life, I can tell. You want to help your family—good for you. My dad is dead now because of”—he gestured at the walls and ceiling—“all of this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re just a kid,” Thomas said, and he came closer, his hands balled to fists. “How old are you—ten, eleven?”

“I’m twelve.”

“I’m sixteen, and my family—you know what? I don’t have to explain anything to you.” When she stared back, he smirked. “You want to know, huh? He saved Gaius. When I was a baby, my dad died to save Gaius’s life.”

“I didn’t know the Raven King—”

“Not from the Raven King; it was something else. If you tell anyone…”

“I won’t.”

“I don’t care if we’re from the same place, Jane. You and I are nothing alike.” He was breathing fast, his arms tense, ready to hit her. “Stay away from me.”

“Okay.”

Something
bonged
behind the door, and Jane opened it again. Gaius was banging a gold gong, like something from the Forbidden Palace or the Great Wall of China, Jane imagined. “Children?” Gaius waited, but the kids kept talking. “Everyone, please…”

Thomas slipped in beside Jane. “Hey!” he shouted. “
Listen!
”

The room went silent, and Gaius smiled. “Thank you, Thomas. Dinner is over, children, and you all have a long day tomorrow. To your rooms. Scoot, scoot!”

“There,” Finn said to Jane, “how was it?”

“The food? Great.”

A side door grew large enough for Finn, and she followed the dragon up a red-marble staircase.

“Was I the last one to get here?” Jane asked.

“Yes,” Finn said. “There was a hiding spell around your family. Gaius didn’t think he would ever find you, but then someone else broke the spell.”

“You mean the Raven King?”

Finn was quiet. They continued up, passing a closed wooden door with a cartoon-bobbin painted on it in bright red and blue.

“Most of Castle Alsod is off-limits,” Finn said. “It’s not safe to wander off without me or Gaius with you.”

He didn’t answer me,
Jane thought,
so I’m probably right: The Raven King, whoever he is, found us—found Grandma Diana. She must have cast the spell in the first place.

“Finn, do you know anything about Thomas?”

“Why, did he say something to you?”

She shook her head. “Never mind.” They passed another door with a picture of a raindrop on it. Jane asked, “How come the castle doors open wide for you?”

“She likes me.”

“Who does?”

“Alsod.”

“I thought Alsod was the name of the castle.”

“It is,” Finn said. “And she likes me.”

“How can a castle be a person?” Jane asked.

“She isn’t a person; she’s a castle.”

“But you’re talking about her—it—like a person.”

“Jane, this is Hotland. I’m a talking dragon, remember?” Finn smiled. “Alsod has been the home of bobbins—the cat-people like Gaius—for thousands of years.”

But there aren’t any other bobbins besides Gaius,
Jane thought. They stopped at a third door with a picture of two open hands on it. The stairs continued up and up and up.
Strange that this door has human hands on it,
Jane thought,
if this is a bobbin castle.

“Here we are,” Finn said. He opened the door. On the other side was a hall made of blue brick. Fireflies blinked and winked in a cloud near the ceiling, and in the yellowish glow, Jane saw pairs of unmarked doors that disappeared into darkness down the hall. “This is your floor,” Finn said. “The room on the left is for you, Jane. Alsod is dangerous in the dark. Trust me.”

Jane went to her door. “Where is everyone else?”

“On other floors.”

“What if I have to go to the bathroom?”

“The bathroom is attached to your room, just like in a hotel.” Now, lights out is in fifteen minutes,” Finn nodded to the fireflies, “so hurry to bed, kiddo.”

F
inn said, “Here, let me get you settled into your room…”

The room was red and plushy, with shiny brass at the edges of the tables and chairs—like it was some kind of archaic parlor, rather than a bedroom—although there
was
a high, puffy bed.

“Ta-da!” Finn said. When Jane didn’t smile, he walked her to the bed. “I bet you’re tired, huh?”

“I don’t understand any of this,” Jane said. “Please, Finn. I need you to tell me why I’m here. Who is the Raven King?”

“He’s…it’s not…” Finn sighed and sat at the foot of the bed. “Get comfortable,
amiga
. Gaius thinks it’s better not to scare you, but I guess explaining things can’t hurt, can it? Are you sure you want to know? Okay…a long time ago, when the Earth was young, people were watched over by Great Eagles.”

“By birds?” Jane said.

“They were like birds, yes, but they were very powerful. Anyway, they protected people. I don’t know where they came from, but there were twelve of them. Back then, there was no war, no starvation—none of the horrible things you read about or see on television. It was as peaceful as you can imagine—until one day, when a thirteenth eagle came. He was stronger than all twelve of the other eagles combined, and he didn’t like people.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. Have you ever been around a person who is angry at you or seems to hate you for no reason?”

Jane smiled. “I’ve been to school.”

“I’m serious,” Finn said. “This is different. Maybe people could do things that he couldn’t, like love or work together, but he hated them—I mean,
really
hated them. Well, the other eagles knew they couldn’t fight him, so they found one person who was different than all the others—someone who was special. And they gave her a weapon called the Name of the World. They made the Name of the World invisible to the bad eagle so he couldn’t see it. He still can’t. Anyway, when the bad eagle attacked, this person fought back, and she beat him. She made him leave the Earth forever. So he came here to Hotland.”

“But the Raven King came back,” Jane said.

“Yes. He’s tried to get revenge a bunch of times, but every time, there is one person who can fight him. And every time, that person has stopped him.”

“What about the bobbins?”

“Before the Raven King got here, the bobbins ruled Hotland. They were good guys—real warrior-poet types.”

“What happened to them?”

Finn coughed. “The Raven King got rid of them.”

“All of them? What about the other good eagles?”

“The Raven King got them too,” Finn said. “I told you there was a reason Gaius doesn’t like to talk about this. Now into bed. Lights out.”

Jane kicked off her shoes and climbed into bed. “What is the Name of the World?”

“It’s the only thing that can hurt the Raven King—if the right person uses it.”

“I know, but what
is
it?”

“Hey, I’m just a dragon. I don’t have all the answers. Your grandmother knew—she was the last one to use it.”

Jane tried not to remember the way Grandma Diana had crumpled on the couch. That’s what the Raven King had been trying to find, Jane realized. That’s what he had been asking Grandma Diana about: he wanted to destroy the Name of the World so nothing could hurt him.

“If Gaius thinks that I can stop the Raven King because of my family,” Jane said, “then why are the other kids here?”

“Well, there’s always a chance, I guess…” Finn swallowed as he went to leave. “Gaius might be wrong.”