Warriors of the Black Shroud (9 page)

Chapter 17

S
he's gone nuts,” said Eddie.

“Who has?” asked Walker.

“Lumina,” replied Eddie. “I think this thing with the Nightangels has made her crazy. She's got the Lightkeepers under her thumb and they do whatever she tells them, and she tells them some pretty stupid things.”

“Like what?” Frankie asked.

“Well, they just passed a recommendation that nobody think negative thoughts, and that to do so would mean a period of reorientation in the stone quarry,” Eddie said.

Recommendations were the Nebula equivalent of laws, but during the king's rule there had been no punishments other than the disapproval of your fellow citizens, which had generally been enough to make an offender mend his or her ways.

“How can they know what someone's thinking?” asked Frankie.

“They can't,” replied Eddie, “but the problem is you can't prove you weren't thinking negatively if someone says you were. She's also put extra locks on the gates, and stopped any more patrols, even the ones that just stand guard on the walls. In fact, nobody's supposed to even look over the walls anymore. She says it's so we don't antagonize the Black Count, and if we keep ourselves to ourselves we can live in harmony with him, which I think is ridiculous.”

“This all sounds pretty weird,” Walker agreed, “but it doesn't sound serious enough to make you come flying back here.”

“That's because you haven't heard the worst of it yet,” Eddie assured him. “She locked Jevon in one of the rooms in the palace, because, guess what, he's been thinking negative thoughts. What she really means is he disagrees with her.”

“Jevon's under house arrest?” gasped Frankie.

“More like room arrest,” Eddie said. “He has a guard outside his door all the time, and nobody's allowed to see him. The Kingdom's never been like this before. Lumina says she's doing everything to make the citizens feel more secure and happy, but it's had the opposite effect. Everyone's nervous and jumpy and suspicious.”

“But what can we do?” Walker asked.

“I don't know,” Eddie admitted, “but whatever it is, you can't do it from here. You have to come back.”

Walker and Frankie looked at each other. Frankie shrugged her shoulders.

“He's right, you know. We have to at least try,” Frankie said. “No way we can leave Jevon wasting away in a prison cell.”

Walker thought this was a bit overdramatic but he agreed with her. They had to go back and help Jevon and the Kingdom. At least they'd both had a change of clothes.

Upon landing in Nebula the first thing Walker wanted to do was get Lightning. Eddie had left her in the care of the Mistress of the Herd while he went to the Outerworld.

“About time you came back,” she snapped at Walker. “She's been nervous and skittish the entire time she's been here. That may be because she's been missing you, or it may be that she's picking up a lot of the nonsense that's happening now. Unicorns are very sensitive, you know.”

Lightning did seem pleased to see Walker, which in turn pleased him. He thought three of them were too heavy to ride her, so they walked back to the square in the middle of the Palace with Walker leading Lightning by the reins.

Nebula looked no different from when they had left it, but there was a tension under it all that you didn't need to be a unicorn to feel. The laughter was too loud, the play too frantic, and every so often Walker caught people giving one another nervous glances, as if to make sure they weren't doing anything that would cause their neighbors suspicion.

“Well, now that we're here, what are we going to do?” Frankie asked.

“We have to see Jevon,” said Walker.

“Oh yeah, that's a great idea!” snorted Frankie. “Except for the guard in front of his door twenty-four-seven.”

“We've got to find a way to do it,” Walker insisted.

“Well,” said Eddie, “there may be a way. Nebulites have never had to guard people before and I suspect they aren't very good at it. If we can distract him I bet we could slip past him.”

“Let me do that,” said Frankie. “My mom says I'm very distracting.”

They followed Eddie down a flight of stairs to the part of the Palace that was belowground. The steps curved around in a spiral until they opened out into a long passageway with rooms on either side. In each room there was a large table with men and women working on piles of paper. At the end of the passage Eddie stopped.

“Peek around this corner and you'll see the guard,” he whispered.

Walker and Frankie peered carefully around the edge of the wall. At the end of the passage was a guard holding a short lance. He looked bored, and was using the point of his weapon to draw patterns in the dust on the floor. He stood in front of a huge stone door.

Frankie looked at the others and indicated to them to follow her. She went into a nearby room that was empty except for papers stacked along the walls.

“Okay,” she whispered, “here's the plan. You two stay in here and duck out of sight. I'll get the guard away from his post. That'll give you time to get into Jevon's room. How you get out is your problem.”

She picked up some papers from one of the piles, and put a worried look on her face. Then she left the room and headed down the passage in the direction of the guard.

“Stop, you. Miss, what are you doing here?” shouted the guard.

Eddie rolled his eyes and whispered to Walker. “He's supposed to say: ‘Halt, who goes there?'”

Then they heard Frankie give a little shriek as if she had been startled.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” she said. “I didn't see you there.”

“You're the Outerworld girl, aren't you?” questioned the guard.

“Yes,” Frankie agreed. “My name is Frances Livonia Hayes, but you can call me Frankie. You can also help me, because I'm lost.”

“Where are you trying to get to?” the guard asked.

“I have to go to the Department of Citizen Affairs,” she replied.

“What business do you have there?” he inquired.

“Lady Lumina told me to go there. I have to fill out some papers,” she answered.

At the sound of Lumina's name the guard's attitude changed completely.

“Oh, yes, of course,” he said. “Lady Lumina—of course. Well, it's easy enough. Turn around and walk to the end of this passage and make a right. Go all the way down the next one and when it stops make a left and you'll see the Department immediately on your right.”

“I'm sorry,” Frankie said, “but I don't understand when you say left and right. Those words mean something completely different in the Outerworld.”

“They do?” the guard asked in amazement. “How do you give directions, then?”

“Oh, we just say ‘klink' or ‘klunk,'” Frankie informed him. “We would say: ‘Go to the crossroads and make a klink'—or a klunk, whichever was correct.”

The two listening boys had to stifle snorts of laughter.

“Well, let me show you,” said the guard. “This is your left hand.”

“This one?” asked Frankie.

“No, that's your right,” he said. “Turn around and face in the same direction as me. Now that's your left—got it?”

“It's all very confusing,” said Frankie with a sigh. “Do you think you could just show me where the office is?”

“I can't leave my post,” he told her.

“I'm sure Lady Lumina would be very grateful if you took me there. She said it was most important that I fill out these forms,” Frankie said.

There was a pause.

“All right,” the guard said, “but quickly, because I shouldn't leave here.”

Then the two boys heard Frankie's and the guard's footsteps coming toward them and they pressed themselves up against the piles of paper and held their breaths. Frankie kept up a continuous stream of chatter and then she and her guide passed by the room and continued down the passage.

“Quickly,” Eddie muttered. “We don't have much time.”

As quietly as possible they raced toward the huge door. They pressed their shoulders against it but it wouldn't budge.

“It's locked!” Eddie exclaimed.

“Maybe not,” said Walker, pointing to the dust on the floor. “Look at those marks. It opens out toward us.”

Sure enough, there was a large quarter-circle marked in the dust where the door had been dragged open. The only problem was that there was no handle or anything else that you could pull. Walker thought for a minute.

“Sometimes,” he said, “less force works better than more.”

And with that he gave the door a little push with his hand, and it started to groan open by itself. It revealed a small room with no windows and just a stone table with a bench in front of it. Jevon was sitting on it with his back to the door. When he heard it open he turned toward them.

“How did you two get in here?” he cried. “Where's the guard?”

“He's busy showing Frankie the way to somewhere she doesn't need to go,” said Walker.

But Jevon wasn't even listening to the explanation. He had noticed that the door was starting to slowly close.

“Oh no! Quickly, find something to wedge it open!” he shouted.

But it was too late. The huge stone portal had already slammed shut.

“Well, my young friends,” said Jevon, “I'm afraid that means there are now three prisoners in this room. There's no way of opening it from this side. Believe me, I've tried.”

“Why is this happening, Jevon?” asked Walker. “What's got into Lumina? She was never very friendly, but I always thought she was okay.”

“She's a good woman,” Jevon said, “but she's scared, and to tell the truth so are most of the citizens of Nebula. They don't know how to deal with anything that disturbs their peaceful lives. Lumina thinks she can keep the Kingdom safe by making sure that nobody goes into Diabolonia, and anyone who disagrees with her is a threat to the security of the realm and a traitor who has to be silenced. That's why I'm shut in this room right now.”

“This has never happened before,” complained Eddie. “When King Leukos reigned you could say anything about him, and he didn't care—not that many people did, of course, because they all loved him.”

“Leukos was a strong leader,” Jevon said, “and strong leaders never fear criticism.”

“What can we do, Lord Jevon?” Walker asked anxiously.

“In all honesty, I don't know,” said Jevon. “I'm not one to despair, but our situation is grim. In the Eons that have passed since his defeat the Black Count has become stronger and the weapons we used against him then no longer have their power. If only we knew what was happening in Litherium or the other Sister Cities we might be able to form a plan, but if the king and his knights armed with Lances of Light can't get through to them, then who can?”

A despondent silence fell. Then after a few minutes a broad grin gradually replaced the worried frown on Walker's face.

“You know, there may be people who can get through to Litherium,” he said.

“How so?” asked Jevon. “The last two attempts both ended in disaster.”

“But not everyone was killed or captured,” Walker pointed out.

“Only two survived,” said Jevon. “A young page and his royal highness here.”

“And what did they both have in common?” Walker asked.

“They were both young?” Jevon suggested.

“They were,” Walker agreed, “but maybe more importantly they were both short.”

“Short yourself,” protested Eddie. “I'm as tall as you are.”

“Yes,” Walker said. “You are, but neither of us is as tall as a man, and we're much shorter than a man on a unicorn.”

“So you think the Warriors of the Black Shroud couldn't see them?” Jevon asked incredulously.

“Well,” said Eddie, “we know they can't see, but they know how to aim despite that, trust me.”

“But did they aim at you?” asked Walker.

“Hmm.” Eddie considered the question thoughtfully. “No, I suppose they didn't.”

“Right!” cried Walker. “That's because whatever it is that tells them someone's there couldn't detect you.”

“It's a possibility,” agreed Jevon, “but only that. You can't be certain.”

“No,” Walker accepted, “but it's worth a risk.”

“Are you suggesting that the two of you should go out there into the wilderness by yourselves without any protection and try to get through to Litherium?” Jevon asked, aghast.

“Can you think of a better plan, my lord?” Walker said. “Or even another one?”

“Well, no,” Jevon admitted.

Once again there was silence. Then Jevon sighed and said: “Desperate times demand desperate measures.”

“I think it's a great plan,” said Eddie, “and the more I think of it the more I'm sure Walker's right. During the fight out there when the king was killed, it was almost as if I didn't exist.”

“It doesn't matter whether or not it's a great plan,” said Walker, “if we can't get out of this room. And even if we get out of the room we still have to get out of the Kingdom, and with Lumina's new rules that may be a bit tricky.”

“Leave the first up to me. I've just thought of something that might get you out of here,” Jevon replied. “As for getting out of the Kingdom—there is an observation tower in the farthest part of the wall on the other side of the unicorn herd. It hasn't been used for Eons, and it has a secret stone that opens out to give the watchmen a sheltered place to look out. It's not big enough for an adult to get through, but I'm pretty sure you children could slip through it.”

“Pretty sure or completely sure?” Walker asked.

“Not completely,” said Jevon, “but if it's too small you've lost nothing and you'll have to think of something else.”