Page 31 of The Tree of Spirits
I couldn’t see her face with that solid helmet on, but she sounded worried. Very worried. In fact, I’d never seen her this worried. Not even when we’d fought the Techno Knight at the Tournament.
I got it, of course. The General had sent most of the Knights on this operation. Only the mentors and a handful of other Knights remained behind at the Castle. She was worried about her friends. And so was I. Kato and Conner had probably been sent to the Park too. I couldn’t imagine the General sidelining two such powerful Knights.
“Danger or not, of course the General had to react,” said Bronte. “What else was he to do after Prince Fenris’s incendiary interview last night?”
She was right, of course. The General needed this victory to prove Gaia was strong. To prove we were ready to join the Many Realms.
“I wish we could be out there with the Knights, fighting Cursed Ones,” Dutch said, his tone almost wistful.
“Yeah, because that went so well the last time.” Bronte’s voice was sharp and steady, but her trembling hands gave her away. She was squeezing them together, like she was reliving the Cursed Ones’ attack on the Garden.
“And, besides, what would you do if you were there? Throw your sandwich at the Cursed Ones?” Asher’s mouth twitched. “You can’t do any spells, bro. None of us can.” He shot an annoyed look at Eris.
“Patience,” our mentor said calmly. “Trust the system.”
“You mean the system that has us playing dress-up-the-conference-center while important stuff is going down elsewhere?” Asher countered.
“Ensuring the Summit runs smoothlyisimportant,” Bronte told him.
Asher accidentally snapped one of the tiny paper umbrellas in half. “There won’t be a Summit if this Quest in the Park doesn’t go to plan.”
The very loud, very abrupt arrival of several well-dressed supernaturals drew every eye in the cafe. They paraded through the floral arch entrance like a royal procession at a ball.
“There is filth everywhere!” exclaimed a man in a purple-and-gold suit. “You, there!” He pointed his very plump finger at one of the servers, who trotted up to him with eyes turned downward. “Deal with this rain puddle immediately! I have nowhere to walk!”
The server obediently grabbed a folded cardboard box and spread it over the small water puddle in front of the purple man.
“That’s Count Qwintyn,” Eris whispered to us. “He’s one of the richest, most influential men in all the Many Realms.”
“He’s delightful,” I commented as the Count waddled over the cardboard bridge, his loyal posse of bulky bodyguards in tow.
The cafe emptied out very quickly. Scared supernaturals, every one of them much scruffier than the pompous Count, all suddenly had somewhere else to be. Only we Apprentices and our mentor remained. The Count scanned the sea of empty tables, looking very pleased with himself.
“I bet he gets that reaction a lot,” Kylie said, frowning as the Count claimed a table under the big shady palm tree. His minions remained standing.
“Yes,” said Eris. “The Count and those like him live very different lives than the supernaturals you typically see here in the Magic Emporium. The wealthy and powerful never visitGaia. They consider us far too insignificant to be worthy of their attention.”
“Then why are they here now?” Dutch asked.
“They must have arrived early for the Summit. Count Qwintyn is a member of the Court. And so isshe.” Eris turned her head toward the woman who was sitting under a pretty pink sunshade. “That is Duchess Dellondré.”
The Duchess wore a long crimson dress that rippled like a waterfall of blood as she crossed one leg over the other. It was seriously unsettling.
“What isthis?” she snapped at the server.
He blinked at her in confusion. “A Strawberry Shimmer with ice.”
“Common ice.” She shook her glass, and the ice cubes clinked together. “I only consume ice cubes made from spell spring water.”
“What’s spell spring water?” I whispered to Eris.
She snorted. “Some frilly, super-expensive, high-end magic spring water that rich supernaturals drink because they’re convinced it makes their skin glow.”
“She’s certainly glowing with rage,” Kylie commented.
“B-but we don’t have any s-spell spring water,” the server stuttered.
“That is not my problem.” The Duchess shoved the glass against the server’s chest. “Fix this. Or I will fixyou.”
