Page 22 of The Tribes of Magic
But no one heard me. They just kept laughing and talking and ignoring.
“It’s too much!”
Their voices filled my ears, growing louder and louder and louder. I clutched my head. Music and voices, plates and glasses, satin and silk, leather and steel. The sounds collided together—and then everything exploded.
EPISODE 2
THE ELVES, PART 2
CHAPTER 1
THE VAMPIRE QUEEN
Iwas the only one who noticed the explosion. The party went on as though nothing had happened.
Nothing had happened. It was all in my mind.
Only now, I was in control.
Sounds twisted and twirled in my mind, solidifying into a spell on my tongue. The spell had a life of its own—a will of its own. It slithered across the ballroom, invisible and sly, infecting each and every person it touched.
“Silence,” I commanded.
My voice wasn’t loud, but it filled the room. It ruled the room.
Everyone stopped talking.
“Stop,” I told them.
Everyone stopped moving.
“Listen.”
They folded their hands in front of their bodies and waited.
I smiled in wicked satisfaction. “Thank you for your attention. Now you’re going to listen to every word that President Stout has to say.”
I must have bewitched the President too because he knew just what to do. He moved to the podium beside the orchestraand grabbed the microphone. And as President Stout delivered a carefully-prepared speech all about Gaia, I subtly retreated to the sidelines. Kato was waiting there for me.
“Hi,” I told him with a smile.
“Hi? That’sallyou have to say?”
“Yes? What’s the matter? Is a simple ‘hi’ too informal for this posh affair? Ok, how aboutgreetings?”
Kato rubbed his head like I was too crazy to handle right now. “What just happened?”
“Well, I could be wrong, but I think I managed to make the Court finally stop ignoring us.”
He stared at me, and I couldn’t tell if he was upset or impressed. Meanwhile, the President was telling the leaders of the Many Realms of Gaia’s many magical accomplishments. And I wasn’t surprised that many of those accomplishments were Kato’s.
“Hey, he’s not talking about any ofmyaccomplishments.” I winked at him, but that wink quickly turned into a wince.
Kato’s forehead furrowed with concern. “Are you all right?”
“Not really. It’s kind of hard to hold all of them in place for so long.”
I rubbed my temples gently. The mother of all headaches was blossoming inside of my skull. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep the President’s audience placid. So I was pretty relieved when he put down the microphone and stepped away from the podium.
