Page 53 of Court of Shadows
“There is a war coming, Louisa. The usurpers thought they could keep me safely sleeping for eternity, but their magic is weak now and it is time to reclaim what we lost. I wish you could have seen our world before they annihilated it. Druids, fae, creatures of mist and water and vine, a vast palace of root and stone, protected by the Sky Snake and the Tocahuatl...”
I nodded, feeling as if he had put me under a spell. It sounded like fantasy, like impossibility, but I had seen enough these past months to question everything I had learned as a child. “I... I read about some of it. In Bennu’s journal.”
He laughed, sending another ripple of excitement through the snakes and spiders outside the tent. “That was just a piece, just the tip of the spear. Imagine a kingdom encased in branch and leaf, all of its people asleep, doomed to wander in an eternal nightmare. Then imagine that one day the oldest of those people wakes up. There’s a crack in the branches, a bit of moonlight seeps through the leaves, and the people inside the nightmare slowly wake up.”
I said, “They put you to sleep because they could not kill you?”
He let go of my chin, and it seemed then that he frowned, overcome with grief.
“Do not be fooled by anything He-Who-Lies-In-Wait tells you. You are not his friend, Louisa, and you are not his employee. You are but a pretty curiosity to study, a rare butterfly pinned under glass.” He sighed and folded his clawed hands in front of his waist. “But I will take you away from this place. You will be made safe before my great war begins.”
I shook my head, holding out my hand to him. The marks left behind by the book were not erased by the magic of the pavilion. “I can’t leave. The only thing allowing me to come and go is this pin Mr. Morningside gave me. I’m bound to the book.”
His melancholy lifted, his eyes glittering then with interest. “So you have seen it. Touched it. Remarkable. And he gave you this pin? Then he knows you can handle the book without perishing.” He paced furiously, sharp brows drawn down in concentration. “We have even less time than I thought.” Then he stopped and spun to face me, eyes glowing brighter and brighter still. “You must bring me the book, Louisa. I will release you from its dark power, but first you must bring it to me and bring it in secret.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The spiders and snakes outside the tent grew suddenly restless, and this time it had nothing to do with laughter.
“Someone is coming,” Father whispered.
He took me by the wrist, yanking me to the front of the pavilion. I ran alongside him but felt dazed, as if the new history of this man and his kingdom weighted me like a physical burden. Could it all be true? Could he really be the victim of some plot between the shepherd and Mr. Morningside? It seemed insane, but I could not deny that Bennu’s journal confirmed the story. He and that boy Khent had been ruthlessly pursued, all because they carried something valuable to the Mother and Father.
We burst out of the tent, insects and snakes scattering like they had been fired out of a rifle. At first I did not see them, but then, I followed the origin of the fleeing creatures to where Sparrow and Finch descended from the sky. Their wings were but a flash as they landed, and instinctively I placed my hand over the spoon hidden in my apron. They had not harmed me yet, so why did I distrust them so?
“These pitiful fools,” Father hissed. “They are as blind and meddling as their leader, but perhaps more easily dispatched.”
“Wait,” I murmured. “Dispatched? They come in threes; did you kill the third one?”
“Quiet now,” he said, but he was smiling. “I am still vulnerable here. They mustn’t know.”
Sparrow came out of her descent at a sprint, then marched right up to us. We had reverted to our far less glamorous appearances, and “Father” was once again Croydon Frost. He gave her an amiable, almost goofy smile and a bow from the waist. My bones ached with cold, the urge to shiver uncontrollably growing stronger as they came so near.
“Awfully late for a stroll,” she said between gritted teeth. “What are you two up to? I thought the housekeeper imposed a curfew on all her maids.”
“There’s no need to be so hostile,” Finch murmured, taking his sister by the arm and pulling her back. She would not budge. I glanced up at my father, noticing the tight tendon in his temple, fearing that if challenged he would do something regrettable. Now that I knew the truth, that he was capable of “dispatching” one of the Adjudicators, I had no idea what the parameters of his temper might be.
“Stop giving this creepy little chit so much leeway, brother; she’s one of them, and we’re here to investigate them, not invite them over for tea cakes and ices.” She said it all without ever taking her eyes off me. I almost wanted to laugh, for she was so convinced that I was the troublemaker, when in truth she stood before a cloaked god, one clearly obsessed with revenge upon her kind.
“You’re right,” I said plainly. “We are not friends, and I ambreaking curfew. Shall I fetch a rod so you can administer a beating?”
“That would be a good place to start,” she growled, leaning over me.
“I haven’t done anything to you,” I replied. “Why do you hate me so much?”
“Hate you?” She laughed and tossed back her thick yellow hair over her shoulders. “I was created for this purpose, to find truth and dispose with lies. There is mischief afoot in this house, and I know you are part of it, girl. What were you two doing out here?”
“Sparrow, please, calm down—” Finch reached for her shoulder but she shrugged him off again.
“He’s my father, all right?” I sighed. Just saying that much seemed like it was giving “Father” a victory. At my side, he smiled benignly, an impressive mask. “I never met him when I was a child. He came here to meet me, to find the daughter he never knew. I’m sure it gives you no small pleasure, finding out I’m not only a lowly Unworlder but an illegitimate one at that.”
Sparrow’s sapphire eyes narrowed dangerously, and in that moment she did not look angelic at all. Before I could react or speak, her hand darted out, closing like a vise around my neck. I gasped and flailed, but she was far stronger. Her thumb pressed hard on my neck as she dragged me close. “That is only half the truth, you little liar, there is no deceiving me. I invoke the right of Judgment—”
I did not hear the rest of what was said. Sparrow opened her mouth wide and a beam of searing gold light blasted out of it. Vaguely, I sensed that both Finch and my father were shouting, but I was not there. There was only blinding, brilliant white light and then a moment of nothingness as I floated. When my eyes adjusted to the blast, I was in a cold white room, with nothing in it but a table, and I was on that table. The surface of it felt like hot needles against my skin, and whenever I chanced to move, the scraping and stinging were unbearable.
I cried out, but there was nothing I could do—secured to the T-shaped table like Jesus to the cross, iron manacles over my ankles and wrists. Sparrow was there, I could feel her, all around me like a vapor. This was not a place of brick or stone, but a prison inside my own mind.
“What were you doing in that tent?”
