My first instinct was to go to her, but something made me hesitate. Swcbn didn't seem particularly disturbed by these events. She'd turned back to her knitting. That bothered me.
"Socrates," I whispered.
"What's that, Alcatraz?" Sing asked.
"This guy I learned about in school," I said. “He was one of those annoying types who always asked questions.”
"Okay . . ." Sing said.
Something was wrong. I began asking questions that should have bothered me long before this.
Why was the most powerful Librarian in all of the Hushlands here to negotiate a treaty that the monarchs had already decided to sign?
Why wasn't she worried at being surrounded by her enemies, capable of being captured and imprisoned at a moment's notice?
Why did I feel so unsettled, as if we hadn't really won after all?
At that moment, Draulin screamed. She collapsed to the ground, holding her head. Then every Knight of Crystallia in the room dropped to the ground, crying out in pain.
"Hello, everyone!" a voice suddenly cried. I spun to find my grandfather standing behind us. I’m back! Did I miss anything important?"
CHAPTER 21
At that moment, a lot of things happened at once.
The common people in the crowd began to scream in fear and confusion. A group of Librarian thugs pushed their way down to the floor around Swcbn, who continued to sit and knit.
King Dartmoor unsheathed his sword and turned to face the thugs. Grandpa Smedry and I tried to rush down the stairs to get to the monarchs, but were blocked by the crowds, who were trying to flee.
"Hiccupping Huffs!" Grandpa Smedry cursed.
"Follow me, Lord Smedry!" Sing said, muscling up to the top of the stairs beside us. Then he tripped.
Now, I don't know how you'd react if a three-hundred-pound Mokian tripped and began to roll down the stairs toward you, but I safely say that I'd either:
1) Scream like a girl and jump out of the way.
2) Scream like a gerbil and jump out of the way.
3) Scream like a Smedry and jump out of the way.
The people on the steps chose to scream like a bunch of people on some steps, but they did get out of the way.
Grandpa Smedry, Folsom, Himalaya, and I charged down the stairs behind the Mokian. Prince Rikers stayed behind, looking confused. "This part actually looks dangerous," he called. "Maybe I should stay here. You know, and guard the exit."
Whatever, I thought. His father, at least, proved to have a spine. King Dartmoor stood over the body of his fallen wife, facing down the group of Librarian thugs, sword held before him. The other monarchs were in the processes of scattering away.
It looked as if the Librarians would easily cut down the king before we could reach him.
"Hey!" a voice yelled suddenly. I recognized my aunt Patty standing in the audience, pointing. As always, her voice managed to carry over any and every bit of competition. "I don't mean to be rude," she bellowed, "but is that toilet paper stuck to your leg?"
The Librarian thug at the front immediately looked down, then blushed , realizing that he did indeed have toilet paper stuck to him. He bent down to pull it off, causing the others to bunch up behind him awkwardly.
That distraction gave us just enough time to cover the distance to the king. Grandpa Smedry whipped out a pair of Lenses. I recognized the green specks in the glass, marking them as Windstormer's Lenses. Sure enough, the Lenses released a blast of air, knocking back the Librarians as they tried to rush the king.
"What happened to the knights?" the king yelled, desperate.
"Librarians must have corrupted the Mindstone, Brig," Grandpa Smedry said.
That's the problem with having a magic rock that connects the minds of all of your best soldiers. Take down the stone, and you take down your soldiers. Kind of like how taking out one cell phone tower can knock out the texting ability of an entire school's worth of teen-age girls.
Grandpa Smedry focused on blasting the Librarians with his Lenses, but they got smart quickly. They spread out, forcing their way around the perimeter of the floor, trying to get at the king. Grandpa Smedry couldn't focus on all the different groups; there were too many.
The room was a chaotic mess. People screaming, Librarians pulling out swords, wind blowing. The monarchs were trying to escape, but the stairs were clogged again. Sing sat dazed from his roll down the stairs. He wouldn't be able to help again anytime soon.
"Alcatraz, get those monarchs out!" Grandpa Smedry said, pointing toward the wall. "Folsom, if you'd help me . . ."
And with that, Grandpa Smedry began to sing.
I stared at him, dumbfounded, until I realized this gave Folsom the music he needed to dance. Both Folsom and Himalaya spun toward the Librarians, knocking down those who had tried to push around the outsides of the room.
I turned and dashed up a section of bleacherlike seats. "Monarchs, up here!" I said. The seats here were empty, their occupants all trying to crowd out the other door.
Several of the monarchs turned toward me as I reached the far wall. I placed two hands against it and blasted it with breaking power. The entire wall fell away as if it had been shoved by the hand of a giant.
Monarchs rushed up the steps, wearing a variety of costumes and crowns: A man with dark skin in red African-style clothing. The Mokian king in his islander wrap. A king and queen in standard crowns and European robes. I counted them off, but didn't see Bastille's father.
That was, apparently, because he was still down below. I could see that he was trying to pull Draulin to safety – unfortunately, she weighed like a bazillion pounds with all that armor on, not to mention the awkward sword strapped to her back. The king must have come to the same conclusion, as he pulled free her sword and tossed it aside, then began to work off the armor.
I moved to go help, but the crowds had seen my new exit and were swarming around me. I had to fight against them, and it really slowed me down.
"Grandpa!" I yelled, pointing.
Below, my grandfather turned toward the king, then cursed. Folsom and Himalaya were holding off the Librarians pretty well, so Grandpa Smedry rushed over to help the High King. I tried to do likewise, but it was slow going with the crowd in my way. Fortunately, it looked like I wouldn't be needed.
People escaped out of the broken hole in the wall. Folsom and Himalaya handled the Librarians. My grandfather helped the High King pick up Draulin. Everything seemed good.
Swcbn continued to knit quietly.
Questions. They still itched at me.
How exactly, I wondered, did the Librarians get to the Crystin Mindstone? That thing must be freakishly well guarded.
Why was Swcbn acting so content? Who had blown up the Hawkwind? It had to have been someone who would have been able to get Detonator's Glass into Draulin's pack. Hers was the room that had exploded.
I glanced at Himalaya, who fought beside her new husband, knocking down enemy after enemy as my grandfather sang opera. It occurred to me that perhaps we'd overlooked something. And at that moment, I asked the most important question of all.
If there could be such a thing as a good Librarian, might there also be such a thing as an evil Knight of Crystallia? A knight who could get to the Mindstone and corrupt it? A knight who could slip a bomb into Draulin's pack? A knight who had been involved in sending Bastille out to fail?
A knight whom I had personally seen hanging around the Royal Archives within a few hours of the swap?
"Oh, no . . ." I whispered.
At that moment, one of the "unconscious" knights near Grandpa Smedry began to move. He lifted his head, and I could see a deadly smile on it. Archedis, otherwise known as Mr. Big chin, supposedly the most accomplished of all the Knights of Crystallia.
I should have listened more to Socrates.
"Grandfather!" I screamed, trying to fight the crowd and run forward, but they were so frightened that I barely got a few steps before being push
ed back again.
Grandpa Smedry turned, still singing, looking up at me and smiling. In a flash, Archedis rose, pulling free his crystalline sword. He slammed the pommel against Grandpa Smedry's head.
The old man went cross-eyed – his Talent unable to protect him from the power of a Crystin blade – and he fell to the side. With his singing gone, Himalaya and Folsom immediately stopped fighting and froze in place.
The Librarians tackled them.
I struggled against the flow of people again, trying desperately to get down. The seats on the north side were now completely empty, save for Swcbn. The grandmotherly woman looked up at me, smiling. She held up the afghan she'd been knitting.
It depicted a bloody skull. Archedis turned toward King Dartmoor.
"No!" I screamed.
The corrupted knight raised his sword. Then he froze as a small, quiet figure stepped between him and the king.
Bastille. She hadn't been affected by the fall of the Mindstone . . . because the knights themselves had cut her off it.
Bastille raised her mother's sword. I don't know where she'd gotten it – I don't even know how she'd gotten into the room. She had found a pair of Warrior's Lenses, but I could see from her profile that she was still exhausted. She looked tiny before the figure of the enormous knight, with his silvery armor and heroic smile.
"Come now," Archedis said. "You can't stand against me."
Bastille didn't reply.
"I maneuvered you into obtaining knighthood," Archedis said. "You never really deserved it. That was all a ploy to kill the old Smedry."
Kill the old Smedry. . . . Of course. Bastille and I had assumed that someone had been setting her up to fail so that she or her mother would be disgraced. We'd completely missed that Bastille had been acting as Grandpa Smedry's bodyguard.
It hadn't been a plot against her at all. It had been a plot against my grandfather. (And, if you're wondering, no – I couldn't actually hear what they were saying down there. But someone repeated it to me later, so give me a break.) I continued to fight against the crowd, trying to get down to her. It was all happening so quickly – though pages have passed in this narrative, it had only been moments since Archedis had stood up.
I was forced to watch as Bastille raised her mother's sword. She seemed so tired, her shoulders slumping, her stance uncertain.
"I'm the best there's ever been," Archedis said. "You think you can fight me?"
Bastille looked up, and I saw something showing through her fatigue, her pain, and her sorrow. Strength.
She attacked. Crystal met crystal with a sound that was somehow more melodic than that of steel against steel. Archedis pushed Bastille back with his superior strength, laughing.
She came at him again.
Their swords met, pinging again and again. As before, Archedis rebuffed Bastille.
And she attacked again.
And again.
And again.
Each time, her sword swung a little faster. Each time, the ringing of blades was a little louder. Each time, her posture was a little more firm. She fought, refusing to be beaten down.
Archedis stopped laughing. His face grew solemn, then angry. Bastille threw herself at him repeatedly, her sword becoming a flurry of motion, the crystalline blade flashing with iridescence as it shattered light from the windows, throwing out sparkling colors.
And then Bastille actually started to push Archedis back.
Few people outside of Crystallia have seen two Crystin fight in earnest. The fleeing crowd slowed, its members turning back. Librarian thugs stopped beating on Himalaya and Folsom. Even I hesitated. We all grew still, as if in reverence, and the once chaotic room became as quiet as a concert hall.
We were an audience, watching a duet. A duet in which the violinists tried to ram their violins down each other's throats.
The massive knight and the spindly girl circled, their swords beating against each other as if in a prescribed rhythm. The weapons seemed things of beauty, the way they reflected the light. Two people trying to kill each other with rainbows.
Bastille should have lost. She was smaller, weaker, and exhausted. Yet each time Archedis threw her down, she scrambled back to her feet and attacked with even more fury and determination. To the side, her father, the king, watched in awe. To my surprise, I even saw her mother stir. The woman looked dazed and sick, but she seemed to have regained enough consciousness to open her eyes.
Archedis made a mistake. He tripped slightly against a fallen Librarian thug. It was the first error I'd seen him make, but that didn't matter. Bastille was on him in a heartbeat, pounding her sword against his, forcing him backward from his precarious position.
Looking dumbfounded, Archedis tripped backward and fell onto his armored butt. Bastille's sword froze at his neck, a hair's width from slicing his head free.
"I . . . yield," Archedis said, sounding utterly shocked.
I finally managed to shove my way through the crowd, which had been stunned by the beautiful fight. I skidded to a stop beside my grandfather. He was breathing, though unconscious. He appeared to be humming to himself in his sleep.
"Alcatraz," Bastille said.
I looked over at her. She still had her sword at Archedis's neck.
"I have something for you to do," she said, nodding to Archedis.
I smiled, then walked over to the fallen knight.
"Look, hey," he said, smiling. "I'm a double agent, really. I was just trying to infiltrate them. I . . . uh, is it true that you have a Truthfinder's Lens?"
I nodded.
"Oh,” he said, knowing that I'd been able to see that he was lying.
"Do it," Bastille said, nodding toward the ground.
"Gladly," I said, reaching down to touch Archedis's blade. With a magnificent crackling sound, it shattered beneath the power of my Talent.
Swcbn finally put down her knitting. "You," she said, "are very bad children. No cookies for you."
And with that, she vanished – replaced with an exact statue of herself sitting in that very position.
ROYAL EPILOGUE (Not a Chapter)
THERE COMES A TIME IN EVERY BOOK WHEN A SINGLE, IMPORTANT QUESTION MUST BE ASKED: “WHERE’S MY LUNCH?”
THAT TIME ISN’T RIGHT NOW. HOWEVER, IT IS TIME TO ASK ANOTHER QUESTION, ALMOST AS IMPORTANT: “SO, WHAT’S THE POINT?”
IT’S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION. WE SHOULD ASK IT ABOUT EVERYTHING WE READ. THE PROBLEM IS, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO ANSWER IT.
THE POINT OF THIS BOOK IS REALLY UP TO YOU. MY POINT IN WRITING IT WAS TO LOOK AT MY LIFE, TO EXPOSE IT, TO ILLUMINATE IT. AS SOCRATES ONCE SAID, “THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING.”
HE DIED FOR TEACHING THAT TO PEOPLE. I FEEL I SHOULD HAVE DIED YEARS AGO. INSTEAD, I PROVED MYSELF TO BE A COWARD. YOU’LL SEE WHAT I MEAN, EVENTUALLY.
THIS BOOK MEANS WHATEVER YOU MAKE OF IT. FOR SOME, IT WILL BE ABOUT THE DANGERS OF FAME. FOR OTHERS, IT WILL BE ABOUT TURNING YOUR FLAWS INTO TALENTS. FOR MANY, IT WILL SIMPLY BE ENTERTAINMENT, WHICH IS REALLY QUITE ALL RIGHT. YET FOR OTHERS, IT WILL BE ABOUT LEARNING TO QUESTION EVERYTHING, EVEN THAT WHICH YOU BELIEVE.
FOR, YOU SEE, THE MOST IMPORTANT TRUTHS CAN ALWAYS WITHSTAND A LITTLE EXAMINATION.
ONE WEEK AFTER THE DEFEAT OF ARCHEDIS AND THE LIBRARIANS, I SAT IN THE CHAMBER OF KINGS. GRANDPA SMEDRY SAT TO MY LEFT, DRESSED IN HIS FINEST TUXEDO. BASTILLE SAT TO MY RIGHT, WEARING THE PLATE ARMOR OF A FULL KNIGHT OF CRYSTALLIA. (YES, OF COURSE SHE GOT HER KNIGHTHOOD BACK. AS IF THE KNIGHTS COULD REFUSE AFTER WATCHING HER DEFEAT ARCHEDIS WHILE THEY LAY ON THE GROUND DROOLING.)
I STILL WASN’T CLEAR ON WHAT ARCHEDIS HAD DONE. FROM WHAT I GATHER, THE MINDSTONE WAS CUT FROM THE SPIRE OF THE WORLD ITSELF. LIKE THE SPIRE, THE MINDSTONE HAS THE POWER TO RADIATE ENERGY AND KNOWLEDGE TO EVERYONE CONNECTED TO IT. ARCHEDIS HAD BEEN ABLE TO RESIST THE SUNDERING AS HE’D CUT HIMSELF OFF FROM THE MINDSTONE EARLIER.
EITHER WAY, WITH BOTH BASTILLE AND ARCHEDIS BEING CUT OFF – AND WITH BOTH WEARING WARRIOR
’S LENSES – THEIR SPEED AND STRENGTH HAD BEEN EQUALIZED. AND BASTILLE HAD BEATEN HIM. SHE’D WON BECAUSE OF HER SKILL AND HER TENACITY, WHICH I’D SAY ARE THE MORE IMPORTANT INDICATORS OF KNIGHTHOOD. SHE’D WORN HER SILVERY ARMOR VIRTUALLY NONSTOP SINCE IT HAD BEEN GIVEN BACK TO HER. A CRYSTAL SWORD HUNG FROM HER BACK, NEWLY BONDED TO BASTILLE.
“CAN’T WE GET ON WITH THIS?” SHE SNAPPED. “SHATTERING GLASS, SMEDRY. YOUR FATHER IS SUCH A DRAMA HOG.”
I SMILED. THAT WAS ANOTHER SIGN SHE WAS FEELING BETTER – SHE AS BACK TO HER USUAL CHARMING SELF.
“WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?” SHE SAID, EYEING ME. “STOP STARING AT ME.”
“I’M NOT STARING AT YOU,” I SAID. “I’M HAVING AN INTERNAL MONOLOGUE TO CATCH THE READERS UP ON WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE THE LAST CHAPTER. IT’S CALLED A DENOUEMENT.”
SHE ROLLED HER EYES. “THEN WE CAN’T ACTUALLY BE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION; IT’S SOMETHING YOU JUST INSERTED INTO THE TEXT WHILE WRITING THE BOOK YEARS LATER. IT’S A LITERARY DEVICE – THE CONVERSATION DIDN’T EXIST.”
“OH, RIGHT,” I SAID.
“YOU’RE SUCH A FREAK.”
FREAK OR NOT, I WAS HAPPY. YES, MY MOTHER ESCAPED WITH THE BOOK. YES, SWCBN ESCAPED AS WELL. BUT WE CAUGHT ARCHEDIS, SAVED MOKIA, AND GOT BACK MY FATHER’S PAIR OF TRANSLATOR’S LENSES.
I’D SHOWN THEM TO HIM. HE’D BEEN SURPRISED, HAD TAKEN THEM BACK, THEN HAD RETURNED TO WHATEVER IMPORTANT “WORK” IT WAS HE’D BEEN DOING THIS WHOLE TIME. WE WERE SUPPOSED TO FIND OUT ABOUT IT TODAY; HE WAS GOING TO PRESENT HIS FINDINGS BEFORE THE MONARCHS. APPARENTLY, HE ALWAYS REVEALED HIS DISCOVERIES THIS WAY.
SO – OF COURSE – THE PLACE WAS A CIRCUS. NO, LITERALLY. THERE WAS A CIRCUS OUTSIDE THE FRONT OF THE PALACE TO ENTERTAIN THE KIDS WHILE THEIR PARENTS CAME IN TO LISTEN TO MY FATHER’S GRAND SPEECH. THE PLACE WAS ALMOST AS PACKED AS IT HAD BEEN DURING THE TREATY RATIFICATION.