“Orphanhood?” Ida suggested.
“Uh—” Char interrupted as the Thief Queen’s expression grew frighteningly cold. “Your Majesty, could I please ask a question before you go? I’ll never get to tell anyone the answer, since Ida will no doubt try to escape at least once. She doesn’t like me all that much, so choosin’ me to get shot first is actually doin’ her a favor.”
Felonia continued to stare at Ida for a moment longer, then looked his way.
“What’s your question?”
“How do you get out of the Market? I mean, don’t you sorta need a token?”
The Thief Queen’s expression melted into one of amusement. She strode over to one of the corners in the room and dragged out an enormous chest, then flipped the lid open.
It was crammed full to the top of ribbons with Market Day tokens. Tokens spilled out over the sides to the floor.
“You mean like this?” she asked innocently. She tried to contain her merriment at the expressions of total shock on the children’s faces, but couldn’t. Felonia threw her head back and began to laugh. She picked up a lazing cat that was sprawling near the chest at her feet, slung it over her shoulder, and left the room, still laughing.
17
In the Thief Queen’s Chambers
THIS IS GOING WELL,” SAID CHAR GLOOMILY AS FOUR ARCHERS took their places across the room near Felonia’s throne. “At least the Thief Queen thinks I’m important enough to kill first. Woo hoo.”
“I don’t believe the Thief Queen thinks any of us is important in any way except Saeli,” said Clemency, looking across the room to the other cage. “Especially Ida. I want to be sick every time she speaks to her.”
Suddenly Char sat up as a happy thought occurred to him. “Hey!—whatever happened to those dusty pretzels Nick had ta buy off that guy with the pole? Did he give them to you, Clem?”
Clemency shook her head.
“If he did, don’t you think we would have eaten them in the hole?” she asked. “Your hunger is starting to get to you, Char. Try to stay focused. We have to think of a way to get out of here, or we’re all going to die.”
Ven was watching Saeli. She was staring at the single grape in her hand, then at the three of them, trying to decide what to do with it. Finally, she inserted a tiny fingernail, tore the grape in half, and offered one half of it to Char.
“Take it and say thank you,” Clemency said quickly, interrupting Char’s protests. “She’s right. You need it more than Ven and I do. Eat.”
Reluctantly Char took the grape half, mumbled his thanks, then popped it into his mouth.
Saeli reached behind her head to the base of her neck where her long caramel-colored braid began and popped the other half into her hair.
The other children looked at her in astonishment.
Char walked slowly behind her, trying not to catch the notice of the guards.
“Er, Saeli,” he said in a low voice, “your hair is moving.”
Saeli nodded casually, then turned so that her back was facing the other three.
A tiny face peeked out from between the strands of her braid, a partially eaten grape half in its little hands.
Ven’s eyes opened in amazement.
* * *
It was the puffy little monkey creature from the kiosk of animals. It had huge eyes and a small black face, with miniature hands that were expertly turning the remains of the grape to get all the juicy parts near its mouth.
I heard the Singer’s words again in my head: What entranced her? I guess there are just some things in this world that are so fascinating, so hard to resist, that you will do anything, even risk your life and your freedom, to have them.
Or to help them. Apparently Saeli felt that way about this little monkeylike thing.
I understand. I feel that way about the Ultimate Adventure. It’s sort of embarrassing to admit, but in my heart I believe that somewhere out there is something so exciting, so amazing, so entrancing, that when I finally come across it, it will satisfy my curiosity at last. The itch will go away, and I’ll be happy to stay wherever I am, and look no farther for adventure.
If I live long enough to find it.
I could be wrong, but I think that may be how the Thief Queen feels about her plants.
* * *
The creature disappeared back into the depths of Saeli’s hair. In the cage across the room, Ida stood up and stretched.
Instantly the four archers aimed their weapons at Char.
Ida rolled her eyes. “Oh, keep your pants on,” she said to the guards.
“Yeah,” Char said. “I don’ even care if ya want ta take ’em off—just put down the bows, please.”
“I can see this is going to be another lovely day,” Clemency said, sitting down on the cage floor.
Ven sighed. He looked over at Ida again, who was pacing around her own cage.
“Are you all right, Ida?” he asked again. “Did you get hurt while we were separated?”
Ida didn’t look at him, but just shook her head and continued to pace.
The thief guards looked from cage to cage, watching Ida, then Char, then Ida, then back at Char again. Finally the leader of them signaled in disgust for two of them to put down their bows, and kept his eye on the Thief Queen’s daughter.
Ven was watching the leader when his eye caught a slight movement over the man’s head.
A beautiful spray of waxy blooms with fringy purple centers that Felonia had referred to as passionflowers stretched, then glistened. Ven couldn’t be certain, but he thought they might have been slightly larger than they had been a moment before.
He glanced over at Saeli, who was concentrating intently. Then she turned and smiled at him.
He looked back. The flowers Felonia had pointed out as the Stuff-of-Dreams were opening wider, liquid shimmering on their silky petals.
Saeli stretched her arms over her head in an exaggerated yawn, then lay down on the cage floor and curled up in a sleeping pose, her nose buried in her arms.
Ven looked back at the glorious flowers. They were all vibrating slightly, especially the Stuff-of-Dreams.
He caught Clemency’s eye, and nodded toward Saeli. Clem’s brows drew together, but when she followed Ven’s glance back to the bower of poisonous plants, she caught the message and slowly began to make sleepy sounds as well.
Ven went back to the bars of the cage and tried to get Ida’s attention.
“Did you get any sleep at all, Ida?” he asked, trying to sound sleepy himself.
“Stow it, Polywog,” Ida shot back crossly.
Ven saw the recognition take hold on Char’s face.
“I’m pretty spent myself,” the cook’s mate said, stretching. “Got none in that black, filthy hole.” He turned and addressed the guards. “I’ll try to sleep wi’ my back to you gents so that you have a clear shot if Ida tries to get out.” Then he lay down on the floor.
Only Ven continued to stand, trying to get Ida’s attention, for a few moments longer. Then he sat down, leaning up against the cage bars, and pretended to go to sleep, his nose covered by the collar of his shirt.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see the passionflowers swelling, growing, filling the air with vapor. The beautiful pink-and-white blooms of the Stuff-of-Dreams were gently expanding and contracting, releasing tiny puffs of dustlike powder each time they did. Even across the room as he was, Ven could smell the scent growing heavier.
He remained there with his head down until a tiny hand gripped his shoulder and shook him.
He shook off his drowsiness to see Saeli’s heart-shaped face smiling down at him. Ven looked up, then around.
The four guards were slumped on the floor, snoring. Two of them had silly grins on their faces, while a third was hugging his bow, planting kisses on it every now and then. The abundant blossoms of passionflowers and Stuff-of-Dreams, which had more than tripled in number and size, were hanging above them, dripping nectar and puffing pollen over their heads. Th
e vine plants in Felonia’s collection were slowly winding around the men’s feet.
Ven struggled to his own.
“Good work, Saeli,” he whispered. He nodded at Clemency, who was shaking Char awake, then went to the door of the cage and looked across the room.
Ida was sitting as she had been when they came into the room, her elbows on her knees, her chin in her hands.
Sound asleep.
“Ida,” Ven whispered. There was no response . “Ida,” he whispered a little louder, “wake up! You’ve got to get us out of here!”
“Mmzzzverdmple,” Ida muttered.
Char, now awake, joined him at the cage door.
“Come on, Ida,” he said. “Wake up.”
Ida’s head swung from side to side, but still she did not awaken.
Ven searched in his pockets for something to throw at her, finally deciding on his Market Day token.
“I’m surprised the Thief Queen didn’t strip us of everything we had,” he said as he wrapped the ribbon around the token in a wad.
“We can probably thank Mr. Coates for that,” Clemency said. “The marks of worthlessness are still on our backs. Everyone in the Market believed we have nothing worth stealing, even Felonia.”
“Yeah, I hope he’s all right,” Char said nervously.
“I bet he is,” Ven said, reaching through the cage bars as far as he could. “The people in this place seem to know how to survive. That’s probably why the back door was open—his trap went off, and he got out in time.”
“Let’s hope so,” said Clem.
Ven held his breath, then tossed the ribbon-wrapped token across the room at Ida. It sailed in a slow underhand arc through the bars of her cage, hit the top, and landed on the floor in front of her.
Ida stirred, then blinked.
“Hizzzump?” she said woozily.
“Ida, wake up,” Ven said as loudly as he dared. “Open your cage, and ours!”
Ida rose shakily to a stand.
“Just how do ya want me to do that, Polywog?” she demanded. “They cleaned me out from head ta toe the first night here. What do you want me to pick the lock with, my teeth?”
Ven was taken aback. “Well, what do you need?”
“A tool of some sort would be nice. Anything.”
Ven, Char, Clem, and Saeli searched their pockets. Other than Char’s Market Day token and a few remaining copper coins, they had nothing.
Except Mr. Coates’s gauntlet, which was too wide to fit between the bars.
And Ven’s jack-rule.
* * *
Desperate as our situation was, my heart sank into my stomach at the thought of anyone, especially Ida, handling my great-grandfather’s jack-rule. It was my father’s pride and joy, something he used, and then polished, every day. When he gave it to me on my birthday, we both knew that there was no gift in the world I would rather have had.
It was hard enough to hand it over to Mr. Coates, who was respectful of it. Now, the thought of giving it to someone who had stolen it from me before and used it to trim her toenails was enough to make me want to upchuck the last thing I had eaten, however long ago that was.
* * *
Ven stared at the jack-rule a moment longer, then sighed. He crouched down and reached out of the bars, then with a firm push, sent the beloved tool skimming across the floor until it stopped with a clatter against Ida’s cage.
“ZZZZZZppp?” one of the guards muttered at the sound.
Saeli folded her hands and concentrated again. A large trumpet of Stuff-of-Dreams expanded, dripping a glistening drop into his open mouth. The man sighed and returned to snoring.
“Will that do?” Ven asked anxiously.
Ida nodded as if she had a headache. She bent down, retrieved the jack-rule, pried open the knife, and stuck it expertly into the lock of her own cage. A few twists and turns later, the lock let out a loud clank. Ida opened the gated door and slipped out of the cage, then carefully closed the door behind her.
She took a step toward the sleeping guards, the knife open in the jack-rule.
“Ida?” Clemency asked. “What are you doing?”
Ida glanced back over her shoulder but said nothing.
“Please, Ida, let us out of here,” Ven said quickly. “Felonia or that thin-haired thief may be back any time.”
“Neh,” Ida responded, rubbing the blade of the knife against her trousers and taking a few steps closer. “She’s off with her guest, whoever that is, and he’s mindin’ the store. This will just take a minute.” Her hand gripped the knife tighter.
“Ida, I know you’re angry,” Ven said carefully, watching the blade of his great-grandfather’s heirloom jack-rule gleaming in the light of the candle globes as Ida approached the sleeping thieves. “But if you cut their throats, you will never be able to live with yourself.”
Ida looked back over her shoulder and stared at him.
“You have no idea what you’re talkin’ about, Polywog,” she said scornfully. “You have no idea what it takes to survive in this place, as you already proved. So stuff your advice, and shut up.”
She turned around and walked resolutely over to where the guards lay, helpless in the poison stupor of passionflower juice and Stuff-of-Dreams pollen. She bent down next to the one who was cuddling his bow, and held the knife down near his neck.
“Ida!” Clemency gasped.
Ida flinched, then looked back, annoyed.
“Shut up!” she hissed. She bent over again with the knife, grabbed hold of one of the plants growing on the floor nearby, and neatly severed a stem of leaves. Then she stepped back and returned to the cage.
She tossed the greens to Ven, then thrust the knife into the lock and turned it. Clank. The cage door swung open.
“Er—what’s this?” Ven asked, staring down at the leaves in his hands.
“Catnip, you idiot,” Ida said as Saeli ran to her and hugged her. “You owe Murphy a treat, don’ you?” She folded the knife back into the jack-rule and handed it back to Ven.
Clemency grinned as Ven and Char exhaled. Ida gestured impatiently.
“You comin’ or not?” she asked.
Without another word, the children followed her out of their cage to the room’s door. Ida looked back at the sleeping guards one more time, then silently opened the door and stepped out into the dim hallway.
“Follow close,” she said. “I’m not waitin’ for ya.”
They ran down the hallway into darkness. Only the slightest light was visible from lanterns in corners or torches burning in wall sconces. The corridors twisted and turned, stopping for no reason and turning quickly at strange angles.
Just as they rounded a corner, a terrible grinding sound was heard in the walls to their right.
“They’re changing the exits and entrances,” said Ida. “Watch out.”
Right in front of them a wall appeared from the ceiling and lowered into place, blocking the hallway. Beside them to the right, where the grinding noise had come from, another one opened up, revealing an entirely different route.
“Come on,” Ida said, stepping into the new passageway.
They dodged moving walls and floors, hurrying through the maze of changing passageways, past doors behind which terrifying laughter or ominous noises could be heard.
Finally, at the end of a long, twisting hallway, Ida stopped in front of a sleek black door with a golden raven painted on it.
“Man, oh, man—we found it!” she said excitedly. “Polywog—gimme that knife thing again.”
Char glanced nervously over his shoulder as Ven took out the jack-rule and handed it to Ida.
“Why don’t I have a good feelin’ about this?” he asked.
Ida sprang the lock and opened the door. The room beyond was magnificently messy and draped in black silk and shadows. “Maybe because this is Felonia’s bedroom?”
“Yeah, that might be the reason,” Char agreed. “What are you thinkin’?”
Ida pushed hi
m inside, and the others followed quickly. She closed the door.
“I’m thinkin’ there’s a hidden passage in here somewhere—I heard her say so once, a long time ago. That’s about the only way we’re gettin’ out of this place once they discover we’re gone.”
“We had better start looking,” Ven said, starting into the room. Ida seized him by the shoulder.
“You might want to let me go first,” she said. “All those clothes on the floor, all the stuff lying around? She may be the embodiment of evil, but she’s not a slob. Those are traps. Can’t you smell the poison in this room?”
Ven sniffed the air, then shook his head.
“No,” he said.
Ida rolled her eyes. “Pathetic,” she murmured. “Walk this way.”
She led them through the Thief Queen’s outer chamber, which was a dressing room of sorts, past piles of what appeared to be discarded clothing, silken robes lying on the floor, shirts and trousers draped over chairs, and underwear tossed on a writing desk, which made everyone but Ida blush. Ven noticed that the letters on that desk were written in the same strange code that was inside the box that had held the king’s stone. Thieves’ Cant, Vandemere had called the language. His beliefs seemed to be borne out.
All along the way Ida stopped from time to time, removing a poison needle from the carpet, or undoing a trap of alarm bells hidden in a pile of trash. I wonder what would have happened if she hadn’t agreed to come back into the Market, Ven thought as he saw her at work, taking apart her mother’s carefully rigged snares. Actually, I don’t really have to wonder—and I’d rather not think about it.
At the far end of the room was a door. Ida opened it.
The inner chamber was the bedroom. Unlike the outer chamber, it was tidy as a poisoned pin. A big, beautiful bed was neatly outfitted with black silk sheets and matching bedcurtains that draped down from a golden ring hanging from the ceiling that looked exactly like the Raven doorknocker. Its headboard and footboard were carved out of dark walnut wood, with the guild’s symbol proudly carved in the center of the headboard.