Grandpa Smedry obviously knew his way around Crystallia, and soon we arrived at a chamber being guarded by two knights. The crystal doors were closed, but I could vaguely make out the shapes of people on the other side.
Grandpa Smedry walked over to open the door, but one of the knights raised his hand. ‘You are too late, Lord Smedry,’ the man said. ‘The judgment has begun.’
‘What?’ Grandpa Smedry declared. ‘I was told it wouldn’t happen for an hour yet!’
‘It is happening now,’ the knight said. As much as I like the knights, they can be . . . well, blunt. And stubborn. And really bad at taking jokes. (Which is why I feel I need to mention page 40 again, just to annoy them.)
‘Surely you can let us in,’ Grandpa Smedry said. ‘We’re important witnesses in the case!’
‘Sorry,’ the knight said.
‘We are also close personal friends of the knight involved.’
‘Sorry.’
‘We also have very good teeth,’ Grandpa Smedry said, then smiled.
This seemed to confuse the knight. (Grandpa Smedry has that effect on people.) However, once again, the knight simply shook his head and said, ‘Sorry.’
Grandpa Smedry stepped back, annoyed, and I felt a twist of despair. I’d failed to help Bastille after all she’d gone through for me. She should have known that she shouldn’t rely on me.
‘How are you feeling, lad?’ Grandpa Smedry asked.
I shrugged.
‘Annoyed?’ he prompted.
‘Yeah.’
‘Frustrated?’
‘A bit.’
‘Bitter?’
‘You’re not helping.’
‘I know I’m not. Angry?’
I didn’t answer. The truth was, I did feel angry. At myself, mostly. For partying with Rodrayo and his friends while Bastille was in trouble. For forgetting about Mokia and its problems. For letting my grandfather down. It hadn’t been that long ago that I’d always assumed that I’d let everyone down. I’d pushed people away before they could abandon me.
But working with Grandpa Smedry and the others had made me begin to feel that I could lead a normal life. Maybe I didn’t have to alienate everyone. Maybe I was capable of having friendships, of having family, of . . .
There was a slight cracking sound.
‘Oops!’ Grandpa Smedry said in a loud voice. ‘Looks like you’ve gone and upset the boy!’
I started, looking down, realizing that I’d let my Talent crack the glass beneath my feet. Twin spiderwebs of lines crept from my shoes, marring the otherwise perfect crystal. I blushed, embarrassed.
The knights had grown pale. ‘Impossible!’ one said.
‘This crystal is supposed to be unbreakable!’ the other said.
‘My grandson,’ Grandpa Smedry said proudly. ‘He has the breaking Talent you know. Upset him too much, and the entire floor could shatter. Actually, the entire castle could—’
‘Get him out, then,’ one of the knights said, shooing me away like one might treat an unwanted puppy.
‘What?’ Grandpa Smedry said. ‘Antagonize him by throwing him out, and you could destroy the castle itself! We’ll just have to see if he calms down. His Talent can be very unpredictable when he’s emotional.’
I could see what Grandpa Smedry was doing. I hesitated, then focused my power, trying to further crack the glass at my feet. It was an extremely foolhardy thing to do. That’s what made it exactly the sort of plan Grandpa Smedry would come up with.
The spiderwebs at my feet grew larger. I steadied myself by touching the wall, and immediately created a ring of cracks around my hand.
‘Wait!’ one of the knights exclaimed. ‘I’ll go in and ask if you can enter!’
Grandpa Smedry beamed. ‘What a nice fellow,’ he said, taking my arm, stopping me from breaking more. The knight opened the door, stepping inside.
‘Did we really just blackmail a Knight of Crystallia?’ I asked under my breath.
‘Two of them, I believe,’ Grandpa Smedry said. ‘And it was really more “intimidation” than it was “blackmail.” Maybe with a twist of “extortion.” It’s always best to use the proper terminology!’
The knight returned, then – with a sigh – gestured for us to enter the chamber. We walked in eagerly.
And then Grandpa Smedry exploded.
11
Okay, so he didn’t really explode. I just wanted you to turn the page really fast.
You see, if you turn the pages quickly, you might rip one of them. If you do that, then – obviously – you’ll want to go buy another copy of the book. Who wants one with a ripped page? Not you. You have refined tastes.
In fact, think of all the wonderful ways you can use this book. It will make an excellent coaster. You could also use it as building material. Or you could frame the pages as art. (After all, each page is a perfect work of art. Look at 56. Exquisite.)
Obviously, you need lots of copies. One isn’t enough. Go buy more. Have you forgotten that you need to fight the Librarians?
Anyway, after getting done not exploding, Grandpa Smedry went into the chamber. I followed, expecting to find a courtroom. I was surprised to find only a simple wooden table with three knights sitting behind it. Bastille stood by the far wall, at attention, hands at her sides, staring straight ahead. The three knights at the table weren’t even looking at her as they decided her punishment.
One of the knights was a masculine, burly man with an enormous chin. He was dangerous in an ‘I’m a knight, and I could totally kill you’ sort of way.
Next to him was Bastille’s mother, Draulin, who was dangerous in an ‘I’m Bastille’s mother, and I could also kill you’ sort of way.
The third one was an elderly, bearded knight who was dangerous in a ‘Stop playing your rap music so loud, you darn kids! Plus, I could kill you too’ sort of way.
Judging by their expressions, they were not happy to see my grandfather and me. ‘Lord Smedry,’ the man with the chin said, ‘Why have you interrupted these proceedings? You know you have no authority here.’
‘If I let that stop me, I’d never have any fun!’ Grandpa Smedry said.
‘This is not about fun, Lord Smedry,’ Bastille’s mother said. ‘It’s about justice.’
‘Oh, and since when has it been “just” to punish someone for things that were not their fault?’
‘We are not looking at fault,’ said the aged knight. ‘If a knight is incapable of protecting his or her charges, then that knight must be removed from his or her station. It is not young Bastille’s fault if we promoted her too quickly and—’
‘You didn’t promote her too quickly,’ I snapped. ‘Bastille is the most amazing knight in your ranks.’
‘And you know much about the knights in our ranks, young Smedry?’ the aged knight asked.
He was right. I felt a little foolish – but then when has that ever stopped a Smedry?
‘No,’ I admitted. ‘But I do know that Bastille has done a fantastic job of protecting my grandfather and me. She’s an excellent soldier – I saw her go head-to-head with one of the Scrivener’s Bones and hold her own with only a dagger. I’ve seen her take down two Librarian thugs before I could even finish blinking.’
‘She lost her sword,’ Draulin said.
‘So?’ I demanded.
‘It’s the symbol of a Knight of Crystallia,’ Big Chin said.
‘Well, get her another sword, then!’ I snapped.
‘It’s not that easy,’ the old knight explained. ‘The fact that a knight is not capable of caring for her sword is very disturbing. We need to maintain quality in the order for the good of all nobility.’
I stepped forward. ‘Did she tell you how the sword broke?’
‘She was fighting Alivened,’ Draulin said. ‘She rammed it in one of their chests, then she was hit and knocked aside. When the Alivened was killed by falling through the floor, the sword was lost.’
I glanced back at Bastille. She didn’t meet my eyes.
‘No,’ I said, looking back at them. ‘That’s what happened, yes, but it’s not what happened. It wasn’t the fall, or even the death of the Alivened, and the sword wasn’t just lost. It was destroyed. By me. My Talent.’
The big-chinned knight gave a chuckle at that. ‘Lord Smedry,’ he said, ‘I understand that you are loyal and care for your friends, and I respect you for it. Good man! But you shouldn’t make such wild exaggerations. Everyone knows that full Crystin shards are impervious to things like Oculator’s Lenses and Smedry Talents!’
I stepped forward to the table. ‘Hand me your sword, then.’
The knight started. ‘What?’
‘Give it to me,’ I said, holding out a hand. ‘Let’s see if it’s impervious.’
There was silence in the small glass chamber for a moment. The knight seemed incredulous. (Crystin don’t let others hold their swords. Asking Big Chin to give me his was a little like asking the president to loan me his nuclear missile launching codes for the weekend.)
Still, backing down would make Big Chin look like he believed my claim. I could see the indecision in his eyes, his hand hovering toward the hilt of his weapon, as if to hand it over.
‘Be careful, Archedis,’ Grandpa Smedry said quietly. ‘My grandson’s Talent is not to be underestimated. The breaking Talent, by my estimation, hasn’t been manifest this powerfully for centuries. Perhaps millennia.’
The knight moved his hand away from the sword. ‘The breaking Talent,’ he said. ‘Well, perhaps it is possible for that to affect a Crystin sword.’
Draulin pursed her lips, and I could tell that she wanted to object.
‘Um,’ I said, glancing at my grandfather. He indicated that I should keep talking. ‘Anyway, I’ve come to speak at this trial, as is my right as a member of the Smedry clan.’
‘I believe you have been doing that already,’ Draulin said flatly. (Sometimes I can see where Bastille gets her snark.)
‘Yes, well,’ I continued, ‘I want to vouch for Bastille’s skill and cleverness. Without her intervention, both Grandpa Smedry and I would be dead. You probably would be too, Draulin. Let’s not forget that you were captured by the very Librarian that Bastille defeated.’
‘I saw you defeat that Librarian, Lord Smedry,’ Draulin said. ‘Not my daughter.’
‘We did it together,’ I said. ‘As part of a plan we came up with as a team. You got your sword back only because Bastille and I retrieved it for you.’
‘Yes,’ said the elderly knight. ‘But then, that is part of the problem.’
‘It is?’ I said. ‘Wounding Draulin’s pride caused that much trouble?’
Draulin blushed – I felt pleased, though a little ashamed, for getting such a reaction out of her.
‘It’s more than that,’ Big Chin – Archedis – said. ‘Bastille held her mother’s sword.’