Alcatraz versus the Knights of Crystallia (32 page)

Questi
ons.

We're at the end, and you probably have a few of them.
If you've been paying attention closely, you probably have
more than just "a few."

You should probably have more than you do.

I've tried to be honest, as honest as I can be.
I haven't
lied about anything important.

But some of the people in the story . . . well, they're
lying for certain.

No matter how much you think you know, there is
always more to learn.
It all has to do with Librarians,
knights, and, of course, fish sticks.
Enjoy this next part. I'll
see you in the Epilogue.

“
Aha!" I said, pulling
not one but two pairs of Trans
lator's Lenses from Fitzroy's jacket. The Dark Oculator
himself lay tied up on the floor as we rode in the prince's
giant glass pig.
I'd told my soldiers to get some sort of
equipment and dig to the corner of the archives room and
remove the glass there, so that the Librarians couldn't
swap the room back and steal any of the other books.

"I still do
n't understand what happened," Sing said, sit
ting nervously as our vehicle plodded toward the palace.

"Oculators can power glass," I said.
"Like Lenses.”

"Lenses are magic," Sing said.
"That Transporter's Glass
was technology."

"The two are more similar than you think, Sing.
In fact,
I think all of these powers are connected.
Do you remem
ber what you said when you and I were hiding down there
a few moments ago?
The thing about your sister?”

"
S
ure," Sing said.
"I mentioned that I wished she'd been
there, because she could have imitated one of the
Librarians."

"Which I could do with these," I said, holding up the
pair of Disguiser's Lenses, which we'd retrieved from
Fitzroy.
"Sing, these work just like Australia's T
a
lent does.
If
she falls asleep thinking about somebody, she wakes up
looking just like them.
We
ll, if I wear these and concent
rate,
I can do the same thing."

"What are you saying,
Al
catraz?" Folsom asked.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "It just seems suspicious to
me.
I mean
,
look at your T
a
lent.
It makes you a better war
rior when you hear music, right?"

He nodded.

"Well, what do Bastille's Warrior's Lenses do?" I said.
"They make her a better fighter.
My uncle Kaz's T
a
lent lets
him transport people across great distances, which sounds
an awful lot like what that Transporter's Glass did."

"Yes," Sing said.
"But what about your grandfather's
Talent?
It lets him arrive late to things, and there aren't
Lenses that do
that
.”

"There are lots of types of glass we don't know
about," I said.
I picked up one of the rings of Inhibitor's
Glass, which we'd managed to get off our arms using a
set of keys in Fitzroy's pocket.
"You thought these were
mythical."

Sing fell silent, and I turned, watching through the
translucent walls as we approached the palace.
"I think this
is all related," I said more softly.
"The Smedry T
alents, sili
matic technology, Oculators . . . and whatever it is my
mother is trying to accomplish.
It's all
c
onnected."

She didn't believe what sh
e said about the Librarians rul
ing everything.
She wasn't certain.

S
he has d
i
ff
e
rent goals from the other Librarians.
But
what are they?

I sighed, shaking my head, reaching over to pick up the
book we'd brought from the archives.
At least we had it, as
well as both pairs of T
r
anslator's Lenses.
I slipped the Lenses
on, then glanced at the first page.

Soups for everyone
, it read.
A guide to the best Greek and
Incarna cooking
.

I froze.
I flipped through the book anxiously, then took
off the Lenses and tried the
o
ther pair.
Both showed the
same thing.

This wasn't the same book.

"What?" Sing asked. "Alcatraz,
what is it?"

"She switched books on us!" I said, frustrated.
"This
isn'
t the book on Incarna history – it’s
the cookbook!"
I'd
seen her work with deft fingers before, when she'd snatched
the Sands of Rashid right out from under my nose back in
my room in the Hushlands.
Plus, she had access to my
father's T
a
lent of losing things.
It might be of help in hiding
stuff.

I slammed the book back down on the table.
Around
me, the rich, red-furnished room shook as the glass pig
continued on its way.

"That's not important right now," Bastille said in an
exhausted voice.
She sat on the couch beside Folsom and
Himalaya, and she looked like she'd gotten even worse since
we'd left the Librarians.
Her eyes were unfocused, as if she'd
been drugged, and she kept rubbing her temples.

"We need to stop the treaty first
,”
she said.
"Your mother
can't do anything with that book as long as
you
have both
pairs of T
r
anslator's Lenses."

She was right.
Mokia had to be our focus now.
As the
pig pulled up to the palace, I took a deep breath.
"All right,"
I said.
"You all know what to do?"

Sing, Folsom, Hima
laya, and Prince Rikers each nod
ded.
We'd discussed our plan during the chapter break.
(Neener, neener.)

"The Librarians aren't likely to let this go smooth
ly,”
I
said, "but I doubt there will be much they can do with all of
the soldiers and knights guarding the palace.
However,
they're Librarians, so be ready for anything."

They nodded again.
W
e prepared to go, and the door on
the pig's butt opened.
(
I think that undermined our dra
matic exit.)
Bastille stood to go with us, wobbling on
unsteady feet.

"
U
h, Bastille," I said. "I think you should wait here."

S
he gave me a stiff glance
–
the
kind that made me feel
like I'd just been smacked across the face with a broom.
I
took that as her answer.

"All right," I said with a sigh.
“Let's go, then.”

W
e marched out of the pig and up the steps.
P
rince
Rikers called for guards
immediately
–
I
think he just liked
the drama of having a full troop of soldiers with us.
Indeed,
our entrance into the hallway with the wall-hanging panes
of glass was rather intimidating.

The Knights of
C
rystallia standing at attention in the
hallway saluted us as we passed, and I felt significantly more
safe, knowing they were there.

"Do you think your mother will have warned the others
of what happened?" Sing whispered.

"I doubt it," I said. "Mother's allies contacted She
W
ho
C
annot Be Named to gloat over having captured some
valuable prisoners.
Y
ou don't call to gloat over having lost
those same prisoners.
I think we'll surprise them.”

"I hope so," Sing said as we approached the doors to the
council room.
W
e nodded to the pair of knights, and then
I stepped aside.

"Time for your big entrance, your Highness,
” I said, ges
turing for Prince Rikers.

"Really?" he said. "I get to do it?"

"Go ahead," I said.

The prince dusted himself off.
He smiled broadly, then
strode through the doors into the chamber and bellowed in
a loud voice, "In the name of all that is just, I demand these
proceedings to be halted!"

Down below, the monarchs sat around their table, a
large document set out before them.
King Dartmoor held
a quill in his hand, poised to sign.
We'd arrived just in the
nick of time. (What the heck is a nick anyway?)

The monarchs'
table sat in the open ar
ea in the center of
the room, between the two raised sets of bleacherlike seats
that were filled with patrons.
Knights of Crystallia stood in
a ring around the bottom of the floor, between the people
and the rulers.
They were most concentrated, I noticed,
near where the Librarians sat.

She Who Cannot Be Named sat at the front of the
Librarian group, pleasantly knitting an afghan.

"What is this?" Ki
n
g Dartmoor asked as the rest of my
team piled into the room.

"The Librarians are lying to You, Father!" Rikers
declared.
"They tried to kidnap me!"

"Why, that's the most dis
tressing thing I've ever heard,”
said She
W
ho
C
annot Be Named.
(
Y
ou know what?
That
name is really too hard to type all the time. From here on,
I'm going to call her Swcb
n
.)

My companions looked at me.
I wore the Truthfinder
’
s
spectacles, one eye closed to look through the single Lens.
U
nfortunately,
S
wcbn hadn't said anything that was
false
–
she'd avoided doing so deliberately, I'm sure.

"Father," Prince Rikers said, "
W
e can provide proof of
what happened!"
He waved behind him, and the two knights
we'd brought with us entered, carrying the tied and gagged
Fitzroy.
"This is a Librarian of the order of the Dark
O
culators! He was involved in a plot to steal books from
the Royal Archiv
e
s
–“

"Mumf mu mumfmumf,” F
itzroy added.

“– which
turned into a plot to kidnap me, the royal
heir!" Rikers continued.

Rikers certainly did know how to get into a part.
He
didn't seem as much a buf
foon now that he was in his ele
ment of the court.

"Lady Librarian,
“ King Dartmoor said, turning to
Swcbn.

"
I
'm
.
.
.
not
sure
what is happening,” she said. Another
half-truth that didn't
come out as a lie.

"She does, Your Majesty," I declared, stepping up.
"She
ordered the death of Himalaya, who is now a member of
the Smedry clan."

That caused a stir.

"Lady Librarian," the king said, red-bearded face gr
ow
ing very stern.
"Is what he says true, or is it false?"

"I'm not sure if you should be asking me, dear. It's
quit
e
–“

“
Answer the question!" the king bellowed.
"Have
Librarians been plotting to steal and
k
idnap from us while
these very treaty hearings have been occurring?"

The grandmotherly Librarian looked at me, and I could
tell that she knew she was caught.
"I think," she said, "that
my team and I should be granted a short recess to discuss."

"No recess!" the king said. "Either you answer as asked,
or I'm tearing this treaty in half this instant."

The elderly Librarian pursed her lips, then finally set
down her knitting.
"I will admit," she said, "that some other
branches of the Librarians have been pursuing their own
ends in the city.
However, this is one of the main reasons
we are signing this treaty
–
so
that you can give my sect
the authority it needs to st
op the other sects from continu
ing this needless war!"