The Palace of Glass (23 page)

Isaac, still hidden around the corner, demonstrated his latest trick, calling on the powers of the iceling and the salamander at the same time. Frost whispered across the ground, painting it with a slick of feathery ice that flashed almost instantly into steam as the salamander's fiery breath rolled over it. Thick, white clouds billowed up, engulfing Alice and the other apprentices in fog.

Alice could still see Ellen's halo, shining through the murk like a lighthouse, and she sighted on that. She yanked hard on Spike's thread, pulling the dinosaur into the world, and then sent him charging toward the apprentices. His claws clattered like horseshoes on the stones as he built up speed, head lowered to bare his horns.

Anyone he hit would either be trampled or skewered, but Alice hoped none of the apprentices were
that
stupid. She watched Ellen's light move as the girl dodged, vanishing into an aisle. Spike crashed through where the rest of them had been standing, mist swirling in his wake, and let out a bellow.

Then Alice played her trump card. She took hold of the fabric of the labyrinth and twisted hard. Every one of the aisles that the apprentices had used was suddenly
there
instead of
here,
scattered across the vastness of the library. Alice could still feel them through the fabric, tiny movements, like beetles running across her dress. They'd been split up into at least three groups, though it was hard to tell exactly who was where.

“You can come out now,” she called over her shoulder, waving at the fog. “And get rid of this stuff.”

A moment later, a wave of frigid air rolled across her. The steam condensed, droplets forming all over Alice, on the shelves, and in little rivulets on the floor. Alice mouthed a silent apology to the books, which had first been blasted by Ellen's light and were now getting soaked.

“Once again,” Ashes said, coming around the corner, “your plan involves me getting
wet
. You do this on purpose.” He stepped carefully to a dry patch of floor and began licking himself clean of the droplets that had formed on his fur.

“They're gone?” Isaac said, his jacket shedding its own harvest of moisture.

Alice nodded. “I've got them split up and wandering.”

“You
could
leave them to wander,” Isaac said. “I'm just saying.”

She shook her head. “Even if I was okay with doing that to Dex and the others, it won't work forever. Once the labyrinthine have Ending pinned down, they'll notice what I'm doing and block me off as well. We don't have a lot of time.”

“What did they mean about something being released?” Isaac said.

“I have no idea,” Alice said. “Maybe that's the story their masters told them? They may not want to admit an apprentice tricked an old Reader.”

“If something
had
gotten loose in the library, Mother would have known about it long ago,” Ashes said.

Isaac frowned. “You still think you can talk them into cooperating with you?”

“I don't have a choice,” Alice said.

“Garret didn't seem terribly inclined to help,” Isaac said.

Alice sighed. “I know.”

NEGOTIATIONS

A
LICE FOLDED
PEEPHOLES TO
spy on the apprentices' progress. Dex was on her own, while Michael and Jennifer had stuck together, as had Ellen and Garret. Alice left the two pairs to wander, and made herself a passage to an aisle near Dex.

“Stay out of sight,” she told Isaac. “I don't want anyone to know you're here yet.”

He nodded. Ashes, who had taken up a position on Isaac's shoulder, was still too busy licking his paws to reply. Alice, holding the Swarm thread, went around the corner and found Dex sitting with her legs crossed
at the
base of a bookshelf. Her eyes were closed.

“What are you doing?” Alice said.

“Attempting to consult the auguries,” Dex said. “With some difficulty, since I lack the proper equipment. When I discovered I was lost, it was easy to guess that you retained your control over the labyrinth.”

“You're not wearing your armor.”

Dex opened her eyes and tipped her head toward Alice. “I have decided to stop lying to myself. I will not fight you, Alice. Not after what we have been through.”

“I don't want to fight you either.” Alice's eyes stung with tears, and she blinked them away.

Dex rose gracefully and came closer. Alice held on to the Swarm thread until Dex hugged her tight; then she let the magic lapse with a sigh and hugged back.

“So,” Dex said when they pulled apart again. “We have established that we are not going to do battle. What
are
we going to do?”

“How much did your master tell you about this prisoner that's supposedly escaped?”

“Very little,” Dex said. “The Most Favored attempted to contact Geryon, and when that failed she guessed it had destroyed him. She told me only that we had to help Ellen set her spell, and that you and anyone else left here might have been influenced.” Dex cocked her head.
“Have you been taken over by some monster, Alice?”

“Not that I know of.” Alice gave a weak smile. “I
haven't seen
any escaped prisoners either.”

“But Geryon
is
gone?”

Alice hesitated, then nodded. “At least temporarily. When the other Readers make certain of that, they'll tear the library to pieces.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I'm going to try to convince all the apprentices to say that he's still here. The old Readers will assume it's some kind of trick and be cautious. That should at least buy some time.”

Dex frowned. “That . . . might work. The Most Favored would seek other ways to be certain of Geryon's presence, but that will take time, and she will be worried he might be concealing himself.”

“And when she
does
find out, you can always say I tricked you somehow,” Alice said. “She never needs to know we lied.”

“I thought you would come up with a way to avoid fighting, if only I could get Brother Garret to quiet down.” Dex grinned, but only for a moment. “I do not know that the others will agree.”

“Ellen might, if we can get her away from Garret,” Alice
said. “What do you know about the other two? Michael and Jennifer, was it?”

“Not a great deal. They are both apprenticed to Vin Einarson, but I have never worked with them before. I believe them to be relatively inexperienced.”

“Okay. I might be able to talk some sense into them, then.”

“That leaves Brother Garret,” Dex said.

“That's a problem,” Alice said, shaking her head. “Did you know he was alive?”

“Not until today. He joined us after we entered the library. I had thought him lost in Esau's fortress.”

“Me too,” Alice said. “You've known him longer than I have. What might convince him to lie to his master?”

“I am not certain. Sister Ellen, perhaps? The two of them are close, though they try to hide it. But . . .” Dex's lip twisted. “He is stubborn.”

“We'll leave him for last,” Alice said. “I'll take you and Isaac to a place where you can wait for the others while I see what I can do with Michael and Jennifer. Maybe the two of you can think of something in the meantime.”

“Brother Isaac is here?” Dex said.

“He came to warn me,” Alice said, a faint blush rising in her cheeks.

“I should have known he would not stand idle,” Dex said, smiling.

Alice blushed a little further. She turned away to cover it, reaching out for the fabric again. A few deft twists connected them to Isaac and Ashes, and she led everyone to the clear square that surrounded Mr. Wurms' table. The scholar's books were still scattered about, but of Mr. Wurms himself, there was no sign.

“Hello, Brother Isaac!” Dex said.

“Hi, Dex.” Isaac sat down on the bench beside the table, then started coughing at the cloud of dust he raised. Ashes jumped from his shoulder and picked his way delicately over the books to stand beside Alice.

“Aren't you going to introduce me?” he said.

“This is Dexithea,” Alice said. “Dex, this is Ashes- Drifting-Through-the-Dead-Cities-of-the-World, or Ashes for short.”

“Charmed,” Dex said, not at all alarmed by the talking cat. The other apprentices, Alice reflected, had been better prepared by their upbringing for the library than she had been.

“You three try to come up with something we can say to Garret,” she said. “I'm going to see the other two.”

“Should I—” Isaac began.

“I don't plan to fight them,” Alice said. “I'll be fine.”

Alice rounded the corner, stepping out of the portal of folded space, and almost immediately had to throw herself to the floor to avoid having her eyes clawed out. The huge hawk swooped past her, pulling up with a flap of its wings that raised whirlwinds of dust on the floor, and circled around for another dive.

Michael, one hand on his glasses, stood a little farther down the aisle, with Jennifer protectively in front of him. Alice waved her hands.

“I just want to talk—” she began, then ducked again as the hawk swooped. This time its claws got hold of a twist of her hair, which tore free after a painful yank. Alice felt blood well on her scalp. “Would you
stop
?”

“Jen—” Michael began.

“She's trying to trick us!” Jen said. “Don't listen!”

The hawk came around for another pass. This time, Alice pulled hard on the Swarm thread, toughening her skin, and borrowed Spike's superhuman strength. She stood her ground, letting the bird's claws scrape at her neck and shoulders. They tore great rents in her shirt, but couldn't pierce her skin, and the moment of surprise this
created gave her the opportunity to grab the creature by the throat and jam it against a bookshelf. Its talon flailed against Alice's arm, and its wings flapped madly, but it was no match for the dinosaur's strength.

“Avia!” Jen said.

“Let go of the bird's thread,” Alice said. “And we can talk. I promise I won't hurt you.”

Jen looked over her shoulder at Michael. “You're not going to help?”

The boy adjusted his glasses and frowned. “If she wants to talk, we should talk. I can't see the harm.”

“Hmph.”

The hawk vanished with a
pop,
and Alice let her own threads go. Jen stalked across the aisle from Michael and leaned against the shelf, crossing her arms. Alice approached, keeping one eye on the girl in case she showed a sudden desire to resume the fight.

“I'm Alice,” she said, holding out her hand. “You're Michael, I hear?”

Michael shook hands cautiously and nodded. “And this is Jennifer.”

“We know who you are,” Jen said. “Master told us you'd been corrupted by the prisoner.”

“Your master has gotten something wrong,” Alice said.
“I don't think there
is
a prisoner. Did he give you anything to do here, specifically?”

“To stay with the others, mostly,” Michael said.

“And to make sure they didn't try to take anything,” Jen said sulkily. “Ellen had the real responsibility.”

The same mission, more or less, that Alice had been given in the group that went to find Jacob in Esau's fortress.
That makes things easier.

“I don't want to fight,” Alice said. “Not against other apprentices. You know as well as I do that none of us chose to be here.”

“But you said you wouldn't surrender,” Jen said uncertainly. “So what are you going to do?”

“I have a few ideas,” Alice said. “But all I really want is to get everyone to sit down and
talk
about this. Do you think we could do that?”

“What's the point?” Jen said. “Either you're going to give up, or you're going to fight us. Why drag it out?”

“Jen,” Michael said. “Remember what Master Vin told you?”

Jen pursed her lips and flushed, looking at the floor. “That I should listen to you,” she muttered, “instead of letting my temper run away with me.”

“I think you're missing something important,” Michael
said. “Garret told us the labyrinth here would be under control, but we still got separated from the others.” He looked up at Alice, who kept her face blank. “She's got something up her sleeve that even Garret didn't know about.”

“So, what?” Jen said. “Are you saying we can't take her?”

“I'm saying it might be better to at least
listen
to what she has to say,” Michael said. “She's right about the apprentices not having a choice. Would you fight
me
if Master Vin told you to?”

“He wouldn't—” Jen bit her lip. “I mean—” She rounded on Michael. “Why are you on
her
side, anyway?”

“Because it's logical,” Michael said.

“Hmph,” Jen said. “Logic.” She glared at Alice for a moment, then looked away. “I guess we could talk about it. But no tricks.”

“No tricks,” Alice agreed. “Come on. I'll take you to the others.”

“Brother Michael, Sister Jennifer,” said Dex. “I'm glad to see you decided to join us.”

“Hmph,” Jen said again. She stalked across the clear space to Mr. Wurms' table and flopped on the bench,
raising an impressive cloud of dust. Ashes, who was sitting on the table, coughed.

“What's the matter?” he said. “You look like something sour crawled into your mouth and died.”

“It's none of your—” Jen began, then seemed to realize who she was speaking to. “You're a cat.”

“A half-cat, actually,” Ashes said, delicately licking one paw. “But I'll forgive you the mistake—hey!”

Jen had grabbed him in both arms and pulled him to her chest, rubbing her face in his fur. “You're adorable! Look how cute you are!”

“Young lady,” Ashes said, squirming desperately, “if you do not release me
at once
you're not going to get away with only a flesh wound.”