Before Tal could do anything, Ebbitt raised his hand, and the Sunstone on his finger blazed into a bright, indigo light a color forbidden to Ebbitt since his demotion to the Red.
Tal almost choked as he saw it, and forgot to breathe as Ebbitt moved his hand through a series of gestures, the light following in an almost solid band. Quickly, Ebbitt wove a shining cylinder around himself and Tal.
"Stay very close to me," Ebbitt cautioned. He didn't sound mad anymore, and Tal knew that the indigo cylinder of light around them was very powerful magic, certainly forbidden to Red Dimmers or Orange boys.
Tal stayed closed to Ebbitt as they shuffled forward. They came to a large metal door, locked by a wheel. Ebbitt turned it, but didn't open it. He gestured at his Spiritshadow instead. It moved forward under the cylinder of light, and thinned itself, becoming almost invisible. Then it slowly eased itself under the solid metal of the door.
It came back a moment later and nodded. Ebbitt opened the door. A rush of steam came out. Tal flinched, but the steam didn't pass through the blue light. It washed around it, and he felt no heat.
Ahead of them, he saw a shaft. Billowing steam obscured how deep it was, and how high up it went.
"Come on," Ebbitt said before stepping forward, seemingly into empty space. Tal hung back, but his great-uncle's grip was too strong.
Tal closed his eyes and followed. Obviously they were going to fall together, down into the boiling pools of the central heating system.
But they didn't fall. Tal opened his eyes and looked down. Indigo light shimmered under his feet, light solid enough to hold him up and to keep the heat of the steam at bay.
"Stand by for a surge of steam," Ebbitt warned as he closed the door behind him. The light moved out to cover his hands, as if it were cloth. Tal pushed at it experimentally, but it wouldn't budge for him.
His shadowguard sat at his feet, in the shape of a dattu, a small, furry rodent that lived in hillsides in Aenir. It was a harmless shape, one the shadowguard took when it didn't like what was happening but couldn't do anything about it.
"Steam!" shouted Ebbitt and pointed down. Tal looked and saw a solid-looking mass of white surging up the shaft. A moment later, it hit. They were suddenly propelled upward, so quickly that Tal fell over and even Ebbitt had to kneel and clutch at his Spiritshadow.
Faster and faster they shot up. Tal tried to get up, but some strange force kept him pressed to the floor of indigo light. He felt like several people were lying on him, trying to crush him flat.
Then he noticed that Ebbitt was counting, very quickly. At twenty-five, he suddenly pulled at the indigo light in front of him, tugging it away from the wall. Steam instantly rushed through the gap, and their rate of ascent slowed.
But they were still going up even faster than Tal had come down the slide. Too fast, it seemed, for Ebbitt. He looked at his Spiritshadow, and it lunged through the light to set its claws in the stone of the shaft.
Instantly, they slowed almost to a stop, accompanied by a hideous screeching sound from the Spirit-shadow's claws. Tal started in recognition. He'd heard that sound before, coming from behind the walls. It was always explained as "the heating," but it must have been Ebbitt - or someone - using this strange method of transportation.
"We're there," said Ebbitt. "Or just past it. Three minutes to go. Hang on."
The Spiritshadow let go, and they suddenly fell about ten stretches. Steam still swirled around them, but not as much. Tal saw that there was another metal door in front of them. Ebbitt reached out, the indigo light still encasing his hands, and opened it. White light poured in, and Tal recognized one of the minor corridors.
From the neutral color of the Sunstones, he knew he was close to one of the Colorless Corridors, and on the level of the Crystal Wood.
"Out," said Ebbitt. Without warning, his Sun-stone flashed, and he pushed Tal into the corridor, through the protective barrier of light. The door clanged shut behind the boy. In a second, Great-uncle Ebbitt and his strange steam-driven capsule of light were gone.
Tal got up, checked to make sure he had the scroll, and strode out into the larger corridor. At least now he had a chance - a very slim one, since he didn't know the music and was totally unpracticed with the composition.
But it was a chance, Tal told himself. Perhaps his only one…
CHAPTER SIX
The Crystal Wood was another of the ancient artifacts of the Castle. It was made up of forty-nine trees of clear crystal, each ten stretches tall and with many branches. The trees stood at the center of a huge hall, surrounded by tiered benches for the audience.
The magic and marvel of the Crystal Wood lay in the fact that every branch of every tree could produce a single, clear note when it was correctly struck with a beam of light. The duration and intensity of the note depended on the color of the light beam and how long it touched the branch.
The Wood was played from a central stone, as tall as a man, with a silver spike set in it that held the scroll.
Tal climbed the stone in a state of eerie calm.
He was the first to perform that day, and there wasn't much of an audience. He saw a scattering of Chosen from all Orders, save the Violet, who were presumably too important to waste time listening and watching an unproven boy from the Orange.
Tal tried not to look at them as he fastened his scroll to the spike and let it roll down. Fortunately, Ebbitt scribed with a clear, large hand, and the symbols were easy to follow. It didn't look too hard a piece to perform.
Tal looked across to where the judges sat. There were three, and they would lead the audience reaction. In theory, everyone was allowed to show the light they wanted, whether it was the Red Ray of Disapproval, the Violet Ray of Attainment, or the dreaded White Ray of Disgust. In practice, they would follow the judges, who sat on their own high bench, with clear space to either side, obviously separate from the crowd.
Tal noted that something was going on at the judge's bench. One judge, a woman of the Green, was smiling and stepping down, making way for someone else. But Tal noted that despite her smile, her Spiritshadow was between her and her replacement, as if there was some danger there.
Tal started to look away, to study the scroll once more, when something about the replacement judge caught his eye. His head whipped back, and a terrible feeling surged up in his chest. The replacement judge was Shadowmaster Sushin!
Sushin sat and looked across at Tal. Their eyes met, and Tal finally realized that what he saw in the older man's eyes was not merely a look of superiority. It was a look of hatred. Sushin really hated him. But Tal didn't know why. He hadn't done anything!
Shaking, he looked away. He had to concentrate on the Achievement of Music. It didn't matter that Sushin was a judge. If Tal did well enough, he would be rewarded. That was how things worked in the Castle.
All three judges settled at the bench. They looked at one another, then raised their Sunstones to send beams of light rippling at random through the Wood. Light met crystal, and music shimmered out through the hall. The audience settled, and Tal took a deep breath.
The judges' light beams rippled across again, and then withdrew. Tal raised his own Sunstone and said in a voice that was not quite a shout, "I am Tal
Graile-Rerem. I will perform a composition of my great-uncle Ebbitt Nune-Taril, never before seen or heard. It is called 'March of the Muldren on Drashamore Hood'."
As he finished speaking, Tal directed a beam of red light at the outermost branches of the central tree. Maintaining this, he cast out other beams to other trees and branches. Music came from the crystal, and light refracted into the air. Both music and light drew a picture. Bold warriors armed themselves on one side of the Wood, while a dark creature heaved itself out of the primordial bog on the other.
Slowly, the two parts of the light and music moved together, building up and up. The warriors circled the monster, the monster made sudden dashes at them. Then, in a crash of light and music that made the audience jum
p, battle was joined. Colors flashed everywhere as the music leaped and fought, louder and louder, rising to a crescendo.
Then, silence. All color lost. Four, five seconds passed as the audience held their breath. Who had won? Suddenly there was a tiny flash of red, the beginning of a tune. Then more red, as the surviving warriors gathered, and their song grew louder. Then the joyous sound of triumph. The monster was vanquished, the warriors could return to their homes.
They began to march and a column of light swept through the Wood, right to the ends of the branches, and then leaped off seemingly into the audience on a final, long-sustained note.
Tal dropped his Sunstone back into his shirt and bowed. He felt exhausted, but proud. He had made no mistakes. He had performed better than he ever had before and much better than the artists in most of the ordinary Achievements of Music he had seen. Surely he had won his Sunstone!
Then the first Yellow Ray of Failed Ambition hit is face. He looked up and saw that it came from Shadowmaster Sushin. The other judges were looking at him, and Tal saw the beginnings of a Violet Ray of Attainment fade. Then they, too, were directing the same light at him. The Ray that was shone for those who tried too hard, who failed to achieve their object. It was not a bad result, as such, for it merely meant that he had tackled something too difficult. He would not be punished, or be given deluminents. But he would gain no awards, unless the audience refused to follow the judges.
Tal looked up, hoping his anxiety would not show. There were a few Violet rays coming through, a few Blue Rays of Commendation, an Indigo Ray of Extreme Approval. But not enough.
Most of the audience, however reluctantly, was following the judges' lead.
The light in front of Tal grew more and more yellow, till the decision was absolutely clear. Failed Ambition it was. Tal bowed and held up his Sun-stone, flashing the Orange of his Order to show his understanding and acceptance.
He climbed down the stone and walked out of the Crystal Wood, alone, except for his thoughts. The same thoughts that had been with him for every waking second of the last week.
He had to get a Primary Sunstone. Obviously he could not hope to win one through an Achievement. There was only one way left to him. Or only one way he could think of.
Tal considered going back to Ebbitt, but that would mean discussing his failed Achievement, and he wasn't ready for that now. It always took a lot of energy to talk to Ebbitt, to keep him even partly in the same conversation. Tal didn't have that energy. He couldn't face his mother, either. Or Gref and Kusi. They all depended on him, and so far, he was failing.
No. He would go on to his next plan immediately. He would go up to the highest level of the Violet and seek an audience with the Empress.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Tal had never been into the Violet, the highest and most private levels of the Castle, save the Towers.
He was surprised to find that it was really no different than any of the other levels. There seemed to be fewer people around, and not all of them were members of the Violet Order. Tal carefully bowed and gave them light anyway, just to be safe. He almost bowed to an Underfolk servant and caught himself just in time.
The only problem was, now that Tal was on the seventh level of the Violet Order, he didn't know where to find the Empress. After wandering around the most obvious corridors, he finally plucked up the courage to ask a Brilliance of the Indigo, who didn't seem in too much of a hurry, and whose
Spiritshadow was not too frightening. Tal didn't know what it was, but it had four legs, a tail, and a head, and wasn't showing lots of teeth. This was a big improvement over some of the horrendous Spiritshadows he'd seen.
"The Empress?" replied the Brilliance. He seemed more amused than annoyed that an Orange boy should ask him such a question. "You seek an audience, I suppose?"
"Yes," said Tal. His shadowguard nodded, too.
The Brilliance laughed. Tal wasn't entirely sure why. Then he gave Tal directions to the Outer Antechamber and to the Imperial Guard. They would decide whether or not to let Tal in.
Tal thanked the Brilliance properly, bowing deeply and giving light. The Brilliance was equally courteous, but he laughed again as Tal walked away.
Without the directions, Tal would never have found the Outer Antechamber. He had to go through several empty rooms and up some more stairs, leading him even higher than the Seventh Violet. Finally, he came to a much larger room, where several people were lounging about on chairs, drinking and talking.
All their talk stopped as Tal came into the room. Their Spiritshadows leaped up at once, and so did two of the Chosen. They were all of the Violet Order, Tal saw, but he didn't recognize the insignia they wore. They each had violet bands on their white robes, and wore gold bracers with blazing suns on them, chains of gold filigree, and many Sunstones.
Strangely, their Spiritshadows were all the same, which was unusual except in the case of twins or very close siblings. The Spiritshadows were tall, vaguely manlike creatures, but very broad-shouldered and with impossibly thin waists almost like spinning tops. They had no necks, and their broad heads seemed to be largely made up of enormous mouths. They also had four arms.
It wasn't until Tal saw that all the Chosen were wearing swords that he realized this must be the Imperial Guard that the Brilliance had told him about. Or some of them, anyway.
Tal bowed and offered light. His shadowguard sat at his feet, once again assuming the shape of an inoffensive Dattu.
"I am Ethar, Guardian of Her Majesty, Shadowlord of the Violet," said one of the guards, a tall woman who looked about the same age as Tal's mother. "What are you doing here?"
Tal straightened up from his bow, but still kept his eyes down at the floor. Suddenly he had a feeling that this was not his brightest idea. There was no one else here, apart from the guards. Maybe he should have gone somewhere else. Maybe the Indigo Brilliance had played a trick upon him.
"I… I wanted to see the Empress," Tal stuttered. The deluminents on his wrist jangled as he spoke, reminding him how close he already was to demotion to the Red, or worse. Perhaps he had just earned more deluminents by coming here.
"You want to see the Empress?" Ethar repeated grimly. She strode over to Tal, so she was looking down at him, her Spiritshadow close by, its four arms already stretching out as if it might grab Tal at any moment.
"Yes," said Tal. "I wanted to ask her for a new Sunstone for my family. We've lost our Primary Sunstone you see, because my father is missing"
"What is your name?" Ethar interrupted.
"Tal Graile-Rerem," said Tal. "My father, Rerem, is a Shiner of the Fourth Circle. He… he was lost recently on a mission for the Empress."
Out of the corner of his eye, Tal saw that Ethar recognized his father's name, at least, because she looked back at the other guards for a second.
"So, Tal, why should we let you past to see the Empress?"
"Um, why?" repeated Tal. "Because I need your help?"
All the guards laughed at that, and Ethar took a step back, no longer so threatening. Her Spirit-shadow slid back, too, decreasing in size until it lay at her feet.
Tal let out a small sigh of relief. Whatever he'd said, they seemed friendlier now.
"It's not as easy as that," Ethar explained. "If you want to see the Empress, you must first ask the Seniors of your own Order, and gain passes from them. I don't suppose you've done that?"
"No," said Tal glumly. He thought of Shadow-master Sushin, Brightstar of the Orange Order. He would make sure Tal never got a pass. "I don't think they'd give me one."
The guards laughed again at that. Tal felt suddenly more angry than scared. Why was it so funny that his family was in trouble, and he was doing his best to help them?
"Well, since you're already here," Ethar said, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "I suppose we could play a game. If you win, we'll let you past. If you lose, you can… let me see… give me your Sunstone."
"What game?" whispered Tal. This was
a chance, it seemed. But if he lost his Sunstone, he would lose his shadowguard. He would no longer be a Chosen. He would have to join the Underfolk.
Ethar pointed to a side table, between two guards. Tal recognized the tabletop at once, for it was designed to be a game board. There was a row of seven rectangles cut into it around one half of the rim, a round circle of white marble in the middle, and another row of rectangles on the other side. A deck of large, pasteboard cards was on the circle of white marble.
"Beastmaker," said Ethar. "Do you accept the challenge?"
Tal knew how to play Beastmaker, though the sets were rare, since no one knew how to make either the cards or the battlecircle anymore. But Great-uncle Ebbitt had a set, and Tal had played quite often. Much more often than anyone would suspect of an Orange boy.
"Yes," said Tal, knowing that with one word he had sealed his fate. He would go on to see the Empress, or he would go down to join the Underfolk.
Everything depended on a single game of Beast-maker.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Tal sat down at the game table, and Ethar sat opposite. Tal felt strangely calm now that he had accepted the challenge. He looked down at the seven rectangular depressions in the tabletop in front of him. He knew what they were, but he thought he'd pretend to know less about the game. That way Ethar might underestimate him.
"What order are these in again?" he asked, pointing to the rectangles.
"Head, Heart, Temper, Skin, Speed, Strength, and Special," said Ethar quickly.
Each rectangle would ultimately hold one card, and that card would specify the characteristics of the beast. The Strength card would determine the beast's strength, the Speed card would determine its quickness, and so on. When all the cards were in place and finalized, two five-inch-high beasts of solid light would be produced from the combined characteristics, to battle it out in the marble circle in the middle of the table. Whoever played their cards right and produced the victorious beast would win the game.
Each card could be changed twice by using light. So even when a card was in place, and your opponent could see it, it might still change. The trick of the game was to make the other player think you were making a certain sort of beast and then change it at the last moment by altering the cards that governed its seven characteristics.