Meteor's whole face tightened as he looked at his father, who refused to meet his gaze.
Andalonus yelled out, "Rotten trogs!"
But Leona began to laugh. "Punishment!" she cried. "They want to punish us."
Looking at her wide smile, I suddenly felt as if I were a bottle of troll elixir, as if a million tiny bubbles were rising from my toes to my head. Each bubble held a hundred painful giggles, and every bubble was erupting at once. I exploded in laughter.
Leona and I held on to each other as peal after peal shook us. It took a few minutes before I noticed that no one else
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seemed to find the situation funny. Meteor's worried face was bending toward me, and Andalonus was tugging my arm.
Tears streamed from my eyes, and my chest heaved. They must think I was crying! That's why they looked so concerned. I needed to tell them it was only laughter, but I could not stop long enough to speak.
Then Leona was shaking me gently by the shoulders. "It's all right, Zaree. It's all right," she kept repeating.
That's when I realized I was crying. Crying for Beryl, and all we had never said to each other. Crying for Seth, and wondering if he had lived. Crying for Sam, who would not remember me.
Crying for my family, whose story I would never know.
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CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
IN THE DISTANT PAST, CERTAIN SPELLS WERE CONCOCTED
BY WICKED FAIRIES AND GENIES. IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT SUCH SPELLS HAVE BEEN METICULOUSLY PRESERVED IN SPELLBOOKS HANDED DOWN BY FAMILY MEMBERS.
THE FOLLOWING SPELLS ARE UNLAWFUL: THE COMPULSION SPELL, THE STATUE SPELL, AND THE SPELL TO DIMINISH A PERSON'S HEIGHT.
OTHER SPELLS ARE ALSO UNLAWFUL, BUT I SHALL
NOT NAME THEM, HOPING INSTEAD THAT THEY WILL FALL INTO PERMANENT OBSCURITY.
--Orville Gold, genie historian of Feyland
I heard Meteor's voice, low and urgent. "Zaree," he said. "Leona."
Mopping my eyes with my hand, I became aware that Meteor was gripping his wand intently, his face taut, his gaze fixed on the councilors. Andalonus was standing straight and still, his hands bunched into fists, also watching them.
Leona lifted her hands from my shoulders. "What is it?" she asked. "What's wrong?"
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The councilors and Renclair, leader of the Radia Guard, had gathered into a hovering semicircle with Magistria Lodestone at the apex. All of them held their wands so the tips were touching.
Leona gasped, and then her wand flashed out, pointed and infused. "Frio stas im elemen!" she said in a terrible voice.
Everyone in the semicircle froze, then crashed to the floor. They landed like thrown statues. Not even their eyes blinked; they seemed to have quit breathing.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"They were going to combine their powers," Leona answered, her eyes on the councilors.
"Against us," Meteor said. "With a combination spell, together they could overcome any enchantment--including that strange rebounding protection on you, Zaria."
"But what did Leona do?" Andalonus asked, sounding shaken.
"Statue spell," Meteor told him.
"Get their wands," Leona said icily. "And don't worry. It's not as if we'll keep their wands forever--unless they keep acting like trogs."
"But--"Andalonus began.
"Oberon's Crown," Leona exclaimed. "We can't let the councilors squander their radia by using it against us!"
"But a statue spell?" I asked.
"Do you have a better plan?" Leona sounded as if she really would like to know.
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I heard Meteor inhale a very long breath and then blow it out. "Leona's right," he said gloomily.
Then Meteor, the most upstanding member of our class, began collecting wands from Feyland's High Councilors. He moved with care, his deft fingers coaxing each one from its owner. Some of the wands yelped or squawked when they were taken but quickly subsided. Apparently not much radia had been spent on alarms.
When he came to Zircon, Meteor paused. I saw the muscles in his shoulders bunching, but I couldn't see his face. Then he slipped the wand from his father's grasp.
A movement next to the curtain caught my eye. It was one of the genies in the Radia Guard.
"Obliv trau," Leona cried, and shook her wand at all the members of the Guard crouching by the curtain. They slumped into sleep.
Meteor set the bundle of councilors' wands on the floor, and the four of us gathered around them.
Leona asked Meteor to explain how she had been captured. "I had a protection on myself." Anger sparked in her eyes. "What went wrong?"
"Layered magic," Meteor answered. "A normal protection won't work against layers." He turned to me. "How did they catch you, Zaria? I thought you were protected. When I saw you in the cage ..." His green eyes looked misty.
"It was the cloak," I answered. "More troll magic."
All three of my friends spoke at once. "Troll magic?"
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"Laz said it would take away my power."
"Who's Laz?" Andalonus asked.
Then I remembered none of them knew that part of my story.
"You undid troll magic?" Meteor looked at me as if I had ridden a comet and lived to tell the tale.
"I was upset," I mumbled.
He snorted. "I'll try not to upset you."
I glanced at the dark little heap of powder on the floor between the posts where I'd been chained.
Meteor followed my gaze. "You should gather the residue," he said. "It could have valuable magical properties."
I felt sick and weak at the thought. "I don't want it."
"Zaree," he said gently. "None of us knows how big this is, or how long it will last."
"This?"
He gestured at the frozen Council. "All of this. Don't turn your back on something that might help you one day."
I gulped. He was right, of course. Lily Morganite might have left the chamber when she lost her powers of speech, but a gag spell was temporary. She would be back.
"I don't suppose you know a spell for gathering residue?" I asked Meteor.
"Wispera ve," he said. "Level Ten." He reached into his robe and pulled forth the empty elixir bottle. "Perfect for holding the dust of troll magic." He held it out to me.
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The indigo bottle was faintly sticky. "You kept this?"
"Souvenir." He smiled at me, and for some reason my face felt hot.
I glided to the spot where the powder left over from the torturous cloak was lying. The powder was very dark, and yet it had an ominous shimmer, as if it absorbed light.
It didn't seem wise to keep such a substance. It would never create happy moments. But if I didn't take it, someone else could pick it up and use it against me and those I loved.
It took only an instant to gather the powder into the indigo bottle. Once full, the bottle felt strangely heavy. I glanced over at Meteor. He was talking with Andalonus. I turned away so no one would see me tap the top of the bottle with my wand. "Seal this bottle so none may open it or break it but me," I whispered.
A cap appeared along with a seamless band that fit snugly around the top. Hastily, I wedged the bottle into the largest pocket of my gown and returned to my friends.
Leona was worried that Lily could return at any moment, invisible. "We need to protect ourselves. Meteor, what's the spell against layered magic?"
"Fendus altus prehenden nos elemen," Meteor said. "Level Thirty.Three hundred radia will last a month."
I infused to Level 30. "Allow me."
"No need," Meteor said. "I've already cast it on myself."
I turned to Leona, but she was in the midst of doing the spell.
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"Andalonus?" I said.
He shook his head. "Don't waste your radia. No one would bother putting layers on a common Red."
Leona rounded on him. "Common?"
"Who overcame those gnomes?" I said.
"And who took back my wand?" Leona added.
"And who threw a gnome at the councilors?" Meteor put in, grinning.
Andalonus bobbed his head. "Well, yes, brilliant of me. However, that Lily fairy won't spend her radia on me. I have none to oppose her. I doubt she even knows my name."
I cast the spell anyway. "We'll take no chances," I told him.
"You don't need loads of radia to be the best of genies," Leona said.
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CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
TO DOTE UPON ONE IS TO BE BLIND TO ANOTHER.
--Orville Gold, genie historian of Feyland
Gasping groans made us turn around.
Bloodstone was struggling to a sitting position. "Leona?" he said, sounding dazed.
Leona hurried to his side. The rest of us trailed after her more slowly.
"The gnomes?" he asked.
"They're gone, Uncle." She gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Thank you for helping Zaria rescue me."
His face pinched. "I was not helping Zaria!"
Sighing, Leona touched his shoulder with her wand. "Extred rev dolehr."
I waited for Bloodstone's wails, but they did not come. Instead, he frowned. "What are you doing?"
Leona rose up, staring at him, her silver eyes snapping. "I was trying to help you," she said, her voice thick with anger. "But you weren't impaired, were you?"
His hand gingerly prodded the bruise on his head. "Not impaired? But--"
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"Can you stand?" Leona interrupted.
Meteor moved forward and helped Bloodstone up.
"Can you float?" Leona demanded.
Bloodstone demonstrated that he could, but then he stopped short, hovering unsteadily. He pointed at the councilors, who lay like tipped-over statues. "What in Oberon's name has happened here? Leona, your so-called friend has put statue spells on the High Council of Feyland! Statue spells. Unlawful!"
"7 did it." She held her wand high. "And no, Uncle, I am not taking the blame for Zaria. She would never cast such a spell."
Bloodstone's face seemed to be made of chalk. His lips moved but only a small whine came out.
"Leave," said Leona. "And if you tell any more lies about Zaria, I will make your wand disappear. Ad eternum."
Bloodstone's chin was quivering. "I wanted to help you. I never meant--"
"Good-bye," Leona answered.
Bloodstone didn't look at any of us as he floated toward the curtain with jerky movements.
"Let him leave," I murmured, flicking my wand just enough.
The curtain parted around him like rain falling past gray rock.
With Andalonus guarding the batch of wands, Meteor and I
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hovered like Leona's personal guard as she lifted the statue spell.
"Chantmentum pellex."
Renclair, the leader of the Radia Guard, was the only one of the group who wasn't completely disoriented when the enchantment fell away. I wondered if he'd been under a statue spell before, because he immediately began to shake out his hands.
"What has happened here?" the magistria demanded, her black wings fluttering as she tried to get up.
"Statue spell," Renclair answered grimly, shrugging his shoulders and swinging his arms.
"More crimes!" Wolframite blustered. He pushed to his feet, then toppled over.
Zircon fixed Meteor with a glare. "What is the meaning of this?"
"My wand!" squeaked the pink-haired councilor, sitting up with slow, clumsy movements. Her wings flapped awkwardly and batted against the lilac-headed genie sprawled beside her. "Where is my wand?"
Pandemonium, as all the councilors realized they were without their wands. They shrieked and roared. They called down imprecations on our heads. Renclair alone kept quiet, carefully easing himself to his feet.
"Stop, all of you!" Leona screeched. "You have not been hurt. Your wands are safe. They will be returned when you're ready to use them wisely!"
Shocked exclamations. Indignant mutterings.
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"We have no time for this." Something in Leona's tone-- or maybe it was the way she waved her Level 200 wand-- seemed to get through to the councilors. They shut their mouths and stared at her.
Leona gave a disgruntled nod. "There are important things to discuss, things that have nothing to do with you councilors passing judgment on us."
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CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
MANY BELIEVE THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL HOLDS THE MOST POWERFUL POSITION IN THE LAND. THIS IS FALSE.
THE MOST POWERFUL POSITION IS THAT OF THE FORCIER.
--Orville Gold, genie historian of Feyland
There was a long pause as Leona stared down the High Council of Feyland. Then they all got up, copying Renclair and shaking out their hands and feet.
When they could move more freely again, they returned to their perches behind the table and settled in sullenly.
"You have us at a disadvantage," the magistria said. "What is it you wish to discuss?"
Leona huffed impatiently. "Tell them, Zaria."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. Of course, you. You drove Lily Morganite away. Tell them."
How could I begin? "Well," I said. "Um." The councilors' deepening frowns flustered me.
"Speak up, child," Wolframite urged.
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I tried not to focus on their wrathful faces. "Uh, Lily Morganite has been the Forcier for ten years?" I asked.
Wolframite and Zircon looked at each other. Magistria Lodestone shifted and looked up at the ceiling. "About ten years, yes," she answered resentfully.
"And when did the durable spells first show signs of weakening?" I asked.
"Perhaps five years ago. Maybe a bit more."
Five years. A number I associated with my parents' disappearance.
"And Lily," I went on shakily, "was responsible for adding enough radia to the durable spells to keep them strong during that time?"
"Yes," Wolframite answered.
Beside me, I heard Meteor gasp. He bounded toward his father. "That's it!" he roared.
All the councilors, including Zircon, had vacant stares on their faces.
Meteor pointed back at me. "Zaria figured it out! That's what Lily Morganite was up to!"
"Figured out what, son?"
"That Lily Morganite was stealing radia from Feyland and keeping it for herself," Meteor shouted.
Zircon tumbled from his perch and then bounded up again. "By Oberon, what a foul situation!"
"What are you nattering about?" the magistria asked.
Zircon's white head wagged from side to side as he looked
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from one to another of his fellow councilors. "Do you not see what these children are getting at?"
"Explain," the magistria answered.
"Lily Morganite said she could not keep up with the durable spells because there were too many Reds," Zircon boomed. "She said there was not enough radia available from taxes. But what if she did not even try to keep up?"
Wolframite looked as if someone had strung his beady eyes on a wire and then pulled. "By Velleron's wings," he breathed. "She's been hoarding Feyland's radia?"
"It explains everything," Zircon answered. "She probably used the stolen radia to enchant us into believing she could do no wrong."
Andalonus seemed stunned. "She was stealing radia?" he whispered.
Leona was glaring at the magistria distrustfully, as if she suspected her mentor of conspiring with Lily Morganite.
But the magistria was clearly shaken. Her black wings began to spasm, and her white face got even whiter. "Stealing radia?" she repeated. "The Forcier of Feyland was stealing?"
The pink-haired fairy sagged like a wilting stalk. As for Renclair, his face settled into rocklike fury.
Renclair. How could we have forgotten to reveal layered magic on the leader of the Radia Guard?
I flew at him and slapped his shoulder with my wand. "Extred rev dolehr!"
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But he shook his head calmly and met my eyes. "I am not enchanted."
Puzzled, I peered at him, searching for signs he was hiding tears.
"I think Zircon is right," he said. "By now Lily Morganite has vast reserves of radia. But she is not wasteful. Since I am sworn to obey the Council, all she needed to do was command the Council: that way she would command me and all whom I lead."
The magistria had recovered enough to look disgusted. "She did, indeed, command us--as we now know."
"How many radia do you suppose she may have amassed?" Zircon asked.
Wolframite spoke drearily. "Many millions. She calls herself a Blue fairy, but no doubt her reserves are now well beyond blue."
"And she is free!" Magistria Lodestone gripped her pendant. "Free to roam invisible, casting spells, wreaking havoc."
Zircon nodded bleakly. "And she has armed gnomes at her beck and call."
"As Forcier, she would have inspected the crystal watches of everyone who registered Orange or beyond," the magistria fumed, "while her own reserves were never questioned." Her fury seemed to be increasing. "Lies! Morganite lied about everything--even telling us the cloak Zaria wore was made by trolls." Her eyes twitched
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scornfully. "She said it would extinguish Zaria's magic. Ha!"
What? She didn't believe it was really a troll cloak? I looked from one councilor to the next, waiting for someone to contradict the magistria, but all were nodding their heads sagely.
"Troll magic would be impossible for any lone fairy to overcome," the magistria went on. "And if, by some unknown means, it had been overcome, it would have left a residue." She flapped her hand at the empty spot on the floor where I had gathered the dark powder into the indigo bottle. "There is nothing there."
The bottle in my pocket felt suddenly heavier. My friends and I all faced forward, not looking at one another. I tried not to tremble. Surely, at least one of the councilors would have noticed that the dust of the cloak had been there before?
Apparently not.
"Morganite must have enchanted the cloak herself," Zircon said, "but she made a mistake in allowing Zaria to keep her wand."
"Lucky for all of us," Wolframite rasped, "Morganite overestimated herself and underestimated a Violet fairy."