“What's this, then, another sly trick? A sudden show of mercy? Couldn't you stand the thought of doing me in yourself?”
“Oh, please.” The seer chuckled and shook his head. “Wherever did you get such a notion as that? If I wanted to do you in as you so crudely put it, there are easier ways than working up a spell. Which takes a lot out of you, in case you didn't know. I put you there to keep you out of mischief. I had a great many things to do…“
The seer was interrupted by a rumble, a toll, a deep resonation that shook the chamber's walls.
“… and not a lot of time, as I suppose you can tell. Though time, really, is not the proper word here. An interval, a gap, a spatial degree. At any rate, we don't want to be here when that thing hits the mark-my word, what's that?”
Oberbyght paused, frowning at the far wall. One of the immense, overstuffed shelves of papers and scrolls had begun to shudder, tremble and shift, as if it were trying to toss off its burdens and set itself free.
“Secondary shake, I suppose. Never seen it do that before.”
“What do you mean, not much time? That bell's going to-strike, whatever it does, am I right? And you don't want to be here. But that thing isn't really here at all.”
“Quite right. Good thinking, my boy.” Oberbyght nodded in approval, then took it all back. “That's what you fellows who aren't in the business fail to understand. You want your little love spells, and other greedy needs, but you don't want the scary magic stuff to show.”
“I'm not sure what you're trying to say. But then I never am.”
“Simply that the real and the unreal are one and the same. You think the lining of your jacket is the inside, and the fuzzy part's out. In truth, there isn't any outside or in. There's only a coat, you see.
“When a baker makes bread, you say, ‘there's a bit of dough,’ you don't say ‘there's a loaf.’ Tomorrow, though, that's what it is, and it's flour and such before that, and before that it's in a field. Truly, it's all the same.”
Finn gave the seer a wary look. “A sleeve and a jacket and a button are the dough of the tweed, and when they come together, you have a fine loaf… “
“Coat.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“That damnable racket. I do believe that shelf is coming apart.”
“I wish you wouldn't do that again. It always hurts my head.”
“You're not in the trade. I wouldn't expect you to understand. The point is, you can hear the sound, can you not? You can feel the tremble and the quake. That's the part that leaks through, a little spot where everything's real and everything's not. Like a rip in your jacket, you see. It's neither inside nor out…”
“Fine. Whatever you like. Now, Oberbyght, if you're finished fooling with spells and coats, I'd like to get out of here. I intend to free Letitia and Julia if I have to stomp every Badgie in the palace into dust. This nasty business of yours has cost me precious time. If those two are harmed in any way… “
“Oh, stop.” The seer waved Finn away. “Don't threaten me, I'm weary of that. I told you, we don't have time. You can get another Mycer, I'm sure they're not that hard to find. And that horrid little machine-”
“What are you talking about?” Finn glared at the seer. “I'm not leaving them behind, you're out of your mind!”
“I don't think you have a lot of choice. The bell is merely a distraction, you know. It'll set them running amok down there, but the Badgies will pull themselves together and be on our trail quite soon.”
Oberbyght spread his hands wide, in surrender to the Fates. “I say we, my friend, for we're in this together, as it were. I cannot turn my back on Maddigern again. That's clear from the incident in the cell down there.
“I don't blame you for that. Maddigern and I were coming to this anyway. I could turn him into a wad of spit, but another of those louts would simply take his place. No, it's time for me to go, there's no doubt of that.”
He winked at Finn, turned and walked quickly across the room. From behind a muddle of glasses, jugs and jars, he drew a small purple satchel, a worn and battered thing covered with mystic runes.
“Not taking much. But one must have the essentials of his trade.”
“I think you're bonkers, Oberbyght, but that's no concern of mine. I'm going back for Letitia and Julia now. If you want to turn me into something, you'd best do it now.”
“I do wish you hadn't said that, my boy, you don't leave me any choice-”
The case against the wall gave a shriek, gave a screech, gave an agonizing groan, then split all asunder, flinging papers, books, powdery pamphlets, ancient odes, unanswered letters, false accusations, debts, bets and dreadful poems about. Forgery, perjury, inflammatory notes, and lurid tales from ancient times.
And, out of this fluttering storm came Letitia Louise, DeFloraine-Marie, hefting a sturdy plank in her hand, and a lizard with dusty scales.
“Finn, Finn!” Letitia cried, and ran into her lover's arms.
“Letitia, I can't tell you how worried I've been, how much I've missed you, dear. You cannot imagine the fearsome, yet wondrous places I've been!”
“I can't wait to hear it,” said Julia Jessica Slagg, nosing her way through papery debris. “First, however, I think you should know there's a horde of Badgies on our heels. We've about two minutes, maybe less than that.”
“Maddigern!” Oberbyght clutched his satchel to his chest. “We're off, then, not a moment to lose.”
“Off where?” Finn wanted to know. “I fear I don't see anywhere to go.”
“Of course you don't. How would you know? Up there. Up that ladder. As quickly as you can.”
Letitia reached down and plucked up Julia Jessica Slagg. “You know you're no good with ladders. You're not even very adept with stairs.”
“I can't do everything,” Julia said with a rusty croak, “though I know I'm expected to perform any sort of miracle when trouble comes along.”
While Letitia was busy with Julia, DeFloraine-Marie slipped past her like wraith and pressed her slender form against Finn.
“Here, take this,” she said, slipping something into his pocket, then whispering quickly in his ear.
She was there and she was gone, leaving Finn with the clean scent of her hair, the heat of her touch. “Wait,” he said, “what's this all about?”
Letitia turned at his voice. The princess gave her a nearly pleasant smile.
“Wherever you're going, have a nice trip. Try not to drop in again.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “I'm not an ugly little machine, but I can hear a great many Badgies down there. I think you should — stop that, get away from me!”
The seer moved so swiftly Finn scarcely saw more than a blur. He clutched the princess’ wrist in one strong hand and dragged her roughly across the room. DeFloraine-Marie kicked and screamed to no avail.
“Here now,” Finn demanded to know. “Leave her alone, what do you want with her?”
“Stay out of this, Master Finn. Tangle with me again, and I'll turn that pretty Mycer into a stone, and you can toss her at Maddigern when he comes!”
“They're coming,” Julia said, “ now.”
Obern Oberbyght was halfway up the ladder at the rear of his chamber, the princess tightly in his grasp. She kicked her bare legs, and railed at the seer with curses Finn had never heard before.
“I don't see that it'll do much good to stay here,” Finn said. “Please hurry, dear…”
Letitia didn't answer. At that very moment, Badgies spilled in through the narrow passageway, led by Maddigern himself, swinging his sword about and raging at Finn…
FIFTY-FOUR
Finn's mouth was dry as dirt. for an instant, he was too stunned to move. In less than a blink, the seer's small chamber swarmed with angry Badgies-a throng, a mob, a veritable pack of the silver-mailed creatures, cursing, howling, shouting for blood.
“Blades and Spades, it's the King's Third Sentient Guards, and every bloody one of the brutes, unless I miss my guess!”
