“I’d better not,” he declared. “Do not forget that when I leave here, I go back to the castle and your parents. I cannot speak for what they will choose to do; they may come here whether you like it or not. So whatever you need to do, do it quickly.”
“All right.” She stepped back from him. “But you can tell them you’ve seen me and I’m fine. Assuming His Eminence doesn’t throw me out after our meeting. After hearing from Rufus Pinch, he might do exactly that. Thom and me both. I might be home before you are.”
He gave a disapproving grunt. “That would not be the worst thing in the world. Think of the satisfaction you will feel if he does throw you out and you return as Princess of Landover and his new employer. Then you can throw him out!”
She grinned. “That does have a certain appeal.”
“Just remember one thing.” He was serious again, his frown back in place. “Craswell Crabbit is no one to fool with. He has skills and trickery of his own to call on if he needs them and an appalling lack of morals to back them up. If there is something to be gained, he will not hesitate to sacrifice anyone or anything that stands in his way. You keep on being the poor little peasant girl who doesn’t know anything and let him toss you through the door if that is what he wants. No heroics.”
“I promise to be careful.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Now you’d better go.”
“One thing more,” he added, turning back as he reached the door. “I am taking those G’home Gnomes with me. Keeping them here is just asking for trouble. All they are doing out there is plotting ways to steal the livestock. That does nothing to help you.
She felt a momentary pang of regret for Poggwydd and Shoopdiesel, who had tried so hard to help her. But she also felt a huge relief. “Say good-bye for me.”
He smiled anew, nodded his approval of something or other, and disappeared through the door into the darkness of the hallway. She stared after him, smiling back. When he was gone, all that remained was the whisper of his robes and the warmth she felt on thinking how lucky she was to have him as her friend.
“It seems you have a problem understanding the difference between obedience and disobedience,” His Eminence declared, his over-large head cocking to one side as if somehow dislodged from his neck. He rocked back in his chair with his fingers steepled and gave them a stern look. His tall, angular, skeletal form seemed to fold over on itself as he leaned forward suddenly. “A rather serious problem, it appears.”
It was first light, and Mistaya stood beside Thom on the other side of the desk facing their judge and jury. Rufus Pinch lurked off to one side, hunched over and frowning, which was pretty much what he did the rest of the time, so there was nothing troubling there. His Eminence, on the other hand, was scowling in a way suggesting that the outcome of this trial was unlikely to be favorable to them no matter what their defense.
“The rules are quite clear about use of the Stacks,” he continued, looking thoughtful. “You are to be there only during working hours. You are to stay in your assigned area of work. You are to concentrate on the task you have been given and no other. You are not to go outside your area of work and never are you to go back into the Stacks unaccompanied and without permission. I believe I made that quite clear to you, Thom, on your arrival, did I not?”
“Yes, Your Eminence, but—”
One bony hand lifted quickly to cut him off. “Your time to speak will come later. Just answer my questions.” He turned to Mistaya. “Did Thom explain the rules to you, Ellice?”
“Yes, Your Eminence.”
“So when you went into the Stacks at midnight or whatever hour it was, you knew you were there in violation of the rules, didn’t you?”
“Yes, Your Eminence.”
Craswell Crabbit glanced over at Rufus Pinch, who managed a sour smile and a curt nod. “Mr. Pinch?”
“They were where they weren’t supposed to be and they were obviously doing something they weren’t supposed to do. The evidence is quite clear. Our course of action should be just as clear. This is a flagrant violation of the rules.”
“So it seems.” His Eminence gave a huge sigh, turning back to the accused. “Have you anything to say for yourselves?” he asked, looking from one to the other.
“Yes, Your Eminence, I do,” Mistaya said suddenly, stepping forward. She lifted her chin and met his judgmental gaze bravely. She deliberately did not look at Thom. “If you please.”
He nodded. “Say whatever it is you want to say,
