Here, There Be Dragons

“I thought he was a good king,” said Charles. “It sounds like he was a villain all along.”

“Archibald’s intentions were good,” said Ordo Maas. “Where he erred was in believing that he could replace free will with his own. But he was determined to achieve peace at any cost—and this talisman was the object that he believed would help him to do it.”

“Something that dangerous would not be unknown,” said Bert. “One of the Caretakers would have known of it, surely? Or Samaranth?”

“It’s well known,” said Ordo Maas, “in both this world and your own. In fact, we have spoken of it here, today, in my house. But no one believed it existed, much less how to use it. It has had many names, but the one by which it is known best comes from those who had it when it was stolen: Pandora’s Box.”

“The kettle you brought aboard the ark,” said John, “which held all the evils of mankind.”

“Yes,” said Ordo Maas. “It remained on Avalon for centuries until an agent of King Archibald found it and stole it.

“Archibald opened it again and discovered how to use it to create the Shadow-Born; and then he made his great mistake—he attempted to use it to steal the spirits of the dragons, to create the most powerful servants of all.”

“I take it that didn’t work,” said John.
“Not at all,” said Ordo Maas. “The dragons were of an age and power equal to that of the box and could not be trapped within it. But in that moment, they saw the king for what he was becoming.
“Samaranth took his ring and declared Archibald no longer worthy to summon the aid of the dragons. And that was when they began to leave the Archipelago.
“Soon after, the king went mad and slaughtered his whole family. None escaped, save for the youngest daughter—young Artus’s mother—and Artus himself.
“This was when the Winter King began his rise in the Archipelago. He killed Archibald and took Pandora’s Box—and in the years that followed, when one after another of the lands of the Archipelago fell under Shadow, I realized that Pandora’s Box was still open, and that he was using it to create an army of Shadow-Born. And thus began his conquest of the Archipelago.”
“The Morgaine—or as you called them, the Pandora—are not easily tricked,” said Charles, “and they were able to keep the box hidden and protected for a very long time. How did Archibald’s lackey manage to make away with it?”
“An excellent question,” said Ordo Maas. “Especially since you’re keeping company with the thief.”
“What?” said John. “The thief is here?”
In answer, Ordo Maas lifted his gnarled staff and pointed it at Magwich.

“Where’s Magwich?”
Chapter Twelve

The White Dragon

“That’s right, that’s right,” Magwich wailed. “Blame everything bad in the world on the poor Steward.”

Jack and Aven stood up and cornered the Steward, who seemed coiled to spring and flee. Resigned, he flopped back onto his cushion and nodded his head.

“Yes, yes,” Magwich said. “I took it. I’m not proud of it, you know, being ordered around by someone like Archibald, who was weak—and then having to follow the Winter King, just so that he would spare my life.”

“You just go from bad to worse,” said Charles. “What kind of man are you?”

“I tell you,” said Aven, “if we don’t just kill him, sooner or later we’re going to regret it.”

“You can’t kill me!” sputtered Magwich, grasping at Jack’s trouser legs. “I’m one of you! A man from the real world! I came here, years ago, with another Caretaker who abandoned me! All I’ve done since is just try to survive!”

“Which Caretaker?” asked Bert.
“Does it matter?” said Magwich. “I went to a lecture he gave, and he talked me into coming here with him.”
“You were an apprentice Caretaker?” said Bert. “I don’t believe it!”
“You should,” Magwich sniffed. “He even named a character in a book after me, so I couldn’t have been as bad as you want to make me out to be.”
It hit them all at once. “Dickens,” said Bert. “Charles Dickens recruited you.”
“Why did he abandon you, if he was training you and even brought you into the Archipelago?” said Jack.
Magwich waved his hands. “A total misunderstanding, I assure you.”
“He probably stole something and got caught,” said Charles.
“I was never indicted,” said Magwich. “But he left me here anyway. I always knew it was a mistake to leave Cambridge.”
John slapped his forehead.
Jack looked at Charles. “Don’t say it.”
“I won’t,” said Charles. “But I know you’re all thinking it too.”
“You’re the one who told him,” Bert said, rising to his feet and pointing at Magwich. “You told the Winter King about the Geographica—and the little training you did have from Dickens is how you were able to translate the passage about the Ring of Power and the summoning of the dragons.”
“You’d have done the same,” said Magwich, “if he was threatening to make you look into the kettle and take your shadow.”
“Well, it’s clear what we have to do now,” said Aven. “We have to find him and close Pandora’s Box—or this may never be over.”
“Agreed,” said John, “especially if the conflict here truly does affect the war in our own world.”
“The Morgaine certainly had you pegged,” said Charles. “So, Maggot, tell us this, since you’re the one who stole it: How do we close the box?”
“You can’t,” Magwich said. “No man can. Because you would have to look into its abyss, and when you do, you’re lost. It cannot be closed.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” said John. “We still have another task to finish first—to destroy the Imaginarium Geographica.”