“Stop,” her mother said when Noa was still a yard away. “I’ll fade completely if you get too close, honey.”
Noa froze. Her face was wet with tears. Up in the loft, Mite was snoring. “Why? Did the otters give you my message? How are you—”
“They gave it to me, sweetie,” her mother said. “But I’m not here just because of that. I’m here because you’re in danger—all of you. He’s getting close . . .”
Her voice faded in and out. Noa said, “You mean Xavier? Are his mages close to finding the Lost Words?”
Her mother said something that Noa couldn’t hear. Then, “I can’t stay long. I’m not strong enough. Can you come to me in Death? At midnight. Come at midnight. . . .” She flickered and nearly disappeared.
“Of course I will. I’ll do anything.” Noa’s vision blurred. “Please don’t go—”
“I know where . . . ,” her mother said. “I can help . . .”
“What?” Noa cried. Her mother was fading fast. She could barely see her outline anymore. “What did you come to tell me?”
But her mother was gone. Noa was alone.
24
Beetles Ruin the Banquet
The banquet hall was awash in light. The ceiling sparkled with tiny orbs, and every candelabra and chandelier glowed. Morning glory spilled in from the beach and wrapped around the columns, dangling its purple blooms over guests’ heads. Crowding the marble floor was a motley assortment of tables, which the servants had scavenged from various parts of the castle and from the village—they didn’t usually have banquets this large. The entire village had been invited, as well as all the mages and sailors, and of course General Lydio’s entourage. General Lydio and his wife, Pellia, were to be seated at Julian’s table as guests of honor.
Noa felt as if she was barely there. As if she was floating, drifting through the hall like a puff of thistledown. Normal things like talking and eating felt impossible, because thistledown didn’t do those things—it just drifted, unless it got stuck in something, like a spiderweb. Sometimes Noa felt like she was stuck in a spiderweb, too. She just stood, staring at nothing, until the wind—or one of the guests—did something to jostle her free.
She had seen her mother.
Noa hadn’t intended to go to the banquet. After her mother’s ghost had vanished, Noa had left the tower and wandered around the castle in a daze. Some part of her had been looking for Julian, but instead she had bumped into Renne, who had hustled her into the hall, muttering about tardiness. If she had been able to speak, Noa would have told him that she didn’t care if the banquet and all the guests went tumbling into the sea.
People milled around the cavernous hall, which opened onto the basalt bluffs at the north end of Astrae. Mite, no doubt drawn to the banquet by the promise of double dessert more than the company, stuck so close to her that she often stepped on her cloak.
She had seen Mom.
Mom had come to help them. But how? What did she know? Noa’s head whirled. It had sounded as though her mother thought Xavier was getting close to finding one of the lost languages. If so, they would be in danger indeed, particularly if Xavier’s mages discovered that the Dark Lord was right under their noses.
Julian hadn’t joined the banquet yet, and neither had General Lydio. Noa drifted outside, where a dozen people were gathered on the rocks, enjoying the warm night and the orbs scattered over the uneven rock. Well-dressed strangers who Noa supposed were General Lydio’s officers looked at her with interested gazes, clearly thinking about striking up a conversation with Julian Marchena’s sister, but Noa crossed her arms and glowered, and they thought better of it.
“You don’t have to stay with me the whole time,” Noa said to Mite. She wished she could abandon the banquet, but even in her stunned state, she recognized how important General Lydio’s support was to Julian. She couldn’t risk offending him. “Why don’t you go have some coconut ice?”
“That’s okay.” Mite looked perfectly happy to hover in the safe shade of Noa’s scowl. She rummaged around in her pockets and began fiddling with a handful of small black dots that looked unnervingly like live beetles.
A young man wearing General Lydio’s colors sidled up to Noa. He had a tanned, handsome face and a big white smile. “Good evening. You must be King Julian’s little sister.”
Noa let him bow over her hand, hoping he would go away. “You must be someone with eyes,” she replied, to encourage him in that direction.
Unfortunately, the young man continued to linger. “You’re a lucky girl to have a brother like him. The most powerful mage in the kingdom.” He actually winked. “Not to mention one of the best looking.”
Noa couldn’t imagine what Julian’s good looks had to do with her, other than the fact that they increased the number of Julian’s annoying suitors she had to deal with. She suspected that her life would be easier if Julian were covered in boils.
“I don’t suppose you could introduce me?” the young man said.
Good grief. This was the last thing that Noa wanted to be bothered by right now. I don’t suppose so, she almost said, but clearly the young man wasn’t easily discouraged.
“Sure,” she said, forcing a bright smile.
He smiled back. “Thank you. I’m sorry if I’m being a nuisance. You must get asked this sort of thing all the time.”
“Not so much anymore,” Noa said. “People got put off once Julian’s dates started disappearing.”
The man’s smile froze on his face. “What?”
“Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Noa added. “Julian jokes about how he feeds them to his sea serpent afterward, but I’m sure that’s all it is—a joke. He has a weird sense of humor.” She gave a sisterly laugh. “I mean, it’s true that there have been a few disappearances and, you know, Beauty has been putting on weight, but they probably just get spooked.
