He remembered the last time the Millennial Bell had awakened the napping dead. Stones had crumbled and floors had cracked in the palace far below. Here, in the very shadow of the thing, he'd be shaken to thornberry jelly. Nothing would remain but a puddle on the floor.
Finn thought of Letitia Louise. He thought of her touch, of her iridescent eyes. He thought it was quite unfair to perish in an illusion, in the midst of a sorcerer's spell.
“If the end has to be,” he said aloud, “it seems only right it should happen somewhere that exists, somewhere that's real. I feel that's really the proper thing to do… “
FIFTY-TWO
Letitia Louise could hear her own heart pounding against her chest. She prayed the Badgies couldn't hear it too, for they were scarcely inches away, just outside the narrow passageway. She could hear their gruff voices, muttering to one another as they searched the darkened hall.
She thought it was strange how one folk's language differed so much from the next. The Mycer tongue was full of whispers, murmurs, gentle sibilations. If a Badgie ever said hello-which few would ever do-it always sounded like a curse. Humans were somewhere in between. Hard and then soft. Irritating one moment, quite endearing the next. Finn was certainly capable of both.
“Finn, dear Finn, may the Fates let me find you again!”
“Don't mumble back there, all right? Stone carries sound everywhere, didn't anyone ever tell you that?”
Letitia felt the color rise to her face. She bit off a nasty reply, words full of brambles, thorns and sharp little tacks. This was not the time for that. Still, if one was collecting unpleasant, totally annoying sounds… after the Badgies, the King's daughter would be a good place to start.
If looks were all that counted, Letitia could not deny DeFloraine-Marie was easily the most breathtaking female she'd ever seen, at least as far as humans valued that sort of thing. She had never failed to notice the women who caught Finn's eye, and they all seemed to have those full, sensuous lips, lazy, roving eyes, impossibly long legs, and other features Letitia didn't care to list. The trouble was, this female appeared to have them all.
Of course, Finn had chosen her, a Mycer with pointy ears and downy skin, instead of a human female. She needed to remind herself of that. So why, she wondered, didn't that seem to help?
Maybe because I can smell that scent of hers, way back here. And I know it didn't all come from a jar!
“I just thought I'd mention,” said Julia Jessica Slagg, “in passing, no offense, you have stepped on my tail twice. You might watch where you're going, and forget about our friend up there.”
“I am not thinking about anything at all,” Letitia said. “Besides, you have no idea what's going on in my head. You're not as good as you think you are.”
“Well, ofcourse. I am only a humble mechanical device.”
“Don't start, Julia. I'm not in the mood for this.”
“My snout is sealed.”
“I should live to see the day.”
“May it be the Fates’ will. Do I have the right deities this time? I get these mythical figures Newlies and humans revere mixed up sometimes. Is it the Fates I'm thinking of? Or is that the Three Blind Lice? I can never be sure.”
“Julia?”
“Right here. Scampering aside, just in the nick of time.”
“Can you-sense Finn at all? Do you think he's anywhere near?”
“I had enough trouble sniffing out his trail in the hall. There is nothing in here. Certainly nothing remotely akin to Finn.”
“Then what are we doing here, Julia? I mean, we've avoided the Badgies, but we don't know where she's taking us, or why.”
Julia sensed the edge of desperation in Letitia's voice, the tension, the strain, the tone that said she was hanging on as best she could. Julia knew she needed all the help she could get, instead of the seven acid comments and the half dozen jibes that had just come to mind. Out of great consideration, she said nothing at all.
Letitia saw no difference in this particular section of the narrow, twisting crawlway, and the one they'd passed only moments before, but DeFloraine-Marie seemed to feel it was the right place to be.
“I cannot stop and wait for you every five minutes. You're going to have to keep up,” the King's daughter told Letitia in that haughty, insufferable manner that seemed to be her ordinary, everyday voice.
Maybe they went to Princess School, Letitia thought. You couldn't be that obnoxious without a little help.
“I don't see I'm any farther back than I'm supposed to be,” Letitia said. “You're our leader. I can't very well get ahead of you.
“And, while we're at it, do you think you could tell me where we're going? Could I ask why you're helping us at all? I'm sure it's not concern over me. I know better than that.”
DeFloraine-Marie laughed, stretching her exquisite neck, tossing her perfect golden locks about in a manner Letitia was sure she'd practiced in a mirror a hundred times.
“Letitia Louise-such a charming name, common among the Mycer folk, I assume? If you imagine I have base designs of any sort on your male, you can put that notion to rest. If I cared, the poor dear would be stunned, paralyzed, struck completely dumb by now.
“I don't want him, I want him out of here. Out of this palace, out of Heldessia, out of my sight.”
Letitia frowned. “Why? What has Finn done to harm you?”
DeFloraine-Marie dismissed her with a scornful glance. “That's none of your concern. There are things- matters of importance to me. His presence is a nuisance. I want all you out of here, isn't that enough for you?”
“Yes. I suppose it is. As you say, your reasons are none of my concern.”
“How thoughtful of you to say so, dear. What you think means so much to me.”
And there was that vain, arrogant smile, that cold, unfeeling glance that marred the princess’ beauty and turned her perfect features into something ugly and profane.
“You clearly know this enormous structure better than I,” Julia said, fixing DeFloraine-Marie with her bright ruby eyes. “However, I know Master Finn, and that overblown magician never brought him this way.”
“Tell your disgusting machine to stay away from me,” the princess said, backing off a step or so. “If that thing gets near me, I'll step on its dreadful head.”
“I wouldn't” Letitia said.
“If she doesn't bite me, I won't bite her,” Julia said, flicking her silver tongue. “Please pass that along if you will.”
DeFloraine-Marie wrinkled her nose, as if she found something most unpleasant in the air.
“No, Oberbyght didn't bring him this way, your creature's right about that. Even that pompous oaf doesn't know about this passageway.
“When I was a child, my cousins and I found every hollow and hidey-hole in the palace. Some of them I can't even squeeze through now. We peeked on everyone.
Including Oberbyght. If they'd ever caught us, if they'd ever known we were there… “
For just an instant, Letitia saw the princess’ features soften, the mask of contempt give way to reveal the child that lay hidden somewhere behind the woman that child had become.
“Anyway, you don't care about that. You want to know where dear, dear Finn is, right? The seer took him to his place in the south tower. You can't get near him if you go that way. There are all kinds of horrid spells and magic locks and doors. My way will take us past all that. If I recall-and I'm quite good at recalling whatever I like- we'll end up at a spot where we can get a look inside the tower room.”
“Get a look?” Julia twitched her golden tail. “A look won't do us much good, as I see it. What do we have to do, break down a wall?”
DeFloraine-Marie looked past Julia as if she wasn't there. “Do I have to do everything? I'm getting you there. Don't you have a-a weapon or anything?”
