Now, I’d like to point out that what I did next was completely logical. Really. There’s a law of the universe – unfamiliar to most people in the Hushlands but quite commonly known to Free Kingdoms scientists. It is the called the Law of Inevitable Occurrence.
In simple layman’s terms, this law states that some things just have to happen. If there’s a red button on a console with the words DON’T PUSH taped above it, someone will push it. If there’s a gun hanging conspicuously above Chekhov’s fireplace, someone is going to end up shooting it (probably at Nietzsche).
And if there’s a stern woman telling you what to do – yet at the same time calling you ‘my lord’ – you’re going to just have to figure out how far you can push her.
‘Jump up and down on one foot,’ I said, pointing at Draulin.
‘Excuse me?’ she asked, flushing.
‘Do it. That’s an order.’
And she did, looking rather annoyed.
‘You can stop,’ I said.
She did so. ‘Would you mind telling me what that was about, Lord Smedry?’
‘Well, I wanted to figure out if you’d do what I commanded.’
‘Of course I will,’ Draulin said. ‘As the oldest child of Attica Smedry, you are the heir to the pure Smedry line. You outrank both your cousin and your uncle, which means you are in command of this vessel.’
‘Wonderful,’ I said. ‘So that means I can decide where we go, right?’
Bastille’s mother fell silent. ‘Well,’ she finally said, ‘that is technically true, my lord. However, I have been charged with bringing you back to Nalhalla. Asking me to take you to such a dangerous location would be foolhardy, and—’
‘Yeah, that’s just spiffy,’ I said. ‘Australia, let’s get going. I want to be in Egypt as soon as possible.’
Bastille’s mother closed her mouth, growing even more red in the face. Australia just shrugged and reached over to put her hand on another glass square. ‘Um, take us to the Library of Alexandria,’ she said.
The giant glass dragon shifted slightly, beginning to undulate in a different direction, six wings flapping in succession.
‘That’s it?’ I asked.
Australia nodded. ‘It’ll still take us a few hours to get there, though. We’ll fly up over the pole and down into the Middle East, rather than out toward Nalhalla.’
‘Well, good, then,’ I said, feeling a little anxious as I realized what I’d done. Only a short time back, I’d been eager to get to safety. Now I was determined to head to a place that everyone else was telling me was insanely, ridiculously dangerous?
What was I doing? What business did I have taking command and giving orders? Feeling self-conscious, I left the cockpit again. Bastille trailed along behind me. ‘I’m not sure why I did that,’ I confessed as we walked.
‘Your grandfather might be in danger.’
‘Yeah, but what are we going to do about it?’
‘We helped him in the last Library infiltration,’ she said. ‘Saved him from Blackburn.’
I fell silent, walking down the glass corridor. Yes, we had saved Grandpa Smedry . . . but . . . well, something told me that Grandpa Smedry would have gotten away from Blackburn eventually. The old Smedry had lived for more than a century, and – from what I understood – had managed to wiggle out of plenty of predicaments far worse than that one.
He’d been the one to fight Blackburn with the Lenses – I’d been helpless. True, I’d managed to break the Firebringer’s Lens and trick Blackburn in the end. But I hadn’t really known what I was doing. My victories seemed more like happenstance than they did anything else. And now I was heading into danger yet again?
Nevertheless, it was done. The Dragonaut had changed course, and we were on our way. We’ll look around outside the place, I thought. If it looks too dangerous, we don’t have to go in.
I was about to explain this decision to Bastille when a sudden voice spoke from behind us. ‘Bastille! We’ve changed course. What’s that all about?’
I turned in shock. A short man, perhaps four feet tall, was walking down the corridor toward us. He most certainly hadn’t been there before and I couldn’t figure out where he’d come from.
The man wore rugged clothing: a leather jacket, his tunic tucked into sturdy pants, a pair of boots. He had a wide face with a broad chin and dark curly hair.
‘A fairy!’ I said immediately.