‘I am indeed, Lord Smedry,’ the woman said, the tone of her voice as stiff as her armor. ‘I am—’
‘Oh, Alcatraz!’ the other person said, interrupting the woman. This girl sat in the chair beside the dash of the cockpit, and she wore a pink tunic with brown trousers. She had the face I’d seen through the Courier’s Lenses – long black hair, a little bit curly, with dark skin and slightly plump features.
‘I’m so glad you made it,’ the girl exclaimed. ‘For a while, I thought we’d lost you! Then Bastille saw that light shooting into the air, and we figured it was from you. It seems that we were right!’
‘And you are . . .?’ I asked.
‘Australia Smedry!’ she said, hopping out of her chair and rushing over to give me a hug. ‘Your cousin, silly! Sing’s sister.’
‘Gak!’ I said, nearly being crushed by the powerful hug. Bastille’s mother looked on, arms crossed behind her back in a kind of parade-rest sort of pose.
Australia finally let me go. She was probably around sixteen, and she had on a pair of blue Lenses.
‘You’re an Oculator!’ I said.
‘Of course I am!’ she said. ‘How else do you think I contacted you? I’m not really that good with these Lenses. Or . . . um, most Lenses, actually. Anyway, it’s so wonderful to meet you, finally! I’ve heard a lot about you. Well, a couple of things really. Okay, so only two letters from Sing, but they were very complimentary. Do you really have the Talent of Breaking Things?’
I shrugged. ‘That’s what they tell me. What’s your Talent?’
Australia smiled. ‘I can wake up in the morning looking incredibly ugly!’
‘Oh . . . how wonderful.’ I still wasn’t certain how to respond to Smedry Talents. I usually couldn’t ever tell if the Person telling me was excited or disappointed by the power.
Australia, it seemed, was excited by pretty much everything. She nodded perkily. ‘I know. It’s a fun Talent – nothing like breaking things – but I make it work for me!’ She glanced about. ‘I wonder where Kaz went. He’ll want to meet you too.’
‘Another cousin?’
‘Your uncle, actually,’ Australia said. ‘Your father’s brother. He was just here . . . Must have wandered off again.’
I sensed another Talent. ‘His Smedry ability is to get lost?’
Australia smiled. ‘You’ve heard of him!’
I shook my head. ‘Lucky guess.’
‘He’ll show up eventually – he always does. Anyway, I’m just so excited to meet you!’
I nodded hesitantly.
‘Lady Smedry,’ Bastille’s mother said from behind. ‘I do not intend to give offence, but shouldn’t you be flying the Dragonaut?’
‘Gak!’ Australia said, hopping back into her seat. She put her hand onto a glowing square on the front of what appeared to be a glass control panel.
I walked up beside her, looking out through the dragon’s eye. We were still moving upward and soon would enter the clouds.
‘So,’ I said, glancing back at Bastille. ‘Where’s Grandpa?’
Bastille remained silent, staring ahead, back stiff.
‘Bastille?’
‘You should not address her, Lord Smedry,’ Bastille’s mother said. ‘She’s only here acting as my squire, and is currently beneath your notice.’
‘That’s nonsense! She’s my friend.’
Bastille’s mother didn’t respond to that, though I caught a slight look of disapproval in her eyes. She immediately stiffened, as if having noticed that I was studying her.
‘Squire Bastille has been stripped of her rank, Lord Smedry,’ Bastille’s mother said. ‘You should address all of your questions to me, as I will be acting as your Knight of Crystallia from now on.’