“Well, that’s fantastic for you, Professor, but all your guests will have to leave at some point tonight.”
“Er.” He shrugged. “They’re in no danger. The banwyn feed on fear and terror. My guests this evening are all so self-absorbed and conceited, I doubt they’d even show up on a banwyn radar.”
“There are darker creatures out there who may seek to harm you, Ahdeannowyn.”
“I know. Your brother’s assassins are far away right now, Your Highness. I have it on good authority that he has sent them to the Lower World to source more stones—because he sees them as easier pickings, even though their powers are weaker—while he attempts to corrupt more fae in the Upper World.”
Donovan nodded. “We have the same information.”
“And now you know why I brought the stone here. We saw the chess pieces moving. Some of our people startedtoying with the idea that one ruler for all the Upper Realm might not be such a bad thing.”
“It is if that ruler is Connor,” Donovan muttered darkly.
“Well, yes, that’s my point. Elonn fae are so open to new information, we can sometimes be easily corrupted. Your brother is very persuasive. One supreme ruler for all the creatures in the Upper World could create stability and harmony between warring realms.” He glanced at Donovan, a little nervously. “You know as well as I do that your kingdom is more powerful than any other realm in the Upper World, so the Queen already assumes that mantle. So, it’s not much of a stretch to entertain the idea of making it official.”
“We do not rule the other realms in the Upper World.” Donovan’s voice was ice-cold.
“Not officially, no. But no one would ever be stupid enough to go to war with you. Your superiority is unparalleled. If you wanted to, you could unite the whole Upper Realm under your banner.”
“Subjugate them, you mean.”
“Andthat’swhere you’re different from your brother.” The professor threw him a sad smile. “The Devourer has whispered in many ears, promising favors and boons and an era of peace and harmony the likes of which we’ve never experienced.” The old man huffed out a sigh. “But I know that he wouldn’t stop at the Upper World. He will devour all the stones he can get his hands on and rule all Three Worlds as an overpowered tyrant.”
“I will stop him,” Donovan said quietly.
I couldn’t bear the sadness I heard in his tone. “How long is this damned hallway, Professor?” I couldn’t see the end of it. It was so far away, it just kind of faded off into the distance.
“Oh. Sorry. I needed to stretch my legs. Gladioli’stiramisu is incredible, but it seems to settle in me like a rock.” He waved his cane, and suddenly, the end of the hallway zoomed closer. “My office is just up to the right. We can talk there.”
It still felt like half a mile away. Donovan was back in brooding-mode, so I jumped in with some questions. “If your realm’s spark stone is in danger, why didn’t you come to me and have me close it straight away?”
“Susan, my dear. We Elonn fae are scribes. We are the keepers of knowledge. We seek every piece of information so that we can divine the truth, and our magic helps prod us in the right direction. But truth, like time, isn’t linear. Since only the now exists, we must base truth on our past experiences.”
I repeated his words in my head several times. “So, you had to make sure I went through certain experiences before you could accurately predict what would happen to your spark stone?”
“Well… yes. For example, I heard about your little run-in with the sea witch.” For a second, he looked horrified. “If you had been made aware of the existence of the merpeople before that, you wouldn’t have gone anywhere near her.Nobodyis brave enough to go near her,” he added, shaking his head. “That hag will eat any living thing she comes across. But not only did you blithely have a nice chat with the most terrifying creature in the Middle World, you got her to teach you how to access your magic, and how to close the stones. It was a perfect sequence of events that led us here, and I’m confident now that you won’t blow the scribe stone up instead of closing it.”
“I also taught her about the patriarchy,” I added faintly.
“That too. I’m sure we’ll all benefit from the most powerful monster in all the Middle World knowing about the patriarchy.” He sounded a touch sarcastic.
We finally entered his office—a sumptuous, cozy room with a vaulted ceiling, exposed wooden beams, arched windows, bookshelves lining two of the walls, a roaring fire in a massive hearth, cozy scarlet padded armchairs, and low tables strewn with knickknacks. Donovan took up his usual spot at the window, staring out and glowering broodily.
The professor picked up a plastic bucket and placed it on the lush Persian rug in front of his desk. “Bonbon. Come on.”
The massive rottweiler trotted over.
Professor Owen pointed into the bucket. “Please?”
Bonbon grunted and shook his head.
“It will be fine. Come on, I’ll give you a treat.”
“Grrr.” The dog shook his head. A huge glob of drool spattered.
“No, not a milk bone, you silly sausage. I saved you some of Gladioli’s tiramisu.” He pulled a massive leftover container out of his waistcoat. My eyes bulged as it expanded from the tiny pocket.
Bonbon’s tail started wagging, and his mouth split open into a wide grin.
