The shout came from the hall, and then Amelia was suddenly in the doorway, her eyes locked on the shiny ball in Marci’s clutches. “You didn’t tell me it was aPersianKosmolabe!” she cried. “They’re thebest!”
“Iknow!” Marci said, holding it up for her to see. “Just look at the markings!”
Julius shook his head and turned around, replacing the mirror while he waited for Marci and his sister to finish nerding out. “So what do we do now?” he asked when it was obvious they weren’t going to stop on their own. “We have the Kosmolabe, but Bob wasn’t exactly clear on the next step.”
“Bob’sneverclear,” Amelia said without taking her eyes off the Kosmolabe Marci was still cradling in her arms like a kitten. “It’s against his nature. That said, I think the plan from here’s pretty obvious: open portal, go to ruined home realm of dragons, get our own version of seer weapon, come back, beat Estella at her own game, celebrate.”
“Sounds great,” Julius said. “Just two problems. First, how are we going to get a seer weapon when we’re not seers, and second, how do we know this whole trip isn’t playing right into Estella’s hands? I mean, we know she put a chain onyou.”
“That she did,” Amelia said. “But it doesn’t matter whether I’m compromised or not, Ihaveto go with you. How do you think you’re getting home if I’m not there to open a portal back, huh?”
Julius sighed. “Good point.”
“It’ll be fine,” Amelia assured him, trotting down the stairs. “I don’t even think seers can influence planes outside the one they’re in. For all we know, my going with you will snap the chain all together and solve the whole problem.”
“And what about the weapon?” Julius asked, following her down.
Amelia shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out. Bob wouldn’t have set us on this course if it was impossible.”
“I worry you might be giving him a skosh too much credit,” Marci said, carefully carrying the Kosmolabe down the stairs like it was an over-full glass of the most expensive wine on the planet. “No offense to your brother, but Bob seems to be an ask-the-impossible, hope-it-works-out kind of leader.”
“Don’t let his front fool you,” Amelia said. “Bob plays the fool because it suits him, but never forget that he’s the reason Estella’s doing all of this. Shehadto do something crazy because Bob backed her into a corner she couldn’t get out of any other way. You don’t beat a seer three times your age by being an idiot. Trust me, if he told us about this, it’ll work.”
“No argument there,” Julius said. “But again, are wesurethis is Bob’s plan?”
“Pretty sure,” his sister said. “I mean, I don’tfeelmind controlled.”
“Would you, though?” Marci asked.
“No idea,” she confessed. “But I haven’t noticed any weird impulses or inexplicable urges. I don’t even want to murder my mother any more than I usually do.”
Marci paled. “You usually want to murder your mother?”
“Have youmetBethesda?” Amelia asked, rolling her eyes. “Murderous rage is the usual reaction. She likes it that way, too. Her motto is: If other dragons don’t want to kill you, you’re not doing it right.”
Julius could only nod at the truth of that, and Marci stopped on the stairs. “Wait,” she said. “If you all hate Bethesda so much, why are we putting our lives on the line to save her again? I mean, I know she’s your mother, but she doesn’t exactly seem like the sort of person who deserves this much loyalty.”
Technically, she was asking that question of both of them, but Marci’s eyes were on Julius. Unfortunately, the only answer he could give her was, “She’s my mother.”
“Who cares about that?” Amelia scoffed. “I’d be helping Estella kill her of my own free will if it didn’t mean I’d end up stuck as the Heartstriker.”
Marci shrugged. “Couldn’t you just say no?”
“I wish,” Amelia said. “Unfortunately, dragon clans aren’t just dysfunctional families. We’re magical pyramids. When Bethesda killed her father, she didn’t just take his lands. She also stole his fire, the magic our clan built up over generations. That’s why she’s such a big deal despite being only a century older than myself. But if Estella cuts the head off the Heartstriker, all that magic will automatically revert to me. If I claim it, I get stuck with the world’s worst job. If I let it drop, the fire of the Heartstrikers will die, and our whole clan becomes easy pickings for our enemies.”
Marci frowned. “I see your problem.”
“Normally I’d say screw it and head out to my favorite tropical plane for a beach party,” Amelia went on. “Alas, the list of family members Idon’twant to die has gotten too long to ignore, and then there’s the part where Bob’s made this clan his life’s work. I’ll screw Bethesda over all day long, but I owe Brohomir more than even he knows. I’d take a bullet for Mother myself before I let all of his hard work go to waste.” She paused, thinking that over. “That’s probably the biggest sign I’m not under Estella’s control, actually. I still want Bob to win. I don’t actually know how this chain thing works, but I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be the case if I was Estella’s puppet. She hates Bethesda with a passion, but Brohomir’s the one she’s really out to beat.”
Julius nodded. He’d had a feeling that was the case ever since he’d witnessed the two seers’ confrontation at the party, and while he was still nervous, his sister’s arguments made a lot of sense. “Let’s try it, then.”
“Obviously,” Amelia said, turning to walk down the final flight of stairs to the living room. “I’m already set up and everything.”
She was. While they’d been in the bathroom digging up the Kosmolabe, Amelia had cleared out the living room, pushing all the furniture, including the couch where Chelsie was sleeping to recover the magic Marci had taken, into the hallway. Now, the whole room was empty save for the floor lamp in the corner and the stuff that couldn’t be moved, like the mantelpiece over the fireplace.
“How big a portal are you planning to make, anyway?” Julius asked, looking around at the impressively large space she’d made.
“Go big or go home,” Amelia replied, holding out her hand for the Kosmolabe. Marci handed it over with a grimace, and the dragon quivered with delight. “You lovely thing,” she cooed, rolling the golden ball lovingly between her hands as she stepped into the center of the room. “Ready?”
