Alcatraz versus the Knights of Crystallia (16 page)

"
W
e are also close personal friends of the knight
involved."

“S
orry.
”

"
W
e also have very good teeth," Grandpa
S
medry said,
then smiled.

This seemed to confuse the knight.
(Grandpa
S
medry
has that effect on people.)
However, once again, the knight
simply shook his head and said, "Sorry."

Grandpa
S
medry stepped back, annoyed, and I felt a
twist of despair.
I'd failed to help Bastille after all she'd gone
through for me.
S
he should have known that she shouldn't
rely on me.

"How are you feeling, lad?" Grandpa Smedry asked.

I shrugged.

“
Annoyed?" he prompted.

"Yeah."

"Frustrated?"

"A bit."

"Bitter?"

"You're not helping."

"I know I'm not.
Angry?"

I didn't answer.
The truth was, I did feel angry.
At myself,
mostly.
For partying with Rodrayo and his friends while
Bastille was in trouble.
For forgetting about Mokia and
its problems.
For letting my grandfather down.
It hadn't
been that long ago that I'd always assumed that I'd let
everyone down.
I'd pushed people away before they could
abandon me.

But working with Grandpa Smedry and the others had
made me begin to feel that I could lead a normal life.
Ma
yb
e
I
didn't
have to alienate everyone.
M
a
yb
e
I was capable of
having friendships, of having family, of . . .

There was a slight cracking sound.

"Oops!" Grandpa Smedry said in a loud voice.
"Looks
like you've gone and upset the boy!"

I started, looking down, real
izing that I'd let my T
a
lent
crack the glass beneath my feet.
T
w
in spiderwebs of lines
crept from my shoes, marring the otherwise perfect crystal.
I blushed, embarrassed.

The knights had grown pale.
"Impossible!" one said.

"This crystal is supposed to be unbreakable!" the
other said.

"My grandson," Grandpa Smedry said proudly.
“
He
has the breaking T
a
lent
y
ou know.
U
pset him too much,
and the entire floor could shatter.
Actually, the entire castle
could
–“

"Get him out, then," one of the knights said, shooing
me away like one might treat an unwanted puppy.

"What?" Grandpa Smedry said.
“
Antagonize him by
throwing him out, and you
could destroy the castle itself
!
W
e'll just have to see if he calms down.
His T
a
lent can be
very unpredictable when he's emotional."

I could see what Grandpa
S
medry was doing.
I he
si
tated, then focused my power, trying to further crack the
glass at my feet.
It was an extremely foolhardy thing to do.
That's what made it
exactly
the sort of plan Grandpa
Smedry would come up with.

The spiderwebs at my feet grew larger. I steadied myself
by touching the wall, and immediately created a ring of
cracks around my hand.

"Wait!" one of the knights exclaimed.
“
I'
ll
go in and ask
if you can enter!"

Grandpa Smedry beamed.
"What a nice fellow" he said,
taking my arm,
stopping me from breaking more.
The
knight opened the door, stepping inside.

*Did we really just
blackmai
l
a Knight of Crystall
i
a?" I
asked under my breath.

"T
w
o of them, I believe," Grandpa Smedry said.
“
And it
was really more
'intimidation' than it was
'blackmail.'
Maybe
with a twist of 'extortion.'
It's always best to use the proper
terminology!"

The knight returned, then
–
with
a sigh
–
gestured
for us to enter the chamber.
We walked in eagerly.

And then Grandpa Smedry exploded.

Oka
y
,
s
o he didn't really explode.
I just wanted you
to turn the page really fast.

You see, if you turn the pages quickly, you might rip one
of them.
If you do that, then
–
obviously
–
you'll want to
go buy another copy of the book.
Who wants one with a
ripped page?
Not you.
You have refined tastes.

In fact, think of all the wonderful ways you can use this
book.
It will make an excellent coaster.
You could also use it
as building material.
Or you could frame the pages as art.
(After all, each page is a perfect work of art.
Look at 56.
Exquisite.)

Obviously, you need
lots
of copies.
One isn't enough.
Go buy more.
Have you forgotten that you need to fight the
Librarians?

Anyway, after getting done not exploding, Grandpa
Smedry went into the chamber.
I followed, expecting to
find a courtroom.
I was surprised to find only a simple
wooden table with three knights sitting behind it.
Bastille stood by the far wall, at attention, hands at her
sides, staring straight ahead.
The three knights at the
table weren't even looking at her as they decided her
punishment.

One of the knights was a masculine, burly man with an
enormous chin.
He was
dangerous in an "I'm a knight, and
I could totally kill you" sort of way.

Next to him was Bastille's mother, Draulin, who was
dangerous in an "
I
'm Bastille's mother, and I could also kill
you" sort of way.

The third one was an elderly, bearded knight who was
dangerous in a "Stop playing your rap music so loud, you
darn kids!
Plus, I could kill you too" sort of way.

J
udging by their expressions, they were not happy to see
my grandfather and me.
"Lord Smedry," the man with the
chin said, "
W
hy have you interrupted these proceedings?
You know you have no authority here."

"If I let that stop me, I'd never have any fun!" Grandpa
Smedry said.

"This is
not
about fun, Lord Smedry," Bastille's mother
said. "It's about justice."

"Oh, and since when ha
s it been 'just' to punish some
one for things that were not their fault?"

"We are not looking at fault," said the aged knight.
"If a knight is incapable of protecting his or her charges,
then that knight must be removed from his or her station.
It is not young Bastille's fault if we promoted her too
quickly
a
nd
–“

"You didn't promote her too quickly," I snapped.
"Bastille
is the most amazing
knight in your ranks."

“
And you know much about the knights in our ranks,
young Smedry?" the aged knight asked.

He was right.
I felt a little foolish
–
but
then when has
that ever stopped a Smedry?

"No," I admitted.
"But I do know that Bastille has done
a fantastic job of protecting my grandfather and me.
She's an excellent soldier
–
I
saw her go head-to-head with
one of the Scrivener's Bones and hold her own with only a
dagger.
I've seen her take down two Librarian thugs before
I could even finish blinking."

"She lost her sword," Draulin said.

"So?" I demanded.

"It's the symbol of a
Kn
ight of Crystallia," Big Chin said.

"Well, get her another sword, then!" I snapped.

"It's not that easy," the old knight explained. "The fact
that a knight is not capable of caring for her sword is very
disturbing.
W
e need to maintain quality in the order for the
good of all nobility."

I stepped forward.
"Did she tell you how the sword
broke?"

"She was fighting Alivened," Draulin said.
"She rammed
it in one of their chests, then she was hit and knocked aside.
When the Alivened was killed by falling through the floor
,
the sword was lost."

I glanced back at Bastille.
She didn't meet my eyes.

"No," I said, looking back at them.
"That's what hap
pened, yes, but it's not what
happened
.
It wasn't the fall, or
even the death of the Alivened, and the sword wasn't
j
ust
lost. It was destroyed.
By me.
My T
a
lent."

The big-chinned knight gave a chuckle at that.
"Lord
Smedry," he said, "I understand that you are loyal and care
for your friends, and I respect you for it.
Good man!
But
you shouldn't make such wild exaggerations.
Everyone
knows that full Crystin shards are
i
mpervious to things like
Oculator's Lens
es and Smedry Ta
lents!"

I stepped forward to the table. "Hand me your
sword, then."

The knight started. "What?"

"Give it to me," I said, holding out a hand.
"Let's see if
it's impervious."

There was silence in the small glass chamber for a
moment.
The knight seemed incredulous.
(Crystin don't
let others hold their swords.
Asking Big Chin to give me his
was a little like asking the president to loan me his nuclear
missile launching codes for the weekend.)

Still, backing down would make Big Chin look like he
believed my claim.
I could see the indecision in his eyes, his
hand hovering toward the hilt of his weapon, as if to hand
it over.

"Be careful, Archedis," Grandp
a
Smedry said quietly.
"My grandson's Talent is not to be underestimated.
The
breaking T
a
lent, by my estimation, hasn't been manifest
this powerfully for centuries.
Perhaps millennia."

The knight moved his hand away from the sword.
"The
breaking T
a
lent," he said.
"Well, perhaps it
i
s
possible for
that to affect a Crystin sword."

Draulin pursed her lips, and I could tell that she wanted
to object.

"Um," I said, glancing at my grandfather.
He indi
ca
ted that I should keep talking. “
Anyway, I've come to
speak at this trial, as is my right as a
member of the
Smedry clan."

"I believe you have been doing that
already,” Draulin
said flatly.
(Sometimes I can see where
Bastille gets her
snark.)