Missing Elements (The Lament Book 3) (26 page)

Pran... felt her heart drop. Her
friends, the people that were as close to her as her own family should have
been, would all be gone then, wouldn't they? Still, they'd be back, and
hopefully not forget her.

"I... I'll miss you. I don't
know
what I'm doing now. I have a statue to finish getting into bronze,
but that won't take too much longer. Then... Well, I'm not really needed here,
am I? The whole thing with being Bard Clarice's Apprentice was pretty much
about getting us into place here. Now that's done."

It was a bit sad, but what would
be happening anyway. Maybe she could get a new position with someone? That
would be about the best case, wouldn't it?

Looking over at her, the High
Bard smiled and nodded.

"For now, why don't you stay
with Doctor Millis and act as liaison with my people? It might mean going into
the system yourself, but there are centuries of art that you might be able to
bring back with you. Music, poetry, paintings and more. Things that I can't
even properly explain, without you seeing them. If that's fine with you, I
mean, Michael? You're working off of The Lament still, isn't that right? Pran
can come back here as soon as the tour is done, since I
need
an
assistant. You should perform too, if you go into the System. Millions will
want to see you. Hundreds of Millions, if they're smart and take the chance."

That started a long discussion,
in which it was pretty clear that Bard Clarice wasn't getting rid of her, as
much as wanted to show her off to her friends back home, instead.

It was interesting to her, to
realize that. This woman, the High Bard, had lived in a small box somewhere for
so long it had become her real starting point. Her true home.

Pran agreed to the plan, partly
because you didn't tell the High anything
no
, if you were smart and had
any other option. The other portion of things was different than that, however.

She realized it all in a rush,
and had to wonder if blood loss was playing a role in things that night. It was
most likely that, but she didn't care.

Because Guardians Clark and Mara
would be there. So would Paul, and Judge Clair. Apprentice Roy, too. Even
Doctor Millis and Bard Ben, unless he'd gotten a position somewhere better
already. Her friends.

Her
family
, as much as she
had one.

That got her to thinking about
other things, and finally she came around to something pretty novel in her own
life.
They
were her family, but even more than that, she too had decided
that a tiny box was where she belonged. A floating one that moved around.

And she was going home.

To The Lament.

"Get the ropes tight on the
right!" Pran called this out and waved to the boy, Bard Sollen, who was on
the tension line, next to First Mate Paul.

The kid, who had grown at least
four inches in the half year she'd been gone did it instantly, and shouted
back.

"Tight!"

"Then, on three,
heave!" Everyone was helping, and pulled exactly when she said. It wasn't
just the ones she'd brought either, but everyone at the school had turned out
to help. Actually, they had more people than could really hold part of the rope
effectively.

It didn't take long to get the
new statue of Michael Morse up on the school roof, where she was standing by to
move it into place. Nothing fell this time, and the ropes held firm and fast.
She'd made certain that would happen, getting the crew of The Lament to help
with it. They were an airship team, so if nothing else, they knew ropes. It
worked perfectly, of course.

On the ground, next to the
Headmaster stood the School Council. The ones that had sentenced her to
remaking the statue. That part of the punishment had been fair. She'd broken
the old one, after all. This one was better though. For one thing, it looked
like Michael Morse, the way he did now, complete with distinguished lined face
and silly ribbon around his neck.

A
tie
, he called it. It
looked rather unpleasant to her, but she wasn't one to judge based on things
like that, was she? Pran was done up in a nice sky blue dress, her hair still
short enough that without it people tended to think she was a boy. Unless they
were from the System.

To her surprise, several of the
new leaders from there had come in to see her work. Not that it was all that
special, compared to the place they lived. She'd been in there, several times,
once just to make certain that her mind really could go in and come back out
safely, to prove to everyone else that it could be done. Supposedly that meant
there was another version of her living in there still. A copy that would keep
making art and never die. Not unless the System went down, which wasn't too
likely to happen for several hundred years yet.

Pran wished her the best. It was
a lovely place, the System. Varied and with things that actually took work to
explain to everyone. She'd tried and would keep doing it, but there was a lack
of words in the world to get it done, she thought.

As soon as the statue, the one
that looked like Doctor Millis in stone, was in place, the school Headmaster
moved forward to stand on the platform some of the students had put up, and
turned, gesturing expansively, first up at the new decoration and then at the
man standing in the audience who really did look very much like it.

Pran did good work in stone.

"Once that spot held the
image of Michael Morse. A man from a past age, that founded this great land.
Now, in that same spot, is a different image, of the same man, from that same
time! Truly, we live in a time of wonders and greatness! I'd like to thank you
all for coming out today, and also, I'd like to thank Bard Pran, for donating
this lovely creation to our humble school. Thank you, Pran." It was said
graciously, but the man always had been kind to her, hadn't he?

She just waved.

This, she knew, was the last
thing she really had to take care of before her new life could truly begin.

The Grange was gone already, shut
down two months before. All of the Keepers scattered to other places in their
religious order, where they could pray and fast in peace, untroubled by young
and tormented minds. The kids from there... Well, not all of them could be
helped really, only about half of them.
That
part had shocked everyone
in the outer world however. They were taken into the system, but the others,
the ones that just needed help,
weren't
. If drugs or machines could help
them, that was what happened.

Even the people from Camp Wallace
were given that same level of care. No one simply stole all the bodies or
anything. Not yet. It was more than she'd figured on really happening, to be
honest about it.

Inside the System, things were
more unsettled than outside, since they weren't one people, even after hundreds
of years. That wasn't her lookout however, and even Doctor Millis didn't seem
all that concerned about it. They'd either come around, or be locked in there
forever. The waiting list for a chance at a body was very long, with millions
of names on it, but not everyone was being allowed access to it. Those that
wanted to take over by force weren't, for instance.

This however, was the last of her
old life, being put away, finally. The school would go on, but she was done
there. It was, in a very real way, her graduation.

On a very fine note, Bard Clarice
had let her keep that title of Bard that she'd thrown her way, that first day.
She'd tried to claim that she hadn't earned it yet, but that had gotten Kabrin
to laugh at her, then offer her a position in his Orchestra again.

After a while, she headed down
the ladder to the ground, to find Bard Sollen talking to Apprentice Roy and
Judge Clair. Clark and Mara were about five feet away, ready to defend their
charge if it came to it. There had been trouble in the town of Compton before,
and that meant being prepared for the worst. That didn't happen though.

Sollen just gave her a hug.

"That's much better than the
one I have half finished. Carving isn't really my thing. I don't suppose that
you know anyone that wants some nice paintings? I've done some decent
landscapes..."

That started a discussion about
the fact that his work technically all belonged to the school. After a while
though, it wound down, and the boy got another hug from her.

"I have to leave now. Back to
being Bard Clarice's Assistant. You should write however, and make sure to
write her, too. It won't hurt, when it's time for her to pick your new master
in a year or so."

Then, almost as one, they all
left.

Pran didn't know what would be
coming next, but this time when she left school, her heart felt lighter.
Whatever was coming, it was good.

She could feel it.

Other works by P.S. Power that you can pick up today on
Amazon.com:

The Young Ancients:

The Builder

Knight Esquire

Knight

Ambassador

Counselor

Slave Line

The Dark Half of the Sun

A Simple Darkness

Ancient Kings

Lord of the Sky

The Silence Within

Kingdom of Stars

Goddess of the Moon

Envoy to Earth

The Keeley Thomson Universe:

Keeley Thomson: (The Complete Series)

Demon Girl

Keelzabub

Mistress of Souls

Demon Trap

Demon Bait

Other Places:

Shortcuts

Detours

Road Blocks

Other books in the Keeleyverse:

Christmas of the Vampire (Richard Swirlin, Vampire)

Friendzoned (Becky Hoader)

Gwen Farris:

Abominations

Monsters

Strangers and Lies

Tremble in the Dark

The Infected:

Proxy

Gabriel

Cast Iron

Proxy: Reunions

Cellophane

Goblin

Ghost girl

The Lament:

Without Rhythm

Off Center

Missing Elements

Dead End:

A Very Good Man

A Very Good Neighbor

A Very Good Thing

A Very Dark Place

The Greasepaint Chronicles:

A Fear of Clowns

Other works:

Crayons

Unrelenting Terror (Which no one should read, under an
circumstances!)

Ijime: The Bullies (As Dan Abe)

Gratitude: A Thanksgiving Story