Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (83 page)

"
Finally!
”
s
h
e blurted out with breathless enthusiasm. “I wish my
Mom to be
alive again!"
That’s not what Glory had meant to say
.
She wanted endless credits—didn’t she? So why had that come out?

Lady
Gost
blinked rapidly
.

“We don’t use th
at w
ord here!
”
Bone reminded.

“Shush,”
Lady
Gost
said, reprimanding Bone
. Her delicate fingertips reached out to stroke Glory’s cheek
tenderly
.
"Ye misunderstand
, child.
I’m offering y
e
a banal request only."

"
Come again
?"

“
All this time t
he restoration of your mother’s life
is
w
hat y
ou
hoped to
gain with the magic?”

“Not at first,”
Glory
admitted
.
“
My original plan was to wish for an endless supply of credits.”

“What made ye change your mind?”

“
A lot of people make money without the help of magic,
but
then it hit me that I need
to thin
k
big
ger than that
. Great big!.  Here I have this awesome rock that has the power to make
any
dream come true
, so why not ask for the impossible?
You s
ee, my mother died when I was little
and I miss her every single day
.
I figured if there’s any
way to get her back, the Elboni was my last best hope.”

“Aw,” White Feather
said quietly.
“I’d rather have not known that.
”
He looked at
Glory
, t
hen turned away with a sniffle.
Bone
crossed his arms and refused to look at her, preferring to focus on a piece of lint on his suit jacket instead.
A lot of whispering was coming from the council.

Lady
Gost
held up her palm
.

“
Everyone, s
ilence
, please
.
”
She
gently
brushed a loose strand of hair from Glory’s face
and tucked it behind her ear. Her voice was very soft this time, like a mother reading a bedtime story to her little ones.
"
Tullah
n, a
banal request is one that can be fulfilled by ordinary means. Is there a special food we can offer you
?
Would y
ou
like to
write out
a last will and testament to be delivered to your attorney? Is there a special person y
ou would like
to s
ee
one last time?”

“
One last time?
”
The finality of the words hit hard
.
“
I’m just a kid
.
I’
m not ready for anything to be my one last time
.”

“Then confess
.”

Hopes for
magic
dashed once again
,
with the threat of extraction hanging over her head, a
full confession was on the tip of h
er
tongue
, but all
thoughts were
unexpectedly
crowded out by
the image of the
Elboni
floating over a field of daisies
.
The wonderful globe seemed as near and as real as
life itself.
A
vision of a
girl
—h
er
self actually
—danc
ed
around
the
Elboni
along with two misty
-
faced companions
. A strange longing set her heart on fire.
Wish, Wish, Wish,
t
he
Glory
in
the
vision
repeat
ed
.
The real Glory
reached out to touch the gorgeous
rock
one more time, but the image vanished like a desert mirage.

“
She
seems dazed,” Nee
dle said with concern, steadying her
w
ith a sturdy arm around the waist
.

“What
do
y
e
want,
Rock Collector
?”
Lady
Gost
demanded to know, snapping
Glory
back to
the cathedral.

Glory
tapped h
er
mouth with
an
index finger desperate to figure out what it was
she
truly wanted. Then it hit
—
the vision was a message from the
Elboni
!
Now,
s
he knew the
last
condition of
the binding ritual and it
had been under nose all along
!
All the talk of magical requests, and the way the
y
were forbidden
from speaking
wish
out loud
,
h
ow could
s
he have missed something so
obvious
?
She had messed up the original list.
Her fingers itched to
amend it, but she had to content herself with a
mental note instead:

8
.
must say the word WISH when asking for very specific something.

Ho
w simple
!
The eighth condition!
For sure
,
this time!

"Your request, please."
Lady
Gost
grew impatient.

In an instant,
Glory
knew exactly what
to ask for:
  "I want to be buried with
my mo
ther
!"

Quiet followed for a whole minute.

"An honorable request," Lady
Gost
finally said
.
"
After y
our essence
departs,
your body will
be returned to
Tullah
.
But know that there may not be much left of ye to bury after
the
extractors are through."

"Even if only a speck of me remains
,
bury it with
my mother
.
”

"We will honor your request, but first
tell us wh
ere
to find your
mother
’s remains
.
”

“
She’s
not easy to find,” Glory said in all honesty
.
“There’s no marker, no map, and I don’t know how to explain.”

"
Star riders,
l
et
the
Tullah
n
show ye
the
place, then
promptly
bring h
er
back
for
the
procedure
.
Wybb needs its magic back and
the
Weinling
is
hungry."

“Uh,” Glory raised a finger. “What about my friend?”

Lady
Gost
addressed the
star riders
.
“
Two
Tullah
ns
will go home, but
return with
just
the one.”

“In obedience we
obey
.
”
They bowed and departed, taking Glory with them.

After a quick
and private
reunion with Clash
out in the vestibule,
all their belonging
s
were returned to them. Shortly thereafter
,
the
star riders
and their two captives burrowed through time and space via the Paraplume. Clash felt sick to his stomach upon landing in the cavern in Queen’s Mesa, but he was so excited about
the
cosmic ride
that
he couldn’t stop grinning
.
The transition from the warm cathedral to the cool cave made Glory dig her hands deep into pockets
.
Clash
was burdened with the
slingboard
, but he seemed to be managing just fine.