Kendra Kandlestar and the Crack in Kazah (9 page)

THE EENS HAVE A FAMOUS SAYING: “The sharpest burr is the one you find in your shoe,” meaning that it’s those closest to us who can cause us the most pain. Kendra had never really understood that adage until now. Why, she had been betrayed by her own mother—and it wounded her as surely as the snap of a dragon’s tail.

“You lied,” Kendra uttered as she stared at the wild Teenling girl. “You said you didn’t steal my ring. But you did.”

“It’s not your ring,” Gayla said defensively. “It’s your master’s.”

“It
is
my ring,” Kendra retorted. “He gave it to me.”

“Why would a wizard entrust his twelve-year-old apprentice with a Kazah crystal?” Gayla demanded. “That’s right, Braids; I know this is no ordinary rock.”

“So?” Kendra snapped. “You still took it. You still lied.”

Gayla gave her a dismissive wave and turned back to the mysterious tome that lay before her. “Look,” she said. “It’s all explained here. The stones come from the Kazah Caves in the Crystal Peaks, beyond the borders of Een. Kazah has powers—strange ones, it says. And when you become a true Een wizard you are given your own stone to wear. But those aren’t pure Kazah crystals, just cut gemstones with the slightest of powers.” She paused and gazed upon the ring in her open palm. “But this stone . . . this stone is round . . . perfectly round. Or at least it was before it cracked.”

She seemed mesmerized by the ring, and now Kendra stepped forward impulsively to touch it. Gayla instantly pulled back, cradling the stone close to her chest.

“The elders, the wizards, they keep everything so secretive,” she said, staring at Kendra. Her eyes were wild and exhausted, and Kendra suddenly realized that she hadn’t slept all night. “Who do you think sees these books?” Gayla asked, pointing at the shelves. “No one! You can’t find them in the library. Old Beards keeps this knowledge squirreled away in his own private study, so that no one can learn, no one can understand the mysteries of Een. The mystery of Kazah.” Gayla glared at Kendra. “You know it, don’t you?” she asked in an accusatory tone. “You understand Kazah! Does it work? Does it do what the book claims?”

Kendra shook her head in bewilderment. “I don’t know how to use it,” she said. It was the truth.

“It says Kazah can let you hear an echo of the past or catch a glimpse of the future,” Gayla murmured, gazing down at the dark purple ring. “You just have to concentrate your will, focus your mind on a particular time.”

“Like meditating,” Kendra pondered, remembering her training with Uncle Griffinskitch.

“If you can imagine a specific time vividly, then you should be able to catch a glimmer of it through the ring,” Gayla said. “But some ancient Eens believed that Kazah could do more than just gaze upon time. They believed it could be used to travel
through
it.”

Kendra fumbled for something to say. Gayla was staring at her with one raised eyebrow, expecting a response.

In the end, Kendra decided to change the subject. “You’re wanted at the Elder Stone. It’s Roompa’s trial. And you’re supposed to be there.”

Gayla’s expression thawed. “They think I’m lying. They think I made up the story about Burdock sabotaging Roompa’s wand.”

“Did you?” Kendra asked, the words leaping from her lips before she could think better of them.

“Don’t you dare take his side, Braids,” Gayla said, thrusting a finger at Kendra. “He’s a terrible . . . disgusting man. You have no idea.”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Kendra said hotly. “But . . . but you lied about taking the ring.”

“So you think I lied about this?”

Kendra stared at her. She didn’t know what to think. For such is the danger of a lie, gentle reader; like poison, it can seep into friendship’s every crack, contaminating even that which is pure and true. Kendra had no trouble believing that Burdock had lied and cheated. She just couldn’t be sure that Gayla wasn’t doing the same.

“Come with me, okay?” Gayla implored. “I need someone in my corner right now.”

“Give me back my ring,” Kendra said. “And I’ll come.”

“I will. I promise,” Gayla said. “Right after the trial.”

“Why not now?” Kendra asked.

“I . . . I just need it for the trial,” Gayla replied.

“Why?”

“Well, it might bring me some luck,’ Gayla said. “And let’s face it. If they’ve called me before the council, I’ll need all the luck I can get.”

The Elder Stone was one of Kendra’s favorite places in all the land of Een. She loved its rainbow fountains and the cryptic stone faces that peered from every nook and cranny, each one seemingly with a story to tell. Yet today, there was not a moment to be spared marveling at the stone’s wonders. As soon as they reached the grand hall, Gayla was ushered inside by a stern-looking badger with a set of nasty claws and an even nastier pike. Kendra was allowed to go as far as the door to the council chambers and then made to wait in the corridor. She spent several anxious moments sitting alone, until the doors opened a crack and Oki darted out to join her.

“Your uncle has had me running all over Faun’s End asking after Gayla,” the mouse explained. “But now that she’s arrived, I have to wait out here.”

“How do you think it’s going?” Kendra asked, plucking at her braids.

“Not well for Roompa,” Oki replied. “Gayla’s his only hope. But it sounds like she doesn’t have a very good reputation. I guess she’s been known to tell a fib or two.”

“Tell me about it,” Kendra sighed. “You were right; she’s had the Kazah stone the whole time.”

The trial didn’t last long. Only an hour later, the doors to the council chambers opened and Roompa appeared, his head hung low in shame. He was quickly led away by the badger. Then Burdock strutted out, followed by Uncle Griffinskitch and a dejected Gayla.

“Looks like everything has been settled,” Burdock declared, puffing out his chest. “Well, except for one last matter to arrange between the girl and me.” He cast a salacious smile at Gayla. For a moment she looked as if she was forming some retort, but then she just flushed red, turned, and bolted down the corridor.

“Gayla—wait!” Uncle Griffinskitch called, but she was already gone.

“We’ll fetch her,” Kendra said, grabbing Oki’s paw.

They headed off in pursuit of the temperamental Teenling and found her only a few moments later. She was sitting at the bottom of a lonely staircase, tears streaming down her face.

“They took away Roompa’s wand,” Gayla said. “
Permanently.
Can you believe it?”

“It’s exactly what Ratchet said happened to his grandfather,” Oki murmured thoughtfully. “He went to live in the southern outskirts of Een in shame.”

“Who’s Ratchet?” Gayla asked.

“Er . . . just a friend of ours,” Kendra said. “But what about
you
? What did the council say?”

“I’m being punished too,” Gayla said, wiping her cheeks with one sleeve. “They’re going to suspend my training. They say I’m too arrogant. Too brash.”

Kendra gasped. She couldn’t help thinking that this wasn’t the way things were supposed to turn out. How could her mother grow into one of Een’s greatest sorceresses if she wasn’t allowed to study magic?

Then Gayla reached inside her robe and pulled out the Kazah stone. She cradled it in her palm, staring at it longingly. “I didn’t lie,” she said. “How come no one believes me? Burdock’s the one. He’s getting away with it just because I’m so young and he’s . . . he’s so old.”

Kendra looked down at Oki and sighed. She knew all too well the nature of Burdock’s slippery tongue. He could charm a dragon from its egg.

“I can’t stay here,” Gayla whispered. “I need to be free. This place . . . it’s like I’m being strangled. I can’t live the life they’re laying out for me.”

“What are you talking about?” Kendra asked. “What life?”

“Don’t you get it?” Gayla said in exasperation. “Burdock wants to marry me.”

“That’s disgusting!” Oki cried.

“And what about Krimson?!” Kendra exclaimed.

“He’s just a gardener,” Gayla said. “Beards wants me to marry someone ‘proper.’ Like a wizard. Like Burdock.”

“But he wouldn’t make you marry Burdock,” Kendra persisted.

Gayla looked at her, wild-eyed. “This isn’t a fairy tale, Braids. It’s real life.”

“But—”

Gayla didn’t let her finish. “I know you don’t come from here,” she said. “I worked it out. You come from the future, don’t you? You
are
related to Krimson. You’re his daughter or granddaughter or something aren’t you? He went off and married some pretty girl, like that wretched Miranda.”

Kendra pulled fiercely on her braids. She didn’t know what to say.

“You have to get me out of here,” Gayla urged. “You have to take me to your time.”

“I-I can’t,” Kendra said. “I don’t know how. We came by accident.”

“Fine,” Gayla said. “I don’t need your help. I can do it without you.” And with that she closed her eyes and clutched the Kazah stone tight to her chest.

“What are you doing?!” Oki squealed.

“Shut it, Eeks, or I’ll tie your tail in knot,” Gayla snarled.

Then she breathed deeply, her whole body seeming to relax. Kendra could see she was disappearing into a quiet corner of her mind.

She’s way better at mediating than me,
Kendra thought. She could almost sense the world Gayla was imagining. It was another place, another time—one without Burdock.

Then the ring began to glow. The whole corridor filled with a soft purple light that soon began to grow whiter and hotter.

“She’s disappearing!” Kendra cried. She clutched Oki’s paw and reached out for Gayla’s sleeve.

“Eek!” Oki squealed. “What about the timeline?”

It was too late. A sheet of white flashed in front of Kendra’s eyes—then, in an instant, she felt herself sucked away.