Sky Raiders (26 page)

“You should have stayed on,” Mira called. “It was fun.”

“I’m not big on unnecessary risk,” he answered.

When the others caught up, Lola crouched down and let Twitch climb back on. Jamar led the way forward.

At the end of the hall waited a large carved door. As they approached, it opened, and they passed through into a long chamber. Two rows of pillars supported the high, arched ceiling. The pillars were carved like stacked heads, and every head had four faces, one on each side. Black veins swirled through the red marble floor, and dark draperies softened the walls.

In the middle of the chamber sat a small old man on a modest chair. He stood as they entered, using a cane in each hand. The pig stopped ten paces from him and crouched down.

“Should we get off?” Jace asked.

“Yes,” Lola replied.

They all slid down the same side. The marble floor was hard and smooth underfoot. The quilted pig backed away.

The little man walked forward a few steps, relying heavily on his canes. He was almost bald, with a thin fringe of white around the sides of his lightly spotted head. His features
disguised by wrinkles, he looked frail, like he belonged in a hospital gown. Instead, he wore a plain green sweater and brown trousers. The slippers on his feet left a clear view of his pale, bony ankles.

The old man paused. “Would you close the door, Jamar?” His voice lacked vitality.

The door swung shut.

The old man smiled awkwardly. He had very even teeth. “Well, you have uncovered our little secret, haven’t you? Happens on occasion, but not often, not often.”

He seemed to be waiting for them to respond.

“Are you the master?” Mira asked.

His smile widened, and he gave a weak chuckle. “I suppose so, especially if we’re still keeping this secretive. Welcome to Cloudvale, one of the least publicized hideaways in the five kingdoms. It’s a small province, but it’s free. We’d prefer to keep it that way.”

“We’re not spies,” Cole said.

“Now that I see you, I suspect that’s true,” the old man said, his smile fading a little. “The only one of you with the potential to transmit information out of here is definitely not allied with the High Shaper. Do you three boys know who you’re escorting?”

“We know enough,” Jace said.

“How much?” the old man asked Mira.

“Not everything,” Mira said. “You know who I am?”

“Yes,” he said. “How much do you trust them?”

“As much as I can trust anyone. They’ve all risked their lives for me.”

He nodded. “Have you figured out who I am?”

“I think so,” she answered.

He lifted one of his canes momentarily to point at her. “Out with it, then, young lady. Who am I?”

“You’re Declan Pierce, the Grand Shaper of Sambria.”

His smile grew wide again, eyes crinkling. “Guilty. Guilty as charged. Do you mean to continue in the company of these three boys?”

Cole watched Mira, as did Jace and Twitch. She considered them. “You don’t have to stay with me. Trouble will follow wherever I go.”

“I’m not going to leave you unprotected,” Jace said.

“Me neither,” Cole seconded.

“We’ve come this far,” Twitch added.

Mira faced Declan. “Then, yes, they’ll remain with me.”

“Would you like them to share in our counsel?” Declan asked. “It would mean revealing your identity.”

“Yes,” Mira said.

His smile vanished. “Leave us, Asia, Jamar. Lola, tell your maker to take a greater interest in current events.”

“Are you sure, sire?” Asia asked.

Annoyance flickered across Declan’s features. “We have sensitive matters to discuss. We’re not just meeting here because I adore drafty underground theatricality. You’ll be included when the time is right. Look to our defenses. We must stay on high alert going forward. That is all.”

The doors opened. Jamar exited with his wax people. Asia walked out beside the pig, and the doors swung shut.

Declan made his way back to the chair using his canes.
Once in his seat again, he wiped perspiration from his brow, breathing shallowly. “I feel terrible sitting while you stand.”

“It’s fine,” Cole said.

“It’s rude,” Declan replied. “Old bones. Can’t be helped. Well, could have been helped, perhaps, with better planning. I didn’t anticipate visitors, and we need utter silence.”

“Can’t you just shape us some chairs?” Jace asked.

“Elsewhere, yes. But I mustn’t risk shaping in here. Any new shaping I perform could disturb the balance that keeps this room inscrutable from the outside.”

“We can’t be heard?” Mira asked.

“We probably couldn’t be overheard anywhere in Cloudvale, but this room makes it certain that nobody will eavesdrop. Young lady, it’s time to reveal your true identity. Would you like to do the honors, or should I?”

“Go ahead,” Mira said politely.

“The five daughters of Stafford Pemberton, High Shaper over the five kingdoms, were Elegance, Honor, Constance, Miracle, and Destiny. He never had a male heir. The girls supposedly died in an accident more than sixty years ago. Except they didn’t. They lived.”

“How do you know that?” Mira asked.

“Harmony has been in touch,” Declan said. “Stafford faked their deaths so he could hold them prisoner. He had somehow stolen their powers, but he needed them alive or he would lose his newfound talents. So a carriage dramatically plunged into a roiling river, and even as he locked his daughters away in a dungeon, the High Shaper pretended to mourn with the rest of us.”

“When he took their shaping abilities, the girls stopped aging,” Mira said. “The process wasn’t merely slowed—they are all as young today as the day their father betrayed them.”

“Their mother, Harmony, got wise to the plot and helped her daughters escape,” Declan continued. “The five royal princesses hide in exile to this very hour—Elegance, Honor, Constance, Miracle, and Destiny. Some of them may not even bother to use clever aliases.”

As the realization hit, Cole felt like the breath had been knocked out of him. It took him a moment to speak. “You’re Miracle.”

Mira raised her eyebrows. “I used a less obvious name for the first twenty years in hiding. With my family, I had always gone by Mira. As time passed, people forgot about my death. If I had survived, I should have been an adult. Instead, I was a slave girl. I stayed far from anyone who might have remembered my face. Regaining my true nickname never caused any problems.”

“No way,” Jace said. “You’re really Princess Miracle?”

She flashed an awkward smile and nodded.

“They call those five princesses the lost treasure of Junction,” Twitch said. “Everyone knows the story. They were all amazing shapers. After they vanished, the High King was never the same.”

Declan gave a sour chuckle. “Too true. He had taken their gifts, and with that new power, he found the courage to show his true colors.”

“I can hardly believe it,” Twitch said, dropping to one knee. “I should have been more respectful. I should have—”

“No,” Mira interrupted. “Get up. None of that. You’ve all been exactly what I need. Real friends in a time of hardship.”

Cole squinted at her as he did a quick calculation. “You’re in your seventies?”

“No, I’m eleven,” Mira said, her cheeks flushing. “I’ve just been eleven for a really long time.”

“Your nickname should be ‘Granny,’ ” Jace said.

“Ha-ha,” Mira replied. “I’m not an adult who looks like a kid. I’m a kid who never became an adult. Years going by isn’t the same as aging. I don’t change. I’ve always been treated like I’m eleven. I’ve always looked eleven. I’ve never really felt any older than that.”

“But you’ve lived for so long,” Twitch said.

“I’m sure I know more than a normal eleven-year-old,” she said. “I just don’t feel older. How could I? I’ve never
been
older.”

“You must have watched other people get old,” Cole said.

Mira brushed some stray hairs from her eyes. “Not for long. We moved a lot. Looking back is weird. I was ten so long ago. It’s been forever since I’ve seen anyone in my family. I saw Durny age, though, since he stayed with me.”

“Durny was your bodyguard?” Jace asked.

“My second protector. The first, Roderick, eventually got old and died. Even though we moved around, my mother has a way to find me. Many shapers have specialties. My mother has two—visions and the stars. Those abilities complement each other. She can find her daughters wherever we roam. She sent Durny to me after she sensed that Roderick had died.”

“You know,” Declan said, “I met your older sisters once—Elegance and Honor. They were quite young at the time. It was during my last visit to Junction, when I was first beginning to suspect that your father was not to be trusted. I should have given more serious heed to my instincts.”

“How did you recognize Mira?” Jace asked.

“I understand a thing or two about shaping, boy,” Declan said. “I can sense the power of a shaper. Her power has been stripped from her, and it is connected to a gathering mass of shaping energy elsewhere in Sambria. But a lesser portion of her gift is slowly returning to her. Only one girl in all the Outskirts would fully match that description.” His expression softened. “You poor child. You have endured some trying years. Sadly, I fear it will only get worse from here.”

“What should I do?” Mira asked.

“That’s the question. You shouldn’t stay here, and you shouldn’t go either, yet we have to do something. How much do you know about what your father did to you?”

“I know he took my power,” she said. “I still don’t understand how.”

“You’re not alone there,” Declan assured her. “It defies all knowledge of shaping.”

“I know I stopped aging,” Mira went on. “I know my power has slowly started coming back. And now Father has sent hundreds of legionnaires after me.”

“You know so little?” Declan asked, his voice sad. “We definitely need to talk.”

Twitch sat down on the floor, legs crossed. Cole did likewise, followed by Jace.

“I apologize again for the seating arrangements,” Declan said.

“This isn’t bad,” Cole assured him.

Declan shook his head. “Chilly and hard.”

“What can you tell me about my father?” Mira asked, not sitting, eyes intense.

“Not everything,” Declan said. “But I can shed some light on a few matters. Please, have a seat. This may take some time.”

21

“H
ow often do you corresponded with Harmony?” Declan asked after Mira sat.

“Mother only contacts me indirectly,” Mira said.

“No messages?” Declan verified.

“Not really. She recently tried. She has a signal for when danger is coming. It can also lead messengers or new protectors to me.”

“Where is your current protector?”

“He just died. We got into trouble at a sky castle. Mother had sent her warning signal, so he was trying to collect floatstones to make a skycraft for our escape from Skyport, but he got killed. Then today, a messenger arrived right before a large group of legionnaires. I never got the message. I can only assume it was a warning that my father had found me. I wouldn’t have escaped Skyport without help from my friends.”

“These boys stepped in,” Declan said, sizing them up. “I take it you have names?”

“Jace.”

“I’m Cole.”

“They call me Twitch.”

“Three young slaves escaped from the Sky Raiders,” Declan said. “Not the most likely escorts for a princess of the highest royal family in the five kingdoms. Were you all born in Sambria?”

“I was,” Jace said. “I’ve been a slave since I can remember.”

“I was born in Elloweer,” Twitch said.

“I’m from Earth,” Cole said.

“Liam mentioned you,” Declan told Cole. “How did you arrive here?”

“Slave traders took my friends. I came here to help them but got caught.”

“You arrived voluntarily?” Declan asked.

“Nobody forced me,” Cole said. “I didn’t really know what I was getting into.”

“Interesting. A newly minted slave, I take it?”

“Just a couple of weeks. Two of my closest friends were taken to be slaves of the High King. Mira promised to help me find them.”