Inquest Read online

  “This guy created the world?” Jonas scoffed, looking highly skeptical.

  “I know, it sounds crazy nowadays,” Vane said with a sigh, “but the fact is that Zéphyrin, and the others of his age, are the only creatures still alive in this world who could have actually been there when the legends began. I’m not saying he’s a god, but he and the other ancients always change their names and move once people start to see the resemblance. All the same, it’s probably best to be nice to him.”

  Myra cocked her head to one side. “You weren’t as nice to your friend in Japan as you are to this drag—” She stopped herself and glanced worriedly at Twist. Twist smiled back at her sheepishly, thankful that she didn’t get the whole word out.

  “That’s a good point, Myra,” Twist said, remembering the annoying names and reproachful remarks that Vane hadn’t had any trouble giving to Kazan, the blue dragon that Twist had accidentally slain in Japan.

  “Oh, he’s young,” Vane said with a wave of his hand. “Only about three or four thousand years old. They change over time, and the ancients have tricks that none of the younger ones will ever have.”

  “What kind of tricks?” Jonas asked.

  Vane looked at him levelly, though Jonas didn’t let him catch his eyes. “That rain in Melbourne wasn’t natural. I could feel it. I didn’t recognize it until I saw him change form, but Zéphyrin was probably using it to find Twist and to focus his power.”

  Jonas sat heavily on a divan. “Great. Well,” he said with a sigh, glancing around at the beautiful but mouth-shaped room, “if we are well and thoroughly trapped, at least the cage is nice. If not a bit Jonah-esque…”

  Twist smiled lightly, imaging that a crocodile’s mouth was likely more comfortable than a whale’s stomach. He took a seat as well, facing the tall glass windows that filled the front of the ship. Myra joined him just as Twist felt the ship begin to move. It sank slowly while the water around it began to lighten in color. It wasn’t long at all before Twist saw a ring of brilliant lights appear at the bottom of the deep well, where the rock gave away completely to open ocean. Powerful lights—probably placed where the crocodile’s eyes should be, judging by what Twist could see—turned the sea ahead a rich and clear blue, while the ship began to move out away from the land.

  Twist watched, transfixed, as the view out of the window walls showed the pale sand of the ocean bottom speeding quickly by while massive schools of vibrantly colored fish darted out of the way like shimmering leaves. Colorful forests of coral and deep-green kelp appeared in patches, while he also spotted occasional ghostly shipwrecks in the distance. Far up above, on the surface of the ocean, Twist could see the shimmering glow of sunlight falling through the blue water in long sheets like a silvery version of the aurora borealis.

  “Oh! Look, a turtle!” Myra gasped, pointing excitedly as a sea turtle swam calmly by. “Isn’t it cute?”

  “There’s a pod of jellyfish coming up,” Jonas said, smiling with bright blue eyes as he watched the distant, shifting cerulean field up ahead. “You’ll like them, Myra.”

  The buzz in the back of Twist’s neck had grown cool and less anxious as Jonas seemed resigned to his fate for now. Kali laid herself down at Twist’s feet, watching out the window as if looking for the jellyfish. Twist felt his thoughts lighten as he too gave up the burden of any plans for escape. Their host had expressly stated that he meant them no harm, for the moment. But Twist knew that once they reached their destination, there would be nothing to count on but himself and his friends. Perhaps he should rest his nerves for now, in anticipation of a coming battle. He pushed away his nagging anxieties as best he could and took Myra’s hand.

  Myra didn’t make any complaint as she peered into the water intently, her excitement sparkling over Twist’s Sight. After a short pause, Jonas’s prophecy came true, and the sea before them seemed to fill to bursting with countless, crystal-clear and pink pillows with long, diaphanous, lacy tails. The ship didn’t slow at all but instead slipped right into the cloud of jellyfish as each one drifted harmlessly by.

  Myra bounced in her seat, watching the beautiful little creatures engulf them. “Oh, I do like them, I do!” she said brightly to Jonas. “I’ve never seen jellyfish before, but I like them very much. How wondrous!”

  “Let me know when they’re gone,” Vane muttered, shielding his eyes with a hand.

  “What’s wrong with jellyfish?” Twist asked.

  “I fell into a patch of them once, up north from here,” he said unhappily. “I was covered in sores for weeks. Thank heavens I’m immortal or I might not have even survived.”

  “Do they bite?” Myra asked, tilting her head slightly to one side. “They look so sweet.”

  “In my experience, it’s the most beautiful things that have the nastiest bite,” Vane said darkly. Jonas nodded slowly.

  Twist struggled to think of anything else in the world that was both beautiful and dangerous, but he had trouble coming up with an example. Myra gave Vane and Jonas each a warning look.

  “If either of you are implying anything untoward about my gender, I’d appreciate it if you’d stop.”

  “Ah!” Twist said suddenly, catching at the meaning finally. Myra turned her warning gaze to him.

  “Twist, you going to back us up?” Jonas asked leadingly.

  “Goodness no,” Twist said, shaking his head. He smiled warmly at Myra. “I haven’t a clue what you chaps are on about.”

  “That’s my gentleman,” Myra said smugly, giving him a pleased smile.

  “Traitor,” Vane snapped at him. Jonas chuckled.

  Twist laughed lightly and turned his attention back to the sea. It wasn’t long before Bill the goblin arrived and announced that their cabins had been selected. With heavy reluctance, Twist turned his eyes away from the blue vista to follow after the goblin. Bill led them down the gullet of the ship and eventually stopped to open an ornately inlaid metal door.

  The room inside was just as lavishly decorated as every other part of the ship. The walls curved inward at the ceiling and floor and were filled with large, golden-framed, circular windows that looked to Twist like living paintings of the sea. There were three beds in the room, with green velvet curtains hanging around each one, and a small sitting area of velvet settees in the center. Twist saw a pair of brass-and-copper wardrobes nestled into the empty space along the inner wall, and a vanity and washbasin placed discreetly in the back of the room.

  “We’re not using this room for crew,” Bill said in his sickly voice. “Sorry if it’s a bit dusty. You gentlemen can share in here. Over here,” he added, turning around to the door on the other side of the hallway, “is for the lady.”

  He opened the door to reveal a room of a very similar design, except that this one only had two curtained beds in it. The remaining space had been filled by a gold-and-silver harpsichord.

  “Oh, Myra will be all alone,” Vane said sadly. “I know, I’ll stay with her,” he offered with a bright tone and a sly smile. Without a word, Jonas reached out to slap Vane on the back of the head. After the initial shock, Vane fell begrudgingly silent.

  “Thank you very much,” Twist said to the goblin. “This is more than I expected.”

  “I’ll pass your gratitude on to my captain,” Bill said, looking somewhat pleased. “Someone will collect you for lunch.”

  As the others thanked Bill and let him return to his duties, a sudden but acute awareness of his present circumstance washed over Twist. Even though he didn’t feel like he was in any imminent danger, he was surrounded on all sides by monsters and strange creatures. Twist let out a sigh and shook his head. Just another day…

  Once everyone had settled in somewhat—Myra and Jonas falling into amiable conversation while Vane made idle comments—Twist’s mind began to wander. With all of the new magical sights he’d seen so far today, he found himself growing a little anxious in this artificial calm. He took a stroll around the room when no one was talking to him and opened a wardr
obe out of pure curiosity. He found nothing but bare shelves and hangers inside, although the wood lining gave off a delightful cedar scent. Curiosity sated, he closed it again.

  “What’s wrong?” Jonas asked, seated on a settee with Myra. “No portal to a magical realm in there? Try the other one.” Sitting across from him, Vane gave Jonas an uncertain look.

  Twist glanced back at Jonas, confused. “What?”

  “Never mind,” Jonas said with a smile to him. “Do sit down. We’re safe now, but your restlessness is still buzzing around my ears.”

  “I can’t help it,” Twist muttered, returning to sit on a chair near Jonas and Myra. “I’ve never been arrested before. And for murder, no less. I keep trying to put it out of my mind, but the whole thing is bad for my nerves.”

  Jonas looked at him, wide-eyed. “Our captain’s a fire-breathing snake who may or may not have created the world, we’re traveling by luxury submersible, and that’s a tiger at your knee,” he said, pointing to Kali as she sat beside Twist’s chair to lean her furry chin on his knee. “But you’re nervous because you’ve been arrested?”

  “Well…” Twist muttered, absently petting at Kali’s ear as she began to purr, “all of those other things are ridiculous. If I worried about every insane thing that happened to me, I’m sure my head would explode in a matter of days. The madness is easier to ignore.”

  Myra gave a sympathetic tone and patted Twist’s arm. He smiled to her gratefully. Jonas, meanwhile, beamed at Twist with great pride.

  “First, you let go of the ground,” he said, speaking as if his words tasted lovely, “and now you’re accepting madness out of habit. My dear Twist, you’ll soon be as free as I am.”

  Twist laughed lightly. “And what exactly could I do to continue to improve, by your scale?”

  Jonas leaned closer to him with a wicked grin. “Delight in the adventure.”

  “Oh, I’m not sure I’ll be doing that any time soon,” Twist said gravely. “I still rather prefer a nice cup of tea, a broken clock to repair, and a whole day with nothing in it, to all of this ‘adventure’ that you so delight in.”

  “Sure…” Jonas toned, still grinning. “You keep telling yourself that, while you pet your tiger.” Vane chuckled to himself.

  Twist glanced down at Kali, who met his gaze with her big, glassy, brown eyes. Though her face didn’t move into the expression, Twist couldn’t shake the feeling that the tiger was giving him a sympathetic look. Before Twist could make any rebuttal, there was a knock at their cabin door. Vane jumped up to answer it and found a woman standing outside in the hallway.

  She was tall, sleekly but softly built, and wore her black hair in a long braid that draped loosely around her shoulders once before it fell nearly to the floor. She wore an Indian sari of sapphire blue edged in gold, a chain of gold that hung between a ring in her ear and another in her nostril, and golden slippers with curling toes on her feet. Twist, however, stared in shock to see that the woman’s bare arms, face, and neck were all of a vibrant amethyst color. There were also fine, intricate, scrawling black lines tattooed or drawn onto her hands and the edges of her face. She smiled gently to Vane as he invited her inside.

  “Thank you,” she said in a soft Indian accent, as Twist automatically rose to his feet and offered her a shallow bow of greeting. Kali stared at the woman as if startled by the sight of her but didn’t move a muscle. “Hello there, sweetheart,” she cooed sweetly to Kali. “What a charming form for a familiar. Who do you belong to?” she asked, glancing over the others with glistening mahogany eyes.

  “She’s mine,” Twist said as casually as he could. It probably wasn’t best to broadcast the idea that a Rook agent was watching them through Kali’s eyes.

  The purple lady smiled at him knowingly. “Liar.”

  Twist’s heartbeat quickened, and his mind raced to find a tactical response. Before he could come up with anything, however, the purple lady clasped her hands and looked over the others again.

  “I have come to invite all of you to lunch,” she said pleasantly. “The captain would like to speak with you again, in a less violent situation than before. Will you join us?”

  “As long as I’m not on the menu,” Jonas said, rising to his feet and offering a hand to Myra, “I’d be delighted.”

  The purple lady laughed quietly behind a hand. “Nonsense,” she said almost playfully. “None of you will be harmed in any way while you’re on this ship. Unless, of course,” she added, turning to look directly at Vane, who dropped his gaze to the floor, clearly fearful under her attention, “any of you do anything clearly foolish.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Vane said instantly, his voice high and tight as he smiled up to her.

  “Liar,” the purple lady toned, her smile smoldering. Vane’s black eyes flashed with alarm, and he dropped his gaze back to the floor.

  Twist looked to Jonas and Myra questioningly. Jonas gave him a shrug, while Myra only smiled as she looked over the details of the lady’s sari. Kali pressed her shoulder against Twist’s leg, giving a very soft and anxious tone. Twist reached down to stroke her neck, keeping his eyes on the lady.

  “Shall we?” the purple lady asked brightly, turning back to Twist and the others.

  They all accepted and followed her out into the hallway. Myra hurried her pace to offer compliments on the lady’s sari as they walked, while Jonas grabbed Vane’s arm to pull him back.

  “What is she?” Jonas hissed to Vane while the women fell easily into a bright conversation about fashion. Twist slowed his own pace, walking just ahead of Jonas and Vane, to hear their whispers, while Kali remained close to his side.

  “She’s a djinn, of course,” Vane whispered back softly.

  “What, like Idris?” Jonas asked. “You’ve never shown Idris the slightest respect, but you seem terrified of her.”

  “No, no, she’s a free djinn,” Vane said, shaking his head. “She doesn’t have to grant wishes; she can use her powers whenever she likes, and there is very little that she can’t do. Idris is limited heavily by his sentence. He’s no real threat.”

  “What are you doing back there?” the purple lady called back, having found that the men had drifted more than a few steps behind.

  Jonas released Vane’s arm instantly as all of them hurried their steps to keep up. The lady shook her head as she continued to lead them on, but Myra gave Twist an apologetic look as she turned to follow. Twist instantly realized that she had tried to create a distraction, to allow Jonas and Twist to continue to question Vane. Twist smiled, taking her hand, and enjoyed his new awareness of the subtle connection between their motives.

  Thinking back over similar, quietly cooperative moments in their past, Twist realized that he, Myra, and Jonas had begun to work together as smoothly and comfortably as clockwork. In light of that delightful notion, the prospect of lunch with an ancient dragon and free djinn didn’t seem quite as frightening.

  “Please, have a seat,” Zéphyrin said, standing from his chair at the head of the table as Twist and the others entered the dining room.

  Twist sat in one of the green velvet padded chairs at the long, oval, brass dining table, and he couldn’t help but marvel at the room around him. The walls were inlaid with copper and gold just like every other part of the ship, but the ceiling was filled nearly to the edges with an enormous dome of clear glass. The gold-lined panes were cut to give the dome a spiraling pattern that gave a false sense of depth and made the ocean above seem to be slowing flowing down over their heads.

  Twist let his eyes play in the illusion as a flock of oily-black, diamond-shaped rays flew overhead like crows against a deep noon sky. He instantly reached out to take Myra’s hand, sitting beside him as she was, and pointed up before the flock moved out of view. She gasped, and her delight rippled over his Sight pleasantly.

  “Oh, they look like birds!” she said excitedly.

  Twist nodded, smiling. “We should really travel by submersible more often,” he s
aid. Kali sat quietly on the floor beside Twist’s chair, peering just over the edge of the table at the others.

  “I’m glad you approve,” Zéphyrin said brightly. Twist turned to find the dragon smiling at him with red eyes, his tall human form folded into a casual posture in his chair. The lady was seated at Zéphyrin’s right, her purple hand in his. “Have you been introduced?” the dragon asked the djinn. She shook her head. “This is Hala,” he said to the others before introducing them to her as well.

  Sitting near the end of the table, beside Jonas, Vane covered his face with his hands, clearly horrified to hear the djinn’s name.

  “Something wrong, little one?” Zéphyrin asked him.

  “Wrong?” Vane scoffed. “I’m having lunch with two of the most powerful and ancient creatures who have ever been, sitting here with my one tail and complete lack of teleportation abilities. Whatever could be wrong?”

  Hala laughed quietly behind her hand. “Fear not, sweetheart,” she said gently to Vane. “You have given us no reason to be unfriendly to you.”

  “Jonas!” Vane gasped, making him jump. Vane grabbed Jonas’s hand, holding it tightly as he looked desperately at him. “For the love of all that is decent and admirable, don’t be yourself around these two!”

  “What do you know about what is decent or admirable?” Jonas sneered, jerking his hand out of Vane’s grip to wipe it on his trousers as if sullied by the contact.

  “He’s sorry,” Vane said desperately to their hosts. “Whatever he’s going to do or say, he’s very, very sorry. He’s just a sky pirate and means none of it, I assure you!” he added, his hands clasped in prayer.

  “Cut that out!” Jonas grumbled at him, reaching out to swat at him. “I’m not sorry for anyth—”

  Vane reached out to grab Jonas’s head, holding a hand over his mouth as Jonas struggled. “Don’t listen to him. He is sorry,” Vane said firmly. He gave a yelp of pain as Jonas apparently bit into his palm.

  “Get off! Bloody stupid fox!” Jonas bellowed before wiping at his mouth.