Archibald Lox and the Empress of Suanpan by Darren Shan

Author:Darren Shan [Shan, Darren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Action & Adventure, Boys, Coming-of-Age, fantasy, Magic, paranormal, Young Adult
Amazon: B086LLRZFH
Goodreads: 52887095
Publisher: Home of the Damned Ltd
Published: 2020-03-30T04:00:00+00:00

12

Not all of Urszula’s appointments pass as swiftly as the first. Some people are with her for ages, and on occasion things get heated and voices are raised angrily, though Urszula never loses her temper or shouts, even when she’s being roared at.

We’re waiting a few hours for everyone with a red or orange ball to be seen, and members of the crowd are growing restless, jeering those who spend a long time with the empress. The assistants let them jeer, and I get the sense that this is nothing new, all part of the sport.

The diplomatic meetings finally draw to an end and there’s a change in the atmosphere. Urszula draws aside to wash her hands, and her assistants run checks on the machine at the end of the room. Other helpers remove the glass throne, then their empress strolls forward and beams at the crowd.

“Here we are again,” she chuckles, and her warm, rich voice matches her sweet, grandmotherly appearance. “I thought everyone would have tired of my little Spinner by now.”

People laugh politely as I raise a questioning eyebrow at the masked Inez.

“That’s the name of the machine,” she says.

“Who’s first?” Urszula asks, and a woman walks down the steps, hands a yellow ball to one of the assistants, then nervously makes her way to the smiling empress.

Urszula makes the greet, then asks the woman’s name.

“Mandy,” the woman says quietly, then blushes as people applaud.

“Why do you want to challenge me, Mandy?” Urszula asks.

Mandy coughs and shakes her head.

“It’s alright if you want to keep your reasons to yourself,” Urszula says.

“It’s not that,” Mandy mutters. “It’s just… I’m not sure. I’ve been in the Merge a long time, and I’m ready to move on, and I figured I might as well chance my hand before I do, given all the times I’ve enjoyed watching you play.”

Urszula laughs pleasantly and hugs the blushing Mandy. “Bless you, dear. That’s fine, we don’t have to play for any real reason. But there has to be a stake of some sort to make it interesting. What have you in mind?”

“I was thinking I could stake a few years of household service,” Mandy says. “I could clean, wash floors, cook…” She trails off, and it’s clear she hasn’t given this much thought.

“Was this a spur of the moment decision?” Urszula asks kindly.

“Yes,” Mandy says. “I woke up this morning and decided to give it a go. I hurried here before I could change my mind.”

“A true gambler,” Urszula exclaims, and Mandy grins sheepishly. “I don’t think it would be fair to ask too much of you. How about a year of service if you lose, the bulk of your duties to include helping clean the Spin Zone — that way you can enjoy watching more games.”

“That sounds good to me,” Mandy smiles. “And if I win?”

“What would you like?” Urszula asks.

Mandy frowns. “As I said, I’m planning to move on. There isn’t really anything that I crave.”

Urszula mulls it over, then twitches her right index finger.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.