Edda by Conor Kostick

Author:Conor Kostick
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781101529331
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2011-05-13T10:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

SECRETS BY NIGHT

Once more in her magician’s laboratory, Penelope stood beside a thin lead-lined window, looking out to where distant clouds drifted across an orange evening sky with the promise of freedom. Below her a section of the road was filled with a variety of unit types, riding or driving to and from the castle. Watching them was like looking down on a nest of ants.

“Busy, busy, Ambassador.”

“I beg your pardon, Princess?”

“The castle is busier than ever.”

“Oh, indeed. General and Lord Scanthax have decided to attack Saga as soon as we have manufactured a reserve of a million military units—an arbitrary figure, true, but one considered sufficient to deal with any potential ripostes.”

With a slight shake of her head, Penelope came back to her massive worktable, running her fingers along its deepest scars. “And what will you do, Ambassador, when Saga has been conquered and I have left Edda to concentrate on my human body?”

Whenever she could, Penelope gave Ambassador the impression that she believed unquestioningly that Lord Scanthax would honor their agreement and allow her to run the systems that kept her body alive. The reality, though, was that she no longer trusted him in the slightest.

“I . . .” Uncharacteristically, Ambassador was at a loss for words. “I suppose I will be downgraded in my level of autonomy at a redistribution but kept in a functioning state in case Lord Scanthax needs to communicate with you or other entities.”

“Humans?”

“It is always possible they might return.”

“Hope for us all,” Penelope sighed.

Ambassador did not reply; his head was bowed as he smoothed his silk waistcoat free of undetectable wrinkles. It was not fair to tease him with the fact that he was far more subject to the will of Lord Scanthax than Penelope, but she was tired of his constant presence. Ever since her return to Edda, even while her avatar lay in her four-poster bed, she had been aware of Ambassador’s careful scrutiny. When she fell asleep, he was there, waiting patiently in the darkened room beyond the drapes, and when she awoke, it was as though he had not moved the whole night. Perhaps he hadn’t.

If Lord Scanthax thought that her tolerance of such a close guard combined with her submissive and meek behavior meant that Penelope had given up on plans to escape him, he was mistaken. For while on the surface she was as obedient as any of his manifestations, every day her heart cried rebellion. Not that this mutinous state of mind was evident from her routine: morning after morning, she walked up the winding stone staircase to the dark tower’s workroom, lit the candles and lanterns, and settled down to her scripting. The items that were the focus of her attention were shaped as closely as she could manage to the Saga weapons that Lord Scanthax desired so very greatly. The guns on the table looked like exact replicas of those he had captured: but the similarity went no deeper than appearance. For

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