The Master of Misrule by Laura Powell

Author:Laura Powell [Powell, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-375-89784-9
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2012-06-12T04:00:00+00:00

“Well,” said Flora shakily, “that was interesting.”

Dazed, Cat turned round to face the steps of Temple House. A toss of a coin … the slam of a door … a snap of bone … In real time, she had barely had the chance to catch her breath after her last move, and yet its ordeal already seemed misty and muddled, like something from long ago. She looked back at the others. “Did you see the giant chessboard, too? And the other kings and queens, with their cards?” she asked.

They nodded.

“It was strange,” Flora murmured. “It’s not as if I’d expect them to be overwhelmingly grateful for being set free. After all, we’re the ones who wrecked their Game in the first place. But they … they looked so … ruined.”

“They’ve lost everything,” Toby replied solemnly. “After centuries of ruling the Game, what could life in this world possibly offer? Perhaps for an ousted Game Master, even suffering in the Arcanum is better than being banned from it.”

“More fool them,” said Blaine.

“And more power to us!” Toby’s face brightened. “C’mon, guys, we did it. We’re the new generation of Game royalty! All hail the King of Pentacles! Wooo-HOOO!” He let out a victory yelp that echoed around the square.

Flora smiled a little but shook her head. “What’s the use of grand titles if we don’t have our Game Masters’ decks?” She spread out her empty hands. “One minute the Queen of Cups’ cards were there—floating toward me—and the next they had gone. Nothing.”

Toby inspected his own palm. “Hmm. There must be a way of getting them back. Maybe we need to find those magic-ball-amulet thingies first.”

“Or maybe Misrule has stolen them,” said Flora. “Who knows? Without the High Priest to guide us, we haven’t a clue. About anything.”

Cat opened her mouth to tell them about the oracle, then thought better of it. The words of the prophecy were hopelessly entangled; she needed to straighten them out in her own mind first. In the meantime, Toby’s confidence was irrepressible.

“Well, we’ve got at least one card up our sleeves. Look!” With a flourish, he pulled out the card he had taken from the old man. “It’s blank at the moment. But the High Priest must have meant us to have it, as our next move. Perhaps it will take us to the rest of the deck.”

“We don’t know that for certain,” Cat cautioned. “It could lead to anything.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he replied. “Once we’re in the Arcanum, the Game will show us what to do. We’ll just keep going until we get some answers. I lost my die but I’ve still got my ace, by the way. What about you guys?”

It transpired that they had two dice but only the one ace between them.

“Better than nothing,” Toby said. “And you never know, our last moves might hold some clue as to what’s in store for the next one. Here, Blaine, what card did you get?”

Blaine glanced up from trampling leaves in the gutter. “Nine of Swords.

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