Chapter Fifteen: Gasp, Dare, and Firehawk
Guardians of the Twilight Lands -- The Sixth Book of Unexpected Enlightenment
“Mr. Smith, there are ladies present!” Nastasia sounded more astonished than indignant.
“Lucky!” Sigfried chided, “You should not repeat such language in front of the girls. Girls don’t like words like monkey. Or maybe it was a different word.”
“Just telling it like it is, boss,” Lucky replied loyally. “Goldilocks told me that a reporter has to be accurate.”
Valerie grinned and gave Lucky a thumbs-up, unfazed by his choice of words.
Nastasia spoke with gentle dignity. “We have before us a perfect example as to why we should always comport ourselves with decorum, even in private.”
Joy piled on. “Yeah! That was super rude. I’m ashamed of you!”
Above the girls’ heads, Rachel caught Gaius and Sigfried exchanging a look, as if both silently agreed that expecting boys to talk like girls when they were alone was absurd.
Aloud, Gaius asked, “What’s a Trumpetta?”
“Don’t know,” Valerie quipped back dryly, “they were all lost.”
“I bet there’s one on our world,” Gaius drawled casually.
“Because of the look on the Raven’s face?” Rachel nodded. “I wonder who it is.”
Nastasia replied, “I did not take the Guardian’s reaction to mean that he knew where one was. Rather it seemed that he had nothing further to add upon the matter.”
Gaius shrugged. “Could be.”
“I think the more interesting question,” the princess continued, pursing her perfect lips, “is: Who told my grandfather that if he removed all the followers of the angels, the demons would leave? And, more importantly, what other actions might he have taken based on this faulty information source?”
“That’s a very interesting question,” Rachel said slowly. “Could the prophecy that led to the kidnapping of my sister have come from the same source?”
“I don’t think so,” replied Joy, “because your sister really did kill the demon she was prophesied to kill. With her eye beams. I bet she killed him with the same eye beams she used to murder that poor red cap!” Joy’s lip trembled slightly.
“Red caps are murderous fiends,” replied Valerie. “They’re called that because they dye their caps in the blood of their victims—human victims. I wouldn’t feel sorry for those perps.”
“I’d like eye beams,” mused Sigfried in a dreamy voice. “Just thinking of all the things I could murderify with eye beams transports me with joy.”
“I’m transported all the way to murder heaven,” murmured Lucky.
Valerie thumped Siggy on the shoulder. “I think murder heaven is called Valhalla.”
Siggy grinned. Gaius nodded, acknowledging her point.
“I must say,” Valerie continued, “it felt good to see Egg encased in that caramel stuff, safely locked away where he can’t hurt humanity. Or kidnap my father again.” She sighed. “Wish they’d lock up Dr. Mordeau and her creepy assistant, too.”
Siggy reached for his knife and then frowned when it was not there and then grinned when the dreamstuff provided him with an even larger knife, which then poofed into cloud stuff.
Valerie snorted. “Let me show you how its done, champ.” She reached down and drew a knife, from where, Rachel could not tell. The knife remained solid. She made a few elegant cutting gestures with it.
Siggy watched her perform these actions with sighing with dreamy delight. Then he perked up. “Teach me to do that!’
“Not now, slugger,” Valerie replied. “It’s Nastasia’s show now.”
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