I'm so very happy! Thank you, Miste, Swanny, and Kavindra-- I'm so
glad you actually reviewed it again! Wheeeee! Ooookayyyyyy, too much sugar
. . . since you guys did review, a lot more than three times, here's the
next chapter, as promised.
A/N: I know my chapters have been pretty short, but they should start getting longer . . . reviewers out there: what would you prefer? Short but frequent chapters, or long but less frequent? Your decision . . .
Disclaimer: If I were Garth Nix, I'd be writing another book about Lirael and them, not staring morosely at the computer screen and wondering why indeed I'm NOT Garth Nix.
* * * * * *
The power of words is simply amazing. When Letharen heard Sameth utter two in particular, along the lines of, "she's gone", his heart nearly stopped. Lirael couldn't be gone! She was one of the few constants in his life: the sun will rise. The Charter is good. Lirael is here.
True, he'd never really gotten to know his great-aunt very well -- when Lirael wasn't out doing some sort of thing with dead people, she was instructing his ditzy younger cousin, Firali, in how to do the stuff she did-- but Letharen had always felt a sort of kinship with her. After all, hadn't she been an outsider as a child, too?
So she couldn't be gone. It just wasn't, wasn't-- he fumbled for the proper word-- wasn't /right/. Usually reasonable and rather sedate, his mind took off on one of its few flights of fancy and imagination. She'd been hurt. She'd been captured. She'd been killed. She'd been--
Leth, being a practical boy, for the most part, took a moment to marshal his thoughts. He should wait to find out the facts, shouldn't he? Take a deep breath-- who knew, maybe he was just totally misinterpreting what his father said.
Fists clenching at his sides, he turned expectantly toward Sam, desperately trying to keep down the flood of panic that was threatening to overtake him.
* * * * * *
Ellimere took a deep breath and forced herself to continue. "You remember how something went wrong with the Paperwings --/all/ of the Paperwings-- a little after Lirael left?"
Firali nodded shakily. "Th-the commander of the Paperwing Brigade said he'd never s-seen any Paperwing ailment like it, in all the years he'd known Paperwings," she volunteered.
The queen nodded grimly. "He was right. We didn't think anything of it at the time, but now that I've had a few Charter mages look into it, we're almost certain it was magic-brought. Of course," she continued, "the Paperwings are fine, now. I don't suppose they serve any purpose to the cause of their misfortune anymore . . . but I digress. The point is, when Lirael headed for home, she had to go on foot-- she wouldn't risk a horse on the Glacier's uneven footing any more than I would."
"As it happens," Ellimere added, "she should have come home even before she'd planned to. I talked to the Voice of the Nine Day Watch just before I called you in, and she said that they were surprised to see Lirael at their door, about a month ago.
Apparently," the woman frowned, "there was no "problem" the Clayr needed help with. The message Lirael received, telling her that they needed aid, was obviously just a ploy to get her away from the castle. Again, however, I digress."
At this moment, Queen Ellimere paused to massage her forehead, wishing she didn't have to burden her daughter with this. Firali was so young, so joyful, so bright, so pure-- so needing-to-actually-face-the-real- world, she added firmly. This would be-- well, not /good/ for Firali, but . . . instructive, at least. /Besides/, Ellimere consoled herself, /it's not like she'll to be going after Lirael or anything/.
"So," the queen continued wearily, "Lirael stayed with them for a day or two, visiting-- your Aunt Sanar and Aunt Ryelle are getting old, poor things, and were delighted to see her again-- and then, according to the Voice, set off for the Belisaere. Obviously enough, she didn't make it. When I spoke with the Voice, Annisele, she said that they had sent out the Clayr's Rangers two days after she left the Glacier, because-- remember?-- of that blizzard we had."
Ellimere scowled. "Once more, not a coincidence-- and weather magic isn't hard for a powerful mage. Anyway, the Rangers traveled to the inn Lirael had been planning to stop at, to make sure she was doing all right. The innkeeper told them Lirael hadn't come."
Firi was cold. A deep, throbbing, biting, aching cold, that penetrated her mind and her heart. It couldn't be. It just . . . couldn't.
Ellimere continued doggedly on, but breathing raggedly, her speech coming in short, erratic bursts. "So the Rangers retraced her steps, and found Lirael's cloak-- laying on the ground-- covered in snow--"
Firali shut her eyes tightly.
"And-- on her cloak-- was pinned-- this poem. Here." Ellimere handed the scrap of paper to her daughter.
Firali read it slowly, her terror growing with every word. This was what it said:
Water climbing ever high / Grips the one whom you hold dear / Is it endless? Time is not-- / Swiftly go and swiftly fear.
* * * * * *
Wheeee! Chapter ending! Incidentally, if you didn't notice, Annisele, Voic of the Nine Day Watch, is the girl who got her Sight on Lirael's fourteenth birthday. I hope you like this chapter, because a) it's longer than usual. b) we finally get some facts. c) I actually did research for this one (the Rangers, Annisele, etc). and d) I wrote a rhyming poem, which I'm rather proud of, since I'm really more of the free verse type. yay, me!!! For the more prosaic readers out there, this is what the poem basically is saying: the waterclimb that is the Fifth Gate, that you're supposed to get off of once you reach the Sixth Precinct, that no one knows how long it goes on for, has Lirael. It asks, is the waterclimb endless? Well, time isn't-- i.e, hurry up, go quickly, but be wary and afraid. Sorry the poem's in such a weird format, but I couldn't figure out how to put it the right way.
PPLLLLEEEASSSEEE REVIEW!!!!!!
--EvilG
A/N: I know my chapters have been pretty short, but they should start getting longer . . . reviewers out there: what would you prefer? Short but frequent chapters, or long but less frequent? Your decision . . .
Disclaimer: If I were Garth Nix, I'd be writing another book about Lirael and them, not staring morosely at the computer screen and wondering why indeed I'm NOT Garth Nix.
* * * * * *
The power of words is simply amazing. When Letharen heard Sameth utter two in particular, along the lines of, "she's gone", his heart nearly stopped. Lirael couldn't be gone! She was one of the few constants in his life: the sun will rise. The Charter is good. Lirael is here.
True, he'd never really gotten to know his great-aunt very well -- when Lirael wasn't out doing some sort of thing with dead people, she was instructing his ditzy younger cousin, Firali, in how to do the stuff she did-- but Letharen had always felt a sort of kinship with her. After all, hadn't she been an outsider as a child, too?
So she couldn't be gone. It just wasn't, wasn't-- he fumbled for the proper word-- wasn't /right/. Usually reasonable and rather sedate, his mind took off on one of its few flights of fancy and imagination. She'd been hurt. She'd been captured. She'd been killed. She'd been--
Leth, being a practical boy, for the most part, took a moment to marshal his thoughts. He should wait to find out the facts, shouldn't he? Take a deep breath-- who knew, maybe he was just totally misinterpreting what his father said.
Fists clenching at his sides, he turned expectantly toward Sam, desperately trying to keep down the flood of panic that was threatening to overtake him.
* * * * * *
Ellimere took a deep breath and forced herself to continue. "You remember how something went wrong with the Paperwings --/all/ of the Paperwings-- a little after Lirael left?"
Firali nodded shakily. "Th-the commander of the Paperwing Brigade said he'd never s-seen any Paperwing ailment like it, in all the years he'd known Paperwings," she volunteered.
The queen nodded grimly. "He was right. We didn't think anything of it at the time, but now that I've had a few Charter mages look into it, we're almost certain it was magic-brought. Of course," she continued, "the Paperwings are fine, now. I don't suppose they serve any purpose to the cause of their misfortune anymore . . . but I digress. The point is, when Lirael headed for home, she had to go on foot-- she wouldn't risk a horse on the Glacier's uneven footing any more than I would."
"As it happens," Ellimere added, "she should have come home even before she'd planned to. I talked to the Voice of the Nine Day Watch just before I called you in, and she said that they were surprised to see Lirael at their door, about a month ago.
Apparently," the woman frowned, "there was no "problem" the Clayr needed help with. The message Lirael received, telling her that they needed aid, was obviously just a ploy to get her away from the castle. Again, however, I digress."
At this moment, Queen Ellimere paused to massage her forehead, wishing she didn't have to burden her daughter with this. Firali was so young, so joyful, so bright, so pure-- so needing-to-actually-face-the-real- world, she added firmly. This would be-- well, not /good/ for Firali, but . . . instructive, at least. /Besides/, Ellimere consoled herself, /it's not like she'll to be going after Lirael or anything/.
"So," the queen continued wearily, "Lirael stayed with them for a day or two, visiting-- your Aunt Sanar and Aunt Ryelle are getting old, poor things, and were delighted to see her again-- and then, according to the Voice, set off for the Belisaere. Obviously enough, she didn't make it. When I spoke with the Voice, Annisele, she said that they had sent out the Clayr's Rangers two days after she left the Glacier, because-- remember?-- of that blizzard we had."
Ellimere scowled. "Once more, not a coincidence-- and weather magic isn't hard for a powerful mage. Anyway, the Rangers traveled to the inn Lirael had been planning to stop at, to make sure she was doing all right. The innkeeper told them Lirael hadn't come."
Firi was cold. A deep, throbbing, biting, aching cold, that penetrated her mind and her heart. It couldn't be. It just . . . couldn't.
Ellimere continued doggedly on, but breathing raggedly, her speech coming in short, erratic bursts. "So the Rangers retraced her steps, and found Lirael's cloak-- laying on the ground-- covered in snow--"
Firali shut her eyes tightly.
"And-- on her cloak-- was pinned-- this poem. Here." Ellimere handed the scrap of paper to her daughter.
Firali read it slowly, her terror growing with every word. This was what it said:
Water climbing ever high / Grips the one whom you hold dear / Is it endless? Time is not-- / Swiftly go and swiftly fear.
* * * * * *
Wheeee! Chapter ending! Incidentally, if you didn't notice, Annisele, Voic of the Nine Day Watch, is the girl who got her Sight on Lirael's fourteenth birthday. I hope you like this chapter, because a) it's longer than usual. b) we finally get some facts. c) I actually did research for this one (the Rangers, Annisele, etc). and d) I wrote a rhyming poem, which I'm rather proud of, since I'm really more of the free verse type. yay, me!!! For the more prosaic readers out there, this is what the poem basically is saying: the waterclimb that is the Fifth Gate, that you're supposed to get off of once you reach the Sixth Precinct, that no one knows how long it goes on for, has Lirael. It asks, is the waterclimb endless? Well, time isn't-- i.e, hurry up, go quickly, but be wary and afraid. Sorry the poem's in such a weird format, but I couldn't figure out how to put it the right way.
PPLLLLEEEASSSEEE REVIEW!!!!!!
--EvilG