A twelvemonth had passed already since Arthur had returned and had since then been kept very, very, busy. He was striding along the boardwalk in Port Wednesday admiring the recreated temples that had been erected instead of the old shops when he heard Suzy coming up behind him in a standing chariot. She was wearing a helmet with a single long red feather sticking out of it, and armor. No matter what the Fashion, Suzy preferred the operational apparel of a man. " Dame wants you, so on you get" She draped him up by the scruff of his neck and flung him in next to her.
"I think I'll drive this time Suzy," he said, snatching the reins from her before she could protest.
"Now, now, I know these parts fare well and for you to tell me I oughtn't drive well I'm right hurt"
"Sorry Suzy but I don't want to get sick on the way. Yah!" he called and they charged up into the clouds.
Dame was waiting for them at the front pillars of Upper House, arms folded crossly in front of her and every so often snarling at the Upper House. She still wasn't use to its new format. "This is not at all as I planned!" she had screeched. "A winged imp!" she had complained, dashing her helmet to the ground. Of course she had more reason than anybody to be mad, she had been reduced the most in status since the change had come, and no one much took her seriously anymore.
"You have a scroll Arthur" Dame announced as they landed thrusting it out before her as though it was something vile.
"Hold on, well let me get off first" Arthur called, hopping out of the chariot.
"Hurry up already, I'm going to have some tea and brandy" Dame huffed and dropped the scroll right before Arthur reached her, he had to dive to catch it, getting sand and dirt allover his robe.
"Ain't had much pomp since she became a fairy" Suzy sniggered as she removed her helmet and came over to Arthur. "Well, who's it from?" she leaned over his shoulder to glimpse the seal on it. "Ain't any seal of the House, at least not that I know of who's it from?"
"Lean off me for a second, you're crowding me" Arthur shirked Suzy off and gazed at the seal on the scroll. Suzy was right. It wasn't like any seal found in the House, it certainly didn't bear his crowned laurel head on it the way it usually did. Nope, this seal was a silvering sort of blue, with an hourglass and clock face melded together.
"Read it" Suzy nudged him in the side.
Arthur glared at her and then sat down cross-legged. He waited for Suzy to pull up ground next to him before he opened it.
"To Arthur Penhaligon, Rightful Heir to the Keys to the Kingdom and Master of the Lower House, the Middle House, and the Upper House, the Far Reaches, the Great Maze, the Incomparable Gardens, the Border Sea, and the regions beyond the House known as the Secondary Realms.
I, Mistress Time, Operator and Keeper of the clocks, the reason Time in the House does run true, do request an audience with you to discuss infinite and eternal matters of my direst concern, concerning my article of the Will. As for when, whenever is prudent, and not a moment sooner.
Time is of the Essence, or my Essence at least."
Arthur finished reading and said nothing. The Will, she had mentioned the Will, but he had dealt with all of that unfinished business. What did she mean? "Concerning my article of the Will" was she some sort of Morrow Day? Forgotten and no possible threat? Or was she so powerful and omnipotent that none of the other Trustees had dared tangle with her?
"The Untimely Goddess" Suzy whispered.
"The what?"
"Untimely Goddess" Suzy repeated. "Least that's how most o' the rest of the lower class call her. Rumor has it that she's rather meddlesome and never works in anyone else's favor but her own, sounds a bit like Dame Primus to me"
"I am nothing like that belligerent, faulty, flighty, disobedient, over zealous, opinionated lesser entity of the Architect" unbeknownst to them, Dame Primus had sidled out with teacup still in hand to read over their shoulders.
"Entity of the Architect?" Arthur scratched the top of his head.
"Yes, Mistress Time hic—" She hiccupped and then burped and looked down her nose into her cup. "Brandy, never got along with it very well." She sniffed and then continued. "Mistress Time was one of the first creations by the Architect, she was put in charge of time in the realms and the House, and over those two elements does she have dominance. But Time was still infinite, and idealistic and threatened to rival the Architect in her power. So She gave Time her own realm, known as the Hourglass Manor, where she has resided for millennia. I suspect that the part of the Will she speaks of is one of the latter paragraphs, or somewhere in the introduction. Though Time keeps the hours flowing between the realms as they should and ensures the House time run true, her time of that comes to an end. The contract she was given by the Architect with the Secondary realms, and in similarity to the Morrow Days, she must appoint a rightful heir"
Arthur scrubbed his hands across his face in aggravation. And uttered a few well-chosen words. "So how do we go about seeing her? Is there an elevator we could use?"
Dame Primus shook her head and Arthur heard Suzy scoff behind him. "The Hourglass Manor is no part of the House, it is inaccessible from here."
" How's about the improbable stair majigger" Suzy offered. Again Dame Primus shook her head no.
"It is a place only the Architect knew how to enter, and Time herself of course."
"But I should be able to unlock any knowledge the Architect had" Arthur protested. Confound his obligation and the complexity of the House.
"The Architect was a very jealous creator, she did not take liking to those who rivaled or challenged her in her decisions, or wisdom, the Old One being a prime example of that. She probably hid that information away some place unorthodox,"
"How, unorthodox," Arthur grouched, recalling the times when he had been required to venture into a wordlet to recover a part of the Will. "Is the Will like you?" he spat.
"I wouldn't know" Dame sneered and turned to head back inside.
"I think we're back to square one Artie" Suzy huffed.
Arthur glowered at Dame Primus's retreating back. "It would seem so"
Suzy smiled and then spat in her hand and held it out to him. "For old Times sake" she explained.
Grinning, Arthur took it and shook it vigorously. "Whatever Time's sake is"