Given my history with sparklers, I held back.
“Er…will it burn me?” I asked uncertainly.
The servant gave a polite chuckle.
“Not at all, my lady! The pyrotechnics are all simulated—thought theydomake a dazzling display, do they not? With one of these in your hand—or even poking out of your pocket—everyone will know you’re under the Baron’s protection. They won’t dare to lay a finger on you!”
“Oh, well—thank you, I guess,” I said, taking the stick with its brilliant red sparkles gingerly from his hand.
“Thank you,” Sir said, taking his as well. “Do we need to wear these in the presence of the Baron?”
“Not necessary,” the servant said. “They are simply for you to carry as you move about the Baron’s building.” He hesitated. “Do forgive me—I was supposed to meet you at the front doors of the building to give them to you as soon as you entered. I hope you did not encounter any problems without them?”
“None whatsoever,” Sir assured him.
“Ah, good! Then everything is well.” The servant looked vastly relieved. “I am so glad no one troubled you.”
I snorted.
“Ofcoursethey didn’t. As if anyone is going to start trouble with someone who looks like my Master!”
Sir gave me a warning look.
“Now, little one…”
“Well, it’strue,” I pointed out. “You’re ten feet tall, extremely muscular, and you can break things with your mind! Nobody with half a brain is going to start trouble withyou.”
“Be that as it may, I believe it’s time we put away our sigils so that we can meet the Baron,” Sir told me.
He looked slightly uncomfortable and it occurred to me that maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned his “Mental Abilities” as he called them. He seemed to have a slight complex about them and I had never seen him do a single thing with his mind—other than regular things like piloting the ship and using the Matter Synthesizer—since the incident at the spaceport.
“Sorry, Sir,” I murmured.
Sir nodded forgiveness.
“That’s all right, little one, but we don’t want to be late.”
“Okay—I’ll hurry,” I said.
I wasn’t sure what to do with my sparkler—or “sigil” as the servant called it—but Sir went to the hook where his long black coat was hanging and tucked his into the lapel.
I supposed I should do the same, but I didn’t have any good place to put it on my own coat. In the end, I just slipped it—still sparkling and fizzing and hissing—into my coat pocket.
I watched it anxiously for a moment, wanting to make sure it wasn’t going to set anything on fire. But when no smoke came out of my pocket, I decided that the servant must be telling the truth—the red sparks shooting out of it were just for show. So I gave my pocket a final pat and hurried to catch up with Sir, who was already following the servant down the long hallway.
But as I went, my mind kept returning to the face of the human girl I had seen down on the bottom floor. Something told me she needed help and I was determined to do something for her before we left the building.
THIRTY
ELLI
Ifollowed Sir down the red carpeted hall until we turned the corner and found ourselves at an archway trimmed in gold. It led into a vast dining room where a clear chandelier blazing with light hovered over a long, grand dining table made of some dark, heavy wood.
At first I thought the chandelier must be made of ice, like so many other things on O’nagga Nine. But then I saw a huge fireplace located in a wall behind the head of the table and realized that the heat it was putting out would have melted anything icy—so the chandelier must be made of some kind of clear crystals or gems.
The next thing that drew my eye were the people sitting around the table, apparently waiting for us. Two of them looked like regular Naggians—a man and a woman, both dressed in rich, ostentatious clothing. The man wore a kind of robe that looked like an old-fashioned smoking jacket—maroon with golden trim. The woman had on a long blue dress with a very high collar—it went up almost to the lobes of her ears. The sleeves of the gown went down to her wrists as well. Both of them had long black hair and glowing blue eyes.
The man seated at the head of the table must be the Baron himself, I speculated. He didn’t look quite like the other two—although hedidhave the same glowing blue eyes and long white fangs that all Naggians seemed to possess.