The dado hit the gas, or whatever it was that made those cars go. The car shot forward so fast that LaBerge had to pull himself out quickly or he would have been dragged along. I wouldn’t have minded seeing that. LaBerge glared at the departing car as it sped out of the gateway, then collected himself and turned to me with a smile.
“I don’t like having those vulgarians anywhere near me, but they are useful. Now,” he said brightly. “Let’s get you settled.”
The guy was playing the part of a flamboyant, charming host. I wasn’t having any part of it. He turned to scurry back up the stairs. I didn’t move.
He said, “I’m sure you will be comfortable in the-” He saw that I wasn’t following him, and turned back to me. “Is there something wrong, my friend?”
“I’m not your friend,” I said flatly. “I don’t know who you are, and I definitely don’t know why you had those thugs hunt me down to bring me here.”
LaBerge looked confused. He walked back down the steps toward me, saying, “Didn’t you get our invitation?”
I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the paper that had come in the gift box that Saint Dane sent through the flume to Zadaa.
“Yeah, I got it,” I said.
“Then why did you run from the dados?” he asked.
“Because I don’t jump when Saint Dane snaps his fingers.”
LaBerge looked at me quizzically. “Who?” he asked.
I realized that Saint Dane probably didn’t call himself that here. He must have taken on some other identity that fit into this territory. Finding out what that identity was and what his plans were for Quillan were the real reasons I was there.
I said, “Who told you to send me this invitation?”
LaBerge took the invitation from me and looked at it. “‘Riggedy, riggedy white,’” he said, reading. He chuckled and added, “Has quite a ring to it, no?”
“No,” I said.
The smile fell from LaBerge’s face.
“Oh,” he said, sounding hurt. “I think it’s quite melodic.”
“Who told you to send me that?” I asked again, more emphatically. I took a step toward him to emphasize the point. LaBerge took a step back. I intimidated him. Good.
“I never divulge my sources, young man,” he said. “That would be bad for business.”
“Business?” I said, backing the guy off. “I don’t care about your business; I don’t care about you. I want to know what I’m doing here!”
“I thought that would be obvious,” LaBerge said nervously. “You’re about to be treated like royalty!”
Huh? Royalty. I didn’t know what I expected the guy to say, but it wasn’t that.
“LaBerge! Why haven’t you brought our guest inside?” came a stern voice from above.
I shot a look up the stairs to the doorway into the castle and saw a tall thin woman wearing a purple jumpsuit that was so dark it looked almost black. She stood flagpole straight with her arms at her sides, staring at me. Unblinking. It was Veego, the woman from the video screen.
LaBerge said, “Challenger Red is concerned as to why we asked him here. I’m trying to explain how-“
“I’m not a challenger,” I said to the woman.
“No,” she said. “You are not.”
Good, at least somebody was listening to me.
She added, “But you will be.”
Oh. Swell. I took a step up toward the woman, looking her right in the eye. I wanted her to know I was as serious as she was. I have to admit, she gave me the creeps. We stared each other down for a moment, then she twisted her lips into a crooked smile.
“Yes?” she asked.
I took a shot and said, “Saint Dane?”
She gave me a strange look and said, “I beg your pardon?”
Either she wasn’t Saint Dane in disguise, or the demon was playing it very cool. My guess was that it wasn’t Saint Dane.
“You should be honored,” she continued. “Your life is about to change in ways you could never imagine.”
Hah! Obviously she had no idea who I really was. I had to make a decision. I was there to find out how Saint Dane was trying to destroy the territory. He definitely sent me that invitation through the flume, which meant he wanted me at that castle with those two oddballs. Was it a trap? Probably. The question was, should I play along and learn what I could, or take off and start from scratch? As scary as it was to go along with what Saint Dane wanted, I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know anybody here, the Traveler from Q was dead, and I had a freakin’ loop stuck on my arm that would lead those dado dummies to me again anyway.
“All right,” I said. “What do you want me to do?”
The woman smiled. But it wasn’t a happy smile. It was a smile of smug victory. I hated that.
“Wonderful!” exclaimed LaBerge as he bounded up the stairs next to me. “Let’s get you settled first. You are going to love this!”
Somehow I doubted that.
Veego entered the door first. I followed her, and LaBerge followed me. I felt as if I were about to enter the lion’s den. With a quick breath and a shrug that was totally for my own benefit, I stepped through the doorway…
Into a spectacular entrance hall. The ceiling soared up several stories. Light came in through massive stained-glass windows near the arched ceiling. The scenes in these windows reminded me of a church, but I didn’t think they depicted anything religious. Instead they showed scenes of people playing games. There were elaborate images of people running, or throwing balls, or wrestling. I happened to notice that all the competitors wore brightly colored long-sleeved shirts with diagonal stripes across the front. This entryway was like a cathedral dedicated to the “challengers,” as they called them. Believe me, it didn’t make me feel special. It made me a little nauseous.
The place wasn’t some old, musty castle from the Dark Ages. (Assuming Quillan had Dark Ages, that is.) Just the opposite. This place looked as if it had just been built. The floor was marble, with elaborate mosaic patterns. It was so clean, it looked like I could eat off it. (I hate that saying. Why would anyone even consider eating off a floor? No matter how clean it was.) There was a wide, curved staircase of stone that led up to a balcony high overhead. Colorful flags hung down from every level, making the place feel like it was decked out for a festival. Several hallways on the ground floor led off to other parts of the castle. I tried to memorize the layout. I feared it would be easy to get turned around and lost in this mammoth palace.
“Nice place you have here,” I said casually. Big understatement. “Who does it belong to?”
“Why, it belongs to us of course!” LaBerge said quickly, as if insulted. “Who else would it-“
“LaBerge!” Veego chastised. She was treating him like an annoying kid. He was annoying. But she was scary. I wasn’t sure which was worse. “Challenger Red has never been here,” she said slowly, as if he were too stupid to understand. “He is our guest and must be treated with respect.”
“I wasn’t being disrespectful!” LaBerge argued. “I simply thought that since we are who we are, it would follow that our living arrangement was suitable to our position and-“
“But I don’t know who you are,” I interrupted.
LaBerge looked stunned. He grabbed his chest like he was having a surprise heart attack. “Don’t you watch the games?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “I’m not from around here.”
“What difference does that make?” LaBerge shot back. “Everyone knows who we are and-“
“LaBerge!” Veego snapped again. “Didn’t you hear what I said?”
LaBerge didn’t argue this time. He looked down like a pouting scolded child.
I said, “You two married or what?”
Both LaBerge and Veego burst out laughing.
“Married?” LaBerge chuckled. “No, we’re business partners, and very successful I might add, as anyone can tell simply by looking around.”
I had to give him that. If these two lived in this incredible
96 105 castle in the forest, they had to be doing really well at whatever it was they did.