The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen - Delia Sherman [34]
The Deputy sniffed loudly. “Is that hot chocolate? I haven’t had hot chocolate in over a hundred years.”
“It is. And I’ll give it to you when you let me pass.” The Deputy’s voice edged into a whine. “I’m not a wicked witch or an evil dwarf. I’m just a poor old mortal, good for scaring away cowards and weeding out bullies. You’re obviously neither. Go on in. But give me the chocolate first.”
I shoved the cup into the Deputy’s bony hands and opened the door.
This time, it really was the Schooljuffrouw’s office, complete with books and huge wooden desk, with the Schooljuffrouw behind it, looking into a large crystal ball. When I came in, she covered it with a piece of cloth.
“I understand you want a quest pass,” she said.
When the policeman got past the guardian dogs, he’d found a magic treasure. I’d only found another guardian. I took a tight grip on my impatience. “Yes, ma’am.”
“A quest pass is a privilege, you know. No student is entitled to one just for the asking. You have to have a good reason.”
“I have to find the Mermaid Queen’s Magic Mirror,” I said. “If I don’t, she’ll drown Central Park in salt water.”
The Schooljuffrouw frowned. “Our policy here at Miss Van Loon’s is to avoid taking sides in inter-Neighborhood squabbles and let our graduates handle them.”
“I’m the only changeling the Lady’s got.”
“And whose fault is that?”
I twisted my hands behind my back. “Listen, I know the Green Lady is hard to love. She’s unreliable, she’s dangerous, and she can’t stand mortals. She doesn’t even like me very much. But she doesn’t deserve to be wiped out. She was the Genius of all Manhattan once. She’s been here since the island was covered with swamps and hills and forests of poplar and maple.”
“The island has changed since then,” the Schooljuffrouw said. “The Lady has not changed with it.”
I was starting to feel desperate. “Well, what about the Park Folk? If the Mermaid Queen poisons the water, a lot of innocent Folk are going to get hurt.”
“Innocent? Park Folk? The Wild Hunt’s hardly innocent. If they had their way, they’d eat every live thing in New York.”
“There are other Folk in Central Park besides the Wild Hunt!” The Schooljuffrouw winced—I was shouting. “What about the giants and wyrms on Wall Street?” I went on more softly. “What about the Scalpers on Broadway and the ogres and the disease spirits and the alligators in the sewers? What about the Mermaid Guard? They’re all just as dangerous as the Wild Hunt. Which, by the way, only the Lady can control.”
The Schooljuffrouw held up her hand. “Enough. I note your persistence and your affection for the Park. These are points in your favor. You could have been more polite, though, and you need to watch that temper of yours. Thankfully, the final decision is not mine.” She reached into a drawer, pulled out a sheaf of papers, and handed them to me. “Fill out these forms and give them to the Secretary.”
I took the forms. “I need this quest pass soon, Schooljuffrouw. I’ve got to get the mirror to the Mermaid Queen by Midwinter, or it’s all over.”
“Midwinter? That’s months away,” the Schooljuffrouw said. “You’ll hear when you hear. That’s the rule.”
The Deputy had been right: I was very late to Diplomacy. The Diplomat didn’t even give me a chance to explain, just pointed me toward a bulging sack of feathers. Tiffany almost burst trying not to laugh, and I saw the Harbor changeling Airboy staring at me warily, like a cat watching a beetle. Maybe he knew about the Mermaid Queen’s threat. Maybe he thought it was a good idea.
I turned my back on all of them and got to work on the feathers. By the time I finished sorting, the last horn had blown, the last changeling had left the schoolyard, and the sun had set.
I traded my starless Inside Sweater for my coat and took the Betweenway home.
Chapter 11
RULE 4: STUDENTS MUST NEVER VISIT ONE ANOTHER’S NEIGHBORHOODS WITHOUT PERMISSION OF ALL RELEVANT