The Magicians - Lev Grossman [179]
A ringing silence followed her outburst. The torches guttered against the walls. They’d left streaks of black soot all the way up to the domed ceiling. It was true, what she was saying. It made him angry. But there was something about it that made him nervous too.
“You are incensed, daughter.” Ember’s eyes were full of kindness.
“I’m not Your daughter.” She crossed her arms. “And yeah, no shit I’m incensed.”
The great old ram sighed deeply. A tear formed in His great liquid eye, spilled over, and was absorbed into the golden wool on his cheek. In spite of himself, Quentin thought of the proud Indian in the old anti-littering commercials. From behind him Josh leaned into Quentin’s shoulder and whispered: “Dude! She made Ember cry!”
“The tide of evil is at the full,” the ram was saying, a politician staying relentlessly on message. “But now that you have come, the tide will turn.”
But it wouldn’t. Suddenly Quentin knew it. It all came to him in one sick flash.
“You’re here against Your will,” he said. “You’re a prisoner down here. Aren’t You?”
This wasn’t over after all.
“Human, there is so much you do not understand. You are still but a child.”
Quentin ignored him. “That’s it, isn’t it? That’s why You’re down here? Somebody put You down here, and You can’t get out. This wasn’t a quest, this was a rescue mission.”
Next to him Alice had both her hands over her mouth.
“Where’s Umber?” she asked. “Where is Your brother?”
Nobody moved. The ram’s long muzzle and black lips were still and unreadable.
“Mmmm.” Eliot rubbed his chin, calmly assessing. “It is possible.”
“Umber’s dead, isn’t He?” Alice said dully. “This place isn’t a tomb, it’s a prison.”
“Or a trap,” Eliot said.
“Human children, listen to Me,” Ember said. “There are Laws that go far beyond anything in your understanding. We—”
“I’ve heard pretty much enough about my understanding,” Janet snapped.
“But who did it?” Eliot stared down at the sand, thinking fast. “Who even has the muscle to do this to Ember? And why? I suppose it was the Watcherwoman, but this is all very odd.”
Quentin felt a prickling in his shoulders. He looked around at the dark corners of the cave they were in. It wouldn’t be long before whatever had broken Ember’s leg turned up, and they would have to fight again. He didn’t know if he could take another fight. Penny was still on his knees, but the back of his neck as he looked up at Ember was flushed crimson.
“Maybe it’s time to hit the ol’ panic button,” Josh said. “Back to the Neitherlands.”
“I have a better idea,” Quentin said.
They had to get control of the situation. They could quit now, but the crown was right there, right in front of them. They were so close. They were almost home, they could still win it all if they could just figure out a way to push through to the end of the story. If they could gut it out through one more scene.
And he realized he knew how.
Penny had dropped his pack on the sandy floor. Quentin bent down and rummaged through it. Of course Penny had webbed and bungeed the fucking thing to within an inch of its life, but in among the Power Bars and the Leatherman and the spare tighty whiteys, wrapped in a red bandanna, he found what he was looking for.
The horn was smaller than he remembered it.
“Right? Remember what the nymph said?” He held it up. “ ‘When all hope is lost’? Or something like that?”
“I wouldn’t say all hope is lost . . .” Josh said.
“Let me see that,” Dint said imperiously. He had been conspicuously silent since Ember woke up. Anaïs clung to his arm.
Quentin ignored him. Everybody was talking at once. Penny and the ram were locked in some kind of intense lover’s quarrel.
“Interesting,” Eliot said. He shrugged. “It might work. I’d rather try that than go back to the City. Who do you think will come?”
“Human child,” the ram said loudly. “Human child!”
“Go for it, Q,” Janet said. She looked paler than she should have. “It’s time. Go for it.”
Alice just nodded