CHAPTER TWELVE.

The Regency

Myrret and the other animals led the companions and the little prince to a spiral flight of stairs that was secreted behind the throne itself. It dropped away almost straight down, farther than the light from the torches showed. One by one they climbed down into the stairway, first the animals, then the Caretakers, with Burton and his colleagues bringing up the rear. The Tin Man stayed behind to make sure they weren't followed.

Shadows danced along the walls of the tunnels as the companions passed down into the new Whatsit. Jack occasionally looked back at Theo, who had taken up the rearmost position, and who was pausing every now and again to peer back into the darkness behind them. Each time, Theo would return Jack's unspoken question with a short shake of the head. No enemy was following them-not that they knew of. Or could see.

The stairway ended in a tall cavern filled with crystalline structures. All along the walls were tubes full of crystal shards, some of different colors, and they seemed to be organized by size.

"We started keeping all our records on the crystals," Myrret explained, "when the parchment and books became too unwieldy. Far more expedient this way, don't you think?" The fox was twisting his paws together, and it was obvious he was seeking some sign of approval from his esteemed guests.

"It's remarkable," said John. "Very good work, Myrret."

The fox beamed and scampered across the room to fetch one of the librarians. He returned with a ferret who was dressed in several weathered robes, all of which had been meant for larger animals.

"Glory be," the little tatterdemalion whispered as he pulled up his trousers. "The Caretakers! I never thought I would live to see them myself!"

The ferret was thrilled to be able to show them the pride and joy of the Whatsit-what they called the Last Story.

"Good heavens," Jack said, whistling. "It's a projector."

There on a pedestal in the center of the room, facing a tall structure of giant crystals, stood a very familiar-looking device. It was a reel-to-reel film projector, much like they had in the cinemas back at Oxford, but with a double set of lenses.

"It's definitely Hank's design," John said admiringly. "I think this is what he intended his chronal stereopticon to eventually become."

"Is it like the Lanterna Magica?" asked Jack, as his face lit up with the possibility. "Can we use it to leave the Archipelago?"

Myrret shook his furred head. "The ancestors had access to neither the Prime Caretaker nor the Tin Man, and the great Captain Nemo was long dead. Without their knowledge, we had no way to build such a device. All we could do was use what we had to keep a memory alive. And keep it we have, for many, many centuries."

"I've tried to turn it on," said Coal, "but it never would work. Not for me, even though I can work other things by touching them."

"The seal bears the Caretaker's mark, not the king's mark," Jack explained to Coal. "That's why you were never able to turn it on."

"Archie," John began.

"I'm way ahead of you," the bird replied. "I'll go get him."

With some difficulty, the Tin Man made his way down the stairs to the Whatsit, where he examined the device briefly, then shook his head. Whatever he might have been able to contribute to its construction was not possible now. It would do what it would do.

"We've replaced all the parts many times to keep it in order," Myrret said proudly, "but it is the selfsame generator that the great Hank Morgan built in the time of Arthur, lo these many centuries ago."

"How would you know about that?" asked Houdini. "That was in another world, wasn't it?"

The small animal brandished a familiar-looking if ageworn book. "The Little Whatsit," he said proudly. "The Histories are complete, at least in regard to the important things. And there was none more important than the story of the Great King and the Silver Throne."

"It isn't the same machine, you know," Burton said as he peered at the projector. "If you've replaced all the components, then the original doesn't exist anymore. It would be like taking your grandfather's ax and replacing the handle, then replacing the blade, then replacing the handle again, and then still insisting that it was your grandfather's ax."

The little animal was crestfallen. "I meant no offense, great Lord," he said meekly.

"Never mind him," said Jack, frowning at Burton. "He's only a barbarian."

Myrret opened a velvet-lined box and removed a large reel, which he carefully placed on the empty arm, then threaded into the projector. "Legend says the ancestor made this for her own son, who was king," he explained, "but that was many years ago. I don't think she expected it to be so long before you returned."

"Neither did we," said John.

"Great Caretakers," the ferret said, "would you do us the honor of turning on the device?"

"Be my guest," John said to Jack.

"How about our third?" Jack replied, smiling at Fred. "Will you?"

Fred swallowed hard and reached his paw up to the seal, which melted away at his touch. There was an awed hush among the other animals-to see one of their own as a Caretaker would create a new legend in the Archipelago. Or whatever was left of it.

The projector sputtered to life, and a broad rectangle of light appeared on the glassine wall of the crystal across the chamber. A logo appeared, bearing the insignia of Mr. Tummeler's production company, followed by an ad for the twenty-eighth expanded edition of the Imaginarium Geographica.

"Good old granddad," Fred said, wiping a tear from his furry cheek. "Never missed a trick."

"Now I'm getting hungry for blueberry muffins," said John.

"Same here," said Jack.

"What in Hades does that mean?" asked Burton.

"Never mind," Jack said, winking at Fred. "Inside joke."

A moment later a fox appeared on the wall and introduced himself as Reynard. He bowed, then stepped offscreen.

"Reynard, of course!" John said to Jack. "Just like back at Sanctuary."

"Yes," said Jack warily, "but didn't Verne set that up?"

"For all we know, he set this up too."

"Hush," Jack replied. "Someone's coming into view."

The image on the crystalline wall was of a woman, mature but not yet elderly, who was dressed in simple clothes, save for the elegant silk robe draped across her shoulders. Her hair was auburn shot through with silver, and it seemed to Jack for a moment that he recognized her.

"Hello, my young firebrand," the image said as she appeared to look fondly at Jack. "I'm not surprised to see you, although I wish it had been far, far sooner."

Jack and the others gasped-he had recognized her after all. It was Aven.

"Did she record this for me, then?" Jack whispered to Myrret. "I thought she meant this for Stephen."

"I did," the image replied, to the consternation and surprise of everyone in the chamber, "but I do not believe it is a coincidence that you should be the one to open the seal, dear Jack. You saved me once," she added with a wry smile. "Perhaps it is now written in your destiny to save us all."

"How is this possible?" Jack exclaimed, hardly daring to move closer. "Is it really you?"

The image of Aven laughed. "It is, Jack. It is the Aven you knew. But I'm not here-or 'there,' I suppose-in the flesh. I am just an image, but still, I have been waiting for a very long time, and I'm very glad to see you again."

"Actually, I opened it," Fred said, meekly raising his paw.

"Ah," said Aven. "So you've become a Caretaker too, Fred. Your family would be very proud of you."

John realized that just like the ghost of Hank Morgan, she couldn't see or hear the viewers until they had engaged the projection first. "I'm here as well," John said. "Hello, Aven."

"John," she said. "You haven't lost the Geographica again, have you?"

"Not so far," said John. "But I seem to have misplaced the Archipelago."

"Yes," she said, head bowed. "I imagine it would seem that way."

"What happened, Aven?" asked Jack.

"When it seemed that the Caretakers abandoned the Archipelago," she began, "we had no way of knowing what had happened to you-only that you didn't return, and there was no way to contact you.

"The Frontier had become impassable, as if the storm clouds had been replaced by stone walls," Aven went on, "and nothing we built could breach it. Stephen and the animals built machine after machine, but nothing worked. After almost a decade of trying, he abandoned his efforts and turned his attention to guiding the future of the Archipelago."

She paused, and bowed her head. "It did not go well."

"In the twenty-second year of the new republic, several of the races rebelled, and there was a violent split in the Senate. Several lands withdrew their support, and war was declared."

"War?" John sputtered. "There was a war in the Archipelago?"

Aven nodded. "Four wars, to be exact. The severing of the bonds between the races was all it took to divide the republic, and all the lands took to looking after their own interests.

"It was after the battle with the Shadow King that I stepped down as queen, and Stephen took over the affairs of the Archipelago," she continued. "I had lost my husband, but he left me with one final gift. I was with child."

"You and Artus had a child?" John exclaimed.

"Yes," said Aven. "I named him Charles. It was Tummeler's suggestion."

"Of course it was," Jack said, noting that Fred was practically beaming at the mention of his grandfather. "And what of Stephen?"

At the mention of her elder son, Aven's countenance darkened. "He went on a quest," she said after a pause. "The last great quest of the Archipelago. It remains to be seen whether or not his sacrifice will have been worth all we lost.

"There was one final message from him, before he ...," she said, her voice breaking. "He said that the sacrifices he made were not just for the Archipelago, or the Summer Country, but for the love he had for one girl, which he never got to share."

Laura Glue's face reddened. "I knew," she said.

Aven looked at her with gentle eyes. "He did love you, you know, even if you didn't feel it as strongly as he did. He spoke of you often, and regretted not having gone with you to Tamerlane House."

The Valkyrie's eyes began to well with tears, and Fred reached over to take her hand in support.

"So Arthur's own line did continue," said John. "That means the child had the same lineage as Rose."

"It became stranger than that," said Aven, "when Charles married Tiger Lily. It turned out to be a very successful union despite the matter of Lily's parentage."

Burton cleared his throat. "I'm right here, in the room," he said a bit brusquely, "but I forgive the slight breach of etiquette, as you have given me news of my daughter." He bowed slightly-not deeply enough to be subservient, but just enough that the gesture was sincere.

"Burton?" Aven asked, startled.

"Yes," said Jack, in a tone that was almost embarrassed. "You remember, Aven-the Caretakers Emeritis brokered a truce with the Imperial Cartological Society. We're all operating cooperatively now. And the ICS is being developed as an official organization at Cambridge by, uh"-he swallowed hard-"me."

"So he's your ally now," Aven said, her voice subdued. "Not enough time has passed, it seems, for that not to be a surprise. And you, Jack," she finished, looking up again and meeting his eyes, "you've become a true pirate at last."

Jack winced slightly. He couldn't tell if she was teasing or not.

The projection laughed. "Of course I'm teasing you, Jack. I know full well that appearances are fleeting, and you did what was necessary."

"What happened to the Archipelago, Aven?" asked Jack. "Where did all the lands go?"

"Samaranth took them," Aven said simply. "He took them all, to a place that cannot be reached in space or time."

"Where is that?" asked Burton. "Nether Land?"

"Farther still," Aven replied. "He took them beyond the great wall."

"Why would he do such a thing?" John asked. "How is that even possible?"

"The Shadows came to claim them," Aven said with deep sorrow. "The true Shadows, the Darkness that cannot be broken. Our great enemy."

"The Echthroi," said Theo.

"Yes," said Aven. "The Echthroi. That is the name of the Shadows. They have another name for those shadows they claim from the living: Lloigor. When a good creature, a servant of the Light, is turned, its shadow disappears-but not completely. It becomes a servant of the Echthroi. A Lloigor."

Jack exhaled hard and looked away. "Then that's what was happening to me when I started to follow Mordred's path," he said somberly. "My shadow was becoming a Lloigor."

Aven nodded. "But you chose to take it back, Jack. You chose to return to the Light. As long as there is life, there is always a choice. No matter what else has gone before, no matter how terrible the crimes or how strong the temptation, one may still choose to turn away from the pit of darkness, away from the lure of shadow. This is how the Echthroi are defeated."

"And what about after life?" Burton asked abruptly. "What about those living a second go-round?"

"Life," Aven said evenly, "is intelligence, and the ability to choose. Death is rejecting all choices."

"I don't think that quite answered the question," he murmured under his breath.

"I think it did," said Theo.