Anne Ursu - The Shadow Thieves

Then she could go back and get Zee and Mr. Metos, and they could go home. Wouldn't that be nice?

Soon the butler returned and led Charlotte back down the endless hallway. The butler knocked on one of the black doors, and a voice boomed, "Bring her in."

An involuntary shiver ran through Charlotte. The voice seemed to penetrate her body, resonating straight through to her heart. It was as if she had been thrown into a bath filled with ice water, as if her blood had suddenly changed to ice. She gulped and followed the butler inside.

She entered a vast throne room, which appeared, in itself, to be as big as the Palace walls. Two giant ebony thrones loomed at the end of the room, and the black marble floor gleamed. On either wall two large sets of glass doors led onto balconies-which Charlotte hadn't seen from the outside, and for that matter, one of the balconies was where the hall should be. The walls were lined with intricate tapestries. (The tapestries portrayed the formation of the earth and the ascendancy of the Olympian gods, though Charlotte didn't notice-and could you blame her? When you are in the presence of the Lord of the Dead, you don't stop to look at the art.)

And there was said Lord of the Dead, lording over the cavernous room. As Charlotte approached, the room seemed to shrink, while Hades seemed to grow.

With a face of shadow and bone, he looked as though he had been carved out of a tree. A black beard hung gloomily on his thin face. He had at least a foot of height on Philonecron, though he seemed to stretch before her eyes. He wore a plain crown, wielded a scepter, and was cloaked in blackness. Next to Hades stood an angular figure with pitch-black skin, white eyes, and a shiny, bald head, but Charlotte barely noticed him- she only had eyes for Hades.

She reached the thrones and kneeled, for that is what one does in the presence of a king.

"Charlotte Ruth Mielswetzski," Hades intoned.

She started. "How… how… do you know my name?"

"I know everyone's name," he said. "You all belong to me, after all."

Well, that was one of the creepiest things Charlotte had heard all day-and it was a long list.

"But," he continued, peering at her, "you're mortal. What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

Charlotte gulped. "Your Highness. I'll tell you later. There isn't time. I'm here because you're in danger. The Kingdom is in danger…" In a rush she spilled out everything she could about Philonecron and the shadows, ending with a plaintive, "They'll be here soon!"

"Oh, yes, Philonecron." Hades waved his hand. "Assistant Manager of Sanitation. Charon told me all about it. He'll never be able do it. He needs that boy to enchant the shadows, and he'll never be able to get him down here. It's impossible." Hades nodded importantly at Charlotte and the black-skinned man. "I made a Decree!"

"But," Charlotte said, bewildered. "The boy is down here. I mean, I'm down here."

"Yes, you are!" He tilted his head. "How did you get down here?"

"I took a bus to the Mall. And there was a door, and we opened it."

Hades leaned in. "Just like that?"

Charlotte nodded.

"Impossible," he declared.

This was not going well. Charlotte stood up, brushed off her knees, and said quietly, "Sir, Zee-the boy-is here. I'm here. We opened the door, and we came down, and the Harpies made fun of me, and now Philonecron has Zee. Please believe me."

"Hmmm…" Hades looked at the black-skinned man, who was, of course, Thanatos, Chief of Staff. "I see this Philonecron's power is growing. Banish him, will you?"

"My Lord…" Thanatos bowed. "Um, he is already banished."

"Oh," Hades said. "Clever of me…" He looked off somewhere in the direction of the window. "Where is my wife?"

"I don't know" Thanatos bowed again. "Probably in her garden."

"Yes, yes, probably… I'm sure she'll be back for supper."

"Excuse me? Your Highness?" Charlotte inhaled and stepped forward. Underneath Hades' cloak she could see the faint outline of a potbelly. "The shadows are coming. They could be here any minute. They're coming to overthrow you. You have to do something! Do you have an army?"

Hades blinked at her. "Army?"

"To defend the Kingdom?"

He glanced at Thanatos, then shook his head. "Why would I need an army? This is the Underworld. No one else wants it."

"Well," Charlotte said, "someone does now"

Hades sat back in his chair and stared at Charlotte. At that moment the marble floor seemed to shake. Something in the distance rumbled.

Hades tilted his head. "Did you hear something?"

"Oh no," Charlotte moaned.

ZEE PACED BACK AND FORTH IN THE SMALL CAVE. THE footmen had shut the secret door to the shadows cavern behind them, and he found himself in a ten-foot-by-ten-foot prison with nothing but a flat rock on the floor to keep him company and the dank smell of the Underworld sneaking in from the cave entrance. Zee kicked the walls a few times, until it started to hurt a lot, and then he kicked up some dust and then threw around some pebbles and then chastised himself for kicking and/or throwing things when he should be doing something to save humanity.

But what?

Everything had depended on his being with Philonecron. It would have been all right to enchant the shadows as long as he'd been able to follow them; now everyone was doomed.

Zee sighed and sat down on the rock. The two Footmen stood right in front of his doorway, their garish faces peeking in every once in a while. They seemed to be quite delighted with his predicament. Zee wanted to hurl rocks at them, but he had a feeling they'd be more than happy to come in and break his neck or choke him with clay or something.

He could try to disable the Footmen-hit one over the head, maybe, and just try to outrun the other one. Then he could still make it to the Palace. Then he'd still have a chance. Of course, when he and Charlotte had tried that when the Footmen attacked them in the Upperworld, they had stopped time and frozen him in place. (He hadn't thought of that when he was considering killing himself. That was dumb.)

Zee sat and he thought. He thought about everything that had happened so far, about how terribly wrong it had gone, and about the chances he had had to make it right, and about all the ways he had made things worse. He thought about all the Dead, and all the Dead that were to come, and how unless he thought of something fast, they were going to spend eternity in torment.

And he found himself thinking of his grandmother. What would she think of him now, sitting here? Would she be ashamed of him? Ashamed of him for letting Philonecron control him like that, ashamed of him for running to the States and leading the shadow thieves there, ashamed of him for falling for Philonecron's trick, ashamed of him for enchanting the shadows, ashamed of him for not doing something now-now when there was nothing left to do?

Zee sighed. The sad part, the really sad part, was that she would probably not be. She would probably love him and be proud of him anyway. That was just the way of Grandmother Winter.

She was down here… somewhere. He would never be able to find her, he knew that now, but she was here. She was near him. She had promised him she would watch over him, and now when it mattered most, she was close by. Grandmother Winter had a way of getting what she wanted. He wanted to see her, to give her a hug, to tell her how much he missed her, how much he needed the strength she gave him. But he couldn't. He would simply have to get the strength from the idea of Grandmother Winter- the sweet, soft, strong idea of her.

And with that strength he would have to do something. He would have to try. He would have to try to get past the Footmen, even if it was impossible, even if it meant his death. Which it probably did. Because at least he could say he had tried. At least he would not have let the world go without a fight.