| |
The feast continued in a quiet way back at the Great Hall. Gordon and Jeremy were picking morsels off of different trays. Tabitha drank hot cider from a ceramic German stein. Clive found a scrap of paper on which to write some important notes. A few of the robed servants danced to tunes coming from Wheatbrew’s lute. Mother Solstice stood in the middle of the room. As soon as she saw me, she beckoned me over.
“I haven’t had a chance to thank you,” she said. “You were entrusted with a powerful item. That medallion was the key to bringing back Trimble’s life force.”
“I’m glad it worked,” I said.
“You live much closer to my palace than to this one.”
“Where is that?” I asked.
“It is called Far South. Only the Amundsen expedition has happened past it.”
“So it’s just as cold as here?”
“Colder. But inside, it’s warm, and its magics are strong. It contains worlds within worlds. You could spend a lifetime there.”
“I don’t suppose I could see it someday?”
“It’s much harder to reach than Very North.” She touched my face. “Very soon, you will be too old to see it.”
A few minutes later, Evan walked into the hall. He wore a sneering smile of triumph.
“Iris,” he said. “Come to me. I would embrace you in the spirit of the season.”
She did not move. “Where is Kris?”
“He will be here. He has surrendered.”
“What do you mean?” she said.
“I mean that I have won. Kris and his pathetic sideshow tricks cannot match me. What is more, he has confessed, in a sacred place, to his own moral failings. I have right on my side, and I have access to far greater magics than he.”
“I will not go through with it,” said Mother Solstice.
“With what?” I asked.
“He wants a coronation,” she answered. “I will not give it to him.”
“Good,” I said.
“What is your name, lad?” Evan’s voice was steady, neither threatening nor friendly.
“Mannie.”
“Mannie, you will see my coronation, no matter what Iris may say. I will be Father Christmas, and you will swear your loyalty to me.”
“No sir,” I said matter-of-factly.
“So be it!” he shouted. “My first act will be to rescind all of the gifts Kris has arranged for this pack of brats!”
This sent a flurry of gasps and frightened whispers among the candidates. Mother Solstice gave Evan an unbelieving look, then moved quickly to the corridor.
“Do not walk away from me!” he thundered.
“I have a gift to bring to you,” she said.
“You know there is only one gift I will accept! I demand that you yield your power!”
“I have no power,” she said quietly just before she disappeared out the doorway and into the hall.
The children beckoned her to come back, and shouted imprecations at Evan. Jeremy would have resumed kicking his feet if Tabitha were not holding on to him.
“Shut them up!” Evan shouted at me.
“No sir,” I replied, happy to defy this raging man.
“Silence, everyone!” came another voice. It was Kris. He walked into the hall, followed by four of the hidden servants. “Let us at last find peace together,” he said, his voice tired. “First, Evan, I will let these servants go free. They will belong neither to you nor to me.”
“I call to the Servants of the Grim Frost, here present!” said Evan. “Am I to believe you truly respond to this man’s shallow charisma? He is a pretender! And he is no longer Father Christmas. He has pledged to turn that honor over to me! Now, stand away from him.”
But the servants did not move. They formed a protective circle around Kris.
“It is true. I have promised Evan that he will have the throne and the bishop’s miter. But these servants are no longer his. They have been freed.”
“We’ll just see about that.” Evan looked to the entrance of the Great Hall. “I want Iris to be here for this. Where has she gone?”
Nobody answered, because nobody knew. But then, there came the sound of trumpets blowing a triumphant chord, and a bright white light shone into the ballroom.
Mother Solstice led Trimble to the center of the Great Hall. She stopped and bowed to Evan.
“I greet the noble brother of my husband. What Kris has pledged, I must honor. Evan, I come to present you with a gift.”
Evan looked as surprised as the rest of us. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“The power you seek, indeed, all the power that was ever at my command, is guided and centered in Trimble’s spirit. This gift I now bestow, with Trimble’s consent.”
I heard Samantha whisper ‘No!’ Tabitha gave Mother Solstice a pleading look.
“Place your hand upon his head,” she said to Evan. “You must ask Trimble to be your companion and guide.”
Evan smiled and stood taller. He wore his triumph in an unsettling, smug grin that he showed to all present.
“My lady, I accept this generous gift. And you may be sure that I will show you all the mercy you so desperately require.”
Mother Solstice stepped aside, and Evan approached Trimble. He took hold of the harness and lifted, so that he could look directly into Trimble’s face. “I am your new master,” Evan said firmly. Mother Solstice gave a quiet cough.
“You have to show some humility, Evan,” she said. He gave her an annoyed glance, then sighed.
“Forgive my audacity,” he said, with no change in his arrogant tone or manner. He placed his right hand on Trimble’s brow, directly over the medallion.
“Be my companion and guide.”
He said it once, with his customary swagger. But then his face changed. He spoke again, more softly.
“No. Sorry. Let me say it again. Be my companion and guide. Please.”
Trimble and Evan were caught in the beam of white light. For a moment, there was perfect silence, broken by gentle, flute-like sounds. Evan gasped in astonishment. All of the pride, all of the anger and hard feeling fell away from him. He collapsed to his knees, buried his face in his hands and began to weep.
Outside the windows, flurries of snow and ice began to blow, and a low rumble shook the floor beneath us. Evan opened his mouth, and there was a roar so loud I had to cover my ears. It was nearly identical to the sound that had been made by the vanquished Grim Frost. The awful cry grew in intensity, then faded away. As the noise disappeared, the flurries of snow in the yard settled. The quiet flute-like melody lingered for a short time. The bright lights faded, until the ballroom looked as it had before. All of the robed servants were gone.
Even remained trembling on the floor. Kris went to him and took his hand. Evan stood and held Kris in a tight embrace, still weeping.
“It’s gone, Evan. Trimble has lifted your curse,” said Kris.
“Forgive me,” said Evan, his voice muffled by the vestments on Kris’s shoulder.
“We must all forgive, for the many sorrows we have brought one another.”
Kris held Evan’s face in his hands. “My brother, how I’ve longed for this moment.” Then Kris placed his right hand on Evan’s chest. “Bitterness has released its hold on you. May your heart remain as innocent and guileless as that of the child you once were.” He moved his hand to Evan’s brow. “May your mind stay always on this charge: to alleviate the sorrow of the less fortunate.”
Kris took the bishop’s miter off of his own head, and Evan removed his antlered crown. Kris placed the miter on Evan’s brow, and then extended his hand. Evan kissed it.
“In the sight of these good souls, I pass along the miter of St. Nicholas, and I proclaim you, from this day forward, Father Christmas.”
Evan’s face shone with newfound joy. “I promise to carry on this work, as long as it will please the strange magics.”
“This palace is yours. The spirits of glad tidings which quicken it are now at your command.”
“Will you stay here with me?” Evan asked.
“For a little while. But when the Yule log is fully burnt, I will go to the palace of Far South and join my wife there for the rest of my days.”
Evan went to Iris. “If we live another hundred years, I will never be able to atone for the hardship I’ve caused you.”
Iris embraced him and kissed his cheek. “I owe you everything.”
The forgiven members of the F.A.B. struck up a tune. The solemnity of the coronation gave way to happy celebration. Kris went around and embraced each of his young guests. Evan, now Father Christmas, asked each of the candidates’ names, and apologized for the terrible first impression he knew he had made.
Eventually, Della came to announce that the servants had found a safe passage, and that the children must soon make use of it. The candidates were sent to the Den of Friendship. I started after them, but Kris tapped my shoulder and leaned next to my ear.
“Master Candler, if I could keep you here just a while longer. I require your help, on a small matter. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Will I be able to get home?”
“I’ll see to it. Please excuse me. Wait here for Martin Piper. In the meantime, make yourself at home.”
With that, Kris left us, and soon, everyone else was gone too. Evan and Mother Solstice walked out together down one corridor, and Della went off with the children in the direction of the den. An eerie silence fell on the entire place. There was no music, no howl of wind, no brassy horns or gentle flutes. Candles still burned all around, and there was warmth and beauty, but also an unsettling stillness. The seven lanterns outside the windows had gone dark. When Martin returned, I was sitting in a chair, looking out into the blackness beyond the windows.
“Please follow me, Master Candler. And let me thank you for your kindness and your helpful spirit.”
“Of course,” I said.
Beyond the chapel and the Chamber of Good Cheer, Martin opened a door, beyond which was a set of stairs, carpeted in red, with oak bannisters. We ascended two stories, and then came to a hallway less sumptuously appointed.
“Take the second door on the right,” said Martin. “Kris is waiting.”