Lady Friday(21)

‘What’s this line that goes up the mountainside from here to the next flat bit and the top one?’ Arthur asked. He pointed and the map switched views again, back to the three-dimensional cross-section. ‘A road?’

‘It is the Extremely Grand Canal,’ said Elibazeth. ‘It is used to move records between the three guilds and the storage lake, prior to their completion and removal to the Lower House to be archived.’

‘But it goes up the mountainside,’ said Arthur. ‘Does the water flow uphill?’

‘The canal moves textually charged water,’ said Elibazeth, with a bored sigh. ‘It is divided into regular currents that move up and down at various speeds. Anything with writing or type on it will be taken by the current. We do not have a lot to do with the canal here. Our foil is taken overland by hand to Letterer’s Lark, and smaller quantities—’ ‘Right, right,’ interrupted Arthur. He didn’t want to know about where the foil went. ‘What is the next flat level called? And where is Lady Friday’s Scriptorium?’

‘The next plateau is called the Middle of the Middle,’ sniffed Elibazeth. ‘It is the domain of the Guild of Illustration and Augmentation, and a nastier bunch you’ll never meet, unless you go up to the Top Shelf, where the so-called High Guild of Binding and Restoration laze about. I understand that Lady Friday’s Scriptorium is actually beyond that, on the mountain peak, but as to the truth of that, I cannot say. Now can I get back to my work?’

‘Is there any way to go directly to the Top Shelf?’ asked Arthur.

‘Normally you could take an elevator,’ said Elibazeth. ‘Though why you would, I don’t know. But the elevators aren’t working. I expect they’re broken, like the weather. Now I must really insist—’

‘Just a few more questions,’ said Arthur. ‘Is it possible for people … or Denizens … to travel on the canal? And have you ever heard anything about a Part of the Architect’s Will being hidden in the Middle House?’

‘Questions about the nature and workings of the canal are best put to the Paper Pushers who work the canal. I know nothing about the Architect’s Will, other than that a particularly fine gold foil was made for it some eleven thousand years ago. We still have a sample here. I can show you, as the Rightful Heir, though we do not normally reveal it to outsiders. It is of note for several reasons—’

‘No, that’s okay,’ said Arthur hurriedly. But Elibazeth had already pressed a corner of the desk, revealing a small secret drawer. She slid in her hand and drew out a tiny crystal prism, no larger than her little finger, and handed it to the boy. Arthur took it with some puzzlement.

‘Where’s the foil?’ he asked.

‘Hold it to the light,’ said Elibazeth.

Arthur turned the prism so that it caught the light and saw that there was a tiny speck of gold suspended in the very middle of the prism.

‘She came and made it Herself,’ said Elibazeth reverently. ‘The Architect. She gave us that leftover piece.’

‘Did you see the actual Will?’ asked Arthur curiously. ‘The document, I mean. Did the Architect gild the letters here?’

‘No, She took the foil away,’ said Elibazeth. ‘Now, if I may have that back—’

Arthur slowly shook his head. He was interested in the foil now, because he had remembered something Dr Scamandros had talked about once: how things that had once been together but then separated could be sorcer-ously linked, that one could affect the other. Perhaps this speck of foil could be used to track the parts of the Will that had been gilded by the Architect. Not that he knew how to do that, but if he could get in touch with Scamandros …

‘I think I might be able to use it,’ he said.

‘But it is the guild’s most important treasure!’ protested Elibazeth. ‘Surely—’

‘I might need it!’ snapped Arthur. It felt surprisingly good to snap at the Denizen, his display of anger lessening some of the tension that had built up inside him. Though it also felt a bit wrong. It was bad behavior, and his mother would definitely not approve. But he had to make the Denizens cooperate, and surely his mother would understand; after all, she was in danger and he had to do whatever it took to rescue her.

Arthur tried to stop thinking about his mother.

I have to focus, he thought. I can’t waste time thinking about unnecessary things. I have a mission and I’ll carry it out, just like I was taught at Fort Transformation. Forget about anything but the mission.

‘I’m also going to need some warmer clothes. Have you got any warm coats?’