The First Dragon(69)
“Not to argue,” said Edmund, “but isn’t she the Imago already? Or at least, since she’s the best candidate, won’t that simply just make her the Imago by default?”
Telemachus’s response was unexpected. His eyes welled up with tears, and silently, he began to weep.
“Here, Mr. Telemachus,” Fred said, offering him a handkerchief. “Take a minute, why don’tcha.”
When he had regained his composure, he took Rose by the hands. “No,” he said, answering Edmund’s question. “It is not as simple as being Named. It is not even as simple as taking the responsibility by choice. It is something that must be hard fought for, and hard earned. And there will be times when you want to cast it off, but you won’t. Because you know it is your purpose to one day be the Imago, and purpose is invincible.
“One day you will have done enough, and learned enough. It grieves me that there is still so much living that you must do before that day. But it will be worth it, my dear Rose. . . .” This last he said as he transformed once more from the ancient sage into the young man wearing the Ruby Armor. “It will be worth it. Because the Imago protects life. And as long as there is life . . .
“. . . it is such a wonderful world we live in, after all.
“And Rose,” he added as they waved farewell, “if things go well for all of you, you may see me again, after.”
Madoc had deliberately made certain the entrance of the keep was wide enough to accommodate the Indigo Dragon, but he had neglected to do the same for the door inside. They were debating whether to leave the airship behind when Fred suddenly noticed that the inside of the tower had expanded. Suddenly there was more than enough room to maneuver the ship inside and through the doorway.
The little badger stroked the stones on the outside of the keep. “Thanks, Scowler Jules,” he said with earnest humility. “We appreciate it a lot.”
“All right,” Rose said to the others. “Let’s see if we can go home one more time.”
Together, the companions climbed into the airship, and Fred guided it through the doorway.
♦ ♦ ♦
The Indigo Dragon entered the doorway of the keep, which disappeared as they passed through. On the other side, it was night, and the airship slid quietly onto the East Lawn of Tamerlane House.
“We did it,” Laura Glue said, squeezing Edmund’s hand, then reaching out to hug Quixote and the badgers. “We found them, and brought them home.”
Growing happier by the moment, the companions leaped out of the airship and raced for the front door of the house. Throwing it open and dashing inside, they were greeted by the very familiar face of a dear friend who was taking his tea by the hearth.
“Rose! Edmund! Charles!” Jack exclaimed as he leaped from his chair, scattering tea and cakes all across the room. “Uncas! Laura Glue! Fred!” He stopped, eyes wide. “And Madoc! You are all returned, finally! At last! At last!”
The Caretaker rushed to embrace the companions, and could not hold back his tears. He wept freely, in both joy and relief, as did all the newly returned companions, including Madoc.
“I can’t believe it!” Jack exclaimed. “Somehow, I knew deep down you’d return, but it’s been so long. So long!” He embraced Rose again, then shook Edmund’s hand. Fred and Uncas, however, both held back. Something was wrong.
Laura Glue caught the same whiff of uncertainty. “You look . . . younger than I remember,” she said, not bothering to conceal her suspicion. “How do we know you aren’t an Echthros?”
Jack chuckled, but Charles knew him well enough to note the fleeting expression of pain that danced across his features, as well as to realize what Laura Glue and the badgers only suspected, and the others had no clue of at all.
“I’m not the enemy,” Jack said blithely, “but yes, things have changed. After all, you have been gone a very long time.”
“How long?” asked Charles. “And what, specifically, has changed about you, Jack?”
“Nothing about him is different than you remember,” another Caretaker said as he stepped into the room. “He’s just been youthened.”
It was James Barrie—one of the portrait-bound Caretakers who resided in the gallery at Tamerlane House. He spoke directly to the young Valkyrie and grasped her shoulders with an affectionate firmness. “I don’t yet know how long it has been for you, Laura-my-Glue, but for us, here, it has been almost twenty years since you went on your little rescue mission into the Zanzibar Gate. And it has been almost three years now since Jack came to join us in the gallery.”