Bees entered the great hall, the ones whom the high brunka had trusted to search the chambers. Elodie’s belly hoped they were coming for the midday meal.
An idea stunned her. What if Master Tuomo had told his sons to leave Zertrum after he had departed with Master Uwald? Masteress, did you think of this? His alarm might be nothing but pretense. When she’d first learned to mansion, Albin had taught her to feign fright and anger before letting her attempt anything else. There had been nothing to it.
Ludda-bee, holding a wooden spoon, entered the great hall. Another bee trailed behind her.
High Brunka Marya clapped her hands. “Come, everyone, the entire swarm of you. You, too, you herd of guests.”
Had she deduced where the Replica was?
Master Tuomo led Master Robbie and Elodie. Mistress Sirka followed more slowly. At the high brunka’s stool, the bees, except those guarding the doors, had already gathered. Master Uwald and Albin approached from across the room to stand with Elodie and Master Robbie.
“Dears,” High Brunka Marya began, “I’ve decided. I cannot apologize because this is right.”
“Apologize for what?” Master Tuomo sounded angry already.
“The thief or thieves—Masteress Meenore believes there may be two—is thinking . . .” Her soft voice hardened. “You . . . Thief, thieves, I’m addressing you. You are thinking that after Zertrum explodes, the danger will be over for you. You expect I’ll give up and let everyone go.”
“I’ll never give up,” Master Tuomo said.
Albin frowned. “None of us will.”
“Good. Then you won’t mind that no one will leave the Oase until the Replica is found and the thieves revealed, no matter how long it takes.”
“Preposterous!” burst from Master Tuomo.
“Reasonable, and as certain as snow in the mountains.” She waved the bees at the entrance away from it and jerked her arm. A rainbow arched from her hand to the entrance and sealed the door in many-colored light. The rainbow dissolved, but the door rainbow glow remained.
Elodie remembered how the rainbow had stung her hand. She doubted she could thrust her whole body through.
“Marya!” Ludda-bee cried. “We won’t live even a month without provisions.”
“Outside bees will bring us food. I’ll let them in and out. I’ll stay with you, because”—High Brunka Marya’s voice faltered—“I deserve to suffer as much as anyone.”
Elodie thought, I came after the theft. How can I be a mansioner or a dragon’s assistant from prison? It isn’t fair to treat everyone the same.
Mistress Sirka chuckled. “Not suffering for all of us.”
“I make an exception only for the kidlings.” The high brunka smiled a tight smile at Elodie and Master Robbie. “They may leave with the first bees to bring provisions. The rest of us are prisoners of the Oase. I may fail to find the Replica in time—a great defeat. But I will not fail to punish the thief, even if we have to die here.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
By noon a tired Masteress Meenore reached the stone house with the two chimneys and found it uninhabited. IT rose into the air again, seeking a brunka who could be anywhere or an ogre who could be anywhere and any beast.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
A stunned silence fell.
Observe! Elodie thought.
Master Uwald’s eyebrows were raised. He wagged his head from side to side as if he were considering a wager. But he seemed calm as ever, contrasted with Master Tuomo, whose face had mottled a dangerous red and white and whose eyes switched from the entry door to the windows high in the wall, too high to reach even standing on a table.
High Brunka Marya saw, too. “Master Tuomo, dear, if you’re imagining breaking out, you won’t succeed. You know how a rainbow tingles and stings. You won’t be able to go through, not even if you ram the door with something. The pain will be too great.”
“My sons!”
“You’ll get news of them. If the Replica isn’t found, they can visit you here.”
Ludda-bee announced, “It’s nothing to me.” Followed by another bee, she marched back toward the kitchen, passing Johan-bee, who was rocking more rapidly than usual. She jogged his elbow. “You look like a sea horse, you booby.” She disappeared into the kitchen.
A red-faced Johan-bee changed to shifting from side to side, foot to foot.
Albin whispered to Elodie, “The Replica will be found. Don’t worry.”
But she couldn’t help it. They both knew her parents’ Potluck Farm depended almost as much on him as on her father. If he were held here, the farm would fail.
He pressed a roll into her hand. “I saved this for you from breakfast.”
How thoughtful he was. She took a bite.
Dror-bee said, “You mean I won’t be allowed to help farmers in the spring?”
“I hope we’ll find the thief long before then, but otherwise, you will not.”
His voice rising, he added, “But that’s the joy in being a bee, the only joy. That’s what I delight in.”
“I know, pup.”