The Cabinet of Wonders: The Kronos Chronicles: Book I (27 page)

Iris put her hands on her hips, considering. Then she said, “What have you done with your eyes?”

Oh, no. Petra wanted to bury her face in her hands. How could she have forgotten about the belladonna? “Well, you see,” she stammered, “it’s, um, really popular to have dark eyes and I wanted to impress the other girls and I heard that belladonna could—”

Iris raised her hand. “I’m not even going to ask
how
you managed to get hold of belladonna. I’m just going to tell you that
no,
you may
not
sleep on the floor of my laboratory, because you no longer work here.”

Petra’s heart sank. Where would she go? She was already starving from having skipped yet another dinner to talk with Neel. Over the past weeks, she had found herself fantasizing about Dita’s
cooking. Astrophil had said she was getting thin in the face. Now, on top of her hunger, she was dead tired. But she had no idea what Sadie would do if she saw Petra. Would she announce Petra’s plan to the whole sleeping hall? Would she march Petra before Master Listek and demand that she be fired? No, Petra couldn’t risk seeing Neel’s sister. She would have to find some corner of the castle where she could spend the night. Maybe there was a cupboard somewhere, or she could enter the library and sit at a desk and sleep with her head on her arms …

Iris interrupted Petra’s train of thought. “Follow me,” she commanded, and led Petra past the black curtain. Iris lit a candle and opened the door that Petra had noticed a long time ago. “These are my private chambers,” she said, ushering Petra into the room. “I don’t care to keep company with those fourth-floor flibbertigibbets. Here I’m closer to my work.”

It was a very simple room, bare of any furniture except a wooden table with chairs, a wardrobe, a large bed, and a small bed made in a boxy shape. There was a tiny window and a closet door.

“It’s not a luxury suite, but fancy furniture is hardly practical when you can burn them down to cinders once a month. Well. You can sleep there, if you like.” She pointed at the boxy bed.

“Really? Iris, that’s so —”

“First things first. Sit.” She waved Petra toward the table and then left the room.

She returned bearing a tray with bread and butter and a cup of warm milk. “Young girls like their bedtime snacks, if I remember correctly.” She set the tray down in front of Petra. Iris ordered her to eat, and Petra was glad to obey. As Petra chewed large mouthfuls of buttered bread rinsed down by gulps of frothy milk, Iris pulled bed linen out of the wardrobe. “My niece Zora used to sleep here sometimes.” She waved her hand as if dismissing the memory. “But that was a long time ago.”

When Petra had curled under a feather blanket and Iris was settled in her own bed, Petra felt such grateful fondness for Iris that it took her a few moments to speak. Then she said softly, “Iris, thank you so much. This is perfect. I—”

“Oh, don’t get too comfy! I snore.”

M
EANWHILE,
several floors above Petra, something small and sparkling crept along the ceiling. The spider sauntered over the heads of the fourth-floor guards (who, it is shameful to say, were sleeping). Astrophil ducked into the corner where the ceiling met the wall, and carefully inched toward the pine and oak door. The lion and the salamander stared into the hallway, but they didn’t see the spider as he made his way toward the entrance to the prince’s suite. When Astrophil reached the wall in which the double doors were set, he walked carefully down the side of the door frame until he reached the floor. The lion and the salamander continued to gaze calmly ahead. Astrophil slipped under the door.

He began to creep over the red, furry carpet of the hallway, but this was as difficult for him as it would be for you to push your way past vegetation in an Amazonian rain forest. So he shot a spiderweb to one of the walls and walked along there under the glow of the brassica lamps.

When he reached the chamber with seven doors, he crawled toward the door that Petra thought led to the Cabinet of Wonders. To his frustration, however, the crack between the door and the floor was extremely narrow. He tried to flatten himself out and push his way under the door, but the most he managed to do was wiggle a few legs into the crack. He pulled back. If he was the swearing type of spider, he might have cursed. But he just grimaced, and tried to think quickly.

Now, thinking quickly is what Astrophil did best, so he soon had an idea. He twinkled toward another door, avoiding the one he
knew to be the prince’s study. He managed to slip under the second door, but frowned when this new room turned out to be an armory. He tried a third door, but walked into a bathing room with a tub the size of a small swimming pool.

The fourth door, however, led him exactly to where he wanted to go: the prince’s bedchamber. The sumptuous room was almost entirely taken up by an enormous four-poster bed. Normally this type of bed has curtains hanging on every side to help keep the sleeper warm during a cold Bohemian night, but in the prince’s room flames crackled in two fireplaces. Probably for security reasons, the bed was bare of any curtains, and the prince slumbered under thick blankets. His pale face seemed to be the same color and made of the same fabric as the white silk pillows.

Astrophil’s gaze was drawn to the nightstand. He shuddered. There, in a room filled with soft and polished things, was a fierce plant that someone in Astrophil’s position likes least out of all the plants in the world. It was a Venus flytrap. A large bell jar covered this botanic beast. Instead of flowers, it had wide mouths trimmed with jagged teeth. They were wide open, waiting for some insect to step inside. Astrophil had read about these plants, which don’t survive on only sun and water. The insides of their mouths are sweet and sappy. Many bugs, not just flies, are attracted by the smell. As soon as they step inside a mouth, it slams shut.

Astrophil tried not to think about the Venus flytrap. Instead, he jumped up onto a small table on which sat a cup, a saucer, and a spoon. Walking along the table, Astrophil deliberately bumped into the spoon, sending it over the edge with a clatter. The spider leaped to the floor.

He couldn’t move any farther. A domed glass object plunged down from the sky and covered him. It was the bell jar that up until a moment ago had been covering the Venus flytrap. Astrophil quivered in fear, but sternly told himself to remain calm. He froze
as the prince bent down to stare at him. From Astrophil’s point of view, the curve of his glass prison distorted the prince’s face. It was deformed, and bent in odd directions as the prince tilted his head. When the prince spoke, his words vibrated through the glass. “My,” he said. “How
curious.”

L
OOK LIKE A PARROT.”
Neel fidgeted with the red and gold jacket as he and Petra walked down the hall.

“What are you complaining about? Half the Lovari wear clothes in those colors.” “Yeah, but the
cut
…”

Stuffed somewhere into one of the dark corners of the stables was a page who would dearly love to look like a parrot. But instead he was dressed in Neel’s clothes, and bound and gagged. Petra had lured Damek into the stables by telling him that there were bushels of apples stored there for the nobles’ favorite horses. When Neel pounced on poor Damek, Petra explained to the page that she was sorry, but there were no apples for him to steal and he wasn’t likely to get his uniform back anytime soon. Petra supposed that her deeds tonight wouldn’t improve Prince Rodolfo’s opinion of shifty chambermaids. But when Iris confirmed that, yes, she had heard that the prince was dining with several ambassadors that night, Petra swung the plan into action. Damek actually cried when Neel put on his uniform, but Petra hardened her heart and told the page that his outfit looked ridiculous anyway, and he should be glad to be rid of it.

Petra and Neel had managed to get past the series of human
guards without any trouble. They knew Petra by now and waved her past without looking at her papers. Neel drew some doubtful looks, but Petra had made good use of the prince’s study during her first day of work as one of his chambermaids. She had examined several of the prince’s letters. She supposed that she would have been in serious trouble if she had been caught, even though none of the letters said anything interesting. They were about raising the price of grain, awarding knighthoods, and setting aside more money for Bohemian ships to sail from Italy. Doing a very decent job of imitating the prince’s handwriting, she introduced Branko (that is, Neel). He was a new page, replacing Damek, who had proved himself to be unworthy to work for the prince. Branko had already been interviewed by Prince Rodolfo. Petra stamped the note with the prince’s seal and hoped fervently that this letter would do the trick.

The lion and the salamander gazed at the letter in Neel’s outstretched hand. Silent communication passed between the two of them for quite some time. Finally, the lion said, “Viera, you may pass.”

“What about me?” Neel said.

“You have never entered these doors before, therefore we doubt that you have been interviewed. We regret to inform you that His Highness is not here. You will have to return at another time for your interview.”

“But it’s already taken place!” Petra argued. “The letter says so.”

“It would be highly unusual for His Highness to conduct an interview outside his chambers.”

“But His Highness
himself
wrote that he
has
done so. Are you telling me that you doubt His Highness’s word?”

The salamander shifted. The lion said, “Certainly we do not doubt it.”

“Damek was taken away by the captain of the guard. Everything
happened so fast. The interview was conducted in Master Listek’s office. His Highness has important matters for Branko to attend to. His Highness will be very upset if he returns from his meeting and finds that Branko’s duties haven’t been taken care of.”

The lion and the salamander looked at each other.

“Would you like to examine the letter again? These”—Petra waved the paper—“are His Highness’s orders.”

The lion sighed. “You may pass, Branko.”

They waited until the double doors had shut behind them to share a triumphant grin.

They rushed down the hallway. Just before they reached the main chamber, Petra took Astrophil’s drinking spoon from her pocket and dipped it into one of the brassica lamps, collecting a dollop of oil. She carried the full spoon above her left palm, trying not to spill any green liquid. They walked into the chamber with its empty throne and false window. Petra nodded at the door in the middle, to the right. Neel dropped to his knees before it and began to go to work.

He grimaced. “This one’s tricky.”

Petra’s heart was pounding. But she and Neel exchanged elated glances when they heard a
click.

Neel pushed open the door. He let out a groan. There was a second door.

This one was made of glass. There was not one but three keyholes.

“Should we break the glass?” Petra whispered worriedly.

“No.
Don’t get so jumpy. Give me a minute, will you?”

As Neel moved his hands over the first keyhole, Petra peered into the Cabinet of Wonders, trying to calm herself. It was a room that seemed to stretch on forever. Several large statues were set on the floor, and shelves lined the walls, heavy with countless objects.

Petra strained to see what they were, but she didn’t have a good view.
Astrophil?
she called, searching for the spidery twitching in the back of her mind. She noticed shards of broken glass on the floor several feet ahead. Her anxiety increased.
Astro? Tell me you’re in there!

A silvery web jetted from one of the shelves to the floor. Astrophil speedily lowered himself and ran to the glass door.
Petra! Petra!
He jumped up and down.
I am so glad you are here! I was worried that you would never come! And I am
so
hungry!

We’ll get this door open soon. Did you find Father’s eyes?

Yes, but you cannot imagine what I had to do to get in here! There was a Venus flytrap, and the prince caught me, and I truly meant for him to do that, but I did not know I would get trapped under a bell jar, and then the prince put me inside the Cabinet, like I planned, but he
kept
me under the bell jar on a shelf, the fiend! Then he left, and I had to push against the glass jar with all my strength until it fell to the ground and took me with it. There was broken glass, and I fell, there was broken glass, and I fell, and …
He was babbling, a rare thing for Astrophil to do. But then, he had been under a fair amount of stress.

Calm down! What are you talking about?

Astrophil took a deep breath and explained how he hadn’t been able to slip under the door as planned, and so tricked the prince into locking him up in the Cabinet of Wonders.

He said that I was lucky he was too busy today to arrange for
tests
to be done on me. He said it as if he knew I could understand!