Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
At first Phoebe thought the room was completely deserted…then she saw the bed had one occupant right in the center. It was an old, old man with platinum gray skin and a long white beard that was spread out in elegant curls over his sunken chest. His hair was pure white too and his eyes were closed as he snored—a slow, steady wheeze that seemed to indicate he was deeply asleep.
Once she was sure the occupant of the bed was sleeping, Phoebe came more fully into the room. Her eyes slid from the sleeping man—who must be the Emperor—to the huge, ornate headboard at the back of the large, magnificent bed.
To Phoebe, it looked kind of like one of those storage shelves you can buy at Ikea with rows of square openings that could be used to display objects or to store boxes. Only she was pretty sure Ikea didn’t sell a model that was covered in carvings and gold leaf and had diamonds embedded along its edges.
It was clear the headboard was being used as a display case rather than a storage area. Every square opening held a unique and beautiful object—many of which were so strange Phoebe couldn’t even tell what they were or what their purpose was.
In one square display space she saw a shiny gold box covered in ruby, sapphire, and emerald squares, rather like a fancy Rubix Cube. In another there was a statue of some kind of animal that seemed to be carved out of an enormous diamond. In yet another she saw what looked like a golden sword hilt with jeweled buttons at the bottom but there was no blade attached to it.
But there was one item in particular that caught her eye.
Sitting in the square opening directly above the Emperor’s head was a smooth, white, opalescent crystal a little longer than her middle finger. Phoebe recognized it at once from the holo image that Commander Sylvan had showed them in their briefing.
“The Finger of the Goddess!” she breathed, staring at the crystal. It gleamed in the dim bedroom, seeming to emit a light of its own and she was almost certain it was the source of the sweet smell pervading the palace. Come to think of it, hadn’t Commander Sylvan said it smelled like some kind of blossoms that only grew on First World? Phoebe was sure he had.
Now she just had to figure out a way to get the crystal without waking the old Emperor. She would steal it and the minute Sirex came back to the palace they would head out to the spaceport. They would be home to the Mother Ship in time for dinner!
Quietly Phoebe approached the bed. The Emperor continued his steady, wheezy snore, his long mustache blowing out with every breath. When she got around the side of the bed, Phoebe saw that he was hooked up to a kind of IV line. A clear cylinder filled with dark blue liquid was suspended from a silver hook above his head and a line of the stuff was running down a tube into his wrinkled arm. She also noticed that his wrists had soft cuffs on them that were tied together, effectively making him a prisoner.
Hmm, I wonder if that liquid is some kind of sedative, Phoebe thought, eyeing the IV. Maybe Thruck was keeping the Emperor drugged and out of the way so he could rule the palace the way he wanted to. She wouldn’t put it past him—she didn’t trust the two-headed bastard any further than she could throw him, as her Granny would say.
She got right up to the edge of the plush mattress and leaned over it, reaching for the crystal. Unfortunately, it was just out of reach. Phoebe grimaced with effort as she stretched her arm as far as she could—if only Sirex was with her, his arms were so much longer, he would have reached it easily!
The thought of waiting until her mentor came back flashed through her mind…but she didn’t want to do that. Who knew when they would get this chance again? Right now the palace was empty of men and the women were all keeping to their own rooms—this was a golden opportunity she was sure she wouldn’t get again.
Well, there was no helping it—she was going to have to climb up on the bed. Holding her breath, Phoebe moved the long strands of the skirt she was wearing aside and put one knee on the thick mattress. It was covered in an extremely puffy gold brocade comforter that looked thick enough to be suffocatingly warm. Well, maybe the Emperor needed it—older people often got cold when their blood thinned, she thought. Her Granny wore a shawl or a cardigan everywhere—even in the Florida heat.
She reached again for The Goddess’s Finger…but still couldn’t get it. Damn it, she was going to have to get all the way onto the bed!