A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix Read Free Book Online

through empty space like a projectile, twisting and dodging to avoid intense energy beams of different colours that were coming toward me. It was all happening incredibly fast, and it got faster still. I accelerated, and more and more energy beams shot at me, now coming from all directions, and I twisted and flipped and turned—all without any conscious direction on my part—as I dodged them and continued on to whatever might be my final destination.
    Then I saw it—or sensed it, as I wasn’t entirely sure how I was experiencing this whole thing. I was travelling at some phase-shifted speed toward a vast ball of blue-white incandescent gas, which was also the source and somehow the target of the energy beams.
    The next second, I smashed into the surface of this object and everything went black, just for a second, accompanied by the most intense pain I had ever felt, pain that exploded out from the very centre of my brain.
    :Welcome to the Imperial Mind, Prince Khemri:
    The voice was soft but penetrating. It cut through what I realised were my own mental moans and whimperings. As it continued to speak inside my head, the pain diminished.
    :Connection established Prince Khemri <> and running nil interruption to date. Check. Check. Return to physicality:
    Suddenly I was back in my own body, choking, my nose and mouth full of fluid as I flailed about in the strange stream. Something touched my chest; I grabbed it and hung on.
    It was the arch-priest’s fishing pole. I held it in a death grip as she effortlessly hauled me out of the fluid. I could still feel the presence of the Imperial Mind in the back of my head. It was like sitting close to someone, feeling the occasional shift of their body, hearing the soft repetition of their breath. I knew that with this connection, sustained by my own or other priests, I could call upon the Imperial Mind to bear witness, to look out my eyes, to use my ears, to feel what I touched, to experience what I experienced. I could communicate with the Mind and, via it, with other Princes, no matter how distant, provided there were sufficient relays between.
    Information flowed to, through, and from me. I was a node in an information network of unrivalled capacity and sophistication. I could query the Imperial Mind on any subject, could retrieve data on anything the Empire knew, or at least would allow me to know.
    I was now truly a Prince of the Empire.
    ‘Yes,’ said the arch-priest. ‘You are indeed.’
    I looked at her suspiciously.
    ‘I don’t think you’re meant to monitor my thoughts, Great-Aunt,’ I said stiffly. ‘Nor is it supposed to be possible.’
    ‘A great many things are not as you have previously thought, Highness,’ said the arch-priest. ‘We have very little time before you must report to the Commandant of the Academy; let us not waste it. First of all—’ ‘I’m sure I can report whenever I choose,’ I interrupted. I was flush with the confidence of being connected to the Mind, and I wanted to show my superiority.
    ‘I said we cannot waste time,’ repeated the arch-priest. Blue fluid flashed in her head, and I was suddenly struck down, to lie panting on the bank of the stream near my abandoned clothing.
    ‘But . . . but I am a Prince,’ I protested. ‘You can’t—’
    ‘I can,’ said the woman. ‘I am your sponsor before the Imperial Mind. I hold the keys to your augmentation, across all teks. I am a surety for the Emperor, one additional safeguard for your loyalty.’
    ‘No one told me,’ I grumbled. I wished I did not sound so pathetic, but it is difficult to be dignified when you are naked and have been struck down from inside your own head. ‘Who are you, anyway?’
    ‘My name is Morojal, and I am Arch-Priest of the Emperor in Hier Aspect of the Emperor’s Discerning Hand. Listen carefully.’
    ‘I’m . . . listening,’ I muttered. Inwardly I was wondering what was the sphere of responsibility of the Aspect of the Emperor’s