The World Above by Cameron Dokey Read Free Book Online Page A

basket at her feet. It was sleeping now, its head tucked beneath one wing. It looked peaceful, but exhausted. The sack of coins lay flat on the table beside the empty pie plate. To look at the sack, you would have thought that it was empty as well.
    “All you have to do is look at either of these things to know that something is terribly wrong with the way our former kingdom is being governed. Or, more accurately, not governed,” my mother went on. “My guess is that Guy de Trabant didn’t want these reminders of his failure.”
    “What about the lyre?” I asked. “Did he leave that as well?”
    Jack shook his head. “No. That’s the one thing Guy de Trabant took with him. Rumor has it that he almost never lets it out of his sight, and that he uses the lyre to help govern his own people, rather than using his own judgment.”
    Jack ate the last forkful of pie, then pushed his plate away as if his hunger had finally been satisfied.
    “Winning back the lyre is going to be a challenge.”
    “One you think you know how to meet,” I said. The look on Jack’s face told me he’d been doing something out of character. He’d been developing a plan of his own.
    “Not yet, but I think I know how to discover if a
how
is even possible,” Jack replied.
    Mama leaned in, suddenly intent. “What are you thinking, Jack?” she asked.
    “Twice a month, Guy de Trabant holds a court of assizes. Any of his subjects may come before him to present a grievance or a matter that needs to be settled.”
    “And de Trabant uses the harp to help him pass judgment,” I said.
    “That’s it, precisely.” Jack nodded. “If I could find a way—”
    “Are you mad?” I broke in before he could complete the thought. “Think of all the people who might see you, not to mention the soldiers. Both de Trabant and the harp are bound to be heavily guarded. We don’t even really know what the fortress looks like. We know it’s on top of a hill, but what else? Even assuming you could manage to get to the harp, how would you escape with it?”
    “Thank you for asking me the same questions I’ve been asking myself,” Jack said testily. “How is this helping?”
    “It helps to clarify just what you’re up against, Jack,” Mama said.
    “I know what I’m up against,” Jack said stubbornly. He looked between the two of us, his gaze finally settling on our mother. “Don’t you even want me to try? I thought this was what you wanted me to do, Mama. To return to the World Above and reclaim all that is rightfully ours.”
    “And so I do,” replied our mother. “But . . .” She paused, trying to select the right words. “These last couple of days, while Gen and I waited, I came to understand what it would mean to lose you. I want you to take your place as your father’s rightful heir with all my heart, Jack. I want to see you sitting on his throne. But I want to keep you alive and well more. If you were to be captured or killed—”
    “I won’t be,” Jack said in quick reassurance, reaching across the table to grasp her hand. “I won’t be, Mama.”
    “Then listen to your sister,” Mama said. “She wants you to succeed as much as I do.”
    “Of course I do,” I said quietly. “Though you know . . . officially, I’m the rightful heir to the throne, not you. I am five minutes older. And there’s nothing that says a girl can’t succeed.”
    Jack’s mouth dropped open, as did Mama’s. I might have been tempted to laugh, were it not for the twist of pain in my heart. Sensible Gen, boring Gen with her strange affection for the World Below. Who would have considered her for a crown in the World Above?
    “Fortunately for you,” I went on, “I have no desire to sit on a throne. But if that’s what
you
want, then we should get you there in one piece.”
    Jack took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, as if expelling his preconceived notions along with his breath.
    “All right, then,” he said. “What did you do with that