Illusionarium by Heather Dixon Page A

queen here? Whatever happened to King Edward?”
    Lady Florel smiled and descended down the staircase, which split into two and rounded to the floor. I hastily followed, wary of the time slipping away.
    â€œI am,” she confirmed. “Things are done differently, here in Nod’ol. The miners elect their monarch.”
    â€œThey—elect? Really?” I said. “The miners?” Every miner I knew on Fata wasn’t exactly nobility.
    â€œYes,” said Lady Florel. “Here in Nod’ol, they control the airstreams, which means they control the orthogonagen fuel and the fantillium. Nod’olians are very fond of fantillium and illusions. I arrived here years ago, illusioned like a dream, enchanted the miners, and was elected.”
    â€œAnd since then, you’ve had one foot in Arthurise and one foot in Nod’ol?” I said, sorting it out.
    â€œSomething like that, yes.” Lady Florel paused at the base of the stairs. Between her and the other staircase, almost in the center of the room, stood a display case. It was a round cabinet with glass around the sides, thedisplay inside split like a pie into six sections, which were all locked and empty.
    Except for two. The first one held an airship ticket on a green velvet pillow. It read:
    PASSAGE TICKET
    Airship #278, Theater Station
    Destination: Sussex, dock 4
    The section next to it had nothing but a slip of paper on an orange pillow, with one word:
    ANNA
    And the section next to that, swathed with gold velvet, lay empty. Lady Florel unlocked it and opened the little glass door.
    â€œThe antitoxin?” she said.
    I’d been holding the brown bottle in my hand so tightly that it had imprinted itself into my palm. My fingers automatically and painfully unclenched. The moment the glass flashed in my hand, Lady Florel had swept it up, laid it on the velvet, shut the case, and locked it.
    â€œHold off!” I began.
    â€œThese are the prizes each illusionist earns.” She cut me short. “You don’t need to win to get it back.You simply need to illusion well . There will be a large reception here after the show, and you can have it back then.”
    â€œWhat?” I said. “It doesn’t need to be locked away!”
    â€œOh, Jonathan,” said Lady Florel, sweet as icing on a cake. “Yes it does. I’m afraid you won’t try hard enough if it’s not . You see, if you do well, the miners grant me more orthogonagen and fantillium. The theater and the airships are powered, and the masked guard is paid in fantillium. It’s the key to reclaiming this city.”
    â€œWhat about reclaiming Arthurise?” I protested.
    â€œArthurise can wait a few more minutes, Jonathan. I’ve been working on this city for years. I’ve already rescued this theater—it used to be overrun by . . . decay, and everyone lived up in airships. Slowly, we’re spreading our tendrils of civilization. One day— one day— Nod’ol will regain its glory.”
    Lady Florel’s lined face had turned rather glazed and thoughtful, and she stared off into the distance. I followed her eyes to the wall above one of the arched glass doors to the courtyard outside. A rough, craggy patch marred the marble, as though it had been scratched and chiseled away completely. It did not match the lobby’s grandeur.
    She stared at this marred patch of marble with glistening eyes.
    Just as quickly, she snapped to.
    â€œWell, Jonathan!” she said, adjusting her sleeves and mask. “Let us haste. I want you to meet the other two illusionists before the show begins.”
    And haste we did, back up into the many floors of the theater, the seconds feeling like they lasted hours. The sooner I met the illusionists, the sooner I could get the illusion over with and get back to Arthurise. To my chagrin, it took ten entire minutes to reach the other side of the theater, at a backstage room of