Alcatraz versus the Knights of Crystallia Read Online Free PDF Page A

d seen, the entire city was filled with castles. Not just simple brick and stone buildings, but actual castles , with h igh walls and towers, each one different.
    Some had a fairy-tale feel, with archways and slender pea ks. Others were brutish and no-nonsense, the type of ca stles you might imagine were ruled over by evil, blood- th irsty warlords. (It should be noted that the Honorable Gu ild of Evil Warlords has worked very hard to counter the n e gative stereotype of its members. After several dozen ba ke sales and charity auctions, someone suggested that th e y remove the word evil from the title of their organi zation. The suggestion was eventually rejected on account of Gurstak the Ruthless having just ordered a full box of e mbossed business cards.)
    The castles lined the streets like skyscrapers might in a large Hushlander city. I could see people moving on the road below – some in horse-drawn carriages – but our drag on continued to crawl lizardlike across the sides of buildings. The castles were close enough that when he came to a gap between buildings, he could simply stretch across.
    “ Amazing, isn't it?" Bastille asked. I turned, not having realized that she'd joined me at the window.
    "It is," I said.
    "It always feels good to get back," Bastille said. "I love how clean everything is. The sparkling glass, the stonework and the carvings."
    "I would have thought that coming back would be rough this time," I said. "I mean, y ou left as a knight, but have to come back as a squire."
    She grimaced. "You really have a way with women, Smedry. Anyone ever told you that?"
    I blushed. "I just . . . uh . . ." Dang. You know, when I write my memoirs, I'm totally going to put a better line right there.
    (Too bad I forgot to do that. I really need to pay better attention to my notes.)
    "Yeah, whatever," Bastill e said, leaning against the win dow and looking down. " I guess I'm resigned to my punishment."
    Not this again , I thought, worried. After losing her sword and being reprimanded by her mother, Bastille had gone through a serious funk. The worst part was that it was my fau lt. She'd lost her sword because I'd broken it while tryin g to fight off some sentient romance novels. Her mother seem ed determined to prove that one mistake made Bastille com pletely unworthy to be a knight.
    "Oh, don't look at me like that," Bastille snapped. " S hattering Glass! Just be cause I'm resigned to my punishme nt doesn't mean I'm giving up completely. I still intend to find out who set me up like this."
    "You're sure someone did?"
    She nodded, eyes narrowing as she grew decidedly v e ngeful. I was h a ppy that, for once, her wrath didn't seem d irected at me.
    "The more I've thought about it," she said, "the more the things you said the other week make sense. Why did they assign a freshly knighted girl – on such a dan gerous mission? S omebody in Crystallia wanted me to f ail – someone was jealous of how fast I'd achieved knight hood, or wanted to embarrass my mother, or simply wanted to prove that I couldn't succeed."
    "That doesn't sound very honorable," I noted. “ A Knight of Crystallia wouldn't do something like that, would they?"
    "I . . . don't know," Bastille said, glancing toward her mother.
    "I find it hard to believ e," I said, though I didn't com pletely believe that. You see, jealousy is an awful lot like farting. Neither is something you like to imagine a brave knight being involved in, but the truth is, knights are just people. They get jealous, they make mistakes, and – yes – they break wind. (Though, of course, knights never use the term "break wind." They prefer the term "bang the cymbals." Guess that's what they get for wearing so much armor.)
    Draulin stood at the back of the room, and – for once – wasn’t standing in a stiff "parade rest" stance. Instead, she was polishing her enormous crystal sword. Bastille suspected her mother had been the one to set her up, as Draulin was one of the knights