Tara Duncan and the Forbidden Book Read Online Free PDF Page B

fall. The man pulled out an ornate pen, and a one-legged table hopped over lickety-split to stand before him. A sheet of parchment appeared and he started dictating. Hearing his words, the pen displayed a pair of little arms, stretched, yawned deeply, and began to write.
    Okay, got it, thought Tara. When somebody falls, don’t react. It’s completely normal.
    All the same, she found herself catching her breath when courtiers would suddenly sit down in midair and have an armchair sprint over on its little wooden legs to catch them.
    But it was when they reached the interior palace gardens that they fully appreciated the empress’s unusual taste in decor. They were about to cross a vast park—more a jungle than a park, actually—when Fabrice suddenly screamed, making them jump. A monstrous foot had crashed down in front of him, followed by a pair of sharp-toothed jaws that seemed to have him in mind. He backed away in terror to escape the monster that was trying to swallow him, but Damien merely smiled.
    â€œDon’t be afraid,” he reassured them. “The drago-tyrannosauruses can’t harm you. When we entered the jungle, we automatically activated force-field bubbles. The animals can see us, but they can’t get to us.”
    Fabrice looked up at the enormous saurian drooling onto the protective bubble and trying in vain to pierce it.
    â€œI hate this!” he screamed. “Whenever there’s some huge, hungry thing around, why does it always go after me? I want out of here before the whole security system breaks down.”
    â€œThere’s no risk of that,” answered Damien.
    â€œYeah, right!” snapped Fabrice. “It’s like they said in Jurassic Park: that there is nothing to be scared about, just a power malfunction. Get me out of here!”
    Damien obeyed, but his perplexed look suggested he had serious doubts about Fabrice’s mental stability.
    The group then entered a kind of gigantic aquarium where fish in water bubbles floated among the furniture and plants. Tara felt the empress had gone a bit far when she found herself nose to nose with what looked very much like a whale—except that it must have gotten a bad sunburn, because it was bright red.
    The next hall made them feel they had stepped into a refrigerator. In a glacial landscape, large furry balls were browsing on the frozen white grass. A snowstorm was raging, and they advanced with difficulty. In the crevasses, animals that looked like lobsters waved their claws, waiting for one of the fur balls to fall in. Piles of bones at the bottom showed that this must happen often enough.
    The empress had apparently decided to recreate all of OtherWorld’s environments inside her palace, complete with their fauna and flora.
    Purple ifrits were busy everywhere. These minor demons from Limbo couldn’t harm OtherWorld peoples, which is why they were allowed to remain on the planet. In Omois they cleaned and guarded the Imperial Palace, directed Tingapore’s insane traffic, and served as messengers. Within a few centuries they had become essential to the empire’s life and workings. Tara, who had awful memories of her passage through Limbo, kept well away from them.
    When the group reached their suite of rooms, Damien formally introduced them to the door. It opened an eye, a mouth appeared and greeted them very politely, and an arm turned the handle. They went in and, when Damien left, heaved a collective sigh of relief.
    Seeing them, Sparrow and Sheeba jumped to their feet. “Tara! What are you doing here? I thought your grandmother forbade you from coming to OtherWorld.”
    â€œWe couldn’t abandon Cal,” said Tara, stroking Sheeba. “And let’s say we didn’t exactly ask her permission. It seemed more important to come to try to help. How is he doing?”
    â€œI don’t know. We were separated as soon as we got here. I’m waiting to be called