My Beautiful Mind

27.

"How in the bloody hell did he even get into the Palace?" I tear my eyes away from the grandeur of Westminster and turn to James who looks as though he might be getting headache. Police officers patrol every inch of the Palace, looking suspiciously at anyone coming within a fifty foot radius of the government building. We're strolling casually next to the Thames out of sight from the officers trying to figure out how to get inside. Pedestrians, wearing finery worth more than the lifetime earnings of those in the East End, look at us curiously in our cloaks, but thankfully hurry on their way to brunch parties and croquet games. "But doesn't he have the ability to go unseen like all creations? Waltz through the front doors?" Jamie asks. Cordelia shakes her head, "Not within their own worlds."

Carys stares up at Victoria Tower, her serious, solemn face in concentration. "I recall Jonathan saying he knew of a way into the Palace from above." Cadeyrn halts his pacing and follows his sister's gaze up at the tower on the south western corner of the Palace. Flapping in the breeze is a tan canvas sheet that appears to be covering a broken small window. I have to strain my eyes to see the tiny gap in the Palace's strict security.

Jamie's gray eyes widen in disbelief when he registers that our only opportunity in is through that one window almost two hundred feet above the ground. He then turns to me and we share the same feeling of dread. The Hunters could scale the tower with no problems, as for us, we probably couldn't even lift ourselves even five feet. "You might have to do this without us," I say quietly as we make our way closer to the Palace. Cordelia meets Carys's eyes with a silent question and Carys nods. When the six of us reach a quiet corner of the Palace not too far from Victoria Tower, Cordelia turns towards me with an excited glint in her eye. "Elin, let us try something. As you know, you have the ability to bring things to life simply by imagining them in your mind..." "Can you try to visualise a knotted rope hanging from that broken window to the ground?" Carys asks. Cordelia grins, "Far more exciting than if I were to take you and Jamie through the front entrance. Besides, to find Jonathan we would have to retrace his exact steps through that window." I frown at the distance between us and that window. Could I really materialize a rope out of thin air? I created the girls subconsciously without really thinking about it.

"Let's try to do this together," Jamie says quietly, taking my hand. Forming a circle around us, the Hunters wait patiently for us. I nod hesitantly and we close our eyes. An image of Victoria Tower floats in my mind, exactly as it is now with that broken window half concealed by the canvas sheet. Slowly, I imagine a thick rope knotted every two feet running down the side least able to be seen by pedestrians, swaying slightly in the cool wind. I imagine the rope tied tightly around something from within the tower to hold our weight. I focus on the how the individual fibers are braided tightly together into a dense coil. Create, create, create, I will my mind. As the hazy, faint image of the rope becomes more clearer and solidified, i feel my body start to tremble with the effort. Sweat beads on my upper lip and gathers on my temples. I'm panting in exertion by the time the last section of the rope comes into focus. Then I open my eyes.

My heart skips a beat when low and behold, two ropes hang down the tower entwined with one another, strong enough to easily support Jamie and I. "You both did it," James breathed, approaching the tower to closely inspect our handiwork. Cadeyrn gestures us to follow and after another minute of gawking, Jamie and I scurry after Carys and Cordelia. "We must hurry. According to my calculations, patrols will begin making their rounds in about ten minutes," Cadeyrn says, giving an experimental tug on our ropes. Jamie raises an eyebrow at our small window free from detection but doesn't protest. Instead, he squares his shoulders and gestures for me to climb up first. "I'll behind you to make sure you don't fall," he says softly. Carys notices my apprehension and gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze, "Cadeyrn and I will be climbing right next to you. James and Cordelia will go on ahead to alert us from above if there will be trouble."