Scepter of the Ancients Read Free Page A

safety-deposit box? Is it, is it an account number? Is it … what is it? Wife, what is it?”
    All color had drained from Beryl’s face, and her hands were shaking. She blinked hard to keep the tears away; then she turned the box for everyone to see, and everyone saw a brooch, about the size of a drinks coaster, nestled on a plush cushion. Fergus stared at it.
    “It doesn’t even have any jewels on it,” Beryl said, her voice strangled. Fergus opened his mouth wide like a startled fish, and turned to Mr. Fedgewick.
    “What else do we get?” he asked, panicking.
    Mr. Fedgewick tried another smile. “Your, uh, your brother’s love?”
    Stephanie heard a high-pitched whine, and it took her a moment to realize it was coming fromBeryl. Mr. Fedgewick returned his attention to the will, trying to ignore the horrified looks he was getting from Fergus and his wife.
    “‘To my good friend and guide Skulduggery Pleasant, I leave the following advice: Your path is your own, and I have no wish to sway you, but sometimes the greatest enemy we can face is ourselves, and the greatest battle is against the darkness within. There is a storm coming, and sometimes the key to safe harbor is hidden from us, and sometimes it is right before our eyes.’”
    Stephanie joined in with everyone else as they stared at Mr. Pleasant. She had known there was something different about him, had known it the first moment she saw him—there was something exotic, something mysterious, something
dangerous
. For his part, his head dipped lower, and that was the only reaction he gave. He offered no explanations as to what Gordon’s message meant.
    Fergus patted his wife’s knee. “See, Beryl? A car, a boat, a brooch; it’s not that bad. He could have given us some stupid advice.”
    “Oh shut up, would you?” Beryl snarled, and Fergus recoiled in his chair.
    Mr. Fedgewick read on. “‘To my other brother,Desmond, the lucky one of the family: I leave to you your wife; I think you might like her.’” Stephanie saw her parents clasp each other’s hands and smile sadly. “‘So now that you’ve successfully stolen my girlfriend, maybe you’d like to take her to my villa in France, which I am also leaving to you.’”
    “They get the villa?” Beryl cried, jumping to her feet.
    “Beryl,” Fergus said, “please …”
    “Do you know how much that villa is worth?” Beryl continued, looking like she might lunge at Stephanie’s parents. “We get a brooch, they get a villa? There are only three of them! We’ve got Carol and Crystal! We have more! We could do with the extra space! Why do
they
deserve the villa?” She thrust the box toward them. “Swap!”
    “Mrs. Edgley, please retake your seat or we shall be unable to continue,” Mr. Fedgewick said, and eventually, after much bug-eyed glaring, Beryl sat down.
    “Thank you,” Mr. Fedgewick said, looking like he had had quite enough excitement for one day. He licked his lips, adjusted his glasses, and peered again at the will. “‘If there is one regret that I havehad in my life, it is that I never fathered any children. There are times, when I look at what Fergus and Beryl have produced, when I consider myself fortunate, but there are also times when it breaks my heart. And so, finally, to my niece Stephanie.’”
    Stephanie’s eyes widened. What?
She
was getting something? Leaving the villa to her parents wasn’t enough for Gordon?
    Fedgewick continued reading. “‘The world is bigger than you know, and scarier than you might imagine. The only currency worth anything is being true to yourself, and the only goal worth seeking is finding out who you truly are.’”
    She could feel Fergus and Beryl glaring at her, and she did her best to ignore them.
    “‘Make your parents proud, and make them glad to have you living under their roof, because I leave to you my property and possessions, my assets and my royalties, to be inherited on the day you turn eighteen. I’d just like to