“People don’t believe that nonsense,” Jace said.

“You might be surprised,” Declan said. “As time goes by, it becomes easier to accept the claims of the current government, the one right in front of you, the one controlling the present. For example, the governors Stafford established have now taken to calling themselves kings. Even the Grand Shapers seldom emphasized that title.”

“How did you end up here?” Mira asked.

Declan looked around, as if reminding himself of his surroundings. “I knew of this place before your father moved to unseat me. More than any feature in Sambria, the cloudwalls have always fascinated me. As I made a study of them, I discovered this space behind the Eastern Cloudwall. I managed to access it by a roundabout fashion and decided it might prove a refuge in time of peril. When Stafford came after me, I fled here with some key members of my household and a pair of my most promising pupils. And here we have stayed, biding our time. All you see here, we shaped from scratch.”

“Were Asia, Jamar, and Liam with you from the start?” Cole asked.

“Asia and Jamar. Liam came later. All have great potential and significant ability, but none are ready to assume my duties as Grand Shaper. Asia is too harsh, and her shaping skills too narrow. Jamar is too interested in pleasing others. And Liam, the most gifted by far, is also the least serious. I’m not sure he will ever learn to focus, to plan, to lead.”

“Sounds like you want to retire,” Jace said.

Declan chuckled wheezily. “Look at me! I was never a strong man. My body is shutting down. I’ve lived far more than my share of years; many regular life spans. Even my mind shows signs of flagging. Let’s see, we have Cole, like the fuel. Twitch, like his mannerisms. And, I’m sorry, you are?”

“Jace.”

“Yes, of course. But it escaped me. Not long ago I could have learned a hundred names once and repeated them back a week later. My short-term memory begins to wane. I’ve held this post for too long, but how am I supposed to find and train a worthy successor from here? My refuge is also my prison. I would like nothing more than to be Grand Shaper emeritus. But reality doesn’t always align with our preferences.”

“How many other people live here?” Mira asked.

Declan blinked at her. “Actual people? You’ve met them all. Me, Jamar, Asia, and Liam. The rest are semblances.”

“What about the others you brought with you?” Jace asked.

“The people who came with me have passed away,” Declan said. “Only those with potent shaping skills can slow the aging process, as my apprentices have. With clearer foresight I might have brought more couples, but there was little time. One couple formed from those I brought, but they were unable to have offspring. The last of my regular staff passed on almost ten years ago.”

“Others must have come through the cloudwall,” Twitch said.

“The last explorers we know of came here more than fifty years ago,” Declan said. “We only rescued three out of the dozens aboard the large skycraft. Liam wasn’t with us yet, so our flying semblances were much less sophisticated. The trio we rescued have since died.”

“When did Liam get here?” Cole asked.

Declan folded his hands and frowned, making him look like an elderly hospital patient who didn’t like what he’d been served for lunch. “Liam came looking for me almost twenty years ago, and he found his way here in the same way I did, through the Boomerang Forest.”

“Why was he looking for you?” Mira asked. “Was he a messenger?”

“No,” Declan said. “He was a young, powerful shaper in search of a teacher. He had been taken as a slave but used his shaping to escape.”

“Wait a minute,” Cole said. “Liam? Did he make a talking happy face on a slave wagon?”

“Possibly,” Declan said. “He had great talent at a tender age. I have done my best to instruct him, though our styles are very different. Much of what he does can’t be taught or learned. He shapes by instinct. But I’m rambling. The old man’s curse. You get lonely and your mind gets lazy, and you ramble. The topic should be Miracle and her father, Stafford Pemberton.”

“What can you tell me?” Mira asked.

“Until you girls were divided from your powers, I had never imagined such a feat was possible. When Harmony first told me, I scarcely believed her. Though your father comes from a line of skilled shapers, the talent apparently skipped a generation. I had the opportunity to assess him when he was young. He had ordinary shaping ability, nothing more. But what might I have missed? I had no idea the shaping power itself could be manipulated, so in his case, I may not have known what to look for.”

“I never saw him do much shaping,” Mira said. “I learned from my mother and from private tutors.”

“Stafford was not gifted in the traditional ways,” Declan said. “That much I can confirm. Yet he hid his mediocrity well, mostly by avoiding chances to shape in public. By all reports, each of his daughters and his wife were easily his superior. I know from experience that Harmony, Elegance, and Honor all practically glowed with ability. Conclusion? Either your father has unique talent, or he has access to arcane knowledge otherwise lost to the rest of us.”

“Have you any idea where he could have learned something like that?” Mira asked.

Declan gave a little shrug. “Here we enter the realm of conjecture. There are whispers of his elite Enforcers, claims that they possess unusual shaping skills. Do they all share the same secret? I have some talent with every known aspect of shaping, yet after learning that it was possible, I have utterly failed to touch the shaping power itself to any degree, despite years of study and effort. Stafford is either vastly my superior, or else he knows some technique that eludes me.”

“Have you talked to other Grand Shapers?” Mira wondered. “Perhaps the key lies with some other discipline.”

Declan rubbed the end of his cane. “Possible. The way shaping works in each kingdom is unique. The shaping in Creon is almost unrecognizable from the shaping here. I have only risked communication with Harmony. I’m not sure how to reach the others. None of us are eager to expose ourselves by reaching out too boldly. Honestly, despite the differences, I fail to see how the shaping styles in Zeropolis, Elloweer, Creon, or Necronum could take hold of the shaping ability any more than the shaping we practice here in Sambria.”