Elevation." She had no idea what that meant. Every day there seemed to be a new ritual to be named, to be enacted, to be fol owed in service to the Ember of Hoole. What does it al mean? Otulissa thought. Why have shadows become dangerous? Why is the world of owls being turned inside out? She remembered how Soren and Gylfie had told her about the horrors of St. Aggie's, where owls were forced to sleep during the night and work during the day. St. Aggie's had been an inside-out world. Was that what was happening here at the tree? Her gizzard lurched fiercely.
Otulissa suddenly decided that this kind of
contemplation and theorizing was impractical. She needed to think back and try to pinpoint when the changes had started. Even before the Band left she realized now that many of the owls had become very concerned about the wel -being of the ember. Then, within nights of their leaving, Gemma had introduced the idea of moving the ember to a "safer" place where the watch that Coryn had appointed could better guard it. This suggestion did not seem al that unreasonable at the time. Coryn's hol ow was smal . Only so many owls could keep an eye on it. It was Elyan who had come up with the notion, despite
64 76 Coryn's orders that any guard should be representative of al the creatures of the tree, that, within the watch, there must be an "inner guard," an honor guard. Otulissa, Bubo, Eglantine, and Ruby had voted against this. Fleemus had abstained. But stil the measure passed. Then al of a sudden they decided an honor guard wasn't good enough. There had to be an even higher level that had certain military powers, but not an army exactly: a militia that they cal ed the Guardians of the Guardians of
the Ember, or the GGE. The creation of the GGE
had not been voted upon by parliament. It had just happened. No one was sure how, and now there was this Elevation! Elyan, Gemma, and Yeena, members of the militia through some complicated procedure, had been "Elevated." Otulissa, in reviewing the course of events, realized it had begun to accelerate with a visit from Trader Mags, The magpie trader had discovered some new ruins of the Others and had arrived with, a load of her cheap and tawdry gewgaws, including funny- looking hats that no owl could actual y wear. One of these had become the "sacred ash bin" for the cold ashes scraped from the ember's container. Mags also had brought scraps of ermine that Madame Plonk immediately claimed. "Ceremonial, dear! Them's the robes of state," Mags kept, saying. "Yes, I real y lucked out this time. One of them queens or kings of the
65 77 Others had kept a stash in this
place."Souvenirs from coronations, from rituals of the Others' churches ,piles of cloth stitched with silver and gilt thread provided enough to start yet another guild among the nest-maid snakes, a fine
embroidery and sewing guild. Mags had hired a
dozen helpers to transport al the loot. She had helpful y brought along some pictures of a queen and her attendance as wel as many of the Others church leaders al dressed up for celebrations of their own Glaux, so that the owl's of the tree could see the costume and pomp of Others
Oh how Otulissa rued the day Mags had arrived with al this junk! What would that sweet-faced queen with her kind blue eyes have thought of a bunch of owls flapping through the air wearing al her royal crappings? We 're owls, for Glaux's sake,not Others!
Again Otulissa clamped her beak shut for fear the words might escape.
The Procession was quite a spectacle. She saw a smal company of Nothern Saw -whets and Pygmy swopp down from above. On their heads the owls wore ivory thimbles,like the one that Primrose had flown with. They deposited the thimbles in a row near the ember. Some ashes were poured into the thimbles. Near them was a set of decorated teacups and some more ashes were placed in
these. Analysis of the ember's sparks and ashes
had become a favorite field of study for many owls, especial y among the
78 GGE. A
Otulissa suddenly decided that this kind of
contemplation and theorizing was impractical. She needed to think back and try to pinpoint when the changes had started. Even before the Band left she realized now that many of the owls had become very concerned about the wel -being of the ember. Then, within nights of their leaving, Gemma had introduced the idea of moving the ember to a "safer" place where the watch that Coryn had appointed could better guard it. This suggestion did not seem al that unreasonable at the time. Coryn's hol ow was smal . Only so many owls could keep an eye on it. It was Elyan who had come up with the notion, despite
64 76 Coryn's orders that any guard should be representative of al the creatures of the tree, that, within the watch, there must be an "inner guard," an honor guard. Otulissa, Bubo, Eglantine, and Ruby had voted against this. Fleemus had abstained. But stil the measure passed. Then al of a sudden they decided an honor guard wasn't good enough. There had to be an even higher level that had certain military powers, but not an army exactly: a militia that they cal ed the Guardians of the Guardians of
the Ember, or the GGE. The creation of the GGE
had not been voted upon by parliament. It had just happened. No one was sure how, and now there was this Elevation! Elyan, Gemma, and Yeena, members of the militia through some complicated procedure, had been "Elevated." Otulissa, in reviewing the course of events, realized it had begun to accelerate with a visit from Trader Mags, The magpie trader had discovered some new ruins of the Others and had arrived with, a load of her cheap and tawdry gewgaws, including funny- looking hats that no owl could actual y wear. One of these had become the "sacred ash bin" for the cold ashes scraped from the ember's container. Mags also had brought scraps of ermine that Madame Plonk immediately claimed. "Ceremonial, dear! Them's the robes of state," Mags kept, saying. "Yes, I real y lucked out this time. One of them queens or kings of the
65 77 Others had kept a stash in this
place."Souvenirs from coronations, from rituals of the Others' churches ,piles of cloth stitched with silver and gilt thread provided enough to start yet another guild among the nest-maid snakes, a fine
embroidery and sewing guild. Mags had hired a
dozen helpers to transport al the loot. She had helpful y brought along some pictures of a queen and her attendance as wel as many of the Others church leaders al dressed up for celebrations of their own Glaux, so that the owl's of the tree could see the costume and pomp of Others
Oh how Otulissa rued the day Mags had arrived with al this junk! What would that sweet-faced queen with her kind blue eyes have thought of a bunch of owls flapping through the air wearing al her royal crappings? We 're owls, for Glaux's sake,not Others!
Again Otulissa clamped her beak shut for fear the words might escape.
The Procession was quite a spectacle. She saw a smal company of Nothern Saw -whets and Pygmy swopp down from above. On their heads the owls wore ivory thimbles,like the one that Primrose had flown with. They deposited the thimbles in a row near the ember. Some ashes were poured into the thimbles. Near them was a set of decorated teacups and some more ashes were placed in
these. Analysis of the ember's sparks and ashes
had become a favorite field of study for many owls, especial y among the
78 GGE. A
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