“Reg!” Querry shouted and threw the heart. Reg caught the organ and continued running. The beast snarled and ran toward Reg. Before it reached Reg, he tossed the heart off to Frolic. The monster snatched at Frolic, but he flew up to the ceiling of the chamber with his metal wings.
“This is exceedingly tedious,” the creature said as it aimed a spell at Frolic.
“We have to burn the heart!” Querry shouted. The monster turned on Querry, forgetting Frolic for the moment and grabbing Querry round the neck.
“Tom! Fire,” Frolic shouted as he returned to the ground, tossing the heart to Teezle.
“Oh no you don’t, Tommy!” The creature’s hand whipped out, and the heart stopped in mid-air. “That’s sorted. Now for you.” The ancient fey tightened his grip. Frolic grabbed a piece of masonry and launched it at the monster, slamming into its skull. It dropped Querry and turned on Frolic, its eyes blazing with anger and magical energy. “You awful, little thing,” it hissed, throwing a spell that lifted Frolic off his feet and sent him flying through the air. “I’ll drain you and then I’ll eat your little friends.” The primordial creature advanced on Frolic, flexing its clawed fingers.
“Over my dead body!” Reg shouted and dashed at the creature, throwing his shoulder against it.
“If you prefer, I’ll start with you,” the monster said, recovering from Reg’s attack. It reached for Reg as Frolic reached for the hovering heart. Sensing the treachery, the faerie hissed and pointed a finger at Starling’s heart, beckoning it closer. The organ floated toward the faerie’s outstretched hand. “I refuse to be undone by the likes of you.”
Suddenly the faerie’s outstretched hand fell, along with Starling’s heart, to the stone floor. The creature shrieked as Jean-Andre stood, a sword in his uninjured hand and a smirk on his lips. “What are you waiting for, mon ami? Burn that damned thing.”
Teezle aimed his hands at the heart and flames burst forth, setting the organ ablaze.
“I’m very tired of you, little faerie,” the beast said, backhanding Jean-Andre and advancing on Teezle. “Perhaps I’ll take your heart after I’ve taken your magic.” It reached for Tom.
“No!” Frolic shouted. Reg dove at the monster, tackling it around the legs, dragging it to the floor. Without words, Querry and Jean-Andre followed his lead, leaping on the creature’s arms and pinning it to the ground. “Now, Tom! Now!” Frolic shouted. Teezle nodded and conjured flames, trying not to hit Frolic’s friends.
The creature screamed, thrashed about, and tossed the humans from him. Tom increased the intensity of his blaze as the faerie stood. Its pained shrieks vibrated the chamber as it marched toward its attacker. Frolic stepped up behind the creature with Jean-Andre’s sword in his hand. Frolic lopped off the first fey’s head, and the shrieks stopped abruptly. Tom continued to focus his flames on the body until the he reduced their adversary to nothing more than ash and a scorch on the floor.
Querry crawled up the steps to Starling’s abused corpse and pulled him onto his lap. Now that the danger had passed, the true impact of the baron’s sacrifice inundated Querry’s emotions, and the floodgates of his sorrow opened. He closed his eyes and wept over Starling’s corpse. He could hear his friends moving around the chamber, but he couldn’t see what they were doing, and he didn’t care.
QUERRY DIDN’T know how long he cried before he felt a light touch on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Reg, Frolic, and Jean-Andre standing in a circle around him. None of them said anything; there was no need. Querry sniffled and swallowed the lump in his throat. He supposed in some way they’d won, though this felt like anything but a victory.
For the first few hours, Querry carried Starling’s body cradled in his arms like a sleeping child. He refused the others’ offers of help. Eventually, though, his injured and exhausted body would no longer cooperate. The corpse was getting stiff and starting to smell bad, so Querry set it gently on the ground and stopped to rest for a few moments. He’d never been so thirsty in his life.
He shook his head and spoke for the first time in many hours. “What are we going to do without any water? It took us days and days to walk this far into the temple. We won’t last the days it will take to make it out. What happened to Tom?”
No one had an answer. Querry leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. For one of the only times in his life, he didn’t know if he could keep fighting impossible odds. He was so tired, more completely drained in body and soul than he would have ever imagined possible.
Querry thought he must have fallen asleep and drifted into a dream. He felt warmth on his face and a breeze ruffling his hair. Birds sang somewhere above him, and leaves rattled softly. Querry opened his eyes to a small clearing covered in soft grass and edged with flowering bushes. He blinked, expecting it to fade away, but it didn’t. Corny and the three mercenaries also looked perplexed. Baron Starling’s body still lay a few feet from Querry’s legs. His skin had gone gray, and seeing him summoned a fresh wave of grief in Querry. What he saw next inspired only rage.
Tom Teezle stood at the center of the glade with his arms crossed. “You son of a bitch,” Querry snarled, advancing on the faerie. “You could have saved him!”
Tom shrugged. “I didn’t want to. I did, however, save you, so show some gratitude.” He made a sweeping gesture with his hand, indicating a break in the trees.
All of them approached the gap and looked out. A few miles away, a city sprawled at the bottom of a hill. Beyond it, hundreds of ships bobbed on the glimmering waves in the large harbor.
“The capital city of Morazan,” Tom explained. “You will find many of your people there, and from there, you can secure travel if you wish.”
“Where will you go?” Frolic asked.
“I must return to the Other Lands and tell my people of what happened here. We must devise a way to make sure it never happens again. Though I destroyed my ancestor’s body, I doubt I truly vanquished him if even the Good Father couldn’t accomplish it. My people must insure he isn’t given the opportunity to return. The temple can never be discovered by another human.”
“But I’m afraid that’s impossible,” Reg said. “The colonists here are clearing away more and more of the jungle to make room for plantations. It might take many years, but they’ll reach it eventually, and it’s human nature to be curious.”
“We will make sure that doesn’t happen,” Tom said. “Now, farewell. Many of you I will not see again. Frolic, I wish to speak with you. I have something for you.”
“I’m not sure I want anything from you,” Frolic said even as he approached Tom.
“You will want this.” Tom reached into the pocket of the new, green and gold striped trousers he wore and handed Frolic what looked like a ruby the size of his fist wrapped in a paisley handkerchief. Querry couldn’t even imagine its value, and as he looked at it, he thought it seemed somehow familiar.
“I do need this,” Frolic said in a voice soft with awe. “What do you ask in return?”
“Nothing,” the fey said. “I want you to have it. I want to see what you’ll do with it. I like you, Frolic. You entertain me. I’m hoping another of you will entertain me even more. Will you accept it?”
“Yes. Thank you, Merrifont.”
“Be careful. It’s extremely hot.” The faerie handed Frolic the gem.
Querry understood. Tom Teezle, Merrifont, or whatever name the faerie now preferred, had made Frolic a heart. Querry remembered accompanying his gentleman on a quest for the components necessary to construct the eternally hot arcane miracle: fire flowers, the essence of an elemental salamander, fever dreams, and oaths spoken during love. He recalled Tom watching the three of them make love, but he wondered where the fey had found the rest of the ingredients, and more importantly, what Frolic planned to do with it.
Nearby, Jean-Andre practically drooled at the sight of the jewel. He moved to step closer, but Reg intercepted him and looked at Frolic. “What are you planning to do with that, beauty?
”
“I thought to make another like me,” Frolic said softly. “I don’t want to be the only one anymore, and I’m afraid to be alone again when you and Querry… when you’re gone.”
“But… you’ll have us for years and years,” Reg countered in a wounded tone.
“But not forever,” Frolic whispered, staring into the swirling depths of the glowing gem. “No matter what we say or what promises we make, it can never be forever.”
Querry’s eyes stung, and he scrubbed at the moisture on his cheeks while everyone stood in awkward silence around him. He’d had no idea Frolic had been concealing so much pain.
“I suppose that’s it, then,” Corny said. “We should make our way to the city. I want a real meal, a bath, and a bed for the night. I’ll worry about the rest after that.”
“Let’s go,” Owens agreed.
“There’s something I have to do first,” Querry said, looking at Lord Starling for probably the last time.
They spent the next few hours building a pyre from deadfall before placing the baron atop it and sending him to his final rest. Querry hoped Gavindale Starling would find peace at last. His tears flowed freely, and the others cried as well as they stood around the fire until nothing remained but a pile of ash and cinders. No one would ever know the baron rested here; no one would visit this nameless clearing and spend a few minutes remembering him. No monument would mark his grave or remind others that he’d lived at all. To Querry, that was one hell of a shame. He hoped maybe Reg might write something about Lord Starling in his memoirs. He hoped history might remember the baron as an idealist, a dreamer who fell just short, and not dismiss him as a failure.
Chapter 32
REG’S EASY assimilation to life in Morazan surprised him. Querry, with his knowledge of the darker elements of cities such as this, had quickly found a buyer for the gold they’d taken from the temple, although Frolic had insisted they not sell more gold than would comfortably sustain them for a while, wishing to keep most of the treasure intact as the future bones of the companion he’d create. They rented a lovely house not far from the beach, in a part of town full of cafes, open-air markets, bakeries, flower shops, playhouses, and best of all, bookstores. A trip to a local physician had confirmed what Reg already knew: he’d broken two ribs and cracked two others.
Today, weeks later, Reg spent the morning as he usually did, sitting at his desk in front of the window, looking out at the vibrant colors of the city and its people, and trying to pen the story of what he’d lived since leaving Thalacea before the details faded from his mind.
The local girl they’d hired to cook for them, Constantia, brought Reg a cup of the excellent local coffee along with some toast and bacon. He smiled as she set them down. A few hours later, Querry and Frolic returned from the market. Having money agreed with Querry. As they entered the sitting room, Reg wondered what exotic gift his lover had purchased for him this time. He set his pen and new spectacles down and rose from his leather chair to greet them, taking their hands and kissing each of them on the cheek. Reg felt relieved to see both of them in good spirits. The days since Starling’s demise had left all of them shaken, and Frolic most of all.
“Look what I found,” Querry said, handing Reg a small package wrapped in brown paper.
Reg unwrapped the parcel and found a twin of the faerie book Frolic had stolen from Starling’s villa, the book that had been destroyed when the airship crashed. Reg smiled, kissed Querry again, and put the book on the shelf with the rest of his growing collection.
“You didn’t forget we’re meeting Corny for lunch today, did you, Reggie?” Frolic asked. His hair had returned to its usual silvery white, and he’d removed the braids and beads, though he kept Tom Teezle’s dark gray ribbon wound around one of his curls, and he still wore the feather earring the Panther People had made for him.
“Of course not, beauty. Just let me splash some water on my face.” Reg went to the washroom and wiped the ink splotches from his fingers. He brushed his freshly cut hair and put on a wide, brown tie, securing it with a gold pin he hoped Querry had bought for him.
They walked a few blocks in the direction of the coastline to a quaint eatery not far from the small, pink plaster house Corny and Jack Owens shared. They found the mercenary and the tinkerer already seated at a long, wooden table next to the smoky pit where a local man roasted meat and fish. Men in three-piece suits and women in white dresses, with parasols and bonnets, strolled by just as they would in Halcyon. Reg watched them, and it was hard to believe the primordial jungle and all its mysteries waited only a day away. Soon after, Jean-Andre, who’d been staying at an expensive hotel, arrived in a steam carriage. He still wore a cast and a sling on his right arm.
“Always good to see you, my friends,” he said as he sat down. “If I may ask, what’s the occasion?”
Corny poured them all wine. “Well, I’m afraid it’s to say good-bye. Me and Jack are going back to Anglica tomorrow morning. We’ve talked a lot about it, and we’re planning to open a small shop in south Halcyon, near where I grew up. Do repairs and whatnot.”
“Settling down?” Reg asked Owens, a bit incredulous. Owens was a little too much like Querry. Reg worried he’d grow bored and crave danger and excitement after a while.
Owens nodded. “It’s time. I ain’t exactly a young man anymore. I figure I can retire with what I made off this job. To new beginnings.” He raised his glass, and all of them drank, with the exception of Frolic, who looked utterly crushed.
Corny reached across the table and squeezed Frolic’s hand. “Now, love. Don’t be sad. You’re welcome to come visit any time you like. And we can write to each other. I still plan to help you build yourself a friend.”
Reg rankled at the idea of being replaced, even if he understood Frolic’s motivation.
“I hope you’ll be very happy, Corny,” Frolic said, forcing a smile. “I’ll miss you very much, and I hope you won’t forget me.”
“How will I forget the best mate I ever had?” she asked with a wink.
As they spent the next couple of hours discussing their plans for the future, Reg realized he and his partners hadn’t yet had the important conversation themselves. He liked Morazan well enough and wouldn’t mind staying. Would he finally be able to convince Querry to settle down and give up his criminal ways? What about Frolic and his new obsession with making himself a companion?
He considered what he’d say to them as they walked home. Frolic stopped at a stand and bought a bunch of bright pink lilies. “Do you miss Whisper?” Reg asked.
“I don’t have to miss him. I was able to bind him to the heart that Tom made for me,” Frolic answered as he fondled the velvety petals and looked out over the rooftops toward the sea. “He was a good friend to me, and I didn’t want to lose him.”
Reg barely concealed his shock. “How?” he breathed. “How did you manage it?”
“I don’t know,” Frolic answered. “I listened to the magic in my own heart, and it instructed me.”
This new development made Reg very uncomfortable. “That’s wonderful,” Reg lied against his better judgment.
“We’ve had to leave so many,” Frolic lamented. “I miss Baron Starling. I miss Dink and Lizard. Now Corny’s leaving too. Is this how life will always be? People come into your life, become important to you, and then just go?”
Reg couldn’t lie to him. “It used to seem that way to me too. Sometimes it still does.”
“What do we do?” Frolic stopped in the street and looked at them, desperate for guidance and clearly hurting. He dipped his head to the side and nuzzled the invisible Whisper.
“We hold onto each other as tight as we can,” Querry said. “We fight for each other, and we don’t stop fighting, no matter what. Beauty, I’m not going anywhere.”
Frolic nodded and resumed walking, but Reg could almost read his mind. He’d bet Frolic was thinking about how much longer he’d survive compared to Reg and Querry. Reg hated feeli
ng like he’d let Frolic down by being mortal.
They arrived home to find a small boy waiting on their front steps. He held a large, official-looking envelope that seemed to contain a thick book. “Mr. Starling?” he asked, addressing Querry.
“No.” Querry paled and took a step away from the young courier.
“But this is the address I was told. Are you sure you’re not Querrilous Starling?”
“Let me see that.” Querry took the package and stared hard at the fancy, looping script scrawled across it. Reg put his glasses on and looked over his shoulder. Nothing but a name was written on the thick, ivory paper: Querrilous Knotte-Starling.
Reg offered the boy a coin as Querry walked slowly inside the house without closing the door. He sat down cross-legged on the floor and tore the envelope open. Reg and Frolic stood a few feet away as Querry sorted through the stack of papers it contained. As he read, tears trickled down his face until he sobbed softly. Finally he looked up at Reg and said, “These can’t be real, can they, Reggie? Please tell me this is some sort of sick joke.”
“What do they say?” Reg asked cautiously.
Querry, gripped by a fresh bout of grief, just shook his head and scrubbed at his red eyes. Reg slid the stack of papers gently out of his hand and walked to the window where he had some light to examine. “Oh no,” he whispered as soon as he saw the first line.
I, Gavindale Cesar Starling the Third, Baron of Greymont and Sele, also the Viscount du Marches, being of sound mind and body, do hereby will all my earthly possessions and titles to my son, Querrilous Knotte-Starling, upon the event of my death.
Reg read on and on through the endless caveats and clauses. Everything seemed authentic. He recognized the names of the solicitors Querry was to contact back in Halcyon. “This… appears to be in perfect order, Querry. Starling used some very clever legal trickery to allow you, an illegitimate, to inherit his titles, but he seems to have pulled it off. According to this, you are the next Baron Starling.”
A Grimoire for the Baron Page 39
