Muse Unchained (The Last Library Book 3)

by Jill Cooper

  Sebastian tensed but I nodded. “Thanks, Penny. I’ll do my best to make sure Creighton’s army stays as far from you as possible.”

  “I’ll aid her,” George said. “I won’t be much good in fighting an army, but I can protect children. I know I can.”

  I held a sigh in. Truthfully, I wanted George nowhere near this thing, but I couldn’t say that. Not after I said we needed everyone to fight, so instead I just squeezed his hand. “I’ll make sure you’re well armored and well armed. You’ll have our complete support in this.”

  The front door slammed open and Markus entered. “Well, the great Tarnish Rose has returned. When I heard, you can imagine my excitement.” He laughed as he approached but as he took in the sight of George, he stopped. “Who is this?”

  “George,” my husband-to-be introduced himself and offered Markus his hand.

  Markus only glowered at it and at me. A moment later, his angry eyes fell to Sebastian. “I see…”

  “Now isn’t the time,” I said firmly. “I’ve done all that you asked. I’m ready now to face Creighton and bring an end to all this.” I pulled the golden staff free from my back holster. Firmly, I planted it on the ground and the blue remnant in the center began to spin, throwing off a gentle glow.

  “For bedtime reading,” I joked. “Far better than candlelight.”

  Markus’s eyes bugged out and his hands shook as he reached for the staff. “It’s so much more beautiful than I thought it would be. Even my dreams couldn’t imagine such a thing as this.” He touched it and a rune lit up, electrifying his fingers. “Ouch, that smarts.”

  “It sometimes has a mind of its own. I’m sure it meant no harm.”

  “There’s much for us to talk about, Tarnish,” Markus muttered.

  “Later.” I rolled out one of the maps on the table and held it flat. “We have much to do.”

  Chapter: Tarnish Rose

  I took a tour outside of the preparations through the town.

  The blacksmiths were working as fast as they could to sharpen swords and make new blades. The horses were in their saddles and leather armor. Arrows were being cut from wood and steel tips being attached. Trenches were dug around the compound and filled with gunfire and remote triggers, and extra shields of protection had been welded onto the watch towers for added support.

  I couldn’t think of anything else that I might do and that scared me. What if I was missing something?

  I gazed up at the night’s sky. It was getting late and everyone was getting tired. If we didn’t get rest how could we be prepared to fight?

  Someone walked up beside me and the sense of calm that overcame me meant it was George. He would be one of the first to leave—he and Penny would move the children in the morning and hope to secure their location before any sight of the army.

  My hand reached for his and our fingers coiled around each other. “I’m not prepared to say goodbye to you again so shortly after getting you back.”

  George placed his hand on my hip and drew me close. “Someone has to watch those children and I can’t have you watching out for me when you need to charge ahead.”

  “Me,” my eyebrows rose, “planning to fight the dark lord. I still think part of me is crazy. Where do I get off thinking I can even do this?”

  “You’ve done many miraculous things leading to this point, Abby.” George stroked my cheek and leaned in close. His lips pulling softly at mine. “I am hoping for at least one more miracle.”

  I held onto him firmly, allowing our kisses to linger longer than they should. “You’re my miracle,” I whispered. “Promise me you’ll come back.”

  His eye ticked back and forth as he studied my face. “Only if you do. Fight strong. Fight well. Remember what you mean to me.”

  It was impossible to forget. I wrapped my arms around him tight and didn’t want to let him go. I might’ve been a leader, I might’ve been a curator, but when I was with George, I was Abby—and I missed her. My heart longed to be her again. To see my parents, to see Margret, to get away from this horrible battle.

  Someone clearing their throat behind us caught my attention. George and I peeled away from each other. I watched him go toward the school house. “Something to say, Markus?” I pivoted on my heel and placed a hand on my hip.

  He stood on the stairs of the farmhouse. “You know what it is I mean to say. Why make me say it?”

  I met him halfway. “I love whom I love. Sebastian and I are allies. We are incredible friends. I support his right to choose what he does with his life.”

  Markus opened his mouth and I stared him down and raised my hand. “All this time I’ve been fighting Creighton and the ministers who would tell me what to do, what to wear, who to marry, and how many children to have. If I stepped out of line, they would’ve executed me.”

  “Abby,” he said with concern. “What I’m asking isn’t the same thing. Sebastian is a noble

  man. A historian. You are curator. The forging of our two blood lines is paramount to our success.”

  I shook my head. “We can do what we need without getting married. Love is love. I won’t marry anyone but George. My word is final.” I finished climbing the steps and opened the door to the farmhouse, but gazed back. “I hope you’ll come to understand someday.”

  Markus gravely shook his head. “You’re making a horrible mistake. One we may all pay for.”

  ****

  Sebastian watched from the wings of the school house. Penny gathered the children together in a circle and instructed them to play a quiet game while she readied the supplies. As she snuck down the hallway, he followed her, desperate for a few moments alone with her.

  “Penny,” he called out softly as she pulled food and blankets out of a cabinet.

  “I can’t right now, Sebastian. I have too much to do.” She slung the bag filled with snacks over her shoulder and picked up the broadsword leaning against the wall. Sebastian slinked closer to her, but she refused to look at him.

  Instead, she tested the weight of her sword.

  “Penny—.”

  “No!” Penny shouted and shook her head. “I can’t talk with you. I can’t say goodbye to you. I don’t think my heart can stand it, Sebastian. You need to leave me alone and stop seeking me out whenever we’re near. I know what the future holds and it’s not us, even if I survive the night. Which is a very big ‘if’. These children need me and I can’t be….”

  Her lip warbled. “It used to be so easy to pretend I don’t feel what I feel, but not with what is coming. So please, if you care for me, please go.”

  “I don’t wish to cause you pain. Watching you suffer is heartbreaking to me, but you have to know Tarnish and I won’t be wed. We’ve rescued George, the man she loves. The man she intends to marry. She won’t back down no matter what Markus says.”

  Penny finally looked him in the eye and tears puddled beneath her eyelashes. “Markus won’t settle for that. He’ll do whatever he has to.”

  “He won’t win. Tarnish and I have made a pact. We respect each other too much. We’re friends and she’s like a sister to me. I will always protect her when I need to, but I won’t marry her.” Sebastian cupped Penny’s face. “I’m in love with another.”

  Penny cried. Her eyes closed, she tilted her head up, and Sebastian finally kissed her. He kissed her like he had wanted to do for the last five years of his life. Caressing her cheek, pulling her in close, Sebastian didn’t think he’d ever let her go.

  “Is this a dream?” Penny asked.

  Sebastian shook his head, his fingers stroking the curve of her braid. “It’s real. We’re going to win and then… then we can be together.”

  Penny swallowed. “Now I have to leave you and take the children. I almost wish you had waited. Almost.” She smiled bashfully, her wide, brown eyes searching his. “Please fight safe. Please.” She wrapped her hand around his and leaned in to kiss him one more time.

  Tenderly he held her. “You better go now. Take the c
hildren into the mountain. If anything strikes near, go into the caverns as deep as you can. They’re like a maze and the enemy will have a hard time finding you.”

  She gulped down a breath. “I guess this is where I say goodbye.”

  Goodbye? Sebastian didn’t think he could ever say those words. Not to her and not on this day.

  ****

  George, Penny, Claire, and two other warriors escorted the children through the mountain pass and we lined the way with lit torches. It was hard to say goodbye to George after just getting him back, but I could sense Sebastian’s despair as we stood beside one another. He had just found Penny for the first time and now they were marching into separate battles.

  “She’ll be all right,” I tossed my head at him to look him in the eye. “She’ll be brave for those children.”

  “She’s a teacher, Abby, not a fighter like you. Me.” I smirked and Sebastian called me out on it. “How can you smile at a time like this?”

  “Because you were angry when we first met at how much I wasn’t a fighter. Because lately you call me Abby more than you do Tarnish Rose.”

  “Seems silly to hide who you are now that we’re waiting for Creighton to get here. He knows who you are. For the record, I wasn’t wrong before. You were a bad fighter, but something in you has been unleashed, and now, I don’t think we’ve seen how far you can go yet.”

  I hoped not. I had a lot more to do and a lot more to prove.

  ****

  The hours went by a lot faster than I wanted them to. I wanted them to slow down and give us a moment to catch our breath, but with so many preparations to make, there wasn’t a spare moment.

  But we did take time to eat. Buttered bread with a hearty chili. After dinner was warm coffee and cinnamon apples for dessert. There were so many of us that we gathered in the barn rather than in the house. Groups of people sat cross legged on the floor and it was time for me to make a rousing speech.

  Sebastian sat to my left and Ella on my right. “You going to finish that?” She pointed at my bowl of apples floating in a river of cream. When I didn’t answer, she took the bowl from me and started to scoop my left overs in her bowl.

  I smiled, my nose crinkling at her. I used to hate her, the workmen knew I did, but now I watched her like she was a child. Someone who needed protection from Creighton and the world at large. There was something so naïve about her that I wanted to shelter.

  Sebastian patted my shoulder and I let out a long breath, springing up to my feet. “Good luck,” he said and gave me a wink, like we shared a secret joke.

  We shared many things, but my heart was heavy. So heavy.

  Everyone quieted down as I stepped onto the raised platform at the opposite end of the barn. With my back to the horses, one neighed against my hair and nestled my cheek. It tickled the hair touching my neck and I gave a little laugh.

  “I’d thank you all for coming, but you live here, so… Thanks for having me here. Me, Sebastian, even Ella, Robbie, Beatrice. We’re all grateful and humbled to be included with you.” I raised my eyebrows and clasped my hands together. “To stand with you. Be one of you as we prepare to defend your home and defeat Creighton. Once and for all.”

  A rousing ‘woo hoo!’ went through the crowd.

  “This is where I give a big speech about how we can do it. We can fortify ourselves and fight with everything we have because this is our time. Our lives. We’ll no longer be suppressed by the forces of darkness and how hard the fight will be. But you know all that stuff, don’t you? Every day is hard for you, for me, for every person born in the last six hundred years we’ve lived under threat of death. We were born into slavery.”

  I paced back and forth, bringing what I wanted to say together in my mind. “We fight for the right to live, the right to love. The right to paint, to draw, to sing. We fight for the right of color, family, and fellowship. We fight to be free. And we fight for this.”

  Reaching into my satchel, I pulled out an old book covered in plastic sheeting. A paperback that by any right, should’ve been destroyed a long time ago. “The first curator kept this book safe, even as Temptress, she didn’t destroy it.” I held it up so everyone could see the front, and it was so quiet, I could hear a pin drop in that room. I was able to hear my own heart beat.

  “A story about… space,” I took a moment to study everyone’s confused expressions. “The area beyond our planet. Beyond Earth. People have harnessed the power to fly to the stars. Where grand ships travel from place to place. Planet to planet and they fight a great evil. Just like we do. And though their numbers are little, they are mighty and in the end… love wins.”

  A hushed murmur went through the crowd. I knew what they wanted and I was going to give it to them. Gently, I turned the page of the book and cleared my throat. I read in a loud, assertive voice, assuming the role of narrator.

  “A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…”

  Chapter: Tarnish Rose

  Morning sun broke through the harshness of the darkness. The day had finally come for me to face Creighton. The dark lord who had killed so many, slaughtered my parents, my friends, and countless others. We would defeat him if only I believed I was strong enough, but did I?

  Did I really believe I could do this?

  I put old golden armor on that I found in the tower, standing in the master bedroom of the home. I wore a black cape and my golden staff was secured in its harness against my back. My long, black hair spiraled into a low braid bun at the nape of my neck, so it couldn’t be used against me in the fight.

  Dressed and ready, I head outside to check on things. “Lilith,” I shouted out to the watch tower. “Anything?”

  She nodded. “Yes, Curator. An army… it’s stopped over the hill. It’s not moving but… Creighton is with them. It’s him.” I could see the fear in Lilith’s face.

  “Easy. Steady yourself. Prepare for the first wave. He’ll send his death hunters in first, that much is almost a given.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  I rounded back toward the stalls where everyone awaited orders, and I commanded them as strongly as I could without the doubt creeping into my voice. If I was wrong, if I made the wrong call, it would mean people’s lives. People would die because of my choices. How was someone supposed to live like that?

  With everyone having their orders, the archers ran up to the wall. My good friends, Robbie and Beatrice were part of them. The rest, the physical fighters would be with me and it was important we meet Creighton out in front. If we could keep him from reaching the gates, I would consider it a major victory.

  “We ride out,” I slipped my golden helmet upon my head, “on horse. We line up and wait for him to get to us. Swords and shields at the ready.”

  Sebastian slipped his leather helmet on and gave me a nod.

  Ella was still, well, Ella. “So, about those light swords, how can we get some of them? They’d work in a real pinch, I reckon.”

  “Sabers,” I corrected with a smile.

  She smirked. “Whatever, goodie goodie.” Ella gave me a wink and I relaxed. But someone called down from the watch tower.

  “Scavengers on their motorcycles. They’re rounding out the army.”

  Ella snorted and tossed her head at Lilith. “I got them, don’t worry.” She started away and I called out to her.

  “Be careful. I need you out there. No heroics.”

  “Pfft. Me? Have you met me? I’d sell my own grandmother for an apple.” Ella strolled away and I wondered about her state of mind. Was she ready for this? Was I wrong to let her go?

  I tensed up and Sebastian placed his hand on mine. “You need to let go and trust her. We all do.”

  When I inhaled deeply, my voice quivered. “Time to find out how this story ends, right?”

  “May justice be swift and may God be on our side.” Sebastian pulled himself up onto his horse and everyone followed suit. I worried about Muse. She had barely spoken since we had arrived. “Mu
se? Do you want to travel with me?”

  She snapped to attention like she hadn’t been listening, but nodded. I mounted a black stallion and gripped Muse’s hand to help her sit behind me. “Are you all right?” I asked. What if she couldn’t do this? What if somehow this didn’t work?

  “Holding on, Curator. My spirit isn’t meant for a human body such as this. I was happier as an angry dragon.”

  “It’ll be over soon and you can return to the book realm.”

  Muse laughed. “Your confidence is growing. I like that. I believe we’ll win, too, and I will use everything I have to distract and confuse the enemy, but we must be prepared. There will be losses we can’t imagine and there will be sorrow, but there will also be something else.”

  My heart twisted with dread and I almost didn’t want to ask. “What’s that?”

  “Inspiration.”

  ****

  As we breeched the top of the hill, the dark army of Creighton stretched before us. Trolls in battle armor with giant axes and hammers, elves with bows, humans twisted with corruption and dark magic who had been turned into skeletons, and horses of the undead, like those my dear friend Margret had traveled with.

  I thought of her and let my love for her overtake my rage and all that had been lost and stolen.

  Between them all, was Creighton himself. Bigger than I remembered, larger than I feared, he had grown, I was sure of it, through the worship and praise of those afraid of him. Well, not anymore, it stopped here.

  “May the force be with us,” Sebastian muttered and I tossed him a smile. It quickly faded away when I saw a minister riding out on horseback to meet with us.

  “Wait here.” I trotted out further to meet the dark army. Pulling on my horses reigns, we slowed to a stop, and the horse turned sideways to give me a better view. “Minister.”

  He gazed not at me, but at a scroll he held in his hands. “Abby Taylor, well you’ve grown into your grand roll, haven’t you?” His tone chastised me.