The Flute Keeper's Promise (The Flute Keeper Saga)

by Ashley Setzer

  Lev was taking his time. I could feel him waiting in the darkness, looking for the crack in my armor. It was nerve-racking. I was always waiting on him to make the move.

  Maybe that was my problem. I considered it while I redoubled my grip on the hilt of my sword. Then I saw a white flash out of the corner of my eye. An idea occurred to me.

  I spun around and spotted Lev diving from the branches of a scraggly evergreen tree. His twin daggers were on his belt, strapped to the sides of his hips.

  Seeing my chance, I sheathed my sword and charged towards him. His eyes widened in surprise, but he did not waver from his course.

  I dropped into a roll and passed just to the side of him. Fast as I could, I gained my feet and reached for one of the branches of the tree.

  Lev had already compensated for my new approach. He spun around and leaped, trying to pin me to the tree trunk. I used the branch to lift myself out of his way at the last second. Then I propelled myself from the trunk, did a flip and landed behind Lev. Now he was the one with nowhere to go.

  With his back to the trunk, Lev reached for his twin daggers. His fingers fumbled and his face showed surprise. He looked down at his belt. His scabbards were empty.

  I jammed the stolen daggers into the tree bark on either side of his waist.

  Lev appeared stunned as he tried to unravel how I’d unarmed him. Raindrops clung to his eyelashes. They made his dark eyes sparkle more than ever.

  Unable to resist, I closed my eyes and pursed my lips. I went in for the kiss, but I had to put weight on the daggers to lift myself to his height. They fell out of the trunk and I tumbled down with them.

  I felt like a doofus. I’d blown my moment of triumph. To make matters worse, Lev was grinning a terrible, wicked sort of grin that made me want to go jump off the side of the mountain.

  “You’re not very experienced at that, are you?” he asked.

  I frowned at him. “And you are?”

  He wiggled his eyebrows. “Maybe.”

  I got up and stormed off in an effort to salvage my pride, but I slipped on the wet rocks and fell again.

  Behind me, I heard Lev snort. He sounded like he was trying to contain it, but he burst out laughing. The sound echoed off the cliffs.

  I drew my knees up to my chin and buried my face in them. “I’m a lost cause.”

  Rain trickled down the back of my shirt. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

  “Come on, get up,” Lev said. “Let’s get out of this rain.”

  I rose half-heartedly and tugged away from him.

  “Take it easy,” he said. Then he smirked. “If you still feel like it, you can try that again later.”

  “Let’s just go.”

  Lev went to a rope near a cave in the side of the mountain. One end of the rope was coiled beside the cave’s entrance. The other end disappeared into the yawning black hole. Lev gave the rope a tug and the cave swallowed us. Seconds later we emerged in the back of the castle library.

  “Wait a moment before you leave,” Lev said. “We need to talk. I’ll walk you back to your room.”

  The sense of urgency in his voice surprised me. I waited for him to put the book back in its proper place on the library shelf.

  The lights in the central pavilion were dim. Only a few Gnomes and maids scurried about. Dinnertime was over and everyone was settling in for the night. The only sounds were the whispers of Dryads in the elevatree and the creak of the massive tree’s branches as it lifted passenger gondolas between the floors of the castle.

  A gondola landed at the second floor. I stepped inside. I was about to tell it to take me to the tenth floor where my room was, but Lev stopped me.

  “Ground level,” he said.

  The branch groaned and the gondola sank to the main floor.

  “Where are we going?” I asked as we stepped out.

  “For a walk, like I said.”

  Now I felt really curious. Lev was not one to take casual strolls.

  We walked out into the crisp evening air. “What have you done now?” I asked.

  Lev went towards the empty street were the market was open during the day. “There’s something I haven’t told you.”

  I made a sarcastic huffing noise. “You don’t say? Let me guess: your favorite color is pink and you have a twin brother named Larry.”

  Lev stopped and took my hands. We were alone in the empty market. “Okay, so there’s a lot about me you don’t know,” he said. “But this is big. This could change things. I’m not sure how to tell you.”

  I could see that he was struggling. I knew better than to push him. Instead, I tried to give him gentle encouragement. “Start small, then. Tell me something little about you that I don’t know.”

  Lev’s face relaxed a little. “Okay. I used to collect butterflies.”

  The corners of my lips twitched. “What else?”

  “Sometimes I sing Ulf to sleep.”

  I let out a giggle. I couldn’t help it. The image of Lev crooning to his monstrous pet manticore was more than I could take. “Sorry,” I said. “Go on. What else?”

  Lev lowered his head. His hair slid forward, throwing his face into shadow. “I think my mother would have liked you. My father had great dreams for me…dreams I haven’t fulfilled.”

  The night sky suddenly turned to day as a comet streaked overhead. It shot straight up into the heavens until it was nothing more than a tiny pinpoint of light.

  Lev and I squinted at the strange sight.

  “What was that?” Lev said.

  My heart started thudding rapidly. I knew exactly what it was.

  “It’s a sign from the Seraphim! They’re ready for me to return to Avalon!”

  CHAPTER THREE

  I had been waiting so long for the sign that I had begun to believe it would never come. At long last I was going to get answers about my unvanquished enemy, Robyn. I could finally do something to help Chloe restore order to Faylinn.

  “I’ve got to go!” I said breathlessly as I fumbled around with my belt. I made sure my shortsword was tucked safely in its place. “Come on, Lev, I have to get up high.” I tugged his hand.

  Lev was rooted in place. He stared mutely at the sky then looked down at me.

  I remembered that he’d been about to tell me something. “What was it you were going to say?” I asked.

  “Later,” Lev said. “Where do you need to go?”

  I pointed to the highest tower of the castle. “Up there.”

  With a whoosh, Lev spread his wings. He grabbed me by the waist and we shot up into the sky. The market square became a blur below as the steep castle towers rushed by us. My eyes watered from the roar of wind.

  The tallest spire loomed above. With a last labored flap of his wings, Lev made it to the sloping roof. Brittle tiles cracked under our feet as we landed.

  “Incoming,” Lev said.

  I saw one of Ivywild’s air guards approaching. “Uh oh.”

  “Don’t worry,” Lev said, flapping his wings. “I’ll keep him busy. What about you? How are you going to get to Avalon?”

  “I’ve got a ride,” I said. “Thanks for your help, though.”

  “Hey, you kids! What are you doing over there?” the guard shouted.

  “Go!” I urged Lev. I scrambled up the side of the spire.

  He spread his wings to take off, then appeared to reconsider. He turned and pulled me down to him.

  Startled, I asked, “What are you doing?”

  He smiled. “Giving you another chance.”

  This time I didn’t miss. My lips found his despite my precarious stance on the roof and the guard shouting threats from a short distance away. All my blood rushed to my head. For a second I thought my heart was going to pound right out of my chest.

  I wanted to make the moment last longer, but I had something important to do. Satisfied that I had at least made up for my earlier blunder, I pushed Lev away. “Go!” I said, laughing.

  Lev waved and stepped back
wards off the roof. The guard, who was now an arm’s length away, flew after him.

  Though I felt dizzy, I climbed as high as I could and grabbed the flagpole atop the spire with one hand to keep my balance. With the other, I took out my shortsword. I gave the hilt a twist and my flute popped from a hollow compartment inside.

  I had gotten the idea of hiding the flute in the sword from the Seelie Court. They had disguised the flute as a king’s scepter in a history book. For all they knew, the flute was still there, hidden away from the only person who could use it. I had decided to keep it close. Not only would I need it to get to Avalon, but I preferred knowing where it was at all times. That way nobody could trick me into using it.

  The comet still burned overhead as a beacon. I lifted the flute to my lips and played the third note.

  With a crackle of thunder, a giant golden bird plummeted from the night sky like a cannonball from the stars. Its feathers glowed so brightly that they looked like they were made of molten metal.

  The bird flew alongside the castle spire. I held onto the flagpole to keep from being buffeted by its wings.

  “Hello, Tuari,” I said. “Care to give me a lift?”

  Tuari lowered her beak so that her head touched the bottom of the spire. I climbed onto the soft plumage behind her neck.

  “To Avalon!” I said.

  Tuari shot up a flash. The sky bent into a tunnel around us and we emerged above an ocean of silvery moonlit clouds. The Isle of Avalon floated in the distance. It looked like a fountain of giant seashells that had erupted from the clouds.

  Avalon was the shrine of the Seraphim. The mysterious beings had powers far greater than any others I knew of. They had surpassed the laws of nature to bring back one of my fallen foes.

  Marafae, rebel queen of the Slaugh, was the first enemy I had encountered in Faylinn. It was Marafae’s scheme to destroy Ivywild that had pulled me from the human world in the first place. Until the night her henchmen abducted Dad, I had just been a normal human girl.

  When it was all over, Dad had been killed and so had Marafae. Something evil had survived that day, though. It was the menace that now threatened Faylinn and everyone in it.

  Robyn.

  Marafae had claimed the child as her own daughter. I suspected otherwise. For one thing, Robyn only looked part Slaugh. She had white skin and fleshy wings, but her red eyes and her hair came from somewhere else. There was also her unexplainable power. She was a Spellbinder. She could read minds and even enslave people by taking over their thoughts. Until Robyn and Marafae, no Slaugh had known how to use magic.

  A tall, glowing figure met me near the entrance to the shrine. Like all Seraphim, the being’s features were indistinct. It moved fluidly and the only expression came from its opalescent eyes.

  “Welcome back,” the Seraph said. Its voice was like the low rumble of water rushing over rocks.

  “Where is she?” I asked. “Where is Marafae?”

  The Seraph stood aside and ushered me into the pearly shrine. “It has taken a long time,” the Seraph said. “Since her death was so violent, her memories were shattered and strewn like a broken string of beads. She is whole for the moment, but we cannot tether her soul here much longer. You must hurry.”

  I walked quickly to keep up with the gliding Seraph. My footsteps echoed in the vaulted hall. The Seraph made no noise. Other Seraphim glided past, occasionally looking down at me. They spoke to each other in lowered voices so that it sounded like a breeze was blowing through the shrine.

  We came to a doorway set in a curving wall.

  “You must speak to her alone,” the Seraph said.

  I tensed up. The Seraph seemed to sense my apprehension.

  “She cannot harm you,” the Seraph assured me. “I’ll wait here.”

  The door swung open. I stepped inside the room. The floors, the ceiling and the walls were all white. It was like stepping into a blank void.

  Marafae sat in a wooden chair in the corner of the room. She looked much the same as when I had left her before. Her long hair hung limp over broken wings. Her skin was gray with webs of dark veins crisscrossing beneath the surface. She sat like a battered doll, barely a shadow of her former self. Her eyes looked listless above her sharp cheekbones.

  Long-held dread stirred within me at the sight of the woman. In life Marafae had been maniacal and cruel. Whether or not those traits remained in death was yet to be seen.

  I moved towards her. Marafae turned her head slowly. A glimmer of recognition showed in her eyes.

  “Marafae,” I said. The strength of my own voice startled me.

  The Slaugh woman jumped. Her fingernails clawed the handles of the chair.

  “You,” Marafae said. Her voice sounded raspy, like she hadn’t used it in a long time.

  I approached her from the front, but kept my distance. “Do you remember me?”

  The listless eyes sought my face and lingered there. “Flute Keeper. Why have you come?”

  I took a tentative step closer. “I need answers. I need you to tell me all you know about Robyn.”

  Marafae’s eyes widened and she began to quiver.

  “You called her your daughter,” I said, taking another step closer. “But she’s not, is she?”

  Marafae trembled even harder. “She is my blood,” she said. “But not my child. Not my child…my blood.”

  She continued to mumble “my blood” over and over until I took another step closer. Marafae was not a threat any more. She was barely in her right mind. Still, that was saying a lot for a dead woman.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  All of a sudden, she sprang from the chair. She lunged towards me and grabbed the front of my shirt.

  I tried to pull away, but Marafae clung to me. She was on her knees. Her lips shook.

  “My blood!” she hissed.

  “Get off of me!” I shouted, shoving her.

  “Listen!” Marafae said. She pulled herself up until her face was close to mine. “You gave me back my memories. I’ll share them with you. You’ll see.”

  Frightened, I kept trying to pull away, but Marafae’s grip was strong. Her fingers closed around my wrist.

  A pulse of energy shot up my arm. At first I tried to resist it. Then I realized I was being fed images. Marafae’s eyes rolled back in her head. The rest of her body went limp as her grip on my wrist tightened. The black veins in her arm throbbed and darkened near the point of contact.

  I felt as though I had just eaten a piece of fruit from the cathedral orchard. Images unfolded before my eyes.

  A Slaugh girl in her teens sat crying on a seashore. The tide sent water rushing up to her feet.

  “Marafae,” a stranger called down the beach.

  Young Marafae sat up and pushed her silky black hair off her face. She hastily wiped away her tears. Time had not marred her looks yet. She would have been quite beautiful had she not been wearing an expression of complete woe.

  The stranger approached her. It was a Slaugh man that looked so much like Lev that they could have been brothers.

  When he got closer I saw that he wasn’t truly identical. He was taller. His face was harder with a stronger jaw and thinner lips. He wore his hair in a straight ponytail that hung down between his wings. Even so, I couldn’t shake the notion that I’d seen him somewhere before.

  A longing expression danced over Marafae’s face as she watched him. She stood up and tried erase it with a scowl, resting her hands on her belly. There was a slight bump under her leather dress.

  The boy glared at her. “What’s the meaning of this? Are you trying to sabotage me?”

  Marafae’s scowl turned to a sneer. “Ha! You’re doing a good enough job of that yourself! Everyone knows about her! Why don’t you just admit you’ve been cavorting with that half-Fay wench?”

  “What do you want?” he asked bitterly. “I’ve given you a fine sum already, enough to go live anywhere in the kingdom.”

  “That’s not enough!
” Marafae snapped. Her face softened. She flattened her hands over her belly. “We need more. We need you.”

  The boy made a noise of disgust and turned his back on her.

  “Wait!” Marafae screamed. She fell to her knees and grabbed his boots. “Don’t go! I don’t have anyone! You owe me!”

  The boy scoffed. “I owe you nothing! You got yourself into this.”

  “Coward!” Marafae shouted, releasing his boots. “How can you say that? This is your fault, too.”

  The boy cast a quick glance at Marafae’s swollen belly. He frowned and looked away. “How can I even be sure it’s mine?”

  Marafae looked as though he’d just hit her. At first it seemed as though she might cry. Her eyes watered and her lips quivered. Then a cloud of anger twisted her features. I saw a glimpse of the woman that she was to become.

  “You’ll pay,” Marafae hissed. She rose and staggered backwards, away from the boy. “You’ll all pay and so will your half-Fay tramp!”

  “That’s enough!” The boy shouted.

  But Marafae was not to be silenced. “Everyone will pay for your weakness; those simpering Fay, your followers—everyone!”

  The boy shook his head. “This is why we can’t be together. You understand nothing. There are bigger things going on than you and me.”

  “Coward!” Marafae shouted. “Just wait until the rest of our people hear about your plans! They’ll turn on you!” She laughed hysterically. “I’ll be there to see it! That’s right, I’m not going anywhere! I’m going to stay here and have this child so that I can raise it not to be a spineless weakling like its father!”

  The boy seized Marafae’s shoulders. She laughed in his face. He squeezed her arms so tight that the veins on his knuckles stood out.

  “This is your last warning!” he said. “I’ve been patient. Is this the thanks I get for trying to help you?”

  “You’ve helped nobody but yourself!” Marafae countered.

  The boy let go of her and shoved her away. “I’m done with you. From now on you no longer exist in my eyes. I’ll deny any claims you make on me. You can say what you want. Nobody will believe you. Good-bye.” He turned and walked away.