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

by Ashley Setzer

  “I’ve composed a poem for you,” said the guard behind me. “Oh, besmooched maiden, thou art lovelier than the moonbeam’s gossamer threads…”

  I assessed my options. There were none. I couldn’t get back into my room and I couldn’t jump off the balcony. It would be easy to cast a barrier and clear a path, but I couldn’t do that in plain sight of the castle square. I might injure someone.

  “…Thine lips do beckon like honey to the bee,” recited the guard.

  “Need a lift?”

  I looked up. Lev hovered overhead. Before I could decide whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, he grabbed me by the shoulders and hoisted me away.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The air guards gave chase but Lev soon left them far behind. He was silent. I couldn’t tell if he was under the cookie’s spell or not.

  “Where have you been?” I asked.

  “Here and there,” he said elusively.

  “And you just happened to show up at the exact moment I needed an escape?” I asked.

  With a strenuous flap Lev flew over Ivywild’s outer wall. “I had been hanging around your rooftop for a while, waiting on you to get back.”

  “So you’re not affected by the cookie?”

  “What are you talking about?” Lev asked. He circled, losing altitude. Behind us stood the sheer cliff face and the waterfall that spilled from the castle above.

  “You don’t want to sing about my intoxicating beauty or confess your undying love?”

  “Do I seem like the type?”

  “You sing to Ulf.”

  “That’s different,” Lev said, flapping to change direction. “But if you want to pretend that you’re a manticore—”

  “I’m NOT a manticore,” I said. “And where are you taking me?”

  The waterfall was now a roaring wall in front of us. A passage to the labyrinth lay halfway down the cliff on the other side.

  “Hold your breath!” Lev said.

  “Not again!” I protested.

  “Ready…NOW!”

  Lev pulled his wings in close and dove through the waterfall. We made a rough landing on the other side. The rocks in the narrow passage were slippery and cold.

  Shivering, I stood on wobbly legs and wrung the water from my hair. “If I’d known better I would have just stayed on my balcony.”

  With dripping wings, Lev searched around the space. He found a torch and a piece of tinder. Soon warm orange light flickered against the rocks.

  “I’ve been meaning to talk to you ever since you left and I haven’t had the chance,” Lev said. His face shone ghostly white in the dim glow.

  I started to ask what had been keeping him so busy, but I held my tongue. Patience was not one of my strong virtues, but it was the best tool for dealing Lev. “I suppose you want to know what the Seraphim told me?”

  “Of course, if it has to do with beating Robyn.”

  “It does.” I waited, staring him point blank in the face. I wanted him to crack first.

  “Well?” he asked with just the slightest hint of annoyance.

  “Answer me one thing and I’ll tell you,” I said.

  “Okay,” Lev said. “Just one.”

  I chose my next words wisely. I had so many questions for him, but if I could only ask one it needed to be the big one. It scared me. I studied his face and tried to erase the traces of another man from my mind. Were those dark eyes really so similar to King Hagan’s? If I looked past Lev’s unkempt hair and the jagged scar on his cheek, I saw nobility. I took a deep breath.

  “Lev?”

  He looked me in the eye. “Yes?”

  “Are you the son of Hagan Winterwing?”

  His eyes never left mine for a second. “I am Lev Hartwig.”

  A huge weight lifted off my mind. I threw my arms around him. “Thank goodness!”

  Lev gave me wooden pat on the back. “Where did you get that idea?”

  I stood back and smiled up at him. Contrary to my cheer, he looked as though he’d just swallowed something very bitter.

  “You’ve been acting stranger than usual,” I said. “And then last night when I left for Avalon you were about to tell me something important…”

  “Oh, that,” he said, looking even more downtrodden. “I’ll get to that after you tell me about the Seraphim.”

  His sudden attitude change perplexed me. I wondered if he was angry that I’d been suspicious of him. If so, it was deserved. I had been silly, after all, to think he’d keep something like that from me.

  I removed the red dagger from my belt and related the whole encounter with Marafae at Avalon, including everything I’d seen in her memories. I ended with the transfer of Marafae’s soul to the dagger.

  “So this is the key,” I said, palming the extraordinary weapon. “I know you meant it as a gift. I’m sorry it’s ruined now, but it has an important job left to do.”

  Lev said nothing. He’d gone stony silent while I told my tale. His lips were pressed so tightly together that they had turned gray.

  “Hello? Are you with me?” I asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

  He shook off his reverie and gave me a weak nod. “Sorry, I…” he trailed off and his gaze was lost somewhere in the distance.

  Concerned, I sheathed the dagger and placed a hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

  “I just can’t believe…I mean…King Hagan. Her.” He shot a disgusted frown at the dagger.

  Now I realized the problem. “King Hagan had flaws. He’s not the first king do scandalous things, but it was really crappy of him to abandon her and the baby like that.”

  “Marafae was lying,” Lev said. “It couldn’t have been his!”

  Startled, I drew back. “Either way, it’s done now. They’re all dead. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine!” he said a bit too hastily.

  I didn’t like his tone. “I’m in no mood to be yelled at,” I warned. “Be nice or I’ll hike back up to the castle.”

  “I’m being perfectly pleasant,” he said with a scowl.

  To prove my point, I spun on my heel and marched down the passage into the pitch-black labyrinth.

  “You don’t know which way to go,” Lev called after me.

  “I’ll figure it out!” I shouted back.

  There was a flutter. I felt a whoosh of air overhead and Lev landed in front of me. “I’m sorry.”

  I nearly choked. “Come again?”

  “I’M SORRY,” Lev said. His deep voice echoed off the walls. “I just don’t believe what Marafae said about King Hagan.”

  “Fine,” I said. “Believe it or don’t. It makes no difference now. What matters is that I’ve got a weapon against Robyn.”

  Yes,” Lev said. His eyes glittered hungrily in the dark.

  A cold draft blew through the passage. I shivered. The dampness was getting to me. “Can we go somewhere else? It’s freezing in here.”

  “Hold on,” he said, reaching into his coat. He pulled out a folded piece of paper with writing on it. “I tore this page from one of Bazzlejet’s travel guides. I don’t think the enchantment has worn off of it yet. Hold it upside down and read the first three lines.”

  I took the crinkled page and did as he asked. The cold cavern melted away and I found myself in a room with a high ceiling. A fire crackled in a black marble hearth. The white stone floor was covered in places by animal skin rugs. It did not have the feel of a Fay dwelling. There was no clutter. The only furniture was a bench and a chair without cushions. Opposite from the hearth was a tall glass window. Snow swirled outside.

  “This is a Slaugh place,” I said.

  “Correct,” Lev said behind me.

  “Where is it?” I asked.

  “Seraph’s Tear,” Lev said, “Before the curse of the Cian Varsha, many hundreds of years ago. If I had the rest of the book I could show you how the city looked. It was magnificent.”

  “Kind of bare,” I remarked.

  “Iver tsuk
a dez ninziken,” Lev said. “A full life needs no distractions.”

  “That’s one the Fay never adopted,” I said, thinking fondly of Chloe’s overstuffed room. “How do we get out?”

  “Put out the fire or open the window. The spell is weak since the page was removed from the rest of the book. Any little change will break it.”

  I pulled a chair up by the hearth. The warmth of the fire made me feel cozy despite the Spartan surroundings.

  Lev remained by the window, staring out at the snow. He was quiet. I watched him, appreciating the strong silhouette he made against the white storm outside. If I had only known how much we’d share when I found him, I might have been kinder to him from the beginning. Of course, he’d never been easy on me. That was one of the things I liked about him. He was one of the people I could count on to be brutally honest.

  “I’m going back,” he said quietly, without turning from the window.

  An alarm went off inside my brain. I didn’t know what he meant, but I didn’t like the sound of it. “What do you mean?”

  “To Seraph’s Tear,” he said, turning to face me. “That’s what I was going to tell you the other night. I never meant to settle here. I’m leaving, Em.”

  It felt as though something cold and slippery had edged its way through my insides and wrapped around my lungs. My legs quaked as I stood up and shoved the chair out from beneath me. “What? But…why?”

  Lev crossed slowly over to me. He took both my hands in his. “There is something I have to do there. That place—” he looked around the room “—this place was my people’s past. I believe it can be my future.”

  No matter what limits I had put on our relationship, I always thought Lev would stay close. Seraph’s Tear was on another continent. The sudden thought of having an ocean between us stung more than I ever could have imagined. “You can’t!” I said. “It’s cursed!”

  “There has to be some way to lift the curse,” Lev said. “I’ll search the world until I find it.”

  The wave of panic was cresting now, threatening to drag me under and crush me against all the feelings I’d never acknowledged. My eyes started to sting. “What, you think you can redeem your whole race by fixing Seraph’s Tear or something? Don’t be stupid!”

  Lev looked calm but his voice was noticeably thicker when he replied. “I’m not going to go through all the reasons. It’s just something I have to do and it means leaving Ivywild, probably forever.”

  I had reached the breaking point. A couple of tears broke the surface and ran down to my chin. Unable to talk, I simply stared at the floor.

  Lev lifted my chin and wiped away the tears. He could be surprisingly gentle without much effort. “Just because I’m leaving Ivywild doesn’t mean I’ll never see you again.”

  A single, shining thought cleared my head. “I could go with you!”

  The sadness that dimmed Lev’s eyes was a clear answer. “No. You can’t. The curse would make you sick.”

  “What if you lift the curse?” I asked.

  “Time will tell,” Lev said. “I would never make you leave Ivywild. It’s your home. They need you here. Chloe needs you more than you know. When she becomes queen she’ll need somebody trustworthy at her side. There are few people left here who can be trusted.”

  His cryptic warning took me by surprise. “What do you mean? What about W.R.A.I.T.H? Aren’t they doing anything to help?”

  “W.R.A.I.T.H. seeks to serve its own means at the expense of others. It is nothing against them; that’s just the way Fay have always done things.”

  “But you’ve been working with them, haven’t you?” I asked.

  “A means to an end,” Lev said. “That end is near. I’ll go my own way.”

  The realization that he was leaving overcame me again. I couldn’t wrap my mind around an existence where he wasn’t there to be my confidant, my partner in crime, or any of the other things we’d become to each other. “I don’t want you to go.”

  “But what would you do if I stayed?” Lev asked.

  I didn’t have an answer. The ache I felt at the thought of him leaving had turned all my future plans upside down.

  “You would become a priestess,” he said, leaning down until his chin rested against my forehead. “You would excel in magic and become advisor to the queen. You would help keep Ivywild safe. You would teach the next generation how to be as strong and smart as you. Meanwhile, I would sulk around here and be of no use to anybody.”

  “But—” I tried to argue.

  “—But,” he continued, “If I go, you can still do all those things and I can make a difference in our world. I was all but dead when you found me at Moonlight Pass. I’ve been given a second chance. I can’t waste it.”

  There was nothing I could say. He had been like my shadow ever since I’d met him. If he was gone it would be just as strange as having my real shadow taken away. I would always know that something was missing.

  “So this is goodbye,” I said when I trusted my voice again.

  “Almost,” Lev said. “I have a few more preparations to make.”

  “How will you get there?” I asked.

  “I’ve got a ride,” he said. “A ship. I found somebody who would give me passage.”

  “From the royal harbor?” I asked. Ivywild’s own port was used exclusively for royal ships.

  “No, from a private port further down the shore,” he said.

  That explained the sand I’d found in his clothes. He must have been searching for an outbound vessel. That made it all too real. I took a few deep breaths to hold back a second round of tears. “Do you think there are any other Slaugh out there?” I asked.

  “I think so,” he said, looking away.

  “But there won’t be any more in Ivywild once you’re gone,” I said. “I was kind of starting to like your crude Slaugh ways.”

  Lev touched the tip of his nose to mine. “I’m not gone yet. I’ll be as crude as you want until I leave.”

  With a halfhearted laugh, I rested my head against his chest. “Just be you,” I said. “That’s all I ever want you to be.”

  His wings drew up to encircle us both and he embraced me. It was closer than we’d ever been, but I sensed deep down inside that he was holding something back. It was easy enough to ignore that little voice when I could feel his heart beating against my cheek.

  Then he kissed me. Unlike the times before, it wasn’t a quick moment stolen from the whirlwind of the day, but rather a collision that lasted forever and send ripples far and wide. Every cell of me lit up and I felt something inside like one of my beasts, struggling to break free. For just a moment it seemed as though Lev and I were the only two people in the world.

  I could never have guessed how our world was about to change forever.

  It started with the bells. I had heard the chimes before in the time of the Cian Varsha, but now they carried a long, low note that pierced the dark of the early morning hours over Ivywild like a howl of sorrow.

  I awoke in the black chill to the sound. It didn’t register at first. With a yawn, I rolled over in the hammock nestled up against Lev’s shoulder.

  “He’s gone,” Lev said.

  I sat up. Lev was wide awake, staring at the ceiling. The bell kept clanging and, coming fully alert, I knew why it rang.

  The king was dead.

  My first thought was of Chloe. I stumbled out of the hammock and felt around for my boots. I heard Lev rustling around beside me. A candle sputtered to life, creating a halo of yellow light. Lev remained in the shadows while I pulled on my boots.

  “Belt,” he said, leaning into the flickering circle.

  I stood up and took my belt from him, but didn’t bother putting it on right away. Weapons hardly seemed necessary at the moment. “Chloe and Violet…” I murmured.

  Lev nodded. “Go to them.”

  I was on my way out the door, but paused. Lev stood in the candlelight, not moving. “What about you?” I asked.


  “I’ll come find you later. Give my condolences to the family. King Theobald wasn’t an easy man to like, but I respected him.”

  A shudder ripped through me. “I hate talking about people in past tense.”

  He must have sensed a breakdown coming on because he was beside me in an instant with his hands on my shoulders. “Be strong, Em. Be strong for Chloe. She needs you.”

  I pushed down a sob. “Yes. Okay. I can do that.”

  “I know you can.” He kissed me on the forehead.

  When I left his room I heard stirrings in the castle above. People were coming awake to mourn the king. Meanwhile the bells still clanged the doleful announcement.

  I smoothed my hair and straightened my clothes while I walked. I had just buckled my belt when I noticed the red dagger was missing from its scabbard. I couldn’t remember removing it the night before. It must have fallen out in Lev’s room.

  It was so dark that I was sure I’d just missed it. I could look for it again later. Chloe needed me.

  White-clad figures with heads hung low drifted through the castle like ghosts. I pushed through the grieving servants and nobles. A red glow came from the king’s chambers where shades had been placed over the lanterns. Inside I glimpsed Queen Othella, white as a sheet in her wheelchair. Violet stood beside her, sobbing into a handkerchief. Lord Finbarr and Chloe were at the king’s bedside. Lord Finbarr’s usually cheerful lips were so far from a smile that they seemed to belong to somebody else.

  Chloe was quieter than I expected. She stood over the lifeless figure in the bed. There was no mistaking the evidence of tears on her cheeks, but her eyes shone with something besides grief.

  I made my way to her. If anybody noticed me they didn’t care. I tried hard to keep from staring at the figure in the bed. King Theobald’s waxen face looked like a mask. He was gone. Whatever spark that had thrived in him had vanished, leaving behind a shell that could never do justice to the memory of the man.

  Chloe’s hand slipped into mine. “He remembered me,” she whispered. “Just before he went, he looked me right in the eyes and called me daughter.”

  Now I understood the new strength shining in Chloe’s eyes. She had finally gotten the goodbye she wished for.