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

by Ashley Setzer

  Violet hugged the girl close. “I’m sure your mommy is fine.”

  “Fall back!” Bazzlejet shouted when the tide of mechamen spilled forward into the mausoleum.

  Everyone pressed as far as they could to the back wall. I took a few steps back and recast my barrier. Chloe and Bazzlejet resumed their counterattack but they were getting tired. Bazzlejet’s aim was off and Chloe’s ice spells grew too weak to do much good.

  When all Chloe could do was produce jets of chilled air, I grabbed her and pulled her behind me. Four more mechamen remained intact and they were gaining ground. Bazzlejet’s spells only made them pause.

  “I think I’m tapped out,” Bazzlejet said with a gulp.

  I was growing exhausted, too, but I still had some magic left in me. I pushed Bazzlejet out of the way and tried to shove the mechamen back with a barrier.

  The stubborn drones fell back and then launched themselves forward again, unfazed. Inch by inch, I lost ground. It was time to try something desperate.

  “Everyone duck and cover your heads!” I shouted. “I’m going to drop the roof on them.”

  “Heavens!” said the baroness, bringing her handkerchief to her forehead.

  “Please don’t crush us,” Chloe squeaked.

  I moved in close to the others and raised one hand. A bubble-like barrier encircled us. While concentrating on the protective barrier, I summoned up the last reserves of my strength and hurled as much magical force as I could at the mausoleum’s roof.

  A loud rumble filled my ears. I went blind as a cloud of gray dust exploded around us. Skeletons crunched under falling rock. It was all I could do to keep my focus and maintain the barrier that was keeping us all from being pulverized.

  Then it was over. Daylight penetrated the dust cloud. When I no longer heard the sounds of falling stone, I cautiously let down my barrier.

  The crypt lay in ruins. It was a grisly sight with old white bones poking out from the rubble along with pieces of the mechamen. Some of their metal limbs still twitched despite being severed.

  Chloe grabbed my hands and jumped up and down. Bazzlejet bear hugged me around the shoulders. The weeping baroness leaned in and kissed me on both cheeks.

  “That was amazing!” Chloe cheered.

  “Yeah, quick thinking,” Bazzlejet said. He gave Chloe a pat on the back. “You weren’t so bad yourself.”

  Chloe gave him a murderous look. He wisely backed away.

  A flash caught my eye. Across Mag Mell, Commander Larue and his troops were dealing with the last of the mechamen. Fire, ice, lightning and blasts of wind flew through the air like a demented fireworks display.

  Battered Fay came out of hiding from behind monuments and overturned carriages. The tide of mourning that had pervaded Mag Mell earlier in the day was replaced with shock and fear. Nothing was sacred anymore. Nowhere was safe.

  Violet rounded up some other Channelers and went to work mending injuries. The little girl I’d saved tagged along with her until a woman nursing a bruised arm limped over to us.

  “Mommy!” the little girl shrieked ecstatically.

  “Thank heavens!” the woman exclaimed, embracing the girl with her good arm.

  Mag Mell looked like a war zone. Many monuments were broken. Trees had been burnt black. Injured people lay on the ground. Some weren’t moving. The eerie scene reminded me of Moonlight Pass. The difference was that the carnage at Moonlight Pass had been almost total. Only one person had survived.

  I felt a pain like a knife twist in my chest. It had nothing to do with the devastation around me.

  “It will take teams of Enchanters all year to clean up this mess,” said one of the survivors.

  “This couldn’t have happened at a worse time,” lamented another.

  “They’re right,” Chloe whispered, huddling close to me. “Practically every Fay who lives within three days’ journey was here today.”

  A frightful thought occurred to me. “It’s like Robyn knew, isn’t it?”

  “Do you think she’s been watching us?” Chloe asked with more than a trace of fear in her voice.

  “Or she has an informant,” I said.

  Chloe shook her head, spilling dust from her purple curls. “Surely not. The funeral was widespread news. She could be anywhere, so there’s a million ways she could have known Mag Mell would be full today.”

  Chloe made perfect sense, but I had never been able to ignore my gut feelings.

  “Thank the stars!” said Lord Finbarr said, approaching us from a row of graves. There were scratches on his face and his glasses were dirty. Garland, who looked no better, trailed behind him.

  Chloe met them halfway. “I’m so glad you guys are okay! How did you make it through?”

  Both men looked over their shoulders. Where the king’s casket had sat during his memorial there was now a tall mound of earth with thorny vines encircling it. The casket sat atop the earthen fortress, untouched.

  “We thought it best to protect him,” Lord Finbarr said.

  “Yeah!” Garland added with vim. “We couldn’t let those abominations desecrate the king!”

  Chloe smiled gratefully at both of them. Then her green eyes brimmed over with tears and she hugged them with so much enthusiasm that they both winced for their injuries.

  “Thank-you-so-much!” Chloe said between sniffles.

  Commander Larue soon joined us. The tall, grim-faced man looked like he’d aged ten years in the past day.

  “Ridiculous…embarrassing… insane,” he kept mumbling as he surveyed the damage. “Your Majesty, I am so sorry. I can’t believe that these things snuck in right under our noses!”

  “You were guarding the castle like I asked you to,” Chloe pointed out.

  “Speaking of which, who is guarding the castle now?” I asked.

  “I left a small squadron,” Commander Larue said.

  “What of the people who flew away?” I asked. “Are they safe?”

  “Most of them made it to Loosestrife,” Commander Larue said. “There are a couple of groups scattered throughout the valley. I’ve sent a handful of troops along with some Channelers to check on them."

  Garland and Lord Finbarr exchanged a look.

  “I’ll go see if our carriage is still intact,” Garland said, excusing himself.

  I raised my eyebrows. “What’s that all about?”

  “Our things are already packed for our journey through the outlands,” Lord Finbarr explained. “We were going to depart after the funeral so that we wouldn’t have to deal with more of the Seelie Court’s nonsense. They threatened to use their guards to stop us from going. All the other emissaries dropped out because of the pressure. Now it’s just Garland and me.”

  I gasped. “You can’t go by yourselves after what just happened!”

  “I agree,” said Commander Larue. “Take some of my men.”

  Lord Finbarr put up a hand and smiled. “That won’t be necessary. I may be an old man, but I can hold my own. Garland’s skills aren’t to be sneezed at, either. His mother would be very proud if she could see how well he’s doing. He fashioned that fortress of thorns all by himself.”

  “So your mind is made up then?” Commander Larue asked.

  “Absolutely,” Lord Finbarr said. “I just need a few words with Her Majesty and we’ll be on our way.”

  I thought he meant Chloe, but he walked over to Othella. She was having a whispered conversation with Bazzlejet near the demolished mausoleum. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that they were discussing W.R.A.I.T.H. business. I thought about edging my way close to them to hear what they were saying, but Violet asked me to help with some injured survivors.

  “Where are the judges anyways?” I asked Violet as I pressed a poultice over a boy’s puffy cheek. “I know I saw them here earlier.”

  There was a flash of green as Violet waved her emerald source crystal over a little girl’s sprained ankle. “They escaped when the trouble started. Their personal guards flew them ba
ck to the castle. By now they’re probably cozy in their quarters.”

  “But Chloe has loads of personal guards,” I said. “Why didn’t they get her out of here?”

  “Ha!” Violet said, tossing her hair. “You think she’d let them? She insisted on staying and fighting. Of course, we got in over our heads and ended up hiding in the crypt anyways, but you’ve got to admire her courage.”

  It was the first time I had heard Violet praise her older sister so warmly.

  “I just hope everyone else sees it that way and doesn’t call her reckless,” I said. “The last thing she needs right now is more bad publicity.”

  Violet moved down the line to a man with a burn on his chest. She pulled sachets of minerals from her apron and began mixing them together. She then turned the mixture to a thick liquid using her source crystal and slathered it on the burn.

  “I wish I had more supplies,” Violet said, turning one of her sachets inside out to get the last bit of minerals.

  “Why not get some supplies from W.R.A.I.T.H?” I whispered. “Can’t you contact one of your people on the other side to open a portal?”

  “Not possible,” Violet said. “It’s closed.”

  “The portal?” I asked. I wasn’t sure how the thing worked. I only knew that it involved the use of a Pyxis Charm in W.R.A.I.T.H.’s secret location in the human realm.

  “No,” Violet whispered. “The whole thing. It’s shut down. Mom said it wasn’t safe anymore. As of last night, W.R.A.I.T.H. no longer exists.”

  I froze, unable to believe my ears. “What? Why?”

  Violet shot me a warning glance and gestured for me to keep my voice down. “I don’t know the details. There was some big project and they finished it last night. Mom said it was the last thing. We shouldn’t even be talking about this.” She ducked her head and went back to concentrating on her medicines.

  I feigned concentration but my mind was working double time trying to put things together. What was W.R.A.I.T.H.’s big final project? Why shut it down? The only clue I had was the rendezvous that Bazzlejet’s contact had mentioned.

  “Where is Lev?” Violet asked suddenly, sitting up.

  I cringed. “Gone, and not a moment too soon.”

  “What?” Violet asked, looking puzzled.

  “We’re leaving.”

  We both looked up to find Garland standing over us. He had thrown on a traveling cloak and a hat.

  “You’re not leaving before I mend that scrape on your chin,” Violet said, standing up. She dabbed his wound with a soft cloth.

  “I’ll be fine,” Garland said, gently pushing Violet’s hand away. “We’d like to make some distance before nightfall.”

  “Are you sure you don’t need one of Commander Larue’s men?” I asked.

  “Not to be morbid, but if we did find ourselves in a bad situation I doubt one more man would help. Besides, Father has been planning this for a while. He has considered every contingency.”

  I realized that I had no idea where they planned to go. “What’s your route?”

  “We’ll use Loosestrife as our starting point and make our way north from there to the little villages that dot the forests between here and the old Slaugh border.”

  Lord Finbarr pulled up in a creaking carriage that was loaded down with supplies. The hounds that pulled it were spooked by the sights in the graveyard. Their fur bristled and their ears twitched restlessly.

  Garland climbed up onto the driver’s bench beside his father. Chloe, Othella and Commander Larue lined up alongside Violet and me to send them off. It felt very strange bidding them farewell in the midst of such chaos. I tried to hold a good thought. The last time an Ivywild emissary had gone on a peace mission, it had ended in tragedy.

  I suspected that Commander Larue was thinking the same thing. Every time he looked at the loaded carriage, his hard brow furrowed into hundreds of tiny creases and the corners of his mouth fought against a frown.

  “You have the copy of our itinerary?”” Lord Finbarr asked him.

  Commander Larue patted a rolled up scroll in his belt. “Yes. Send me a Pixie with news when you reach your first stop…and every stop after that,” he added.

  Lord Finbarr smiled. It made me feel better. He had been the first person to smile at me when I came to Faylinn. He was the first to make me feel like I was home

  “Tell Anouk I said goodbye,” Garland said to me, turning a little red in the face.

  “Sure thing,” I said.

  “Are you sure you have enough Channeling supplies?” Violet asked.

  “Enough to keep a whole crew of Channelers busy,” Lord Finbarr said.

  “I wish you didn’t have to miss the coronation,” Chloe said. “This mission is more important, though. I want my people to know that we haven’t forgotten about them.”

  Everybody turned and stared at her.

  “What?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

  Lord Finbarr’s smile turned watery. “Heaven forgive me for ever losing faith in you, Your Majesty.” He flicked the reins and the carriage pulled away.

  “What did he mean by that?” Chloe asked.

  I didn’t have the heart to tell her that there was a time when Lord Finbarr had put the king’s survival before hers. “I think we’re just all surprised by how unselfishly you’re handling the situation,” I said.

  Chloe shrugged. “I’m just trying to do what Daddy would have done.”

  The king’s burial ended up being a small, private affair, after all. While Enchanters and Channelers worked around us, Chloe and the remaining nobles saw to the king’s interment beneath a gigantic memorial pillar that had survived the attack.

  Afterwards, Commander Larue insisted that we return to Ivywild immediately. His urging met with much resistance. Chloe was not ready to leave her father’s grave. Violet was running herself ragged trying to tend to the wounded survivors. Queen Othella and Bazzlejet were poking among the bodies of the mechaman.

  I had my own reasons for not wanting to leave. The long ride back up to the castle would provide an opportunity for the others to ask me about Lev’s whereabouts. I wasn’t ready to talk about it. Just thinking about him gave me a twisting ache in the stomach.

  There was one other thing. I had been trying not to think about it as deliberately as I had been trying not to think about him. Nevertheless, I couldn’t keep running from the terrible possibility that he had stolen the red dagger from me. It had gone missing the night he told me he was leaving. He could have taken it any time without me noticing. The whole night was a swirl of sense memories: the soft press of a kiss, firelight on marble, fingertips brushing my cheek. Those memories were beyond painful now and I’d never be able to sift through them and pinpoint when exactly I’d lost sight of the dagger.

  The question of why he would steal the dagger opened up a whole new stream of chilling possibilities. It was the only thing that could destroy Robyn—that is, if I could find the lock as well. Without the dagger, I was powerless to stop Robyn whether I found the lock or not.

  Maybe that was exactly what he had intended.

  Suddenly all the pieces slid together like links on a chain. What if Hugo had been leading us on since the day we found him? What if the lone survivor of Moonlight Pass was just a myth meant to conceal a sinister grand scheme?

  “Oh God,” I said, slumping against a cracked tombstone.

  Violet rushed over to me. “Emma, what’s wrong? You’re white as a sheet!”

  The ground started to spin. “I’ve been so stupid,” I said weakly, clutching the tombstone to stay upright. “He was against us all along.”

  “Get over here!” Violet shouted to some nearby Channelers. She supported me as best she could with her slight frame. “It’s going to be okay. Just have a seat and tell me what’s bothering you.”

  “The castle,” I said. “We must get back. We’re not safe. Nobody is safe.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Chloe’s face blanched
white in the dusky interior of the audience chamber. Formerly reserved for her father’s meetings, the chamber had a strong masculine air about it. There were no frilly lanterns or twinkling glass pillars. Dark wooden paneling lined the walls. The massive chair Chloe sat in was carved from black marble. It made her look tiny.

  “You seriously think Lev—I mean, King Hugo, intended to leave us defenseless?” she said.

  “How else do you explain it?” I said. “He took the one thing that we know can defeat Robyn and then he left just before the attack on Mag Mell.”

  Chloe rubbed her temples. She was showing the strain of the long, terrible day. Getting back inside the castle had been a nightmare thanks to the mob of people at the castle cliff, most of whom were now survivors of the attack on Mag Mell. She had been forced to relent and allow them inside of Ivywild. A team of advisors was working on the logistical problems of sheltering and feeding all of the newcomers. My revelation only made things worse.

  “He just doesn’t seem the type to do something like that,” Chloe said. “I mean, why would he? He stands to gain nothing by it.”

  I had already run through every scenario. “Doesn’t he? Consider this: the attack on Mag Mell was just a taste of what’s to come. What happens when Robyn does hit us full force? We can fight back, but we don’t have the means to get rid of her for good. At best we can weaken her and kill off some of her mechamen, but she’ll keep coming back. Eventually we’re done for. The Fay are history. Then all Hugo has to do is find the lock and finish Robyn off. It’s a win-win for him. I’ll bet you anything he’s out looking for the lock as we speak.”

  There was a silence filled only by the scurrying of servants in the antechamber. Chloe seemed lost in thought.

  “But it still doesn’t make any sense,” she finally said. “Why help us all this time if he was only going to turn on us?”

  The answer to that question was like a mouthful of venom that I had been holding inside. “He wasn’t really helping us,” I spat. “Spying, discovering our weaknesses, earning our trust—it was all a front. He probably needed time to find all the remaining Slaugh so he’d have allies.”