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

by Ashley Setzer

  Keep her talking, I thought. I needed to buy time to think of way out. “What did my grandfather ever do to you?”

  “He should have been less selfish,” the priestess said with a sneer. “He was the last of his line. He knew what needed to be done, and yet he turned his back on the clergy and his fellow Fay.”

  My curiosity was piqued despite the situation. “What are you talking about? Why does it matter that he was the last of his line? If everyone had left him alone, there might be lots of little Wrens running around Faylinn today.”

  “That is so,” the priestess said in a quietly ominous tone. “And their curse would be spawned anew with them. You’ve eaten from your family tree, so you must know of the curse. Your power-hungry ancestors brought it upon themselves when they created the Summoning Flute.”

  “So what? Sounds like a problem for me to worry about, not you.”

  “There is something you don’t know about curses,” the priestess said, still suspiciously calm. “A curse is like any other magic. It grows more powerful with each generation. Every time it is passed on, it multiplies in intensity. Left unchecked, it can start to affect the innocent, causing everything from plagues to droughts to wars.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” I said. “You can’t blame natural disasters on a few unlucky people. Sometimes bad things just happen!”

  “Bad things happen more whenever your family prospers,” the priestess said. “Take yourself as an example. Since you came here we’ve had nothing but ill fortune: the Cian Varsha, King Theobald’s illness and death, the rise of Robyn. Do you think it is all a coincidence?”

  She had a point. I had been ready with a comeback but I choked on the words.

  “See?” said the priestess. “You can’t deny it. This place will be better when you are gone. Your grandfather knew this. He made a pledge to live out his life in the clergy, giving us whatever service or knowledge he could, then he would die and his curse would die with him.”

  She was actually making a lot of sense. It was one thing for me to bear a curse alone. It was quite another when it affected my friends and the home I’d grown to love.

  “Your silence speaks volumes,” the priestess said. “Of course, you know what happened next. Your grandfather went back on his promise. He became a heretic. He married and turned his back on the clergy. Something had to be done.”

  I shivered. A suspicion had been forming in the back of my mind for a while. It was a question I was too afraid to ask. It was the true reason I’d ignored Linaeve’s advice about researching my grandparents. I had lied to myself, saying that it didn’t matter. The past was the past but…

  The grin hadn’t left High Priestess Grimmoix’s face. “I was not such an expert with my talent back then, or I might have seen that Alberich was already a father. Nobody had seen him or his wife in two years. It’s a pity. If we had but known that one little fact, the destruction of your family might have been complete.”

  I looked away. “The clergy killed him.”

  “What choice did we have? He was a renegade, and though we did not know he had a child, we did know one thing: he had the flute. We discovered that someone had removed it from Fiddlers Green. Alberich was the only one with the power to retrieve it. He was at large with the most destructive tool known to all Fay! As soon as we found out where he was hiding, we sent a crew to take him out.”

  Shaking, I squeezed my eyes shut. I’d seen the outcome in my father’s memories. In his last desperate moments, Grandpa had sent his only son away to the human realm.

  “After the job was done we sealed the flute away again, not knowing there were any left who could retrieve it,” the priestess said.

  A tremor ran through me. I had listened to the unapologetic confession without letting my outrage get the better of me, but I was losing ground. My grandparents had been betrayed by their own kind. “You didn’t have to kill them.”

  “No?” High Priestess Grimmoix said. “Alberich had the flute! What other reason did he take it if not to wreak havoc? My own visions had shown me that a Flute Keeper would one day destroy Ivywild. We had no choice.”

  I tried to put myself in his place. Why remove the flute from Fiddler’s Green? The flute was the source of the family curse. It was also indestructible since doing so meant unleashing the monsters it controlled. There was no good reason for him to have it unless…

  I gasped. “Maybe he found a way to destroy it!”

  The priestess scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous! It was intact when we recovered it from his hideout.”

  “Maybe he was working on it!” I said, growing excited. “He must have joined the clergy so he could do research. When he found the answers he needed, he left and set out to destroy the flute and end the curse once and for all!”

  “Nonsense!” the priestess spat.

  Now that the idea had lit up my thoughts, I wouldn’t let go of it. It was more than I’d dared to dream. “Don’t you see? He knew something! He must have! Maybe it’s still possible. Maybe I can end the curse!”

  The priestess flexed her bony fingers. They made ominous cracking noises. “All I have to do is get rid of you for good. No more Wrens, no more curse. You should have been content with becoming a Cognite. Now it’s too late.”

  I gauged the danger I was in by the psychotic gleam in her eyes. I didn’t delude myself into thinking that she was too moral to kill me. I had finally given her the perfect excuse. By attacking the clergy and judges, I’d just signed my own death warrant.

  “You’re thinking that I won’t kill you,” the priestess said. “I will. The vision I once had about a Flute Keeper destroying Ivywild didn’t die with your grandfather. If you are left to live free past this winter’s solstice, then Ivywild will fall by summer.”

  Dumbfounded, I shook my head. “I’d never.”

  “It’s not up to you!” the priestess said.

  I doubted the strength of my barrier magic against whatever the priestess was about to unleash. In a last ditch effort, I took out my shortsword.

  The priestess threw back her head and cackled. “A blade to protect you? Ah, but of course that’s a habit you picked up from that filthy Slaugh boy.” Her expression changed suddenly. Her lips twisted downward and her eyes went unfocused. “My great-nephew. Another anomaly. A dam in the current of fate.”

  While she babbled, I unlatched the hilt of my sword. The flute slipped into my hand. Praying that I wasn’t mistaken, I covered all but the fourth stop.

  The priestess was still rambling, her voice growing louder with every word to accommodate her rising fury. “It’s obscene that two cast-offs like you hold so much power over our destiny. It’s vulgar and wrong and I’m putting an end to it. NO SWORD CAN SAVE YOU NOW!”

  “Not a sword,” I said, lifting the flute to my lips. “A curse.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  High Priestess Grimmoix screamed. A high-pitched note drowned out her voice. The ground quaked. Bits of dirt shook loose from the ceiling. I heard splashing noises coming from outside.

  The priestess fell to her knees. The vortex of power she’d been drawing subsided, overcome by the call of my flute. Something ancient and far more powerful than the priestess’s magic was present.

  A creature ripped through the barricade of roots. It had a head like a dragon with scales and giant teeth. Its body was covered in sleek fur like an otter’s. The creature was so long that its back half remained submerged in the bubbling river. It tore the roots around me using the talons on its short front legs.

  The priestess was wide-eyed. “Sea serpent!” she rasped.

  I faced the marine behemoth and shouted, “I command you to take me to out of here!”

  The long creature swung its body around so that I could climb aboard its slippery, fur-covered back. Then it pushed away from the ground and shot out into the center channel of the river with undulating swiftness. I got soaked but I didn’t care. The priestess and the horrible greenhouse were slipping away behi
nd me.

  The sea serpent slithered between thick, hanging roots. I had no idea where to go, but the creature seemed to know the way out. I gripped its fur and kept my head low. Water rushed past my dangling legs.

  We came upon the archway where the river spilled down into the outer canal. The sea serpent shot out of the narrow opening and into the vaulted chamber on the other side. From there it slithered downstream to the first room where the canal split into many different channels.

  I felt the sea serpent hesitate. There could be any number of exits to the watery maze. Then the serpent turned abruptly to the right. It swam into an even narrower stream that vanished into dark underground tunnel.

  “Wait!” I yelled. “Not this way!”

  But the serpent seemed to know better. It plunged its head underwater. I had just enough time to suck in a deep breath before the rest of its body followed. We entered the underwater tunnel. The sides were rounded and made of smooth stone but it was a tight squeeze. I had to lie flat on the serpent’s back to avoid scraping my head on the ceiling.

  The water pressure pushed against us, making us gain momentum. My lungs started to burn. The tunnel was very long. There was no light ahead.

  The tunnel grew even tighter. My elbows bumped against the sides. My head felt like it was about to explode. I couldn’t hold my breath any longer.

  Then I heard a roaring noise. We burst out of the tunnel high above an underground reservoir. The water that had been trapped behind us gushed out in a cascade.

  The serpent’s body went limp as we fell through the air. Just before we hit the the pool, the serpent ducked its head and dove in gracefully. Two seconds later we emerged on the surface.

  I gasped for air. My lungs were on fire. All my muscles felt stiff and useless. I lay on the serpent’s back until I felt sensation creeping back into my hands and toes. Then I slowly sat up and looked around.

  Water spilled down from the tunnel above, creating a constant gurgling echo. Something glowed dimly overhead in the distance. The serpent swam towards the source of light.

  I reclined on its sleek furry back and let the water’s gentle flow soothe my aches. There was very little fight left in me. Of course, High Priestess Grimmoix and Judge Kesper wouldn’t stay trapped forever. Soon I’d be a hunted person with a rap sheet bad enough to put me at the top of Ivywild’s most wanted list, especially if the Duke of Briar was in control.

  The serpent glided to a stop below a circle of light that came from a hole high in the ceiling above. Shielding my eyes, I studied it. It wasn’t just any hole in the ground. It was a well.

  “Don’t suppose you can fly, eh?” I said to the serpent.

  The giant beast snorted water from its nostrils.

  “Didn’t think so,” I said glumly. The distance up to the well shaft was an impossible gap. My only chance lay in the bucket and rope that were tethered to the wench high above.

  I listened for the sounds of voices. When I felt sure that nobody was near the well, I focused all my attention on the bucket at the top. I willed all my energy into making it come to me.

  Nothing happened. I was exhausted and my magic had not yet recovered from the battle in the greenhouse.

  The sea serpent snorted impatiently.

  “Oh be quiet!” I said. “I’d like to see you try to summon an object that’s fifty feet above your head!” I tried again. This time the wench spun a little, letting down a small length of the rope.

  The excitement of the tiny victory made me lose my concentration. I had to start all over again. I stood up on the serpent’s back and stretched my fingers towards the rope as though I could pull it with invisible strands.

  The rope began to uncoil, letting the bucket drop further down the well. It was halfway down when I heard a voice. I ducked out of the light and lay flat as I could on the serpent’s back.

  A pretty face, framed in a green scarf, peered over the side of the well. “Now where is that bucket?”

  My heart did a flip. “Anouk!” I hissed loudly.

  The startled priestess stared down into the well. “Hello? Is somebody down there?”

  I stood up on the serpent’s back and leaned forward into the circle of light. “It’s me!” I said in the loudest whisper possible.

  Anouk clutched her hands to her chest. “Emma? My stars! Is it really you?”

  “Yes! Can you help me get out of here?”

  “How did you get down there?” Anouk asked.

  “I’ll explain later,” I said.

  Anouk’s brow knotted with worry. “It’s not a good idea for you to come up here. There are patrols everywhere.”

  Feeling deflated, I asked, “Then what should I do?”

  “Can you wait just a little while longer? The sun will be down soon. It will be safer then.”

  The idea of hanging around in the bottom of a well after dark gave me the chills. Then again, I’d lived through worse things. I shrugged and said, “I guess so.”

  “I’ll come back, I promise,” Anouk said. Then she vanished from sight.

  With a sigh, I sat down on the sea serpent’s back. The creature gave a dissatisfied snort.

  The light coming from above gradually shifted until it was only one slim orange crescent. My toes felt like prunes. I should have been starving after nothing but fruit for weeks, but I was so exhausted that the smells of cooked food wafting down from above only made my stomach churn.

  I should have been in the castle trading stories with Chloe, not lying on a sea serpent at the bottom of a well. Maybe it was the curse. I wondered darkly if High Priestess Grimmoix was right about the destruction of Ivywild. Calamity did seem to follow me wherever I went.

  Stars blinked on in the tiny circle of sky above. The distant glittering lights brought a little comfort. I stared up at them, wondering if they shone on my friends, too. Did they twinkle over Chloe, wherever she was? Could Garland and Lord Finbarr see them out in the countryside? Did Lev—

  I drew a sharp breath and squeezed my eyes shut. The thought had crept in unexpectedly. It made me angry. I wished there was a poison fruit that could erase him from my memory entirely.

  The sea serpent sensed my sudden change in mood. Its back twitched and it rolled around restlessly.

  “Stop that!” I said. “You’re going to knock me into the water!”

  “Hello?” Anouk’s voice whispered from above. “Are you still down there?”

  “Yeah,” I whispered back. “Can you help me climb out now?”

  “Watch your head!” Anouk said.

  I ducked, expecting to see a ladder drop. Instead a fat brown toadstool fell on my head.

  I caught the toadstool and stared at it, puzzled. “Um…Anouk? What am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Throw it into the water!’ Anouk said.

  I did as I was told. The water rippled. All of a sudden, a toadstool the size of a pub table sprouted out of the water. Another slightly taller one sprang up next to it, then another and another, until there was a spiral staircase of toadstools leading up to the top of the well.

  The sea serpent growled at them. I, however, was ecstatic. “I’ll be right up!”

  “Stay put,” Anouk said. “I’m coming to you.”

  I waited as she climbed over the side of the well and stepped down onto the highest toadstool. She carried something lumpy under one arm, but it was dark so I couldn’t see what it was. She pulled the wooden well cover shut over her head, leaving us in total blackness. It only lasted a moment. A warm green, glow soon came from her source crystal.

  The light circled slowly down the spiral of toadstools like a green ghost. As Anouk got to the lowest toadstool, the crystal threw its light over me and the sea serpent.

  Anouk let out a startled squeak. “What is that?” she asked, lifting her crystal higher to cast more light over the serpent’s glistening body.

  “Oh this?” I said, patting the serpent’s back. “This is, um…Fred.”

  The sea serpent
gave an angry snort and lashed its tail.

  “Fredwina,” I tried again. It hadn’t yet occurred to me that the creature was a girl. I knew it had a real name, but I couldn’t remember it. It was one of those strange, archaic Fay words.

  “Nice to meet you, Fredwina,” Anouk said hesitantly. She handed me the lumpy thing, which turned out to be my boots. “I took the liberty of snatching these. You left them at the cathedral entrance.”

  “You rock,” I said, taking them from her. I sat down and pulled them on. When I stood up, the serpent twitched and arched her back.

  “Whoa there,” I said as I steadied myself. “Guess you don’t approve of footwear.”

  Anouk shook her head in disbelief. “A pet sea serpent. I guess that’s one way to escape the Botanique Purifico.”

  “The what?”

  “The place with the Cognites,” Anouk said.

  “You know about that place?”

  Anouk sighed. “I do now. I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of over the past week. When I discovered what the clergy elders were doing with those trainees, I knew I had to help.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said, “You’re the one who brought me the good fruit!”

  Anouk nodded.

  “But how did you find out where they’d taken me?”

  Anouk dropped her gaze and said in a small voice, “I had to manipulate one of the judges.”

  “How do you mean? Which one?”

  “Marcellus,” Anouk said. “He’s very old, I know, but sometimes he does hear important information when Kesper and Nuckelvee think he is sleeping. With some outside help, I snuck into his quarters dressed as one of his servants. Then I put him under a spell and gave him a Truth Test. Turns out, he’d heard Kesper boasting about how you would soon be out of the way for good. He knew all about the Botanique Purifico. From what I gather, the clergy has been sending dangerous people there for ages.”

  “Dangerous, huh?” I said with a scowl. “I guess I fit the bill. So what do they do with the Cognites?”

  Anouk shivered. “They use them as hosts to supply the orchard. Trees don’t live forever. Whenever one is close to death, its knowledge must be extracted and purified before being put into a new, healthy tree. The Cognites serve as a kind of filter.”