by JL Bryan
Aoide was being led directly toward the Queen.
As they drew closer, Aoide could see the Queen better, her mountainous braids of midnight-black hair—which had to be a wig—sprawling over her dress like great pythons. The Queen surveyed her court with stern golden eyes and a beautiful, youthful face. Her eyes and lips were painted with black makeup, and a golden rune was painted on her cheek.
Aoide curtsied low before the Queen, nearly sitting on the floor before she rose up again.
“What have you brought me, Icarus?” the Queen’s voice echoed down the terraces from her throne.
“This is the musician called Aoide the Lutist,” the Queensguard fairy replied.
The Queen’s head turned toward a silver-haired, bearded elf in a dark blue cowl, who occupied a terrace below her. He wore a golden chain, on which hung a pendant with a scarab trapped in amber.
“Conjurer,” she said, “Create the Shush Bubble.”
The old elf used a staff to heave himself to his feet. The staff was a crooked length of ironwood, topped with a gleaming quartz crystal. He muttered in Old Elvish, a language Aoide didn’t know. The quartz ball sparkled, and suddenly all the voices, chatter and music in the room vanished.
Aoide turned around, half-expecting to find that everyone had disappeared. The courtiers were all still there, continuing their chatting and gossip, but it was as if an invisible curtain blocked all sound.
“Aoide the Lutist,” the Queen said.
“Yes, Your Majesty?” Aoide replied.
“You reported to the Queensguard that four objects of high magic, four musical instruments, had been stolen from you. Yes?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Aoide kept her gaze low, on the Queen’s yards and yards of skirts. Subjects weren’t supposed to look the Queen in the eye.
“Our seer tells us these four instruments are no longer within our realm,” the Queen said.
Aoide didn’t know what to say. “How is that possible? I thought they must have been stolen by goblins, or perhaps other musicians…”
“Their magic has departed from Faerie,” the Queen said.
Now Aoide grew nervous. They hadn’t brought her here to return the instruments, but to punish her.
“As you surely know,” the Queen continued, “Allowing magic to pass out of Faerie—either on purpose, or by negligence—violates the Supreme Law. This can be punished by death.”
Aoide tried to look calm, but she was shaking with panic. What would they do to her? She would have to beg for mercy.
“My Queen,” Aoide said, falling to her hands and knees. “I do not know how this could have happened. I have not gone near the doors to the man-world.”
“Yet your instruments must have left through such doors,” the Queen said.
“Your Majesty, I am sorry. I do not understand—”
“Magic, leaking out into the man-world,” the Queen said, glaring down at Aoide. “After we have kept ourselves hidden so well, for so long. They have chased us from that world with their iron. If they bring their iron here, to our world, then where shall we hide?”
Aoide trembled, staring at the hexagon floor tile below her. “I do not know, Your Majesty.”
“You and your musical troupe are in violation of the Supreme Law,” the Queen said. “Rhodia the Harpist. The faun called Neus, player of songpipes. The ogre Skezg, bearing in mind that ogres have no legal rights under the Queen’s Law anyway. The four of you must recover the stolen instruments from the man-world.”
Aoide looked up, surprised. At least she wasn’t being imprisoned, or put to death. “Yes, Your Majesty. We will do all we can!”
“You will succeed,” the Queen said, “Or you will suffer the full penalty. All four of you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“This will be done entirely at your expense, naturally,” the Queen said. “I have assigned Icarus to watch over you and make sure you resolve this matter quickly.”
Aoide looked at the sapphire-eyed fairy in black armor, and he gave her a very small smile.
“I will do as Your Majesty desires,” Aoide said. She tried not let her relief show.
“Then we are understood,” the Queen said. “Go and do as I say.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The old elf rapped the base of his staff on the floor, and sound flooded in again from all over the room.
Icarus took Aoide’s arm to escort her away. She walked along with him, but slowly slipped her elbow from his grasp. He would lead her to one of the black-rose chambers, and there they would teleport across the deadly labyrinth surrounding the palace, to the guardhouse where the front gate had been before the Queen walled it in.
Aoide managed to look calm on the outside, but she was terrified. She had no idea what had happened, so she had no idea where to begin. But she would recover what had been stolen from her. Her life, and her friends’ lives, depended on it.
Chapter Ten
Jason sat on the bleachers at school, watching the seniors assemble on the football field in their rented caps and gowns. He could see Mitch making practice tosses in the air with his square blue cap. Dred sat near him, looking bored.
“Hi, Jason,” Erin’s voice said. She was on the row of bleachers behind him, but she stepped down beside him to talk.
“Hi.” Jason smiled at her.
“Are you here by yourself?” Erin asked, looking at the empty space beside him.
“Yep.”
“Oh.” Erin sat down beside him. “So…I didn’t see you at prom.”
“I didn’t go.”
“Yeah, it was pretty lame,” Erin said. “But my girlfriends, you know, Kennedy and Parker, they were nuts about it. So I had to do the whole dress thing, the whole make-up and hair thing. Zach was nice, got us the limo and everything.”
“Did you have a good time?”
“It wasn’t what I expected it to be.” Erin shrugged. “But that’s life, right?”
Jason nodded. If he had gone to prom with Erin, he thought, he would make sure she had the best night of her life.
Jason couldn’t say that, though, so he moved to a subject that felt safer.
“Sorry I haven’t been at band practice,” he said. “My parents are still mad at me for sneaking off for that audition.”
“It’s okay,” Erin said. “The band’s breaking up, anyway.”
“Really?” Jason hadn’t heard anything about that.
“We kind of have to, don’t we?” Erin asked. “Dred’s been saying she’ll move to the Cities after graduation. And Mitch is going off to Stout for college, in a few months. So that’s pretty much it.”
“But we can still play together,” Jason said.
“I don’t think that’s very realistic, with everybody moving away.”
“I mean you and me. We could still hang out and play. Maybe get another band going. We’re both still stuck at this school another year, right?”
“True. That could be fun.”
Jason wanted to keep talking to her—about anything, really—but he wasn’t sure what to say. She still tied his tongue in knots. He noticed he was crumpling and uncrumpling the paper graduation program in his hand, and he made himself stop.
“There’s something I haven’t told anybody,” Jason said. “I thought it could make a big difference for the band…but then I thought it was kind of a stupid idea.”
“What is it?” Erin asked.
“That’s pretty hard to explain. If you can come by my house, I’ll show you.”
“Tell me what it is.”
“Yeah, it’s not going to make any sense if I just tell you. Want to come by Monday? My parents will be gone, so it’ll just be me and Katie.”
“And then you can show me this amazing thing that you can’t possibly give me a clue about?”
“Yep.”
Erin smiled and looked at him for a long moment. “Okay, Jason Becker. I’ll come to your house on Monday.”
; Jason wondered if she thought he was just inviting her over to try and make out with her. He didn’t want to give her the wrong idea…but then again, she’d already agreed. He felt scared and elated at the same time.
Then the principal began to speak, and Erin turned to watch. Jason looked at the side of her face for a few seconds more, and then he started to watch the graduation ceremony.
Chapter Eleven
By Monday morning, he was a nervous wreck. As soon as his parents left, he was in his room, trying on different shirts, checking his hair.
“Whatcha doing?” Katie wandered in and plopped on his bed. She was holding an orange plush Tyrannosaurus Rex.
“Nothing, Katie.”
“Want to play dinosaurs?”
“I’m busy.”
“You said you weren’t doing anything!”
“I’m having a friend come over for a while.”
“Mom and Dad say you’re not allowed,” Katie said. “I’m s’posed to call them if you go anywhere. Or if somebody comes over.”
“They’ve got you spying for them, huh?”
“Yep.”
“Please don’t tell, Katie.”
“Who’s coming over?”
“My friend, Erin.”
“Boy Aaron or girl Erin?”
“Girl Erin.”
“Oooh…Is she your girlfriend?”
“No, Katie. And she’s probably not even coming.”
“You said she was! Make up your mind.”
“I mean, she probably forgot, or changed her mind,” Jason said. It was hard for him to believe that Erin Kavanagh was actually coming to hang out with him. He’d never spent any time with her besides band practice and failed auditions.
“Why would she forget?” Katie asked.
“Because she doesn’t care that much about me. She has a boyfriend.”
“Is he coming, too?”
“He better not be!” Jason was suddenly worried at the idea that Erin would bring Zach and he’d be stuck watching the two of them together the whole time.
Jason took out his cologne, which he’d never taken out of the box since his aunt sent it to him for Christmas. It smelled a little bit like leather and wood, nothing too froofy. He slapped it all over his face with both hands, since he’d once seen a character in a movie apply it that way.
“Why you wearing perfume?” Katie asked.
“It’s called ‘cologne’ when a boy wears it.”
“Why you wearing boy perfume?”
“I’m just trying it out.”
“Are you in love with Erin?”
“Katie, just give me a break!” Jason shouted. “Stop being a little pest!”
Katie’s face crumpled and turned red, and she looked like she was about to cry.
“Play stupid dinosaurs by yourself!” she shouted back. She threw the stuffed T. Rex on his floor and stomped out of the room.
“Katie, sorry, I didn’t mean to yell,” Jason said, remembering that he needed Katie to keep quiet and not tell their parents about Erin visiting. He followed Katie to her room. After much begging and apologizing, he agreed to make up for yelling by playing Mario Kart on the Wii with her.
The video game actually calmed him down by giving him something to concentrate on, besides the question of whether Erin was actually coming, and the question of whether he’d be able to talk like a somewhat intelligent human being when she was around.
Jason was completely absorbed in being Yoshi, driving his go-kart on the beach, when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!” Katie dropped her steering-wheel controller, letting Toad crash into a rocky cliff. She ran out of the living room.
“Wait, Katie!” Jason chased after her. She was already opening the front door.
Erin stood outside the storm door. She waved when she saw Jason, and his heart skipped a beat or three.
Katie pushed open the storm door.
“Are you Erin?” Katie asked.
“I am. Who are you?” Erin smiled.
“That’s Katie, my sister.” Jason reached over Katie’s head and held the door open while Erin stepped inside. Erin hugged an arm around his waist.
“Are you in love with my brother?” Katie asked.
“Katie, don’t you want to go play video games? Or watch TV?” Jason asked.
“No, I want to see what you guys are doing,” Katie said.
“Katie, we need to talk alone for a minute,” Jason said.
“Then I’ll tell Mom you had a girl come over!”
Jason sighed. Katie really had him trapped on that one.
“Okay, Katie,” Jason said. “But you can’t tell Mom and Dad what I’m about to show you.”
“Is it a secret?” Katie whispered, with her hands over her mouth.
“Yep, it’s a big secret.”
“I like secrets,” Erin said. She winked, and Jason thought he might melt.
“It’s out in the garage.” Jason led them down the steps to the living room, and from there into the garage.
“Are we going to play?” Erin took out her harmonica.
“Maybe.” Jason knelt by his dad’s old Corvette and slid out a cardboard box covered with a drop cloth. He’d moved the instruments into it when they shrank to toy size.
Now he removed the drop cloth. Erin and Katie leaned forward to look at the little instruments, all of them carved with fairy runes: the lute with the amethysts in the soundboard, the reed pipes, the silver harp, the drum.
“Oooh, pretty!” Katie said.
“What are these for?” Erin asked.
Jason took a deep breath. “Okay. So the other night, this…goblin sneaks into my house.”
“Goblin?” Erin raised an eyebrow.
“It’s true!” Katie said. “He was a ugly green monster!”
“Oh…a goblin,” Erin said, as if this were just a game for Katie’s benefit, and she was playing along. “I bet that was scary.”
“But Jason runned him off!” Katie added.
“Yeah…” Jason actually felt a little relieved Katie was here to back up his story. “So I chased the goblin over to Mrs. Dullahan’s house. You know Mrs. Dullahan?”
“I know of her,” Erin said. “With the creepy house on the edge of town?”
“She’s a witch!” Katie said.
“So, I chase the goblin there, and then…I follow him into the fairy world.”
“I like fairies!” Katie contributed.
“And I found these instruments,” Jason said. “They’re magic.”
Erin looked from Jason to Katie, as if trying to figure out the joke.
Jason picked up the lute. “The problem is, they shrank when I brought them back. Just like the goblin—he was smaller when he was here, but he was taller in the fairy world. Still pretty short, though. Everyone over there was short, except for the ogres.”
“Of course…the ogres.” Erin looked puzzled. And a little worried. She crossed her arms tight and leaned back, away from him.
“Yeah, I know it sounds crazy,” Jason said. “But these things make amazing music. Just listen to this, okay?”
Erin stared at him, frowning.
“This isn’t really funny, Jason,” she said.
“You’ll see what I mean. Trust me.” Jason touched his guitar pick to one string of the lute, took a deep breath, then plucked it and let it hum. A deep, melancholy sound filled the garage, and he suddenly felt very sad.
He plucked the next string, a higher note, and now he felt wistful, nostalgic, thinking of the time his team had won the county Little League championship. And his fifth birthday party. And his Grandmother baking sugar cookies on Christmas Eve.
Erin frowned and looked away. “That’s really powerful,” she said, and she sounded a little sad, too.
He plucked the next string, and as it vibrated its slightly higher tone, he felt lonely.
“I wish we had a dog,” Katie said. “I would hug him all the time.”
The fourth stri
ng cheered everybody up. He was glad to be here, with Erin and even his pesky little sister. The girls smiled a little.
The fifth string made everyone laugh and brought fresh, happy energy into the room. The sixth put a huge, blissful smile on everyone’s face.
“I like that one best,” Katie said.
“It’s like each one makes you feel something different,” Erin said. “Three kinds of sadness, three kinds of happiness.”
“And when you play them all together…” Jason strummed the pick across all six strings.
Erin closed her eyes as the music passed through her. “Oh…wow. That’s really beautiful.”
“Play it some more, Jason!” Katie demanded. “I want more!”
“That’s what we like to hear from the audience,” Erin said. She smiled at Jason.
“Want to try a whole song?” Jason asked.
“Sure.” Erin took out her harmonica.
“You should try this.” Jason handed her the matchbook-sized set of reed pipes. “You play it like a harmonica.”
“Pan pipes,” Erin said. “That’s neat. But they’re too small to play.” Erin held them to her lips. “I’d just blow all the pipes at once.” She set it aside and put her harmonica to her lips. “I’ll stick with old reliable Monica here.”
“What should we play?” Jason set the small lute face-up on his lap.
“I’d really like to hear how ‘Remember’ sounds on that lute,” Erin said. “Think you can handle it?”
“I think so.” Jason began playing Erin’s song ‘Remember’ on the lute strings. He used the same hand positions and strings he would have used if he were playing his guitar. The music came out deep, rich and heartbreaking. The lute grew warm in his hands.
Erin followed along with her harmonica for a few bars, then she sang:
Remember the day when you were young,
Remember the time when you believed,
Remember the world where you were loved,
Remember the years when you felt free…
The guitar squirmed like a live animal in Jason’s hands. The bent neck straightened out, and the whole lute swelled larger.
