The Flute Keeper's Promise (The Flute Keeper Saga) (10 page)

I saw Bazzlejet prancing around in
the parlor out of the corner of my eye. If I got held up too long with
Commander Larue, I wouldn’t be able to follow him to his secret meeting.

“Are you with me?” Chloe asked,
watching me curiously. “You seem distracted.”

“I’m fine,” I said.

Chloe was not convinced. She tilted
her head, letting a tumble of purple curls fall to one shoulder. “You sure? You
look kind of ansty. Is it about your induction?”

The induction was the least of my
worries for the moment. “I’m fine.”

Chloe didn’t press the issue any
further as she set about changing her shoes and re-styling her hair. I hung
around and tried to provide lively chatter, all the while watching Bazzlejet to
see if he got any more calls. If he realized what I was up to, he didn’t let
on. He went about humming tunes and badgering the other servants who had
arrived with Chloe’s lunch.

“I’m off to sit with Father again,”
Chloe said after she’d put away a whole plate of candied fruit. “Ugh, and I
might have to go talk to my tailor, too. My dresses are getting tight.”

Bazzlejet snickered as Chloe left
the room.

I shot him a frown. “You know, I
might just tell her who you are and what you’ve been up to. It’s only fair
since you’re holding out on me.”       

“Lighten up,” Bazzlejet said. “It
wouldn’t do you any good to blow my cover.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I said.
“I’m not so sure about Othella, either. Where has she been? Chloe’s been at the
king’s bedside every day, but I’ve hardly seen Othella at all.”

For once Bazzlejet looked ruffled.
“Don’t go accusing Boss of anything. You don’t have any idea what—”

“That’s right, I don’t!” I said
hotly. “I wouldn’t, would I? I’m just not cool enough to be a part of her little
club!”

“Oh shut up and eat a cookie,”
Bazzlejet said, shoving a plate of warm treats at me.

Thrown off kilter, I stared suspiciously
at the fresh-baked goods. “Why would I want a cookie?”

“Because Chloe didn’t finish them
and they’ll just go to waste if we don’t eat them,” Bazzlejet said.

“They’re not poisoned or anything,
are they?” I asked.

“Of course not” Bazzlejet said,
looking offended. “Watch. I’m gonna eat me some cookies right now.” He grabbed
a handful and stuffed them into his mouth. “See?” he said, spitting crumbs.

I knew better than to trust him.
W.R.A.I.T.H. had potions at their disposal that could render a person unconscious
for hours. It would be a simple way for Bazzlejet to get me out of the way.

The cookies did smell really great,
though. It had been a few moments and Bazzlejet hadn’t passed out or sprouted
warts or anything.

“Go on,” he urged, waving the plate
around under my nose. “I promise you’ll feel better after you’ve eaten one.”

I took a cookie from the plate and
sat down on a pouf. Glaring at Bazzlejet, I nibbled off a bite. It tasted
perfectly normal. I swallowed it and nothing happened.

“Gotta go,” Bazzlejet said, making
a dash for the door.

I jumped up and chased him out to
the hall. I was gaining on him when two Gnomes who were taking away the food
cart ran up to me and got in the way.

“What the? Hey…!” I stumbled over
them.

“Pretty lady!” cooed one of the
Gnomes. He picked a flower out of his cap and handed it to me.

“I saw her first!” said the other.

“Hello, madam,” said a butler,
bowing. “You’re looking absolutely marvelous this evening.”

They surrounded me.

“Your beauty has no equal,” purred
the butler.

“Pretty as a spotted velvet
toadstool,” said one of the Gnomes.

“What did you put in that cookie?”
I yelled at Bazzlejet.

But Bazzlejet was long gone. I headed
for the elevatree but more men kept coming. The pageboy who brought my mail dropped
to his knees and started singing a song about my eyes.  “Oh they’re gray as
downy feathers…” he crooned.

My own butler, Fritz, picked up a
decorative vase that was in the hall and tried to hand it to me. “A gift for
the loveliest creature,” he said.

I ducked into my room and bolted
the door. The men outside started knocking on it. The pageboy was still
singing.

“Sheesh!” I said, making sure the
door was locked. “They’re like lovestruck zombies or something.”

It was my own fault. I should have
known better than to trust Bazzlejet. Now I was stuck until the bothersome
spell wore off. Exasperated, I went to my balcony for some air.

“What fair maiden through yonder
door comes!” shouted a man down in the street below.

 “Her hair reminds me of the gentle
ocean waves!” declared one awestruck observer.

“Her skin glows with the radiance
of ten thousand sunsets!” shouted the market’s fishmonger. He clasped the day’s
prize fish to his chest. “How I’d love to hold her!”

“Now that’s just creepy!” I said,
wrinkling my nose.

“Ahoy there!” said an aerial
guardsman. He flew down from his patrol route and landed on my balcony. “Would
the young lady care for a dance?”

I backed away from him, “Um, sir,
I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“My darling!” shouted someone
behind me.

I whirled around. Another aerial
guard was blocking my door.

“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 tsuka 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.