The Vengekeep Prophecies (18 page)

I cowered, scrambling to get to my feet. Just before they reached me, I heard a shrill call. Perrin swooped down between me and the women, flapping his wings and shrieking. When the women paused, it bought me enough time. I reached into another pouch, pulled out three flashballs, and tossed them onto the stairs.
Flash!
A white cloud swallowed all four of us, allowing me to sneak around the coughing Aviards and continue down to the meeting place.

Ducking inside the nest, I nearly fell over at the foul stench. Looking around, I saw crude copper pipes and a wall of dull, lead basins. It wasn't an inn. It was a public latrine.

Edilman, shaken from his experience, breathed heavily in the corner. Callie stood on the other side of the room, glaring at Edilman.

“I knew they wouldn't be
happy
to learn I was a Grimjinx,” I said, “but I think they overreacted. All the wingless Aviards in Vengekeep do is ruffle their feathers at my family. Too bad we don't—” Neither Callie nor Edilman responded. They just kept staring at each other. “What's wrong?”

Fear in her eyes, she pointed a trembling finger at Edilman. “He's—he's marked!”

I looked over at Edilman's forearm, exposed after the Aviards tore his clothes. A raised symbol in pink flesh—the
S
from the High Laird's family crest—had been burned into the muscle just above his wrist. When Callie and I couldn't stop staring, Edilman finally turned away from us.

“That's the mark of the High Laird,” I told Edilman.

“I already knew that,” he spat, still cowering from us.

A moment later, Perrin flew into the room and landed on his master's shoulder. He gave Edilman a sympathetic nudge with his head.

“Only prisoners under a death sentence are branded,” I continued. “What did you do, Edilman?”

I didn't need to ask. The only two ways to earn a death sentence were treason or possession of fateskein. And I guessed he didn't have the guts to commit treason.

“I made a mistake,” he said, turning to us with tear-filled, pleading eyes. “A stupid mistake that I'm still paying for. I'm condemned to die and there's no reprieve. Only a pardon from the High Laird can reverse a death sentence and, given my background, I'm not likely to earn that any time soon, am I?”

Callie moved toward the door. “We've got to get away from him, Jaxter. We'll only call attention to ourselves by being with a condemned man.”

“No, no, please listen,” Edilman begged, falling to his knees as I stood to join Callie. “I need you. I need you both. The Provincial Guard has been tracking me all across the Provinces and they're getting closer every day. But they're looking for a criminal traveling alone. They won't suspect a man traveling with two kids.”

I looked at Callie and we shared the same thought. Now that we knew the Provincial Guard was onto us too, we'd attract less attention travelling with Edilman. I could see in Callie's eyes that she hated the idea.

Edilman used the tatters of his sleeves to cover his branded arm. “I just need your help getting to Port Scaldhaven in the north. There's a ship there that leaves in a few weeks. It'll take me far away from the Provinces, where I'll be safe. I made a stupid, stupid mistake. I don't deserve to die for it.”

If it had been anyone else, I wouldn't have cared. But I couldn't shake the fact that this man had been a close friend of my parents. I thought of Maloch. We were no longer friends, but I wouldn't wish this on him. Despite growing apart, I wasn't convinced my parents would want to see Edilman hunted like this.

Callie turned away and I went to her side.

“I know what you're going to say, Jaxter,” she said quietly. “I think it's too dangerous.”

“Callie, we have to,” I whispered back. “You saw the guards. They covered this village with posters. By sundown, those posters will be in every Province. If we're by ourselves, it's only a matter of time before someone turns us in.”

Edilman took a deep breath and said, “What if I told you that I knew a single place where you could find every item on that list you're carrying?”

Callie whirled on me, shocked that I'd shared the list with him. Then she said, “He's bluffing. He'll lead us on a wild chase, all the while promising to do just ‘one more job.'”

Edilman shook his head. “Not true. I swear by the Seven.” Then he looked directly at me. “I swear on the kinship of your parents. I'm telling the truth. I'll take you to a place where you can find everything you need. All I ask in return is that you continue traveling with me to throw the Provincial Guard off the trail. Once you have those plants, just get me to my ship in Port Scaldhaven and you'll never have to see me again.”

I looked to Callie, but she still hadn't changed her mind. She wanted us to sever our ties once and for all right there. And even though the possibility of every item being located in a single place seemed far-fetched, as rare as these ingredients were, I couldn't turn my back on the chance to save Vengekeep quickly.

“You've got three days,” I told him. “Three days to take us to where we can find everything on the list. And if you don't, we'll call the Provincial Guard ourselves.”

Exhaling with relief, Edilman rose, a thankful smile on his lips. Callie shook her head in disbelief.

“Three days?” Edilman asked, peeling off his fake mustache. “I can get you there in two.”

“There's a word for a thief who doesn't know danger: poor.”

—
Minaeris Grimjinx, founder of the Tarana Thieves Alliance

T
he tall, imposing wall around Redvalor Castle loomed ahead of us. The two Provincial Guards at the gate, halberds in hand, watched us warily as we approached.

“Everyone ready?” Edilman whispered. He was nearly unrecognizable in a scraggly wig, false nose, bushy eyebrows, and dentures that gave him a pronounced overbite.

Callie tugged at the high collar on her dress. “This will never work.”

“You knew what we were doing when you left Vengekeep,” I said to Callie. “Why did you pack a dress?”

Before she could answer, Edilman interrupted. “It's good that she did. We need to look presentable.”

“This will never work,” Callie repeated. She'd said little else in the two days it had taken us to get here.

Edilman pointed ahead. “Behind that gate is everything we both need. You get your plants, I get whatever I can grab in the castle vaults. Wait here.”

We paused while Edilman went to speak to the guards. A moment later, they unlocked the gates and allowed us through. We walked across a courtyard paved with sparkling stone until we arrived at the huge front doors of the castle.

Redvalor was a castle in name only. It bore none of the battlements or reinforcements of a proper castle. In reality, it was a lavish mansion that had been in the High Laird's family for centuries. Mostly it had been used as a vacation home for the royal family. However, rumor had it that some years ago, the High Laird's sister, the Dowager, had a falling out with her brother and had moved into Redvalor permanently.

Edilman tugged on a rope, and a bell sounded. Moments later, the door opened, revealing a tall, stern-looking Aviard.

We jumped, the nestvillage still fresh in our minds. But we quickly recovered and pasted large, fake smiles on our faces. The elderly majordomo looked down the length of his ample beak at us with an air of supreme caution. “May I help you?”

“Greetings!” Edilman trilled in a very high, overenthusiastic voice. “I am Professor Quintas Wenderkin from the Urahl Academy. I do believe the Dowager is expecting us.”

Edilman produced a pince-nez with lenses so thick I couldn't imagine he could see through them. He parked them on the end of his nose and elbowed Callie. Callie curtsied while I clutched the sides of my vest proudly, as I imagined a student at the “Urahl Academy” might do.

On hearing Edilman's fake name, the majordomo nodded. “Of course, Professor. Do come in.”

With the setting sun at our backs, we stepped over the threshold into Redvalor Castle. I'd been in some fancy homes in my life. I always imagined that royal residences would put them all to shame. Looking around, I was right.

Sort of.

In the cavernous main hall, where I expected to see a floor of shiny, swirled marble, I found a field of soil. A blanket of transparent grass covered the entire floor. Tall, thin trees sprouted up, their long branches twisting up and around the shiny copper chandeliers. Large bushes changed from green to red as we walked by. Overhead, a small black cloud hung over a grove of trees, raining down on them. A moment later, the cloud stopped raining, and it floated over to a hedge along the far wall, where it started raining again.

Amid the miniature forest, contraptions made of metal and wood whirred and clicked. Squatting down, I peered into the nearest, a boxy machine. Inside, I saw pairs of small animals running on wheels that moved conveyor belts that churned the innards of the device. Every so often, a pipe at the top shot a jet of steam into the air.

The majordomo led us through all this—stepping over knee-high mushrooms with squinty eyes, stubby arms, and several pairs of knobby feet—and acted as though everyone had a small jungle filled with contraptions in their foyer.

The Aviard held up a taloned hand to stop us in the middle of the room. “Please wait here while I announce your arrival to the Dowager.” He turned smartly and went up a wide staircase that led to a second floor landing.

Edilman gave a low whistle. “Well, isn't this …? Help me out here, guys.”

“Where have you brought us?” Callie asked, fear creeping into her voice.

I quickly changed the subject. “Will Perrin be okay?”

Edilman nodded absently, his eyes never leaving the mushrooms that continued to stare at us. Prior to our arrival, Edilman had sent the bird off into the forest. Talented as he was, Perrin enjoyed stealing a bit too much. Edilman had decided we couldn't risk having him with us in the castle and exposing who we really were.

“Why would the Dowager be looking for intelligent children?” I asked. I should have brought this up when Edilman first told us about the scheme. But he seemed so sure we'd find all the solvent ingredients here, I'd let it slide.

“All I know,” Edilman said, “is that several months ago, the Dowager sent word to schools across the Five Provinces saying she was looking for the best and the brightest students the land had to offer. She didn't say why, only that she wanted to meet with them. I contacted her, posing as a professor, promising to bring my finest protégés for her consideration. Even found a couple of youthful-looking accomplices to play the roles.”

“What happened to them?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Little bunknugs got greedy. We were a day's journey from Redvalor when they decided they wanted a bigger cut of whatever we stole from here. In the end, we couldn't come to terms and the plan fell apart. That is, until I very luckily came upon you two. It was fate, really.”

Callie frowned. “So, for all you know, she might be some insane person who thinks she can gain youth and intelligence by eating the brains of smart children.” She gave a little yelp when a nearby machine squealed and spat oil across the lawn.

Edilman shrugged and raised his bushy fake eyebrows. “Erm, I doubt it. She comes from a good family. Good families tend not to feast on the young. Still, let's hope it doesn't come to that.”

This didn't please Callie. She was already angry that we had to pull another con to get the ingredients. During the trip to Redvalor, whenever Edilman wasn't looking, she would pull out a calendar and make a show of reminding me how close we were to mooncrux. As of today, it was two weeks away. She folded her arms. “And where is Urahl Academy?”

Edilman considered. “What sounds good to you? How about Abon? Lovely seaside village. Good location for an academy.”

Callie looked to me, perplexed. “
Urahl
is par-Goblin for ‘bogus,'” I explained.

Before we could agree on an appropriate setting for our imaginary alma mater, a thunderous boom echoed in the room. My head snapped around to find the majordomo standing on the second floor landing, bearing a large silver staff that he used to strike the floor twice more. Once he had our attention, he announced, “The Dowager Annestra Soranna.”