Fablehaven: The Complete Series (96 page)

A pair of fairies sped over to Kendra and floated in front of her. One was large and feathery, with elaborate plumage fanning out around her head. The other had very dark skin and fanciful butterfly wings with tiger stripes. At first Kendra thought they were paying her unusual attention, before she recognized that they were enjoying their reflections in her mask.

Kendra remembered that Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks were fairy collectors. Of course, the fairies could not be kept indoors—if a captured fairy remained inside overnight, she changed into an imp. Apparently the vast cage did not qualify as indoors.

“The curve of the mask makes your head look fat,” the feathery fairy giggled to the other.

“From my perspective, your rump looks rather blimpish,” the striped fairy snickered.

“Now, girls,” Kendra said, “be kind.”

The fairies appeared dumbstruck. “Did you hear that?” the feathery fairy said. “She spoke in perfect Silvian!”

Kendra had spoken English, but something about her being fairykind caused many magical creatures to hear her words in their native tongues. She had conversed that way with fairies, imps, goblins, naiads, and brownies.

“Take off your mask,” the striped fairy ordered.

“I’m not supposed to,” Kendra said.

“Nonsense,” the feathery fairy insisted, “show us your face.”

“No humans are around,” the striped fairy added.

Kendra raised her mask, giving them a peek before covering her features again.

“You’re
her,
” the feathery fairy gasped.

“It’s true, then,” the striped fairy squealed. “The Queen has selected a human handmaiden.”

“What do you mean?” Kendra wondered.

“Don’t play coy,” the feathery fairy chided.

“I’m not,” Kendra said. “Nobody ever said anything about being a handmaiden.”

“Take off your mask again,” the striped fairy said.

Kendra lifted the mask. The striped fairy extended a hand. “May I?” she asked.

Kendra nodded.

The fairy laid a tiny palm against her cheek. Gradually, the fairy grew brighter, until she was beaming orange stripes onto the surrounding foliage. Kendra squinted her eyes against the fiery brilliance.

The striped fairy removed her hand and drifted away, the intensity of her radiance fading only slightly. Other fairies flocked to them, hovering curiously.

“You’re dazzling,” Kendra said, holding up a hand to shield her eyes.

“Me?” the striped fairy laughed. “None of the others are looking at me. I’m barely the moon reflecting the light of the sun.”

“I’m not glowing,” Kendra said, noticing that the twenty fairies surrounding them were indeed all staring at her.

“Not on the same spectrum as I am,” the striped fairy said. “But you shine much, much brighter. If you were radiating on my spectrum, we would all be blinded.”

“Are you all right, Yolie?” the feathery fairy asked.

“I may have overdone it, Larina,” the striped fairy answered. “Care to share the spark?”

The feathery fairy streaked over to the striped fairy. Yolie kissed the feathery fairy on the forehead. Larina flared brighter as the striped fairy dimmed. When they parted, their luminance was about equal.

Larina examined the intensified vibrance of her multihued feathers. A bright aura shone around her like a rainbow. “Magnificent!” she cried.

“This is more manageable,” Yolie said, still gleaming.

“Is she truly a mortal handmaiden?” asked the sparkling white fairy who had illuminated the blossom.

“Can there be any doubt?” Larina exclaimed.

“You got brighter because you touched me?” Kendra asked.

“You are a reservoir of magical energy like I have never encountered,” Yolie said. “Surely you can feel it?”

“I can’t,” Kendra said. Yet she knew she had magical energy inside of her. How else could she recharge depleted magical relics? Kendra glanced over her shoulder at the screen door behind her and the curtained glass doors of the ballroom. What if somebody came out while her mask was off and she was speaking to fairies? Kendra replaced her mask. “Please don’t tell any of the other people about me. I have to keep my identity a secret.”

“We won’t tell,” Larina pledged.

“We had better diffuse our energy,” Yolie suggested. “We’re too bright. The difference is too plain.”

“In the plants?” Larina proposed.

Yolie tittered. “The garden would flourish too quickly. The surplus energy would be unmistakable. We should spread it among ourselves, then share just a little with the plants.”

The surrounding fairies cheered, then closed in on the two brightest. Kisses were exchanged until all the fairies shone only mildly brighter than they had originally.

“Have you any words for us?” Larina asked.

“Thank you for keeping my secret,” Kendra said.

“You could make it an order in the name of the Queen,” Yolie prompted.

“An order?”

“Sure, if you want the secret kept.”

Several of the other fairies glared at Yolie. A few quivered with rage.

“Okay,” Kendra said uncertainly. “I order you in the name of the Queen to keep my identity a secret.”

“Is there anything else we can do for you?” Larina asked. “Life here is so frightfully tedious.”

“I can always use information,” Kendra said. “What do you know about the Captain of the Knights of the Dawn?”

“Knights of the Dawn?” Larina asked. “Who pays them any mind?”

“I’m a Knight,” Kendra said.

“Forgive us,” Yolie said. “We consider most mortal affairs somewhat . . . trivial.”

“I promise the question is not trivial,” Kendra said.

“We haven’t paid enough attention to the Knights to know what you’re asking,” Larina apologized. “All we know about the Knights is that Wesley Fairbanks would trade all his wealth to be one.”

“Are Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks good people?” Kendra asked.

“As far as we can tell,” Yolie said. “They treat us kindly and give us every possible consideration. Some of us have even condescended to speak with Marion in English on occasion.”

“Do they know any secrets?” Kendra asked.

The fairies all looked at one another, as if hoping one of them might be aware of something. “I’m afraid not,” Yolie finally said. “The couple knows little about our kind. We are simply wondrous novelties to them. Maybe we can put the word out to seek the identity of the Captain of the Knights of the Dawn.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Kendra said. “You don’t happen to know anything about secret fairy preserves, do you?”

Kendra heard a door open behind her. Jumping and turning, she saw a figure in a cloak and a silver mask hurry to the screen door. Behind her mask, she licked her lips. Who could it be?

“Kendra?” asked Warren. “They want to issue your assignment.”

“Okay,” she said, whirling to face the fairies. “Secret preserves?”

“Sorry,” Larina said. “We don’t really know about secret preserves. Most of us are from the wild.”

“Thanks for being so helpful,” Kendra said.

“Our pleasure,” Yolie chirped. “Come visit again.”

Warren held the screen open and Kendra exited. “Be glad you weren’t spotted surrounded by chatty fairies,” he said.

“It just sort of happened,” Kendra apologized.

“Tanu and I saw you go out. We got into a conversation blocking the door. I kept an eye on you through the curtains. Learn anything?”

“Not much. Except that these fairies apparently didn’t get the memo to give me the cold shoulder.” Part of her wanted to say more, but only Grandpa, Grandma, Seth, and the Sphinx knew that Kendra was fairykind. Disclosing what the fairies had said about her being the Queen’s handmaiden might give too much away. Most of her friends at Fablehaven thought that her abilities were a consequence of being fairystruck, which was somewhat less unheard of than her actual condition.

Nobody had become fairykind in more than a thousand years, so nobody could fill Kendra in on all the specifics. Although she knew it meant that the fairies had shared their magic with her in a way that caused it to dwell inside of her as it did in them, she had never heard herself referred to as the Queen’s handmaiden, and was unsure what the expression meant. She knew being fairykind enabled her to see in the dark, understand languages related to Silvian, resist certain forms of mind control, recharge magical objects, and apparently transfer some of her energy to fairies. The Sphinx had implied that she probably had other abilities waiting to be discovered. Because her abilities could make her a target of people wishing to exploit her talents, Grandpa insisted on keeping her fairykind status a secret even from trusted friends.

Warren opened the door into the ballroom, where a tall, broad figure awaited. “Is everything all right?” Tanu asked.

Warren nodded. He led Kendra across the crowded room and back into the grand hallway.

“Who’s meeting with us?” Kendra asked.

“Your Lieutenant,” Warren said. “The quick appointment must mean the mission is important. All of the Knights are eager to speak with the Captain and their Lieutenants.”

“What do you make of everything the Captain shared in his speech?” Kendra asked.

“We’ll discuss that when we have more privacy.”

They returned to the same room where they had met the Captain earlier. A person in a gold-trimmed mask stood by the fireplace. Once Warren and Kendra closed the door, Dougan removed his mask, prompting Kendra and Warren to do the same.

“How did you like your first meeting as a Knight?” Dougan asked Kendra.

“It made me nervous,” she admitted.

“Good, that was part of the aim,” he said. “We need to keep on our toes now more than ever. Are you ready for your assignment?”

“Sure,” Kendra said.

Dougan gestured toward a sofa. Warren and Kendra sat down together. Dougan remained standing, hands clasped behind his back. “Warren, have you ever heard of Lost Mesa?”

Warren’s eyebrows knitted together. “Can’t say I have.”

“Clearly you know about some of the secret preserves, like Fablehaven,” he said. “Lost Mesa is another of the secret preserves.”

“The refuge in Arizona,” Warren deduced. “I know of it, though I hadn’t heard the name. I’ve never been there.”

“Lost Mesa is on Navajo land. What do you know about the objects hidden on the secret preserves?”

“There are five secret preserves, each with a hidden artifact,” Kendra said. “Together, the artifacts can open Zzyzx, the main demon prison.”

“The Captain told me you would know,” Dougan said. “Protecting these artifacts from exploitation is the top priority of the Knights of the Dawn. We have strong reason to suspect that the Society has learned the location of Lost Mesa. We sent in a small team to recover the artifact there, in order to transfer it to a safer repository. The team has encountered some trouble, so I am personally going there to complete the operation. I need Kendra to come with me, so that she can recharge the artifact before we extract it. We understand she has that ability.”

Warren held up his hand. “A few questions. First off, what sort of trouble did the current team encounter?”

“They found the caverns where the artifact lies hidden,” Dougan said. “The traps guarding the prize proved too much for the three of them. One of the team members perished, and a second was badly injured.”

“Sounds like an ideal situation for involving a fourteen-year-old girl,” Warren said. “Why exactly do you need to charge the artifact?”

“The Captain thinks that if the artifact is operational, we can use its power to better conceal it.”

“Does he know which artifact it is?”

“He or she does not,” Dougan answered.

“Won’t activating the artifacts make them that much more dangerous if they fall into the wrong hands?”

Dougan folded his arms. “Do you really think the Society won’t find a way to charge them if they ever lay hands on them? If anything, charging the artifacts now will make Kendra safer. The Society won’t be after her to jump-start their prison keys.”

Warren got up from his seat and wiped his hands down his face. “Dougan, level with me, is the Captain the Sphinx?” He stared at the Lieutenant intently.

“That’s one of many popular theories,” Dougan smiled. “No theory I’ve heard has it right.”

“That is exactly what I would say if I were trying to conceal the truth, especially if one of the theories were accurate.”

“It’s also what you’d say if the theories were all false,” Dougan said. “Warren, I have to warn you, this line of questioning is unacceptable.”

Warren shook his head. “I can’t elaborate why, but the question is important. I don’t care who the Captain is, as long as he isn’t the Sphinx. Just swear that to me.”