The Flute Keeper's Promise (The Flute Keeper Saga) (22 page)

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.”

It made me sick to my stomach to
think about it. “They can’t just leave people frozen in amber like that! Those
Cognites must have families! Surely somebody would notice…”

Anouk made an uncomfortable sound
in her throat and began to fidget.

I raised an eyebrow. “What else did
you find out?”

“Terrible things,” she said in a
heavy voice. “My whole life all I ever wanted to be was a priestess. Now I know
it’s all a lie. I just—” she broke down into sobs.

Fredwina and I watched helplessly.
I did a poor job of handling my own breakdowns, let alone somebody else’s.
Still, I wanted to make the tears stop. Anouk was not meant for tears.

Quite abruptly Anouk ripped off her
headscarf. She looked on the verge of tearing it apart. “Blast them!” she
exclaimed. “I’ve wasted so much of my time! If I had only known!”

“Known what?” I asked, both taken
aback by the display of vim and instantly jealous of the burgundy hair that
fell free over Anouk’s shoulders.

“The clergy is not meant to help
anyone,” Anouk said. “It’s all a means of control. Oh, sure, it preserves
history and all that, but now that I know the cost…” she let out a trembling
sob.

“You mean what they do to the
Cognites?” I asked.

Anouk nodded. “Those people don’t
have families because they are the last of their bloodlines. That means they
have the potential for magical greatness.”

“But the clergy would rather drain
it all out of them than let them use it.”  

“Right,” Anouk said. “Anyone seen
as a threat gets turned into a Cognite…or worse.”

 “They must have meant that for me
all along!”

“No, I don’t think so,” Anouk said.
She looked slightly shame-faced again. “I did know that the first crystal they
gave you was a dampening crystal, not a real source crystal. Beyond that, I was
instructed to give you proper cathedral training. The high priestess said that
she’d monitor your magic. I think they meant for you to be a real priestess, if
only to put an end to your bloodline. But that was before everyone knew the
king was dying. Once it became clear that Chloe would soon be in charge,
everything changed.”

I thought of my grandfather. “Not
very original of them. I think they’ve got something else in the works, too.
They mentioned something about looking for a tablet. Do you know anything about
that?”

Anouk furrowed her brow in deep
thought. After a moment, she gave up with a shake of the head. “I don’t have a
clue. Did they say why they were looking for it?”

“Not exactly, but I got the vibe
that they need it for more of their sneaky evildoing. We need to tell somebody.
Is Commander Larue around?”

“No,” Anouk said. “The duke has banished
him to a far off outpost along with most of the Master Casters. None of the
royal family are here, either. Chloe vanished the day of the coronation along
with the Queen Mother and Princess Violet.”

A vague memory of the events
stirred in my memory. I had been completely overcome by the poison fruit during
the would-be coronation. “Is there nobody left who can help?”

Anouk did not answer. There was
only the distant rumble of water spilling into the reservoir.

I sighed. “I see. Then that settles
it. If help can’t be found inside Ivywild, I’ll just have to go elsewhere.”

“But our allies are scattered to
the four winds!” Anouk said dejectedly. “How will you find them?

With no Chloe, Othella or Commander
Larue, my best chance lay in finding Garland and Lord Finbarr. They had been
traveling less than two weeks. Maybe I could catch up to them.

“Have you had any letters from
Garland?” I thought to ask.

Anouk’s eyes welled up with tears
all over again.

“Never mind,” I said. “I’ll find
him and his father. Their first stop was in Loosestrife. I can start by asking
people around there if they know what route they took.”

At this Anouk’s expression
brightened a little. She reached into her robe and pulled out a small, crinkled
paper. “I was told to give this to you if you escaped the cathedral.”

I read the sloppy words on the
paper. “
Cloud Lane, first flagpole on the left
. What is this?”

“A Mr. Bazzlejet gave that to me,”
Anouk said. “He’s the one who helped me get into Judge Marcellus’s quarters.
Seemed to have a knack for that sort of thing. He had to sneak out of Ivywild
shortly after, though, because the duke put a bounty on him. I suppose it’s
because he’s kin to Commander Larue and he caused a stir at the coronation.
Anyways, he said if you escaped you’d need a place to go. His family lives in
Loosestrife. That’s directions to their place.”

“Did he say he would be there?” I
asked.

Anouk shrugged. “Maybe, but don’t
count on it. The duke’s men are all over the place, even in the outlands. You’d
be wise to take a disguise and lay low.”

It was looking more and more
difficult. I tried to hold a good thought. I had friends out there. I just had
to find them.

“Come with me,” I said.

“No,” Anouk said. “I can’t. I’d
slow you down. No, really!” she said to my disbelieving scowl. “You’re made for
this sort of thing, but me…well, I’m just a soft, indoors sort of girl, aren’t
I?”

“But you make a mean crispy bread!”
I said.

Anouk laughed softly. “Yes, but
what help is that to you? Besides, I’ve got my own schemes. Something must be
done about those Cognites. If it means keeping my head low and playing Old
Grimmy’s puppet, then that’s what I’ll do. I’ve got to make up for all my
wasted years and do something that actually matters!”

“But I’m going to search for
Garland. Don’t you want to see him?”

“Of course!” Anouk said, blushing.
“But I’m sure he’d understand. Just give him a big kiss for me when you see
him.”

I made a face. “How about I don’t
and you can just wait until we come back?”

“Deal,” Anouk said.

“But how am I to get out if I can’t
get above ground?” I asked.

Anouk chewed her lip. “I thought we
could at least get you up above and disguise you as a merchant so you could
slip out in the morning, but by then they’ll no doubt be onto you. I trust you
left Old Grimmy unscathed enough to report your escape?”

“I’m not a murderer,” I said. “She’ll
be back if she hasn’t gotten out already. So what then?”

It took a moment for Anouk to
reply. “All waterways here lead to Ivywild River. Of course, that means you’d
have to go over the waterfall.”

Every grisly possible end to the
scenario flashed through my mind. The waterfall fell hundreds of feet down a
sheer cliff face. At the bottom was a shallow, turbulent pool surrounded by
jagged rocks.

“I don’t think we’d make it,” I
said, patting the serpent on the back of its head where scales met fur.

The sea serpent gave an agitated
wriggle and blew water from its nostrils.

“Looks like that critter of yours
thinks otherwise,” Anouk said. “I’d offer you aid to get down the cliff, but
I’m just not that strong. My wimpy little wings can barely pull myself up, let
alone another person.”

I recalled bitterly that there was,
in fact, only one person strong enough to carry me long distances.

There came the sound of voices up
above.

“Get the cover off that well,”
somebody said.

“The well, sir?”

“Our orders are to check all waterways!”
replied the other.

“Looks like me and Fredwina here
will have to give the waterfall a try,” I said.

Anouk’s face drained of all color.
“Do be careful!”

“Yeah, I’ll be real cautious while
I’m plummeting to my doom.”

There came a groan of wood on brick
as the men above began to move the well cover. Anouk jumped into the water. The
toadstools popped out of existence.

“Go!” Anouk hissed as a crack of
moonlight shone down into the well.

Without further hesitation I urged
the sea serpent downstream from the well. Once again in stifling blackness,
there was nothing for me to do but hold tight and trust the magical beast that
carried me. “Get us safely out of here,” I whispered.

We passed through a maze of watery
caverns. Many times I was forced to hold my breath and endure long, submerged
passages. My lungs were pushed to their limit as I struggled between pockets of
air.

Gradually the stream grew wider,
fed by other underground tributaries. The current grew faster. Now when I took
gasps of air they tasted fresh like the night outside and not like the stagnant
air trapped in the underground chambers.

The stream widened again. A telltale
roaring noise grew closer. The subterranean passage spit us out in the main
river just beyond the wall encircling Ivywild’s market. We were in the castle’s
outer perimeter, and our presence did not go unnoticed.

“There, in the water!” shouted a
lookout on the castle wall. “What’s that?”

Airborne guards with their wings
casting colors against the night sky gathered near the wall. Some were armed
with crossbows, others with only their magic. They were the least of my
worries. The arch loomed ahead. It was the gaping maw where the river spilled
through the castle wall to the valley far, far below.