The Flute Keeper's Promise (The Flute Keeper Saga) (52 page)

***

Far below the ground in the tunnels
of Ayerie Keep, the queen of the Fay was having a hard time.

“Why must it be so dark?” she cried
out. “Garland, turn your crystal back on!”

“I must conserve my energy,” he
said regretfully. “It is a long way yet until we reach the cross-reference to
the book in the castle.”

With a groan, Chloe groped the
ceiling of the rocky tunnel to make sure she wasn’t about to bump her head. The
abandoned mine tended to narrow unexpectedly and she already had many nasty
bruises.

“Bazzlejet, what about you? Make
yours glow!” she demanded.

“No point in it,” Bazzlejet said
from somewhere in the gloom behind her. “We just keep feeling our way forward.
Hey, I found something.”

Chloe felt a palm on her backside.
She spun around and slapped Bazzlejet in the face. “It wasn’t funny the first
time and it’s not funny now! Be respectful!”

“It was an accident, Your
Highness.”

“Please, you two,” Garland said.
“It’s not much further until we’re out of the mines.”

“How did you ever find your way through
here?” Chloe asked. “If I’d come to this mess, I’d have gone back.”

“I was persistent,” Garland said.
“I was keen to get to the other side.”

“Yeah,” Bazzlejet said with a
snicker. “Because what was on the other side sure was pretty.”

“What are you talking about?” Chloe
asked.

“Why, Garland’s lovely lady
friend,” Bazzlejet said. He let out a whistle. “Miss Anouk Makoti, formerly of
the green cloth.”

“Oh,” Chloe said as she stumbled
over a rock. “You mean Emma’s tutor? Wow, Garland. Aren’t you brash? Who’d have
thought you could lure a young lady away from the clergy?”

“I didn’t lure her away,” Garland
said. “She chose to leave after she found out what a bunch of lunatics they
are. Now let’s see…there’s a lever up here somewhere.”

“Way to change the subject,
Finbarr,” Bazzlejet said.

There came a click and then a
grinding noise. A door opened above, letting daylight spill inside the mine
shaft. A rickety ladder led up to the opening.

Chloe squinted in the sudden light.
“Will we be in a different book when we go through there?”

“Yes,” Garland said. “Just two more
cross-references after that until we reach the book Anouk had. I hope it is
still in her room.”

“Better yet that it’s been returned
to the castle library,” Chloe said. “That way we won’t have to cross the market
square.”

“Either way, I’m a master of
disguise,” Bazzlejet said. “Those red capes will never know I’m there.”

“Don’t be so cocky,” Chloe said.

“Yeah,” Garland said. “Besides, I’m
not so sure you
can
go through to the castle. See, the last book, the
one Anouk had, is a rather wayward perspective on cathedral life written by a
clergy outsider. This poor author tried to become a priest but was rejected. He
wrote the book out of spite and he slightly exaggerated some of the finer
points in clergy customs.”

“Such as?” Chloe asked.

“You know how they have an impurity
stigma?” Garland said. “To get into the cathedral, you have to pass their code
of standards. If you’re found to be impure, The Door won’t let you pass. In
this author’s version, not only can you not pass, but you are immediately
devoured by Luciferian Goredragons that the cathedral keeps as pets.”

Chloe snorted. “But it’s just a
book.”

“And we’re in it, so therefore
subject to its rules,” Garland said.

“Well then it depends on his
version of what ‘impure’ means,” Bazzlejet said. “Am I impure if I’ve snuck
sips of ale and chased after Nymphs?”

“
And
worn ladies’
underwear,” Chloe mumbled.

Garland raised an eyebrow. “I don’t
know. There is only one unforgivable transgression according to the real cathedral
rules, and I’ve broken it.”

Wide-eyed, Chloe asked, “What is
it?”

“I have fallen in love,” Garland
said. “I was merely infatuated the first time I came through here, but now there
is no hope for me. I am madly, deeply, irrefutably in love with Anouk.” He
sighed, then smiled.

“Hmmm,” Chloe said, thinking hard.
“I don’t think I’ve ever fallen in love, so I’m probably safe.”

“Certainly, Your Highness, you are
up to their standards,” Garland said. “As for you—” he glanced sideways at
Bazzlejet.

Bazzlejet shrugged innocently.
“Hey, just because I can charm the ladies doesn’t mean I’ve ever given one my
heart. Life’s too short and I’m too young and handsome to settle, you know what
I mean?”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Are we
gonna stand here and chat, or are we going to climb that ladder?”

Bazzlejet balked. “I’m not climbing
that tattered old thing!” His wings blossomed behind him. “See you at the top.”

He had a point. Chloe made her own
wings appear. She flew to the top of the mine shaft and basked gratefully in
the sunshine. They were in an open field. Everything had a reddish cast to it.
At first glance the waving grasses in the distance appeared to be on fire.

Chloe stared in awe. “What the?”

“The author here had a curse on his
eyesight,” Garland explained as he landed next to Chloe. “He was also a
painter. His works were noted for their vibrant red pigments.”

“It’s going to give me a headache,”
Bazzlejet said, covering his eyes.

“Deal with it,” Chloe said as she
set off at a brisk pace. “We must make better time! At this rate, Mother and
the others will reach Woodman’s Hall before we even get to the castle!”

She did feel a great deal of
urgency. She had not imagined the duke’s takeover could be so swift and so
complete. Had her kingdom really been so fragile? She was ashamed.
What
would Father say?
She had let him down and she’d let herself down. All she
wanted was to make it right as quickly as possible.

“Hey Finbarr,” Bazzlejet said, “You
really mean what you said? About being in love?”

“Of course I do,” Garland said. “I
plan to marry Anouk.”

“Yikes,” Bazzlejet said. “You know
how hard it is to improve your magic once you settle down. Are you really
content to be an Emerald Rank the rest of your life?”

“As long as I spend the rest of my
life with her I don’t care what crystal rank I am,” Garland said.

Chloe tossed Bazzlejet an indignant
look over her shoulder. “Stop being so nosy. What’s it matter to you, anyways?”

“Just curious,” Bazzlejet said.
“You know, that’s why Uncle Frayne never got married. Dad said Uncle Frayne had
lots of girls chasing him when he was young, but he never gave in. He knew he
had it in him to be a Diamond Rank.”

“Thank goodness for the rest of us
that he did,” Chloe said. “He put protection of the kingdom above all else.”

They carried on in silence for a
while after that, but Chloe had been touched deeply by Commander Larue’s
sacrifice. A feeling that had been nagging her lately surfaced with new
strength. She owed something to her kingdom. All the selfish years she’d wasted
at the castle came back to haunt her.
If only I could fix this
, she
thought.
If only I could make things right, I’d give my all from now on.

Could she really do that? Throw
away her own heart’s desires, forsake everything that she used to feel entitled
to—all in the name of duty? For the first time in her life she peered deep into
her own soul and saw the person that she truly wanted to become.

“I will never marry,” she said
aloud. “If I can earn the throne back, that will be enough. I don’t know if I
have it in me to be a Diamond Rank, but I am quite powerful. I should use that
to help people.”

She had been talking and walking at
the same time so it took her a few moments to realize that the other two had
stopped. They hung back, staring at her as though she’d just said she was going
to swallow a cartload of crickets.

Chloe turned and looked back at them.
“What’s the holdup?”

“Do you hear yourself?” Garland
asked. “You’ve told me ever since we were wee tots that you were going to marry
a handsome prince and invent a potion to keep you both young so you could live
at the castle forever.”

Chloe placed her hands on her hips.
“I also used to say I wanted a hundred pet unicorns and to eat nothing but
sweet petal icing all day long. I’m serious, Garland. If I live through this,
I’m going to be an old spinster queen. I’ll take care of all the hard stuff so
people like you and Anouk can live happily ever after.”  She grew more excited
the more she talked about it. “It’ll be like I’m married to the throne and all
the people of Faylinn are my children!”

Garland scratched his green curls.
“But you’re a
queen
. You’re expected to marry and have children!”

“I’ll let Violet worry about that,”
Chloe said. “She can carry on the family line.”

“Um…how well do you know your
sister, exactly?” Bazzlejet asked.

“Well enough, I should think. Why?”

Bazzlejet just shook his head. “No
reason.”

Garland continued to balk, but
Chloe’s mind was made up. A great feeling of peace overcame her. For once she
was absolutely certain about something. Her future was no longer a misty
cloudbank, full of things to terrify and confuse. The fog rolled away and she
could see a vast landscape of possibilities stretching out to the horizon. It
was all hers to protect if she could reclaim it.

They came to the last book some
hours later, long after they’d left the fiery red fields behind. They were
weary, having flown or walked the equivalent of a day’s journey.

The last cross-reference brought
them to Ivywild’s own cathedral—or, at least the literary version of it. The building
loomed over its patch of ground like some engorged beast. The roof, having been
described by the author as overly pointed with nasty jagged accents, looked
like a spine of wicked horns jutting into the sky. The hooded figures of
priests and priestesses scuttled around the grounds. They all cackled and
rubbed their hands together and were repulsive to the point of being comical.

“The chap who wrote this wasn’t
bitter, was he?” Bazzlejet said.

Chloe started to say something but
then choked because she saw a caricature of High Priestess Grimmoix flogging a
pupil with a cane. The author had drawn the priestess with a nose the size of a
jester’s shoe.

“I daresay his version of the High
Priestess is more accurate than some,” Garland said.

Chloe snickered. “Emma would
probably agree.”

“This is where I leave you,” Garland
said. “Go into the cathedral sanctuary. Inside there is a hole.”

Chloe thought she misheard him. “A
hole?”

“Just floating in the air,” Garland
said. “It’s where a passage was blotted out with a magic spell. According to
rumors, it contained a parody of the cathedral elders. The author had them
laying eggs in the pews and clucking like farm fowl.”

“That’s our way out?” Bazzlejet
asked.

Garland nodded. “Yes, but you have
to get past the door first.”

“Let’s go,” Chloe said.

“Be careful,” Garland said. “I’ll
wait here.”

The door was a ridiculous rendition
of itself. Its wood was stained and knotted. It spoke to them with a booming
voice that shook the ground around it.

“WHO APPROACHES? TAKE HEED. I AM
THE CATHEDRAL DOOR, THE BIGGEST KNOW-IT-ALL IN FAYLINN! I AM AN OLD HUNK OF
WOOD AND I LIKE TO HEAR MYSELF TALK. COME CLOSER SO I CAN JUDGE YOU AND TELL
YOU WHAT A USELESS HEAP OF RUBBISH YOU ARE! ”

Chloe and Bazzlejet looked at each
other uncertainly.

“Hello,” Chloe said. “We’d like to
enter, please.”

The door grunted, creaked and
groaned. Bazzlejet hung back a few steps. He kept glancing side-to-side.

“YOU,” the door said.

Chloe looked around. “Me?”

“YOU ARE SPOILED AND ARROGANT. YOU
ARE PERFECT FOR THE CLERGY. YOU MAY PASS.”

Chloe scowled at the plank of wood.
“Now wait just a minute, I—”

Bazzlejet nudged her forward. “What
about me?” he asked.

“YOU ARE A HOPELESS BUFFOON,” the
door said. “THIS IS ACCEPTABLE.”

“Hey!” Bazzlejet exclaimed.

“Just come on,” Chloe said.

The door swung open and they found
themselves in a menagerie. All the clergy inside the Cathedral had been given
animal characteristics. The place was full of cawing and mooing and screeching.

A priest with the face of a donkey
greeted them. “Welcome to the Cathedral. HEE-HAW! HEE HAW!”

“This way to the sanctuary,” Chloe
said, brushing past the priest.

Bazzlejet pinched his nose shut and
followed her. “Smells like a barn in here.”

They entered the long, white inner
sanctum where, in the real cathedral, the clergy led solemn hymns.  Chloe heard
distant clucking noises, but there was nothing to see other than a black hole
floating in the middle of the sanctuary. It looked like the mouth of a cave.

Chloe gulped. “After this we’re in
real Ivywild. Are you ready?”

Bazzlejet looked pale behind his
freckles but he tried to smile. “Are you kidding? I’ve been waiting for this
moment for months!”

“Me too,” Chloe said. She took a
deep breath. “Okay, so we just walk right through?”

“Yeah,” Bazzlejet said. “But let me
go first.”

He crept up to the hole. Chloe felt
a static charge as he passed by her. He held his right hand out stiffly. Little
arcs of energy danced between his fingers.     

 He poked his head cautiously through
the hole. The darkness was so complete that it made him look like a headless
body. Chloe let out a little squeak of alarm but Bazzlejet leaned back in and
gave her thumbs up.

“We’re clear. Looks like Anouk’s
room.”

With a sigh of relief, Chloe hopped
through the hole. Her head bumped against something and she realized she was
underneath a cot. Bazzlejet came through behind her. He stood up the whole cot
tipped over.