“I would, thanks.” She accepted the bowl and dug in. She was glad she hadn’t involved Control in her problems because then little things, like buying a salad and hiding, would suddenly become complicated. “I have to hurry. I’m meeting Izzy and Lisle for a Society fundraiser.”
“Cool. What did you end up doing this afternoon?” he asked.
“I went to Lisle’s. Man, it was strange. He knew everything already,” she punctuated her words by making little circles in the air with her fork. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Lisle knowing so much. She didn’t understand magic and it made her uneasy.
“No kidding?”
“I guess not everything, but the whole vision business, anyway. He’s going to ask his council about my dad’s secret group and who might know about my visions.” She punctuated her sentence by stabbing her salad.
“Is that a good idea?”
“What?” she asked.
“What if it’s them?” He crossed his arms on the table.
“It wouldn’t be them. They already know. Lisle told them.” Fale was concerned about Lisle’s council knowing her secrets too, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. He’d already told them. Part of her Takanori training was learning to let go of what she could not change, so she shrugged off the nagging worry and ate. She trusted Lisle, and there was no way he’d be involved with someone who wanted to harm her.
“Still makes me nervous, involving people we don’t know. People who do magic.” Keron said “magic” like it was a dirty word. He chewed his salad, scraping the bottom of his bowl. “Guess it’s my turn in the shower,” he said, pulling his t-shirt off from the back of its neck.
Fale looked away before the sight of his sculptured stomach could make her drop her fork. Geez, Fale, get a grip. They obviously did outside work shirtless, because his tan was perfect with a smattering of freckles covering his smooth chest. Keron tucked his shirt under his arm and gulped down his iced tea before going.
Go already.
While Keron was in the shower, Fale finished her salad and cleared away their trash, wiping the table. She knocked on the bathroom door and told Keron she was leaving, but they could talk over her notes when she got back.
She ran to Izzy’s apartment, her wet hair slapping against her back. She rapped on the door, then flung it open. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Again.”
Fale winced. “You still have my dress?”
“No, I gave it to the little fantocci’s. Of course I have your dress. Hurry and put it on, Lisle will be here any time now.” Izzy smoothed down her ocean blue gown, embellished with crystals and little teardrop earrings. Fale felt like a girl standing next to a woman, in her powder pink dress with the tiniest little straps. She ran her hands through her hair a few times and put on some lip gloss.
“This is as good as you’re gonna get,” Fale said unapologetically.
The knock on the door, took them both by surprise. “You guys ready?” Lisle called from outside the door. Each girl took one of Lisle’s arms and they walked to the gold-gilded ballroom at the University, used for high-class functions. The poster by the open double doors read: Project Omnia.
“What does it mean?” Fale asked.
“Omnia can mean thoroughly or wholly, but I don’t know what it has to do with a fundraiser for families of fantocci? Maybe taking care of the whole family?” Lisle volunteered.
“It means we’re at the right place,” Izzy said and wandered off to mingle.
Fale clung to Lisle’s arm. “I don’t like strange places,” she whispered.
“Me either,” Lisle agreed, covering her hand, looped into the crease of his elbow.
“Let’s mingle, I guess. Those must be the families up front.” Fale tried not to point.
“Do you want to go meet them?”
“Maybe later. Let them eat. They all look starving.” Fale looked away.
“They could have at least given them some nicer clothes to wear,” Lisle was disgusted.
“They don’t look bad for…” Fale tried to think of the right word.
“Were you going to say poor people?”
“No,” Fale was defensive. “I wasn’t.”
“Yes, you were.” He poked her with his bony shoulder.
“I was not.” She took her hand back and crossed her arms. He chuckled.
“I was kidding. There are some seats over there.” Lisle guided her around the room.
“Does it seem like people are watching us? There are a lot of Control here.”
“Of course, there are. This is put on by Control- trying to show they aren’t victimizing people because they help the families of the people they steal.”
“Ssshhh,” Fale whispered. “Do you want to lose your place at school and find yourself back at home with jobless parents?”
“I’m not afraid of them,” Lisle said.
“You should be. Oh look, there’re Izzy’s parents. I love her dress.”
“They are living off the fantocci’s money.”
“How so?”
“You don’t really think the fantocci money goes back to the taxpayers, do you? Come on, Fale, get your head out of the clouds. They pay for things like Izzy’s dance lessons.”
“That’s heresy,” she whispered.
“I know.” Lisle grinned. “But Izzy’s a good person, and she means well, so surely some of these people really care about the families.”
“I hope so. There, the guy in the vest, he’s passed us three times. Don’t you think it’s strange?”
“A little excessive maybe, but you can’t fault a guy for lookin’. You do look nice tonight.” He took her hand again and laid it on his arm.
“Thanks Lisle. It’s Izzy’s old dress. But it’s not what I mean… They keep looking over here. And don’t tell me it’s because I look fabulous.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll keep my eyes open.”
They walked the periphery of the room. Tables in blue cloth covered at least twenty round tables, conducive to chattering and check writing. The food was thirty dollars a plate and Izzy’s parents had paid for them. All in the name of charity. Bright gold and white streamers hung from gilded light fixtures on the ballroom wall and the big windows on the front of the room were propped open for the cool spring breeze to ruffle skirts here and there. Fale couldn’t find a purpose to the seating, everyone mingled. The men stood leaning over chairs to talk to seated couples. Women waved paper fans. Fale noticed men speaking quietly to one another, then staring at her and Lisle. Was it because they were some of the very few young people present? She was getting uncomfortable, and it was not just because she dreaded sitting through the upcoming presentation. She looked to her seat at one of the front tables, searching for Izzy, and saw a waiter replacing her water glass. Why would he do that? It was already full.
“Do you think Izzy would mind if I left early?” Fale asked Lisle, but he was too preoccupied to notice.
“Lisle.” She nudged him.
“Huh? What?”
“Do you think Izzy would mind if I left?”
“You know, I think those guys are watching you. Us. I don’t know.” Lisle steered her toward the door, looking backward.
“Lisle, what are you-?”
Pulling her elbow, he strode through the double doors, into the hall, and watched two men follow them out. Lisle picked up the pace.
“Lisle, I’m about to lose my shoes. What are you doing?”
“Look behind us and see if you recognize anyone.”
Fale twisted around and saw the two men. “It’s the man in the vest,” she said.
“I know.”
She grabbed his hand and pulled him down the stairs. “Run, Lisle!”
They ran down the last few stairs and across the courtyard of the University. They looked over their shoulders to see the men gain speed. “What do we do?” Lisle asked.
“Well, we can’t go to Control. Let’s go to the pub and sneak out the ba
ck door,” Fale tried to talk quietly.
“Huh?”
“Follow me,” she shouted.
Fale took the lead and ran for the mall. With any luck, they could lose them in the crowd there. They darted between lovesick college students enjoying the evening and boys playing a concert of dueling guitars for prospective girlfriends. They passed the occasional drunken youngster, stumbling and sloshing liquid from plastic cups, and pushed one in order to slow down the men. A riot of curses followed them into the street and to the pub. They could see the men tracking them through the window.
Fale yelled to the bartender looking around wildly, “We’re being followed by two grown men. Can you get us outta here?”
The bartender, a young man with tangled blond hair, bouncing wildly around his head, nodded at them. “Under here, stay low.” He motioned under a strip of the bar that was open to the other side. “Cleo, you’re up!” he yelled to the girl sitting with her leaf rolled tobacco, smoking.
“Got ya.” She winked at them over a pair of round glasses with orange lenses and stepped up to the front of the bar.
“This way, they’re comin’ through the door.” He kept his hand on Fale’s back and Lisle crouched as they stepped quickly behind the bartender. They sprinted for the kitchen.
“What can I do for ya?” They heard Cleo yell over the band.
The bartender rushed them past the open stove and the sinks to an ice machine wedged against an old back door.
“How are we gonna get out?” Fale despaired.
“Easy. Cleo will keep ‘em up there as long as she can. You two git out here and go straight back. Toward the pool. There’s no windows on this side of the buildin’. They’ll have to go ‘round the front to get out and you’ll be long gone.”
Fale was stepping lightly from one foot to the other in impatience as the young man pulled out the ice machine and unlatched the door. They had to squeeze through the door and between the brick wall and the big gray dumpster parked behind it. The door squeaked shut as Fale and Lisle cleared the side of the building. Lisle laughed, but Fale hushed him until they were past the first apartment building.
“Woohoo. I feel so alive. What’s next?” Lisle spun in a circle, but Fale was feeling like she’d gotten away too easily.
“Next, you go home. I need to think.”
“What about?” Lisle looked at her pale face. “Fale? This wasn’t a coincidence, was it?”
“No, but I don’t know what’s going on. Someone is after me and I don’t know why. They ransacked my apartment today,” Fale said. “Keep walking.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“I had Keron with me, I’m okay.” Fale rolled her eyes.
“Where are you staying? Do you need to come home with me?”
“No, I’m staying with Keron. He’s expecting me.”
Lisle narrowed his eyes, but he nodded. “Keron’s a good guy. And he can fight. He’ll protect you.”
“I can protect myself, but thanks Lisle. Go home. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“All right, but don’t leave me wondering too long.”
“I won’t.” She hugged him briefly and turned to go to Keron’s.
“And they snuck you out the back?” Keron was in the kitchen wearing only a pair of gray lounge pants, and Fale was pacing in the living room.
“Actually, they snuck us out the kitchen door.”
“They don’t have a kitchen door.” Keron finished wiping the counter and tossed the rag in the sink, joining her.
“I didn’t think so, either. That’s the beauty of it.”
“Well, you’re safe now. Stop pacing, you’re making me nervous.” Keron sat on the couch and patted the seat next to him.
“That’s just it, how do we know we’re safe here?”
“No one followed us here last night. My place didn’t get broken into today and nobody followed you here tonight. I think we’re good.”
She walked in front of him. “Let’s keep our bags packed, in case we have to run, okay?”
“Sounds okay to me. I’ll pack mine in a little bit and you are already packed, so seriously, stop wearing holes in my carpet.”
She laughed. “I’m still agitated, I guess.”
“So, tell me about your notes from today. Maybe there are some clues as to who’s following us. Anybody could have been at the fundraiser. Were the men after you wearing uniforms?”
She walked to her bag and dug out the notecards. “No, but most of the officers weren’t wearing uniforms. So, we can’t assume anything.”
She took her cards to the couch and sat back into the crushed leather so dark, Fale didn’t know if it was navy or black.
“Wanna drink?”
“Sure.” She nodded, tucking her feet underneath her.
He came back with two bottles, switched on the side lamp and sat next to Fale, handing one to her. Don’t you have a shirt? Why does he make it so hard to focus? C’mon Fale, focus.
“So what’cha got?” He sat too close for her to breathe.
“These are notes from the books Nelson loaned me." She pulled out three sets of notecards and he looked over her shoulder. “I guess the legends about Effailya were pretty well-known back in her day, but now they’re all hidden by Control. We’re lucky Nelson found these rare books.”
“I’d heard of the key in the Underground, but I don’t know much about the princess. What’d you find?”
“These are the abbreviated notes. Source one,” she began, clearing her throat. “The legend of Effailya states ‘the princess and her people were sent far, far away to a place only reached by a mechanism.’ Whatever that means. ‘The princess will reappear in Algea to rescue her people when the time comes, with the Key of Eff...’”
“The Key of Eff?”
“Well, the paper was ripped, so that’s all it said. It meant the Key of Effailya, I’m sure.”
He laughed. “I kinda like the key of Eff- like the letter F, we can use it. Maybe no one listening to us will make the correlation.”
She laughed. “Source two. ‘Key of F: Princess Effailya lost a political battle and was banished by the Source Wizard Gryndoll to Garrith, where her people still reside in isolation.’”
“Where’s Garrith?” he asked.
“I have no idea. I’ve never heard of it before.” Fale looked at Keron.
“Keep going,” he said, taking a drink, “I’m listening.”
“Source three: ‘Once upon a time, there was a princess of mages named Effailya, who loved science. She was beautiful, and enraptured a wizard named Gryndoll. Together they- ‘“
“Is this a long story?” Keron yawned.
“Kind of,” Fale admitted.
“Can we go to the part about the key? I’m about to fall asleep.”
“Sure. Me too,” she said. “Let me see. ‘Some say princess Effailya found the key to the machine, but her people remain in Garrith. No one knows what happened to the key.’"
We do.
“Hmmm." Keron drank again. “So basically, the key goes to a machine?”
“It goes to the machine that will save Princess Effailya’s subjects.” Fale answered. “Source one said you can only get to the place they’re in with the machine.”
“Let me get this straight… an evil wizard named Gryndoll fell in love with Princess Effailya and when he couldn’t have her, he banished her and all her people to another place called Garrith? And your key goes to a machine to free all the descendants of those people, still stuck there, right?”
“Right.” She nodded.
“How does a machine set people free?”
“Maybe it helps them travel somehow?” Fale guessed.
“Who’s holding the people there, now that Gryndoll’s dead?” Keron asked.
“It has to be his great, great, great grandson, Gasten. At least, it’s what I think, but I’m not sure. Gasten is the Source Wizard now, and lives with the village of wizards in the forest outside th
e city. They are the ones North and West of the castle base." She sighed heavily. “I wish I knew who was having my visions, and what this key means for me. Am I supposed to deliver it to someone? Who has the machine? Could it be these wizards?”
“And who else wants the key?” Keron asked.
“Whoever it is doesn’t seem very nice. It can’t be the wizards. Lisle’s a wizard and they’re good guys. He vouches for them. Maybe someone who doesn’t want us helping rescue Princess Effailya’s people?” Fale thought for a second. “That would go against Control, trying to hide the past, if Effailya’s subjects simply reappear.”
“But what does it have to do with us? We aren’t rescuing anyone. And what’s this machine?”
“Beats me." Fale gulped her fruited drink. “I’m glad to have at least one clue.”
“Guess so.” Keron relented. “Hey, do you want the couch or the bed?”
“I’ll take your couch,” she said.
“You’d be more comfortable in the bed,” he offered.
“I couldn’t.”
But I’m tempted.
“Okay, if you’re sure?”
Fale smiled and nodded, tossing back the rest of her drink.
“I’ll get you some blankets and be right back,” he sauntered out of the room, pants slung low on his hips.
Fale put her notecards back in the pocket inside her bag in case she needed them again.
“Got ‘em.” Keron put a pillow on the couch. “Lay down,” he said.
Fale obeyed. Keron went around turning off lights but left the lamp on. He lay the blankets over Fale and tucked them in around her body. “Comfy?” he asked.
“Mmm hmm,” she murmured.
Keron leaned down and gently kissed the cut on her forehead. His lips were warm and dry, but smooth. He smelled like his soap, and minty toothpaste, and a heady warm scent that was all Keron.
The Key of F: a young adult fantasy romance (Freedom Fight Trilogy Book 1) Page 7