The Key of F: a young adult fantasy romance (Freedom Fight Trilogy Book 1)

by Jennifer Haskin

  “I get it. I do. It’s unbelievable. But try to keep your eyes and ears open, okay?” She held her hands open in front of her.

  “I can do it.”

  “Did Taran know anything about magic?” she asked.

  “Nothing. For being descendants of a race of mages, I find that strange,” Lisle had his thinking cap on.

  “Unless they are under a spell,” she offered. “I’d better go. Keron will wonder what happened to me. Say, do you have any books on tapping into my natural power?”

  “I have two on mages, period. Wanna borrow them?”

  “If I can,” Fale said.

  “Sure,” Lisle thumbed through his massive bookcase, alphabetized of course, and chose two books. Fale took them with her good hand. She flipped through them. One looked like a course book on mages and what they were, the other one appeared to be more about the inner workings of the society.

  “What happened to your hand?”

  “Got chased. We had to get our stuff from Keron’s, so I broke through the balcony to get in. Can you fix it?”

  “I can’t, but I think you might,” Lisle said. “Read those books. See if it helps.”

  Fale stood. “Thanks Lisle." She kissed his cheek. “I appreciate it. Please don’t tell anyone I stopped by.”

  “What about Izzy? She’s worried sick.”

  “No, I need to tell her everything from the beginning. I will soon.”

  They walked to the door. “I don’t know if I can lie to Iz. She’s my friend, too,” Lisle said.

  “It’ll only be a couple of days, Lisle. I promise.”

  “Okay,” he said. “For you.”

  For me?

  “I’ll see you, Lisle." Fale didn’t tell him the directions to the house in the marsh for his own good. She slipped out the door.

  The cover of night made sure no one noticed Bryla Palmquist walking from the well-lit streets of Alloy City into the shadows carrying two large books, until she came to a Control agent standing near the back of the Cornerstore with a scanner. “Excuse me, Miss. I need your identification." He looked her up and down. Fale was glad for the scarf to cover her hair. She tucked the books under her arm and walked calmly over to him, her eyes scanning the area to make sure they were alone.

  When she put her right hand out to be scanned, her bandages caught the Control officer’s attention. “What happened to your hand?”

  “Oh that? It got in the way of a slamming door, so I wrapped it. Nothing serious.”

  He looked suspiciously at her for a minute and was reaching for his communication device when Fale held her band over the scanner. It made a series of beeps, which was unusual for a scanner. Fale was sure she was caught, then her identification popped up on the screen. “Oh, sorry for the delay, Mrs. Palmquist. Be careful out tonight, we’re looking for a pair of criminals.”

  “Oh my. And you thought it could be me?"

  Laying it on thick, Fale.

  “I apologize," he said, tipping his head. “Be safe.”

  “You too.” Fale’s heart beat out of her chest. A criminal? How had she elevated to criminal status?

  “Have you been to the library?” the man asked, as Fale was turning away.

  “Excuse me?”

  “The books,” he pointed to the volumes folded in her arm and smiled. “What are you reading?”

  Fale’s blood was a roaring whitewater river racing down from the mountains, speeding over rocks, and bursting through trees, drowning out the sounds around her. She swayed. “N-n-nothing important,” she stammered and took a step backward.

  The agent’s smile dropped. “Let’s see.”

  Fale thought of running and was about to take another step back when the agent grasped his communicator. She couldn’t let him call for reinforcements and she didn’t want anyone combing the area right now, Keron was still out there. Without thinking, Fale dropped her books and stepped toward the agent with her left foot.

  Swinging her right leg around, she planted her knee into the agent’s side. He made a muffled sound of surprise and alarm as he lost his breath. Fale ripped off his communicator and threw it. The agent followed it with his eyes, just as Fale had planned. She swept his feet from underneath him and ran behind the man, putting him in a choke hold before he could react. This guy must be new. It was almost too easy. Fale looked around, suddenly spooked. In a matter of seconds, the man was unconscious. With great difficulty because of her hand, Fale dragged him into the shadows, to be sure they weren’t easily seen. She left him in a public washroom, locked the door and broke the knob off from the inside. She gathered her books and left quickly.

  She worried about Keron, who was much easier to recognize, but thought he knew what he was doing. Everything in her wanted to go to the fights. He needed to know the agents were out tonight. Maybe he was already caught? She was halfway to the underground when she remembered what he’d said. I can’t watch you and fight at the same time. He would not be happy to see her there. More than likely, her presence would end up causing them to run for their lives. Fale stopped walking. It was better to let him “do his thing,” and meet her back at the house. What if he was already there? She smiled and turned around, almost giddy at the thought of going home to him.

  Finding her boots at the edge of the marsh, she changed shoes. It was difficult to do with her bruised fingers, but she managed on the second try. The mud was going to ruin her suede boots. She chastised herself for thinking about boots at a time like this. Fale waded back to the house and let herself in. Emptiness greeted her. She showered, ate a sandwich, and settled on the couch to read Lisle’s books by the lantern light. She began with the informative book even though she was dying to dive into the inner workings of mages. She needed basics first.

  Eventually Fale nodded off and woke up half laying on the couch, with her feet tucked under her. Her toes tingled with pins and needles from lack of circulation. The book lay open and her neck was stiff. It was ten thirty.

  Where is he?

  She walked the floor until her feet felt normal. Then she walked some more, her arms crossed. How dare he worry her like this? She made him a sandwich for when he got back. Surely, he’d be hungry. Then Fale wrapped it in paper and put it in the miniature fridge, run by the same generator as the stove. She cleaned the kitchen. Then she played a game of solitaire on the coffee table; twice. Finally, Fale went back to reading. She decided to read the other book this time, looking for a chapter on finding your natural power.

  As it turned out, mages raised their children in their gifts; as part of secret societies where it was common, and the children didn’t know any different. But some, as in her case, had been cut off from the society at a young age and never learned their gifts. Maybe her gift was only Sight? But Lisle had said she had dormant powers.

  The book said re-emersion into the society was necessary to find those gifts, but she didn’t know how to get a hold of Lucien. Maybe he’d know, if he had some magic gift to see her. She thought of lying in bed with Keron and blushed, hoping Lucien didn’t have that much insight.

  The book did talk of having magic in one’s hands, like Ash had held the flame. Fale held her hand out and thought hard. She felt warm, but nothing happened. She looked at the clock and felt her eyelids grow heavy. Twelve thirty. Fale found a picture of the princess, but she kept losing focus. She read the same sentence three times and still didn’t know what it said. At last her head fell back against the arm of the couch and she was asleep.

  Fale felt her body being lifted and carried, but she was too tired to wake up. She felt the feather bed underneath her and snuggled under the covers and into the waiting arms of her champion.

  “Where have you been?” she mumbled, falling asleep.

  She barely heard him whisper, “Forgive me, Fale.”

  Chapter 10

  Fale woke to the most beautiful face she knew- covered in cuts and bruises. His lip was swollen and split on the right, his left eye was purple and blue,
and a cut on his left brow had been badly stitched.

  Fale lifted the covers to see bruises blooming along Keron’s ribcage, as well. She grimaced.

  “You know that’s creepy, right?" he teased.

  “I thought you were going to fight. Not be a punching bag,” she pressed her lips together.

  “I guess I had other, things, on my mind.”

  “Was this just one fight?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “I waited up for you,” she said. “You didn’t come. I thought…”

  “Oh Fale, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you." He hugged her gently against him.

  “They scanned me by the TacTrac.”

  He looked down at her, concern evident in his expression. “What happened?”

  “He saw my hand and almost called me in, but I scanned okay. He said they’re looking for a criminal.”

  “Wow.”

  “We’re criminals now,” she said.

  “This keeps getting more and more complicated.”

  “Then he wanted to see my books on mages,” she grimaced.

  “What books?” he asked.

  “The ones Lisle had given me. I’ll show you later, but my bracelet scanned okay, and I was about to leave when he asked me about them.”

  “Oh crap.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “So I left him unconscious in the back of the corner store.”

  “Fale,” he rubbed his eyes with one hand. “You have managed to blow our cover in how many days? You’d better hope that they don’t connect Bryla to you and go looking for you both.”

  “I know, but what else could I do? I couldn’t get caught and I needed to buy time for you. Did you find out anything?” she asked.

  “Yeah, met some plant workers. They’ll tell you anything you wanna know if you win them money.”

  “Then how do you know they’re telling the truth?”

  “Majority rules. It’s why I risked staying for so many fights. Luckily, the Rowdies were in fine form, so I could stay as long as I needed to fight. The first time I heard the story though, I didn’t believe it. I had to hear it from someone else. The second shift night workers, out betting before the job, told me that’s when it happens,” he said.

  “What happens? Do they know where Nelson is?" Fale asked.

  “I hope not.” Keron looked at her seriously. “Gasten’s wizards are using the plant to turn people into machines. They bring in criminals in the middle of the night and remove all their skin and organs.”

  “Oh, my stars,” Fale whispered in horror.

  “I know.”

  “Why would they perform a whole-body transplant? I don’t think it’s even possible. Unless you use magic. Besides, I haven’t seen any criminal machines walking around." Fale got deathly pale and covered her mouth.

  “Fale?" Keron reached out to touch her.

  She didn’t respond. Keron shook her shoulder. “Fale. Don’t do that.”

  “It’s the metal army. I know their plan,” she said. Fale got up and started getting dressed, not even caring Keron was staring dumbfounded at her. Fale went into the bathroom and Keron tripped into his denims trying to follow her.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Packing." She grabbed the sandwich from the fridge, shoved it in her shoulder bag, pulled on her boots and was about to walk out the door when she barreled into a solid wall of muscle.

  Keron stood in the doorway in just his denims. “Wait right there. Where do you think you’re going?”

  “I have to find Lucien, there must be a clue at Nelson’s. I need to find my powers so I can find Nelson and rescue the people in Garrith.”

  “Hang on, now we’re rescuing all the people of Garrith?”

  “They’re my people, Keron. They need me. They’re slaves to the machines. That’s where Gasten is sending them.”

  “How do you know?" he asked.

  “When I was at Lisle’s, I turned into the boy again to ask him questions,” Fale explained. “I was in Garrith, Keron. I saw the machines the first time I went. One was about to hit me. They’re intolerant and cruel; it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if Gasten stripped them of their humanity with the transformation.”

  “Are they whole body transplants?”

  “When I saw them, I thought they were modified machines, but yes, it looks like a total body. They keep their face and their heart. At least, that I could see. There has to be magic involved,” she said.

  “Won’t people miss them?" he asked. “If the jail empties?”

  “Don’t you see?" Fale’s voice rose. “Anyone who stands against Gasten is a criminal. We’re criminals. Once they get my key, did you think they were going to set me free? What better way to punish me than by making me punish my own people as slaves in Garrith? Forever.”

  “Come on Sprout. I won’t let that happen. But you can’t run out of here half-cocked." Keron put both hands on her shoulders.

  Fale reluctantly stepped back into the living room. “How am I going to find my powers?”

  “I don’t know,” Keron said.

  Fale’s sight faded to a pinpoint and she began to have a vision. A great light shot from her hand and Lucien looked on proudly. Fale swayed slightly, but she smiled ruefully. “Lucien’s on his way,” she told Keron. “And Gasten will know I’m getting my power.”

  “I’ll get dressed,” he said.

  When the knock finally came at the door, Fale bounded off the couch like an excited child. Keron laughed.

  “Wait till you see what I can do,” she said to him, opening the door. Lucien entered the little house in a newly pressed pair of khaki’s and a navy polo, tucked in and belted. He carried a full canvas bag.

  “Thank you for coming,” Fale offered.

  “You were ready to join us and begin the process,” he said simply. It still creeped Fale out a little that Lucien knew when she needed him, but she was glad for the help.

  “Yes. I need to know my powers, if I have any.”

  “In your…past, you have exhibited many powers.” Lucien was trying to be as gentle as possible, she could tell, but Fale had to know what she was capable of.

  “I don’t think I’m ready to grasp the whole idea of living my life repeatedly. But somehow, I know you’re telling me the truth. I feel it.”

  “When you are ready to be the princess, you will be shown what to do.”

  “Thanks, Lucien." Fale gestured to the living area where Keron sat. “Please come in.”

  Lucien sat in the same armchair as he had the other night, so Fale sat on the couch again. “What do I need to do?”

  “First, you need to join the coterie. We will be your support. Our family has been guiding your descent for all these years. Our sage has seen you have chosen this as your time to rescue your people. The situation has never been as ripe as it is now.”

  “Yes, I have chosen. It must happen now. I can’t see another way. I can’t go live as Bryla and forget them,” Fale said vehemently.

  “And have you chosen a Wardsman?”

  “A what?”

  “Protector, or captain of your guard.”

  “Oh." Fale didn’t look at Keron, even though she could feel his eyes burning holes through her. “I have.”

  “I thought so." Lucien smiled at them both. He pulled an ancient looking book out of his bag, full of yellowed pages, probably four inches thick. He flipped the book open to the front and ran his finger up an almost empty page to the fourth entry and wrote: Fale Valine Argohdian. In the box, next to her name was space for what looked like her thumbprint, by the look of the other entries. In blood?

  Pulling out a wicked looking curved knife, Lucien took Fale’s left hand and said, “Repeat after me."

  “Okay,” Fale silently linked her right hand with Keron’s.

  “I hereby promise my allegiance to my coterie, to the sage and the masters. I will use my gifts to the benefit of all dimensions. I swear to protect the family at all costs from
any and all persecution. So help me, according to the stars.”

  Fale repeated the words, then Lucien sliced the knife into her left palm.

  “What’re you doing?” Keron jumped up from the sofa.

  “I require her thumbprint. In blood.”

  Fale pressed her thumb to her palm and made a print on the paper next to her name. Keron turned to get a towel for Fale’s hand, but Lucien put up a hand to stop him.

  “I will heal her, son." Lucien ran a hand over her palm, and it reappeared without a wound.

  “How’d you do that?" Keron asked.

  “Healing magic,” Lucien explained. He looked to Fale. “Would you like to bathe before we begin, child? Are you comfortable?" He looked at her loose taupe shirt and drawstring pants and smiled at her clothing choice.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Just excited.”

  Lucien set out several plates on the coffee table. He began to lay piles of rock on each of them with a disc of charcoal on top of each. “It’s incense,” he said. “Rose, jasmine and sandalwood. Why don’t you lay back and get comfortable? Young man, you could hold her head. This may be difficult. In fact, this is your highest privilege as Wardsman, to guard her while she is vulnerable from using her magic.”

  Fale lay with her head on Keron’s muscled thigh, while he brushed stray hairs out of her face. Her feet lay on the other arm of the couch. After Lucien conjured a flame for each plate, the charcoal sparked and burned red hot, searing the air all around them with the pungent aroma.

  “Relax,” Lucien said. “Feel the energy around you. Your magic is natural- it is in nature. We are surrounded by life out here. Lay your hands on your stomach, palms up, and direct your energy there.”

  “You’re doing well,” Lucien said to Keron, who was stroking the worry line in Fale’s brow.

  “I’ve tried this before and I felt warm, but nothing happens.” Fale said.

  “Close your eyes and tell me when your palms feel very warm.”

  Lucien waited while the smells permeated the room. He spoke some words Fale thought might be in Crion, like the language Lisle used, but instead of floating, she began to fall deeper into her body. Fale’s focus became so clear, it hurt her head. She gritted her teeth against the pain but felt the heat of Keron’s hands massage her jaw until she released it.