‘I might have known Grevilya was behind this,’ Pilo growled.
‘Ask him where she’s hiding,’ Lute urged.
‘Lex doesn’t know exactly – only that it’s on the western coast, but he can show us how to get there,’ Ellin said, after pausing to hear Lex.
The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Thurrabow, who announced that the palace’s most senior physic wished to speak with the King.
‘Show him in, Thurrabow,’ Lute said.
A plump man entered the room behind the chamberlain. He wore a single round seeing glass that was easily held in place by folds of skin about his brow and cheek. He bowed sombrely.
‘Your Majesty,’ he said, and gave a polite nod towards Pilo. ‘Crown Princess Ellin, I’m sorry you found the poor fellow in that state.’
‘What news do you bring of Flynn Jolien, Physic Merryman?’ Lute asked.
Ellin was pleased her father was not wasting time with pleasantries.
‘Only grave news, I’m afraid, Majesty,’ Physic Merryman replied. ‘Perhaps the Princess might prefer not to –’
‘She would prefer to stay,’ Ellin answered, keeping her voice even and polite. ‘With your permission, Father, I will hear Physic Merryman’s news.’
Lute nodded to the physic, who shrugged as if to waive responsibility for what he was about to say. ‘In that case I shall be candid. He is dying, Your Majesty. I doubt Jolien will see out the night.’
Ellin gasped and Pilo’s lips thinned. Lute reached to put a reassuring arm around her shoulders.
‘We were counting on you as our most senior physic to do something for him,’ Pilo said to Physic Merryman.
‘We have tried everything. He is not responding to any stimuli. There is nothing more we can do for him,’ the physic said, not unkindly.
‘No!’ Ellin whispered, slumping into a chair.
Physic Merryman nodded, the flesh around his various chins wobbling. ‘It is so, I’m afraid. With your permission, Majesty, it would be kindest to the young man to help him on his way.’
‘Father, please,’ Ellin begged. ‘You couldn’t!’
‘Is he in pain?’ Lute asked, his jaw grinding.
‘I cannot say for certain, but I’d say he probably is,’ Physic Merryman said. ‘A simple blend of caramac, sarven and the sap of the black nettle would put him at peace. It’s the kindest way, Your Majesty.’
Ellin was out of the chair and clutching at the King. ‘You mustn’t agree to this, Father, I beg you. Pilo, help me! We will find a way to wake him,’ Ellin pleaded. When Ellin saw her father’s gaze move from her to Pilo, she knew he’d already made his decision.
‘Do what you must,’ King Lute said to the physic, his voice heavy, ‘but not until I have paid my respects to Duke Jolien.’
‘No, wait, Father!’ Ellin said. ‘Please, give it another few days.’
‘Ellin, you surely don’t want Flynn to suffer any more,’ the King appealed, looking disappointed with her.
She shook her head, looking between both men. ‘If there is no change after three days I give you my word I will let him go. But even the physics don’t fully understand his state. He may recover.’
‘Very doubtful, Your Majesty,’ Merryman said sombrely, not even looking at Ellin.
Her gaze narrowed. ‘For me, Father. Do it for me. I am begging you for this and I will nurse him for those three days. I’ll watch for any signs that he’s improving. Physic Merryman does not have to commit any of his people. I’ll do it all.’
‘What is this all about, Ellin?’ her father said, looking bewildered.
But Pilo understood; he’d only been encouraging their friendship this morning. Ellin could see it in his gaze that he wanted her to push for her way in this matter. ‘I was unkind to Flynn this morning, Father.’ She glanced again at Pilo as she reached for a lie that she knew he’d forgive her for. ‘I haven’t had a chance to apologise to him and I will never forgive myself if I don’t try and make amends. Let me try. You’ve always taught me that the strongest people are those who can admit they’re wrong and can do so looking straight in the eye of those they’ve wronged.’ She swallowed.
The King blinked. ‘Yes, I believe it too.’
‘Then give me a chance to say I’m sorry properly to Flynn.’
Lute ran a bewildered hand through his hair. ‘Pilo. It’s times like these I need your perspective.’
Pilo turned to the physic. ‘Merryman, can you put your hand on your heart and confirm to the King that Flynn here is in dire pain?’ He fixed him with a hard gaze.
Merryman’s jowls wobbled as he considered the gravity of the question. ‘Well,’ he stammered. ‘I can’t say for absolute sure, no … but it is my contention that –’
‘Thank you, Physic Merryman,’ Pilo said. ‘Your Majesty, if I were in your shoes I would give Flynn Jolien every chance to survive and if we can’t be absolutely sure that he is suffering, maybe it is worth risking it while we look for any sign that he could recover.’
‘Give Ellin her three days, you mean,’ Lute qualified.
‘Yes,’ Pilo said, glancing at Ellin.
‘No, Your Highness,’ Lex hissed in her ear. ‘You cannot give up this time.’
‘Why not?’ she demanded.
The three men turned to watch her, only two of them knowing from how she paused that she was talking with the Rumpelgeist.
‘Because,’ Lex spluttered, ‘because … the children are in danger. We don’t have that time.’
‘I’m not leaving Flynn to –’ she murmured beneath her breath.
‘You don’t understand,’ Lex pressed, sounding frantic. ‘I have to return to Grevilya with news.’
‘Lie to her!’ Ellin snapped. ‘Flynn’s life is in the balance.’
‘Only you can hear me, Your Highness. Without you I can’t save the children. I can’t tell you how to get there. I can only lead you. But I have an idea. What if we can use magic to heal Flynn? And then we won’t have to wait around in the palace.’
Ellin looked astonished. ‘Er, Physic Merryman, please wait outside,’ Ellin said firmly, surprising her father, ‘until, ah, the King gives you his final instructions.’
Physic Merryman paused, unsure. ‘Your Majesty?’ he said, looking to the King and frowning.
‘Father, it’s important,’ she said.
Lute took a breath. ‘All right, Ellin, I’ll humour you, but make it brief. Jolien deserves mercy and I do not wish to make him suffer indefinitely.’ He gestured to the door. ‘If you please, Physic Merryman.’
11
As soon as Physic Merryman had closed the door, Ellin turned to her father and Pilo. She quickly explained what Lex had just said to her. ‘He thinks magic might heal Flynn,’ she finished. ‘Whose magic?’ Lute demanded.
‘On our way to Grevilya’s lair we can visit the sorcerer Grendel,’ Lex urged. ‘He will be able to help Flynn. Pilo knows Grendel and his magic. Ask him.’
Ellin turned to Pilo. ‘What about the sorcerer Grendel?’
Pilo appeared to be taken aback by the name. ‘Grendel?’ he murmured, as though remembering something that had been lost to him. ‘Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in many years.’ A surprised, crooked smile ignited. ‘Whatever makes you say it now and how do you know it, Ellin?’
‘Lex suggested I ask you about him,’ Ellin answered. ‘He says Grendel is a sorcerer.’
‘And he is right,’ Pilo said. ‘Grendel crafted the Whistle you now own, Ellin.’ He frowned and shook his head as if to clear it. ‘Until you said his name, I had lost it from my mind. Now I can’t imagine how I could ever forget it.’
Before either of them could continue, the King butted into the conversation.
‘Ellin, can I speak directly to Lex?’ Lute asked.
‘Go ahead,’ she said.
The King cleared his throat. ‘Lex,’ he said, ‘I’m sorry this has happened to you, and we are going to help you and the other stolen children of Fl
oris. First, however, I want you to promise you will stop haunting the city with your early-morning visits.’
‘Please assure the King I have already given that promise to Flynn. He made me give him my word,’ Lex said to Ellin. ‘I’ve found the people I need now.’
Ellin repeated his words.
Lute looked understandably relieved. ‘Good. Can you tell me what Grevilya’s final aim is by stealing our children?’
‘I don’t know,’ Lex said, and Ellin thought his tone was oddly evasive. ‘She is trying to win your attention in the most sinister way. Grevilya has not told me anything about her intentions,’ he continued, quickly. ‘If she knew I were here and sharing this much, I can’t imagine what she’d do to me. But I had to try and warn you. She lured me via her messenger – his name is Simeon and he can be anything she wants him to be.’
Ellin quickly explained to the waiting men, aware that she couldn’t pass on all the nuances or her impressions of Lex. She held up her hand. ‘What do you mean by that?’
Lex sounded embarrassed. ‘He can appear as anyone – to little children he might arrive in the shape of their elders; to the young stableboy, he appeared as the stablemaster. To another child he spoke as their teacher.’
‘And to you?’ she asked.
‘He pretended to be Meggie Fanter.’ She almost felt him shrug. ‘I have a crush on Meggie.’
Ellin relayed what Lex had explained.
‘This is very disturbing indeed,’ Pilo said. ‘Obviously any and all of the children of Floris are in danger. And the younger ones are the most vulnerable – imagine if he posed as their mothers or fathers!’
‘So she’s using the children as ransom of some kind, I presume? For what, though? What else can you tell us, Lex?’ Lute asked.
Lex’s voice sounded empty of more ideas but Ellin passed on what he said. ‘She has a fairy assistant called Starling – although she’s a prisoner too.’
‘Perhaps if Starling is as determined to escape as Lex has been, she could be turned to our advantage?’ Ellin suggested to the King and Pilo after she’d repeated Lex’s words.
The men nodded. ‘Our priority is to find the children.’
‘Then let me try and heal Flynn with the help of this Grendel fellow,’ Ellin pressed. ‘Lex can then lead us to the witch’s lair. Where does Grendel live?’ she asked Lex.
‘Again, I don’t know exactly. I only know he’s also in the west because I’ve heard Grevilya speak of him.’
‘West somewhere. Pilo?’ she asked hopefully.
‘I know where Grendel was living many years ago in a hamlet called Newton-Mead, inland from the south-western coast,’ Pilo answered, ‘but I’m afraid I can’t take anyone to him.’
‘Oh, Pilo,’ Ellin said. ‘Why ever not?’
Pilo sighed. ‘Because I gave him a promise.’
‘But this is no ordinary situation –’ Lute began.
‘And Grendel is no ordinary person,’ Pilo countered. ‘He exacted a promise with consequences.’
‘Which is?’ Ellin asked, unable to imagine anything more important than saving Flynn.
‘My life,’ he admitted, embarrassed.
Lute and Ellin looked at him, speechless.
‘When I met Grendel I lacked the wisdom I have today,’ Pilo continued into the silence. ‘I know now that one should never make a bargain with sorcerers or witches – just ask Calico Grace and Bitter Olof.’
Pilo shrugged, looking both annoyed and embarrassed. ‘Until now I suspect magic has taken Grendel’s name from my mind. I can also now remember that he didn’t want to give the Whistle to me, but I insisted so he made me bargain with my life.’
Ellin gave a low gasp at learning the secret of the Whistle she wore. Lute blew out a breath, impressed. ‘You really are a man of secrets, Pilo.’
‘I recall now that he refused all monetary payment; he actually laughed when he gave it to me and told me to walk away with my sinister gift and never to return or he would make me pay its price.’
Ellin looked at Pilo aghast. ‘Why would he want your life?’
Pilo gave a mirthless laugh. ‘He wanted my body more than my life,’ he said, scratching his chin, embarrassed. ‘He joked that he wanted a new form to walk around in and was working on very complex spellmaking to achieve it but admitted he’d rather just have my body.’ For a rare moment Pilo seemed self-conscious. ‘Anyway, look, I’ll take my chances if it means –’
‘Absolutely not!’ Lute interrupted. ‘You are going nowhere near Grendel.’ He fixed Pilo with a firm stare. ‘And that’s a royal order,’ he qualified.
Pilo sighed. ‘In any case, finding him is only one problem. The bigger challenge will be convincing him to help us. He will require a prize. It’s how these empowered people work. They don’t do anything for anyone without trickery or some sort of slippery deal.’
‘So what can we offer him?’ Ellin said, immediately. ‘Surely there is something in the palace that we can use to tempt him.’
Pilo considered this. ‘Nothing of any financial nature would tempt him. Grendel’s something of an academic so he likes to study nature’s oddities. I imagine some of the exhibits in Master Tyren’s Travelling Show, for example, would probably lure him.’
‘We will never convince Tyren to lend us one of his acts,’ King Lute said.
‘You forget we have in the palace grounds some of the magical creatures that we rescued from Tyren all those years ago,’ Pilo reminded.
‘Davren!’ Ellin said, her voice filled with awe.
‘Exactly,’ Pilo said. ‘A centaur is enough to tempt the greedy sorcerer.’
‘Let’s go and see Davren now!’ Ellin said.
Lute looked uncomfortable but nodded. ‘And check for any homing pigeons from Bitter Olof,’ he said. ‘They may know something. They have been on Grevilya’s trail for years, after all.’
‘That’s right,’ Ellin agreed. She was fingering the Whistle around her neck, as was her habit. ‘While you do that I’ll change into my riding clothes. I don’t need to pack anything.’
‘Wait, Ellin,’ her father said. ‘I haven’t agreed to let you go with Lex. You’re the heir to the throne. I can’t just let you go gallivanting off on a dangerous mission. Imagine what your mother would do to me. No, you can stay here and we’ll send soldiers with Flynn. Then Lex can lead Flynn to Grevilya.’
‘No!’ Lex growled. When Ellin startled at his sudden hostility, he tempered it. ‘What if Flynn can’t be healed? We will have wasted too much time. No. If you refuse to leave Flynn, then you must definitely come with him to Grendel and on to Grevilya. Besides, she will know about the soldiers from too far away. If it’s just two or three people we might be fortunate enough to steal into her compound without her noticing –’
‘Father,’ Ellin cut him off, ‘Lex makes a good point.’ She relayed his thoughts. ‘We can’t risk it. We’re not only talking about Flynn’s life here but the lives of the children Grevilya has stolen. Davren will keep me safe and if Flynn is healed you would surely agree that he is a brilliant swordsman.’ She didn’t wait for her father to reply. ‘And once we get close enough to Grevilya’s hideout, I can summon Pilo and your soldiers with my Whistle.’ She grinned. ‘I’ve always wanted to blow it,’ she said, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.
Lute’s discomfort intensified. ‘This is all sounding too risky. What’s more I promised Davren in thanks for his help many years ago when we overcame my uncle’s treachery that we would leave him and your aunt Tess’s other magical friends alone. Up until now I’ve kept that promise.’
‘But Ellin’s right, Lute,’ Pilo reasoned. ‘These are extraordinary circumstances and many lives are at stake. We wouldn’t ask this of Davren otherwise. And he will certainly be a strong and reliable guard for Princess Ellin.’
‘No, I cannot counter letting a fourteen-summers girl go riding off with the expectations of a realm on her back!’ Lute said.
‘Ellin, would you step out
side and let me speak with your father alone, please?’ Pilo asked.
The Princess looked between both men for a long pause before giving them a brief curtsey. ‘All right. I’ll be outside with Physic Merryman.’
‘Lex, may I ask you to leave, too,’ the King said, in what he guessed to be Lex’s general direction.
Outside the King’s salon, Physic Merryman was rocking back and forth on his heels, staring out through a great arched window to the palace grounds below. Ellin did not interrupt him.
Before long the door to the King’s chamber opened. Pilo beckoned to Ellin.
‘What happened?’ she whispered.
‘Oh, I just reminded him about a time two decades ago when he was a boy and was required to do something courageous and dangerous for the good of Drestonia,’ Pilo said.
‘And now it’s my turn?’ Ellin asked, eyes shining.
‘That’s right, Ellin. But you must be brave and do not underestimate the danger of your mission,’ Pilo cautioned.
Only Ellin could hear Lex’s whoop of pleasure.
12
The horses, especially Flaxen, sensed Davren’s arrival well before any of the riders saw him; their ears pricked and nostrils flared while their gait lost its smooth rhythm. Even Lex was taken by surprise.
‘The centaur is here,’ he said to Ellin, sounding reverent.
She swung around, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. She knew her father had introduced her to the handsome centaur on the day of her birth, and she remembered him from when she was about five summers, but she had not seen him since.
‘Davren,’ she said, greeting the dashingly handsome half man, half beast as he stepped up and sketched a gracious bow before her.
‘Your Highness,’ Davren said, his voice melodic and beautiful. He cut Pilo a glance with a shy grin and his old friend beamed back at him, looking impressed.
The Rumpelgeist Page 9