‘Not you, Little Thom. Although it galls me to admit it, I need you,’ Bitter Olof said.
Little Thom grinned smugly.
‘But you are going to leave all of my crew here?’ Calico Grace asked. ‘And we’re going to sail the ship ourselves?’
‘Gracie, Silver Wind doesn’t need anyone to sail her and you know it,’ Bitter Olof responded.
‘But me and my crew have never been separated,’ Grace spluttered, and this time Little Thom was quick to grab the pipe as it fell from her mouth.
‘I am doing this for their safety as much as ours,’ Bitter Olof argued. ‘We both know what Grevilya is capable of. A crew of mortal men doesn’t stand a chance against her magic.’
‘What about Little Thom?’ Calico Grace asked. ‘Do you forget he’s mortal, too?’
‘I agree it is risky for him, but you know as well as I do that we need his help. He can carry me if we need to get away quickly and he has strength that we both lack. Besides, we may need to send in someone Grevilya won’t recognise.’
Calico Grace nodded reluctantly before a sly grin spread across her face. ‘The dwarf is emptying his pockets to give you enough silver to have fun until the next moon,’ she said to her crew.
The men gave whoops of joy. Bitter Olof was less impressed. ‘Wait, Gracie, I –’ he stammered.
She glared at him, daring him to defy her. Eventually he nodded, knowing he had little choice in the matter.
Grace again addressed her crew. ‘I’m warning all of you now,’ she said. ‘Anyone who doesn’t appear at this dock looking tidy and entirely ready for work on the eve of the next full moon will be left behind and will never again be welcome back aboard Silver Wind. Is that clear?’
‘Yes, captain!’ the men yelled, unable to stifle their delighted expressions at the unexpected holiday with extra pay.
‘Then, go! Be safe. I know Silver Wind will miss you,’ Grace said.
The men filed away, mumbling and joshing each other about what they were going to do when they were on land again. Already, bets were being placed on everything from who would drink the most orgash without falling over to who would lure the prettiest woman and who would make their coin go the furthest.
‘Rankin!’ Grace called to the head steward. ‘I’m holding you responsible for the care of Dash, Aric and all the young ’uns. You watch over them, now. Bring them back in one piece and no orgash – not even kirrish for them,’ she warned.
Rankin’s expression soured slightly, but he gave young Aric a friendly cuff about the ear and pulled him along with the rest of the men. Dash and another lad fell in step, too.
Calico Grace turned back to Bitter Olof. ‘All right, dwarf. This plan of yours had better work.’
‘My plan is simple,’ he responded. ‘I need Silver Wind to offer us the protection of invisibility and silence. We are going to steal up on Grevilya.’
Little Thom looked impressed.
Calico Grace tapped her bulbous nose. ‘Don’t look at me,’ she said, ‘he’s the one who stole it.’
Little Thom swung around to face Bitter Olof. ‘What? You’ve always said that Grevilya gave it to you as part of the trade for your looks!’
Bitter Olof regarded his friend and shrugged. ‘I’ve not been absolutely honest,’ he said. ‘But I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you everything.’
Bitter Olof explained that when he’d realised what Grevilya had changed them into and how she had laughed at them, he had decided to steal the prized ship she had recently acquired from a most unpleasant pirate called Dirty Caxton.
The dwarf shrugged. ‘I guess neither of us realised at the time but I’m now of the opinion that Silver Wind was practice for Grevilya’s spells before she moved on to living things. But what she didn’t count on was Silver Wind having a mind of her own. We think the ship was showing anger for her captain’s demise at the hands of Grevilya. Believe me, her theft was so easy that I am convinced the Wind allowed me to steal her – wanted me to, in fact – in defiance of the witch.’
‘So are you thinking that King Lute has become interested in Grevilya because she’s begun to use that invisibility spell on people?’ Gracie asked.
Olof frowned. ‘Yes, possibly.’
Little Thom’s expression scrunched with doubt. ‘No. Why would she want to cast that spell on others? Why give another person that opportunity?’
‘I think I can answer that,’ Grace offered. ‘The invisibility magic was such a mighty enchantment that she could only cast it outwards – she couldn’t use it upon herself.’
‘So if not for herself, who then?’ Little Thom asked, still looking confused. ‘Suddenly the royals are involved. She’s obviously trampled on toes too close to the palace.’
Bitter Olof nodded. ‘I agree. She’s presumably done something to threaten Drestonia that King Lute is now ordering his soldiers to Hellion’s Hole. What’s annoying is that he’s found out where she is so easily.’
Calico Grace squinted into the distance at nothing in particular, her unlit pipe hanging from her lips. ‘Something’s not adding up. The King hasn’t been looking for her, that’s the truth of it, or he would have told us. So that means someone’s told him where Grevilya is. Who would that be? And why tell the King?’ Calico Grace stretched and watched the men frown at her list of questions. She sighed. ‘And why Ellin?’ When no answers were forthcoming, she continued airing her thoughts aloud. ‘Well, all I will say is this. Grevilya gave her life to this magic and it wasn’t in order to make a ship invisible, I can assure you. She wanted to make a person invisible – herself invisible, most likely. But I gather she never could.’
‘Perhaps she’s succeeded,’ Little Thom remarked.
Bitter Olof nodded. ‘Whatever has happened we have her, Gracie, and that’s what matters to us. Whatever the Crown’s gripe is, so long as we get to that spellbook of hers first, King Lute can throw her in a dungeon for all I care.’
‘Can Grevilya sense her own magic?’ Little Thom wondered.
‘Ah, good question,’ Bitter Olof declared, waggling a short, fat finger. ‘The answer is no. Grevilya didn’t sense me stealing the ship.’
‘She’s not getting Silver Wind back. I wouldn’t trade my ship for anything.’
‘Trust me, Gracie,’ Bitter Olof winked.
She gathered up a great gob in disgust and spat it out into the ocean. ‘That’s my problem. I keep trusting you!’
‘I have another question,’ Little Thom said. ‘If between ourselves or even the King and his soldiers we overcome Grevilya and can put paid to her spellmaking, what happens to Silver Wind and her magic?’
Calico Grace looked thunderstruck at the question. Her pipe fell with a loud clatter to the deck and Silver Wind sighed as though gently exasperated. Grace turned to Bitter Olof, her eyes misting. ‘No, Olof, I can’t lose her.’
‘Gracie, my love, you have to trust me. I know it’s hard and I’ve let you down in the past but I won’t let you down this time. I have my own thoughts on this. Did you hear Silver Wind just now?’ Grace nodded. ‘Of course you did. Because you, better than any, understand her moods, the language of her noises and she didn’t sound scared to me. Am I right?’ The pirate captain nodded again. ‘We should follow the Wind’s lead.’
‘That’s not good enough, Olof. I need more reassurance than your hopes.’
‘Then I will give you this thought. I believe Silver Wind was released from Grevilya’s hold by her own special magic long ago but perhaps none of us, including the witch, realise it.’
Calico Grace balled up her immense fists and yelled into the air. ‘Silver Wind, do you hear your captain?’
They felt the ship rock and shudder as though being fully awoken. Little Thom had never experienced the ship being sailed without her crew. A wide grin crept across his face.
‘This is amazing,’ he admitted.
‘I feel you, my beauty,’ Grace called, her cheeks damp from her tears. ‘It’s you and me now, girl, and we
are going to free ourselves from that witch. No crew. You’re in charge. Take us to Hellion’s Hole but we go blind and silent. Understood?’
Little Thom found he was holding his breath in anticipation in the pause between Grace’s request and finally the ship’s answer in delicate chimes, like fragments of crystal falling on glass bells.
Gracie whooped as the ship magically and silently pulled her own anchor and then smoothly surged out of the harbour, quietly raising her own sails and seeking out the winds she would use to propel herself towards her destination.
Bitter Olof cheered. ‘You can make as much noise as you like now, Little Thom. Everyone’s deaf to us and blind to us until we set foot off Silver Wind’s decks.’
17
‘A sprite?’ Davren repeated, raising his eyebrows. ‘I haven’t seen one in so long I’ve forgotten what they look like.’
‘A very bright green one,’ Lex explained through Ellin.
‘Lo’s Light! There is only one of that colour. It’s King Wren!’ Davren breathed and shook his head with wonder. ‘You’re sure?’
‘He is,’ Ellin confirmed.
‘Grevilya has a pale blueish-green one too, Lex continued and Ellin told Davren.
His face fell. ‘Then that’s Starling, the Queen,’ he said. ‘How sad.’
‘You’re sure Grendel couldn’t see you or sense your presence?’ Ellin asked.
‘Yes! How many more times do I have to say it?’ Lex replied. ‘Er … Your Highness.’
Ellin ignored his irritation. ‘What is our next step?’ she said to Davren instead.
‘You are going to lead me up there on a leash,’ Davren said, his voice quiet but firm.
Ellin’s head whipped up from where she was wiping over Flynn’s face with a damp cloth. ‘Pardon?’
‘It’s the only way, Your Highness.’ Davren said. ‘You can tell Grendel that the palace is offering me as payment for returning Flynn to perfect health. We know that’s why Pilo suggested me. It’s the only sort of bargain Grendel would understand anyway.’
‘Davren, I can’t lead you on a –’ Ellin began.
‘You can and you will,’ Davren cut in.
‘But how do we know he won’t just take you and leave Flynn to die?’
‘Because I will not agree to being imprisoned until he makes Flynn well, and you and he are safe. But Grendel will prefer to take me quietly, believe me.’
‘That would mean leaving you behind. No, I won’t agree to this,’ Ellin said, turning away.
‘Your Highness,’ the centaur said, his tone achingly gentle and serious. ‘We have no choice. Pilo is certain that silver alone won’t be enough to tempt Grendel to help us. Pilo would have given his life, I’m sure. But I won’t have to. My being alive is what will thrill Grendel. He won’t be able to resist the offer.’
Ellin looked at Flynn, lying helplessly now in the centaur’s strong arms, and knew Davren was right. Too many lives were in the balance and if she was ever going to show her mettle as a future queen of Drestonia, this was the moment. She wanted Pilo’s faith in her to be rewarded and she wanted her father to be proud.
‘Ellin,’ Davren said, ‘let me worry about how I’m going to get away. I have a trick or two in me yet.’
‘Do you promise you will, though? Or I will raise every soldier in the land to come and get you.’
He nodded. ‘I promise you, Crown Princess.’
‘Let’s get this over with then,’ she said, looking deeply unhappy.
Lex stole back into Grendel’s cottage and found the wizard and his sprite working as he’d left them. He boldly approached the wizard to get a better look at him. Grendel’s beard and hair were untidy and shot through with grey. Tufts of waxy hair sprouted from fleshy earlobes and an enormous carbuncle, sprouting a single coarse black hair, sat at the tip of a wide nose. Broken veins spread like spiders’ webs across his cheeks. Pilo had not been wrong: the wizard was extremely ugly.
Lex froze when Grendel suddenly looked up and stared straight at him. The Rumpelgeist held a fearful breath, expecting the worst, but Grendel seemed to be looking straight through him; had he sensed Lex’s presence?
‘Everything all right, Master?’ the sprite, Wren, said.
Grendel shook his head. ‘Something … I don’t know.’ He blinked and looked back at his jars and potions.
‘You work too hard, Master. You are tired. You’ve been working on that spell for Mistress Teal for too long,’ Wren said.
‘Well, it’s ready now,’ Grendel snapped. ‘Stop fussing.’
Wren flinched, but dutifully flew back to his shelves. Meanwhile, Lex took the opportunity to slink into a corner behind Grendel.
Lex was playing the most dangerous of games. There were moments when he hated himself, other times when he knew he had no choice. He thought about home and although he’d spent the summer previous to his capture dreaming about escaping the constant supervision and rules of his parents, now he couldn’t think about anything else but returning to their care. His grandfather had once grabbed Lex’s arm and earnestly announced to him that a person only ever knew what they had once it was lost. Lex hadn’t understood what the melancholy old man had been muttering about in the rocking chair near the hearth. Now he did. He understood fully what Grandpa had been trying to convey. Home was where he felt safe. Home was where he was loved.
He didn’t notice the sprite approach.
‘I see you!’ Wren hissed in a whisper, looking directly at Lex.
‘What?’ Lex yelped.
‘Yes, you! What are you doing here? Spying?’ the sprite whispered again.
Lex was too shocked to respond.
‘I heard you foolishly calling out earlier,’ the winged creature persisted.
‘Why didn’t you react?’ Lex said.
‘And play by your rules? No chance! Don’t you know sprites are cunning?’
‘You can’t be too cunning if you’re the sorcerer’s prisoner,’ Lex said, finding his courage again.
They both glanced at the offending silver thread that throbbed with a magical pulse.
‘You’ll end up his prisoner, too, if you’re not careful,’ the sprite snapped.
‘Eh?’ Grendel said over his shoulder. ‘What are you jabbering on about there, Wren?’
The sprite glared at Lex before flitting over to Grendel. ‘Nothing, Master,’ he said, innocently.
‘I heard you whispering!’ Grendel said, unconvinced.
‘I was just talking to myself as I went through my lists,’ the sprite said. ‘I want to make sure all your precious specimens and parchments are properly filed and detailed, Master.’
The wizard gave a snort. ‘Well, keep it down. Can’t you see I’m working?’ Grendel swatted Wren away as if shooing a fly.
The sprite flew back to the corner where Lex was trying to remain as still as possible.
‘What do you want?’ Wren said. ‘I know you belong to Grevilya.’
‘How do you know that?’ Lex responded, dismayed.
‘I would know that witch’s magic anywhere,’ Wren said. ‘So you are spying on Grendel for Grevilya, I presume?’
Lex shook his head.
‘Well then, what are you doing here, ghost-child?’ the sprite asked.
Lex remained silent.
‘Grendel –’ Wren called, eyeing Lex with a smug expression.
‘No, don’t,’ Lex said, urgently.
‘What is it now?’ the sorcerer grumbled, without turning around or pausing in his work.
Wren stared expectantly at Lex. ‘Well?’
He nodded. ‘I’ll tell you everything.’
Now Wren grinned mischievously. ‘My apologies, Master, I wasn’t sure whether you wanted the hen’s beak with the hensbane.’
Now Grendel swung around. ‘You’re such a dullard, Wren.’
‘Yes, Master,’ said the sprite, his tone contrite.
‘Why would I want the beak of a hen with a plant?’
Wren s
hrugged. ‘I thought it might make it easier to find them because they share a similar name.’
Grendel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘Get on with something useful before I turn you into pond scum!’
Wren returned his gaze to Lex and gestured for him to follow.
‘What is this room?’ Lex asked, when they had disappeared to the other end of the dwelling and into a small back room filled almost to the ceiling with rolled parchments.
‘This is the spell room. And don’t think I won’t turn you over to Grendel if you are not entirely honest with me.’
‘I will tell you the truth,’ Lex assured.
‘I suppose you know Starling?’ the sprite said.
Lex nodded.
‘How is she?’
‘She … She’s sad. She refused to speak with me,’ Lex answered honestly.
Wren looked crestfallen. ‘She’s my wife. Since we’ve been permanently torn apart I hoped she would forget us and just get on with a new life, even though I can’t. What are you doing here?’
‘Trying to do my best to outwit Grevilya,’ Lex said. ‘How did you end up with Grendel?’
‘I was Grevilya’s prisoner originally. Grendel wanted an assistant and he bargained with her for me. In return, he showed her how to use her invisibility spell on living creatures. She’d been experimenting with invisibility on inanimate things – a ship, for instance.’
Lex looked impressed. ‘How exciting. I’d love to see that ship.’
‘Well, I doubt you will, it was stolen. Now it’s your turn. How did you come to be touched by the witch’s magic and what exactly are you doing here?’ Wren demanded.
‘My name is Lex. I’m from Floris. Simeon –’ He blinked, pausing as he watched the sprite shiver.
‘I hate that creature, Simeon.’ Wren shuddered.
‘Simeon lured me and other children to Grevilya’s hideout. She turned us all into ghosts of ourselves – alive but not really. Imprisoned by her magic. She plans to use us as bait to overthrow the royal family of Drestonia.’
Wren nodded. ‘So she’s finally managed to perfect that spell,’ he said.
‘Only on me. She has to be stopped – it’s why I’ve come, with others,’ Lex said. ‘But first I need Grendel to use his magic to heal my friend, who will otherwise die. It’s important.’ He hoped the sprite wouldn’t ask more. Explaining about Flynn would show up the holes in his argument.
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