‘Ellin. Oh, Your Highness, I’m glad we found you.’ Flynn watched the Princess swing around. ‘Pilo?’ he heard her say, her tone echoing his own disbelief.
‘Quick, all of you, over here!’ Pilo beckoned. ‘You mustn’t let Grevilya see you!’
Shocked at being discovered, they obediently followed Pilo beneath the cover of a small stand of trees.
‘But Pilo, what are you doing here?’ Ellin said, her eyes and voice filled with disbelief.
Flynn watched the man she clearly adored hold his arms to her. ‘Lex fetched me. He was worried. And rightly so. I couldn’t remain in the city, wondering about you, Ellin. I rode on ahead of soldiers and waited at Hawkville to hear. I warned Lex when we said farewell that I would.’ He smiled kindly, looked at Flynn. ‘Relieved to see you looking hale, Duke Jolien.’
Flynn had to admit to feeling a sense of great relief. He had nothing but respect for Pilo, who in turn had shown only generosity to him. But he was still angry with Lex for disappearing without a word and he now saw him emerging guiltily from behind Pilo. ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’ Flynn demanded.
‘I decided to get help,’ he said, standing somewhat forlornly at Pilo’s side.
Ellin relayed this. ‘Well, you found the right person, Lex,’ she said, the relief evident in her voice.
Flynn watched Pilo beckon. ‘Come this way, Highness. Grevilya has spies and she sets traps everywhere. Centaur, if she so much as senses you are nearby, she will throw all her powers into capturing you.’
Flynn blinked. Ellin and Davren appeared distracted, prepared to follow Pilo’s biddings, but he hadn’t yet moved and had a good view of their older friend. His mind raced to wonder how Pilo had found them so easily. Obviously Lex could move fast but Pilo couldn’t. What’s more, Pilo had never called him Duke Jolien, and, given that Pilo knew him well, he doubted he ever addressed Davren as ‘Centaur’.
‘Quickly,’ Ellin said, cutting into his thoughts and grabbing him as she beckoned to Davren. ‘Do as Pilo says.’
Flynn watched Pilo melt back further into the trees. His gaze flicked to Lex who was watching him intently, with an expression that looked frightened. ‘Wait, I –’
‘Your Highness, I must insist …’ Pilo urged in a plaintive tone, gesturing towards Flynn and coming up alongside Ellin.
Flynn almost screwed his eyes up he was thinking so hard, trying to listen to the alarms in his mind. He was just about to slice open the Silvering when Ellin grabbed for him.
‘Flynn, come on,’ she commanded but it was Pilo who shoved him.
Flynn lurched forward and from the corner of his eye he saw Pilo also push Davren; the centaur wasn’t expecting to be manhandled and he too stumbled forward.
And the realisation hit. ‘He’s not Pilo!’ Flynn yelled but it was too late.
The ground beneath Flynn and Davren gave way and they toppled helplessly into a pit. Ellin shrieked but the centaur was quick and despite his size, his strength and agility allowed him to land upright and even to help break Flynn’s fall.
Davren helped Flynn back to his feet and they looked up to see Ellin struggling in the grip of a tall, hollow-looking man, with a shock of black hair tied back, dressed sombrely and with an expression to match.
‘Isn’t magic superb?’ Simeon taunted and his forked tongue slipped out between his lips as he lisped the last word. He threw his head back and laughed cruelly. ‘And you’re much too trusting,’ he added, before turning his gaze on Lex. ‘Your “friend” has been working for us the whole time.’
Flynn was grinding his teeth. He shot a threatening scowl at Lex.
‘I’m sorry,’ Lex admitted, and Flynn didn’t need Ellin to tell him what the Rumpelgeist had said. He could lip read that much.
‘Lo curse you!’ Flynn said in a low growl. ‘And you are already cursed, you heinous creature,’ he yelled at Simeon.
Davren put an arm on Flynn. ‘He’s not worth it,’ he said, before returning his attention to Simeon. ‘The keepers of the forest will hunt you down, basilisk. You’ve shown yourself now.’
Simeon hissed at Davren. ‘I will wait for you, Centaur … if you make it out alive from Grevilya’s grip. Come, Your Highness,’ Simeon lisped. ‘Lex, watch over our guests, will you? Tell me if they try anything … Anything!’
‘What do you want with me?’ Ellin demanded, squirming in the serpent-man’s grip.
‘I don’t want anything from you, Ellin, dear,’ he taunted, ‘other than your father’s death and his kingdom.’
Flynn noticed Lex flinch and shock romp across his face.
Simeon wrestled Ellin away.
‘Watch your back, snake!’ Flynn yelled after them. ‘I am coming for you too!’
And all they heard was Simeon’s hissing laughter echoing through the trees.
Bitter Olof and Calico Grace had waited in one of Silver Wind’s rowboats at the shore’s edge for as long as they dared, clinging to their invisibility. It was already nearing twilight.
‘Ready?’ Olof said.
Calico Grace looked longingly at the ship.
‘It’s now or never, Gracie,’ Olof urged, squeezing her shoulder. ‘It was always a thin plan,’ he admitted.
‘Olof –’
‘We have to follow through with this now,’ he said gently. He held out a hand to his wife, who gave him a sad smile, revealing her blackened and missing teeth.
A voice interrupted the quiet. ‘Bitter Olof?’ Grace and Olof swung around, alarmed. ‘Here,’ the voice said.
He followed the sound and saw a tiny creature standing on the edge of the boat. ‘And what are you?’
‘I am Wren, king of the sprites. I come as a friend.’
They shared a look of bemusement before bowing heads to the sprite.
‘Your Majesty. How did you see us?’ Bitter Olof asked. ‘We are invisible.’
‘I didn’t see you. Your ship saw me and summoned me.’
‘Silver Wind invited you on board?’ Grace asked, surprised.
The sprite nodded. ‘I called out to you for some time before the ship finally answered. She sounds like a thousand stars winking together.’
‘How can we help you, King Wren?’ Bitter Olof asked.
‘It’s not so much how you can help me, Master Olof, but more how I am prepared to help you.’
‘Then waste no more words,’ Gracie said. ‘Tell us of your business here.’
‘The giant you sent to help you steal the book of spells is entrapped by his own ingenuity.’
‘Trapped?’ Bitter Olof said, a worried glance thrown to his wife. ‘How do you know?’
‘I witnessed it.’
‘Without being seen?’ Olof smirked.
‘Yes, but even if I had been, she’d have thought me to be my wife, who is her prisoner. We sprites all look rather alike at first glance.’
Bitter Olof’s face darkened. ‘She’d better not do anything to Little Thom.’
‘Too late, I’m afraid. It’s been done,’ Wren said, matter-of-factly.
‘What has she done?’ Bitter Olof raged.
‘His pain has passed,’ Wren assured. ‘It is why I am here.’
Calico Grace took over. ‘Wren, my husband is going to die of apoplexy if you don’t quickly explain why you came.’
‘To give you this,’ Wren said, and from behind his back he produced a large key that was almost as tall as he was.
Bitter Olof’s eyes widened before his features relaxed into a knowing smile. ‘You’ve brought us the key to Grevilya’s grimoire,’ he murmured, arm outstretched towards where the key dangled tantalisingly.
‘Your big friend had a plan, which my wife Starling and I were prepared to help with, but it went wrong so I’ve made my own decision to help you.’ He pulled the key a little further back, showing just how strong he was. ‘But only if you agree to help me.’
‘The help is yours if we can give it,’ Bitter Olof agreed.
‘You must release the stolen chi
ldren and strip Grevilya of her powers.’
Bitter Olof looked warily at his wife. ‘How are we supposed to do that?’ he said. ‘We are touched by magic but none that is our own.’
The sprite gave a tutting sound. ‘By destroying her grimoire. Everything she is, is in the book – she has given over her spells to it. Take the grimoire away and she has nothing … not a single spell – bar her inertia spell – to call upon!’ The sprite flew closer in a blink. ‘Destroy the book and you destroy Grevilya, her knowledge, her magic that has been cast … and Simeon in the bargain because he has no magic without her.’
‘Why are you helping us?’
‘Because I want revenge. She stole something precious from me and committed me to a life of slavery.’
The pirate and the dwarf remained silent.
‘I want her to pay by losing something she considers more precious than anything else she owns … her spells.’
‘We will help you,’ Calico Grace said, setting her jaw.
‘What about Little Thom? What sort of trouble is he in?’ Bitter Olof asked.
‘I think you should find that out for yourself.’
In Silver Wind’s rowboat and heading for shore Wren took the opportunity to tell his companions about Grendel, his entrapment, the surprise arrival of the royal party that led to Wren’s release and the astonishing fact that the Crown Princess of Drestonia with Davren and the young noble, Flynn, were last seen in the copse not far from the witch’s mansion.
‘Stars, Gracie! We have a lot more to consider now than just our needs,’ Olof admitted. ‘We have to help the royal families of Drestonia and the sprite kingdoms.’
Calico Grace sighed. ‘Oh, for the quiet life of a pirate,’ she murmured.
‘Move as silently as you can,’ Wren whispered once they’d alighted onto the rocks at the cliff base. ‘Can you manage those, dwarf?’ he asked, pointing to the rough steps cut into the rockface.
‘You worry about yourself, King Wren,’ Bitter Olof snarled softly.
Soon Bitter Olof was leading the way. The steps were slippery, worn down by decades of smugglers using Hellion’s Hole to transfer their booty from sea onto land. Puffed and red-faced, he finally lurched to the top, grabbing at grasses to haul himself over the final step. He lay there, catching his breath, when Gracie arrived. She was breathing hard, too, but she grabbed the back of his breeches and dragged him upright.
‘Come on, dwarf! This is no time to be resting,’ she hissed.
Bitter Olof scowled. ‘I was not –’
‘This way,’ Wren said and flew off so quickly that Olof and Grace were forced to run after him.
28
As Little Thom was taking his first sip of the magical brew Ellin was being shoved towards the house. White anger flashed within her as she was bundled along by the revolting, lisping man, not just that he had appeared to her as Pilo, but mostly that she’d been duped. They’d planned for this, they had their code, and yet in the feverishly happy heartbeat of seeing Pilo, she’d forgotten their own safety rule designed to keep them out of the clutch of Simeon. And here she was, being shoved along by the serpent-man. Now she knew how easy it must have been to fool the younger children. He had been Pilo – fully replicated – even down to the way his eyes twinkled mischievously; it was so shocking, still so frightening. She stumbled.
‘Oh do help out here, Princess,’ Simeon spat as he now all but dragged her towards the house.
Her only relief was that he’d changed into a new persona – a hook-nosed, dark-haired man with a sallow complexion and hollowed cheeks. It made it easier to look upon him than to see Pilo treating her so viciously.
‘Lex!’ Ellen shrieked, remembering. ‘Where are you?’
‘What are you calling him for, Your Highness?’ Simeon taunted. ‘He betrayed you.’
She saw the air thicken around her, knew Lex was around. ‘Your Highness, cooperate please,’ he urged her. ‘Grevilya won’t hurt you. She wants you only as bait for your father.’
‘And you think that makes me feel better, Lex?’ she demanded into the evening as night closed in. ‘Do you believe I would willingly lead my father into danger?’
‘You already have. You can’t stop it. But you can stop her hurting the children,’ Lex said.
‘Oh, you’ve been sadly duped, Lex. For all your intelligence I’m shocked that you really think she’s going to release you or the other children,’ Ellin said to where she thought he moved alongside, her tone pitying.
Ellin, half falling, half staggering, now reached for the last hope she had. She grabbed the Whistle around her neck and without a chance to savour the moment she’d longed for through childhood, she blew as hard and as long on it as she dared.
‘Pilo,’ she murmured, willing the magic to find him.
‘Oh, do shut up, Highness.’ Simeon’s rebuke felt like a slap.
‘Let me go!’ she demanded. ‘I can walk!’
‘I’m not letting you go, and don’t make me drag you all the way back to the house by your lovely hair. It’s a long way. And I’ll warn you now there’s no point screaming. There’s no one for miles to hear you!’
Someone heard me, though, Ellin thought, feeling a spark of triumph.
‘Your Highness –’ Lex tried.
‘Leave me alone, Lex. You are no friend of mine or Drestonia.’ She hated the savagery in her tone. ‘You are a traitor.’
Simeon twisted her arm painfully and shoved her over the threshold of the old mansion. She tripped and fell onto the flagstones. Her knees exploded with agony but her yell of pain died in her throat as Simeon dragged her back to her feet and pointed at her victoriously.
‘She is ours, Grevilya!’ he trumpeted, and shoved her into a chamber.
Ellin stumbled but caught her balance and straightened, looking across the room defiantly. She saw a woman slouched in a sofa. The woman seemed tall, with golden hair and a smooth, sun-kissed complexion that shone from a heart-shaped face.
‘Your witch looks drunken,’ Ellin gamely snarled at Simeon. She had expected Grevilya to be standing over her and howling her pleasure.
‘Grevilya?’ Simeon said. ‘What’s happened?’
Ellin swung around and was taken aback to see an identical golden-haired woman with a heart-shaped face. This one, though, was emerging from behind the chamber doors and glided over to stare at Ellin with disdain – the expression spoiled her beauty.
‘What do you mean, what’s happened?’ she snapped at her companion, but her gaze was riveted on Ellin. ‘Hello, Princess. I’m Grevilya. And I do believe you’re my prisoner.’
Ellin blinked. ‘And you have a twin, do you?’ she asked, pleased that her voice sounded strong and steady under the circumstances.
‘What’s happened?’ Simeon repeated, sounding unsure of himself.
Grevilya turned and for the first time noticed Lara Greenleaf sprawled across the seat – and if not for the clothes, she understood why anyone looking at her would surely swear that Mistress Greenleaf was Grevilya’s identical twin.
Grevilya shrieked. ‘It can’t be!’
Simeon frowned. ‘You made her in your image?’
‘No, you fork-tongued fool!’ she snapped. ‘That’s the clever part of the magic, it seeks out the man this woman loves most … and turns her into the image of the woman he wants her to be.’
‘But how could the man Mistress Greenleaf loves possibly know you?’
Ellin watched the witch’s expression darken. ‘Because the man she loves is Bitter Olof!’ she snarled. ‘This is an impostor and the dwarf has found me.’ She ran at Little Thom and kicked his shin. ‘Who are you, you trickster?’
Little Thom groaned softly.
‘Grevilya, now is not the time. We have the Crown Princess. Focus on the King, and getting that crown.’
‘Over my dead body,’ Ellin said, rounding on Grevilya as she began to make sense of their plan.
‘Be careful what you wish for, Princess,’ Sim
eon lisped and gave a cruel laugh.
At the back of the house and at Wren’s urgent bidding, Bitter Olof had reluctantly climbed up on Calico Grace’s shoulders, and now, like a teetering circus act, they staggered beneath the window ledge that Wren pointed at.
‘Use the ivy. It’s strong enough to hold you,’ he urged. ‘That’s it, clamber up,’ he called softly. Then he flew to Grace’s ear. ‘Let go, Captain Gracie, he will find a good foothold.’
She did and Olof began the laborious climb with Wren alternately flying up and twittering at his ear or zooming back down to reassure Grace. Olof finally peeped over the top of the window to look into the chamber.
Wren slipped in beneath the window that was open a crack. He looked around and beckoned to the dwarf. ‘All clear,’ he mouthed.
Olof glanced down at Grace and, holding a deep breath, gently lifted the window. It eased up enough for him to haul himself inside.
‘Salutations,’ a new and sweet voice welcomed.
Olof turned and was struck by the beauty of a female sprite, smaller than Wren but glowing like a firefly as though lit by her own green-blue light.
‘Queen Starling?’ he bowed.
She smiled widely and nodded graciously. ‘I am.’
‘You are very beautiful.’
She pulsed a happy glow.
Wren arrived. ‘Oh good, you’ve met. Bitter Olof, you must listen to Starling. The grimoire trusts her. Even though you hold the key to the chest, Queen Starling holds the key to our success. Starling, my love, you know what to do.’
Once again, Queen Starling guided a thief towards the sleeping grimoire.
‘Grevilya, what about the spell?’ Lex interrupted. ‘You promised to release me and the other children as soon as I achieved your goal. Well, I’ve delivered the Princess as you demanded.’
‘Not yet, Lex,’ Grevilya said dismissively.
Ellin turned to where she’d heard his voice. ‘Lo’s mercy, Lex, but you’re gullible.’
Lex didn’t respond to Ellin; she heard him continue to appeal to the witch. ‘I’ve done everything you’ve asked. If not me, at least release the children,’ he begged.
The Rumpelgeist Page 20