Fallen Thief Page 17

  Appoline’s face had gone white, but she looked angrier than ever. The watchmen took a step closer, and the Shadowveil turned to them. He gave them a disdainful laugh before he moved.

  “Watch out!” Peter yelled. “He can change shape!”

  Mira gasped. She had seen this before in the forest with the Empress of the Sea.

  “Close the door!” she yelled as the Shadowveil transformed.

  Kay slammed the door shut behind him as one of the watchmen breathed, “What, in all the stars—”

  But the Shadowveil no longer looked like a human. His clothes laid empty in a pile on the floor, and a gray fox scurried out from under them, headed straight for a narrow, jagged hole in the wall.

  “No!” Mira screamed.

  One of the guards dove to the floor just as the fox slid through the hole and darted out into the night.

  Chapter Twelve

  The Empress’s Warning

  M

  ira didn’t get a wink of sleep after the watchmen escorted them back to their homes from the shed. All night, she was haunted by images of Peter tied up in the shed and the Shadowveil transforming into a fox. From the look of Kay at breakfast, she was certain he’d been as restless as her. According to Appoline, the news of a town councilor from Aindel turning out to be a Shadowveil was spreading through Crispin in a flash. As Mira and Kay ate, Appoline rushed to get ready for a meeting with the mayor after one of the councilors had called on her in the early hours of the morning.

  “Hurry,” she said, passing by them at the dining table as she made her way to the door, her forehead lined with worry. “I’ll walk you to school.”

  “We can go by ourselves—” Kay began.

  “No,” Appoline cut in. Seeing the look of surprise on their faces, she sighed. “I really wished to speak with you about the things you told me last night. A lot has changed since we discovered the identity of the Shadowveil. We will speak when I return, but until then, I beg you—go straight home after school. It is no longer safe out there.”

  Sure enough, the townsfolk they passed on the way to school seemed on edge, as if an out-of-place clap might make them jump out of their skins. Appoline walked briskly so that Mira and Kay nearly had to run to keep up with her.

  “Remember what I said,” Appoline whispered once they reached the library. “Go straight home once classes are over. Be careful, my dears.”

  With that, she ushered them up the steps and into the library. When Mira and Kay entered their classroom, the buzzing conversations among their gossiping classmates came to an abrupt halt. Red waved them over to sit between him and Lynette.

  As soon as Mira sat down, Lynette whispered, “Is it true that you’re the one who found out where the Shadowveil was keeping Peter?”

  Mira nodded carefully, pressing her lips together.

  “How?” Lynette breathed, grabbing her arm.

  Mira looked into her wide, brown eyes and mumbled, “I can’t say.” She glanced around at the other students sneaking glances at her from around the room. “Not here. People won’t understand…” For a moment, she thought Lynette would be angry with her again for keeping secrets. Instead, Lynette gave her arm an affectionate squeeze.

  “All right. Then don’t tell anyone, especially not Collin. He’s spreading a rumor that his father’s trying to get the mayor to question you and Kay himself. I don’t know if it’s true—it might be a load of nonsense. The whole council’s lost their wits now that everyone knows who the Shadowveil really is.”

  “Maybe they should be searching for him instead of worrying about us,” Mira mumbled.

  “Quiet in the classroom,” Mr. Favian called out. “It has been an exciting morning, to be sure—” his icy gaze lingered on Mira and Kay for a moment before he continued, “—but we must get on with our lessons. Take out your history books and turn to page—yes, Collin?”

  Mira’s muscles tensed as she watched Collin lower his arm and ask, “Is it true that the Shadowveil who got away last night was an Aindel councilor?”

  Mr. Favian hesitated, his round eyes bulging out in surprise at Collin’s blunt question.

  “I cannot say. I am sure the mayor is getting to the bottom of the mystery as we speak, and he will have an announcement for the whole town in due time.”

  Thomas raised his hand. “But how can a councilor be a merrow without anyone realizing it?” he asked.

  “Merrows can look like any other human,” Mr. Favian said, scratching his bald head uncomfortably as he threw Mira and Kay another glance. “Now, back to our lesson—”

  “So that means anyone could be a Shadowveil, and we wouldn’t know it,” Wilbur said.

  “That is not a reasonable thing to assume,” Mr. Favian began. “That’s enough about Shadowveils, now—”

  “We could have more of them in our council!” another student said.

  “Even the mayor could be a—”

  “I said that’s enough!” Mr. Favian boomed. The class went silent. He looked rather frightened as he raised a shaking hand to write a number on the board. “Turn to page one hundred thirty-two of your books. If I hear so much as another word from any of you, you’ll go straight to the preceptor.”

  Mira’s heart was pounding. She swallowed hard and pulled out her book with shaking fingers, opening it to the page Mr. Favian had instructed. With no sleep and her nerves on edge with the outbursts of her classmates, it was a miracle that Mira was able to even pretend to be listening to the teacher’s ramblings about the Treaty of What’s-it-called. It seemed like ages went by before Mr. Favian called out a student’s name, startling everyone into paying attention.

  “Elyse,” he said, “read us the first paragraph on the Triangle Pact.”

  Mira rested her chin in the palm of her hand and stared at the words she couldn’t focus on as Elyse began to read aloud. She wondered what Appoline was doing at the Town Hall next door and whether she and Kay would really have to speak to the mayor about what happened the previous night…

  The words on the page faded into nothing as Mira’s tired eyes closed shut.

  She was floating—in air or in water, she did not know. It didn’t matter as soon as she heard the words: “Children, you have wronged me.”

  Mira heard the sweet voice as if through a long tube. She strained her ears to hear it better, for it was as delightful as music from a well-tuned lute.

  “You have made it clear once again that your allegiance is not with your own people.”

  The voice, clearer now, sounded disappointed. There was a figure in the distance, shimmering and rippling so that Mira couldn’t quite see who it was. She wished she could respond, to say anything that might amend the terrible mistake she had made.

  “You do not need to continue this journey on your own. Let me help you. I understand you. I understand your struggles.”

  A pause.

  “You’ll help us?” said Mira’s timid voice.

  “You must first explain what it is you are trying to do. What business have you with an ancient sorcerer who has been gone for a thousand years?”

  “He’s not really gone,” said Mira. “He’s only been transformed.”

  “What do you wish to do with him?”

  “Set him free,” said another voice. “And ask for his help.” It was Kay. Mira realized with amusement that he’d been by her side the whole time.

  “Did the conch shell reveal a way to do such a thing?”

  “The sorcerer left us a message,” said Mira.

  “What was it? What did the conch say?”

  The voice sounded frustrated. Mira wanted to reassure it that everything was all right. If only there was a way to show the voice exactly what the message was. But Mira knew that was impossible. The message had already been released. Besides, the conch shell was broken.

  An image of the pieces of broken shell flashed before her. How did it break again?

  The Shadowveil.
He threw it against the wall.

  “You must tell me,” the voice insisted. “You must tell me if you wish for my help instead of my wrath.”

  Mira was distracted. The Shadowveil broke the conch. He wanted to hear the message, too. To share it with—

  “I demand to know what you want with the sorcerer,” the voice said, growing colder and more familiar. The figure in the distance glowed dangerously. “Or else I will show you what happens to those who disobey their empress.”

  Mira gasped and heard the sound echoed at her side. She spun around to see Kay staring back at her with the same stunned look in his eyes as they both realized that they had just had a dream that had been planted in their minds by none other than the Empress of the Sea. Elyse, who had still been reading from the book, stammered to a halt. Everyone’s eyes were on Mira and Kay.

  “Did we wake you from a nap?” Mr. Favian snapped, glaring at them.

  Mira ignored him. She had bigger things to worry about. The empress had gotten into her and Kay’s minds. Amara had given them a clear message.

  A warning.

  A sudden clap of thunder shook the very walls of the library and made the children jump. Even Mr. Favian spun around to look out the narrow window. He frowned as he took in the sunny weather. As they all watched, the sky grew dark, and heavy rainclouds swirled into the sky in seconds.

  “Sorry.” Kay stood up and grabbed his bag. “Mira and I have to go.”

  “What nonsense is this?” Mr. Favian said. “Sit back down at once.”

  Mira jumped to her feet, too. Lynette tugged at her sleeve, but Mira shook her head. “Sorry,” she repeated, giving her friend a significant look. “It’s an emergency.”

  “You will not leave my classroom without my permission!” Mr. Favian stomped over to their row as they shuffled past the other students. “I don’t care how important you two have fooled yourselves into believing you are—I will not allow it!”

  What’re you going to do to stop us? said Kay’s voice.

  Mr. Favian let out a faint yelp and jumped back. Mira gave him an apologetic look as she rushed through the door after Kay.

  “She’s planning something,” Mira said as soon as she closed the door behind her. “She’s going to try and stop us from finding the Grimmir.”

  “We can’t let her do that.” Kay quickened his pace. “We can’t wait anymore.”

  “What can we do?” Mira breathed as she tried to keep up with Kay. “She’s starting a storm—you heard the thunder—”

  “Let’s try to talk to Tonttu,” Kay said.

  He pushed the library door open and froze.

  “What are you guys doing outside of class?” Peter asked, his eyebrows almost disappearing in his hairline. He had a bag full of books over his shoulder, and his arm was outstretched to open the library door. “Is it to do with the Shadowveil? Mama and Papa didn’t want me stepping out of the house at all today, but I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing after everything that happened yesterday—”

  “We just had a dream,” Mira cut him off. She pointed up at the gray sky just as a wind picked up and blew their hair into their faces. “That’s the empress’s doing. We’ll tell you everything on the way—we need to try and talk to Tonttu to see what he thinks we should do.”

  Peter nodded with wide eyes. Without another word, he dropped his bag of books behind the library door and followed the others down the steps.

  “The librarian will forgive me this one time,” he muttered.

  They ran through the town towards the old wishing well, recounting the empress’s dream to Peter. As Mira thought about it, it struck her how vivid the dream was, how strange it was that Kay was by her side, speaking in her mind as they answered the empress’s questions so willingly.

  A flash of lightning cut through the clouds, followed by an earth-shaking clap of thunder.

  “She’s angry,” Kay murmured, picking up his pace as they approached the stone well.

  “It’s got to be because she knows the sorcerer’s our only chance to save our friends,” Mira panted. “I think she’s going to do something terrible with this storm…to stop us from finding the Grimmir.”

  They skidded to a halt in front of the rough stone wall of the wishing well. Mira leaned forward and spoke their old friend’s name into the depths of the earth once again: “Tonttu.”

  The word echoed down into the well. Mira flattened her palms against the stone, ready to feel it vibrate as the sound of his voice rose back out to them.

  She was only met with silence.

  A moment later, Kay leaned forward at her side and yelled the gnome’s name into the well. Still, nothing. They straightened up and looked at Peter, who shrugged.

  “Maybe he’s not in Ivaldia anymore,” he said dejectedly.

  Kay groaned and kicked a pebble. Another gust of wind sent leaves flying down the lane. A woman ran after her hat in the distance.

  “Fine,” Kay said. “We don’t need Tonttu. We have to go and find the Grimmir before Amara can stop us.”

  “How?” Peter asked.

  “We look for him in the ocean!” Kay blurted out. “It’s the only thing left to do—you’ve got a map that’ll lead us to him!”

  Peter gulped and squared his jaw. “Right. I’ll go get the map, now.”

  “And we’ll get the vial from home,” Mira added. “Meet us there.”

  Mira let her hand linger on the cool stone for another moment as she threw her thoughts to Tonttu to tell him they were going to go off to search for the cure to everlock poison. Then, they hurried away from the wishing well.

  She could feel her heartbeat in her throat by the time she and Kay reached their townhouse. She retrieved the crystal vial from underneath her mattress and hung it around her neck with trembling fingers. She didn’t know exactly how she and Kay were going to find the Grimmir—or even exactly what the vicious monster looked like—but she hoped with all her might that the vial of the sorcerer’s blood would save them from the fate of so many fishermen and sailors who disappeared in the very waters they were about to seek.

  Peter arrived at their front door a few minutes later, his hair disheveled from the rising winds outside.

  “Right,” he said, walking over to the dining table and taking out a folded piece of paper from one pocket and a compass from the other. With his good hand and Mira’s help, he unfolded the paper to reveal his map of Ide. “I’m sure this is where the Myrkness Trench is. It’s straight east from the course the merchant ships take now.” He pointed to an X right next to the cursive letters that spelled Rook, then traced a line that led to another X he’d drawn in the middle of the ocean. “I found a book that gave the exact coordinates of the spot that the ships avoid, and that’s where it is, just beyond the trench. If the Fabler’s notes are true, the graveyard of ships will be right there. That’s where the Grimmir lives.”

  “Or it’s where he hunts,” Kay muttered.

  “Best not to think about that,” Mira said, hugging herself. “Let’s hope the vial makes him hold off on making a meal out of us.”

  “The easiest way to get there will be straight out from the docks in Rook,” Peter said before he turned to Kay. “Since you can make portals to places you’ve been, you can make one right into the Ebb Sea.”

  “Because I fell into it, off the fishing docks,” Kay finished his thought slowly. “The day I found out I was a merrow…”

  “Exactly.”

  “Stars, when did you come up with this plan?” Kay said.

  Peter gave a small smile. “Last night. I couldn’t sleep. I knew we couldn’t keep on waiting for the Shadowveils to drop things onto our heads or kidnap one of us to decide to do something.”

  “Peter, I think you’re smarter than every scholar in Ide,” Mira said.

  “I’m sure some of them are smarter than me.” Peter kept his eyes glued onto the map as his face flushed.

  “We coul
d go straight to the Ripple once we get the cure.” Kay grinned. “I can make a portal into the lake where we practiced swimming and all that—we can get it to Alexandra and Aristide within hours!”

  Mira bit her lip, a sudden thought occurring to her. “I hope Appoline will understand.”

  “None of us are safe as long as the empress is trying to stop us,” Peter reminded her. “Including everyone else in Crispin—maybe even the whole kingdom. Our best chance is to find the cure to everlock sleep so that Aristide can tell us what he knows. Without him, all we’re doing is dodging the Shadowveils whenever we can and making guesses about what they’re up to…and never getting to the bottom of things. Without him, we’re lost.”

  Mira nodded slowly, trying to push down the heavy sense of guilt that had settled in her chest. Still, she rushed to the mantle over the fireplace and grabbed a small piece of parchment. With a quill, she scratched out a little note telling her mother that they were leaving and not to worry. She knew that it would do little to ease her mother’s mind, but she hoped it would, all the same.

  A gust of wind blew against the house, making them jump. The trees on the other side of the street were bent under the push of the winds.

  “I’ve never seen a storm like this,” Mira said, frowning as she laid out her note on the dining table.

  “We’d better go before it gets worse,” Kay urged. “The Shadowveils are at work.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Peter said.

  Mira and Kay glanced at each other. Peter rolled his eyes and shook his head.

  “I know I can’t come into the ocean!” he said. “But I’ll come as far as I can.”

  Mira tucked the glass vial under her shirt, and the three of them hurried out the door together.

  They stopped in their tracks.

  Amidst the violent winds, several people were standing together in the middle of the street.

  “Look, they’re there!” one of them cried out, pointing at Mira and the boys.