Fallen Thief Read online

  “I need someone to hold me up.” She pointed at the windows. “I might be able to hear them through there.”

  “Peter’s the tallest,” Kay said with a smirk.

  Peter shot him a dark look, but it seemed he was curious enough to know what was going on in the meeting to let Mira climb on top of his shoulders. She wobbled dangerously as she tried to keep her balance so high up and quickly grabbed the side of the building. She peered inside.

  She saw a large room with a circular table in the middle, where the members of the council were all sitting. Appoline was nearest to the door. A few chairs away sat Mr. Streck, and next to him was Tullor. Mira recognized him immediately from his blond hair and thin face. He was speaking, but Mira could barely hear his muffled voice.

  Straining to keep her balance, she pressed her ear to the edge of the window and managed to hear the reedy, though muffled voice of the king’s advisor:

  “…serious accusation, Miss Byron. The king would be quite concerned if the man was taken by the Shadowveils, and right under the noses of the Aindel councilors. Mr. Hill, do you have anything to say about it?”

  “I would know it if one of the people in my town was abducted,” said a soft voice that Mira didn’t recognize. She twisted her head to glance inside again. A man pushed his square glasses up the narrow bridge of his nose and glowered at Appoline from a few seats away. “If his neighbors say he left of his own accord, I have no reason to believe otherwise. Are you suggesting our council is clueless about what happens in our own streets?”

  “Miss Byron might not be suggesting it,” Tullor cut in coldly, “but I certainly am. Get to the bottom of it, Hill, before I bother the king about it.”

  Peter fidgeted under Mira’s weight, making her wobble again.

  Hang on just a bit longer, she begged.

  “Hurry,” Peter groaned.

  “Right, then,” came the gruff voice Mira recognized as the mayor’s. “That settles it. Hill, you’ll call for an investigation of the shop. If nothing out of the ordinary is found, the matter will be dropped. Miss Byron, what is the second piece of news you have for us?”

  “It is about the Empress of the Sea,” Appoline said.

  This was it. She was going to tell the council about Amara. Mira pressed her ear to the corner of the window again.

  “What’re you doing back here?” boomed a deep voice.

  Mira and the boys jumped, startled. Mira lost her footing and came crashing down on Peter. They scrambled to their feet and backed into Kay as one of the royal guards stomped around the corner of the building. He grabbed the hilt of his sword.

  “Thought you’d spy on a private meeting, did you?” he growled. “Thought it’d be a laugh? Not on my watch. Off with you!”

  “Actually, we were invited,” Kay said defiantly, even as Mira tugged at his sleeve to urge him to leave.

  “You think I’m an idiot, urchin?” the guard said, a vein bulging in his forehead. He lunged forward, trying to grab Kay by the arm, but Kay ducked out of the way as the others scattered, running through the trees.

  Mira turned to see Kay summon a splash of water into the guard’s face, laughing as he ran off. The man stumbled to a halt, stunned and blinking as water dripped into his eyes from his hair.

  They stopped on the next street over.

  “For the record, I do think that guard’s an idiot,” Kay said.

  Peter took off his bow and rubbed his shoulder. “You’re too heavy, Mira,” he complained.

  “Oh, shut it,” Mira panted.

  “Did you hear anything good, anyway?” Peter asked.

  Mira was about to answer, but the sound of a loud scoff coming from behind them made her freeze.

  “Are you patrolling the streets for thugs, Puppet Boy?”

  The sneering voice could only belong to Collin Streck. Mira felt her muscles tense and fought the urge to let out a groan.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked with a sigh. Peter tightened his grip on his bow at his side.

  Collin strode down the street and stopped a few feet away from them. His sister, Cassandra, dressed in Crispin’s finest clothes, followed him with a sly smile.

  “Well, that’s a welcoming greeting,” Cassandra said, placing a hand on her hip.

  “It’s not meant to be.”

  “What, we can’t check in on the kingdom’s famous merrows and their little pet?”

  Peter’s cheeks grew red. Kay took a step forward.

  “Don’t know if we’re as famous as the Shadowveils,” he said with a shrug. But it seems like we’re on everyone’s minds, just the same, said his voice while his lips remained motionless.

  Mira smiled. The looks on the Strecks’ faces made it clear that Kay had thrown his thoughts to all of them.

  “Stop that,” Collin said sharply, his smile wiped clean off his face.

  “It’s all right, Collin,” Cassandra said, though her voice had lost its usual haughty bounce, and her eyes were squinted as she stared at Kay. “It’s what merrows do. We’ve got to accept their…unnatural ways.” Her nasty smile returned. “At least, for now.”

  “That’s right,” Collin said. “Our father’s at the council meeting as we speak, and he told us he’s not the only one who’s worried about Crispin, now that you’re back.”

  “Why should anyone be worried about Crispin?” Peter asked through gritted teeth.

  “Can’t you tell?” Cassandra said. “Merrows mean nothing but trouble to this town. But we’re not worried. It’s a matter of time before the mayor forces you to leave—”

  “They’re not going anywhere,” said a familiar voice.

  Mira let her breath go, which she had been holding in anger as Cassandra spoke her icy words. Aldred Nagle and Lynette Avery, her friends from school, walked over from behind the Strecks.

  Red stepped forward and spoke again as Collin and Cassandra turned to face him.

  “They belong here just as much as you do.”

  “And how is that?” Cassandra retorted.

  “They’re our friends,” Lynette said as she and Red pushed between the Strecks to stand beside Mira, Peter, and Kay, “and they risked their lives to show us all what these Shadowveils are up to.”

  “The Shadowveils are around because of them—” Collin began.

  “Where are they?” Lynette said. She looked left and right, her curls bouncing in her pigtails. “I haven’t seen them.”

  “None of us have,” Red said, “and that’s not because you two have been fighting them off.”

  Mira felt her chest tighten as she watched her friends stick up for them. She glanced at Kay and Peter, who were both watching with awe.

  “Our father said—” Cassandra started.

  “Your father’s word means just about as much as a parrot’s,” Red spat. “I should know—we’ve got one at home, and all it speaks is nonsense.”

  Kay burst out laughing. Collin’s nostrils flared, and Cassandra’s lips pressed into a thin line. Before they could say another word, Lynette nodded at Mira and nudged Peter’s arm.

  “Let’s go,” she murmured.

  Peter swung his bow over his shoulder again, and they all sped past the Strecks.

  “That was brilliant!” Kay exclaimed.

  “They can’t treat you like that,” Lynette huffed. “They don’t know what the council meeting is really about—none of us do. They’re all talk.”

  “Yeah, we were just playing hopscotch outside my house, but we knew they were up to no good when they walked right past us,” Red said from over his shoulder. “They usually have something nasty to say to us unless they find someone better to torment.”

  “They didn’t stand a chance when you came, though,” Peter said with a chuckle. “The look on Cassandra’s face…”

  Mira laughed. “She couldn’t have looked more surprised if she’d been splashed in the face.”

  They stopped on one of
the cobbled lanes, beside an old wishing well near the farmlands, where no one was passing by. Lynette gave them a smile.

  “Now that we’re rid of them, what should we do?”

  “I take it you were going to have target practice?” Red asked, pointing at Peter’s bow.

  “Oh,” Peter said as if he just remembered. “Well, we have to. The Shadowveils are still out there, aren’t they? It doesn’t matter how many town council meetings they have about it—we’ve got to protect ourselves.”

  “Can we watch?” Lynette asked tentatively.

  Peter took an arrow out of his quiver with a flourish and fit it onto his bow. He nodded at Mira. “Come on, make me a target.”

  With a wave of her hand, Mira summoned a ball of water several feet away. She smiled. She was surrounded by her old friends and let her thoughts about the empress and the council meeting fade away. With her hands stretched out in front of her, she expanded the small drop of water to the size of an apple, rippling in midair and glimmering under the sunlight. In the blink of an eye, an arrow whizzed past. It flew straight through the ball of water, which burst, sending tiny droplets raining down on the ground.

  “Bulls-eye!” Red shouted.

  Peter looked positively smug, with one hand holding his bow at his side and the other readjusting his cap.

  “Right. My turn,” Kay said, walking through them. He held up his hands and summoned a ball just like Mira’s, though his was several feet higher.

  “I’m going to let it drop,” he said.

  Peter blinked in a brief moment of surprise before grabbing a new arrow from his quiver and taking aim.

  “Three, two, one…”

  And the ball fell like a giant teardrop. Peter let his arrow loose. For a split second, it looked like it would hit its mark, but the arrow missed the giant drop of water by several inches.

  “That was too hard,” Peter said. “It wasn’t even a clear target anymore. It was more of a blob.”

  “You shot a dragon, Peter,” Mira said, raising her eyebrows. “One that was thrashing about in every way imaginable. You don’t need your target to be a perfect little sphere.”

  “The dragon was huge!” Peter argued. “It would be a little hard to miss, don’t you think?”

  “That’s true,” Kay said with a shrug. “He’s just not good at hitting targets that aren’t as big as a giant monster.”

  Lynette giggled.

  “Stop teasing.” Mira rolled her eyes, noticing Peter’s flushed cheeks.

  Peter picked up another arrow and said, “Fine. Drop another one, then.”

  They continued practicing this way until Peter nearly shot a pixie by accident when the little creature tried snatching the ball of water Kay summoned out of the air, clearly drawn to its sparkling appearance. Once they retrieved all the arrows, they made their way to a honeysuckle bush, where they sat and lazily picked the flowers, drinking the little drops of nectar until their stomachs grumbled for real food.

  Lynette and Red went back down the same street they had come from while the others took the main road to their homes. The sun was beginning to set, and Mira wondered whether Appoline was back with news from the Ripple.

  Just before they reached the rows of townhouses, a pair of horses rounded the corner, pulling the palace carriage behind them. Mira, Peter, and Kay moved off the road, staring as the carriage approached.

  “It’s Tullor,” Peter whispered.

  The curtain on the carriage window moved aside an inch, then a hand pushed it all the way back, and a man’s voice called for the coachman to stop. Mira could barely make out Tullor’s face in the shadow of the carriage, but he beckoned them forward.

  “Just the children I was hoping to see,” Tullor said, leaning forward to look out the window. The setting sun shined off the embroidered silk of his shirt collar. As he peered down at them, his dark eyes moving from one face to the next, Mira thought he looked more annoyed than happy to see them.

  The large guard who had chased them away from the Town Hall peered over his shoulder with a look of surprise, clearly recognizing them. Kay wiggled his fingers at him with an exaggerated smile until Tullor impatiently waved a hand, making the guard lean back out of sight.

  “I trust you have been well since your visit to the palace?” Tullor asked. “Our king has been very concerned for your wellbeing.”

  “We’re all right,” Kay said stiffly.

  “The king will be glad to know it,” Tullor said, his expression unmoving.

  “We’re worried about our friends,” Mira said. “Alexandra and Aristide. Have you found a cure for them yet?”

  “Everlock sleep has been thought to be unbreakable for ages,” Tullor said. “I expect it will take longer than a few weeks to find a cure, if one exists.”

  “But until then,” Peter said, “how can you be sure our friends are safe? If the Shadowveils are still—”

  “Your friends are at the Royal Palace,” Tullor cut in. “They are in the safest place in the kingdom. The Shadowveils cannot get to them there.”

  “And the red-haired girl?” Peter said. “Vivian? Is she safe from the Shadowveils, too?” Mira nodded vigorously, remembering the young girl they had rescued, who didn’t have a clue as to why merrow spies would ever capture her.

  “Vivian Middling,” Tullor said slowly. “Her mother has refused to let her stay under the protection of the king’s guard. She seems to believe she can protect her daughter from home.”

  “Even from the empress?” Mira pressed.

  Tullor pressed his lips together, his eyes sharp. “I suggest you speak with Miss Byron about that,” he said in a clipped voice. “I am sure that she will have comforting words for you after our meeting today.”

  “So you came all this way just to see what we’ve been up to,” Kay scoffed.

  Tullor gave him a smile that did not reach his eyes. “Indeed. As I said, the king cares for his people and entrusted me with the task of ensuring you are safe. Councilors from Aindel and Rook all came together in Crispin today, though their travel was not quite as long as mine.” For a moment, he looked like he’d swallowed something bitter. “I have to be on my way. I have a long journey ahead of me and unfortunately do not have the privilege of traveling on a flying horse. Good day.”

  Mira, Peter, and Kay continued their walk home in silence, rather disappointed with the lack of useful news that Tullor had given them. The sky was a blend of orange and pink by the time they reached Peter’s street. Mira gazed at the jagged silhouette of the rows of houses against the sky. As she watched, she noticed a steady stream of smoke rising from behind one of the houses.

  “Is that a bonfire?” She pointed up at the smoke.

  Peter squinted up at it. “In the summer?” he said skeptically.

  But even as they watched it, an unsettling feeling began to grip Mira’s heart. The smoke was thick enough that it couldn’t be an ordinary chimney fire, and something told her it was too close to home. A pair of small children came running around the street corner and stopped in front of an adult, who listened carefully to their rushed words and then hurried after them, back the way they’d come.

  “What’s going on?” Kay asked, frowning at the spot where the running townsfolk had disappeared around the corner. The palms of Mira’s hands were clammy as she wrung them together. She threw him a frightened look.

  “That’s our street,” she said.

  Before the others could respond, a distant scream echoed through the street. People started running towards the sound, while a pair of small animals scurried down the street, away from it. Without another word, Mira, Peter, and Kay ran, racing with the rest of the townsfolk. Mira’s heart was pounding against her chest.

  Where’s Appoline?

  When they turned the corner, a blazing fire met their eyes.

  The flames licked the side of the house as they flared out of the second-floor window, sending clouds of smoke spi
raling up to the sky. They were coming right out from Appoline’s study.

  “Mother!” Mira screamed.

  She pushed through the crowd of people gathered around it until a man grabbed her firmly by the shoulder and yelled, “Don’t go any closer!”

  When Mira spun around to face him, his stern expression turned into surprise. Whether he recognized Mira or he was taken aback by her frenzied look, Mira didn’t care. She shook her shoulder out of his grip and pushed herself right to the front of the crowd, where she could feel the heat of the blaze on her face.

  She held her arms up, and a stream of water shot out of her palms. She groaned, willing every ounce of her being to summon water—all the water in the world’s oceans if it came down to it—to stifle the fire. She barely heard the gasps from the people around her.

  A moment later, she noticed a presence close by her side. A second stream of water joined hers as Kay held up his hands beside her.

  Appoline, Appoline…

  It was all Mira could think as she strained every muscle to put out the flames that were swallowing up her home.

  By the time the last of the fire sizzled into steam, Mira’s face was beaded with sweat. She dropped her hands. There was complete silence in the crowd around the two merrows as everyone took in the sight of the townhouse, half of it blackened by the fire.

  Chapter Three

  The Wishing Well

  W

  ith the remaining strength she had, Mira staggered forward and grabbed the handle to the front door.

  A woman cried out, “It’s not safe!”

  “The house might collapse!” someone else said.

  “My mother’s in there!” Mira retorted and fumbled in her pants pocket for her key.

  At that moment, the lock clicked on its own, and the doorknob turned.

  “Mother!” Mira breathed as the door swung forward and Appoline stood on the other side.

  But Mira’s smile vanished as soon as it appeared. Appoline’s dress was singed at the hem of her skirt, with soot smeared over her face and clothes. She swayed dangerously and grabbed onto the doorframe to steady herself, and that’s when Mira saw her gingerly keep her bare left foot off the ground. Her slipper was missing, and her ankle was badly swollen.