The Familiars #4: Palace of Dreams (3 page)

“In case you thought you’d be getting a vacation while your loyals are at Turnbuckle, I’m afraid you won’t be so lucky. I have a full schedule planned for you. We start first thing in the morning.”

“Whoa,” Gilbert said. “Aldwyn just got home. He’s probably exhausted. Give this cat a break. Let him kick up his paws.”

“I’m fine, Gilbert,” Aldwyn said.

“You don’t have to impress anyone,” Gilbert said. “It’s okay to want a little downtime. Some relaxation. At least wait until tomorrow afternoon. No one would blame you.”

“You can reschedule your mud bath, Gilbert,” Commander Warden said.

Gilbert was about to protest, but thought better of it.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. The three of you will find that I’m not nearly as lenient as Kalstaff was when he taught you. And Sorceress Edna may be prickly, but you won’t find me sipping blueberry tea during my lessons. Queen Loranella put me in charge of your next stage of training for a reason. When I was headmaster at Turnbuckle Academy, I could squeeze magic out of even the most common squire. With pupils who have potential for greatness within them, such as you three, I will bring out magnificence. We’ll meet at the archery range at sunrise.”

“You know I can’t fire a bow, right?” Skylar asked, gesturing to her wings.

“You won’t need bows. I have something else in store for you.” Commander Warden flashed them a smile. “I’ll see you at the party this evening. I know the queen will appreciate you all being there.”

Just then Gilbert let out a sudden belch, and a burst of fire shot from his mouth. It nearly singed the feathers off Skylar’s body.

“Cinder beet, of course,” Skylar said, pointing a wing at the half-eaten orange stick. “Thanks, Gilbert. Now I’ve only got eleven things left to identify.”

Gilbert was already lapping up water from one of the puddles on the ground. Steam poured from his nostrils.

“If you’re still hungry, I’m really curious what this black mushroom does.” Skylar pulled another mystery component from her pouch.

A loud roar split the air, silencing the party guests gathered in the courtyard. Aldwyn looked up, past the colorful streamers and paper lanterns magically floating in the night sky, to see a chinchilla sitting on the palace wall, pointing its tiny paw into the distance.

“The queens have arrived at the gates of Bronzhaven!” the palace crier announced.

The friends and colleagues of Loranella all twittered excitedly as they took their positions, hoping to surprise the queen. Aldwyn had strategically placed himself directly beside the appetizer table, where platters of raw fish were lined up. Sorceress Edna was pushing people into place, shuffling her short legs across the stone paths with her familiar, the minx Stolix, sitting on her shoulder.

“Quiet, everyone!” she shouted.

After the signal, Skylar flew overhead alongside four other birds from the Nearhurst Aviary. With a swoop and a spin, together they cast a grand illusion, making it appear as if all the guests were suddenly gone.

The thundering steps of Galatea, the lightmare queen, could be heard charging closer. Loranella sat atop her as they entered the courtyard and slowed to a stop. The queen dismounted.

“We made good progress today,” Loranella said.

“Yes,” Galatea replied. “But Vastia’s reconstruction has only just begun. There will be much work to do.”

“Then it is fortunate that we will be doing it together,” Loranella said.

Aldwyn looked upon the human queen, her white shoulder-length hair wind-tossed from travel. She adjusted the seven-pronged golden crown atop her head. Her eyes glanced to the empty palace grounds, and although she seemed to be trying to hide it, Aldwyn saw what appeared to be a slight grin. He couldn’t help but think that while it was well intentioned to throw the queen such an elaborately plotted party, attempting to surprise one as wise as Loranella was a hopeless endeavor indeed.

Skylar and her avian cohorts dropped the illusion, and as the hundreds gathered were revealed, they screamed out a collective “Surprise!”

Queen Loranella made a show of astonishment, and she smiled as the entire crowd broke out into song.

And with that, they broke into reverential applause. Loranella quieted them.

“Thank you. I am truly humbled to see all of you tonight. It has been a year of great turmoil, the likes of which have not been seen since I was a young wizard. But we persevered. Our defeat of Paksahara and her Dead Army will live on in the history scrolls, long after I go to the Tomorrowlife. Until then, we’ll keep the torches burning high and our glasses filled with persimmon wine.”

Aldwyn spied a flute of purple bubbly and telekinetically lifted it from a table into Loranella’s hand. As she held it up, the crowd shouted as one, “Vastia!”

Music began to play from an enchanted harp in the corner of the courtyard. It was Aldwyn’s cue to make his move on the fish hors d’oeuvres, but just before he pounced, a hand touched his back.

“Aldwyn, I want you to meet somebody.” It was Sorceress Edna, and she was pulling Aldwyn toward a man who appeared to have only half a face. One eye, one nostril, and a crooked half grin. It was as if someone started painting a picture and stopped in the middle. “This is Nazkareth, Loranella’s second cousin.”

“An honor, Prophesized One,” said Nazkareth. “I have read of your travels. I’m most fascinated by your discovery of the mawpi’s lair in the Beyond. At some point, I’d be very eager for you to lead me there.”

“Yes, well, we’ll have to see if that can be arranged,” Aldwyn replied, still mesmerized by the man’s deformity.

“Sooner rather than later,” Nazkareth said, more insistently.

Before Aldwyn could respond to Nazkareth’s demand, Sorceress Edna waved over a pair of dignitaries dressed in earth-toned garb.

“Aldwyn,” she interrupted, “these are the twin druids of the Ratskeever province. They wanted to invite you to be an honored guest at their Festival of Alchemy.”

“We wish to welcome the saviors of Vastia to our province.” The more delicate of the two gave a graceful bow.

“You haven’t truly dined until you’ve tasted the sweet nectar of a Ratskeever fig,” her twin added.

“We’re quite busy with our training right now,” Aldwyn said, “but should we travel east of the Yennep, we’ll be sure to pay you a visit.”

In the months following the Prophesized Three’s victory over Paksahara, Aldwyn had been introduced to hundreds of strangers. While it seemed that every one of them knew who he was, to him their names and faces were a blur. Even ones as memorable as Nazkareth and the twin druids of Ratskeever faded in time.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Aldwyn said, spying Navid and Marati, a king cobra and white-tailed mongoose, across the courtyard.

As he walked away, Aldwyn could hear Sorceress Edna speaking to the twin druids.

“Those are two of the seven animals that formed the circle of heroes,” she said. “They’ve become officers in the Vastian guard, leading an elite squadron of animals and humans known as the Nightfall Battalion. Their mission is to root out any last traitors hiding across the fair queendom.”

Edna’s voice faded as Aldwyn approached the duo.

“Aldwyn, good, you can settle a debate for us,” Marati said. “We recently encountered a tunneler dragon ransacking the northern mountain town of Glatar. Who would you say deserves credit for the kill? The soldier who crippled the beast and battered it to its wheezing end? Or the one who merely robbed it of its last breath?”

“Mind you, the dragon was still looking for innocents to spear when my venom blast struck its skull,” Navid hissed back.

The two had once been mortal enemies, but now were the strongest of friends. Of course, there was still a healthy dose of competition between them.

“It could hardly bear its own weight by then,” Marati replied.

“Tell that to the woman and child who nearly got skewered!”

“Sounds to me like it’s best not to choose sides on this one,” Aldwyn said. “Perhaps you can share the credit.”

“What fun would that be?” Navid asked, as if Aldwyn were crazy for even suggesting such a thing.

“A tie doesn’t make two winners,” Marati added, clearly in agreement. “It makes two losers.”

A spyball descended from above, landing next to the white-tailed mongoose. When Aldwyn was first introduced to the world of magic, he came to know the bat-winged eyeballs as spies for Paksahara. But after her downfall, the spyballs were spared punishment and reemployed by the queens’ guard for their original purpose: to alert the protectors of the land to dangers lurking outside the gates of Bronzhaven.

“Looks like there’s a disturbance in the east,” Marati said. “Navid, I’m afraid it’s time for us to go.”

“I’ll call the Nightfall Battalion,” Navid replied.

The two departed, but Aldwyn wasn’t left alone for long. He spotted Gilbert sitting on a table across the courtyard. Not surprisingly, his friend was staring dreamily at Anura, the golden toad who was also a part of the circle of heroes. The tree frog had developed a crush on the luck-bringing amphibian, and she didn’t seem to mind the attention. Aldwyn approached them.

A worn map was laid flat across the table. Gilbert’s webbed hand gripped a smooth glass stone. He placed it on the map, directly atop Bronzhaven.

“Locavi instantanus,”
Gilbert incanted. “Show us where the juiciest flies in Vastia reside.”

He released his hold on the stone. Suddenly it began to shake and quiver before sliding forward on its own, moving across the map. It stopped at a spot on the map labeled the Urenga Mudlands.

“Huh, I’ve never even heard of that place,” Gilbert said.

“I guess I know where you’ll be taking your next vacation,” Anura replied.

“Flies never taste as good when you’re eating them alone.”

“Is that an invitation?” Anura asked playfully.

“That depends. Are you saying yes?”

“What’s that you’re doing?” Aldwyn interrupted. “With the map.”

“I’m locavating,” Gilbert replied. “It’s one of the knowledge-gathering skills written about in the Protocols of Divination. The Ocean Oracle said it’s a sister study of puddle viewing. All you need is a map and an orienteering stone. And a natural talent for seeing beyond the here and now.”

“Gilbert, you’re telling me you have the ability to locate anything you ask for? Didn’t you think that was worth mentioning when I told you I still hadn’t found Yeardley?”

“I guess I didn’t,” Gilbert said. “I can now see how that might have been important to you.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Aldwyn asked.

“Right!”

Gilbert put the orienteering stone back on Bronzhaven. He focused his energy.

“Locavi instantanus,”
he said aloud. “Show us the way to the Maidenmere cat called Yeardley.”

He removed his hands once more and leaned back expectantly. The stone began to quiver but that’s all it did. It never moved.

“Ask it to show you the way to the Well of Ashtheril,” Aldwyn said.

“Of course. Yes.” Gilbert rested his hand atop the stone and repeated Aldwyn’s suggestion. “
Locavi instantanus.
Show us the way to the Well of Ashtheril.”

He pulled back and waited. The stone gave an even more dramatic shake. Then it stopped. Aldwyn’s ears, which had perked up with hope, fell.

“I’m sorry, pal,” Gilbert said. “Guess I still need some more practice.”

“There you two are,” Skylar chirped out. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Aldwyn and Gilbert turned to see Skylar flying over, carrying a necklace in her talons.

“Come on,” she said. “I want us to be the first to give Queen Loranella a gift.”

“What did we get her anyway?” Aldwyn asked, looking at the black chain with dangling pearls, their emerald hue glowing under the twinkling light of the floating lanterns.

“It’s a necklace,” Skylar replied. “I made it myself. These pearls are from some oyster flowers we picked in the Xylem garden. I thought it would be nice for all three of us to present it to her together.”

Skylar was about to lead the way, just as one of the floating streamers got caught in a sudden gust of wind and smacked her in the face. Blinded, she flew right into an everwillow tree, causing her to drop the necklace. The chain slid toward a nearby sewer grate.

“Oh, no!” Skylar cried out.

Gilbert made a diving leap, grabbing it moments before it was lost to the tunnels below. Skylar shook free from the tangle of paper and looked to Anura.

“I thought you were supposed to bring luck to everyone
but
Gilbert,” she said.

“I can’t always explain the nature of my talent,” Anura replied. “It continues to surprise even me.”

Skylar gave the necklace a quick polish and resumed her flight toward Loranella. Aldwyn and Gilbert followed behind, leaving Anura sitting atop the table with the worn map. The Three arrived to find the queen engaged in a lively discussion with the bearded wizard Urbaugh, her trusted adviser.

“And I respectfully disagree,” he said. “A pardon to any who did not stand with you is simply unacceptable. They should be punished as an example to others.”

“We’re building a new Vastia, one that believes in forgiveness,” Loranella replied. “Fear can cloud the soundest mind’s judgment.”

“And so can generosity,” Urbaugh said. “Don’t be naive, my queen. Just because Paksahara is gone does not mean all evil died with her.”

Loranella spied Aldwyn, Gilbert, and Skylar waiting nearby.

“We’ll continue this later, Urbaugh. Unless I’m mistaken, I thought this was supposed to be a party.”

Urbaugh never looked like he was having much fun, but he appeared even more disgruntled than usual. He stomped off and Skylar swooped in.

“Queen Loranella, we’ve brought you a gift,” she said. “It’s just a token. Not much really.”

“It’s beautiful,” Loranella said, eyeing the necklace. “In fact, I’d like to try it on right now.”