Good Curses Evil (9 page)

 

CHAPTER NINE

The Plot Thickens

The capital city of Kaloya was called Dimineata, which—according to Mistress Smartyfangs—means
morning
. However, morning was far off as we made our way through the bustling city streets. Everywhere, townspeople of every kind—lords and ladies, peasants, fishermen, children—were running about finishing up the night's business and hurrying to their homes or inns for late suppers.

The first order of business was finding something to wear. Our head-to-toe black clothes weren't exactly screaming
villains!
But they didn't really say
townsfolk
either. We found some wash hanging in a random backyard. Soon, I was dressed in a puffy white shirt with a green vest. I even managed to snatch a man's pointy, feathered hat.

I handed Jez the dress and bonnet I'd found for her.

“What is
this?
” she asked, holding the clothes away from her like it was one of the baby's soiled diapers.

“Don't get all snobby on me. You need to blend in.”

“Oh, right. You really blend now, Rune. Tell me, Robin Hood”—she flicked my feathered cap—“where are Little John and your merry men?”

“Just put it on.”

I tried not to laugh when she tied the bonnet over her dark hair, but I couldn't help it. She tore it off and threw it to the ground.

“Aw, Jez. Don't be like that. You just had it backward. Here.”

I picked up the bonnet, pulled it onto her head, and tied it under her chin.

“There. Much better,” I said, still stifling a snicker.

“Really?” she asked.

“No. Really you look like a deranged milkmaid, but there's no time to find anything else. C'mon.”

Jez fumed, but she followed me as I made my way through town.

In the center of the city, we could see the palace rising up to tower over the smaller homes and shops that surrounded it. As we wound our way through the streets, I kept feeling like we were being watched. I turned around several times to look behind us, only to find that no one was there.

Finally, we reached the plaza in the center of the city where the many turrets and white marble of the palace beamed brightly, illuminated by hundreds of torches. Several of the windows radiated with a soft yellow glow. As we neared the palace, we found it surrounded by a wall that was nearly twenty feet high.

We stopped under an apple tree across the street from the main palace gate. Two uniformed guards armed with swords stood stiffly to either side.

Just across the plaza from us I saw a man with a beard wearing a cloak. He kept to the shadows, like me and Jez, but I could see him watching us suspiciously. I hoped he wasn't a guard in disguise. I picked an apple and munched, trying to look casual.

“That guy keeps staring at us,” Jez said.

“I know. Maybe he's just curious.”

“Maybe,” Jez said, sounding unconvinced.

The night watchman called out the hour, bringing our attention back to the guards and the palace.

“So where do we start?” Jezebel asked.

“I don't know,” I said. “Hey! You're a girl.”

“Are you just figuring that out?” Jezebel asked. She seemed mad. Why is it girls are always mad at guys, and we never know why?

“I mean, you have more in common with a princess than I do. You're a countess. You understand all this nobility and royalty mumbo jumbo. Put yourself in her place. Where would
your
bedroom be?”

Jez gazed at the palace for a moment, then smiled and pointed. “In the penthouse.”

I followed Jez's gaze up to the tallest tower, where I could just make out the silhouette of a girl standing at the candlelit window.

“How do we get up there?” I asked.

“I could fly up.”

“And do what? Bite her?”

“I know a good sleeping spell,” Jez said. “Let's knock out the guards, then I'll fly inside the castle and let you in.”

It seemed a little risky. I generally preferred to work in the shadows, but we were short on time, and I couldn't come up with a better plan. Jez and I strode casually up to the guards as if we were going to ask them a question. Jez was about to cast the sleeping spell when the gates burst open.

“It's about time!” a man said as he hurried through the gateway. “I was beginning to think you weren't coming. I've been watching for you for hours!”

“Sir?” I asked. Surely he'd mistaken us for someone else.

“
Sire
, you mean,” the man said.

Sire? This was the king! The white fur robes, jewels, and crown atop his balding head confirmed it. And what was better, he seemed to think he knew us. If I played my cards right, I could have this clown dethroned by morning!

“I thought there were three of you,” he said.

“Excuse me?” Jez asked.

“Three,
three!
I was told by Morgana to expect a warlock boy accompanied by
two
vampires. Where's the other vampire?”

Suddenly, everything was falling into place. Chad's Plot with the Morgana kids, my dad's mysterious meeting with him—apparently Chad was making his way here, to the city of Dimineata. His Plot had something to do with this man, who was obviously a king. That might make overthrowing the kingdom of Kaloya a little trickier than I thought. I had to think fast.

“Yes, there was another, but we left him outside the city to keep watch on the gates,” I said. I smiled inwardly as I realized this wasn't even really a lie.

“Oh, well … come in. Come in. We have a lot to do. How's your … uh … mother?” the man asked as he turned to lead us into the palace.

I couldn't believe our luck. We'd come here expecting to break into the palace, and now we were being invited in by the king himself! This was going to be so easy.

“My mother?” Jez asked, uncertain.

“No child! Muma Padurii—
his
mother.” The king pointed at me.

“But that's Chad's—”

“Uh. Fine,” I said, poking Jez in the ribs with my elbow. “She's fine.” I thought it best not to elaborate until we knew more about what Chad was Plotting.

“Good. Good,” the king said, walking briskly ahead of us into the enormous palace. “She's been a great help to me, I can tell you that. When I'd decided to steal the throne from my brother, I never expected help from a witch! But she has become indispensable to my plans.”

“Oh, right,” I said.

Jez and I exchanged puzzled looks. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on here—something bigger than just a couple of villainous school Plots.

“Morgana said you would help establish me on the throne, but it's late, and I'm tired. We can start our planning tomorrow. Besides, most of the work is done. My brother and his queen are gone. Their child is my prisoner until we decide what's to be done with her. And my soldiers are patrolling the roads for any signs of the Resistance.”

“Resistance?” Jez asked.

“Yes. Resistance. The reason you're here! To weed out those who are still loyal to my brother and the queen? Come, child! They told me you were intelligent!”

“Right. Sorry. Long journey and all that. Very tired,” Jez said. When the king turned away, she widened her eyes at me.

The king led us to a winding stairway, where he handed us off to a servant and bid us a good night.

“We shall talk more in the morning,” he said before leaving us.

We followed the servant up the winding stone staircase. As we passed a window, I could see the gates where the guards were standing watch and the apple tree where Jez and I had stood. I nudged Jezebel and pointed out the window. I couldn't be sure, but it looked like we were in the same tower where we had seen the silhouette of the girl.

“Servant,” Jez said, “can you tell us if anyone else sleeps in this tower?”

“Folks used to, but not much anymore,” the servant answered. He was a dirty, underfed boy who looked even younger than us.

“What do you mean?” Jez asked.

“Used to be the king's and queen's chambers, miss. Now they's empty. Only the young prisoner sleeps here nowadays—at the tippy top in her cell.”

“Prisoner?” I asked.

“O' course. She that was the princess before King Aurelio took the throne from his brother, the king that was.”

“You're saying the princess is imprisoned in the top of this tower?” I asked.

“Just said that, didn' I? These'll be your rooms,” the boy said, stopping outside two doors that faced each other from across the hall. “Ring if y' need anything. Pleasant night to you.” Then the boy trudged back down the tower stairs.

“Jez,” I said after the boy had gone. “This is perfect! All we have to do is climb this tower and kidnap the princess!”

“Just a minute, Rune. Something's going on here. What was all that about Chad's mother? And what about Morgana? She's obviously mixed up in all this. I smell trouble.”

“Who cares?” I asked. “Once we get the princess, we can start working on overthrowing King Pompous-Butt and setting the princess and her family back on the throne. Two birds with one stone, Jez.”

“I don't know …,” Jez said.

“Remember what Chad said to Master Dreadthorn? He said Morgana told him to help establish some girl's uncle on the throne. They must've meant the princess's uncle—King Aurelio. If we can put the princess's family back on the throne, Chad's Plot will have failed.”

Jez frowned at me as if she couldn't decide what to do.

“I'll tell you what. Let's have a look in Master Dreadthorn's crystal. Maybe it can tell us what's going on,” I offered.

Jez agreed, and we both went into one of the rooms, where I pulled the crystal ball from my pack. In a matter of seconds, we were gazing into the smooth orb.

“Show us Chad and his plans,” I said to the crystal.

At first, the ball filled with a hazy red fog. Then the clouds slowly parted to reveal a scene. I saw Chad and the Morgana vampires who were Plotting with him. They were climbing over the wall of the city. I heard Jez gasp. Then the scene changed, and I saw Chad and the vampires standing at the palace gate, being questioned by the guards. He looked confused and angry. Then I saw King Aurelio coming out in his night robe but still wearing all the gaudy gold jewelry. The scene changed again, and what I saw next made me shiver. It was Chad and the Morgana kids climbing the tower stairs.

“Let's get out of here!” I told Jez.

I shoved the crystal back into its pouch. Jez was already at the door. She pulled it open to find Chad, Erzsebet Bathory, and Gilles DeRay waiting for us.

“I just
knew
we'd run into each other again, Rune,” Chad said.

Busted.

Chad motioned with his hand, and two guards came in. One clapped me in irons, but Jezebel was quicker. She turned into a bat and tried to fly past Chad, but he'd been prepared for that. Gilles pulled out a net and caught Jezebel. He worked a spell I'd never heard before:

“Vampire bat,

no more of that.

Back to the form

that is the norm.”

With a tiny
pop!
Jez transformed back into a girl.

“Hey!” she said, clearly as surprised as I was at the spell. Then they had irons around Jez's wrists too.

“Don't bother trying to transform again,” Chad said. “The irons are bewitched to block magic.”

“Let us go, Chad!” I said, angry at having been caught so easily.

“It's nothing personal, Rune. Just business.” A slow, evil smile spread across Chad's bespectacled face, smushing his freckles together. I never thought freckles could be so malicious.

“And what have we here?” he asked, taking the velvet pouch from me. He opened it and dropped Dad's crystal ball into his hand. “Ooooh. He is going to be
so
mad at you. Still, you saved me the trouble of stealing it myself. Thanks, Rune. It won't be hard to find out where the Resistance is hiding now!”

“Where is the dog?” Erzsebet asked.

“The dog?”

At first I thought she meant Cappy. Then I realized she was talking about Wolf. He must've managed to spy on them without being caught. Maybe there was a chance he was still out there somewhere.

“Gone,” Jez said, thinking fast. “We were attacked by a dragon, and that drooling coward ran off.”

“Never trust a wolf!” Erzsebet said, smiling. Her gleaming fangs dripped over her bloodred lips.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked Chad. “I thought we were friends.”

“Don't be naive, Rune. All those cookies, all those talks … they were just a way for me to use you to get closer to Master Dreadthorn.”

“Why?” I asked. I thought I knew the answer, but I wanted to see how much information I could get out of Chad.

“To avenge my mother, of course.”

Okay, I hadn't been expecting that. I figured Chad just wanted to prove to our dad that he could be a good villain (which is kind of an oxymoron, but you know what I mean). What did Muma Padurii have to do with it?

“No more talk, Chad. We have Plotting to do,” Gilles said.

“Sorry, Rune. Duty calls.”

Jezebel and I were shoved up the tower stairs by two burly guards with Chad, Erzsebet, and Gilles close behind. We arrived at the top, where the guards unlocked a barred door and threw us roughly into the dark room beyond. The door closed and locked behind us with a heavy finality.

“Well, this bites,” I said.

“Not as much as
I'm
going to when I get out of here.” Jez bared her fangs at the door where Chad and his Conspirators had already departed.

“
If
we get out of here,” I said. “Let's face it, Jez, Chad has the crystal, Wolf's missing in action, and the only other help we have is a dog-headed gargoyle and a baby. And a goat,” I added as an afterthought.