The Mapkeeper and the Rise of the Wardens (18 page)

She landed with a painful thud in the same field as when she’d first transported to Praxis. She lay there for a moment, exhausted with emotion. She allowed the pain of the fall to radiate from her back side up to her neck and down her legs, feeling it without reacting. She didn’t have the energy to acknowledge it. Without emotion, she noted the heat of the map burning inside her pocket. She just lay on the grass, splayed out in pain, trying to focus on the darkness of the inside of her eyelids instead of the anger, sorrow, confusion, and fear that wrenched her heart.

After several minutes, she sat up and opened her eyes. She could see the clock tower and the thatched roofs of houses in the distance. Beyond that, from its lofty hill, Tropos Castle loomed over the village. She sat for a moment, alone in the middle of the grassy field. Her roiling emotions dwindled into a flat-line sensation of dullness. Sighing, she willed herself to stand and acknowledge that she had responsibilities to fulfill. She began to trudge in the direction of the village.

A train of new thoughts troubled her, adding to her list of fears.
Why did the map take me home to Algid? What if it happens again?
She entered town at the opposite end of the road from Central Square, trudging down the cobbled street past charming shingled houses toward the clock tower.

Her pensive state of mind fizzled as an unsettled feeling washed over her. It was broad daylight, but not a single soul walked the streets of town or peered from a window. In fact, she realized with a chill, all the windows were shuttered and all the doors were closed. She glanced around, slowing her pace. Something wasn’t right.

Suddenly fearing for her safety, Lucy slipped between two cottages and found a spooked horse tied up in a back yard. She pulled a thick riding blanket off a peg and threw it over the horse’s back before untying the animal. Its eyes were wide and wild as it pawed the dirt.

“Whoa, girl. Easy,” she cooed. She didn’t bother trying to find the horse’s owner to ask permission to borrow it. In addition to the intuition that she needed to get to the castle as soon as possible, she could tell that no one was around. The village was a ghost town.

She unlatched the waist-high wooden gate.
I’ll send the horse back fed and watered later
, she reasoned as she mounted the jittery animal.

“I hope my riding lessons at the castle pay off,” she muttered to herself. Tugging the reins, she guided the horse out of its pen and wedged her heels into its sides, urging it into a gallop across the meadow toward the winding Royale Byway that led up to Tropos Castle.

She did not encounter a single soul as she sped toward the castle. The apprehension that she could be attacked at any moment grew with each passing minute. She urged the horse onward, pushing as fast as she dared without risking exhausting the poor thing before she reached her destination. At last, she rounded the final bend in the road and emerged from the tree-lined road. She allowed the weary steed to slow to a trot as she crossed the field in front of the castle.

Shielding her eyes from the sun, she squinted toward the stable. There was no sign of Pip, Quinn, or any of the other stable hands. The castle drawbridge was raised in its usual upright position above the moat. Helmeted guards stood watch on either side. Relieved to see human life at last, Lucy willed herself to relax a little bit, though her nerves were still taut with foreboding.

“Who goes there?” One of the guards challenged her as she trotted to a halt across the moat.

“Lucy Barnes, Mapkeeper of Praxis,” she responded with confidence.
Do they not recognize me?
she wondered.

The two guards exchanged a glace. The one who had addressed her continued, “What are the names of your two brothers?”

“Mack and Luke,” she answered with a twinge of uneasiness.
Why are they testing me?

The guards nodded and lowered the drawbridge, which moaned in protest. A single stable hand scampered out from within the castle and took the reins from Lucy as she dismounted.

“I borrowed this fella from someone in the village,” she began to explain, but was cut off by the wide-eyed boy.

“I’m sorry, miss,” he interrupted, “but I’ve got to hurry. There’s no time to lose!” He hopped up onto the tired horse and dug his heels in, taking off toward the stable.

Lucy shook her head in confusion, hurrying across the drawbridge and through the atrium’s gold doors, which were guarded by two more sets of armed sentries.
Where is everyone?
she thought with a chill of uneasiness.

She rushed to one of the wide spiral stairways, leaping up the steps two at a time. To her irritation, four guards tailed her.

“Where is the queen?” Lucy called over her shoulder.

“She’s still in the king’s chamber, Ms. Barnes,” one of the guards stated.

Lucy ran all the way up to the fifth floor, grateful that she was in good enough physical condition that she didn’t need to stop to rest. The guards struggled to keep pace in their heavy armor. She did not slow to wait for them at the top landing, jogging straight to the king’s chamber and pounding three times on the door. A golden peep-hole plate slid aside and a magnified eyeball ogled her from within.

The thud of a deadbolt and the click of a latch signaled her acceptance. She hurried past four more guards, her chest heaving. The queen jerked around at the sudden noise.

“Queen Oleksandra!” Lucy exclaimed, flooded with relief at the sight of a familiar face. The queen’s eyes were dark and sunken. She looked thinner than when Lucy had seen her last.
Has she even left the king’s side?

“Lucy,” the queen murmured as she reached out to her, the sleeve of her robe falling to her elbow to reveal a thin, pale wrist. With her other hand, the queen clung to the king’s limp hand, which poked out between bed sheets. “Oh Lucy, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” The queen’s face crumbled in sorrow, her brow furrowing and her eyes pooling with tears.

“What is it, your majesty?” Lucy fell to her knees by the queen’s side, grasping the queen’s free hand in both of hers. “What happened?” Her mind raced, trying to stay ahead of a growing sense of panic. The queen’s skin was dull, reflecting the gray light of the shadowy, stuffy room. King Muttongale’s ailment seemed to fill the room like a dismal haze, permeating the corners and swallowing everything and everyone in the vicinity. It was as though the queen was becoming part of the chamber.

The queen lifted her downcast eyes to meet Lucy’s. They shone as a tear dripped down her hollow cheek. Her voice wavered and broke as she whispered, “They’re dead. They’re all dead.”

Lucy’s stomach dropped. “
Who
is dead, your majesty?” she demanded, tugging on the queen’s hand, terrified to her core of the answer.

Queen Oleksandra’s eyes were dripping now, steady rivers of tears that flowed down her cheeks, slipped under her chin, and dampened the collar of her robe. Lucy fought back an upwelling of panic in her throat.

“The villagers, the elves, the centaurs, the Bellaux… they’re all dead, Lucy.” The queen rocked back and forth as she spoke, her knuckles white against her vise grip on Lucy’s hand. A gaping hollow of shock formed in her stomach.

“The Wardens launched a massive attack before daybreak. First, they slaughtered the elves under the cover of Doldrums Forest. The poor creatures never saw it coming,” she muttered, her voice catching like gravel in her throat.

“It is rumored that before the army of Wardens were discovered by the castle sentries, they came upon and killed a group of centaurs on patrol in the forest. They emerged from the forest like a solid black line, an army so large they are believed to outnumber the humans two to one. They made their way across the valley to the Tree of Virtue, which they burned to the ground. They killed so many… so many Bellaux…” the queen’s mouth hung open as she stared into space for a moment, losing herself in the mental images conjured by her own words.

“I am told the Warden army was so great that it spanned the entire valley,” she continued after several tense seconds. “There were still Wardens marching out of the forest as the Tree of Virtue was being burned, clear across the valley near Glacial Lake.”

Lucy’s heart thundered as she processed the information, her mind working at lightning speed. She willed her overactive mind not to leap ahead. She needed to let the queen finish, even as she struggled to control the rising nausea in her esophagus.

“It was worse than a nightmare. They marched into the village, where people were in a frenzy. They used dark arts to kill... the people had no chance to defend themselves. No chance to survive. Meanwhile, the castle was making preparations to defend itself. We sent a large contingency of guards to defend the villagers, but by the time they made it to town it was too late. The massacre was over and the Wardens had retreated back across the valley and were disappearing into Doldrums Forest.”

“Your majesty,” Lucy interrupted, taking advantage of a pause in the story. “This is such terrible, awful news, and I cannot express how sorry I am that I was not here to help. I am so, so sorry.” She looked the queen in the eye, both of them crying rivers of tears now. “But your majesty,” Lucy whispered, “what about my brothers and Cadmus? Where are they?” Her voice trailed off, weakening as she spoke the question whose answer she most dreaded.

“Oh, Lucy, I’m so sorry.” The queen burst into massive sobs, the force heaving her shoulders. Lucy felt as though she’d been punched in the gut. She fell back to a seated position, staring at the queen in disbelief. “They—they went out with the guards,” Oleksandra sobbed. “They were so brave, Lucy. They had their bows and quivers, and they dressed in armor from the castle armory before they set out. But… they never returned.” The queen wept and clung to her husband’s limp hand.

Lucy’s mind raced. “Your majesty,” she began, talking over the sobs, “certain things don’t seem to add up. When I walked through town, it was deserted, but there were no signs of a struggle, and no bodies. When the Wardens killed the guards in the forest, it was a gruesome killing. How did they manage to slaughter so many people without spilling any blood?”

The queen wiped her bloodshot eyes and squinted at Lucy, her sobbing slowing as she listened to the Mapkeeper.

“And another thing—if the Wardens want to take control of Praxis, why would they attack the elves, the centaurs, the Bellaux, and the people, but stop short of raiding the castle? Why would they retreat after attacking the village?” Her heart was still pounding in terror, but she was certain that the queen didn’t have the full story. “Your majesty, if I may ask, who reported all these things to you?”

The queen’s sobbing had stopped. “Well, my personal guards, of course,” she replied. “Are you suggesting that they lied to me?” The queen’s tone was not indignant, but fearful.

“I don’t know, your majesty. All I know is that the story doesn’t add up. Something is wrong—I can feel it—but I’ve got to get the full story before I act.” Lucy stood, touching the outline of the folded map in her front pocket. “And the truth is, your majesty, I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

Glancing at the guards who stood watch at the entrance to the chamber, Lucy took off running in the opposite direction across the room.

“Hey!” one of the guards called.

“Wait! We’re under strict orders—”

Before he finished his sentence, Lucy slid feet-first into the laundry chute across the room, glancing back at Queen Oleksandra as she disappeared into the chute. The queen’s mouth fell open in shock.

Lucy felt sorry for the woman, but she knew she had to get out of there. She was certain that the queen would be dead by now if that was what the Wardens wanted. The fact that she was still alive meant she was most likely safe as long as she remained at the king’s side, which Lucy had no doubt she would.

This chute was longer than the one she’d slid down from her own room, and just as dark. She spilled out into the familiar laundry room in the castle basement. This time, there was no time to lose. The guards would be coming for her. At this point, she was certain of only one thing: that she could not trust anyone within the castle.

Scrambling to her feet, she ran to the little wooden door that led outside. The brace bar she’d removed last time she was here had been replaced. Yanking it off, she threw her weight against the door like she had done before. She managed to ram it open on her first try, falling to her knees in the dirt. Jumping to her feet and slamming the door shut behind her, she took off running toward the grove of trees behind the stable where she had kissed Cadmus.

Tucked behind the safety of the tree line, she allowed herself to catch her breath.
I have to keep moving
, she thought. The guards would find the brace bar on the floor of the laundry room and know she’d made it outside. Not knowing where to go next, Lucy pulled out the map, hoping it would help her think. She needed to come up with a plan.

To her surprise, it was warm and glowing. She scanned the map. The village was deserted, but the castle was abuzz with little cartoonish guards trotting the halls in pairs. They were searching rooms—
looking for me
, she thought with a prickle of fear. Queen Oleksandra was labelled beside King Muttongale’s bed, right where Lucy had left her. That was no surprise.

Prince Puck was in the dungeon with six guards. Lucy hesitated, considering what business he might have in the dungeon. It struck her as an odd place for the prince to be found.

Desperate to find her brothers or Cadmus, she continued scanning the map. Rhys was in his lab beneath his hut, mixing a vial of something green with a flask of something purple. It fizzled, little cartoon bubbles bursting above the beaker. Trolls roamed the Dour Mountains, dragging clubs behind them, and a few gnomes were harvesting some sort of crop near the foothills. When she scanned Doldrums Forest, her eyes lit up and her heart began to race. Cadmus, Mack, Luke, and Zadok were huddled around a table together in a chamber inside Abodox!