Free The Flute Keeper's Promise (The Flute Keeper Saga) by Ashley Setzer Page B

Spirit Mentor, I didn’t know
what to do.
    “Well,” Garland said with a little
bow to Anouk, “guess I’ll be on my way.”
    “Oh, you don’t have to, I was just
leaving,” I said.
    “No, no, there’s work to be done,”
Garland said, coloring slightly. “Good day, ladies.”
    I watched him leave with much
interest. There was a bounce in his step and if my ears didn’t deceive me, he
was humming a cheery melody.
    “Delightful young man,” Anouk said.
    “He’s not much younger than you,” I
pointed out.
    Flustered, Anouk tried to refill
the water bucket but forgot to tie off the rope. The bucket dropped to the
bottom of the well. “Oh bother!”
    “Let me get that,” I said, trying
not to laugh. I leaned over the well and focused on the bucket floating at the
bottom. It was harder to pull items to me rather than to repel them, but I’d
been working on it. The complicated part was projecting a barrier between two
distant objects. I had been practicing, though, and it paid off.  The bucket
sprang out of the well. I handed it to Anouk.
    “Much obliged,” Anouk said. “Oh,
almost forgot!” She reached into her robe pocket and pulled out something
wrapped in a handkerchief. She handed it to me.
    Inside the handkerchief was a
savory slab of pastry speckled with seeds and nuts.
    “Crispy bread!” she sang. “I told
you I’d save you some.”
    The hearty aroma of the bread made
my stomach rumble. I’d been in such a hurry to get to the cathedral that I’d
skipped out on breakfast. “Do you have time to eat with me?” I asked.
    Anouk wiped her brow and hoisted
the water bucket. “Afraid not. I already ate and I’m behind on my chores. Go
enjoy your free time. With the clergy in council you’ve got the day off. That
doesn’t happen very often, especially once you’re inducted.”
    The looming deadline of my induction
dampened my spirits. I tried to look on the bright side. Joining the clergy
would give me access to a world of knowledge I couldn’t have otherwise. There
was much yet to be discovered. At times, I thought my life and Ivywild’s safety
depended on it. Certainly the knowledge I needed to defeat Robyn wasn’t going
to fall out of the sky and hit me over the head.
    “I only hope I can be as devoted as
you after I’m inducted,” I said. “But…”
    “But what?” Anouk asked.
    “But I still want to know why the
clergy can’t have children.”
    “Emma—” Anouk said wearily.
    “Can you imagine how smart your and
Garland’s kids would be?”
    “Off with you!” Anouk said, turning
red as cherry.
     
    I wasn’t about to waste my day. I
had a conversation to continue with Lev. I was surprised that he hadn’t come to
talk me after my return from Avalon. It wasn’t uncommon for him to show up on
my balcony at odd hours of the night. The bread lady had gotten that part
right, but like all rumors the truth wasn’t so juicy. Except for one ill-fated
attempt to use my bathtub, Lev had never set foot in my room. I suspected it
had a lot to do with the fact that I shared a suite with Chloe who, in addition
to being nosy, had never learned to knock.
    Lev’s room, on the other hand, was
much more secluded.
    The labyrinth hadn’t changed one
bit in all the time I had been at Ivywild. It was still dark as a starless
night and smelled of dank earth. Fortunately I didn’t have to go very far into
the winding corridors to reach Lev’s room. Not much more than a hole in the
wall, the little den housed one table, one hammock and usually one sleeping
manticore.
    Today Lev wasn’t home and Ulf was
nowhere to be seen. I was disappointed. Lev usually stayed in his den during
the daytime. If he wasn’t there, he was at W.R.A.I.T.H.
    Othella had excluded me from
practically all W.R.A.I.T.H. business. Now that I had seen behind the cloak of
the secret organization, I wanted in for good. I felt as though I’d been kicked
outside and they’d bolted the door behind me. Not so with Lev.