Chapter 28
“Marchant doesn’t knowyou’re here.” Ivan glanced at Theo as he held one of the hand tongs Melodie had drawn. She was becoming extremely good at painting them.
Ivan snapped the shackles on Ric’s left hand and just like that, all the children were free.
Theo felt a surge of satisfaction, despite the fact that they were cornered. Having his students in sight was infinitely better than wondering what was happening to them.
“Agreed. He thinks it’s just Melodie in here with us. We need to work that to our advantage.” Jacinta looked toward the door, then over at Theo. She’d had her arms around the girls as they watched Gallain and Ivan work on the boys’ shackles.
Theo had been thinking about how to play their advantage. He looked over at Melodie. She was still on the floor, where she’d knelt to paint the tongs. Her heavy braid swung forward as she reached over to close the paint box. As she picked it up, Viviane suddenly threw herself off the bench onto the ground beside her.
“Wait.” She put a hand on Melodie’s arm, bent her head, and murmured something in Melodie’s ear.
Melodie lifted her head, looked at the princess, then gave a nod. She laid out a sheet of paper and opened her paint box again.
“Have the thread ready,” she said.
Vivi glanced over at Theo. “You have some loose threads in your coat.”
Theo looked down, saw she was right. It probably happened when he had tumbled into the trap near Marchant’s meeting place.
Vivi crouched at his feet, looking up at him. “Can I pull them loose?”
He nodded, a prickle of understanding spreading from the back of his neck, down his arms.
She was going to embroider something. Like her mother.
Her secret was going to come out.
She tugged at the ripped edges on the hem of his coat and pulled three or four long threads loose.
If he were to guess, she had just asked Melodie to paint her a needle, and sure enough, as soon as she had the long threads of dark gray in her hand, Melodie set a picture of a slim needle in front of her.
“Get Ric’s shirt off him as carefully as you can,” Vivi told Jon.
Jon frowned, wanting to ask why, but Theo glanced at the boy, gave a nod, and after a moment’s hesitation he helped Ric lift the shirt over his head.
“What’re you up to, Viv?” Ric coughed a little as he bent to get the shirt off, and Theo could see the dark bruising along his abdomen.
His fury rose up again, and he forced it down.
“I’m helping you.” The moment the needle appeared on top of the paper, she snatched it up, threaded it, and grabbed the shirt Jon held out for her.
She turned it inside out and began to sew, moving in quick, sure stitches.
Melodie was busy with a second needle, and it was ready to go almost exactly when the first one disappeared.
“It’s such a strange feeling,” Viviane said as she rubbed her forefinger and thumb together. Then she was threading the new needle, humming something as she did it, and the tingle Theo felt earlier rose up again.
This is what the queen did.
This was magic.
“Get it back on.” Vivi bit the thread off with her teeth and Theo just caught a glimpse of an image of some kind of plant before she turned it the right way around again. She handed it back to Ric. “Wear it right up against your skin.”
Jon helped him, and no one said anything as he pulled the shirt over his head with a wince. It was the kind of silence that was full of unspoken questions, but no one uttered a word.
Melodie finished packing up the paints, and this time, she didn’t bother wrapping them up and hiding them. She simply put them on the top of her things in her bag.
The significance of that wasn’t lost on him, and when she looked up, as if she sensed his gaze on her, their eyes met.
“What is your strategy?” he asked her. He wanted to ask her not to do it, not to give herself up, but he knew it was the one sure way to get the children to safety.
She set her bag carefully against the wall and then peered out into the growing dusk. “I’m hoping it gets a little later before we reach a deal, so it’s harder for him to see you in amongst the others in the dark,” she said.
“I’m not going with the others.” Theo spoke slowly. “He doesn’t know I’m here. I’ll stay behind. Everyone will leave who he knows about. You’ll step out. He won’t expect there to be another person still inside.”
She stepped out of the doorway, squinted at him in the growing darkness. “The others won’t know where all the traps are.”
“We’ll tell them. Right now.” Theo wasn’t going to bend on this.
He gestured all eight of them over. The children needed to understand the danger just as much as the adults. He told them about the trap on the path from the workshop to the forest, the pit near the clearing, the spider’s web over the road, told them how to avoid each one.
“When you get past the clearing, just climb straight over the fence as you step off the path onto the road, and follow it until you get to the gate. Nena is the farmer who owns the land. I don’t think she’s dangerous to you.”
“Gus was ordered to stay with her for a few days before he goes back to the inn to spy on whoever comes from Illoa to look for the children,” Melodie said. “He’s probably gotten his things from the inn and moved in there by now. And he isn’t compliant any more.”
“Did Marchant give him anything else magical to use?” Theo asked.
She shook her head. “Not that I saw. I think he was supposed to watch and listen, then report back. But he is dangerous and he will run to Marchant if he sees you.”
“That might not matter, but if he does approach you, be wary, and if you have to deal with him, so be it.” Theo felt nothing for the man who had sold his soul to Marchant.
“The town guards, or some of them, are in Marchant’s pocket as well. I’d avoid town altogether.” Melodie worried her bottom lip as she spoke.
“Agreed. Marchant has our horses and our packs, though.” Gallain rubbed the back of his neck, as if still discomforted by that.
“I’ll get the horses he took and the packs as part of the exchange,” Melodie said. “We found Caro’s horse and it’s at the inn, along with our own, so one of you will need to go get them.”
Caro gave a nod. “And then we’ll wait for you just outside town.”
“No.” Theo was shaking his head, and Melodie was doing the same. “Go. Just go as fast as you can with the children. There will be an army coming to meet you. Wait until the children are completely safe before you come back.”
All of them looked like they wanted to argue.
“This is not a discussion. I am in charge, and those are my orders.” Theo held each one of his team’s gaze before moving on to the next.
All of them lowered their eyes and nodded.
“It feels like we’re running away, like cowards. Saving ourselves with your sacrifice.” Viviane spoke softly, and her friends murmured their agreement.
“You aren’t soldiers yet,” Theo pulled Vivi into a hug. “You are not responsible for anything that happened here. And the best way you can help me is by following orders and getting to safety. The thing that has held me back is worrying about all of you. Knowing you are far from Marchant, and he cannot hold your wellbeing over me, is all that I need.”
She tightened the hug, and he ran a hand over her braided hair.
“Trust me. Trust me and Melodie to end this.”
“I’m back, little girl.” Marchant’s voice was sing song. Theo wondered if he was spiraling into some kind of madness. His behavior was strange, to say the least.
He didn’t like the thought, because at least a sane man was predictable.
“I’m here, old man.” Melodie walked to the door. “What’s your proposal?”
Gallain exchanged a look with Theo at her sarcasm, and Theo could see the appreciation in the soldier’s eyes.
It was a reflection of his own.
“Apologies for the delay, I went to fetch a rope. I’ll throw it toward the door. You put your hands through the loops I’ve already made in the rope and one of the soldiers can tighten them.”
“And why would I do this?” Melodie asked.
“Because once you do, I’ll move one of the stones so that your friends can get out. Once they are all out, I’ll let you watch them run for the forest, and then you come to the gap and let me grab the rope.”
“Afraid I’ll throw the compliance net on you otherwise?” Melodie scoffed.
He paused. “Yes. And if you give it to one of your friends, I’ll notice, and there will be consequences.”
“He’s delayed until dusk so he can see any magical items we may have.” Jacinta spoke softly. “He thinks he’s been crafty.”
“Fine.” Melodie pushed the door open a little wider. “But you’ll have their packs and horses brought, as well. And throw the packs at the door along with the rope, so I can check you haven’t secreted any nasty surprises inside.”
“You’d be able to tell, would you?” Marchant asked.
“Yes, old man, I would be able to tell.” Melodie’s eyes closed, and Theo saw her throat work as she gave up her secrets to their enemy. As she made herself irresistible to him.
“I have no use for the horses or the packs, so I agree.”
Melodie swung her bag over her shoulder and stepped out, and Theo bet Marchant salivated at the sight of her, all lit up with magic—her own and the spell-worked items she carried.
“The horses and packs,” she said coldly, and Gallain and Caro stepped out behind her.
“He can’t take his eyes off her,” Caro murmured to Theo from his place pressed up against the wall beside the door. “He’s moving to the stables, but he keeps looking back, like he can’t believe his luck.”
“Remember all the places we told you about where there are traps,” Theo reminded Ivan and Jacinta as they headed out of the door themselves. “And there may be others, so avoid the forest, use the main road as much as possible.”
“We’ll get them out.” Jacinta clapped her hand on his arm. “We won’t let you down.”
Vivi said nothing, she just gave him another hug, and Genevieve did the same. The boys tapped their chests with a fist as they went by, and Ric really did look like he was moving more easily.
Theo saw he kept rubbing the spot under his shirt where Vivi had put the embroidery.
Theo heard the sound of a horse whinnying, and a few thumps.
He wished he could see what was happening, but one of their few advantages was the fact that Marchant didn’t know he was here and he couldn’t risk being seen.
“Nice try. You wanted an early test of what I can do?” Melodie asked, voice dripping with scorn.
“Can’t blame me for it, can you?” Marchant couldn’t contain a cackle of delight. “Wait—” His shout was outraged as Theo heard a crack of something breaking.
“Oh, you wanted me to treat the nasty things you tried to hurt my friends with carefully, did you?” She didn’t even try to sound sorry.
“My mistake,” Marchant said.
Theo worried about his tone. It promised retribution.
“Yes, it was.” Her answer was cheerful, as if oblivious to his fury.
He bet she wasn’t oblivious at all, but he could do nothing about it but keep silent. And wait for his chance to kill the bastard.