The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) Read online

  “Glad it’s not my problem.”

  “Yet,” Chris said with a grimace. “That one’s going to be one major headache.”

  “Don’t worry. When and if that time comes, we’ll just hand it over to Cryslyn.”

  Chris grinned. “That’s not a bad idea. I’ll suggest that to Laryn, or maybe Steve. But in the meantime, when do you want to take Theresa to Timera Valley?”

  “I guess we should go now. Brena’s probably wondering what’s taking us so long as it is.”

  “I’ll get Theresa.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Kevin and Theresa arrived in Timera Valley, they were on the only road in the small valley. There was no village, just a few scattered houses and one large building with a starburst on the front door. It was the home of the Sisterhood.

  Theresa reached the door before Kevin, rapped on it twice, and opened it. “Brena? Verna? It’s me, Theresa,” she called out as Kevin followed her through the door. “Myron’s with me if you’d like to say hello before he leaves.”

  A petite middle-aged woman hurried up the hall from the chapel’s kitchen. Her curly black hair was speckled with gray, but there was a sparkle in her eyes. As she rushed into Theresa’s arms, Brena said, “Myron, so nice to see you again. Don’t leave yet. I need to talk to you.”

  Kevin nodded.

  Before anyone could say anything else, another woman, even smaller than Brena, came down the hall. As she turned to hug Theresa, Kevin noticed a long braid hanging down her back.

  “The braid’s new, isn’t it, Verna?” Kevin asked. “Looks nice.”

  Verna blushed all the way to her ears. “Thank you,” she said as she fidgeted with the ever-present towel tied to her belt. “I’ve just taken some cookies out of the oven if you’d like some.”

  “Wonderful idea.” Brena took Theresa’s hand and started towards the kitchen. “We can have tea with them. Come along, Myron.”

  After they were seated with tea and cookies, Brena took a slip of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Theresa. While Theresa read the message, Brena turned towards Kevin. “As I’m sure you’re aware, there was a slaver raid in Syrando last night. Sister Janine visited Syrando weekly. She knows them well, and wants to help.”

  Before Kevin could say anything, Brena held up her hand to stop him. “I feel sure Gen. Crandal plans to send a squad of soldiers down the river after them, right?”

  “Well, not exactly. He wants to put soldiers near the mouth of the river and wait for the slavers to get there.”

  Brena nodded and waved it away. “But what if they aren’t headed in that direction? What if they head towards Glenarbour? To the slave house? Do you have anyone in Glenarbour?”

  Before Kevin could answer, Brena continued. “I didn’t think so. Well, Sister Janine wants to go, and as a sister, she’ll be admitted to the slave house. We made a deal with them years ago, back before I moved here, that we would not try to free anyone if they’d let us examine the slaves and provide medical treatment. The owners of the house have allowed the sisters free access ever since. There’s a sister in Glenarbour who sees to the slaves, but a visiting sister helping out isn’t unusual enough to draw undue attention. Anyway, Janine wants to go and see if anyone from Syrando’s in there.”

  Kevin waited to see if Brena was done. Then he asked, “And what does Sister Janine propose to do if she finds someone? She can’t do anything to free them. That would violate your agreement.”

  “That’s where you come in. You can send your soldiers in to get them, go in yourself, or buy them. I don’t care how you do it, but once she finds them, you can take care of rescuing them.” She turned to Theresa. “Now, my dear, we need someone to take over Janine’s chapel while she’s in Glenarbour. Can you and your assistant help us out on that?”

  “Of course. When do you want us to go?”

  “It’ll take Janine a while to go over everything with you, so this evening would be good. Oh, and the two children who survived the raid will be at the chapel, but Janine’s aide will be there too, so you’ll have plenty of help.” Brena looked back at Kevin. “It would take Janine several days to reach Glenarbour on her own. The next auction’s not for two weeks, but she needs to get there before the slavers. So once she’s ready to go, if you’ll take her, that would help. Oh, and have a plan ready for getting them out of there if she finds them, and have someone in place to carry out those plans.”

  Kevin nodded, wondering how he was going to do that.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Kevin dropped Theresa off in Milhaven and went back to his office. He’d just sat down in his chair when Chris walked in with another message in his hand.

  “Remember this morning, when you asked me to tell you that you were needed somewhere else? Well, you got your wish.”

  “In spades,” Kevin moaned. “What now?”

  “You’re needed off the coast of Nandelia. A young humpback whale has managed to get himself caught in a pool that’s draining as the tide goes out. Yara said she needs you to get the whale out in open water, and sooner is better than later. I don’t think you’re going to be very popular with the merfolk if anything happens to that whale.”

  “How am I supposed to find it? Did she give us directions or something? How did she send me a message?”

  “All I know is it arrived by falcon,” Chris said. “What does it matter? You need to get out there. The message was here before you left for Timera Valley.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I said it was here, not that I had it. It’s Saturday. We don’t check for messages as often on the weekends. Anyway, none of this matters. We need to go.”

  “We?”

  “I’m not missing this one.” Chris pulled out a map of Nandelia. “Here it is.” He pointed to a small dot along the east coast of the peninsula they knew as Baja California. “She said she’d find us once we got there. So, let’s go.”

  Kevin sighed as he stood up and took out his key. “Okay. Let’s go find a whale.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  An hour later, a happy baby humpback joined his anxious mother as they both headed out to sea, much to the relief of Kevin’s favorite mermaid.

  “Thank you, Myron,” Yara said from her watery throne. “Usually we can lure them back out before the tide gets too low, but he’s a stubborn one. He was having too much fun playing around the shoals. I would have hated to lose him.”

  “Glad to help out, Yara,” Kevin answered. “Call on me anytime.”

  “Thanks again.” Yara dove through her throne and disappeared into the sea.

  “Guess it’s time to go home.” Kevin held his arm out to Chris.

  Chris looked at the waves rolling in and sighed. “Guess so. No telling what’s come in since we left, but this was a nice break.”

  When they reached the office, there was a message on Kevin’s desk. Theresa and Hayley were in the castle dining room and were ready to go whenever he was.

  Kevin fingered the note. “I should probably take them first, then eat dinner, but I haven’t had lunch yet. I think food first, deliveryman second this time.”

  “At some point, you need to go out to Willow Canyon and let Glendymere know you won’t be there tomorrow morning.”

  “I hadn’t even thought about that. Guess I’ll make a quick trip out there before I eat. Then, maybe after I take Theresa and Hayley to Ashmont, I can call it a day. Meet you in the dining room.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Glendymere was outside in the canyon when Kevin arrived. “I didn’t expect you today. Did I forget about something?”

  “No, I wanted to let you know I won’t be able to make it to the canyon lands tomorrow morning.” Then Kevin filled Glendymere in on his day.

  “You know you can’t stop slavery just by catching a few slavers, right?”

  “I know, but I can’t act like it’s okay to steal people out of their homes either.”

  “Just as long as you realize it’s like trying to put out
a forest fire with a milking bucket.”

  “Anyway, I wanted to let you know what’s happening so you won’t expect me tomorrow. I’ve got to take Theresa and Hayley to Ashmont tonight, so I need to get back to Milhaven.”

  “Hold on a minute. We need to talk about something and now’s as good a time as any.” Glendymere paused for a moment. “Rhianna’s an elf and she’s at the point in her life when she should be developing her own powers, not just encouraging Landis. The only reason she’s here is I’m working with Landis on things you can’t teach her. So it seems only fair you should help Rhianna develop her powers.”

  “Me?” Kevin felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs. Work with Rhianna? “How? What do I know about her powers?”

  “Well, you’re part elf. You know how to connect with the wind, work with storms, and handle tornadoes. That’s what you can teach her.”

  “But I thought that stuff came naturally to elves.” Kevin was close to panic. There was no way he could concentrate well enough around her to control a tornado. He’d kill them both.

  “It does, and once she finds her connection, the rest will flow from there, but she needs someone to show her how to do it, like I did for you, up on the cliff, with that first thunderstorm. Normally her father would teach her, but she’s not in Crinsor Run with him, she’s here, so it’s up to us, and since I’m busy with your apprentice …”

  “But that’s just one of her powers. What about the others? Who’ll help her with those?” There had to be someone else who could do this.

  “She already has a connection with animals, so you don’t have to worry about that. As for translocation, that one just seems to happen. I don’t think elves ever develop much control over that one. But the connection with weather, that’s a skill, and skills take practice, lots of practice. And guidance.” Glendymere paused. Kevin’s mouth opened and closed, but he didn’t say anything. “Shall we plan for you to begin next Sunday? After you work with me, of course. Can’t let that slide. You can work here until she’s ready to start with storms. Then you’ll need to take her to the canyon lands.”

  “Have you mentioned this to her?”

  “Not yet. There wasn’t anything to mention until today. I’ll tell her you’ll be here about mid-morning next Sunday.” Glendymere nodded. “Glad that’s taken care of. Now, if there’s nothing else, I’ll see you Tuesday morning. And plan to stay a little longer than usual. We need to make up for tomorrow’s practice. Mustn’t let those reflexes slow down.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Kevin stared at his food. It looked great, and he liked everything on his plate, but the butterflies that had taken up residence in his stomach didn’t leave much room for food. As he pushed it around on his plate, he remembered how hungry he’d been before he went to Willow Canyon. That elf was going to be the death of him yet.

  As soon as Theresa and Hayley finished eating, he asked if they were ready to leave. He wanted to get them to Ashmont and talk to Sister Janine. He needed to think about something other than Rhianna.

  “We just need to pick up our bags,” Theresa said. “They’re in your office.”

  Kevin stood up and turned to Chris. “If anything else comes up, leave a note on my desk. Otherwise, when I get back, I’m done.”

  When Kevin got to the reception area with Theresa and Hayley, Alek was waiting. “There’s no reason for you to have to make this trip,” Kevin said as he opened the door to his office. “Why don’t you call it a day?”

  “I’ll be glad to, sir, when you do.” Alek picked up the heaviest of the three bags, the one loaded with herbs and food.

  Kevin didn’t bother to argue. He might be the Master Sorcerer of Terah, but it didn’t mean anything to anyone in the castle. They did whatever they wanted to no matter what he said.

  As soon as Theresa and Hayley had their bags in their hands, Kevin stepped into the group and took out his key. Moments later, they were standing on the road in front of the Chapel of Light in Ashmont. All of the buildings around them were dark except the chapel, and there was only one window with a light shining through it there. All in all, Ashmont looked deserted.

  Kevin led the way to the front door and knocked. A couple of minutes later he heard faint footsteps and the door opened a few inches. The same lady who had come to the door for Gen. Crandal peeked out, but the light from the glowstone lamp she carried in her hand cast shadows on her face that made her look quite old.

  “Good evening,” Kevin said. “Sorry to disturb you, but I’ve brought Sister Theresa and her assistant, Hayley, to help you with the chapel while Sister Janine’s in Glenarbour.”

  “Shhh,” the lady said harshly with her finger to her lips and a deep frown on her face. “The children are asleep,” she whispered, “and Sister’s trip is secret. We don’t want anyone to know where she is.”

  “All right.” Kevin frowned. Brena hadn’t given him any reason to think this trip was clandestine, but if that’s what Janine wanted, she must have her reasons. “Sorry. Now, if we could come in …”

  The lady stepped to the side and opened the door. As she waved them into a small parlor, she said, “My name’s Alma. I’ll get Sister for you. Won’t be but a minute.” Then she shut the parlor door and left them in the dark.

  “Did anyone notice where a glowstone lamp was before she shut the door?” Theresa asked. “It’s so dark in here I can’t see my hand in front of my face.”

  “It wasn’t this dark outside,” Hayley said. “They must have heavy drapes on the windows.”

  “Or no windows,” Kevin added.

  “Can’t you do something, Kevin?” Theresa asked. “You know, with magic?”

  “I guess I could start a fire,” Kevin answered with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “Which piece of furniture would you like for me to burn?”

  “Seriously? You can’t make some kind of light? Even a small glow?”

  Before Kevin could answer, the door to the parlor opened and a faint light spilled in. The younger lady Kevin had seen speaking with Gen. Crandal earlier walked into the room. “I don’t know why Alma left you in the dark.” She went straight to a small table and opened a glowstone case. “Just wasn’t thinking, I guess. Not that anyone’s thinking straight around here today.” Then she walked over to Theresa. “You must be Sister Theresa. Sister Brena said you’d be here, but from her letter, I got the impression it would be closer to bedtime. I’m Sister Janine, the resident sister.”

  Theresa introduced Hayley, and then said, “I’d like to introduce Myron. And Alek, his guard.”

  Janine nodded in their direction.

  “The town was dark when we arrived,” Kevin said. “Is that normal?”

  Janine shook her head. “People are scared. Common sense says the slavers are far away by now, but you can’t help but feel like they’re out there, in the shadows. Most people have gone somewhere else for the night, to family members living farther inland, to the inns at Sandy Creek or Creedmore, some are even camping in the woods. They want to be as far as possible from the river.”

  Kevin frowned. “Do you mean you two and the children are the only ones left in Ashmont?”

  “Asar and his family are still here. And Lt. Martyn and Sgt. Nance, of course, and a couple of the single men, but most of the families have left, at least for tonight.”

  “Do you think they might feel safer if there was a sorcerer around?” Kevin asked.

  “Probably, but we can’t afford to hire one, and sorcerers don’t work for free, so that’s not an option open to us,” Janine answered.

  “I’ll have one here, at the chapel, before bedtime, and he can stay as long as he’s needed, until people feel safe again.” Kevin turned to Alek. “Guess you and I better go back so we can find Marcus.”

  “I’ll stay the night, too,” Alek said. “That way I’ll be here in the morning when you come back to take Sister Janine to Glenarbour.”

  Kevin nodded his thanks and turned to Theresa. “Do you need a
nything from home?” When she shook her head no, he held out his arm to Alek and they left.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Kevin and Alek returned, Chris was at his desk in the outer office.

  “Have you seen Marcus this evening?” Kevin asked.

  “I saw him half an hour ago,” Chris answered. “Do you need him?”

  Kevin nodded. “Are any of the pages still around?”

  Chris shook his head. “I told them they could go after I got back from dinner.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Alek said. “Any idea where he was headed?”

  “To wash up. He spent the day helping a farmer put in a new well and he was covered in mud. He said he was going to eat after he got clean, so if he’s not in the bath house, check the dining room.”

  Alek nodded as he left the office.

  “What’s going on?” Chris asked as he followed Kevin into his office. “I thought you’d be done once you got back from Ashmont.”

  “I thought I would be too, but the people in Ashmont are so spooked by the raid that almost everyone left town, at least for the night.” Kevin sat down at his desk. “I don’t think any slavers are still in the area, but since most of the houses are vacant, tonight would be a good time for thieves to hit. I’ll feel better about the people who stayed behind if Marcus is there to keep an eye on things. Then, when Alek heard me tell Sister Janine I’d bring a sorcerer to stay at the chapel tonight, he volunteered to stay, too.”

  “How long do you plan to leave Marcus there?”

  “I’m not sure. Probably as long as Theresa and Hayley are there.”

  “Hayley will appreciate that.”

  Before Kevin could answer him, there was a quick knock on the open door.

  “You wanted to see me?” Marcus asked as he walked in.

  Kevin caught Marcus up on everything that had happened. “I’d like for you to go to Ashmont and keep an eye on things, and while you’re there, take a good look around the area and make sure the slavers really are gone.”