Chapter 29
Armando grew tense as the secret door swung open and he purposefully placed himself in front of Ivory and Razavan. He was surprised when he saw Marla, the young girlfriend of Pallando. It was obvious she had been crying, as her eye make up was smudged from wiping her eyes. She looked up and gasped when she saw the three of them.
Armando seized the moment just when he knew Ivory and Razavan had thoughts of making sure to keep her quiet in their own way. To their shock, the SongMaker bowed elegantly to her.
"Miss Marla," Armando said in a voice that dropped an octave.
"What…what are you doing here?"
"I had intended to surprise the wizard Pallando by delivering his song early. But now I realize I was really hoping to see you."
Marla wiped another tear away with the back of her hand. "You wanted to see me?"
He smiled at her. "Of course. I know how cruelly he treats you. Why do you stay with him?"
She sniffled. "I don't know. I thought he loved me."
"Did you have an argument?"
"Yeah. After we went to dinner, he was angry at me for not cooperating." She looked down at her feet. "I…shouldn't be talking to you. If he found out you were even here…"
Armando spoke in a soothing, mesmerizing tone. "Little one, if he loved you, then would you be so afraid? Tell me what he wanted you to do."
Her eyes glossed over as she wanted to keep listening to his voice. "He wanted me to do something really bad."
Oh, for heaven's sake, grumbled Razavan, just reach into that weak, little mind and control it.
No, I want her to trust me on her own. Armando continued with a gentle voice. "If you help us, I will protect you from him."
Her eyes grew wide. "Really?"
"I am Carpathian. I will not break my word. Now tell me what happened."
Marla wrung her hands. "When we went to dinner, a man met us there."
"And his name?"
"I don't know," she said with a tremor in her voice. "But he's not as old as Pallando. He looked more like my age."
So what is that? Twelve? asked Razavan.
"What was this man like?" asked Armando, ignoring Razavan.
"He wasn't very nice. He kept wanting to touch me. He said he doesn't get to see anyone very much."
That had Ivory and Razavan paying more attention to Marla. "Why is that?" asked Ivory.
Marla frowned at Ivory. "Who are you?"
"They are just friends," explained Armando.
"Is she your girlfriend?"
As Razavan stiffened, the SongMaker smiled and shook his head. "No, as I said, she is just a friend."
"Do you think she's pretty?"
Razavan tried not to roll his eyes. His patience was beginning to wear thin.
"Of course not," said Armando, "you are by far more beautiful." For a moment he was worried what was Janelle was thinking but then he heard his lifemate laugh in his mind.
I know exactly what you are doing.
"You really think I'm beautiful?"
"Of course. And as I said, I would protect you from him. But we do not have much time. Pallando is home, yes?" When she nodded, Armando continued. "The man you saw at dinner, what else did he talk about?"
"I'm not sure. I was confused."
What a surprise, drawled Razavan. Ivory poked him but she also bit her lip to keep from smiling.
"Tell me," said Armando gently.
"They kept talking about how they hadn't actually seen each other in a long time," Marla volunteered. "Pallando was asking about how the man's family was doing. I guess he has a big family because the man referred to how much money it cost to keep all of them."
It must be the children, said Ivory.
"What did he say that confused you?"
Marla crossed her arms. "They kept talking about how things were going to get better when the new medicine would work. I tried to ask what that meant but Pallando yelled at me to keep quiet. Then the man kept talking about how his family would soon need to die because he wouldn't need them anymore. Doesn't that sound awful?"
"It does," agreed Armando. "Do you know why he wouldn't need them?"
She shook her head. "No. That's when Pallando looked over at me and said I had to sleep with him."
"Excuse me?" asked Armando as if he hadn't quite heard right.
Tears began rolling down her cheeks. "Pallando said since the man didn't get out very often that I needed to…to be with him. That he is our guest and we should give him whatever he wants."
"And he wants you."
Marla sniffed. "Yes! But I don't want him! I don't care how rich he is, he gives me the creeps."
"What does he look like?"
"He has greasy brown hair that's long. His eyes don't match his hair…they are black. I mean, really black. They looked like lifeless eyes. I felt icky every time he looked at me."
A wizard?
Possibly, answered Armando. He nodded at Marla. "And why are you here?"
She blinked. "I live here."
Razavan groaned. Oh for the love of…
"But why are you here in this room?" asked Armando in a patient tone.
"He sent me here to get some wine."
"Wine?" asked Ivory. "I don't see any wine."
Marla gave her a look of distaste. "That's because there's another compartment." She marched across the room to one of the bookcases. She tapped on the wall next to it, and the entire bookcase swung open to reveal another hidden room. She clicked on a light and they saw not only cases of wine, but a very large marble stand, holding an enormous book.
That must be it! said Ivory.
Armando reached out and touched Marla's shoulder. "Thank you."
"For what?"
He smiled. "For trusting me." Armando looked directly into her eyes. "You will retrieve the wine Pallando wanted, but you will not give us away. There is nothing he can say or do which will make you say we were here." He continued to whisper soothing words in her mind, calming her so she felt at ease. "Go now," he said to her as he dropped his voice an octave once more. "You will be calm an unafraid."
Marla appeared to relax and slowly turned away. Once she left the room, the three of them quickly went to work. Ivory opened the heavy book to the first page and all of them coughed as a swirl of dust came at them.
"How long has it been since this book was even touched?" choked Razavan.
"Probably not since the children were first trapped," answered Ivory who began to turn the pages. They were silent for a moment as they realized thousands of spells were written down as she turned page after page. "We need to take this book back with us."
Armando shook his head. "There is no time with our unexpected guest here this evening."
Razavan grimaced. "Yes, apparently they've been guessing at the fact we've been watching them. They successfully made it sound as if their visitor would be arriving tomorrow evening."
"Meaning any of this could be a trap," sighed Ivory as she continued to turn the pages.
Armando's hand shot out and stopped her before she turned to the next page.
"What is it?" asked Razavan as he stepped closer.
"This one is different."
Ivory studied the handwritten spells written on the page. "How? It speaks of the sun setting…it looks like a spell that casts darkness onto the living."
The SongMaker gently pushed Ivory aside and ran his fingers down the page. "Exactly. The living are no longer in the light."
Razavan's eyes lit up with excitement. "And here it speaks of memories. But it seems to end at the bottom…" He turned the page. "This is a new spell. Where is the rest of the one we were reading?"
Armando turned the page back and flicked his fingers into the air. The dust left the page, swirling until Ivory gasped as they saw words form. The SongMaker nodded. "It is a song."
Razavan quickly studied the words. "I have it memorized. I will not forget it."
"But there are not notes," Ivory protested. "How do you know the actual music?"
Armando frowned. "I will have to experiment with the words. It may take time."
Suddenly voices could be heard and Ivory quickly closed the book. The there of them stepped outside the secret compartment an immediately closed the door. Just as the far room wall opened, they transformed back into mice. Scampering across the floor, they disappeared into the air duct and made their way out of the house and into the night.
Author's note: Not a long chapter but I've been swamped at work lately. I will try to work on this every chance I get. We are getting closer to the ending. Although I do already have another mini-story in mind with other characters that eventually have appearances from Armando and others. -Anne
