The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,66
“He still has my ear. He will hear reason.”
“Do as you please,” the elf said, without offering any defence.
Ben hadn't a clue what was going on, but the fact that Lornor was in a rage was clearly a good thing. They didn't seem to be going to prison yet – were they heading to another temporary holding room? Hope threatened to swell his chest, but he forced it down, unwilling to draw conclusions until he knew exactly what was going on.
The elf led them through the maze of passageways and series of steps, until they were walking down one of the three main staircases, with the open arched entrance in clear view. Ben glanced back at Natalie and Charlie, who were now both smiling, unable or unwilling to hide their own expectations.
The elf stopped them by the entrance, and handed Ben back his pouch of spells, before giving them each a long stare. “Let me be clear that SpellWorks frowns heavily upon your actions, and you will not be welcome back here until you have made sufficient amends. Our laws state that you should go to trial and face the consequences. However, it appears you have some very powerful friends who have argued your case at the highest level. You are free to go, but please understand that, should you return, you will face the punishment you have managed to avoid.” The elf turned and directed his gaze to a figure just outside the entrance. “They are all yours, Ms. Walker.”
Ben almost fell over in surprise. On the top of the steps stood Wren. Her long silvery hair, piled on her head, was unmistakable, as were her sparkling grey eyes and peculiar agelessness. The five green diamonds floating above her shoulder were getting looks from everyone who passed.
“Thank you, Lindell,” Wren said. “Please convey my thanks once again to your chairman.”
Lindell gave her a little bow, and turned to go. Lornor stood there for a moment, his hands extended, as if he wanted to strangle the lot of them.
“Come now, Lornor,” the elf said. “Let's get back to work.”
For a minute, Lornor looked as if he was going to launch himself at them – not helped by Ben's insolent grin and wave. But, eventually, he disappeared back into the SpellWorks castle, leaving Ben, Charlie and Natalie alone at the entrance with Wren.
“Let's go, before they change their minds, shall we?” Wren said, with the merest hint of a smile.
As soon as they made it to the bottom, Ben felt a beautiful surge of freedom that made him want to dance. Wren, however, did not share his delight.
“I think you owe me an explanation. Needless to say, the Institute is very unhappy. We are, among other things, peace keepers and even law makers; we do not expect our apprentices to fly in the face of the very things we stand for,” Wren said.
The tone in Wren’s voice brought Ben back to earth with a thud. He glanced at Charlie and Natalie; both looked dumbfounded and were clearly unable to come up with a convincing story. Ben thought fast. How much could he say without giving the game away? He still remembered Queen Elizabeth's orders to his great ancestor, Michael Greenwood: the Institute were not to know about the Armour. But they were in so much trouble, he had to say something to justify their actions.
“We were looking for my parents,” Ben said slowly, careful to keep his voice measured and to look Wren right in the eye.
“At SpellWorks?” Wren said, raising her eyebrows.
Ben nodded. Now for the tricky part. The trick to a good lie was to keep it as close to the truth as possible.
“We found some books, and this pouch” – Ben held the pouch up for a moment – “in my grandma's attic. The books were all from an author called Lornor Taren. We knew it was a long shot, but we thought to track him down, in case my parents might have done the same, because they were obviously quite interested in him.”
“And had they?”
Ben paused, just for a moment. Lying could seriously backfire if Wren managed to extract the truth from Lornor, though he very much doubted that mad old elf would tell the Institute anything.
“Yes, they had.”
It was the first time Ben had seen Wren truly surprised. “What did they want with Lornor?”
“I'm not sure,” Ben said, planting his next lie carefully. “It turns out Lornor isn't very fond of the Institute.”
“A slight understatement,” Wren