The Familiars #4: Palace of Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page A

body was stiffening.
    Soon, Commander Warden and Sorceress Edna were at the queen’s side. Galatea was nearby, as well, clearly upset to see her co-ruler under such severe duress.
    “Remove all of her jewelry,” the healer said. “I don’t want anything interfering with the raven’s touch.”
    Warden pulled off her crown, while Edna removed her rings and bracelets. The raven’s wing moved up and down Loranella’s arms and across her forehead. But she looked to be slipping ever further toward the Tomorrowlife.
    “We need to get her to my chamber,” the healer said. “Quickly.”
    A group of wizards raised their arms and the queen was carried up three stories and into an open window. With his wand outstretched, the palace healer flew behind her, raven at his side.
    The enchanted harp had fallen silent. Only panicked muttering could be heard in the still night air. Every eye in the courtyard was on Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert.
    Urbaugh and a half-dozen soldiers and wizards surrounded them. Galatea narrowed her eyes.
    “Arrest them,” she said.
    One of the wizards flicked his wrist and dispeller chains slithered out from the palace guard shed and wrapped around each of the three animals’ ankles.
    “This is a big mistake,” Skylar said.
    “We would never hurt the queen,” Aldwyn added.
    Urbaugh turned to his soldiers.
    “Take them to the dungeon,” he said coldly.

3
PRISONERS
    “W hat could possibly be taking them so long?” Aldwyn asked. “I don’t understand why we’re still being kept down here.”
    Several hours had passed since the familiars had been detained. The steel bars on the dungeon cell stared back at Aldwyn, their dull glow dampening any attempts at magic cast from within. No food. No water. No hint as to what those on the outside had in mind for them.
    “We should be out there helping,” said Skylar, who was perched on a brick protruding from the wall. “I’ve seen tomes about reversing those kinds of necromantic spells. The longer we’re locked in here, the stronger that curse will become. It could be too late already.”
    “Let’s not overreact, guys,” Gilbert said, almost sounding desperate. “The queen is probably recovering as we speak. Urbaugh just hasn’t had a chance to release us yet.”
    “When I find out who’s responsible for this, I’ll hang the traitor myself,” Skylar said.
    “Hang?” Gilbert croaked. “Is that what they do to traitors?” He hopped up to the bars and shouted at the top of his lungs, “We’re innocent! We didn’t do anything!”
    “I never met a dungeon dweller who didn’t claim to be innocent,” a voice called out from the darkness.
    Aldwyn looked over to discover that the voice belonged to a warthog standing in the cell across the hall. He was thin and pale, but his tusks appeared as sharp as ever.
    “We are innocent,” Aldwyn said.
    “And I did not commit treason against Loranella,” the warthog replied, flashing the double hex—two concentric circles with a five-pointed star at its center—branded into his paw. It was the sign of allegiance to Paksahara, the evil hare who had tried to take over the queendom. The warthog continued, “I was trying to save our land from the rule of humans. Good to have the three of you on our side now.”
    “Are you responsible for this?” Skylar demanded.
    The warthog smiled and slunk back into the shadows.
    Just then the heavy metal door to the dungeon could be heard swinging open. Footsteps followed and soon a bolka-dur appeared. Troll-like, with green, wart-covered skin and a snout, the creature wore a collar with keys dangling from it. Urbaugh walked alongside the dungeon keeper with a torch floating in front of him. Behind them were three expressionless figures dressed in crimson robes. These were the Truth Seekers, interrogators of the queens’ guard. Each removed a steel cage from hooks hanging on the wall and continued down the hall.
    The bolka-dur used one of the keys to unlock