Into the Gray

by Geanna Culbertson

  I shrugged. “Not long. Adiana brought me. She thought I might like to see you guys in action, and she was right. Daphne, that’s amazing that you can liquefy gold and then harden it again. And Cereus, can you telepathically control anything made of gold?”

  “Anything solid gold,” he replied. “I can’t control Daphne’s liquid attacks.”

  “I have limits as well,” Daphne added. “I can only concentrate on one action at a time, so when Cereus fires multiple shots, I cannot melt all of them at once. Therefore it makes more sense for me to counter with my own assault and simply dodge his.”

  “Aw yes, ‘simply dodge’,” Cereus said in a slightly mocking tone. “I suppose that is how you ended up with all those tears in your skirt.” He gestured at the rips in the dark purple front-bustled skirt over Daphne’s leggings.

  “Lucky shots,” she said dismissively. “I thank you for them actually. I need to get struck every now and again to keep my ego from inflating. It can be tricky being the alpha twin.”

  “Tell yourself whatever you need to, Daph,” he replied goodnaturedly before leaving the room. “Good day, ladies.”

  Daphne smiled at me. “I do so enjoy pushing his buttons. I value our combat practice, but I find mental sparring to be more important for one’s development as a leader.” She gestured to the main door. “Would you care to join me for a late lunch, Crisa?”

  I nodded. We walked side by side down the hall. Even with only an inch of heel on her boots, she towered over me. I subtly marveled at Daphne. She strut with great poise, but not in the traditional light-as-air sense as most princesses. Every step had power and purpose. I found myself adjusting my own gait to mirror hers.

  “I am told you left the castle this morning,” she said as we continued along.

  “I was summoned by the Godmother Supreme. With these genie cuffs, I’m bound to do her bidding.”

  “An awful sentence if I ever heard one,” Daphne huffed. “Infinite servitude. I cannot imagine anything worse. I admire you for holding your head high despite such a challenge.”

  “Challenges end. This is my life. There is nothing that could keep me from holding my head high in the face of it.”

  Daphne nodded. “That is a good attitude to have when danger, war, and death are present threats. Our kingdom has not known a brewing storm of the commons rebellion’s magnitude for generations, but Cereus and I have been training for it since adolescence. As future potential rulers of this kingdom, we have always known the obligation to expect the worst and train to lead our people against it.”

  The princess and I arrived in a lovely room surrounded by bookshelves and paintings featuring romantically dressed couples in mid-dance. There was a table set up for a private meal. Three female staff members were putting the final touches on the tower of finger sandwiches in the center.

  “Another plate, please,” Daphne said, signaling the women.

  “Yes, Princess Daphne.”

  Daphne and I sat down. One woman served me a plate and a glass of ice water, then curtsied to each of us before departing with the rest of the staff.

  “So, are you and Cereus going to co-rule?” I asked, reaching for a sandwich.

  “Oh goodness, no,” Daphne replied. “That would be disastrous. Our kingdom has a unique tradition when it comes to succession. The throne does not necessarily fall to the oldest child in line. Personally, I have always believed this makes great sense. No matter how wise, strong, and honorable rulers might be, there is no guarantee their firstborn offspring will turn out the same. Some children are just the worst. It is not a nice thing to say, but it is true. And it would be an awful thing if a ruling couple had other, more deserving and righteous children, but the throne went to the lesser character amongst them solely because he or she was the oldest. That is how kingdoms fail and prosperity deteriorates.

  “Our tradition in Clevaunt is that when the current ruling party is ready to retire or dies, any of their children can compete for the crown in a series of political, economic, psychological, and combative tests. Though all of us senior Darling children have been preparing for years, there is an unspoken understanding that in the end it will come down to my twin brother and me. Our siblings and parents know it, and the people do too. It is obvious.” “That’s an intense, but interesting system,” I commented. “And it does seem a lot fairer. And smarter. My brother Alex was in line for the throne because he was firstborn and look how he turned out.”

  Daphne’s eyes took on some pity. “I was sorry to hear about his involvement in the commons rebellion attack on your castle. I met Alex several times and never would have suspected the darkness growing inside him. Authorities have still not tracked him down?”

  “No. We don’t know where he is.”

  We ate in silence for a few minutes.

  Daphne took a sip of water and finally said, “So, tell me a bit more about you, Crisanta.”

  “I thought Chance briefed your whole family on everything.”

  “He gave us the facts regarding the antagonists and your various quests to foil them, but my little brother is not known for coloring things with great emotion. He is guarded at home, and rightfully so, given how some of my siblings treat him.”

  “I noticed that last night. Not all his brothers and sisters are as nice as you.”

  “I would not define myself as nice either,” Daphne replied. “But I am fair and I do not take kindly to people who hurt others who have done nothing to deserve it.” She took a conservative bite of a cucumber sandwich.

  “Neither do I,” I responded.

  “Good,” Daphne said. “Keep that in mind when you spend time with Chance.”

  I felt a sudden chill from her gaze and darted my eyes away from the redhead. Another lull passed until I eventually decided to break the tension by babbling on about Pietro’s upcoming wedding. Not long after, the clock struck three. Daphne bid me goodbye and excused herself—off to the next activity on her schedule. I finished my lunch alone and decided afterward I would head to my room. I’d had enough interaction with Chance’s siblings for the time being. For the rest of the day, I would keep to myself until I could reunite with my friends.

  “Where did you get so many mirrors?”

  I stood with SJ in Mauvrey’s tower. At some point between her potions training sessions with Merlin and Julian, SJ had found four large mirrors and had them brought up here. Two were normal floor-length mirrors one might find attached to a closet. One was large and oval shaped. The fourth was an enormous five-by-seven-foot looking glass that could show the reflection of a handful of people at once.

  “Have you met Ivy Lynn and Sammi?” SJ replied. “With their level of vanity, I could have procured five times as many mirrors in the castle. They surely have the stock.”

  “But what are they for?”

  “Hello?” A knock came at the door and Blue, Jason, and Chance strolled in.

  “Are we building a funhouse?” Blue asked, turning to see herself from every angle.

  “That wouldn’t fit with the vibe of this castle,” Chance huffed in amusement.

  “No,” SJ replied. “When Crisa told me she had to make announcements to our entire team, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to debut one of my latest inventions.”

  “Didn’t you just create a portable potion that can tear holes between realms?” Jason said. “Do you ever sleep?”

  SJ ignored Jason’s question. “Unlike my Realm Tearers, I believe this innovation can be mass-produced for the general public. Behold!” She strutted to a tall end table at the back of the room. A bag the size of a flour sack and a small cloth resided upon it.

  We watched in confusion as SJ approached the first floor-length mirror with the sack in one hand and the cloth in the other. She dipped the cloth into the sack and when she removed it, the material was covered in a sparkly substance. SJ proceeded to wipe the glittery cloth briskly across the mirror. When she’d finished, she faced the looking glass.
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  “Divya Patel.”

  The entire mirror sparkled and then the glass started to ripple like disturbed water. An image materialized and when the effect stopped we saw a full-size reflection of Divya. My friends and I were stunned.

  “Hello, everyone. What is with the odd expressions?” Divya asked.

  “SJ made a—”

  “Blue,” SJ interrupted. “I shall explain once everyone is here. Hold on a moment please, Divya.”

  Our princess friend approached the next floor-length mirror and repeated the process with the cloth and powder. This time, she spoke Merlin’s name.

  “Good evening, SJ. Glad to see it worked,” the wizard said, straightening his robes. “Hello, heroes.” He waved at us. We waved back awkwardly.

  SJ continued and summoned Gordon’s and Marie’s images on the ovular mirror. Then she brought forth Daniel, Kai, Girtha, and Javier on the largest mirror.

  Divya furrowed her brows. “What am I looking at?” she said. “Why can I see everyone on different mirrors within my Mark Two? It’s like my looking glass is split into four windows.”

  “I think we’d all like to know that,” Gordon said. “Marie and I are in the same room and both our compacts are split into four sections too.”

  “That would be courtesy of my ingenious princess potions prodigy,” Merlin said, proudly.

  SJ smiled. “On the journey to creating Mauvrey’s memory potion, Merlin and I crafted many additional brews with diverse effects. A few that I found intriguing were related to projecting images, and we came up with some neat, though unstable, telepathy and teleportation brews as well. Anyhow, one day I had some particularly potent inspiration and I melted down a Mark Two and mixed it with some of my other formulas to see what would happen. Magic cannot be destroyed, after all; it can only change forms or change hands. Ergo, I decided to change the form of the magic in the compact by combining it with different potions. After some trial and error, I came up with this powder.” She held up the sack. “It works similarly to a Mark Two, only it does not matter what kind of mirror you use. You simply have to apply a light application of the powder to any looking glass, and it will summon the person—or people if they are close enough to one another—you want to call.”

  “Does the person on the receiving end of the call have to have a Mark Two?” Javier asked.

  “Yes,” SJ replied. “My innovation is tied to Mark Two magic. However, once the person on the receiving end has answered the call, so long as their compact remains open, the reflection of the person you are talking to will jump to the biggest mirror nearby to expand your visual.”

  We all kind of stood there for a second, absorbing. Eventually Chance looked at SJ. “Don’t you ever sleep?”

  “That’s what I said,” Jason commented.

  SJ waved her hand dismissively. “Do not be silly.”

  “That’s not an answer to the question,” Javier said.

  “Crisa, I turn the floor over to you,” SJ said, ignoring the boys. “You have some important things to share with the group?”

  “Yeah, but I’m still getting over how you invented the Mark Three.”

  “The what?”

  “I had a dream a long time ago about Tara and Arian. They used a kind of powder that created this very effect on mirrors. They called it a Mark Three.”

  “Well,” SJ said, putting her hands on her hips. “I suppose my theory that this can be mass-produced for the general public is spot on then. And I do like that name. I will submit this for a patent application the next time I am in Century City. Though it is regrettable that the villains will adopt the product too. Progress is a double-edged sword.”

  “Not to steal the attention from Crisa,” Girtha said then. “But since you have this invention up and running, SJ, why don’t we use the Mauvrey memory potion today instead of tomorrow? We’re all here and can witness the effects.”

  “I would not advise that,” Merlin cut in. “The potion we are going to use on Mauvrey is powerful and volatile. I have no idea what might happen if it is unleashed in a room surrounded by other magic-potion hybrids. I would recommend using the potion off-line tomorrow when Daniel, Girtha, Javier, and Kai are physically with you, SJ. Then call me, Divya, and the Sinclaire siblings to fill us in afterward.”

  “I agree,” SJ said. “On that note, back to our original reason for gathering here.”

  Everyone angled toward me. I looked around at all my friends.

  “Less important news first: Lenore called on me for my first act of genie service today. She asked me to help her find a commons rebellion outpost.”

  “Are you okay?” Jason asked.

  I appreciated his concern, but in this case, I didn’t need it. “Oh, yeah. It was easy.”

  Kai crossed her arms. “She didn’t have you use your magic in a bad way, did she?”

  “I didn’t cross the Malice Line,” I responded. “Anyway, that’s not my big reveal for the evening. While we’re on the subject of Marks—Mark Twos, Mark Threes, and whatnot—I have another Mark to bring up. Our friend Mark Durand in Dolohaunty. I had a dream last night. And believe me when I tell you that this is huge.”

  ood morning,” Chance said, spotting me as I strolled down the stairs.

  “Hey,” I replied. “I’m surprised to see you. I thought waking up at six in the morning meant I’d be alone.”

  “Do you want to be alone? I could pretend I didn’t see you.”

  I smiled. “No, it’s okay. I woke up this early on accident because of nightmares. The company would actually be nice.”

  “Come on, then.” Chance gestured, continuing up the hall in the direction he’d been heading. That corridor connected to the exit of the castle, not the kitchens like I’d been hoping.

  “You know, company is much better when food is involved,” I said. “Maybe we can get breakfast?”

  “Calm down, you’ll eat. I thought since you were busy with the Godmother Supreme yesterday, you might want to see more of the village today.”

  “Is anything open at this hour?”

  “Only some of the best cafés you’ll ever find,” he replied with a grin. “Why do you think I’m awake?” We arrived at the exit doors, but before going out them Chance went to a coat closet across the hall and pulled a navy coat with a black fluffy collar and sleeves. “It’s Daphne’s. She won’t mind if you borrow it.”

  I considered protesting—it felt kind of weird to use another girl’s clothes without her explicit permission—but the sun hadn’t risen yet and the world looked dark gray and cold. I slipped on the coat. Chance then held the door open for me and we made our way to the mountain elevator. Once again, I marveled at the device’s construction as we descended; the vibrations under my feet, the orange glow, the small space—it felt surreal. My fists tightened as my ears became clogged from our continuous, rapid drop in altitude.

  “I’ve never considered myself claustrophobic,” I said. “But this thing is a lot to handle.”

  “You get used to it over time,” Chance replied. “A person can get used to pretty much anything given time.”

  We descended in silence for a bit.

  “I got to hang out with some of your siblings yesterday,” I finally commented.

  Chance raised an eyebrow. “Which ones?”

  “The little kids, and also Daphne.”

  “So the good ones.”

  I gave him a smirk. “That’s very direct for a prince known for being charming.”

  He shrugged. “Hey, I’m not a one-dimensional character. My personality has layers.”

  “I’m beginning to see that.”

  We arrived at basecamp and emerged in the tunnel with the guards. They saluted as we passed. “I am surprised that none of your siblings have made any comments about your dual personality though,” I mused as we walked out. “I understand now that pretentious, show-offy Chance is just the cover you put on at school, and the real you is more of an introvert, which is totally fine and end
earing by the way. But the other Darling kids don’t seem the type to let something like that go without comment.”

  Chance lifted his chin. “They don’t know.”

  Outside the tunnel, the village was illuminated by streetlamps in the predawn darkness. The prince stuffed his hands in his pockets and his brow creased with reluctance as I waited for him to elaborate.

  “Trenton was in his senior year when I started at Lord Channing’s, and Mr. Cool Guy didn’t want to be caught dead hanging around his little brother. I only saw Ivy Lynn at our monthly balls, and she had threatened some, uh, unpleasant repercussions if I were to talk to her. So since my only two siblings who were at school with me weren’t paying attention, I could be whomever I wanted. It was freeing until, of course, I realized years later I had developed into a total jerk.”

  I nodded and a combination of pity and perspective swayed inside me. What a strange juxtaposition—I used to want to smack Chance every time he talked; now I always felt the need to give him a hug.

  “Of all my siblings, I’m probably closest to Daphne,” Chance said easing away from the sadness in the subject to a more positive outlook. “She’s always looked out for me. I know she’s going to make a great queen someday.”

  “I thought the next ruler wasn’t decided until those big tests. Daphne explained your succession process to me.”

  “That’s true,” he said. “But she’s more powerful than Cereus. Not because of her magic, but because of her character. She’s strong, confident, and tough but fair. I’ve always admired her for that. She’s a fascinating example of how a person can be bold and passionate, yet remain levelheaded and meticulous.”

  Chance stopped at a bustling café. Sweet smells of coffee, chocolate, and bread poured out an open window. Instead of going inside right away, the prince directed me to the window frame, which was decorated with swirls of gold.

  “Most metals heat up when they’re held,” he said, touching the framework. “But gold doesn’t. It remains cool at all times. That’s Daphne. She shines like gold and her resolve is just as hard, but she stays cool even when others try to turn up the heat.”