by Laurie McKay
Strong hands gripped at Caden’s shoulders. Suddenly, he was thrown out of the river and onto the bank. His coat was wet, his jeans were soaked, his boots were heavy and filled with water. Caden turned on his side and coughed and coughed and coughed.
When he finally looked up, he saw Jasan looming over him. His golden hair was backlit by Brynne’s firewall, and strands blew in the strong wind. From the chest down, his hoodie and pants were wet, evidence of how far into the raging river he’d ventured.
The short sword with the ruby-encrusted hilt was stuck in the bank as if Jasan had thrust it into the earth. Brynne fell to her knees beside Caden. She was out of breath. “Are you okay?”
Caden tried to say he was fine. Mainly, though, he lay on the bank and gasped for breath. After a moment, he pushed to sit up, and Brynne put her arms around him to help.
With a boom of thunder, it started to rain—strange, salty-tasting drops that stung the scratch on Caden’s cheek. Suddenly, Caden remembered. Rath Dunn and Ms. Jackson were still there—Rath Dunn near enough that he’d shoved Caden into the river, Ms. Jackson on the other side of the flames. He scanned the area.
The flame wall smoked and extinguished in the downpour. Ms. Jackson walked back and forth behind the fading fire, inspecting it as if impressed. Rath Dunn stood a few strides away. Jasan snatched up the ruby-encrusted sword—the one he should return to Caden—and blocked the red-suited tyrant from coming nearer to them. With his clothes sticking to his body and the sword grasped lightly in his left hand, Jasan looked tall and lean and dangerous. His stance was loose, his focus intense.
Rath Dunn stepped back. He looked hesitant. With a dramatic bow, he said, “Another day, then.” A moment later, he and Ms. Jackson got into their vehicles—he his bloodred Audi, she a local organic produce truck—and drove away.
Caden didn’t see Mr. McDonald anywhere.
A cold chill ran down Caden’s spine, one unrelated to the cold autumn air against his wet skin. Deep in his being, he knew Mr. McDonald was lost to the river. Another life Caden had failed to save.
Sir Horace trotted to Caden’s side. His warm breath flared from his nostrils and staved off the cold. He always understood when Caden was troubled. He nudged Caden’s cheek and stomped the ground. Caden wrapped an arm around Sir Horace’s neck and pulled himself to a standing position. “I’m all right, friend.”
They took shelter under the small canopy by the public restrooms. Jasan stood with his eyes closed. He took slow breaths as if he needed to calm himself. Brynne and Caden stood beside him. Sir Horace leaned his head out of the rain.
Caden scratched Sir Horace’s neck and peered at his brother. Certainly, Jasan was fast; he was gifted with speed and quick of mind and body. But Jasan hadn’t been in sight when Caden was tossed into the river. How had he reached him so quickly? Was Jasan’s gift that strong?
Sir Horace, ever faithful, crowded between Brynne and Caden. With a flip of his nose, Sir Horace pushed her away.
Brynne shoved Sir Horace back. “Watch it!” she said.
Caden snorted.
Jasan opened his eyes. His face was pale, and his wrist bled slightly at the paper clips. “This isn’t time for laughter. The spell has started,” he said. “And I told you to stay hidden.” His angry gaze flashed to Brynne. “Both of you.”
Brynne fought with Sir Horace for better shelter. “We did.” Her voice weakened. “For a little while.”
Jasan narrowed his eyes.
“We moved closer during the communication spell,” Caden explained. “We needed to hear what was said.” Though his coat was wet, it was drying quickly, and his cell phone remained dry in his enchanted coat’s pocket. He pulled it out and played the audio for Jasan.
Jasan’s face turned to stone.
“After that”—Caden smoothed Sir Horace’s mane—“Ms. Jackson started the first part of the spell. We had to try to rescue Mr. McDonald. We had to stop them if we could.”
“No, you didn’t.”
That was nonsense. Of course they did. “It was our duty. We had to try. I almost saved Mr. McDonald and thwarted them. And it was bad luck that Rath Dunn snuck around Brynne’s flame wall at the river’s edge. If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have ended up in the water.”
Brynne turned toward the smoldering remains of her firewall. She seemed disappointed that only embers were left. “I have to find a way to burn water,” she said.
She needed to find a way to control her magic, not increase its power. Caden shot her a concerned look. When he turned back, Jasan was looking at Brynne with a similar expression.
Jasan stabbed the sword into the bathhouse and growled. That was not a respectful way to treat Caden’s favorite sword. Caden forgot he needed to appease Jasan. “Don’t mistreat my sword.”
“It’s my sword now.”
“It’s mine.” And really. Didn’t Caden need it more? “You should give it back to me.” He turned to Brynne. She knew how badly Caden needed his sword. Teachers kept attacking him. Matter of point, he’d just been thrown in a river by one. “Tell him.”
“We all need our weapons,” Brynne said, which Caden found unhelpful.
This wasn’t acceptable at all. It was Caden’s sword, the one he’d been trying to get back since he’d arrived in Asheville. He glowered at Jasan. “Why did the police give it to you anyway? Only a parent or guardian can claim it.” And since Caden was feeling a bit irritated and cold, he added, “Not a banished brother.”
“Banished adult brother,” Jasan mumbled, and reached out into the torrential rain. “Officer Levine returned it to me.”
Sir Horace busied himself by sneezing into Brynne’s hair.
Jasan pulled his hand back from the downpour. “I am your guardian here.”
“No, Rosa is,” Caden said. This much of Ashevillian law Caden understood.
“For now. But I’ll be your permanent guardian soon. Manglor the Conqueror helped me with the tedious paperwork. Once it’s done, you’ll live with me.”
No one had consulted Caden on this turn of events. Did Rosa want Caden to live with Jasan? It didn’t sound like it, and she didn’t act like it, but Caden caused her much trouble. Was this why Jasan and Rosa didn’t get along? And who wouldn’t want Caden’s charming, royal self in their home? “What about Rosa?”
“She won’t have a choice in the matter.” For a brief moment, Jasan looked uncomfortable. Sir Horace seemed to sense it and leaned over to lick Jasan’s face, but Jasan ducked away. “We’re family. You’re my obligation.”
“Obligation? That’s not a flattering description.”
Brynne suddenly looped elbows with Caden and pulled him toward her. “What about me?” she said. “Where will I live? Caden and I have to stay together. We’re partners.”
“That is true,” Caden said. “We’ve vowed to be allies until we get home.”
Jasan almost looked amused at that, but the expression soon passed. “Brynne, you’ll stay where you are; Caden, you’ll move in with me.” He scanned the sky and river. The downpour had turned to a drizzle, although the river continued to rage. “You partners should return before Rosa realizes you’re gone. Sir Horace will get you home safely.”
“Of course he will,” Caden said. “Sir Horace is my horse.”
Soon after, Caden and Brynne galloped east toward Rosa’s house and the rising sun. It was the first day of the Ashevillian autumn—the equinox—and Rath Dunn moved against them. The four-part spell had begun.
“So, you almost drowned, huh?” Tito said as Caden summarized the morning’s events.
“Almost,” Caden said, and changed into dry clothing. The attic room’s floor creaked as he moved about. No one needed to know how much seeing Mr. McDonald go under, then going under himself, had rattled Caden. He kept his voice confident. “It’s not the first time I’ve fallen into a river.” He’d fallen in quite a few Greater Realm waters, though none had raged quite like the French Broad had at dawn. “It happens.”
“Not to normal people,” Tito said. There was the glint of amusement in Tito’s eyes. But then he frowned, and his face went lopsided. “Do you think Mr. McDonald washed up somewhere?”
Brynne said they had needed a sacrifice to complete the spell. Rath Dunn had pushed Mr. McDonald into the river. And it was only after Caden had lost his grasp on Mr. McDonald’s hand that the strange, salty rain had fallen.
Caden lowered his voice. “I doubt he survived.”
“Oh,” Tito said. They stayed silent for a moment. After all, Mr. McDonald had been a coward, but that didn’t mean he had deserved to be tossed into an angry river. “You okay?”
Caden nodded. “Though I’d be better if I could actually save someone.”
In the kitchen, Rosa was seated at the table. There was a sheet of paper in front of her. Officer Levine stood near the counter with a steaming cup of coffee. “Morning,” he said when Caden and Tito walked into the room.
Brynne and Jane hadn’t come down yet.
Rosa inhaled deeply. Her mouth was set in a firm line. Like Officer Levine, she had a steaming cup of coffee in front of her. She fiddled with the cup handle but didn’t sip the coffee. “Tito,” she said, “we need to speak to Caden alone for a minute.”
Had she realized Caden had snuck away and almost drowned? No, if that were the case, she’d also want to speak to Brynne. He felt his brow furrow.
She tapped the paper. “The DNA tests came back yesterday.”
Tito started to step toward the living room, but Caden reached out to stop him. “I’ve no secrets from Tito,” Caden said. Rosa opened her mouth, likely to object. Before she could, Caden added, “I’d like him to stay.”
Officer Levine and Rosa glanced at each other. Like they’d communicated with a telepathy spell, they seemed to come to an unspoken decision. “If that’s what you want,” Rosa said. She motioned him and Tito to sit.
“You and Jasan share twenty-five percent of your genetic markers,” Officer Levine said. “That’s consistent with siblings who share one parent, or with uncles and nephews.”
It seemed the Ashevillian test didn’t consider Caden and Jasan full brothers. “We have different mothers,” Caden said. Though Caden knew more about his brothers’ mother, the first queen, than he did the second queen. No one talked about Caden’s mother. Caden looked first at Rosa, then at Officer Levine. Maybe the test uncovered something. “Does this DNA test know anything about my mother? What she looked like? Who she was?”
Officer Levine and Rosa were quiet for a moment. Then Officer Levine shook his head. “Sorry, son, we just tested to see if you and Jasan were related. That’s all.”
Caden didn’t fully understand. “But it knows Jasan is my brother,” he said. “It must know something.”
Rosa reached across the table to take his hand. “I’m sorry, Caden. We don’t know anything about your mother.”
Caden felt the disappointment fall across his face. Rosa, Officer Levine, and their DNA test might not know about the second queen, but there was someone in Asheville who did. Jasan. The king had forbade anyone to speak about Caden’s mother, but Jasan wasn’t so set on their father’s commands anymore. Jasan might tell him.
It wasn’t like Caden cared that much anyway. He was only wondering about his mother because the police had used DNA to confirm his relationship to Jasan, and because Rosa kept, well, mothering him. He straightened his posture. This wasn’t about the second queen, though; this was about where he would live. “Does this mean I’ll be sent to live with Jasan?”
“I want you stay with us.” Rosa squeezed his hand. “Your brother thinks you should stay with him. The law tries to keep families together when possible.”
What did that mean? That wasn’t a yes or a no.
Officer Levine seemed pensive. “Jasan knows more about where you come from than us.” He held Caden’s gaze. Officer Levine knew Caden was from another world; he knew Jasan was also. “It might be the best thing for you.”
Rosa seemed skeptical. She moved her coffee cup toward her but didn’t sip from it. “Whatever happens,” Rosa said, “you’re always welcome here. All my children are.”
It sounded like she already thought Caden would be moving in with Jasan. “Do I have a choice in where I live?”
Neither Rosa nor Officer Levine answered. Caden wouldn’t be cursed again until the middle of next week. Despite the fact that he wasn’t under the spell of compliance yet, it seemed his opinion on the matter bore little weight.
Tito hadn’t said much. He slumped in his chair with his eyes on the table and his arms crossed. Caden was the one caught between Rosa and Jasan. It wasn’t Tito who should be upset. Tito wasn’t the one with a straw vote on where he was to live.
Officer Levine washed his cup in the sink. “I’ll stop by later. I’m on patrol this morning.” He pushed on the door to the living room, but there was a bump. And an ow. He opened it more slowly to find Brynne and Jane on the other side.
Jane looked contrite. Brynne gestured toward the cereal boxes on the counter. “We were coming down for breakfast,” she said. Like many things Brynne said, it was true but incomplete. They likely had been coming down for breakfast; they had just been eavesdropping, too.
Officer Levine shook his head and stepped around them to get out. Caden heard the front door open and close a moment later.
Rosa stared Jane and Brynne down. “Privacy needs to be respected, ladies,” she said.
Caden didn’t mind that they’d listened. It would spare him the chore of answering questions later. “It’s all right,” he said, and inhaled deeply. Maybe he still had river water in his system, because he started coughing. When Rosa rubbed his back to soothe him, he wondered why his mother had never been there to do the same.
Like most days, they had to go to school. After Rosa dropped them off and pulled away, Brynne looped her elbow with Caden’s. “I don’t want you to go live with Prince Jasan,” she said.
Jane fell into step beside them. The grass had begun to brown, and it was slick under her feet. “It must be difficult being caught between two people who want you.”
Tito snorted. “Yeah, poor Caden,” he said. “Rosa and his brother want him.”
Jane rubbed at her eyes and turned to Tito. “Rosa wants you, too, Tito.”
Tito kicked at a patch of grass. “Whatever, it’s not like she’s going to adopt me.” The school bells chimed; the morning classes would soon start. Tito walked faster. “C’mon. I don’t want to be late.”
As they went inside, Caden matched his pace. “As always,” Caden said, “you are welcome in my home whether I dwell with my brother, in the woods, or in the Greater Realm.”
“Yeah,” Tito said, and he sounded a bit sad. “Thanks, bro.”
As Brynne and Jane walked behind them, Caden heard Brynne ask Jane, “Are your eyes all right?”
“Just itchy,” Jane said.
* * *
Since Mr. McDonald typically supervised Caden’s morning class, Caden didn’t know what to expect as he entered. He collected his nerves.
Tonya and Ward were already seated. Any other morning, Mr. McDonald would have been sulking in the corner desk, his head behind a large book. Caden walked back to the corner. “Mr. McDonald is gone,” he said.
Neither Tonya nor Ward seemed surprised. “We know,” Tonya said.
They did? Caden turned back. “How?”
Ward peered at him. Sometimes it took Ward a moment to find his words. Finally, he said, “Your brother told my pa this morning.”
“And Ward told me,” Tonya said.
There had never been more than a few people in the room, but without Mr. McDonald, it felt emptier. “What happens to our class when our teacher is swept into an angry river?”
Tonya blinked at him from behind her glasses. “We get a substitute.”
Just as she said that, the classroom doorknob turned. Ward sucked in a breath. Tonya watched in fear. The door creaked open, and cold air ent
ered the room.
Someone was coming.
A large figure appeared in the doorway. The light backlit his muscular frame. He ducked as he entered so as not to hit his head on the door frame. Caden’s heart stopped. The man was big like Maden, Caden’s second-born brother and Rath Dunn’s ally. Was Maden here now? Was that part of the plan? Part of the spell? What would Caden do and say? What would Maden do to him?
When the man stepped into the room, however, Caden saw he wasn’t Maden. He was Ward’s father, Manglor the Conqueror, the school janitor. He was the only person Caden knew who was as large and commanding as his second-born brother.
Caden released a breath he hadn’t realize he’d held. But whether he was relieved or disappointed, he didn’t know. Had it been Maden, maybe Caden could convince him to stop whatever he was doing.
Manglor wasn’t dressed in his janitor’s uniform. Instead, he wore an ivory-colored suit that looked expensive next to his brown skin and a golden vest. His braids were pulled back. He wheeled in a case filled with books behind him. When Manglor closed the door, it looked like it took great care for him not to crush the knob. “I’m your new teacher.”
“You are?” Caden said.
Manglor gazed at him for a long moment. “I am.”
Although this was a good turn of events, Caden didn’t understand. “Why would Rath Dunn agree to let you teach? You’re enemies.”
“I volunteered. I’m qualified and available,” Manglor said. “Mr. Rathis had no grounds to object.” He looked first at Caden, then at Ward, then at Tonya. “Know at least in this class, and in your brother’s gym class, you will be safe.”
When Caden first met Manglor, he’d known immediately he was from the Summerlands and that he was a banished villain. The school was full of villains. It wasn’t that surprising.
Two things had surprised Caden, though. One, Manglor seemed repentant. Two, he claimed to be a liar. People from the Greater Realm didn’t lie. Even those evil and treacherous like Rath Dunn told the truth. But Manglor had claimed he was different.