Midnight Law

by Geanna Culbertson

  My mind echoed with the sounds of Knight’s chains retracting and her shouting. I got where Blue was coming from, but hard truths were just that: hard. Maybe she was right and I was more of a realist. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t dabble in other hopeful traits. I needed to now otherwise my heart would blacken.

  “Can’t we accept the full stakes and still have faith?” I asked.

  Blue blinked at me, confused. “Of course we can, Daniel. I didn’t mean trade one thing for the other. The ratios may differ from person to person, but realism and faith both need to be taken into consideration. We need that mix to get through this, and the strife I have a feeling is coming for us with this whole Midnight Law thing . . . But we will get through it you know.”

  Blue turned back to looking at the trees. I did the same. The sun was rising higher, and Lenore would arrive soon. My friend and I stood in silence for a beat until I spoke the thought on my mind, the only one at the moment not directly related to Knight. “Thanks for always being honest with me, Blue. And thanks for coming to talk to me. I respect your directness. I don’t exactly feel better, but I guess I feel less alone.”

  She sighed before rubbing a hand over her face. “I know what I’d want someone to say to me, so I thought I’d try saying it to you is all. We accept the situation, Daniel, and believe that we can overcome it. Doing that is the best way to go on after seeing . . . that.”

  She paused. “Also . . . ” Blue looked at me again, firm honesty in her eyes. “You and I don’t talk one-on-one much, so in case it doesn’t go without saying, I’ve got your back. As surely as I know that you have mine.”

  “Has everyone touched the spell?” Lenore asked.

  We stood in a circle in the library. The Godmother Supreme had arrived with Debbie a minute ago and gotten straight to the point, instructing each of us to touch the page opposite the one inscribed with the Midnight Law qualifier spell and full enactment spell in the Book of Bindings.

  We nodded. We were ready to see if any of us were eligible for Midnight Law, i.e. if any of us were “heroes whose hearts had changed from knowing Knight.”

  “All right then, let’s make this quick,” Lenore said, holding up the thick magical text with silver detailing around its edges. “I realize you all are worried about Crisanta, but Debbie, a handful of you children, and I still need to be on time for the peace talks this morning.”

  “Godmother Supreme,” Marie interceded, “perhaps it is not necessary that we go to the peace talks? We told you about Crisa’s present situation, our time may be best served—”

  “Princess Sinclaire, your time is best served living up to an important commitment you have already made to this realm. The peace talks are about securing the lives of everyone in our world, not just one. You have plenty of friends in this room who can continue with your tracking efforts today. I am insulted that you would be foolish enough to suggest the whole group of you bail last minute on such a severely important role.”

  Gordon narrowed his eyes. “My sister is not foolish, Godmother Supreme. And Crisa may be one person, but you know as well as we do that one person, the right person, can matter as much as the world sometimes.”

  He and Lenore exchanged a glare.

  “Godmother Supreme,” SJ said—clearly and loudly to get everyone’s attention. “You are right about the importance of the peace talks, and it would be wrong to jilt them without any warning or replacements. So we will all go today. However, depending on how this spell reading works out, know that we may need to make amendments to our arrangement in the coming days. Is that acceptable to you?”

  Debbie flicked her eyes to Lenore. The Godmother Supreme nodded to my surprise.

  “Any more opinions that need to be heard?” Lenore asked rhetorically, glancing around with a condescending glare. “Good.” The Godmother Supreme took a breath and began to read from the open in book in her hands.

  “To find the one whose soul and presence

  Has changed this hero’s very essence,

  Can Midnight Law help me reclaim

  The one who I’ve lost of this name?”

  This was our cue.

  Debbie looked to us. “Say Crisa’s first and last name,” she instructed.

  We all spoke in unison. “Crisanta Knight.” The Book of Bindings began to glow. I waited, eyes darting around the circle. Suddenly, across from me Chance’s hand started to glow. He held it up and it shimmered as if coated in liquid metal. He was eligible for Midnight Law. I was glad someone was, but I hated that it was him. He—

  “No!” Kai gasped loudly. I turned and saw her staring down at my hand. It glowed as bright as Chance’s and I raised it in wonder. Then with a flash, the effect ended as suddenly as it began. The prince and I stared at our hands, then each other.

  Lenore closed the book. “There you have it. If you boys are willing to assume the risk, you are both eligible to enact Midnight Law to go after Crisanta.”

  I was speechless. Chance was too. A hint of sympathy crossed Lenore’s face as she looked at us. “I understand that this is a big decision. The last successful use of Midnight Law was enacted by Mauvrey’s father.” The Godmother Supreme glanced at Mauvrey, who sat in the corner of the room. She hadn’t taken part in the incantations, but none of us had expected her to. As noted, her system had handled too much magic already. “Welcome back by the way, dear. I am sorry for your ordeal.”

  “Um, thank you,” Mauvrey said. She bit her lip. “Godmother Supreme . . . Why did you not tell the heroes about Midnight Law when they came to see you Friday night? They would not have known this was an option had I not remembered it myself.”

  “Because Midnight Law has been mostly redacted from our history for a reason,” Lenore said, shutting the Book of Bindings. “I want Crisa back in this realm, but I hoped you would uncover another option for finding her. Our world’s higher-ups agreed a long time ago that it would be best to forbid and forget the use of this magic spell, and I am not typically in favor of going against realm rules. Past that preference, about half of the young heroes who have enacted Midnight Law have failed and died. I did not want any of you children to end up the same way. I do care about people, not just order.” I noticed her giving Jason a look.

  Kai squeezed my hand. Not good odds.

  “And if we wanted to accept that risk?” Chance asked.

  “The hero who wishes to activate the enchantment must read the spell at midnight while holding a timepiece of some sort,” Lenore explained. “That timepiece will become connected to Midnight Law and begin counting down the time the hero has left, starting at twenty-four hours in whatever realm the spell is enacted in. Meaning if you change realms at some point during the quests that follow, the time that passes there won’t be the clock you’re up against. Many midnights could go by in other realms before another one passes here because of time differences. What counts for you is finding Crisanta before the next midnight arrives in Book.

  “The timepiece will also guide you,” Debbie chimed in. “Midnight Law is designed to take you to the person you’ve lost by having you complete a series of quests. This spell’s magic comes from the power of strong relationships. When you enact the spell, your timepiece will generate four enchanted flames hidden in different locations that represent the four core aspects of every powerful relationship. You must track down all four flames and touch your timepiece to each one to absorb it. Collecting the flames is only half the challenge though. As each flame represents a core relationship value, their quests involve passing tests related to those values. When you do both things—collect the flame and satisfy its test—a portal to the next one will appear and so forth until you’ve collected all four. The final portal leads you to Crisa. You must physically touch her before the clock strikes midnight on your timepieces, otherwise you will turn to stone where you stand.”

  “Anything else?” Blue asked sarcastically.

  “As a matter of fact yes, Miss Dieda,” Lenore replied. “Unt
il reabsorbed into your timepieces, the flames bond to whoever touches them first. Meaning if someone beats you there, he or she will have complete control of the flame and must willingly give it back to you. You kill them, and the flame extinguishes. They could also douse the flame themselves, dooming you to failure.”

  “Right, because the stakes weren’t high enough as is,” Gordon scoffed.

  “Do the heroes complete these magical tests alone?” Marie asked.

  Lenore shook her head. “It is not mandatory that a Midnight Law hero go it alone; he can bring any size of questing party he desires, but only he will face the consequences of failure. Bear in mind though, whoever goes through a portal with the hero becomes linked to the coming quest. Meaning that the test could me multifaceted and involve an assortment of questing team members, not necessarily including the Midnight Law hero. As such, I advise you boys to pick your teams wisely.”

  I stood there in stunned silence, reflecting. Chance did too. I didn’t like believing the entitled prince and I could have anything in common, but at that moment—seeing his face and knowing how I felt—I realized that we shared common ground on two subjects. Our desire to help Knight, and how freaked out we were by the enormity of the challenge facing us. I think I actually gulped. I had been all confident when Mauvrey first suggested Midnight Law, but now that it was totally just on me and Chance to enact it, and the full outline of the spell had been explained, hesitance creeped in.

  Debbie glanced at our bewildered faces and sighed. “I know it’s a lot. The good news is that if more than one hero enacts Midnight Law in pursuit of the same person, only one of those heroes needs to reach her to end the enchantment. Like, let’s say Daniel reaches Crisa first. Once he touches her, the spell is broken for both him and Chance, and neither will get turned to stone. So it’s actually lucky that more than one of you can do this.”

  Pietro snorted. “This is ridiculous.”

  “I know,” Debbie said, nodding sympathetically. “Midnight Law is complicated to say the least.”

  “No, not the spell,” Pietro said. “The fact that Daniel and Chance are the only ones who can use it to go after Crisa. They couldn’t protect her during their last quest. How are they supposed to handle a much harder one?”

  My eyes narrowed. Pietro was a good guy, and he was Knight’s brother so I wanted to get along with him, but it was annoying the way he kept making us out to be incompetent. I couldn’t make him forgive me for letting Knight get stuck in Dreamland—I had a hard enough time swallowing that pill myself—but it would be great if he didn’t add to my anger about it.

  “Also, if this is an enchantment that revolves around strong relationships,” Pietro continued, “it’s insulting that this all comes down to them when their relationships with Crisa go back less than a calendar year. She’s my sister. I should be going after her.”

  “I think this is bogus too,” Blue said, voice loud. She glanced at me briefly. “No offense, Daniel. You’re obviously capable of questing super hard, but that’s not the point.” She redirected her attention to Lenore. “The qualification for Midnight Law is that your heart has to have changed from knowing the person you’re going after. Plenty of us have changed from knowing Crisa. Maybe your spell is malfunctioning. I should be able to help save her. SJ should too, and Jason, and Pietro. We’ve known her the longest and therefore been changed by her the most.”

  Lenore rolled her eyes. “Only you would assert that an ancient enchanted text is the problem, not the children reading it. Blue, I say this not to be cruel, but to get you to understand. You cannot save her. I do not doubt you have changed in some way from your association with Crisanta. Even I must admit that my life has shifted since she was introduced to me. But changing aspects of your personality and perspective and future are not the same as changing a heart. Changing a heart is a fundamental alteration of character. If the spell did not choose you as a candidate for Midnight Law, then whatever change you’ve undergone from knowing Crisanta could have been achieved another way. Given time and the right combination of other influences, you could have become what you are without her. These two heroes couldn’t have.”

  At that, Lenore transformed her ring into her magic wand and waved the tool. A raspberry flash of light consumed the Book of Bindings and it shrunk to the size of a thimble. She stashed it in her pocket then readdressed us. “I realize you boys need time to think, but I advise you make a decision quickly. If Crisanta is on Earth, as you say, then every moment is twenty times that for her. Decide if you want to enact Midnight Law by tomorrow. As for the peace talk participants,” Lenore glanced at Marie, “I suggest you load into your carriages and allow Debbie and me to supercharge your vehicles.” She glanced at her slender wristwatch. “It is your only hope of making it on time to Gallant.”

  “Yes, Godmother Supreme,” SJ said. “You do realize, of course, now that we know Chance and Daniel are eligible for the spell, several of us will likely be missing the peace talks the day Midnight Law is enacted. Myself most certainly included. There is no way I am not going on this venture.”

  “That’s if they accept . . .” Lenore said, eyeing us before letting out an annoyed sigh. “We need to discuss your presence at the talks either way. Regardless of Midnight Law, your school semester begins next week. While I have been progressive—and controversial—in my decision to let a handful of children act as emissaries in this vitally important conference, I cannot condone your absence from school for this purpose. The other higher-ups and your parents would not stand for it.” She checked her watch again. “All right, no more dillydallying. We leave now.” Lenore strutted toward the library main doors without looking back.

  SJ glanced at Blue. “Do not feel forced to keep researching while we are away. We cannot really move forward until we know if we are enacting Midnight Law or not. I will call at lunch to touch base.” She waved her team to follow.

  Pietro shot me and Chance a quick glare before they left, whereas Jason’s face was only concern. “We’ll talk later,” he said to me with a nod as he passed. All our peace talk reps were out the door except Debbie at that point.

  The Godmother stopped in front of me and Kai, the sand dunes on her magic dress blew around the fabric at the mercy of wind only they could feel. “I know Midnight Law is a lot to ask of anyone . . .” she said, voice quiet, “but I have seen you in action, Daniel. I believe you can do it. You’re strong.”

  Kai took hold of my arm with her hands protectively. “He is strong. Strong enough to make his own decisions. Give him some space, Debbie. He does not need you pressuring him.”

  Debbie bowed her head and took a step back. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” She turned away, then pivoted back a final time, meeting my eyes. “Take time to think about it if you have to. But you know that she wouldn’t.”

  Debbie hurried out of the library then—leaving me with Kai on my arm, and a very firm desire not to look her in the eyes. I didn’t want to answer the question she’d pose if I did. Unfortunately, Girtha voiced it loudly a moment later, to me and to Chance.

  “So are you going to do it?”

  I wandered through the forest that connected the Lord Channing’s campus to Lady Agnue’s. I needed a change of scenery.

  My friends and I decided to take a step back from the library for the day. Like SJ said, we couldn’t move on a new plan until Chance and I were sure about committing to Midnight Law. We all agreed to meet up tonight after the peace talks. In the meantime, I had some thinking to do. Alone thinking. I’d been avoiding Kai since this morning. I’d never done that before; so much of my life until now had been me trying to be closer to her. But after the spell reading this morning, I just couldn’t face her. I knew if I did, my choice would be influenced. I loved her. I didn’t want to hurt her or go against her. And I knew what she wanted me to do without asking for her opinion. So how could I talk to her about this before I made the decision for myself? I had to make this choice on my own then hope the p
eople in my life would understand one way or the other.

  I pushed a branch aside. Sunlight hit my face. A group of finches flew from one tree to the next. Since the magic hunter attack last winter, the girls preferred that Jason and I take the main road to reach their school, but magic hunters didn’t scare me. Losing Knight and hurting Kai—those were real fears.

  I walked through the quiet wood in deep contemplation.

  Mauvrey had called me on my willingness to find Knight by any means necessary. I guess she was right to have been skeptical. If I had truly meant what I said, shouldn’t I have agreed to do this the second my hand started to glow? What more convincing could I need? Knight was one of the most important people in my life. I didn’t need the Book of Bindings to tell me she’d changed me permanently; I’d known that for a while.

  Before Knight, I wasn’t the best version of me. Not even close. I’d spent years distancing myself from people because I couldn’t risk losing someone else I cared about after my family died in that fire. Kai was the only exception because she’d known me before that happened and had helped me get through the tragedy. As I grew, she grew with me like an extra limb I didn’t know how to be without.

  But my need for distance had other consequences besides a lack of friends and loved ones. Because I didn’t think I wanted, or needed anyone in my life aside from Kai, I didn’t treat people the way I should have. My bluntness was often taken as cruelty, and I didn’t care about other people’s feelings much because I wasn’t actively trying to care about other people.

  On a more damaging personal level, deep down, the death of my family had snuffed out the hope that I could be anything that truly mattered in life—become the kind of hero who maybe could have saved his family all those years ago.

  Then Princess Crisanta Knight came along.

  Somehow, knowing her had made me want to care about other people’s feelings and expand my circle. It made me want to be kinder, bolder, braver, and better, and believe that I could be too.