by T. J. Klune
“And I told you that your teaching style would never be mine,” Morgan said mildly, as if he had all the time in the world. “Something that you agreed upon after Vadoma came.”
“He insulted the Great White!” Randall snapped. “Do you understand what that means?”
“Insulted?” I said. “If anyone here is insulted, it should be me! That guy was the world’s biggest asshole.”
“Oh dear,” Morgan said.
“Yes,” Randall said. “Oh dear indeed. Do you know what he’s done?”
“What I’ve done? Now you listen here, you old piece of—wait. How the hell do you know what I’ve done?”
Randall’s enormous eyebrows twitched dangerously. “I had a conversation with the king of fairies.”
I groaned. “Of course. Dimitri. You can’t believe a godsdamn word he says. He is the worst. Okay. Well. Maybe not the absolute worst. It goes Vadoma, then you, then him, then the Great White, then Myrin, then Lady Tina, because there is nothing in this world worse than her. She is my most mortal of enemies, and mark my words, there will come a day when I shall spill her blood upon the earth, and I will rejoice at the act of doing so—”
“Do you see what I mean?” Randall asked Morgan, nodding in my direction. “This is your doing. This reflects upon you.”
“Rude,” I said. “I’ll have you know that Morgan thinks I’m a joy to be around, even if I haven’t completely forgiven him for the whole lying-to-me-about-everything thing.” I looked at my mentor. “I’m getting there, though,” I reassured him.
“Lucky me,” Morgan said.
“What did Dimitri say about me?” I asked Randall. “Because I can tell you right now he’s full of shit!”
Randall glared at me. “He said that the Great White offered you his assistance by requesting something from you in return. And that you refused him. And then insulted him.”
“Oh. Okay. So maybe Dimitri isn’t exactly full of shit, because that’s mostly what happened.”
“I knew it—”
“But that’s not everything,” I said loudly. “And as a sidenote, I can totally see why he was your mentor. You guys are exactly the same.”
“You just said he was the world’s biggest asshole.”
“Oh, did I?” I asked innocently. “Huh. Imagine that.”
“Sam,” Morgan chided gently.
I sighed. “Fine. Yes, he offered to help, and yes, I told him to fuck off—don’t give me that look, I didn’t say it like that. But dude, he totally wanted up on my junk. But not like Kevin wants on my junk, but like, different on my junk. It was no less rapey, but—”
“Sam.”
“Right. Basically, he knew about the marks Myrin gave me without ever seeing them, essentially implied that Randall failed him by taking a cornerstone, said that the both of you were weak for not stopping Myrin when you had the chance, that cornerstones were a lie, and that if I wanted his help, I would have to agree to cut off all contact with everyone I know and go with him for a year to what I assume wouldn’t be a five-star hotel, and he would complete my training, make me a full-fledged wizard without having to pass the Trials, and only then would he agree to join the rest of us in fighting against the Dark wizards.”
Randall gaped at me.
“Did I cover everything?” I asked Morgan.
“I think you did.”
“He is the world’s biggest asshole,” Randall snarled.
“Told you,” I muttered.
“Who the hell does he think he is!”
“Oh, I don’t know. The Great White, your former mentor, the oldest living thing in the world, the final piece of the five-dragon puzzle—and speaking of that, do we really need five dragons? I mean, that just seems excessive. Doesn’t that seem excessive?”
Randall ignored me. “I am going to murder him. Mark my words, I will find him, and I will tear his wings off.”
“Wow,” I whispered. “That was dark. You’re dark.”
Randall whirled on me. “Don’t you dare go after Myrin. Not now. Not yet.”
“Uh. I’m. Not? I don’t even know where he is. And it’s not like I’d go looking for him. I don’t even have a plan yet. I don’t go into things without having a—okay, I totally do, but I’m not going to do that here.”
“What are you going to do?” Morgan asked, sounding alarmed for the first time since Randall had dragged me into the labs.
“I am going to find the Great White and give him a piece of my mind,” Randall snapped. “It’s high time he and I have a conversation.”
I frowned. “But you can’t actually talk to him like I can—right, right, now is not the time to bring that up, you can stop staring at me like that.”
“A cornerstone is everything, Sam of Wilds,” Randall said. “Above all else, you must remember that. Without it, you could fall into darkness.”
“But you and Morgan didn’t,” I said without meaning to.
“What was that?” Randall asked, taking a step toward me.
“Uh. Never mind.”
“Sam,” Morgan said. “Did… did the Great White tell you more than what you’ve already said?”
Have you ever been standing in a lab wearing only pink underwear and socks with bunnies on them while two of the most powerful wizards in all the world stared at you?
Me too.
“Shit,” I squeaked. “Look at the time. I think I’ll just head on back to bed—”
Morgan waved his hand, the door slamming shut before I could get through.
“Sweet molasses,” I sighed.
“Speak,” Randall said.
“I’m not a dog.”
“Sam.”
“Gods, you guys suck. Fine. He said—he said that cornerstones were a lie, that their importance was exaggerated, and that you two survived the loss of yours and didn’t become Dark, so why would I? I mean, there’s no way in hell that I’m going to give up Ryan. Ever. But… he had a point, right? I mean, Morgan, I get why you didn’t. From what you’ve told me, you lived a long and happy life with yours. But… Randall. You… spent so long constructing your magic only to have Myrin—” I shook my head. “I just don’t understand how you didn’t turn Dark.”
“I did.”
I took a step back. “What?”
Morgan sighed and looked away.
Randall bowed his head, shoulders drooping, hair hanging around his face. His liver-spotted hands curled into gnarled fists. He looked ancient. “After Myrin was—after he made the decisions that he did, I was… adrift. There were forces at work upon me that I couldn’t control.” He smiled ruefully, a sharp and brittle thing. “And then I took it upon myself to bring the King of Sorrows back from his madness and… well. It— I shouldn’t have.”
“At least not on your own,” Morgan said sharply.
“Yes. At least not on my own. But I was angry. So very angry, and I thought that I could control it. I was wrong.” He shook his head. “I felt the darkness within me, and I knew that I was on a dangerous path. It took years, and I did my best to mentor Morgan. He succeeded in passing the Trials, though it was more his doing than anything I did. Even still, it became too much, and I banished myself to the North and Castle Freesias to regain control. Those were dark days in which I was convinced I could do the most terrible things with the greatest of ease.”
“Pat and Leslie,” I said slowly. “The mated dragons. They said they were glad to see you healthy and whole.”
“I thought you’d forgotten that,” Randall said. “But yes. They saw me at my worst. And given my bond with the Great White—or at least what remained of the bond—they took it upon themselves to assist my healing. I dreamed for years, Sam. When you have lived as long as I have, a decade can be an hour, and I walked amongst my ghosts. My demons. The anger in all my failings. Morgan did not follow me into the darkness after the passing of his cornerstone, because he was prepared for her to pass beyond the veil. I was not prepared for Myrin’s betrayal. The Great White is a
solitary creature who does not understand the necessity that is a cornerstone.”
“You’re worried, aren’t you?” I asked. “The both of you. Because of what Vadoma showed me. With Ryan.”
“We’re always worried about you,” Morgan said. “It’s because we love you.”
“Let’s not go that far,” Randall mumbled.
“I’m not going to let that happen to him,” I said fiercely. “I won’t let Ryan be taken away from me.”
Randall shook his head. “I will go to him. To the Great White. I will find him. I will convince him.”
“Are you sure?” Morgan asked. “He said he never wanted to see your face in this life again. How will you find him?”
“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeves yet,” the old wizard said. “Sam, you promise me you’ll stay inside the castle until I return.”
“But—”
“Sam.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”
“Morgan, you make sure he keeps that promise.”
“Hey!”
“Go,” Morgan said. “Return when you can. I’ll handle things here.”
There was a sharp crack and Randall was gone.
“Well,” I said in the silence that followed. “That was certainly enlightening. Can I go back to bed now? Or is there any other secret I should probably know about?”
Morgan eyed me warily for a moment. Then, “That’s it.”
I snorted as I turned toward the door. “Why do I have a hard time believing that?”
RYAN WAS sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for me when I returned to our room. He looked up as I shut the door behind me and leaned against it.
“You ever get the feeling that people know more than they’re telling you?” I muttered.
“With wizards? All the time.”
I winced at that. “Yeah. I deserved that.”
He shrugged. “Probably.”
“Would it make things better if I apologized again?”
“Have you apologized at all?”
I blinked. “Haven’t I?”
“Don’t think you have.”
“Oh. Um. Sorry?”
“Heartfelt.”
“Dude, you know I am.”
He sighed. “I know. But it’s still nice to hear it every now and then.”
“I didn’t mean it. I just—I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“You always think you’re doing the right thing.”
“Yeah, but I’m awesome like that, so.”
“Why didn’t you go with him?”
I frowned. “With who?”
“The Great White.”
I… didn’t expect that. “Should I have?”
“I don’t know, Sam. I’m asking you. Why didn’t you go? If you knew that you could have gotten him on your side, why didn’t you go?”
“I thought it was obvious.”
“Why don’t you explain it anyway.”
“You did hear the part where he said I had to cut everyone off, right? Leave you all behind? You caught the righteous indignation I tried so hard to portray? If not, I can certainly reenact it for you right now.”
“I did, but you never said why.”
I scowled at him. “Because I can’t do that! I can’t just leave. Gary and Tiggy would fall apart without me. Kevin would probably end up burning down the City. Justin wouldn’t have anyone to braid his hair or talk about boys with. My parents wouldn’t have their son. The King wouldn’t have his favorite apprentice to the King’s Wizard. And then—and then there’s you.”
“What about me?”
I pushed myself off the door and stalked toward him. “You. You’d be the worst of all! You would be a mess without me. Who would tell you that you were posing like a douchebag everywhere you want? Who would make sure that you didn’t fucking curse in front of ten orphans who were looking at you with wide eyes like you had just crushed all their dreams because you were their fucking hero and you couldn’t watch your godsdamn fucking language—”
“I feel like you don’t understand what irony means,” he said, spreading his legs a little so I could step between them. His hands went to my hips.
“I literally know what it means. Like, literally.”
He snorted as he looked up at me. “You’re an idiot.”
I shrugged. “It’s been said by men far greater than you and me. And by lesser men. And now that I think about it, men who are also equal to us. Wow. That’s a stunning revelation to have this late in the game. Am I offended? I think I might be offended.”
“You could have gone with—”
“No. I couldn’t have. I won’t leave you all. And I will never leave you.”
He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against my stomach. “Are you sure it’s going to be enough? What we have?”
“One knight, two zany sidekicks, three wizards, and four dragons? Nah, we’re totally screwed.”
He shoved me away.
I laughed at him. “I’m kidding. Gods, it was just a joke.”
“It wasn’t funny.”
“We’ll be fine,” I said, cupping his face in my hands. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. “I promise.”
“Are you sure you don’t want what he offered? Sam, he was going to make you a wizard. It’s what you’ve spent the last decade working toward.”
“Eh. I can do it without him. But I don’t think I can do it without you.”
He sighed. “Mothercracker. That was good.”
“You still mad at me?”
“Not as much as I feel like I should be. How do you do that?”
“I could totally suck on your cock right now if it would make you feel any better about it. Let you fuck my face.”
His eyes were dilated when he opened them. “I could go for that.”
“And notice how I’m not even mentioning how you got rid of the beard.”
“So we’re not including the nonstop complaining over the past four days?”
“I didn’t even get to jizz all over it! It’s a fucking travesty.”
Ryan Foxheart smiled at me, and it was such a radiant thing. “Gods, I love you.”
I grinned back at him, just as bright. “I know. I love you too.”
And later, when he rose above me, back arched, hips rolling as he rode me, I promised myself that I would never let anything tear us apart. Not Myrin. Not the Great White. Not any of the villains of the world.
He was my cornerstone.
Nothing would come between us.
Chapter 21: Superfans
IT WAS delivered by a harried-looking page three days later.
I was eating with the others out in the stable Kevin had commandeered as his own. Shortly after he’d come to stay at Castle Lockes for good, he’d gone back and forth between the City and his old keep over the period of a few months, slowly transferring his hoard into the stable. There were piles of gold and jewels, stacks of books in languages long forgotten, and at least four hundred brooms. When asked about them, Kevin would get confused, saying they were just as precious to him as the gigantic emerald Gary licked every time he passed it by.
Tiggy had told me that Gary had been staying in their old rooms since returning to the castle, evidently taking this trial reconciliation thing very seriously. But none of his stuff had been moved out of the stables, so I thought it wouldn’t be much longer before Gary gave up and admitted what all the rest of us already knew.
We hadn’t heard from Randall, but I wasn’t yet worried about that. I figured it’d take more time to get someone as ridiculously obstinate as the Great White to change his mind, if he would at all.
The map in the King’s office remained still. The Darks, whatever their intentions, were not on the move. It made me uneasy not knowing what Myrin was planning. Morgan thought he would be lying low, licking his wounds after suffering the defeat in Mashallaha, having underestimated my power. I wanted to believe him, but something just felt… off.
; But we were all here, we were all together, and we were happy and whole. Gary was snarking at Kevin, and Tiggy was grinning at the both of them, hands inching toward one of many brooms against the wall. Justin was doing that thing where he glared, but secretly he was thinking about how much he loved all of us and never wanted to be apart from anyone here, especially me, because we were best friends 5eva. Ryan and I sat side by side, Ryan’s hand on my knee, and for a moment, even with everything that had happened, even with everything that could still happen, I was content.
I was happy.
“And then I said, ‘Girl, you do not get to talk to me that way, do you know who I am?’” Gary huffed and flipped his mane dramatically. “Obviously she did not know who I was, because she looked at me with this look, this blank look, which did nothing to help her situation. So I said, ‘Girl, don’t you look at me like that,’ and she said, ‘Bitch, I don’t know you, bitch,’ and then I said, ‘Bitch, I’ll tell you who I am, bitch,’ and then I got up in her face, real close like, and said, ‘Bitch, I’m your motherfucking nightmare, bitch.’”
“Motherfucking nightmare,” Tiggy agreed. “This broom my broom now.”
“What happened next?” Kevin asked, sounding enraptured. “Did you become her nightmare as you foretold?”
“If you would let me finish the godsdamn story, you would learn that I did not in fact become her nightmare, because as it turned out, I was actually talking to my own reflection in a window of a shop that I’d just passed by. It was about that time that I realized that I should cut back on day drinking, because nobody likes a sloppy princess such as myself yelling at her reflection in the middle of a street.”
Justin frowned. “And what exactly does this have to do with negotiating tariff tax like we were talking about before?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Gary said. “But that was super boring, so I took over the conversation and turned it into something far more interesting by making it about me.”
“These are your people,” I said as I nudged Ryan.
“Don’t remind me,” he muttered as he cleaned his sword.
It was good.
It was good.
Then came the page.