Flecks of Gold

by Buck, Alicia

  “I’ve been casually walking around with royalty?”

  I must have looked stunned because Breeohan responded with a slight edge to his voice. “Don’t act like this, Mary. I am the same person as I was before. It shouldn’t make a difference that I’m royalty.”

  That snapped me out my stupor. “Whoa, there, ego-boy. Just because I’ve never actually met anyone royal before doesn’t mean I think you’re any better than I am. Because you’re not. In case you didn’t understand from my previous explanations of my country, we believe all people are created equal. That means royalty or not, I am not going to bow or scrape the ground, worshiping you. So you can just get off your high horse right now.”

  My speech didn’t have the effect I thought it would. I wasn’t sure, but I saw what looked suspiciously like the beginnings of a smile on Breeohan’s face. I turned quickly and started walking down the road. Breeohan made a funny coughing noise that I suspected might actually have been laughter before he caught up.

  “If what you say is true and you are the next person in line to be king, then you’re crazy to think that there isn’t anyone who wants to kill you. Where did you grow up anyway, Never-Never Land? I may not be from a country ruled by monarchs, but I know history, and people are always trying to dethrone kings, kill off heirs, and do whatever they have to do to gain power. It is a universal truth that not many people can handle power without becoming corrupt and wanting more power.”

  “I don’t want to be king. It was thrust upon me. I had no choice in the matter.”

  “Didn’t you? Can you honestly tell me that you weren’t allowed to decline?”

  “It’s complicated.” His voice didn’t invite questions, but I went on.

  “So, if this Aria girl doesn’t want to rule, who does?”

  “I don’t know. The royals at court are often condescending and happier with themselves than with anyone else. I have to know all of them, but I don’t know many of them well. Still, I can’t imagine any of them being capable of such treachery.”

  “Well, someone is, noble or not, and you aren’t giving me a good idea of who, so I guess we’ll just have to see who looks guilty when we get there.”

  Breeohan laughed. “One thing I know. If one of the aristocracy is trying to kill me, you won’t see any guilt on his face. Nobles are masters at hiding emotions.”

  “You don’t seem to be all that great at hiding your emotions.”

  Breeohan blushed, proving my point.

  “I’ve spent most of my life around magicians, not nobles. My mother thinks that I haven’t tried hard enough to master the skill of masking emotions. She says I will always get taken advantage of because my face is as clear as stream water.”

  “People will trust you more, though.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” Breeohan said. We walked awhile in thoughtful silence. “We’ll reach the capital by nightfall,” he said suddenly.

  “When do you think we’ll be able to see the king?”

  “It depends on how busy he is, but I may be able to get a private audience fairly quickly, considering all that has happened. I’m sure he will want to know about the attacks.” He was looking thoughtfully at the ground, so he started when I grabbed his shirt and spun him toward me.

  “And my mother. I know you have a lot on your mind right now, Breeohan, what with your kingly future being threatened, but my mother is out there somewhere with some lunatic, and that means everything to me. Don’t forget her.” My heart felt tight in my chest. I knew I was angry at Breeohan now because for one moment, I too had forgotten my real purpose. I’d exchanged my concerns about Mom for worrying about Breeohan. What a fickle daughter, I thought savagely.

  “I haven’t forgotten your mother, Mary.” He spoke so softly, I felt horrible for blowing up. “I was also speaking of the attack on you and your mother.”

  “Oh.” I felt even worse.

  “Your very presence in this country is a mystery. And so are you.”

  I was still thinking about Mom, so I was a little confused. “I’m what?”

  “A mystery.” He smiled mischievously.

  “I am not. I’m even easier to read than you are,” I retorted.

  “I don’t know. I can’t seem to figure you out. You behave so strangely sometimes. Are all people where you come from like you?”

  “Maybe a little. But I guess I am a little odd, no matter where I am.” I thought sadly of all the times I had been shunned as a little kid. I hadn’t liked playing dolls and dress up, and strange things happened around me. After a while even my best friends had faded away. I saw now that those unusual occurrences had happened because of my magic ability. Though it explained things, assured me that I wasn’t actually crazy, I was still sad for all those times I’d felt like a scary character in a sci-fi movie.

  “Well, I think I ought to warn you about a few things before you go and put your arm down the serpent’s hole.”

  “Oh yeah? Like what, Teacher?” I still wasn’t going to call him “Master.”

  “For one, there are many types of bows that you will have to learn. It is important that you get the depth of the bow right so as not to offend. You have given me a bow before that should only be given a king, do you remember?”

  “I remember. I’ll save that one for him.”

  “Good. The problem we will have is your rank, where you fit in comparison to the other nobles.”

  “That’s where you and I see differently. I think I’m equal to even the highest of kings.” I gave a little flourish with my fingers as I imagined royalty might do.

  “We could say that you are a visiting princess. That way, no one would dare take retribution on you if you made a mistake.”

  “Who would believe that? I’m just a high school student.”

  “A what? Oh, never mind, you’re probably right. You don’t act anything like royalty, even though you look it. But then the king doesn’t act very royal sometimes, either. For that matter, neither does the training general, and he’s a prince. You know, you remind me of them in some ways. They are just as confusing at times. They, however, just seem enigmatic, whereas you—”

  “Don’t even say it.”

  “Anyway, I know it sounds far-fetched, but not many of the nobles in court have traveled far, and even fewer have a thorough knowledge of geography. Your strange ways might be the very thing to convince them that you are a princess.”

  “Aren’t princesses usually rich? We won’t exactly arrive in a limousine, surrounded by bodyguards. Presentation is everything, and I look like a beat-up traveling salesman. What if someone asks how I got here?”

  “Though I didn’t understand half of what you just said, I think I understood your main point, and I have a plan.”

  “In books, whenever someone says they have a plan, it always turns out disastrous,” I said. The sun was sinking, and I thought I could make out distant buildings in a city ten times larger than any we had come to yet. From far away, I could almost imagine that I had really just been wandering in the Arizona desert and was coming up on a real city. The lamps weren’t nearly as bright as electric lights, but my wishing made the illusion seem possible.

  “Trust me. All you have to do is act like you own the world, and I will do the rest.” He started walking faster, and I had to convince my tired feet to pick up the pace. He donned the chameleon lacing again, so I followed suit.

  Chapter 9

  As we neared the huge buildings of the city, my Arizona illusion vanished. The buildings were coarsely made. The dun-colored cobblestone road looked nothing like asphalt. The smell of garbage and smoke bothered my nose, making me wish for a breeze. And the sight of a pack of dirty kids hunkering down in an alley killed all my happy memories of air-conditioned, pest-free houses.

  Breeohan grabbed my hand and led me down the alley past the children. They were so busy squabbling for what looked like a rotten piece of meat that I thought they wouldn’t have noticed us even if we’d been
shouting. I found I was wrong, however, when my foot kicked a rock. They stopped fighting immediately, looking around for the source of the noise. Their expressions of mingled fear and ruthlessness made me shiver, and I hurried past before they searched the alley more thoroughly.

  “Don’t those children have any place they can go?” I asked.

  “There are orphanages, but many children slip through the sand. Some might consider children on the streets better off than those in the orphanages,” Breeohan said.

  He stopped at a beat-up door in an alleyway, and I wondered what we were doing in such a grimy place.

  He knocked and then said, “He may not be here,” as if I would understand.

  We waited in tense silence. I was just about to suggest that no one appeared to be home, when the door opened a crack. Breeohan dropped his lacing. I held my breath and slid further out of sight.

  “Who is it?” asked a voice that reminded me of scraping rocks on gravel.

  “Don’t tell me I have been away so long that the sand has changed my face, Rafan.”

  The door opened wider, revealing a dirty young man who looked to be Breeohan’s age. His hair was tangled and his clothes torn, but the dirt made his blue-green eyes stand out all the more. He grinned at Breeohan, reminding me of a naughty kid who had just pulled off some tremendous prank. I stepped into a deeper shadow.

  “Breeohan, you look awful. Just back from the magician’s trial?” His voice was suddenly less deep, but it still sounded like sandpaper. I cleared my own throat as if I could fix his.

  “I think you’d better take a look at yourself, Rafan. Why are you dressed so disreputably?” Breeohan asked.

  “Come in, and I will tell you about it.” He gestured for Breeohan to enter. Breeohan looked all around but didn’t see my still form in the shadows.

  “I’m not alone. Mary? Rafan is an old friend from school.”

  “Mary? I never thought I would see the day when you would bring strange women to my door,” Rafan said, winking.

  I knew I was a little paranoid with most men, but I figured I was justified by past events. After a moment’s hesitation, I stepped out of the shadows and dropped my lacing. If Breeohan trusted Rafan, the least I could do was give him a chance.

  “Hello.” Rafan said the greeting like some men said, “Hello, beautiful.” Long and drawn out. He checked me out from head to foot, lingeringly. My face heated with anger, which only got worse as I realized it would look like I was blushing.

  Breeohan was a little flushed as well. He gently pushed his friend back through the door, following him in. I came after and closed the door behind me. Inside, I was surprised to see a room furnished with bright red, purple, and blue rugs. The decorating was a mishmash, but the rugs looked to be woven well, with detailed designs integrated into the whole. They seemed expensive, and I wondered why Rafan looked so grubby when he was living in such comfort.

  “You seem to be doing well, anyway,” Breeohan said, indicating the rugs. “This room didn’t look half so nice the last time I was here.”

  “I thought I would make the place more comfortable since I’ve had to stay here for awhile.” Rafan turned to me. “I hope you won’t hold my appearance against me, lady. I am not usually so ill-prepared to receive guests.”

  It was odd hearing such fluffy words from a raspy-voiced, grubby guy.

  “Don’t worry. I’ve looked worse myself,” I said.

  “I doubt that you ever look anything but beautiful.”

  He’s certainly laying it on thick, I thought, stretching my lips into a courtesy smile. After Kelson, I didn’t really care for flowery talkers. I looked him full in the eyes as I smiled, and his gallant expression faded at the sight of my golden irises, but he recovered quickly. Rafan’s reaction made me remember that I’d been too distracted with trying to figure out who wanted Breeohan dead to ask him to explain why my eyes startled everyone.

  “Why do you look like something that’s been dragged through the sewers?” Breeohan asked. His arms were crossed, and he appeared to be in a foul mood.

  “I’m undercover.” Rafan winked at me.

  “Well . . .” Breeohan reminded me of a schoolteacher who had just caught his student in the middle of a wrongful act.

  “There have been reports of several attacks against magicians. The king wanted me to blend into the background—find out a few things,” Rafan said.

  “Have the attacks happened to specific mages, or are they directed toward all magicians?” Breeohan asked, eyes sharp.

  “That is what I am trying to find out. So far the attacks seem random, but all the victims have been masters, key political figures in the court. It’s a good thing you came to me instead of walking through the city tonight. Now that you are a master, you might be attacked too.”

  “We’ve been ambushed twice now.”

  “Tonight?”

  “In the last town and in the Klio Wadi. What have you discovered?”

  “Nothing definite, and I’ve been a beggar for weeks. We have caught a few of the attackers, but none of them know who hired them, only who they were supposed to target and where to get the promised pay. We have tried hiding guards around the rendezvous points, but no one ever shows. It’s as if whoever is behind the attacks knows his thugs have been found.”

  “Magic?” Breeohan asked.

  “I don’t know. There has never been a lacing found that could do such a thing.”

  The two men looked thoughtful. I stood near a wall, happy to be overlooked. I thought Breeohan and Rafan were ignoring a simple explanation as to why no one ever came to the rendezvous point. There could be someone on the inside, feeding the mastermind information. The person behind the attacks could even be the insider.

  “If you’re going to the king,” Rafan said, “I think I’ll go with you and tell him what has been happening lately. It’s been a while since I last reported to him.”

  “We can’t go to him quite yet,” said Breeohan. He turned to look at me, and Rafan followed suit, intensely interested. I took an involuntary step backwards, stumbling on a rug before catching myself.

  “I need your help, Rafan. Since you’re already in disguise, I need you to go to the docks and bribe sailors to say they saw a grand passenger boat that came and left this evening. Then—”

  “Wait.” I said quickly. My stomach was churning uncomfortably. “I don’t feel comfortable lying. If you introduce me this way, you’ll have to come up with lie after lie, and it might lead to trouble. I don’t want to pretend I’m a princess. The story has too many holes, especially if you have to bribe people. I would much rather just go to the palace as myself. The less said the better. I’ll just try to blend into the background or something. Why don’t we just say that I’m a foreign magician studying abroad?”

  “And who are you really, lady?” Rafan asked. He had a debonair twinkle in his eye. I shifted uncomfortably.

  “I am a foreign magician,” I said stubbornly. I didn’t want to go into my whole story with Rafan. The fewer people who knew, the less likely the story would get back to Kelson.

  “I think you are right, Mary. The simpler the explanation, the less likely people are to question it. But there is a problem.”

  “What?”

  “Your gold eyes.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  I heard him mutter, “Fool,” under his breath and was about to get offended when he said, “I was so worried with what was happening, I forgot to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “That only nobility have gold in their eyes. You’ve seen that my eyes have quite a lot of gold? Well, the more gold, the more royal, supposedly.”

  “Well, that’s stupid. What if a noble kid gets a recessive gene and ends up without any gold? Does that make him a commoner?”

  “I don’t know what a recessive gene is, but occasionally there are commoners with gold flecks, and there are a few nobles with no gold. However, if someone
has totally golden eyes, he or she is never just a commoner. They are from a royal line, always.”

  Apparently my eyes were unusual everywhere. “Is this golden eye rule true in other countries too?”

  “For some of them,” he said. I was uncomfortably aware of Rafan’s eyes on us as we talked. They were blue-green without a trace of gold. Was Rafan a noble or commoner? I hated to even have to worry about such classifications.

  “I still don’t want to pretend that I’m a princess. Anyone would be able to see through it in a second, and you said that people with golden eyes come from a royal line, not that they are a prince or princess,” I said.

  “I don’t agree about your inability to act royal. I have certainly seen you acting royal enough on occasion.” Breeohan’s serious expression relaxed into a smile.

  “A royal pain, you mean.” I smiled back.

  “You said it.” He laughed.

  Suddenly, Rafan took my hand, and Breeohan’s smile faded. “I would have no trouble believing you royalty,” Rafan said as he bowed over my hand. I was glad he didn’t kiss it. Maybe they don’t do that here, I thought hopefully.

  “Whatever we decide, it is too late to start tonight,” Breeohan said. “I think we should wait until morning before organizing a plan or trying to reach the palace. We might as well sleep.”

  “I agree,” I said. I tried to get my hand back, and Rafan let go after another bow.

  “I shall sleep in the far corner so you will not have to breathe in my unfortunate stench,” Rafan said.

  “That’s very kind,” I said and meant it. He smelled like rotting tomatoes. Close proximity was making me queasy.

  I wanted to talk to Breeohan alone, but there was only one room, so I settled down for the night. Breeohan was quiet as well. He looked deep in thought, and I wondered if he was still trying to come up with a plan. I really hoped we wouldn’t have to lie if we could avoid it. The phrase “The truth will set you free” kept running through my head. I knew it was pathetic to always use books as my life guides, but as a loner I’d had to do something with all that time spent without friends. In a book, a character’s lies usually create complications that eventually lead to some big catastrophe. I had a feeling that I was already going to be in for a wild ride, even without some made-up story to trip me up.