“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”
My eyelids fluttered open, and I sat up. My friends were in my room. Jason was standing by the fireplace, poking the charred logs with a wrought iron rod. SJ had just thrown open the light pink curtains that matched my comforter. Daniel was going through my backpack. Blue stood by my bedside, smirking.
“Thanks, Blue. I love being woken by an insult,” I replied with a yawn as I sat up. I rubbed my eyes. “What’s wrong? Why are you guys all here?”
“Dorothy called Blue. She’s been trying to get a hold of you all morning,” Jason responded. “And I think I just figured out why she wasn’t able to reach you.” He dug the poker through the ashes of the fireplace and pulled out my charred compact mirror. “Geez, Crisa. This takes re-gifting to a new level.”
I shook my head. “Sorry. Alex called last night. I got angry and overreacted.”
“How unlike you,” Daniel commented.
Fully awake now, I hopped off the bed but stumbled back when I saw what Blue was wearing. Before we’d parted ways last night, I’d given her back her clothes and utility belt of throwing knives, which had been stashed in my backpack. She now donned the latter, but her new outfit caused me great alarm.
“B-Blue,” I stammered. “Where did you get those clothes?”
“Elaine has a daughter and a son about our age. The son, Galeschin, is away with Morgan’s son Ywain helping the Gwenivere Brigade. The daughter, Elaine Jr., has been missing for a few years. Elaine Sr. said we could help ourselves to their clothes.” Blue shrugged. “It feels kind of weird wearing a missing girl’s outfits. But Jason left his clothes in the carriage last night, and the rest of us were almost murdered by pumpkins, evil scarecrows, and pirates in our old get-ups, so we agreed it was time for a change.”
I noticed that all my friends were wearing new clothes. They’d kept parts of their old looks—Daniel still wore his leather jacket and Blue her brown boots for instance—but new pieces had been incorporated.
The outfits caused me great horror. Blue donned the navy romper I’d just seen her wearing in my dreams. A brown, halter-style vest that matched her boots, utility belt, and sheath lay over the top. SJ and Jason also wore the same clothes I’d envisioned them wearing in my dream. Which meant …
Oh no.
I thought I had time to make my magic strong enough to save Jason, but I didn’t have any time at all. His death, that battle—it was all about to happen!
“Crisa, are you okay?” Blue asked. “You look pale.”
“I’m fine,” I said quickly. I crossed my arms self-consciously when I realized I was only wearing a nightgown. I grabbed a robe from a hook behind the door and plunged my arms through its soft sleeves. “What did Dorothy say?”
“She told us to call her back when you were awake,” Daniel replied. He reached into his pocket and tossed me his Mark Two.
I flipped open the compact and spoke Dorothy’s name. After a few rings she answered. The face of the familiar, gangly brunette filled the looking glass. “Crisa!” she exclaimed.
“Morning, Dorothy.” I gestured for my friends to huddle around as I held up the compact. “What happened yesterday? Has Arthur really been captured?”
“I’m afraid so,” Dorothy responded. “He successfully helped all of the Lost Boys and Girls escape, but at the last second Arian got to Peter. Arian threatened to kill him if Arthur didn’t surrender, so Arthur surrendered. But Arian didn’t set Peter free. The antagonists are keeping him and Arthur somewhere in the forest. The fairies, Lost Boys and Girls, and I are trying to find them. I just thought I should tell you.”
“Thanks for the update,” I replied. Then I paused, thinking on the dreams that had passed through my head last night and the questions I’d been mulling over since I’d learned the antagonists were after Excalibur.
“Dorothy, random question, but did Ozma have some sort of crown on her when you were separated in Camelot?”
“Um, yeah,” Dorothy replied, confused by the abrupt change of subject. “The Simia Crown. It’s an old family heirloom that’s part of a set. One crown is always worn by the ruler of Oz, and the other by her advisor so the power can be shared. The crowns were stolen many years ago. When Eva was still the Wicked Witch of the West she possessed them both. But once she was cured of Pure Magic Disease, she returned them to Ozma and Julian. Unfortunately, when Glinda turned dark, she stole Julian’s crown, but Ozma was still wearing hers the last time I saw her. For as long as I’ve known her, she’s never gone anywhere without it.”
“Why are the crowns important?” I asked. “I had a vision of Rampart talking about Ozma’s crown with Arian. I think that crown is the reason why Alex and Mauvrey were already going after Excalibur before they knew about Paige. Rampart has it, and is offering it to Arian in exchange for Excalibur.”
“Crisa …” Dorothy looked frightened. “You cannot let that crown fall into the antagonists’ hands.”
“Why not? What is it?”
“The Simia Crowns are not ordinary crowns. They allow their wearers control over flying monkeys. One crown controls the females, the other the males. There are two crowns so that if one crown wearer tries to use the power for destruction, the other can challenge them.”
Double oh no.
Everything made sense now. Arian wanted the Simia Crown so he could orchestrate an attack on the Fairy Godmothers during the Vicennalia Aurora. That distraction would thin out their ranks and detract from their magical focus, allowing the antagonists in Book to break down Alderon’s In and Out Spell. Rampart had acquired the crown when he’d captured Ozma. The thing that Rampart wanted most was Excalibur—hence the trade.
“Dorothy,” I responded. “I’m going to need to call you back.”
I caught my friends up on my conversation with Alex and everything I’d dreamed about (leaving out the part regarding Jason’s death, which Jason had asked me to keep a secret).
“I thought the antagonists’ plot only had two parts,” Blue said. “Find the genies and harness their power for evil, and then destroy Natalie’s spirit when she turns twenty-one so she’ll open the Eternity Gate. Why are we only learning about their plan for the Vicennalia Aurora now?”
“The antagonists are not fools,” SJ responded. “If they have been plotting to overthrow Book for as long as it seems, then it stands to reason that they have more than one plan. The reason for them opening the Eternity Gate is so that all normal, presently active magic is rendered useless—bringing down the In and Out Spell around Alderon and extinguishing the power of the Fairy Godmothers. As we deduced in Oz, should they find the genies, they would not release them until after that. For if the genies are still dormant during the Eternity Gate reset, then their magic will be preserved. The antagonists could then free them later on and use their power to take over the realm.”
“But finding the genies and getting Natalie to open the Eternity Gate are not sure things,” Daniel tagged in. “So like SJ said, they have contingencies. If there’s an opportunity to break out of Alderon before then—”
“They’re going to take it,” I finished.
“It is an admirably detailed plan, really,” SJ commented. “If Arian succeeds in acquiring the Simia Crown, flying monkeys could prevent the Godmothers from properly protecting the In and Out Spell when the Vicennalia Aurora hits. The spell could come down, and if that happens the antagonists could invade the realm, spread their forces across Book, and weaken it as an initial assault before the final blow from the genies and the Eternity Gate.”
“I definitely think that’s their plan,” I said. “Which means we need to adjust for it. SJ and Blue, can you give Dorothy a call back and update her about finding Ozma and her slipper in Rampart’s dungeon? I was so focused on the Simia Crown I forgot to tell her. She’s going to flip when she finds out that Ozma is alive and Julian betrayed her.”
I turned to the boys. “Can you guys talk to our hosts about the quickest route through the Passage
Perelous? Now that Alex has been blessed by the Boar’s Mouth, our competition for Excalibur just got kicked up a notch. We need to get to Avalon ASAP.”
“What are you going to do?” Blue asked.
My lips tightened with displeasure. “I’m going to have a conversation with my least favorite Fairy Godmother. Assuming she’s not still blocking my calls.”
“Crisanta, the answer is no.”
I stood on the outer wall of Gwenivere’s castle. The sun was bright but hazy as it shone through the Poppy mist. Countless fireflies continued to flicker through it. Ormé had explained that they were drawn to Poppies—called to the flowers like bees to a hive. As such, they’d disregarded the memo about morning and their luminescent rear ends continued to glimmer.
The cold air of Camelot lapped against my face. I regretted not changing before coming outside. I’d mistaken the brightness for warmth and the robe I had over my nightgown was not getting the job done.
For the last five minutes I’d been trying to convince Lenore about the revelations my friends and I had just arrived at. Luckily, since the attack in Midveil she’d unblocked me as a caller on her Mark Two. Unluckily, she was still being difficult.
How unlike her.
Lenore and I had been at odds since the moment we met. Even before she suspected I had Pure Magic she’d considered me a threat. The woman loved order and things she could control. To her, I was a defiant, anti-archetype flaw in her perfect world. Meanwhile, I considered her an intimidating combo of shrewd, strategic, and vicious, with narrow-minded views when it came to how to best protect our realm.
“Lenore, you have to believe me. The antagonists are going to unleash a flying monkey attack during the Vicennalia Aurora. I don’t know where else you could possibly be planning on sending your Godmothers that night, but you need to gather them at Alderon’s border. Otherwise the In and Out Spell is going to come down.”
“You have been gone a while, Crisanta,” Lenore responded. “You have no idea what’s happened here.”
“Then enlighten me,” I responded.
“The assaults on your castle in Midveil and the other kingdoms were just the beginning,” Lenore said. “Since you left, there have been commons rebellion attacks all across the realm. My Godmothers and I are stretched to our limits trying to keep the situation under control, but their forces are getting stronger. The only places that remain completely untouched are Clevaunt, Coventry, Ravelli, the protagonist schools, and—thank the skies—our beloved capital. If I move even a handful of Godmothers away from their assigned posts, a well-executed attack could cost an entire kingdom to fall.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
The common characters of Book had tried to rebel in the past. In a way I didn’t blame them. Our realm’s division of power and importance wasn’t fair.
People who were chosen by the Author were named protagonists and given every advantage. People who weren’t chosen were labeled ordinary and not given the same regard. I believed each situation had its caveats. As a protagonist, my kind was forced into archetypes and supposed to live up to the specific life plans that the higher-ups set for us. As a common, you were left to your own devices and could pursue whatever path you desired. The problem with that was the realm higher-ups acted like you didn’t matter. You had no say in how the realm was governed and couldn’t count on the people in charge for the same type of help and opportunities given to main characters.
Still, my sympathy for the plight of the commons was not great enough to excuse what had happened. I believed in change and taking charge of your destiny, but not through murder or bloodshed. My growing conflict over the morality of taking villains’ lives did not apply here. There was no excuse for hurting innocents.
The attacks on my castle and other kingdoms had crossed a line. Whatever compassion I once held for the commons fighting back had died that day, along with a lot of people. So while Lena Lenore and I were rarely on the same page, I felt for her here. The commons were becoming dangerous. And there were a lot more of them than there were protagonists and realm leaders.
And yet … I had to keep my eye on the big picture.
I recalled my time interrogating Anthony Graystone, a former member of the Midveil King’s Guard who’d been a part of the commons attack on my castle.
“There is something big coming, something to do with the Vicennalia Aurora,” he’d said.
My enemies must have been intending to unleash the flying monkeys the day of the Aurora this whole time, knowing that if the Godmothers were preoccupied with commons rebellion threats across the realm, their forces would be divided. Then the few Godmothers I’d foreseen assigned to the Alderon border would be assaulted by the flying beasts and rendered incapable of a proper defense.
It was a smart tactic. As SJ said, our enemies were not fools. They had multiple lines of strategy in place at once—Natalie and the Eternity Gate, Paige Tomkins and the location of the genies, the commons rebellion and the Vicennalia Aurora.
For months now, my friends and I thought we knew what the antagonists were up to. But all this time it seemed we’d only scratched the surface. Over the last few days the breadth of their schemes had come to light. And unlike the Eternity Gate plan, which would occur at the end of the year, the antagonists had other plans meant to come to fruition in a matter of days.
“Look, Lenore,” I continued. “I know the situation is rough, but if the spell around Alderon falls then the destruction you’re seeing will only be a hiccup compared to what happens next. I honestly think the commons rebellion is a distraction and we need to shift our focus elsewhere.”
After my dream about the Vicennalia Aurora and the flying monkeys, I believed this wholeheartedly. I’d long suspected that the antagonists were using the commons to weaken our realm while they worked on their long-term plan. I still thought this was true, but now I realized it could also be simpler than that. Arian and the antagonists’ might just be escalating the commons rebellion to distract us from their greater plot.
“A distraction?” an offended Lenore repeated. “Crisanta, you saw the threat that the commons rebellion poses firsthand. Your own castle was attacked and half destroyed with countless people killed in the process. Several other kingdoms experienced the same fate. Are you honestly telling me that this doesn’t matter?”
“No, the rebellion matters to the commons, I’m sure,” I responded. “But again, I think the antagonists are using it as misdirection to beat you.”
“The nerve you have,” Lenore huffed.
“It’s not nerve; it’s pragmatism,” I asserted, clutching Daniel’s Mark Two firmly in my hand. “I’m not saying the rebellion isn’t a formidable threat, I’m just saying it shouldn’t be our main priority. The antagonists don’t care about the plight of the common person. They’re not humanitarians; they’re villains. Their main play is elsewhere. They’re going to try and break down Alderon’s In and Out Spell on the night of the Vicennalia Aurora. You need to concentrate all of your forces there.”
“The numbers I’ve assigned to guard the spell on that day will suffice,” Lenore said dismissively. “I will personally be there, and I’m sure we can handle a little magic instability.”
I wanted to tell her that this Aurora was going to produce more than a little magic instability. Thanks to my vision, I now knew from Lenore herself that the Aurora was going to make Pure Magic stronger while it made normal magic weaker. However, I couldn’t tell her that without revealing my dreams of the future. It was the same reason why I couldn’t tell her that I knew with absolute certainty a flying monkey attack was going to happen.
As mentioned, Lenore had been trying to prove I had Pure Magic for a long time. The two signs of a person carrying Pure Magic were an inability to remove magic and dreams of the future. Thanks to an incident with a Stiltdegarth, Lenore knew my magic couldn’t be removed. As a result, she regularly sought confirmation of the second bit of criteria
. If she had proof that I dreamed of the future, she could send me to Alderon along with all other people who’d contracted the disease, aside from Liza.
Unless I wanted to doom myself, I was stuck. So all I could say was, “Lenore, I’m just trying to help.”
Lenore scoffed. I was always amazed how her beautiful face could hold so much cruelty.
“It may have escaped your notice, Crisanta, but this realm existed just fine before you came along. We don’t need you to save us or guide us. I have things perfectly under control.”
“No you don’t,” I said flatly. “You’re letting your pride and dislike of me get in the way of your judgment.”
“And you, Crisanta Knight, are letting you self-endowed chosen-one syndrome get in the way of yours. Let’s say I listened to you and moved all of my Godmother forces to the Alderon border, despite the fact that my sources say that the commons have a multi-kingdom attack planned for that evening. Who will defend the innocent against their onslaught?”
I paused then bitterly admitted the truth. “I don’t know.”
“Exactly,” Lenore huffed. “And that, young lady, is precisely why I will send you to Alderon one day when I have proof of your Pure Magic. Despite what my sister thinks, I know your heart is destined for darkness. You have more inherent coldness in you than many Pure Magic carriers I’ve known in the past. It’s obvious in the way you care so little about people.”
“I care about people!” My voice rose an octave in surprise and offense.
“Really?” Lenore replied condescendingly. “Because you are asking me to abandon entire kingdoms without any kind of contingency. Did you even think about that before you called me and made your case?”
I was at a loss for words. That hardly ever happened.
“That’s what I thought,” Lenore responded. She shook her head. “Crisanta, thank you for the warning, but I caution you now like I always have to know your place. Whatever mission you and your friends are on, you’re in it alone. I have too much responsibility to Book and its people to compromise my judgment for you.”
Crisanta Knight: To Death & Back Page 20