The Prince of Neither Here Nor There

by Sean Cullen

  Brendan stood. “Thank you. I know this is weird for you. It’s doubly weird for me, believe me. But I can’t help it. I’m doing the right thing.”

  “I hope you are right,” Ariel sighed. “You’ve chosen a difficult road, Breandan. One world is hard enough. Two worlds may be more than anyone can handle.”

  “I’ll be okay,” Brendan said. “Oh, and by the way, my name is Brendan. No extra ‘a’ from now on.” Somehow, it was important to Brendan to retain that little bit of his old self. “Brendan.”

  “As you wish.” Ariel chuckled.

  “I’d better be going,” Brendan said. “My mum and dad will be worried sick.”

  “Call them on the way home,” Og said, tossing him a small flat block of wood. Brendan caught it easily. His old clumsiness was a thing of the past.

  He walked out through the crowd. Well-wishers slapped his back and made sure he knew they were glad he’d come through the Quest unscathed. As he approached the door, someone grabbed him by the arm. He was spun around to find himself looking into the face of Finbar. The old man smiled.

  “Finbar! I’d forgotten. Are you all right?”

  “Sure, I’m fine. Never better.”

  “Are you going to be reinstated?”

  The old man shook his head. “Nay, not yet anyway. They’re discussin’ my case.” Finbar cracked a smile. “But since I gave you a hand, they’re lookin’ at me with a kinder eye. I have ye to thank fer that.” The old man offered his calloused hand and Brendan shook it gladly.

  “Thank you,” Brendan said sincerely.

  “Thank me? Fer what? If I hadn’t lifted yer token, ye would never have had all this trouble.”

  “Well, you saved Delia and I owe you a lot. I’ll lobby for you.”

  Finbar winked and let go of Brendan’s hand.

  Brendan turned and walked the rest of the way to the door. He reached the door of the Swan and looked back at his newfound friends and family.

  Og, Kim, Deirdre, and Greenleaf smiled and waved. Brendan couldn’t help but feel excited about the possibilities his new life presented. Finbar ducked his head meekly and waved. Brendan waved back. Though he was desperate to get back to his Human family, he suddenly was reluctant to leave.

  Then he caught sight of Ariel. The ancient Faerie sat unnaturally still, watching him with those inscrutable eyes, an enigmatic expression on his pale face. Brendan sensed that Ariel was a dangerous person for all of his benign, grand fatherly demeanour. He looked at Brendan as if he could pry open his mind and examine the boy’s inner thoughts.

  Brendan looked at that face and realized he couldn’t get out of the Swan soon enough.

  “Good luck, mon,” Leonard said, laying a massive arm around Brendan’s shoulders. “You’ve chosen a difficult path but I tink you be up to de task.”

  Brendan looked up into the smiling dark face and smiled back. “I think it’s going to be okay, Leonard.”

  “You be careful,” a feminine voice growled. Saskia, the bartender with the yellow, wolfish eyes, sidled up and took Leonard’s arm. “If you need anything, you be sure and let us know. I would be happy to help you with your Warp training.”

  “Cool! Thanks a lot. I was really wiped out after I warped.”

  “Everyone is after their first time. It gets better with practice.”

  With one last look around at the bizarre and beautiful menagerie of Faerie patrons, he stepped out the door of the Swan of Liir and into the cool, crisp November evening.

  The sun was already setting. He was standing in the grass behind the Ward’s Island Community Centre. A man came around the side of the building rolling an empty beer keg through the wet grass.

  “Whoa!” the man said. “You scared the crap outta me. I didn’t know anyone else was back here.”

  “Sorry,” Brendan said. He looked back at the wall of the Community Centre. The door to the Swan was clearly visible. He decided to try a little test. He pointed at the door. “Can you see that?”

  The man looked at the door and his shoulders fell. “I know. I really gotta paint that wall. It’s peeling something fierce. There’s just no dough, my son.”

  Brendan set off in the direction of the public ferry terminal. He would have gone to the Faerie Terminal but he still didn’t have any noble metal. The thought of the bargain he’d struck with the Ferryman sent a shiver down his spine. He was sure that bird would come home to roost one day. He went to the ferry operator and wove a tale about how his wallet and phone had been stolen. He promised to repay the man if he let him take the ferry back to the city. Though dubious, the operator agreed.

  Later, dozing on the ferry, he was woken by the buzz of wings. A light pressure on his shoulder heralded BLT’s arrival.

  “Hey, Brendan,” BLT said softly. “Don’t let me wake you.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m with you now,” she said proudly. “I’ve decided that you’re gonna be where the action is and that’s where I wanna be.” The Lesser Faerie pulled a single skittle from inside her vest and held it up to him. “To adventure!”

  “Adventure?” Brendan snorted. “You haven’t been to high school, have you? It’s more like prison.”

  “Eeeew!” A little girl across the aisle from Brendan pointed at his shoulder and made a face. “Look at that huge fly!”

  Brendan smiled and patted BLT on the head. “She’s my friend!”

  The girl buried her face in her mother’s side. The mother glared at Brendan. He laughed and turned away, looking out the window. He gasped.

  “Holy …” He couldn’t believe his eyes. Seeing the city with his new Faerie Sight was a shock.

  The ferry was approaching the docks. The skyline was nothing like he remembered. No, that wasn’t exactly true. The familiar buildings were there: bank towers, condos, and office buildings. There were simply more, as if another skyline had been laid overtop the one he knew. Jagged pieces stuck out of the familiar bank buildings. Towers and lights and strangely shaped buildings rose where no buildings were supposed to be. Most notably, the CN Tower, normally a long pointed stick with a bulge near the top like an olive on a toothpick, now had two bulges, a smaller one above the one he had known all his life.

  There was a whole other city he had never known existed until his eyes had been opened by his initiation.

  “Thanks, Dad,” Brendan said softly and he wondered if Briach Morn, on the Other Side, might hear him.

  “This is so crazy!” Brendan laughed out loud.

  BLT’s laughter tinkled in his ear. “Oh, my dear Prince Brendan. You have a lot to learn!”

  84 Sláinte is a common Irish toast meaning, as most toasts do in any language, “to your health.” The exception is the Ulikwe Tribe of Central Africa who say Ututu, which, roughly translated, means “I will strangle you in your sleep.” Needless to say, few people drink with the Ulikwe Tribe if they can avoid it.

  Epilogue

  Brendan was terrified of what his parents’ reaction would be. He expected them to be absolutely furious. He’d been rehearsing excuses for his disappearance on the walk home. BLT had tried to be helpful but she really didn’t have any experience with angry parents. Her suggestions were hardly workable: erase their minds, set a fire to distract them, etc.

  So he was quite shocked when his parents weren’t angry at all. They were so delighted to see him on the doorstep that he didn’t even have to explain. They blamed themselves, sure that their revelation of his adoption had been the motivation for his running away. They didn’t care where he’d been. They were just glad to have him back.

  Of course, Delia was annoyed.

  “If I’d run away, you guys would have grounded me for, like, a decade,” she said sullenly.

  The last time Brendan had seen Delia, Orcadia had been threatening her life. Brendan was so happy to see her safe he couldn’t help himself. He threw his arms around her and held her as she thrashed.

  “Gross! What’s wrong with you? Get
off me, you creep!”

  But he wouldn’t let go, despite her protests. He hugged her close and smiled at his parents over her shoulder. He was home.

  The next day, he went back to school. BLT rode along in his knapsack as he walked through Queen’s Park. The squirrels chirped, “Hello? Hello? Food?” Brendan tossed them some bread he’d brought along for just such an occasion. Lord Chitter’s voice shouted at his back, “What? No jam? Bring a muffin next time, you big punk!”

  Brendan smiled but didn’t look back.

  In homeroom, Harold and Dmitri were delighted to see him. For Brendan, the reunion was bittersweet. They didn’t mention any of their shared adventure so Brendan had to assume that his Compulsion had worked. He was relieved but a little sad that they couldn’t share his happiness. From now on, there would be a distance between him and his close friends.

  “We were so worried,” Dmitri exclaimed.

  “Yeah,” Harold said. He looked at Brendan strangely, and for an instant, Brendan worried that his Compulsion hadn’t worked on the chubby boy but after a second, Harold smiled, saying, “We thought you’d gone nuts like Chester.”

  Brendan frowned. “What do you mean, nuts like Chester?”

  “Didn’t you hear?” Harold was full of glee. “He ran off all of a sudden. He just lost it and started running. They finally picked him up outside of Niagara Falls trying to run across the bridge into New York State. All he would say is, ‘I gotta get lost! I gotta get lost!’ over and over again.”

  “They have him sedated in Sick Kids Hospital,” Dmitri added. He wasn’t quite so ecstatic at Chester’s misfortune but he couldn’t help a small grin.

  “If ever a guy deserved a little bad luck, it’d be Chester.” Kim’s voice cut into the conversation. “He’s a jerk.”

  Kim walked into the classroom and plunked down in her customary seat without so much as a glance at Brendan’s surprised expression. Her glamours were up, but Brendan could see a ghost of her Faerie features shimmering beneath her Human façade. She dropped her knapsack at her feet, the field hockey stick poking out. Before Brendan could say anything, the bell rang to start the day.

  Walking to English class, Brendan managed to get a word with Kim as Harold and Dmitri walked ahead.

  “I didn’t think you’d be back,” Brendan said.

  Kim shrugged. “Somebody has to keep you from hurting yourself. You’ve got a lot to learn and until you do, I’ll be watching over you. Besides,” she smiled, hauling the field hockey stick out of the knapsack and brandishing it in front of her, “All-City Championships are next month.”

  Brendan laughed as they entered class.

  “No weapons in the classroom please, Kim!” Mr. Greenleaf’s clear, crisp voice called out. The Faerie stood in his impeccable green suit and yellow vest at the front of the class. He had just finished writing his name on the blackboard in his elegant, flowing handwriting. He smiled at Brendan and gestured for him to take a seat. Kim rolled her eyes and replaced the stick in her bag.

  Shaking his head but smiling, Brendan took his customary desk.

  “I am Mr. Greenleaf,” the substitute teacher began. “I’m sure you all will be delighted to hear that Mr. Bowley will be back today. Though he won a tidy sum in the lottery, he felt it was still his duty to bring the glory of chemistry to young minds.” The announcement was greeted by a universal groan. Greenleaf laughed. “The good news, for me, is that your English teacher, Ms. Hewlett, is going to be away on maternity leave for the rest of the year so I will be replacing her as your teacher.” This announcement brought a titter of excitement from the girls and an eye roll from Kim. “I am delighted to be given this opportunity to further your education.” Greenleaf’s eyes found Brendan’s and lingered there. “Delighted.” Brendan smiled back.

  “Excellent.” Greenleaf clapped his hands once. “English! The written word! Is there anything more noble or capable of transporting the heart? I think not. Let’s begin with poetry.”

  Later on, in gym class, Brendan found himself standing on the sidelines as the Murderball game progressed. He had found it laughably easy to avoid the ball. All his former clumsiness was gone. He could have stayed in the game right until the end if he had wanted to but in the second round, he’d let the ball strike him. People would wonder if he suddenly changed too much. Besides, there was no real glory in winning when the game was so easy. He wasn’t a bully like Chester.

  The thought of Chester sedated in the hospital gave him a stab of guilt. He had to do something about that.

  “Hey.” A feminine voice intruded on his thoughts. He looked up into the beautiful face of Marina Kaprillian. “I’m Marina Kaprillian.”

  He’d thought she’d been lovely before when he had only had Human sight. Now, with his Faerie Sight, she positively glowed. Her hair was filled with streaks of light. Her blue eyes sparkled. Her skin was smooth and free of blemish. Brendan felt weak.

  As for Brendan himself, he still wore his glasses because he couldn’t think of a plausible excuse for losing them. He would have to replace the lenses with plain glass or risk constant headaches. He’d been vain enough that when he called upon the wristwatch Og had given him to raise his glamour, he’d left out the pimples that had been the plague of his life before his Initiation. Now he looked at this perfect creature and felt that he didn’t have to be afraid or self-conscious. He was secure and happy with who and what he was.

  “Hi,” he said. “I’m Brendan Clair.”

  “I know who you are.” With that, she just smiled and walked away to rejoin her friends, who tittered behind their hands. Marina was absorbed into the embrace of that fortress of girlie giggling with only a single backward glance that skewered Brendan’s heart effortlessly.

  He was delirious, weightless, afire. He’d thought that there could be no greater change in his life than learning his true nature but the attention of the most beautiful girl in Robertson Davies Academy had trumped even that. He leaned back against the wall of the gym and smiled.

  Kim caught his eye. She stood across the gym and glared at him. She frowned and shook her head slightly. Brendan glared back, refusing to let her glower ruin this moment. He recalled Finbar’s Exile and the pain the old man had gone through. He cast his eye back to Marina. She flashed him a shy smile.

  Brendan smiled back. Exile would be worth it.

  Everyone was going for a slice after school but Brendan begged off. He had something to do.

  He knew that Chester was in the psychiatric wing at Sick Kids. Brendan managed to find the room, and without resorting to any Compulsion, he managed to talk his way in to see his former nemesis.

  Brendan entered the private room to find Chester lying in a bed, propped up by pillows. The boy was secured to the bed by padded restraining straps on his wrists, his ankles, and across his chest. Chester was sedated, but he still thrashed weakly in his sleep, straining against the straps and mumbling over and over, “Gotta get lost! Gotta get lost!”

  Brendan moved into the room to the bedside. He looked down on his handiwork, and even though he hadn’t been in control himself when he Compelled Chester, he felt ashamed of himself.

  “Oh!” A woman’s voice caused Brendan to turn toward the door. A short woman in faded jeans and a sweatshirt and carrying a cup of coffee stood there. Her face was tired. She looked surprised to see anyone in the room. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Brendan Clair,” Brendan said quickly. “I’m a friend of Chester’s. From school. I thought I’d come and see how he was doing.”

  The woman smiled then. It was a weary smile. “That’s so nice,” she said. “I’m Chester’s mum.” She walked to the bed and stood beside Brendan to look down on her son. “They don’t know what’s wrong with him. His father died suddenly last year and he has taken it hard. He used to be a straight-A student, but he’s been failing this year. He’s been getting into trouble, and I don’t know what to do.”

  She smiled up at Brendan, and he saw the dark circ
les under her eyes. “I’m so glad you came. It’s nice to know he has some friends … besides the ones that he gets into trouble with.”

  Brendan didn’t trust himself to speak. He turned to Chester. The boy’s eyes darted back and forth under the purple lids. Sweat drenched the sheets. Brendan leaned over and brought his mouth close to the sleeping boy’s ear.

  “Chester,” he said softly, firmly, pitching his voice so that Chester’s mother couldn’t hear. “This is Brendan. I know you can hear me.” Chester’s thrashing lessened slightly. “Listen to what I say. You don’t have to get lost any more. You can come home now.”

  The effect was immediate. Chester relaxed completely. He smiled in his sleep. In a moment, he was breathing deeply and easily.

  Brendan stood up and smiled. Chester’s mother gasped. “I don’t believe it.” She beamed at Brendan, her face full of relief. “What did you do?”

  Brendan smiled and ducked his head shyly. “I told him you needed him to come back.”

  Chester’s mum burst into tears. She dropped her coffee with a splash and crushed her face into Brendan’s chest. For a moment, Brendan was mortified but he quickly recovered. Very gently, awkwardly, he patted the woman on the back as she cried.

  “Everything’s going to be okay,” Brendan said softly. And he believed it.

  Epi-Epilogue

  When Harold got home from school, he went up to his room right away. He wanted to look at the sketchbook again.

  He’d hidden it under the mattress in his room. His mother didn’t change the sheets until the weekend so he knew it would be safe there.

  He flopped onto his bed and flipped the book open to the first page. He’d obviously drawn this sketch. He recognized his style, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember ever having drawn it.

  The sketch depicted his friend Brendan, only Brendan was strangely transformed. He was surrounded by an aura of energy. His eyes shone with an inner light. Over Brendan’s shoulder, a tiny winged woman fluttered.

  A bizarre picture. Why had he drawn it? When had he drawn it? He couldn’t remember. He flipped through the sketch pad. There were more pictures of winged people, weird dog things, a frightening woman with wild eyes radiating waves of power.