by Lucia Ashta
“Oh, shove it,” Angelica said, shocking my mouth straight open. “The time for secrets is over, wouldn’t you say, Nicky?”
I swore she was prodding the bull into rage on purpose. I’d clearly underestimated Angelica. In fact, it seemed I’d underestimated all the girls here. Marie was brazen in a more subtle manner, but it was still there. And Gertrude was, well, Gertrude. We were well on the way to shedding the role of the demure female that society tried to attribute to us. I was delighted.
“Go ahead and tell them, Simon. I’m sure Mum and Da have already told the others. They must’ve.”
Simon nodded, looking entirely too much like a boy too young to be in this fight. But once he spoke, he no longer did. “I can blow stuff up.”
His pleasant face split into a wide smile and he tsked his horse into movement.
I stared at him in awe until Trixie started walking to follow the others. Nando and I shared a bewildered look.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Marie said.
Gertrude said, “Let’s hope it does,” then nudged her horse into a canter.
I didn’t think, I simply followed. Courageous and wise or naïve and foolhardy, we were headed straight into a war.
Chapter 6
“It feels too... still, doesn’t it?” Marie said when we were so close to the castle that the danger of being spotted was pressing.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Brave said. “A castle this size is never this quiet.”
“It certainly shouldn’t be,” Sir Lancelot said, back on Brave’s shoulder. The owl had flown alongside us until we slowed our pace for final approach. “A castle this size requires a large staff to run it. Servants in great numbers aren’t quiet. Even if Duke Maurisse sent the majority of the staff away in anticipation of our attack, which is unlikely given that from what I hear he doesn’t have a compassionate bone in his body, he’d still need a large force to defend the castle. If his soldiers were trying to remain completely silent, they wouldn’t be able to maintain this sort of stillness for long.”
“Besides, our friends are in there. They’re sure to be attacking and fighting.”
“And that’s never done in silence.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Gertrude, who’d set the pace alongside Brave, slowed her horse now, guiding us toward a patch of shade near the rear entrance of the castle, where the rest of the academy’s horses were.
If someone was looking for us, I feared they were sure to spot us. “Aren’t we a little too exposed to stop here?”
“We’re definitely too exposed,” Nando said, scowling from his mount next to me. He’d kept his horse right alongside Trixie the entire time we’d ridden. Now, he inched his stead even closer and scanned our surroundings. His hand came to rest on the hilt of his sword, though he didn’t draw it. “I don’t like it.”
“Neither do I,” Brave grumbled, turning in his seat to take in the entirety of our surroundings much like my brother was.
“Maybe you could try to speak with the firedrake again,” Angelica suggested.
“Good idea,” I said, but didn’t close my eyes to attempt it. There was nothing in our immediate surroundings that suggested danger, and yet I felt on edge, as if something could catapult out of the shadows and charge us at any moment.
Elwin? Can you hear me? As soon as I said the words, I realized the last time I had, Elwin had corrected me and told me he wasn’t actually hearing me. I wanted him to correct me again, anything just to receive news from him.
Elwin? I tried again, but a silence as unsettling as our environment was the only response.
“Nothing,” I grimaced. “I can’t even tell if he heard me.”
“So we go in,” Gertrude said, but she didn’t sound nearly as sure as she had before we left the relative security of the cave. “If you can’t talk with Elwin, then we have no way of learning what’s going on unless we go in.”
Several heavy sighs cut the silence before Nando said, “I’m not so sure about this anymore. It doesn’t feel right.”
“How so?” I asked right away. Nando was brave and never eager to shirk what he perceived as his duty. If he hesitated, there was a reason beyond fear for his safety.
He shook his head, looking confused, something he rarely was. “I don’t think I can explain it. Something just seems... off about this.”
“I agree,” Brave said. “The scene doesn’t add up to what we think is going on inside the castle walls. Things aren’t going to plan.”
Gertrude turned pleading amber eyes on him. “Then we have to go inside, and we have to hurry.” Her voice was strained, imbued with urgency.
I understood why. Her sister, grandmother, and great uncle were inside the castle, along with non-relatives she’d known for much longer than I had. If I already cared about the magicians of the academy, then she was sure to.
“The more we wait, the more harm that could befall them,” she added.
“I know,” Brave said, sounding appropriately grim. “I just don’t think delivering you to the same fate is the solution.”
I couldn’t help but notice how he only mentioned her and not the rest of us. I wasn’t sure I blamed him. I realized all too well how swiftly life could end. The prospect had a way of crystallizing what was really important to you.
“We can’t let them just die in there.”
“Die? Oh no. Mum and Da! We have to get in there right now.” Angelica was appropriately panicked.
“I don’t want Mum and Da to die,” Simon said.
“We don’t know that anyone is dying,” Brave said.
“We also don’t know they aren’t,” Gertrude pointed out.
“We still have to be smart about this. What do you think, Sir Lancelot?”
The owl cleared his throat nervously. “I think it’s a very difficult predicament. We have no way of knowing for certain whether our dearest friends are in any kind of danger that they can’t handle by themselves. We also have no way of accurately anticipating what dangers await us inside if we choose to proceed.”
“That’s just a roundabout way of saying that the owl doesn’t have a clue,” Nicholas said, earning a yellow wide-eyed stare from said owl. “None of us know. So what? You didn’t actually believe battle was clear-cut and easy, did you?” He barked a mean laugh. “If you did, then you definitely don’t belong here.”
“I’m starting to form ideas about who doesn’t belong here, that’s for sure,” Nando said, surprising me with his forwardness.
“Hey, I didn’t ask for you to come along, you did that all on your own. You don’t want to let your precious sister out of your sight, that’s fine by me. You do what you want; I’ll do what I want. We don’t have to be friends. I don’t need friends, especially cowardly ones.”
“‘Cowardly ones’? What on earth are you talking about?”
“I see what this is really about. So does the blonde you’ve been trying to impress while making a fool of yourself.”
Nando nudged his horse until he and the animal faced the imbecile we were having to deal with, as if we had nothing more urgent to concern ourselves with. “You’d be well advised to watch your mouth.”
My brother had never been much of a hot head. He kept his cool when I didn’t manage it. But expecting him not to react to this fool’s taunts was too much to ask for. I was ready to jump from my saddle and pummel him, ladylike behavior be darned.
“And why should I watch my mouth, huh? Who’s going to make me?”
“I am,” Nando and Brave said in unison. I turned my surprise on Brave only to find him looking as angry as Nando.
“We don’t have time for this nonsense,” Brave seethed. “So shut your mouth.”
“Shut my mouth! How dare you tell me to shut my mouth?”
“Nicky,” Angelica scolded. Although she was Nicholas’ younger sister, she was clearly more mature—and likeable—than he was. “I’ll tell Mum and Da what you’re doing if y
ou don’t knock it off. You promised them you would give this place a shot.”
“Oh yeah? In case you haven’t noticed, we aren’t at the academy. We’re trespassing on the Duke’s property, actually. And I didn’t make a single promise to you. Besides, if Mum and Da die, there’ll be no one to worry about breaking a promise to.”
I was convinced Nicholas mentioned the potential of their parents dying to hurt his siblings, and I liked him even less.
“Nick, you have to stop. Please.”
“You don’t tell me what to do. You’re my little sister. In fact, none of you tell me what to do, so I’ll do exactly what I want. Which in this case is not to stand around like a big chicken coward, but to rescue my parents before it’s entirely too late.”
He guided his horse around the rest of us and pointed him toward the castle’s rear entrance. “You don’t have to come with me. In fact, I’d rather you not. You’re cowards, I get it. It’s scary,” he said in a taunting voice. “Well, I don’t scare because I have the skills to back up my convictions.”
His convictions? I almost laughed aloud, but the direness of the situation prevented me from doing so.
“Stay here like good little children. I’ll be back soon.”
The youngest among us was Simon, and he was barely a child anymore. One look at the others confirmed they were as irritated as I was.
“And don’t worry, I don’t mind taking all the credit for rescuing them. I can handle it.”
His horse drew in front of us, giving us a perfect view of the horse’s rear. I couldn’t help but think that was exactly what Nicholas was. Fitting imagery as he stalked off and left the rest of us behind.
Sir Lancelot and Gertrude looked equally shocked at his behavior, though I suspected it was for entirely different reasons. Sir Lancelot no doubt was struggling to find words befitting the total lack of manners Nicholas had just exhibited. I suspected Gertrude was mad she hadn’t put him in his place before he rode off.
“Sorry for his, uh, behavior.” Angelica’s cheeks were flushed with shame. “I don’t understand why he acts like that. He’s really not as bad as he comes off, although I could just strangle him half the time.”
I was ready to agree with the strangling desire, but not with the part that Nicholas wasn’t as bad as he seemed. From where I was looking, he seemed potentially worse.
“It’s hard for him,” Simon said. “With me being the way I am. He thinks the eldest child should be the special one.”
“But you’re the special one?” Marie asked.
He shrugged. “Not really. Angelica is super special too, and Nicholas can be special on good days.” He smiled shyly. “I can just do special things. That doesn’t make me special, it just makes me magical.” He shrugged again, looking like a kind version of Nicholas.
“Well no matter what he feels,” Gertrude said, “he has no right to treat us like that.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Angelica said, clearly still embarrassed over her brother’s behavior. “Our parents would be mortified.”
“He mortifies them all the time,” Simon said.
“True.”
“So what are we going to do?” Brave asked, but directed the question straight at Nando. They were the two most capable of defending us—with the sword at least. “Are we just going to let him go in by himself?”
“You heard him.” Gertrude flung proverbial daggers from her eyes at his back. “He gets to do what he wants. He chooses to go in there by himself and be the big hero, that’s fine by me. We shouldn’t adjust our actions based on what that ratbag does or says.”
I kept quiet, but coincided wholeheartedly.
“I’m still worried they might need our help in there,” Marie said.
“I agree,” Walt said, catching my eye and unnerving me by the intensity I found in his gaze.
“And so do I,” Gertrude said. “Whatever that buffoon does, we should still go in.”
“If we’re going in, we may as well go now,” I said. I didn’t want to enter the castle. Really, I didn’t. But like Nando, I didn’t shirk my perceived duty. If aiding the others was the right thing to do, then we should do it—and the sooner, the better. “I don’t like that I haven’t heard from Elwin when I was supposed to.”
“I’ve been in battle with these formidable magicians before.” Sir Lancelot puffed out his chest as he spoke. “Their skills are remarkable. Even so, things rarely go as we hope once a fight is underway. Prepare yourselves for the dangerous and unexpected.”
Was there a way to prepare ourselves for that? If things were to be unpredictable, then we couldn’t very well anticipate them. But I got the gist, and that’s all Sir Lancelot meant us to do I imagined.
We were about to head into a potential disaster, and all we brought to the table were our limited and mostly untrained skills.
But things had a way of working themselves out much of the time. The other times, they failed miserably.
I prayed that good fortune might be on our side on this occasion just as Nicholas reached the castle’s back entrance and dismounted. He started to tie his horse’s reins to the hitching post when Gertrude said, “Come on. We can’t let him go in there alone.”
I would have almost believed that she was worried about him, but I knew better.
I shared a shaky smile with my brother, then took off after her horse, who was doing its best to reach Nicholas before he had the chance to heave open the large double doors.
If the castle’s lookout had been incompetent and missed us before, there was no chance we wouldn’t be spotted now. Our horses kicked up a cloud of dust, announcing our intent to anyone watching.
Gertrude and Brave skidded to a stop behind Nicholas first.
“I told you not to follow me,” he said.
“And I don’t care.” Gertrude slid off her mount as if she was born on a horse’s back. She handed Brave her reins and stared Nicholas down. “You don’t go in there alone.”
“You don’t tell me what to do!”
“Knock it off already. We’re finished with your nonsense. You shut it, and you behave as if you’re actually part of the team.” Gertrude sounded downright dangerous, and Nicholas had the good sense to appear cowered.
“You keep your trap shut and you follow Brave’s lead. Once we enter, we act in unison, like a team, one with an actual chance of doing something helpful instead of just getting us all killed. We keep our eyes and ears open, and our mouths closed. That goes for all of you.”
Gertrude scanned the rest of us, all in different stages of dismounting and tying up our horses. Even Sir Lancelot nodded back at her from where he was trying to settle back on Brave’s shoulder.
“We can’t count on our approach being a surprise.” She glared at Nicholas, although I wasn’t entirely sure that was his fault. The approach to the castle was purposefully bare and exposed. It was a designed strategic advantage. “So once we get in there, we assume we’re targets. We coordinate our skills to get the others out of there in one piece, and do the same for ourselves.”
Then she gave the floor over to Brave. “Do you have anything else you want to add?”
“No, that’s good. We stick together, we act together, and we get everyone out alive.”
I nodded. That sounded really, really good. All of us alive and well? It was all I was hoping for now. I didn’t care whether or not we freed Albacus any more. The price was clearly too high to pay to rescue someone who was already dead. Mordecai would find another way to get him, mostly because he’d never give up on his brother.
“Nando, you bring up the rear and keep Isa next to you,” Brave said.
“I will.” Nando pulled his sword from its sheath, the telltale shling sound sending an ominous shiver running through my body.
“Walt, I want you to keep an eye on Marie, Angelica, and Simon. Call out if something attacks them and you can’t handle it.”
“Got it,” Walt said, placing a protective hand on his sist
er even as he cast a glance at me. I couldn’t help but notice how Brave had said that something and not someone might attack.
“Sir Lancelot, you know what to do. If there’s anything you see or hear that we need to know about, you tell me right away. I’m counting on you.”
The little owl saluted as if he were in the armed forces. “I wouldn’t dream of letting you down, Lord Brave. You can count on me.”
“Good. Thank you. Gertie, you stick yourself to my side like glue. You got that?”
She rolled her eyes, but ultimately said, “I got it.”
“I mean it.”
“I got it!”
He smiled at her irritation, making me wonder once more at the nature of their relationship. “All right. Everyone ready?”
“What about me?” Nicholas interjected, one hand wrapped around the door handle, the other around the hilt of his sword.
“What about you?”
“You gave everyone a job but me.”
Brave met Nicholas’ eyes with unwavering determination. “You made it clear we weren’t to be bothered with you. We’ll do our best to defend you. Other than that, you’re on your own.”
“That doesn’t seem right.” The sneering façade actually dropped from Nicholas’ face for a moment, and he seemed almost... regretful.
“No, it doesn’t seem right. Not in the least.” But Brave was apparently finished with Nicholas. He took in the rest of us. “We’re going to have to improvise and call on powers you probably haven’t had much chance to hone. The academy hasn’t exactly been the school we imagined it would be, though I suppose we should have known better, huh, Gertie?”
“Definitely,” she said. “We haven’t had peace and quiet since Clara left our home in Norland.”
“Marie, Walt, Isa, Nando, Angelica, just do your best. Simon, wait until everyone’s clear of the castle to blow it to smithereens.”
“Will do.” Simon grinned and I wondered at the adolescent who seemed entirely too excited to be making fortresses explode. But then again, maybe I’d feel the same way if I had the power to make things go kaboom.