He allows the other man to lead him back toward the castle. Down here, he is not a prince, but a prisoner.
Wait! Nim calls after him. Your sister, Celeste, is she all right? Is she alive?
The prince stops but doesnt turn to face us. Celeste is a silly princess with silly ideas that she can think the way a king thinks. She fancies herself the political sort. But she only ever makes things worse. You would be wise to forget about her.
Nims shoulders sag with what may be despair or relief, or both. The prince spoke of Celeste as though she were still alive and well, and thats something.
I cant stand that little nit, Pen mutters.
But he listened, I remind her.
Nim is staring off into the darkness. The lantern has been blown out, and the prince and his escort have disappeared from view. Even in the frail bits of moonlight, I can see the pain in Nims eyes.
Are they twins? he asks. Celeste and her brother.
No, Pen says. But they are equally annoying.
Stop, I whisper to her.
She softens. Dont let what he said get to you, Pen says to Nim. Youll see her again. You can try to come back to Internment with us.
Nim shakes his head. I cant leave Havalais. Someone will have to keep an eye on things here once youve gone. I dont trust my father, or the king.
Two kings who cant be trusted. What a fabulous predicament were all in now.
We walk back to the hotel, all of us silent, knowing there are no words that could reassure any of us.
5
Its a week before Jack Piper returns home. Nimble plays a contrite role that is painful to watch, but it pays off. He convinces his father that we could be of some help to the king.
Jack Piper, whether it is arrogance or exhaustion, mistakes our scheme for gratitude for Havalaiss hospitality. Over dinner he tells us that hes arranged a meeting with King Ingram in the morning.
I stare at my plate, trying to ignore Judass and Amys stares. True to my promise to Pen, I have not told anyone about our encounter with the prince. Not even Alice or my brother.
If things go as I hope, Ill tell Lex that Im leaving. He may wish to stop me, but he wont be able to. He knows that he owes me that much, after letting me think our father was dead. I have to try to find my father as well.
Thomas clears his throat. Pen? he says. Can I speak with you privately? His calm tone is a mirage.
Itd be rude to leave the table before dinner is over, Pen says, mirroring his tone.
Basil and I exchange worried glances but say nothing.
When the Pipers begin clearing the dinner plates, I have never been so relieved in my life as I leave that dinner table. Pen, poised and cool, follows Thomas outside. Basil and I go upstairs.
Once were in my room, I close the door behind us and drop onto the edge of my bed.
Basil sits beside me. Thats going to be an ugly fight the two of them have.
I wish she had just told him, I say. He would have been happy. He wants her to go home. He begged me to find a way to get her back to Internment.
Unless she means to go without him, Basil says.
I believe thats it, I say. Shes forever evading him. Its been that way since we were children.
Theyll work it out eventually, Basil says. They always do.
I think of Pens drawing, the ugly word she wrote over and over on that scrap of request paper, and I wonder if I will ever fully understand her. I wonder if she would want anyone to.
And am I any better than she is? Ive got secrets of my own. Even now, the words are on my tongue: Basil, I kissed Judas.
I almost say it. I let it replay in my head over and over as this loaded silence exists between us.
But I dont. Selfishly I rest my head on his shoulder and I think about the jet breaking through Internments atmosphere. I think about what will await us when we arrive, if we arrive, and I wonder if any of it can be undone.
Pen is gone for most of the evening, and she returns just as Im turning down the covers. Im only going through the motions; I know Ill be too nervous to sleep.
Well, that was brutal, she says, and falls onto her bed.
What happened?
He was upset that I didnt clue him in to whats going on. Its just that he worries about me, and I feel how much he worries about me. She squirms against the mattress. All his doting can make me so itchy.
Did he go along with it? I say.
Ultimately, yes. He hates this world. Maybe hes foolishly hoping that we can go back to Internment and it will be as we left it. I dont know. She wriggles under the blanket. Hes going to try to come with us if the king will allow a fourth. I suppose I owe him at least that much.
Mind if I turn out the lights?
She shakes her head, closes her eyes.
Its only after Ive gotten into my bed and weve settled into the darkness that Im brave enough to say whats on my mind.
Do you think Im a detestable person for kissing Judas?
From what I saw, he was the one who kissed you.
Even so.
I hear the sheets rustling as she moves. Youre not a detestable person, Morgan. I mean, if you werewhat does that make me? Im sure if we kept a tally of our sins, I would be in the lead.
Its not the quantity of sins in this instance, but the magnitude.
I dont think it was right, she admits. But I know you, and I know you wouldnt have done something like that at home. Its this mad world thats made us all feverish.
I think of the night I saved Judas from the patrolmen who were coming for him. I pushed him into the lake to hide him, and after that he tried to scare me off. I still remember the fresh grief in his eyes, the severe angles of his face. He was nothing at all like Basil, and yet he stood so close to me that I could feel his breath. I was terrified with intrigue.
But Pen is right. I wouldnt have kissed him, because back home I did all I could to follow the rules, to be what was expected of me.
I spent my life thinking all those little things mattered back home. Those rules. But five minutes in this world and it all came undone.
Stop punishing yourself, Pen says. Everything I ever loved about you is still intact. Im sure Basil feels the same way.
We dont speak after that, and eventually her breathing changes, and somehow she has found a way to sleep.
Im still lying awake when the sun begins to lighten the sky. Nimble knocks on the door and says, Ten minutes.
Its still early enough that the rest of the house is sleeping. The nights insects are still singing.
Nimble is waiting for us at the door, weaving the car keys between his fingers anxiously. He watches as Pen, Basil, Thomas, and I convene before him. His eyes are sympathetic. Sorry, kiddos. The king sent word this morning that hed like to speak with only you and you. He nods to Basil and me.
What? Pen says. But I thought
Prince Azures request, Nim says. We should be grateful that he convinced King Ingram to meet with you at all.
Pen looks from Thomas to me, fury in her eyes. That royal terror is trying to ruin everything.
He must have a plan, I say, trying to calm her. Let Basil and me go. Well see what its all about, and Ill tell you everything once I return.
Her teeth are gritted, but she knows no good would come from arguing and she gives in.
Nimble is our driver, and as usual, Jack Piper is nowhere. I visited with Birds yesterday, Nim says, trying to sound cheerful to lighten the mood. He glances at us in the rearview mirror. Father finally got around to visiting her, and wouldnt you know, they spent the whole time arguing.
Why? Basil asks.
Shes got scars, Nim says. In particular, this deep continuous gash that runs down the side of her face and her arm. Father says it ruins her. He says no man will ever marry her and that hed like to send her overseas to this surgeon in the north who can fix it. Only, she doesnt want it fixed. She wants to keep it. She says its a part of her now.
She should keep it, then, I say.
Father hates the reminder. I dare even to say that he feels guilty for whats happened to her. Maybe he has a conscience in there after all.
Like burials, this is another custom I dont understand. We wear our scars where I come from.
I meet his eyes in the mirror for an instant before he looks back to the road. If thats what its about, dont let him send her off to that surgeon, I say. If her scars remind him of what he did, he should have to look at them every day. Maybe it will change his mind the next time he goes along with the kings warfare.
Its a nice thought, but nothing can change his mind once hes made it up. Especially not when hes working for the king. He glances at me in the mirror again. Whats your king like?
Celeste didnt talk about him?
She did, Nim says. But with a sort of hopefulness. I got the sense that she was idealizing things when she said he could be reasoned with.
The kings castle has begun to emerge from the distance, and Im getting a queasy feeling in my stomach.
Whatever you do, Nim says, dont let on to the king that you know anything about the phosane. He doesnt think much of broads anyway, so all you have to do is act dense. You dont know anything. You just want to help.
That shouldnt be hard. King Ingram makes me so uneasy that its hard to speak around him anyway. Maybe its a good thing Pen isnt here; she isnt intimidated by anyone.
Its a perfectly sunny day, but when we reach the castle, it doesnt glimmer as much as it has in the past. A shadow seems to loom over it.
Nimble brings the car to a stop. He turns in his seat and looks between Basil and me. Say as little as you can, he says. Be dumb. If the king realizes you know more than he does about the city sinking, youll never get what you want. Youll be trapped here working for him.
Two of the kings guards have been waiting for us, and they open the car doors so we can step out.
King Ingram and his guest are expecting the three of you, a guard says. Right this way.
I have come to hate this castle. The waste of it. How many bricks were laid, and how much money went into this sprawling palace filled with empty rooms? On Internment, children dream about whether castles exist. I used to dream as well. But in my grandest dreams, the castle was not half the size of this one, and every room was filled with parties and food and dancing girls in sweeping dresses, not a gleaming stone gone to waste.
Im grateful that Basil is here beside me. When I begin to feel that Ill drown in this world and its strange luxuries, he makes me remember who I am, where we come from.
Youre here, youre here! King Ingram is clapping as he greets us in the hallway. He walks straight to me and takes my hand in both of his and kisses my knuckles with enthusiasm. Now Ive seen your brilliant little kingdom for myself. Its magnificent!
Thank you, I manage, startled by his energy.
And your friend the princess was kind enough to give me the grand tour. Your people were so happy for her return that there were parties daily. Parades. A marvelous festival.
The only celebration we have on Internment is the Festival of Stars in December, and it both worries and intrigues me to think of the celebration hes describing. King Furlow must have been frightened if he was willing to expend the citys resources to throw such an affair.
But when I realize that King Ingram is waiting for me to speak, what I say is, And how is Princess Celeste?
Nimble stands beside me now, and I see his face come alive at the mention of her name, but he quickly hides within himself before the king might notice.
The poor thing has taken ill. The festivities were a bit much for her. But she is back at home in her charming clock tower castle getting the rest she needs. The journey back to Havalais would have been too much for her, but she sends her love. And Ive brought a surprise for all of you, sent from your King Furlow himself.
King Ingram leads us to his parlor, saying Come, come! as he goes, like a child excited to receive a gift rather than a king about to give one.
He throws open the heavy wooden doors, and Prince Azure rises up from the wing chair. He is dressed in the fashions of this world: a plaid sport jacket with a silk handkerchief in his pocket, and gray pants with sharp creases. But even in the foreign fashion, something about his posture makes me think of home.
May I present to you Prince Azure of Internment, King Ingram says.
Basil and I feign surprise. He nods into a bow, I into a curtsy.
Your Highness, Nim says. Welcome to Havalais.
Such formality! King Ingram says. Its nice to see young people with a regard for custom. Refreshing. But please sit. Sit!
I sit on the same couch cushion as I did the very first time I met the king, Basil at one side and Nimble at the other.
It has been mere hours since I saw Prince Azure, but he looks the worse for wear. Or perhaps its only that the lantern light concealed his true condition. He is pale, with light purple bags under his eyes that have been dabbed over with cosmetics. He seems smaller in the daylight, regal but still frail. His hair has grown a bit longer, and a lock of it is doing little to conceal a series of pink scars at his right temple.
He meets my eyes but offers neither a smile nor a frown. A politicians neutral gaze, so much like his father. Ive heard quite a bit about this world, and Im glad for the opportunity to see it myself, he says.
Yes, yes, we have quite the itinerary planned, King Ingram says. Tomorrow afternoon, well be presenting our Prince Azure to the rest of the kingdom. My staff is already at work organizing the festivities. There will be radio announcements broadcast today at the top of every hour.
Plans? Nimble says.
The king looks to Basil and me. Well, yes, of course. Our Havalais has fallen on some dark times, I think youd agree. Warfare, bombings, deaths, and devastation. Of course the phosane mining will fix that, and soon enough peace will be restored. Thats all well and good, isnt it? But all of that is a lot to take in, and the people will need a bit of a morale boost, yes? Someone to cheer for.
Morgan and Basil have expressed a willingness to help, of course, Nim says. Father said he spoke with you about that.