Quest Maker (17 page)

Caden straightened his posture. “You still believe I'm crazy.”

Rosa squeezed his hand. “We don't think you're crazy, Caden.”

He pulled away from her. “Brynne and Tito also were there. Ask Manglor, Ward's father—he knows.” He stood up. “Ask my brother. Actually, go ask Ms. Primrose.”

“And if I do, and they remember things differently?”

“They won't.”

“We should talk about this later.” Rosa took a deep breath. “Go upstairs. For now, you're grounded.”

Caden wasn't quite ready to go upstairs. He felt incredibly uncomfortable under their scrutiny and had to remind himself to keep his shoulders square. He looked at each of them and over to Jenkins. “You also thought me wrong when I said Jane had been kidnapped. But I was right about the lunch witches.”

“You were right that Jane was taken by some troubled people,” Rosa admitted. She seemed to neither be agreeing with him nor challenging him.

“Yes, troubled lunch witches.” He crossed his arms. “You should consider that I'm right about this, too. You need to open your eyes to the reality of my school before
someone else is hurt. It is dangerous. No one should go to school there.”

Jane had been kidnapped at the school. The science room had exploded. The spelling bee had turned into a disaster. Caden frowned at his thoughts. Why hadn't Rosa taken him, Jane, Brynne, and Tito out of the school? Why hadn't any of the parents done so? Caden hadn't thought about leaving the school before, either. It was an unsettling realization.

Caden and Ms. Primrose had agreed to the unbreakable terms of his quest in a forgotten tongue. She made her teachers sign contracts in blood. Hadn't Rosa filled out paperwork when Caden had enrolled? Maybe the parents and students were bound to Ms. Primrose, too.

“It's a good school,” Rosa said.

“And a dangerous one.” Caden turned and went toward the steps. He looked back. “Jane is alive because of me.”

“I know,” Rosa said.

When Caden got to the attic room, Tito was crouched in the corner by the floor vent. When he saw Caden he put his finger to his lips—a signal for silence—and waved him over. Caden knelt beside him. He could hear Rosa's voice filter up through the house.

“These paranoid stories of his are affecting the other kids,” she started. Her words were muffled, but if he strained he could understand. “Jane's still in recovery. Tito has never gotten into trouble like this before. He never
had trouble with Mr. Rathis before. And goodness knows Brynne needs no encouragement. Half the time, I think they believe him. Sometimes, I almost do. He's a good kid, but he's a bad influence.”

Truly, Caden was taken aback. His royal personage wasn't a bad influence—especially when compared to Brynne. “Brynne's the bad influence, not me,” Caden whispered.

“Quiet,” Tito mouthed.

Officer Levine's voice was kind. “What's his counselor say?”

“That Caden believes what he says. Every word of it.” She laughed, but she didn't sound happy. “Harold”—that was Officer Levine's first name—“I'm worried the counselor might believe him, too.”

“We'll find another counselor, then.”

Caden wasn't liking what he heard through this vent. Also, his counselor wasn't supposed to talk to other people about their conversations. During their next session, Caden was going to have to address that betrayal. There was the sound of movement. He heard the front door open and shut. Quickly, Tito cracked open the attic window.

Their words became clearer. Then: “I don't know what to do. And I don't know what to think about the scene with the new gym teacher.”

“What do you want to do?”

When Rosa next spoke, her voice was more solid, more
even. She sounded like a general who had made a difficult choice. “I've got three other kids to think about. I've got to protect them.” Caden moved to the window. Their voices became fainter as they stepped off the porch. “Maybe if he went into treatment for a few weeks. I could apply to get him leave from school.”

Maybe Caden was wrong. Maybe students could escape the school.

Then Rosa added, “He could come back if he got better.” Then again, maybe not.

The words left him more unsettled than Rosa and Officer Levine's gentle demeanor. If they believed him a bad influence and vandal, they should be angry at him like they were at Tito, Brynne, and Jane. He turned and looked at Tito.

Tito was wide-eyed and his mouth agape. “You've got to convince them you're not crazy. They're going to send you to the nuthouse.”

Despite the name, the “nuthouse” was not a storing place for Ashevillian pecans and walnuts. It was Tito's term for a terrible place with wailing people and padded cells. It was worse than “juvie,” apparently. Caden wasn't sure what “juvie” was either, but the way Tito talked about it, Caden assumed neither place was somewhere he wanted to go.

Tito started talking again. “They think your crazy is causing problems for the rest of us, so you have to convince
them you're getting better.”

Caden looked at him. “I'm not crazy.”

“Yeah, but they don't know that.”

Caden leaned against the wall. “No matter what I say, they don't believe the truth.”

“Then tell them what they want to hear.”

What they wanted to hear wasn't true. Caden had little of his homeland—just his coat and Sir Horace, a troublemaking sorceress, and a brother who wanted him to stay away. And his honor. He wouldn't compromise it for comfort and the easy way out. All future Elite Paladins were tested. He wouldn't fail in his noble path because Rosa wanted to get rid of him.

“I'll prove I'm sane. I'll unmask the villains for what they are.”

Tito shook his head. “I got an idea,” he said. “Just pretend you're a normal messed-up kid until you can do that. Tell Rosa you're sorry, and you won't say weird stuff anymore.”

“I don't say weird stuff. I point out facts.”

Tito's frown was lopsided, his eyes concerned. “Bro, this is a good place. You don't want to be sent somewhere else. Trust me on that. I'll help.” His voice cracked. He was truly worried. “I'll tell her it's a game, and . . . I don't know. We'll figure something out.”

Tito rattled on.

So Rosa was sending Caden away. To protect everyone
else. That was what she'd said. It wasn't her fault she knew nothing of the Greater Realm. She was doing her best. He wouldn't hold any ill will toward her. He thought of his family. His father had sent him away. An inner voice added, “To protect you,” but it wasn't so convincing. Jasan wanted him to go away, and Chadwin apparently had never considered him truly a brother.

Tito was saying something about “abandonment issues.” “You can play that up. My old case worker always went straight for that when I got upset and . . .”

Outside, the sun was low. Tonight, the half-moon would rise and he'd be cursed once more. If he was ordered to go away, to go somewhere where they would lock him up far from his friends, from the school, he'd have to go. He'd not be there to unmask the saboteur and save his brother, nor be around to find a way to help his family. Ms. Primrose would find him and eat him.

“You've got to be smart here, you understand?” Tito said.

Caden sat on his bed and put his chin in his hands. He understood. Most people liked him. Of this there was no doubt. The ones he loved just didn't want him around.

C
aden awoke early the next day. He sat up and swung his legs to the floor. At once, his arms felt tingly and his limbs strange. It was the curse. His will was no longer his own. Until the half-moon waned on Tuesday night, he was bound to do as told.

Likely, he'd be eaten by then.

Outside the window, thunderclouds hung low near the mountaintops. It was supposed to rain today. The weather in Asheville was like that—always changing.

In the Greater Realm, the weather shifted some, but not like it did here. The Winterlands were always cold and snowy, although sometimes they were colder and snowier. It was the same with the Summerlands. They were hot and dry or hotter and drier. The Springlands were warm and pleasant, and the Autumnlands cool and crisp.

Across the taped line that divided the room, Tito sat up in his bed. He had dark circles under his eyes. His face looked pinched. Caden didn't mention the weirdness of the weather to him. Tito thought the weird weather was normal the way Caden thought nonweird nonchanging weather was normal.

Instead, Caden said, “I'm the one who needs to convince them to let me stay. You needn't worry.”

Tito picked at his purple quilt. “Bro, I'm going to worry.”

It was Tito's nature to fear for things that had not yet passed. Caden was still here. They still had villains to draw from the shadows and plots to uncover. “Sir Tito,” Caden said, “they haven't sent me away yet.”

Tito wiped his arm against his face. “It just blows, man.”

Caden didn't understand that phrasing, but it wasn't always necessary to understand someone's words to get their meaning. Caden knew what Tito meant. “We will overcome, no matter what happens.”

If he collected Ashevillian proof of sabotage, his quest would be completed and he could show Rosa and Officer Levine the true natures of the villainous teachers. Then they would have to accept he wasn't crazy. The not-accidents would be shown for what they were. Ms. Primrose wouldn't eat Jasan. Rosa wouldn't send him away. That would solve his problems. But how could he prove something magical in a way that someone nonmagical would understand?

He'd find a way. “I'll prove to them I'm not crazy.”

Tito forced a smile. “Yeah, that sounds like what a crazy person might say.” He shrugged. “I know you're telling the truth, and I think you're a little loco. Maybe we should come up with a better plan.”

If it came to it, Caden was trained in survival. “If I have to, I can always return to living in the woods.”

“The woods, huh?” Tito stood up and grabbed one of his black T-shirts. “You know, I think that cements it.” He cleared his throat. “You're a werewolf.”

“A what?”

Tito explained.

Caden was nothing like a werewolf. “I'm no man-beast that feasts on flesh.”

“You're bound by the lunar cycle,” Tito said. “Admit it, you're a werewolf.”

What did this have to do with anything? Still, that was an order. Caden was under the power of the curse. He admitted it. “Because of my unrelated lunar issues, I'm a werewolf,” he said. “Although I don't fit the werewolf description at all.”

“I knew you'd agree,” Tito said.

“It's not funny.”

“Yeah, I guess it's not,” Tito said. When he looked up, he seemed determined. “I could order you to tell Rosa you made up everything.”

“No,” Caden said. His honor was the one thing that
was truly his. “That would be a lie.”

“But if I ordered you,” Tito said, “it wouldn't be your fault.”

Would Tito do something like that? Nothing was more important to Caden than becoming an Elite Paladin, nothing. To do that, he needed to slay a dragon, fight evil, and always act with honor. It was terrifying enough that the villains might find out and order him to do something that would jeopardize his honor, his life, or the lives of others. He shouldn't have the same worry about his friend.

One thing about Tito, he didn't do well with disappointing people. Mostly Rosa. But Caden suspected those feelings also filtered down to others—Jane, Brynne, even Caden.

“If you order me to lie,” Caden said, “we'll never be friends again.”

Tito frowned. “Never is a bit harsh, don't you think? Especially if I do it to help you.”

Maybe. Caden stood up, but suddenly felt conflicted. Had Jasan vowed something similar to their brothers, their father, when they wrongly banished him? Didn't Caden want Jasan to find a way for them to be family again one day?

Caden changed into his daytime T-shirt. This one sadly had no magnificent horse or soaring bird; hence, he saved it for nonschool days. It did, however, have interesting blue-and-green stripes, and was better than the black T-shirt
Tito was wearing. “Don't make me lie, Sir Tito. Please.”

Tito frowned at Caden as if Caden were the unreasonable one. “Whatever.” His brow creased. “Yeah. Okay. I won't order you to lie. You'd just go all freaky on me, anyway.” He bent over and laced up his sneakers.

“Good, then we can stay friends.”

“Don't forget that,” Tito said.

That was an order. Combined with the guilty look falling over Tito's face, it was also one that worried Caden. He stood at alert. “Why not?”

“'Cause I got an idea,” Tito said. “Listen, until your curse is done, don't say anything to Rosa or Officer Levine about the Greater Realm. And don't say anything to anyone else when they can hear.”

Caden was taken aback. “What?”

“Bro, you won't have to lie.” Tito looked like he wanted Caden to agree badly. “This way, you're less likely to say something too crazy.”

“Sir Tito,” Caden said, and he felt fury building. “You shouldn't give me orders at all. I should get to choose what I say. No one else.”

“Yeah. I know. I'm sorry,” Tito said, but he didn't take back his words.

And an order was an order.

At breakfast, Caden sat between Jane and Brynne, and not beside Tito like usual.

Rosa watched him with the same sad expression she'd had the night before. “Why have you changed seats, Caden?”

“I'm not talking to Tito until Tuesday.”

When Caden said nothing more, Rosa looked to Tito, but Tito stared at his eggs like he was under a hypnoturtle's thrall. With a slow exhale, Rosa looked back to Caden. “Will you tell me why?”

Not an order. “It depends.”

Tito looked up. Brynne and Jane watched as well. Rosa kept her expression even. “On what, Caden?” Rosa said.

Suddenly, Caden wasn't hungry. He pushed away his whole-grain toast. He needed to stay with Rosa—if not forever, at least for two more days. What could he say? He took a deep breath. “It depends,” he said, “on if you're sending me away like everyone else has. I trusted you.”

He was trying for matter-of-fact, or maybe angry. Perhaps he'd not attained either, for Rosa looked as though she might cry, and he felt the same way. “Please keep me another two days. That's all I'm asking.”

Jane and Brynne looked at each other, then at Rosa. They seemed to be waiting for Rosa to deny it. Rosa was quiet. Likely, she was shocked that Caden knew her plans, and more so that he'd confronted her.

After an awkward silence, Brynne started fidgeting. “Caden needs to stay with me,” she said. “We're allies. We came here together.”

“He's not really a bad influence,” Tito said.

Caden wasn't talking to Tito currently, so he didn't acknowledge him. Tito was right, though. “I'm not a bad influence at all,” he said. “I'm the opposite.”

Rosa's expression went weary. “You overheard,” she said.

“I did.”

Jane set her fork down, though she looked at it thoughtfully before doing so, then frowned at Rosa. “Rosa,” she said in the calm way of hers, “he's the one who saved me.”

Rosa glanced at Jane, then back at Caden and held his gaze. Well, he deserved the brunt of her attention. He was the one she was giving away. He squared his shoulders.

“I want what's best for all of you,” she said, and kept her gaze on Caden. “No one's being sent anywhere today.”

“What about tomorrow?” he said.

“Monday you have school. And Tuesday afternoon we're talking to your social worker. That's all. It doesn't mean you're going anywhere. But you have to start behaving. Another incident, and I'll have to do what I think is best for you. Even if what I think is that you need more than I can give you.”

Caden wanted to explain his quest again, but he had been ordered not to tell stories of his dragons, villains, or homeland. “I see.”

With that, she started clearing the table. “I want what's best for you. Don't ever question that.” An order. “Let's just enjoy Sunday together.”

She didn't push the matter more and pardoned them
from their punishment chores for the day. Brynne, of course, took the pardon as an opportunity. “Can we get back our phones?”

Rosa must have felt particularly guilty because she returned them.

That afternoon, Rosa spent most of her time outside tinkering with her sculptures. The drizzle didn't seem to bother her. Tito fell asleep in the attic room while Caden was ignoring him. Caden went downstairs to visit the girls' room.

The sunny yellow walls looked dull against the gray light from the window. The billowy white curtains seemed to sag. Brynne was sitting cross-legged on the bottom bunk. Her hair hung long over her shoulders. Jane was at her desk.

As soon as he closed the door, Brynne ordered him not to be mad at Tito.

“It doesn't work that way,” Caden told her. “That's why Tito shouldn't have ordered me not to talk about the Greater Realm. No curse can control how I feel. Just what I say and do.”

“Too bad,” Brynne said.

“No, it's not.”

It seemed Jane had decided her breakfast fork unworthy of enchantment, for she had a large metal spoon—no, not a spoon, a soup ladle—on the desktop. She smiled. “Tito is trying to help,” she said. She held up the ladle. “This one's new.”

Outside, thunder cracked on the mountain. Caden crossed his arms. He pointed at Brynne, then the ladle. “You shouldn't encourage these enchantments.”

“As long as Jane does small enchantments, she gains better control, and doesn't use so much life force. And she's part elf, so she has more life force to practice with. If the enchantments get small enough, the life force loss will be minimal,” Brynne said. “It's a good plan.”

“It is,” Jane said. “The ladle is special, though. It deserves a lot of power.”

Brynne creased her brow in worry. Caden shook his head. The ladle would be magic item number one hundred thirty-four, the Enchanted Ladle of Power.

Caden wanted to believe she and Brynne had a good plan, but if she hadn't held back on a ladle, would she really hold back on everything else? Wouldn't it be safer to concentrate on enchanting as few things as possible?

Caden couldn't hide his concern. “Don't enchant it, Jane.”

Jane and Brynne exchanged a look. They were getting good at communicating like that. He considered them. “I see,” he said, and sighed. “You've already enchanted it.”

Jane didn't offer him the ladle as she had the paper clips that held things together, or the whisk that mixed things. He almost didn't ask. Still. “What does it do?”

He was expecting her to say “It ladles things,” but she didn't. “It's complicated.”

That made him more curious. “How so?”

Jane smiled, and it was a devious smile, indeed. “You'll see,” she said. “And don't worry, Caden. It'll help us, and it's the last large enchantment I plan to do.”

Caden opened his mouth to ask exactly how an enchanted ladle would help, but before he could, Brynne said, “Quiet, prince.” She pointed at the floor and grinned. “Sit.”

An order. He fidgeted. With a huff, he sat on the floor. Tito, at least, had the decency to feel guilty about the orders. Brynne looked amused. He crossed his arms and glowered up at her.

“Fine, you don't have to be quiet. But stop badgering Jane.”

“He's not badgering me,” Jane said.

Exactly. “I shouldn't have to sit, either,” he said. Truth be told, he could get up now. She hadn't specified a time limit and Caden had satisfied her order already. The floor, however, was surprisingly comfortable.

“Don't worry about me,” Jane said. “Worry about everything else.” She moved away from the desk and sat on the floor beside him. “I've been thinking, There's no way to easily skip class. The teachers are getting wise to the bathroom excuse, and they'll be watching us after the vandalism incident. Lunch period is when we should snoop around the cafeteria. We're supposed to be there then.”

“We've only got two days left,” Caden said. Time was as much their enemy as the villains.