The Wrong Side of Magic (31 page)

Finally, Hudson asked, “How did you get here?”

“That's quite a story.” Mr. Brown stepped away from Hudson, checking him over for injuries. “I flew home to Houston early to surprise everyone. Bonnie said you'd gone off to some enchanted land with Charlotte, but I figured you were just teasing her. I went over to Charlotte's house to haul you home and unenchant you. When I got there, Mr. Fantasmo was packing a bag, ready to go after the two of you. It took me about ten seconds to realize you were in real danger.”

“Oh,” Hudson said. “Sorry about that.”

“I insisted on coming with Fantasmo, and ever since, we've been running all over Logos searching for you.” Mr. Brown patted Hudson on the shoulder. “I'm proud of what you did today, of the way you helped Charlotte.” The smile stayed fixed on his face. “That doesn't mean you're not grounded for the next month, because you are.” He kept patting Hudson's shoulder. “Really, really grounded.”

 

18

MR. FANTASMO AND
Mr. Brown thanked the unicorns profusely for their help. Profusely in this case meaning that Mr. Brown made them honorary Marines, and Mr. Fantasmo waved his wand and gave them wings.

“As I promised,” Mr. Fantasmo told them, “I won't zap you around Logos again. You can fly out of Grammaria and avoid the crowds that way. The wings will disappear when you land in the Forest of Possibilities.”

Cecil opened his wings to examine his silver feathers. “I don't think I'll land for a bit. I'll try my hand at being a Pegasus.”

Nigel spanned his own wings, sweeping them up and down. “Tell the princess we're glad she's returned. She'll be a much better ruler than that sour fellow.”

Cecil swished his tail in agreement. “I suppose this means we'll be legal again.” Under his breath, he added, “Pity. I made a rather good bandit.”

The unicorns turned to go, and their hooves clacked against the courtyard stones.

“Thank you!” Hudson called after them. “We couldn't have done it without you!”

Nigel looked over his shoulder and nickered approvingly. “Farewell Fantasmo, Hudson, and Hud.”

He turned back to Cecil, and the two unicorns trotted a few steps before leaping upward. Their silver and gold wings sliced through the air, lifting them into the sky.

Mr. Brown shook his head as he watched them go. “The unicorns called me Hud the entire day. They said it would be insulting to call me anything else.”

Hudson smiled and tried to explain. “Names are important here. And changeable.”

While Mr. Fantasmo directed the soldiers to take Nepharo to the dungeons, Hudson and Mr. Brown made their way toward the balcony. Charlotte was addressing the people, answering their questions. While they walked, Hudson related how he and Charlotte had looked for the princess in the Tower of Backwords and afterward been caught by Nepharo's men.

Hudson's father made unhappy grumbling noises during the story, as though he wanted to knock some soldiers' heads together—or maybe just knock Hudson's and Charlotte's heads together for tromping off into danger.

Hudson had just gotten to the part where he'd tricked the soldiers with the troll curse when a woman in the crowd called out to Charlotte, “Your Highness, when we demanded your release, King Vaygran's wizard must have cursed us with boils.” She held up her arms to show her spots. “Please, Your Majesty, make the wizard reverse the spell!”

Charlotte nodded at the woman. “Don't worry. I know how to cure you all.” Her gaze swept over the crowd until she found Hudson. She motioned to him. “Come here and throw me the mirror.”

The crowd around Hudson parted, making room for his father and him to reach the balcony. As Hudson walked, he remembered various PE softball games where Charlotte had loitered in the outfield, paying more attention to the grass at her feet than the ball whizzing toward her. “Are you sure you want me to throw this? No offense, Charlotte, but I've seen you catch.”

She arched an eyebrow at him, looking imperial. “Trust me. Throw it.”

Hudson sighed, hoping troll mirrors didn't break easily, and lobbed it to her as gently as he could.

Charlotte pointed her scepter at the flying mirror, and instead of continuing to soar, it slowed and floated gently into her outstretched hand. “I accept this mirror from you, knowing its magical properties.”

She tapped the mirror with her scepter, and it vanished from her hand. Immediately, the boils that covered everyone's skin vanished, too.

The crowd gave Charlotte another round of applause. One of the soldiers, perhaps because he was worried about retribution, shouted, “Long live the princess!”

The other soldiers joined in the cheer, and the rest of the crowd followed until Hudson was sure the whole city could hear the chant. Charlotte smiled at them, a happy, reassuring smile.

As though the crowd had agreed upon it beforehand, everyone began singing the Logosian national anthem.

The anthem turned out to be nine verses long. Hudson supposed that was inevitable in a country where people loved words. While the people sang, Charlotte ordered some of the soldiers to take King Vaygran to the dungeon until she arranged for his banishment. They carried him off during the fourth chorus.

After the song ended, Charlotte looked out across the crowd. “I need to talk with my fa—um—wizard.” She motioned to Mr. Fantasmo, who had joined Hudson and Mr. Brown in the crowd.

Charlotte wasn't any taller than she had been when Hudson went to school with her in Texas, but she seemed more regal now. She stood straight, chin lifted. Her long black hair looked nothing like her old unruly red hair. Freckles no longer dotted her skin, and the upturned elflike nose was gone, too. Her eyes seemed the same, though, large and kind.

At Charlotte's words, Mr. Fantasmo grew a bit paler. His pretense of being her father was gone now. She knew the truth. He was only a wizard, and one who had helped Vaygran keep her prisoner before he switched loyalties.

Fantasmo lifted his arms so his long sleeves looked like dark wings. Then, faster than Hudson could see the change coming, the wizard turned into a speckled brown owl. He flew over the crowd with quick wingbeats and landed on the balcony railing. The bird hung his head, then flapped off the railing and hovered before Charlotte. He transformed back into his human form, his head still bowed.

“You're not my father.” Her voice sounded sad and heavy. “You changed my memories and tricked me about my identity. Why?”

He didn't meet Charlotte's gaze. “You weren't ready to fight King Vaygran or rule, and until you were, knowing that you were the princess only made you miserable. You felt the responsibility of your people's suffering, and it made you ill with worry. I was going to give you back your real memories when you were older, so you could return and challenge him, but I thought it would be years until you were ready.” His head drooped even lower. “I ask forgiveness for underestimating you.”

She considered his words, then stepped toward him and touched his sleeve. “Of course I forgive you. You took care of me like a father and fought Nepharo in order to protect me. For that, I will always love and thank you.”

Mr. Fantasmo looked up at her for the first time. His shoulders lifted with relief. “Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Will you be my top wizard and adviser?”

He smiled, happy again. “I will.”

She reached toward him with arms outstretched, and he gathered her into a hug. For a moment, they stood like that, her head resting against his chest. When he released her, the pride was evident in his eyes. “This quest has strengthened you. You are now truly a princess who sees.”

Charlotte nodded. “My name will no longer be Nomira. It won't be Erica, a ruler, or Charlotte, one who is free. Now my name is Colette—victory for the people.”

The crowd clapped and cheered at this announcement, then burst into the national anthem again. They might have gone on singing it all night if Charlotte—Hudson couldn't think of her as Colette, even though the crowd had instantly incorporated her new name into the national anthem—hadn't cut the song short.

She called for Hudson and Mr. Brown to join her on the balcony. As Hudson walked to the castle, he looked around for Proval and Glamora. They were nowhere in sight. He checked the compass. No warnings appeared on its surface. He supposed the trolls had fled Grammaria as soon as they realized Vaygran would no longer rule the city.

Good riddance.

Charlotte ordered King Vaygran's wizards, advisers, and officials to come to the balcony to explain their part in King Vaygran's government and to swear an oath of loyalty to her. It was easy to see that they supported her, since they hadn't come to King Vaygran's aid while he fought her.

After she finished taking oaths of fealty from the wizards, she decided which of the castle guards to pardon. This involved a lot of kneeling, and quite a bit of pleading on the part of the guards, since some of them had dragged Charlotte, bound and tied, before King Vaygran. Others had constructed the gallows she was supposed to hang from.

In the end, she forgave most of them. The only ones she sent to stockades were the ones who had still followed King Vaygran's orders after it became clear that he was trying to kill her.

Charlotte then thanked the crowd for their support, told them she needed to meet with her advisers, and said she would address the people of Grammaria again tomorrow. As she turned and went into the castle, the people sent out a final cheer.

Hudson, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Fantasmo followed her inside. It was odd to see long black hair swishing down her back. It would take some getting used to.
She's still Charlotte
, Hudson told himself. Still the same on the inside, no matter what she looked like on the outside.

Servants lined the large hallway, all bowing to her like trees in a windstorm. “We're so glad you've returned,” one man said. A woman teared up and kissed Charlotte's hand.

Charlotte murmured her thanks to them and walked to a large meeting room. She swept inside and waited for Hudson and the others to follow her.

Once inside, she shut the door and leaned on it. Her regal bearing slipped away and her brown eyes grew anxious—or maybe it was just exhaustion. “I need my old memories back. I can't run a country if I have amnesia.”

Mr. Fantasmo nodded. “Where is the calculater? I saved them there.”

“I have it,” Hudson said, getting it from his pack. He'd had no idea how valuable the contraption was and was glad Nepharo hadn't seen it when he'd captured them. He might have guessed what it was and destroyed Charlotte's memories.

Mr. Fantasmo took the calculater from Hudson and looked at it sadly.

At first, Hudson didn't understand why anyone, especially Mr. Fantasmo, would be sad at this moment. They had defeated King Vaygran and returned the princess—returned Charlotte—to the throne. This was the definition of happily ever after.

The very next moment, Hudson understood the sadness. When Charlotte's memories returned, she wouldn't be Mr. Fantasmo's daughter anymore. And she also wouldn't come back to Texas and go to school with him again. That thought took some of the happiness out of ever after.

Mr. Fantasmo pushed several buttons on the calculater, putting in a sequence of numbers—some sort of code. “I'll also take away the memories I added about you being my daughter. My own daughter will be happy to have them back.”

“Your daughter?” Charlotte repeated. “You have a real daughter?”

He punched in a few more buttons. “She's grown up now, but you always reminded me of her.” He paused, noticing Charlotte's distress. “Don't worry. She gave her memories to you willingly. We thought that if you believed you were my child, you wouldn't be so homesick for Logos.”

Well, Mr. Fantasmo had either underestimated Charlotte's bravery or her foolishness. Sometimes it was hard to tell one from the other. Or perhaps, Hudson thought, looking at the determination in her expression, perhaps sometimes the knowledge of who you were ran deeper than your memories.

While Charlotte waited, she fingered the scepter, making lights flicker on its jeweled surface.

Hudson gestured to it. “If you don't remember hiding the scepter, how did you know where to find it?”

She gazed at the scepter as though still amazed she had it. “I asked myself where I would have put it if I was the princess. Inside the heart of the tree seemed like the safest place to hide something.”

Fantasmo lifted the calculater, pointing it at Charlotte. “You're ready to take your memories back—the bad along with the good?”

“Do I have to take the bad memories back, too?” she asked.

“One without the other is a dangerous thing,” he said. “Wisdom requires both.”

She took a deep breath, bracing herself. “Then give me both.”

Mr. Fantasmo pushed the last button, and a flash of light went off from the calculater. As though something physical had hit her, Charlotte stepped backward, her eyelids fluttering. When she righted herself, she glanced around the room with sudden recognition. “I remember everything,” she said with happy awe. The next moment, her voice lost some of its excitement. “I remember everything.”

Mr. Fantasmo put a consoling arm around her shoulder. “Wisdom requires both.”

She nodded, swallowed, and leaned into him a bit. Her gaze went around the room again. “My father used to meet in here with the leaders of the different guilds. He made me stay and listen so I would know how the guilds worked, but I always thought it was boring and drew pictures instead of paying attention.”

Fantasmo gave her an encouraging smile. “Perhaps you won't find it so boring anymore.”

“I should have listened better,” she said. “I don't know enough about running a country.”