CHAPTER 26

Homecoming

 

 

I WASN’T surprised to find Morgan of Shadows waiting for us a mile outside of the City of Lockes, even though I hadn’t spoken to him in days. The traffic on the Old Road had gotten heavier as we approached the city, and people continued to give us a wide berth, eyeing Kevin warily as he smiled at them, showing way too many teeth for anyone to feel comfortable around him.

One minute I was fighting the urge to run for the city gates that I could see on the horizon, and the next I felt a wave of peace wash over me. I took a stuttering step, stopped. Took a breath. Let it out slowly.

The crowd parted before us and there he stood.

Maybe I should have been embarrassed by my actions. Maybe I should have shown the slightest bit of decorum. I was the apprentice to the King’s Wizard, after all.

But fuck that. I hadn’t seen my mentor in almost three months. I’d faced things I’d never seen before. I’d been loved and broken. I’d eaten a shitload of corn laced with a truth serum.

So I don’t know that I can be blamed for running full speed at him. I don’t know that I can be blamed for the way my eyes burned when he smiled widely and opened his arms. I don’t know that I can be blamed for the sound I made, that broken, wounded noise that crawled out of my throat when his arms wrapped around me. I felt his magic wash over me, and for the first time in weeks, I thought I was able to breathe. I let my forehead rest in the crook of his neck as he held me tightly.

He said, “I know. I know.”

Because he did. He knew. He’d missed me as much as I’d missed him. This was the man who had rescued me from the slums with his pink shoes and exploding nipples. The man who had allowed my parents to follow us to the castle. The man who saw fit to give us a better life than our station dictated.

But most of all, he knew because he was my friend. One of my very first.

He knew how much I was hurting.

He knew what it’d cost me.

He said, “I am so very happy to have you home.”

I nodded against his neck, not trusting myself yet to speak.

He said, “Your parents will be so thrilled. They have missed you so.”

He said, “The King will never let you out of his sight again.”

He said, “You’ve gone into the wilds and brought back a dragon. How unexpected. And how so very like you.”

He said, “Hush, little one. Don’t be sad.”

He said, “I know, Sam. I know. But you must listen.”

He said, “The Prince and Ryan arrived home two weeks ago.”

He said, “They returned without incident on horseback to make up time on the road home.”

He said, “Justin requested the wedding happen immediately.”

He said, “The King wanted to wait for you.”

He said, “The Prince agreed, but only just.”

He said, “So I must ask of you the hardest task I’ve laid at your feet. You must be brave and strong and stand by my side at the wedding. You must honor your future king and the choices made, though your heart may be breaking. But you will never stand alone, because I will always be by your side. And once this impossible task I have asked of you is complete, I will take you away and we will see what we see.”

He pushed my head up with his kind hands and brushed the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs. His eyes were warm, and I could see the love he felt for me on his face. And I loved this man too. More than I could say.

Morgan of Shadows said, “Can you do this, Sam of Wilds?”

And I said, “Yes,” even though it felt like a lie.

He kissed my forehead, and I was home.

 

 

THEY GAVE us our moments, but as soon as I’d regained my composure, Tiggy and Gary bounded up, prancing around Morgan. He chuckled and hugged them both.

“I missed you, tiny wizard,” Tiggy said, rubbing his face in Morgan’s beard.

“It’ll be nice to have intelligent conversation again,” Gary said. “It’s been difficult being the only intellectual amongst the group for weeks on end.”

I rolled my eyes. “Because that’s a real thing.”

“It is,” he insisted. “I am way smart and you guys are dumb and made me dumber because of it.”

“No, you’re dumb and Tiggy and I elevate you back to the level that could be considered functional.”

“I help,” Tiggy agreed.

Gary huffed. “I don’t even know why I try with you two. It’s obvious my breeding and social standing are far above your own and therefore I shouldn’t even be associating with the two of you. Gods know why I do. You’re welcome.”

“What are you grinning at?” I asked Morgan, who stood beside us, eyes closed, looking more serene than I’d ever seen him before.

“The noise,” he said, opening his eyes. “How I have missed the endless noise.”

“I’m taking that as a compliment,” I decided.

“You should,” Gary said. “You don’t get many of those.”

“I have brooms,” Tiggy said proudly.

“Oh look,” a high-pitched voice rumbled. “There’s a dragon. People should pay attention to him too. Like stupid wizards and unicorn sexual partners and half-giants who steal my brooms.”

I rolled my eyes and looked back at Kevin, who was staring at us innocently.

“I don’t know who said that,” Kevin said. “It wasn’t me.”

“Morgan,” I said. “This is the dragon. Kevin.”

“Sam,” Kevin hissed. “You’re not doing it right. You promised.”

“I’m not saying it!”

“Sam!”

“Grr. Fine! Morgan, may I present to you, the fearsome Beast from the East, the great creature who had a religion built up around him until he ate the leader, his holy dragon-ness… Kevin.”

Kevin posed, wings spread, looking fierce.

The crowd that had started to gather around him said, “Oooooh.”

“We practiced that for two days,” I muttered. “Two. Days.”

“Shhh,” Kevin said. “Let them bask in me.”

“You have found another one,” Morgan said in awe, “that is exactly like the rest of you. How in the name of the gods do you do that?”

“Like the rest of us?” I echoed. “Bitch, please. I am my own man. I am an individual.”

“Singular,” Gary agreed. “Unique like a summer storm rolling over snowcapped mountains.”

“My broom is my favorite,” Tiggy said. “It is my broom and I love it.”

“Bask in me,” Kevin breathed. “Bask.”

“You’re right,” Morgan said drily. “Absolutely nothing alike. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Are you done yet?” I asked Kevin. “You have to meet Morgan before he gets grumbly. He doesn’t like being in sunshine too long.”

“I don’t get grumbly,” he grumbled. “And I like my skin free of wrinkles.”

“A few decades past worrying about that,” I pointed out because I could and he needed it. He’d probably gotten very full of himself while I was gone. I couldn’t let that happen.

“I’m so happy you’re back,” he said flatly. “Really.”

“I know,” I said. “I love you, boo. Kevin, stop posing and get down here!”

“But… they’re basking.”

I rolled my eyes. “I never should have told you about the cult.”

“People make religions about me,” he announced to everyone. “You may do the same.”

“Ahhhh,” they all said.

“Kevin!”

“Gods,” he muttered. “Gary, control your child.”

“My child? Oh, when he does something good he’s our child. But when he starts acting like a whiny bitch, suddenly he’s my child? Let me tell you something—”

“This is a thing now,” I told Morgan. “Somehow, they got together and are convinced I am their child.”

“I think I’ve finally reached the point where I no longer ask questions,” Morgan said, looking up at Kevin. “I officially just go with the flow now.”

“Dude,” I said. “Right on. That makes my life easier.”

“Sam, nothing about your life is easy.”

“Right. But I have a talking dragon, so.”

And Morgan just went with the flow.

 

 

I TOLD myself I was going to stroll triumphantly through the gates, my head held high because that was the only thing I could do. If Justin and Ryan were going to be waiting with everyone else at the castle, then I wanted to make sure they saw me standing strong, even if I didn’t exactly feel it. I hoped they were far too busy planning a wedding to have time to stand around and wait for me to come home with the others, but knowing my luck, Justin would have them standing there front and center.

To say people gawked at us as we walked cobbled streets of the City of Lockes is an understatement.

Morgan told me the rumors of our quest were bordering on the ridiculous. Everything from me single-handedly battling a cult of Darks to taking down an army of dragons after I’d lost both legs and my right arm. (“How do they think I even got around after something like that?” “Very carefully.”) Of course, no one really expected a dragon to return with us, especially one that had very recently kidnapped the Prince of Verania. Suffice it to say, people were curious and lined the streets as we made our way through to Castle Lockes.

“Everyone is staring at me,” Kevin muttered. “I’m famous.”

“Okay,” I said. “Sure. Why not.”

He lifted his head, his wings scraping against the side of a building, causing a scratch in the brick. “Oops,” he said. “Sorry. Good people of Verania! I am a dragon. My name is Kevin. I ask that you bring me shiny things.”

“No one bring him anything,” I said.

“Don’t listen to Sam. He’s suffering from weariness from his travels. You should all bring me stuff. I’m not picky. I promise. It just needs to be expensive and shiny and pretty and covered in jewels and—”

“Kevin,” Gary said.

“Yes, dear?”

“If you stop talking, you can have muffin later.”

“How many muffins.”

“The full batch.”

“That’s code for sex,” I said to Morgan. “Do not go to their bakery.”

Morgan covered his eyes with his hand and sighed.

We arrived at the castle gates without incident. The castle had never looked more beautiful. I had to stop myself from running full tilt toward it and hugging the stone walls. I didn’t think Morgan would appreciate that.

“Well,” Pete said, grinning widely. “Look who’s strolling in triumphantly.”

“Is there any other way to stroll?” I asked. “If there is, I don’t know about it.”

He pulled me in for a manly hug, patting my back three times and pulling away to grasp my forearms. “It’s good to have you back, kiddo,” he said. “It’s been awfully quiet while you’ve been away.”

“Can’t have that,” I said. “You keep everyone safe while I was gone?”

He rolled his eyes. “You know me. Fending off assassins and Darks left and right.”

“I knew I could count on you,” I said with a wink.

“Go on. Get out of here. We’ll catch up later.”

He understood, Pete did. He could probably see I was practically vibrating out of my skin. I had most of my family around me, but not the two who’d brought me into this world. And not my King. I needed to see them before I truly felt at peace. I didn’t even think about Justin and Ryan then. I didn’t care. I just wanted the last pieces of my puzzle put back together.

The gates rose at Pete’s signal, and even before they’d cleared my chest, I was under them, not caring about decorum or my place.

The knights lined the walkway, standing at attention. Flags rippled in the breeze. The sun shone down from above. Morgan called from behind me, saying my name, telling me to slow down, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t because I could see them. Waiting for me. My mother was talking with the King, my father standing at her side. The King said something to make her laugh, and I could hear it above all the noise and was reminded of growing up in the slums, of our little house where she would tend to her flowers and sing gypsy songs in a tongue that sounded of skylarks. There were others there too, but they were the only three I saw.

My father saw me first. One minute he was smiling faintly as his gaze wandered, and the next it stuttered and cracked as his eyes met mine. I saw his mouth move, and I knew, I just knew he’d said my name in that quiet voice of his because my mother stopped midsentence and looked at him, then out at me.

And she cried, “Sam!”

I ran.

I ran because I was home and they were my family.

I ran because I hadn’t seen them in over two months.

I ran because I had gone out into the world with hopes and secrets and had returned with nerves exposed and skin twitching.

They laughed when they held me. Then we cried. My father’s hand went to the back of my head, and my mother’s nose brushed my cheek. My father said, “There you are,” because he could, and my mother said, “My little boy,” because I was.

I didn’t want to let them go.

And so I didn’t. For a time.

Then, “Sam.”

My King.

I pulled myself away from my parents and turned to the Good King. He wore a quiet smile, one tinged with worry and sadness. I didn’t like seeing that on him, so I schooled my face as best I could so he couldn’t see the same mirrored in my own. I’d done what he asked of me. I might not have been his wizard, but he was still my friend. I couldn’t blame him for anything.

He cupped my face in his great hands and pulled our foreheads together. He said, “You have done me a great honor, Sam of Wilds.”

I reached up and curled a hand around the back of his neck. “And I would do it again,” I whispered. “For you.”

“Even after everything?”

“Even then.”

“Anything. Anything you want. It’s yours.”

I shuddered out a laugh. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do,” he said. “Because I know what this has cost you.”

I had to ask. I had to. Even though everything told me to just walk away, I had to ask. “Could you make Justin release Ryan from his oath?”

My mother made a small wounded noise, but I couldn’t look away from my King.

He was obviously pained when he said, “No, Sam. I could not.”

“Then you can’t give me what I want.” I squeezed the back of his neck and pulled away.

He said, “Sam.”

I smiled at him, forcing it to be as bright as possible. I raised my voice. “It is good to be home. Especially so much sooner than I expected.”

“That may be so,” a voice said from my right. “But you sure took your time getting back. Not all of us like to stand around waiting, Sam of Wilds. ’Tis a luxury you can’t afford.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath because if I didn’t, I probably would have tried to curse the wizard of wizards.

“No penis noses,” Morgan muttered as he walked up with the others in tow. “Whatever you do, do not turn his nose into a penis.”

“No promises,” I said, then turned to face the oldest living man in the known world.

Randall.

Unsurprisingly, he looked old as fuck. His eyebrows were eating his forehead. His nose hairs looked like they were staging an escape, curling out and around his nostrils. His beard was thin and scraggly, yellowed slightly around his mouth. Even his ears had more hair sticking out of them than was actually on his head.

He was older than anything else. He was whipcord thin. His liver-spotted hands shook slightly. His eyes were rheumy, sunken into their sockets.

And yet, the power that emanated from him was undeniable. It dwarfed Morgan’s magic, until Morgan could have been nothing but a lowly street magician, swindling onlookers for coin by sleight-of-hand tricks. He was the greatest wizard in history. He’d seen and done things no other had ever been capable of.

And I had once turned his nose into a cock.

“Randall,” I said, bowing my head in respect. “Your nose looks good.”

Morgan groaned.

Randall narrowed his eyes as he took a step toward me. “Always with the lip, you are. If Morgan hadn’t repeatedly sung your praises over the years, I would have had you up and over my knee a very long time ago.”

“Kinky,” I said. “Buy me dinner first.”

“Sam,” Morgan said. “For the love of the gods, shut your mouth.”

“Sorry,” I said, lowering my eyes. “It’s been… a long trip.”

Randall’s gnarled hand curled over my shoulder and squeezed. I looked up and was surprised to see the smallest bit of kindness in his eyes. So, naturally, his mouth opened and ruined it. “I don’t blame you, boy. If I’d gotten the shaft from my cornerstone, I’d be pissed off too. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of that happening before to any wizard, so you’re forgiven for your lack of niceties.” His eyes darted over my shoulder briefly and his mouth curled into mischief. “But you stink of elf, so it seems as if you’ve gotten back into the saddle, eh? Good for you.” He chuckled to himself.

“Elf,” came a low growl from behind me. “What. Elf.”

Well shit.

“Oh dayum,” Gary breathed. “I did not see that coming.”

I looked back toward the castle entrance. There, only a few feet away, stood Prince Justin of Lockes and Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart. Justin looked regal once again, decked out in robes that were undoubtedly more expensive than my entire wardrobe combined. He looked like he would rather be anywhere else than standing here welcoming us home.

Ryan, though. Ryan, knighted out completely with his armor, shield attached at his back and sword sheathed at his side, looked furious. His hands were clenched, his shoulders squared and tense. He had dark circles around his eyes and his skin was pale, as if he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since I’d seen him last. His gaze was on me, and I could see the anger in it.

Which did nothing but piss me off even more because whatever I did no longer concerned Ryan Foxheart.

I looked back at Randall and shrugged. “A friend of mine,” I said. “Wanted a taste of magic.”

“Did he now?” Randall said, ancient lips twitching. “How kind of you to provide him with a taste. Of your magic.”

“Are they speaking in code?” Mom asked Dad, trying to be quiet but failing miserably.

“I don’t know,” Dad said. “I don’t speak wizard.”

“Neither do I. I feel like we’ve failed as parents.”

“Nah,” Dad said easily. “Look at him. He’s adorable and knows how to put on his own pants. We did good.”

“Those are some astounding qualifications,” Randall said. “Seems about right for you.”

“I am so happy you’re here,” I told him. “I promise to try and not make any part of you phallic in nature.”

“That would be much appreciated. I have a wedding to officiate, after all. Wouldn’t want history to repeat itself.”

I immediately made plans to turn every visible inch of his skin into penises. It was foolproof and I would feel better. Therefore, it was a good idea. “Wouldn’t want that,” I repeated.

And because Morgan had trained me well, I schooled my face and turned back to my Prince, carefully avoiding anything having to do with Ryan. It didn’t stop me from feeling his gaze boring into me. I bowed slightly at Justin. “I’m glad you made it back safely, my Prince. And I hear congratulations are in order.”

Justin watched me coolly. “Yes. Well. I’m sure the next few weeks will pass rather quickly what with all the planning. It’ll be a wedding no one will ever forget.”

Rather than tell him that I would probably try and find a way to immediately forget it, I smiled thinly and said, “But of course. I am only pleased I was able to return in time to attend. I would have been devastated to miss the ceremony.”

“I’m sure,” he said. “And the gods only know that apparently nothing could get done without you here. It’s the only reason it hasn’t happened yet. Father insisted you be present.”

“He honors me,” I said, bowing my head again all the while wondering if there was a spell that would cause all of Justin’s bones to melt. I was pretty sure there was. I thought to research it more closely. For my own peace of mind, of course.

“Yes,” Justin said. “He does.” His tone implied he didn’t understand that in the slightest.

“My Prince,” I said. “I take my leave of you. I’m sure you understand how tiring it was, having recently made the journey yourself.”

He dismissed me with a wave of his hand.

I turned away without ever acknowledging Ryan.

 

 

“YOUR GRIMOIRE is sorely lacking,” Randall told me a few days later. We stood in the labs, Morgan silent at my side while his former mentor proceeded to berate me and tell me how disappointing I was as an apprentice. “Have you not kept up with it at all in the time you were gone?”

I forced myself to calm before I did or said something stupid. “We found ourselves quite busy, if I’m being honest.”

“That so.”

“Yes.”

“Because of all the times you got captured.”

“That and the running for our lives,” I agreed.

“Seems to happen to you often,” he said, flipping casually through the Grimoire.

“I tend to spark a certain reaction amongst people who want to see me dead.”

“Lartin the Dark Leaf.”

“Eh. I don’t know if he wanted me dead as much as he wanted to ransom me for pounds of gold.”

“I wouldn’t have paid it,” Morgan assured me.

“And that’s why you’re my favorite,” I said.

“And his death was the only way out?” Randall asked.

I shrugged. “For Tiggy, it was. He’d trussed us up in vermilion root, and Tiggy doesn’t take too kindly to his family being threatened.”

“Vermilion root,” Randall said. “Fairy rings. Truth corn, as you call it. Maybe instead of learning how to be a wizard, you could start teaching people all the ways it takes for you to not be a wizard.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” I said, glancing at Morgan. “Randall’s got jokes. I would have thought any sense of humor you had died centuries ago.”

“He’s always been funny,” Morgan said.

“Really.”

“I’m hysterical,” Randall said, voice as dry as his skin. “You just fail to see it.”

“I made your nose a dick,” I said. “I see the humor just fine.”

“Got those urges under control now, have you?”

“I’m twenty years old,” I said. “Of course not. I’m made of hormones and an overactive imagination. Be thankful nothing else has been dicked out since you got here.”

“I thank the gods every day for your restraint,” Randall said, and I got the feeling he didn’t mean that at all, the bastard. “The Grimoire, though. It is not something you can neglect, Sam. It is important to your education.”

“I know,” I said with a sigh. “But between the Prince and the godsdamn cornerstone bullshit, I haven’t even thought about it. That’s on me. I’d like to say I will make it a priority, but I can’t make many promises until the wedding is done and over with. I’ll be able to focus better then.”

Randall studied me for a moment, then said, “Morgan, would you give us the room, please.”

Morgan looked to argue, but Randall shook his head once. Morgan bowed slightly and left the labs, the door closing behind him.

“You’re foolish,” Randall said.

“Past the niceties already,” I said. “That has to be a record.”

He ignored me. “You are a foolish boy. You think too much. You talk too much. You’re never serious. You fight your way with words more than the magic you were given. You argue with Morgan at every possible turn. You disobey direct orders. You think you know more than anyone else. And sometimes, I get the feeling you think you’re above this. The training. The lessons. After all, what could two old wizards possibly have to teach you?”

I stayed silent, because the words hurt and because they were true.

“And yet,” he said. He shook his head and traced his fingers along the Grimoire. “Your heart is bigger than anyone else’s I’ve ever met. You are smart and fearless. You are talented and compassionate. You, by right, could be locked up in your room lamenting as to how unfair the world is, how unjust after everything you’ve done, but instead, you’re here, head held high, listening to me at first talk shit about you, and then unfortunately gushing about your more tolerable qualities.”

“Tolerable, huh?” I managed to say because Randall never said anything nice. About anyone. But especially me. I didn’t even think he was capable of doling out compliments, even if they were slightly backward.

“Barely,” he said. “And in small doses.”

“You like me,” I said, starting to smile, my fingers itching to hug him.

“Like is such a strong word.”

“Admire.”

“Tolerate.”

“Adore.”

“Endure.”

“Love.”

He sighed. “Why are you walking toward me?”

“Because I’m about to hug the fuck out of you,” I said. “That’s how we roll when we talk about feelings. We hug it out. For minutes. Fair warning: it’s about to get awkward up in here.”

“Sam, if you touch me in any way shape or form, I will hex you so that you have bloody, leaking pustules on your nether regions.”

“I’ve changed my mind about that hug,” I told him.

“Good decision. Now. Are you going to let this beat you?”

“What?” Because there were so many things. Darks. Ryan. Magic.

“All of it.”

Of course he was all encompassing. “I want to say no.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Because I don’t know.”

He rolled his eyes. “What do you know?”

“Honestly? Not as much as I think I do.”

“I could have told you that. Let’s start with something easy.”

And then he began to smile at me and I knew I was in deep shit.

 

 

I HONESTLY never thought I’d get to say that I was on my back because of Randall. The thought alone was enough to make me cringe.

But here I was.

On my back.

Because of Randall.

“That looked like it hurt,” Gary called out unnecessarily. “Especially that part when you got knocked back like ten feet. And then landed on the ground.”

“Ow,” I moaned. “Ow. Seriously. Ow. My body is not ready. It is not ready.”

“Huh,” Randall said. “Really didn’t redirect the lightning that time, did you?”

“You’re a big bag of assholes, Randall,” I gritted out. “You flipping toe remover. I’ll corrugate your metatarsals.”

“Uh-oh, everyone,” Gary said. “Sam is hurling nonsensical insults. That means he’s pissed off. Watch out. Wouldn’t want your feelings to be semihurt and confused.”

“If Randall gets to shoot lightning at him,” Kevin said, “then people should forgive me for knocking him into the side of a shed. I feel that’s only fair. His mom and dad yelled at me for ten minutes. I felt sort of bad.”

“Don’t hurt Sam!” Tiggy growled, taking a menacing step toward Randall. “I smash you hard.”

“He’s not doing it on purpose,” Morgan said, running his fingers along Tiggy’s arms to calm the half-giant.

“Well, not too much on purpose,” Randall said. “Sam, are you going to get up, or is this the part of the day where we lie down in the dirt?”

“Dirt time,” I said, waiting for my limbs to stop twitching with residual electricity. “Definitely dirt time.”

We were out at the sparring fields. The early morning fog was burning away with the rising sun. The Eighth Battalion was due out here in a bit to go through their exercises. Morgan told me that Ryan had delegated the training to another knight as apparently his sole focus needed to be on the wedding. Since that didn’t sound like Ryan at all, I figured Justin must have had something to do with it. Ryan wasn’t the type to delegate. He was dashing and immaculate, after all. I couldn’t see him stepping down from his duties as Knight Commander now that he was finally back in the position.

Still, it made things easier, knowing I’d be able to avoid him yet again. In the week since we’d been back, I’d seen him once, briefly. I was in the gardens with my mother and he was moving toward the throne room and our eyes caught, stuttered. Held. I was the first to look away, resolutely so. When I looked back, he was gone.

It was better this way.

That and the fact that Randall hadn’t left me alone even for a godsdamn minute, insisting that since he’d traveled all this way (and the bastard still wouldn’t tell me how he beat me back to Castle Lockes), we might as well make the most of our time together. Which meant he followed me everywhere, berating me about my lack of focus, demanding that I explain to him the effects of the truth corn, requesting I list, in order, everyone single King’s Wizard for the last thousand years.

In other words, he was being a pain in my ass. But I was so busy fighting the urge to punch him in the face that I didn’t have much time to spare a thought for anything else.

Which is how I found myself woken up at the ass crack of dawn, told to get to the sparring fields immediately, only to be attacked the moment my feet hit the grass.

This was not going to be a good day.

…was the thought I had when I got knocked down for the sixth time.

“Are you sure you redirected the Dark’s magic?” Randall asked, sounding amused as my appendages continued to spasm. “Because it doesn’t seem like you can redirect much of anything right now.”

“Maybe I just don’t want to do it right away,” I managed to say. “I’m just testing you to see if you still got it and all that. You do. Good job.”

“How kind of you,” Randall said. “To test me. Get up.”

“I would,” I said, “but apparently that much electricity tends to make muscles weak. Who knew?”

“Too bad his words couldn’t actually physically cut someone,” Kevin said to Gary. “His mouth would be his greatest weapon.”

“I don’t know if I want him using his mouth on Randall,” Gary said.

“Oh my gods,” I moaned. “Stop it. Bad thoughts. Bad thoughts.”

“I’ll have you know I was considered quite the catch in my day,” Randall said. “Did I ever tell you the story of the Morcadi triplets? Terrence, Theresa, and Trevor. All of them wanted a piece of my…”

“Not again,” I muttered.

“…mind because everyone knows the mind is the most attractive organ on the body. However, the triplets didn’t really understand the idea of individualism. When they did something, they did it together. And that included me. Why, I remember this one time, we decided to be sufficiently lubricated…”

“You’re my hero,” Kevin breathed. “Reveal to me your secrets.”

“…on mulberry wine. The four of us held hands as we strolled through town, not caring that we were nude. You see, in those days, people didn’t have problems with nudity. We always let our bobs and bits hang free because it as the natural thing to do.”

“Déjà vu,” I said. “Déjà vu and it’s not any better the second time around.”

“…and it didn’t matter that Mr. McKlusky wouldn’t do anything with his mouth but talk so we had to improvise…”

“I want to be him when I grow up,” Kevin told Gary. “Triplets. Triplets.”

“Not in front of the children,” Gary hissed. “They don’t understand what we do behind closed doors.”

“Or in the middle of the woods where everyone can hear you,” I pointed out, finally able to push myself up.

“…and we never even really thought about whether or not we could bend that way. Unfortunately for Terrence, it turned out he could not and ended up with a sprain in his groin that hurt for days…”

“People wonder why I am the way I am,” I said. “I tell them it’s because I was always told to respect my elders and these are my elders.”

“I am going to pretend that you meant that as a compliment,” Morgan said.

“I didn’t,” I told him. “And this is pretty much all your fault. You found me.”

“A decision I must live with every day,” he said.

“…and that’s how I ended up eating pie off the Morcadi triplets in the middle of a city fountain,” Randall said, looking pleased with himself. “Now, Sam, if you please. Up and let us try again. Focus this time.”

“I would like to,” I told him. “But all I can focus on is how much it hurts when you electrocute me.”

It happened three more times. And after each time, I found myself getting more and more frustrated at my apparent lack of ability to do something I’d already done before. It was embarrassing, especially in front of Morgan and Randall, the latter judging me harshly even though he never said a word about it. I knew what those furrowed eyebrows meant. Morgan, for his part, kept a straight face the whole time, though internally, he was probably bemoaning the fact that he ever knew my name.

I looked up at the sky, waiting for the seizing to stop, wondering just how I’d gotten to this point in my life. Granted, I supposed it was better to be constantly electrocuted by an old man whose nose I’d once turned into a penis rather than to focus on the penis of Ryan Foxheart that I would never have.

I know, I know. I could be philosophically poetic when I was morose. It’s a gift.

“Maybe we should stop for the day,” Gary said, as if he were actually doing something aside from watching me get knocked on my ass. “I don’t know how much longer I can watch this sadness.”

“Ah,” Kevin said. “A mother’s love knows no bounds.”

“What the hell is wrong with the two of you?” I asked incredulously.

“I certainly didn’t teach him that language,” Gary said, frowning at Kevin. “What have you been saying around him?”

“Uh, yeah you did,” I said. “The first day I brought you to the castle, you told me your room had better be nice because you, and I quote, ‘Sure as shit wouldn’t be staying in no crap shack. I’m a respectable fucking unicorn and my ass deserves only the finest of comfort.’”

“For fuck’s sake, Sam,” Gary said. “I don’t talk like that. You bitch.”

“The joys of parenting,” Kevin said. “I never knew how wonderful it could be.”

“My life is so weird,” I muttered as I yet again picked myself up off the ground.

“Hi, Sam!”

“Hi, Tiggy.”

“You okay?”

“Yes, Tiggy.”

“Tiggy smash something for Sam?”

“No, Tiggy.”

“Tiggy smash something for Sam.”

He smashed one of the wooden sparring dummies.

“Thank you, Tiggy.”

“Tiggy smash!” he bellowed and then proceeded to smash three more.

“Does he do that often?” Randall asked Morgan as they both watched splinters of wood fly into the air.

“Only when Sam or Gary gets hurt and or captured right in front of him.”

“Ah,” Randall said. “Lartin?”

“Lartin,” Morgan agreed.

“And he wants to do that to me,” Randall said as Tiggy ripped the head off one of the wood dummies and then drop-kicked it high into the air.

“Most likely,” Morgan said. “He’s showing remarkable restraint, isn’t he?”

“Yes, remarkable,” Randall said as Tiggy started growling and chewing on the arms of one of his victims.

And during Tiggy’s Tirade of Destruction (capitalized, to make it important as it sounds), I felt my magic settle within me, more than I’d felt in days. I didn’t understand how I’d suddenly overcome the blockage, but I wasn’t going to argue. I felt almost like myself again, like I could do what I was supposed to do. Like I could be the wizard I knew I could be.

I looked up at Randall and said, “Again.”

He must have heard something in my voice that hadn’t been there before. He said, “Interesting how that works.”

Morgan was looking toward the castle. “Maybe we should postpone this.”

“A test is a test is a test,” Randall said. “We just need to change the variables.”

I didn’t understand what they were talking about, but it didn’t matter. I said, “Again.”

Randall moved quicker than he had before, quicker than a man of his age should have any right to. I was struck, for a moment, by what he must have been like at my age, or even Morgan’s. There were stories, of course. One cannot live as long as Randall and not have been made into legend. Morgan had assured me many times that all of what I heard couldn’t be trusted (the time Randall rode the Great White Dragon into battle against an army of Darks or how he’d once saved an entire mermaid kingdom by marrying their princess and therefore allowing the mermaid to assume her rightful place as queen).

But it was the stories that didn’t get spoken aloud as often that I listened to the most. The stories not repeated by word or text with great relish.

How Randall had served a great king who had fallen into madness, brought back to sanity by the sheer force of Randall’s will alone.

Of a darkness that rose beyond Verania’s borders, a man bent on destroying all he could lay his hands on before Randall ended his life almost at the cost of his own.

And, if you dug further, you would find bare mention of Myrin. Myrin, who was never identified as man or woman, or even human at all. Myrin, who became Randall’s cornerstone, who stood by his side, oft hidden in shadow. Myrin, who was Randall’s great love. That last bit might have been a romantic talking, a wish to make the story more palatable. But regardless, I knew Randall’s strength. I knew what a cornerstone meant. Regardless of who Myrin was, or what the relationship was with Randall, Myrin must have been an incredible individual to help Randall construct the level of magic he had.

Like now.

He moved with such grace, almost as if he were dancing. The movements of his hands, the muttering of the dark syllables underneath his breath as he called upon the lightning.

But this time was different.

Before, I could feel him holding back. I could feel the hesitation behind it, the need to make sure I wasn’t seriously hurt. Beyond that, there was doubt. Doubt that I could even do it in the first place. Doubt that I had what it took. Doubt because regardless of what Randall thought of me, at that moment, he hadn’t believed in me.

Now he did. Or, rather, he acted like he wanted to believe.

Or he just wanted to fry my ass for turning his nose into a dick.

That could be it too.

Because the sky above darkened, and there was a crash of thunder. For a moment, I thought his eyes glowed briefly blue. I considered it a very real possibility that I was about to die. There was a shout of warning from behind me, but before I could figure out who it could be from, Randall’s lightning was called, arcing toward me, leaving burned trails in the grass. I thought now now nownownow, and it was like I was back on the dirt road near the Dark Woods. The Dark wizards standing in front of me, fire geckos bursting out from amongst the trees, the sounds of my friends escaping from behind me. My only thought was of their (Ryan’s) safety, that they (Ryan) would have time to escape. That they (Ryan) would be clear and free and nothing could hurt them ever again.

The electricity struck my palm.

It curled up my arm and poured into my chest.

I had a lightning-struck heart and my gods did it beat.

And here it was again, this moment, this indefinable moment when I could so easily take this magic and make it my own. Take from Randall and keep it for myself. I could turn it on him, knock him around, fry him until his eyes melted in his sockets and his beard began to burn and curl into little heated black wisps of ash and smoke, and he would know who was the stronger of us, he would know who held the most power, and I would fucking take it from him and—

It wasn’t who I was.

It wasn’t what I wanted.

My magic wouldn’t allow that. Not now. Not when it was settled.

(Because it said ryanryanryanryanryan and I thought nothing of it.)

And in the blink of an eye, I raised my other hand toward the sky and my heart expelled Randall’s lightning and it roared above me, his magic mixed with my own, like we were in the middle of an electric storm unlike anything we’d ever seen. The sky flashed, and I thought maybe my eyes were glowing because it was here and it was everywhere and it was—

It was over.

The sun was shining.

The wind was warm.

I took a breath. Held it. Lowered my hand. Let it out slowly.

Found my center. How easy it seemed.

Opened my eyes.

The two wizards stood stock-still, Morgan’s jaw dropped and Randall’s gaze calculating.

“Well,” I said with a cocky grin. “That was enlightening. Get it. Get it. En-lightning. It’s funny. It’s funny! Come on. Bah.”

Gary groaned. “You don’t deserve to have your clothes billow if that’s what you come up with.”

“Why?” I asked. “Would you say it was… shocking?”

“The fact that you can do what you just did is diluted when you open your mouth.”

“Puns,” Tiggy said solemnly. “Poor Sam and his puns.”

I laughed because I felt light. I had done this on my own. I had done this without—

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” an angry voice demanded from behind me.

I whirled around.

Behind me stood almost an entire contingent of knights. Dozens of them.

The Eighth Battalion, from the crest on their armor and shields. Even Pete stood with them.

They all watched me with wide eyes.

They weren’t afraid, but it was close.

There isn’t much distance between curiosity and fear.

Except for Pete. Pete just looked fondly exasperated, like he usually did.

But Ryan, though.

He stood in front of his knights. He still looked tired, and I wondered what was stopping him from sleep. I wondered what dreams he was having. I wondered why I should even care.

He also looked scared and angry and filled with such resentment, like he’d seen something that was an affront to him, that he’d been personally attacked.

Except it wasn’t directed toward me.

No. Ryan Foxheart was glaring directly at Randall.

“Knight Commander,” Randall said. “How lovely to see you.”

“Did you just attack him?” Ryan asked, voice low. His hand was on the hilt of his sword still in the scabbard at his side. He took a step toward me, moving slightly to the left, keeping Randall in his sights. His knights behind him looked tense.

What a fucking moron.

Which is what I called myself when I felt my heart flutter slightly in my chest.

Because what.

“Of course not,” Randall said. “Sam will tell you the same thing when he’s done being speechless. Which, I’ll admit, is a good look on him. What you witnessed was a test. And I think he passed admirably. Don’t you, Morgan?”

“You meddle too much.” Morgan sighed.

Randall cackled loudly. “I regret nothing.”

I finally found my voice. “What are you doing here?” I said to Ryan. It hit me then that this was the first time I’d actually addressed him face-to-face in weeks, and I couldn’t even begin to grasp if it calmed me or pissed me off more.

Maybe both.

“I’m training my knights,” he said, still scowling at Randall.

“Figured you’d be busy,” I said, and that caused him to look at me.

“I have priorities,” he said. “Responsibilities.”

I grinned at him because I felt like being a bit of an asshole. “Oh. I’m aware of that. Don’t worry about explaining yourself to me.”

He frowned. “Why are you letting him hurt you?”

“Does it look like I’m hurt?”

“Your clothes are burned,” he said flatly.

I looked down and he was right. There were scorch marks on my chest, and the cloth burned away, revealing reddened skin underneath. “Huh,” I said. “Look at that.”

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes. “Calm down. We’re training. Just like you. You don’t see me freaking out when someone comes at you with a sword.”

“You’d freak,” he said.

“Nope.”

“You’d freak,” he insisted.

“Hardly. You’re dashing and immaculate, after all.”

“That should not be a thing anymore,” he said as the knights behind him began to snicker. “I get enough grief for it already.”

“From your boys?” I asked. “Good. They should constantly give you shit. Wouldn’t want that head of yours to swell.” And, of course, since I hadn’t meant to make that dirty, it came out way dirty.

Ryan flushed slightly and said, “No. We certainly wouldn’t want that.”

“Oh my gods,” Randall muttered. “Are they always like this?”

“Constantly,” Gary said. “You don’t even know. It gets so much worse. They’ve always been like this.”

“How is it that no one told them before now?” Kevin asked. “I would have said something just to make them stop.”

“We’re standing right here,” I growled as Ryan flushed even further, causing me to feel things I didn’t want to feel toward him. Charitable things. Sexual things. I was supposed to be pissed off at him and hate him forever (okay, maybe not forever, but for at least four years until I woke up one morning between two attractive men who’d I’d had a threesome with the night before and realized that I had moved on in a spectacular fashion).

“We can see that,” Randall said. “Trust me, we can all see that. It makes you wonder where you went wrong.” He glanced over at Morgan.

“Don’t look at me,” Morgan said, raising his hands defensively. “It’s hard to train the obliviousness out of someone when apparently all they do is wallow in it.”

“I despise all of you,” I said.

“Hi, Sam!”

“Except for you, Tiggy. You’re still my favorite.”

Tiggy looked very smug at this.

“Maybe we should handle this,” Kevin told Gary.

“Please don’t,” I groaned.

Gary glared at Ryan. “Maybe we should.”

“Um,” Ryan said.

Kevin reared himself up to his full height. For someone who thought he was my pseudofather and yet still threatened to suck me off on a regular basis, he was an imposing figure. The knights took a step back as one as he bared his teeth.

“You hurt my boy,” Kevin rumbled. “Tell me why I shouldn’t eat you right now.”

“Not my real dad,” I reminded him.

“Make sure you don’t hurt your teeth on his armor,” Gary said. “It’ll be sort of like eating shellfish, I suppose. Crack the hard exterior to get to the meat.”

“So bloodthirsty,” I whispered in wonder.

“You wouldn’t eat me,” Ryan said.

“Wouldn’t I?” Kevin asked. “Do you really want to test that?”

Ryan looked back at the knights behind him, like he thought they’d back him up.

Pete shot that shit straight down. “I don’t expect you’ll find much help back here, boy,” he said. “Oh, excuse me. Knight Commander.”

Ryan looked utterly betrayed as the knights smirked at him. I knew I liked them for a reason.

“I raised him to be a strong man,” Kevin said, eyes narrowing. “To not take shit from anyone.”

“You didn’t raise me at all,” I said, though no one was really listening to me anymore.

“And then you came along,” Gary said. “And gave him a heart boner.”

“That’s embarrassing to hear someone say out loud,” I said. “Though probably factually accurate.”

“You don’t touch his flower,” Tiggy growled, taking a menacing step toward Ryan. “Tiggy smash your delicious face and make it hamburger face.”

“Ye gods,” I said. “This is turning brutal.”

“You’re a cornerstone,” Morgan said. “Something revered and treasured. Except apparently you don’t know how to act like one.”

And that was all I could take. He wasn’t theirs to berate. He was mine. They were my family but this was Ryan. “Stop,” I said as Ryan took a step back.

Randall looked between the two of us. “All morning,” he said. “I’ve been electrocuting him. Giving him just a mere taste of what he is capable of. And then the moment you turn the corner and come onto the sparring fields, I could see the difference. I gave him everything I could. He shouldn’t have survived that.”

“Um,” I said. “Excuse me? I shouldn’t have what now?”

“That might have been a little much,” Morgan said. “You know. In case it hadn’t worked.”

“So little faith,” Randall said. “I believed in him. Mostly.”

No one seemed concerned that I was plotting their deaths out loud.

“Sam,” Ryan said quietly at my side. “Are you all right?”

I opened my mouth to respond (and say what, I didn’t know), but Randall beat me to it. “Away with you,” he said. “We can handle it from here. See to your training with your knights and leave us be.”

“But—”

“You have your priorities,” Morgan said, not unkindly. “Your responsibilities.”

“Your oath,” I said without meaning to, and Ryan looked away.

“I know what I am,” Ryan said. “I’m a cornerstone.”

“Yes,” Randall said. “You are. But you are not the only one. There will be others not bound as you are, and Sam will find them. Away, Knight Commander Foxheart. I won’t ask again.”

Ryan’s jaw tensed, but that was all. His gaze flickered to mine, and I held it because I wasn’t going to be hurt by him. I wasn’t going to show on my face that my insides were screaming for him to fight back. To rally against Morgan and Randall. Against Tiggy and Gary and Kevin. Against all of them. For me.

He didn’t, of course.

He called to his knights, even as some of them shook their heads. Pete looked annoyed, but he listened to his commander. They began to shuffle toward the far end of the sparring fields.

“You knew,” I said as I watched him go. “You saw him coming and knew how my magic would react.”

“Yes,” Randall said simply.

“It won’t be the same,” I admitted. “With anyone else.”

He looked sad at that. “I know. But it will be enough.”

“Has this ever happened before?”

Randall could have played the fool. He could have lied. Instead, he said, “Once.”

Morgan looked to speak, but Randall shook his head, once, cutting him off.

“And?” I asked.

“The man went Dark. He killed many people.”

“What happened to him?”

Randall sighed. “I destroyed him. I destroyed him because I could not save him. He made a choice, and like with any choice, there were consequences. I was one such consequence.”

“You’re worried about me. Aren’t you?” I didn’t know if that made me feel good or even worse.

“Not yet,” Randall said, and wonder of all wonders, he smiled at me. “You’ll know when I start to get worried.”