A Treacherous Motion (Magic of Dust and Movement #1)

Prologue

“Come on.” Theodore shook his brother impatiently. “Wake up, Xavier, it’s time.”

The older boy groaned, rolling over and tugging his covers with him.

“Xavier.” Theo’s whisper was more a hiss, and he flicked his brother’s ear hard enough to elicit a protest.

Xavier rocketed up, making a grab at Theo’s wrist. But Theo was faster. His brother had fooled him with that trick too many times in former years.

“Xavier, it’s almost the hour of the solstice! We have to go now.”

The older prince’s eyes flew wide, awareness fully returning as he threw off his blanket and slipped his feet into boots. “Why didn’t you say so to start with? How did I fall asleep?”

“You fell asleep because you stayed up half the night last night flirting with the viscount’s daughter,” Theodore said disdainfully.

“Oh, her.” Xavier yawned as he pulled on the overcoat he’d left by his bed. Theodore was already swathed in his. “Her laugh sounds like metal scraping against rock.”

“Why did you flirt like that if you don’t even like her?” Theo demanded, unable to keep the distaste from his voice as he remembered how he’d caught Xavier actually kissing their host’s daughter—while she giggled foolishly—in the manor’s garden. He couldn’t see the appeal in the pastime, himself.

Xavier just laughed, ruffling Theo’s hair in a condescending manner. “Because Father can’t stand it, that’s why. Plus, there’s not much else for a prince to do, is there? I guess it’s more than a twelve-year-old can understand, but you’ll get there one day, little brother.”

Theo grumbled to himself, irked by the airs his brother was putting on, as if he was an adult instead of being only two years older than Theo himself.

But it wasn’t worth arguing about. If they didn’t hurry, they’d miss the hour of the solstice, and it would all be for nothing.

His heart hammered in his chest as he slid the window up and climbed carefully onto the grass below.

They had to succeed. He had to get that carbuncle favor.

“It’s such a stroke of luck, isn’t it?” he said excitedly, as the pair of them crept through the manor’s garden.

The air was cold, but there was no snow here at the southern tip of the Peninsula, not even in the dead of winter.

Even the biting wind from the ocean couldn’t cool his excitement.

“Father never lets us all accompany him on these trips. The fact that he said yes the one time he’s traveling over the solstice is so lucky, it’s almost like we’ve got the carbuncle favor already. ”

“Don’t count your anzu chicks before they show their powers,” Xavier warned him. “I agree it’s good luck that we’re at the southern coast just at the right time, but it doesn’t guarantee anything. The creatures are highly sought after for a reason. Sightings are rare.”

Theo shook his head stubbornly. “We’re going to find one. I can feel it. Good luck is just around the corner.”

They were almost at the stables, and he dropped his voice, the two of them slipping into the building as silently as shadows. There was no one there but a solitary stable boy, fast asleep on a mound of hay. He was no doubt supposed to be keeping watch.

Theo’s eyes lit up as he caught sight of the beautiful bay stallion sleeping peacefully in one of the stalls.

“There he is,” he whispered. “He’s a beauty, isn’t he?”

“You’re still on about that horse?” Xavier’s voice was also a murmur as they moved down the moonlit aisle of the stable.

Theo nodded. “If we find a carbuncle, and get the favor, that’s what I’m going to use it for,” he said fervently. “The good luck should be enough for me to convince Father to buy it from the viscount.”

“That’s what you’ll use your luck for?” Xavier sounded incredulous. “For some horse?”

“It’s not just some horse,” Theo contradicted. “It’s the most beautiful specimen I’ve ever seen.” He stroked the stallion’s nose, watching eagerly as the creature emerged from sleep and accepted the sugar cube he was offering it. “I’m going to ride it to the shore.”

“Suit yourself.” Xavier was already easing out the next horse over. “Father will have your hide if he finds out you rode it after he expressly forbade it, but I’m not about to try to talk you out of angering him.”

Theo puffed out his chest as he saddled the stallion as quietly as he could. He was proud of how well he could manage the process, even on such a big horse.

“He won’t forbid it if he sees how well I can handle myself. I want this horse, Xavier,” Theo confided. “I want it more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”

His task complete, he led the horse out alongside his brother. Once they were clear of the stables, they used a low brick wall to help them mount their rides. Only then did he risk speaking again.

“Don’t you think he’d be impressed if he saw how cleanly I can get up into the saddle?”

Xavier snorted. “If your heart’s desire is to prove yourself to Father, you’d best give up before you begin. He’s not likely to be impressed by anything either of us does. Nothing’s ever good enough for him, trust me.”

Theo said nothing. He was determined to prove his brother wrong, but he knew that saying so would just earn him more cutting words from Xavier.

He didn’t really understand the tension that had recently arisen between his brother and his father, but it had become all-consuming for the crown prince.

Defying the king seemed to be all Xavier thought about.

“Stop!”

The squeak made both brothers freeze, a groan escaping Xavier as a small figure catapulted out from behind the garden wall to block their path. Miriam’s eight-year-old frame looked frail and tiny in the moonlight, her hands on her hips as she glared up at her two brothers.

“You swore you’d wake me, Xavier. You lied.”

“Xavier,” Theo grumbled. “Why did you promise her that?”

“Obviously I didn’t mean it,” Xavier muttered. “She figured out we were up to something, and I had to say something to get her off my back, otherwise she would have told on us.”

“And I still will,” the miniature princess said shrilly. “Unless you take me with you like you promised. “I want a carbuncle favor, too.”

“Miriam, you can’t come,” Theo told her. “The cliffs are dangerous, and you’re too little.”

Predictably, she bristled. “If you’re not too little, I’m not too little, Theo. And Xavier promised.”

Theo threw a look of frustration at his brother.

He didn’t want his little sister tagging along, but he didn’t like Xavier’s cavalier attitude about lying to her, either.

If the other prince had said she could come, he felt bound to honor that promise.

Heaven knew Xavier wasn’t likely to. Besides which, he did have sympathy for her position.

It was hard to be always missing out. Of course she would want her chance to find an elusive carbuncle, and try to attain one of the lucky favors the magical creatures dropped.

And since the winter solstice was the only time they emerged, this was her only chance, just the same as them.

“Come on, then,” he sighed, sliding down from the bay stallion and leading it back to the brick wall. “You can ride with me, my horse can easily carry us both.”

He ignored Xavier’s noise of protest, and instead focused on helping his sister scramble into the saddle of the large mount.

“Thanks, Theo,” Miriam said breathlessly. “Is this really your horse?”

“No,” Xavier informed her flatly.

Theo ignored him as he hoisted himself up in front of his sister.

“It’s going to be. Once I get a carbuncle favor and convince Father to buy it for me.

” He settled into position. “Now hold on tight around my waist, Miriam,” he said grandly.

“This horse is really much too big for you, you don’t want to fall off. ”

“A horse is a good idea, Theo,” Miriam said excitedly, as she complied so forcefully she squeezed the air from his lungs.

“If I get a carbuncle favor, I’m going to use it to convince Mother to let me make friends with the village girls.

Those girls have so much more fun than all the courtiers’ daughters. ”

Xavier snorted as the two princes urged their horses forward through the moonlit garden. “Good luck with that, Mim.”

She tossed her brown curls defiantly. “That’s my exact plan. I know I need good luck to convince her.”

“No need to mock her idea,” Theo told Xavier. “What will you use the favor for, anyway?”

“Never you mind,” Xavier said, his voice thick with something Theo couldn’t decipher. “But something better than a horse, that much you can be sure of.”

They’d left the manor’s garden now, and they all fell silent as they navigated the deserted road toward the coast. The nearest section of cliffs was no more than fifteen minutes’ ride away, and the sound of the waves grew steadily clearer.

Theo felt his excitement rise, and he leaned down to stroke the horse’s neck.

“We’ll be friends for life, you’ll see,” he told the creature. “You’ll like the royal stables at the castle. As many oats and carrots as you can imagine.”

The horse gave a soft huff, prancing a little at the attention. Theo had to tighten his grip so as not to lose hold of the reins, and Miriam let out a squeak as he felt her slip a little behind him.

“Careful,” Xavier told him, frowning over at the trio. “That horse is too big for you, Theo, and too spirited. “Don’t manhandle the bit like that, you’ll wreck his mouth.”

“I’m not manhandling anything,” Theo said, hoping the darkness hid his flush. The horse was strong, but he refused to admit that he was having trouble controlling it. “And he’s not too spirited, he’s the perfect amount of spirited.”

Xavier just shrugged, urging his own horse onward. “We’re almost there,” he said. “Remember, the carbuncles look like small dogs, but they don’t move like small dogs. If you see one, you can’t let it out of your sight for a second, or you’ll never find it again.”