CHAPTER 38
Keenan
Keenan lifted his uninjured arm to shield his eyes from the blinding sunlight on the other side of the door.
Everything from his aching arm to their detailed surroundings screamed that it was real.
The air warmed when they stepped out into the sunshine.
A bird chirped in the elm tree squished between the houses and the road, and he could smell the spiced meats in the nearby market.
But he knew he’d traveled through Ryuni with Liesl and Oliver. He knew that he was walking next to a princess from a foreign kingdom.
So no matter how real it felt, he wasn’t in Hartford.
“They’re not in the courtyard,” he observed. A little girl he didn’t recognize was skipping rope, but there was no sign of his friends.
“Is there anywhere else you might be tested in Hartford?” the princess suggested. “Perhaps that’s where we need to be.”
Instead of replying, Keenan walked over to the small, open space where he had played as a boy.
It had a few stones around the perimeter, delineating it from the road that passed along one side.
He knelt by one particular stone. He, Hugh, and Milo had spent an afternoon carving their names into it with Milo’s father’s knife.
They got an earful for dulling the blade, but they had always gotten a thrill out of turning the stone over and seeing their names.
He picked it up. It was blank at first, but then their names slowly appeared in rough, worn letters.
“Not so perfect after all,” he murmured.
“Is there a significance to the rock?”
Setting it down, he stood and brushed his hand against his pant leg. “Just checking something. How do we know we aren’t going to run into a wall? It’s not a straight shot from here to Master Elias’s house. Or his smithy.”
Cherry shrugged. “The dwarves’ magic will probably shift the tunnels as we walk.”
“Wouldn’t we feel that?” He blinked, remembering the shaking earth when the gate in the old tree opened. “And wouldn’t it require a lot of magic?” Not that he knew anything about it.
“It would. But you didn’t see how much it collected.
” She gathered herself like a cat preparing for a jump, then launched into the air and settled on his shoulder.
“As for feeling it, the magic made you recoil from an illusory punch. Why couldn’t it disguise a rumble in the floor?
Or prepare a network in advance so it can open slowly as you approach? ”
“It would only take a passage into a large cavern,” Oliver calmly inserted. “If you near the end, it could turn you just enough to keep you inside.”
Keenan stared at them both. If magic could do all of that, he was starting to really not like it. He preferred being able to trust his senses and that the world around him would stay stationary.
“You needn’t fear encountering magic on this scale in ordinary life,” Oliver offered, seeming to read his thoughts.
“It would have taken many people—” His eyes slipped over to Cherry— “or magical creatures to create it. Even curses and bargains are limited by the amount of magic used in forming them. If there’s not enough for the requirements, it won’t take. ”
“And if it does?”
The old guard frowned. “Those are relentless. Don’t give someone a reason to curse you, and never agree to a magical bargain.”
“I wasn’t planning to do either, but thanks for the warning.”
“You should take care with your own as well,” Oliver cautioned. “You don’t have much magic, but it could still fuel a small bargain if you’re earnest enough. And it might not be you that is held to it.”
Well, wasn’t that a lovely thought.
Giving the guard a tight smile, he started walking toward the road. If they were to ever escape the illusion, he needed to find the next part of the test. And if it had to do with trials in his life, he was guessing it had to do with Geoffrey.
Too bad the only time he’d traveled from here to Master Elias’s house had been when he was eight, and he hadn’t been minding the route. “Do you know the way to—”
“Keenan!” a cheerful voice called out. Turning, Keenan saw a young man with sandy-blonde hair and a jerkin branded with the Daric coat of arms on its right shoulder.
“I thought you were still off on your grand adventure with Oliver and Miss Liesl.” His smile dimmed.
“And there’s Oliver…and that’s not Miss Liesl. ”
Keenan grimaced. “It’s complicated. Hugh, this is—” He hesitated. Even if it was only an illusion, it felt beyond weird to introduce his best friend to a princess.
“Sakura,” she supplied, wrapping her hand around Keenan’s bicep. “My mother traded me to him for a tinderbox.”
“A tinderbox?” Hugh laughed. He shot Keenan a strange look before returning his attention to the princess. “She must have been desperate to get rid of you.”
“I got the better end of the deal,” Keenan agreed, lifting his hand to claim hers. If that was the story she wanted to give his friend, he was willing to play along. “I need to visit the smithy, but I’m a little lost. Could you point me in the right direction?”
“I’ll do you one better: I’ll take you.”
Keenan started to agree, then paused. “Actually, my father is unconscious in there.” He jerked his head toward the tenement building. “He attacked us, and I’d appreciate it if you would take care of him. Or at least notify the nearest guard before we go.”
Hugh’s brow furrowed. “Your father? Keenan, he was executed thirteen years ago.”
“A similar miscreant,” Oliver interjected. “I’ll handle it and meet you at the smithy.”
He gave Keenan a significant look. Translation: Oliver would ensure the man didn’t track them down later to cause problems, but Keenan needed to keep moving. The sooner they were free of the illusion, the better.
As they strolled down the street, Hugh glanced over at him. “So how did you manage to attach a young lady while you were off playing guard?” He held up a finger. “And don’t try to tell me it was a trade. You would never trade a young woman for anything.”
“You seem to be quite familiar with him.” Keenan couldn’t see Princess Sakura’s face past Cherry, but he could hear the raised eyebrow in her voice.
Hugh leaned around him. “I should hope so; we grew up next door to each other. The stories I could tell you…” He smiled beatifically.
Keenan sighed. “Please don’t.”
“I’m sure I can’t tell her anything she doesn’t already know.” Hugh winked. “And the more recent tales will only make her love you more. Who doesn’t love a dashing hero who vanishes after his daring deeds so the guards won’t throw him in jail?”
“Hugh…”
The princess squeezed his hand. “I am unfamiliar with the vanishing part, but I’ve witnessed the dashing hero.”
“Is that so?” Hugh’s eyes searched Keenan’s face, but Keenan stared determinedly ahead. His friend didn’t need the encouragement. “I can’t say I’m surprised; it’s always mystified me how he’s managed to defend women all over the city for years without ever catching one.”
“Has he ever pursued one?” the princess asked with far too much interest.
“Not that he’s ever told me. Don’t worry, Sakura, Keenan doesn’t have a young lady waiting for him at home.
” Hugh snorted. “Just Geoffrey, and he might be worse. Especially after the way Keenan left with so little notice. I joined an escort for Princess Arabella when she went to see about a sword for Prince Michael’s birthday.
” He whistled and shook his head. “He was steaming mad.”
Keenan didn’t bother replying to that; he already knew what to expect when he walked through the door of the smithy.
Hugh volunteered some information about recent events in Hartford next. While he talked, his eyes kept skittering over to Keenan. Funny; Keenan hadn’t thought that bringing a girl home was that interesting. It wasn’t as if his friend knew she was a princess.
“I should have asked earlier,” Hugh finally said. “Didn’t want Oliver to report it if I’m seeing things. But…is that a dragon on your shoulder?”
“The dragon can hear you, you know,” Cherry grumbled. “It’s rude to talk about me as if I’m not here.”
His eyes went wide. “It can talk?”
“She,” Keenan corrected before Cherry could fire off a retort. “And yes, she talks.”
Hugh released a low whistle. “That’s incredible. You have got to tell me about your adventures later.”
They entered a market, Cherry still grumbling under her breath. Keenan considered giving her a comforting pat. But the little dragon might see it as treating her like a pet, and he didn’t have a free hand anyway.
He tried not to notice how pleasant the princess’s small hand felt in his. She’d claimed that she was serious about liking him, and her choice to help him at risk of injury to herself seemed to support that. It would take great commitment to her mother’s unfathomable plan otherwise.
But no matter how serious she was, she was a princess. And he was just…
A weapon-smith. Nothing but a common, coarse-mouthed laborer with the barest hint of magic that made his creations highly sought-after, but without the journeyman license to practice his craft, thanks to his foster brother.
Cherry’s head popped up. Keenan followed her gaze across the crowded marketplace, but he didn’t see anything. “What is it? Is the magic acting up again?”
“No magic. Just something that bears investigating.”
“Then let’s—” he began, but the little dragon launched herself off his shoulder and flew away over the heads of the surrounding crowd.
He muttered an oath under his breath. The neighborhood wasn’t exactly dangerous, but it wasn’t someplace a youngster with no street sense should wander alone.
Princess Sakura squeezed his hand. “It’s only an illusion, and she’s a dragon. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“Maybe, but I’ll feel better when she’s with us.” Releasing her hand, he said, “Stay with Hugh – I’ll be right back.”