Chapter 1 #2
“You have a goose!” he exclaimed, dropping to one knee and holding out a hand to the unusually small, adorable white goose that waddled into the barn, completely unbothered by Atlas’s looming presence. “I love geese. Such misunderstood creatures.”
To his delight, the bird waddled right up to him with a happy honk, and he ran his fingers over the soft feathers on her head. “Aren’t you a sweetheart?” he cooed.
“Phee, get away from him,” Atlas barked in a commanding tone.
“Don’t worry about him,” Jax continued, scratching under the goose’s chin and speaking in a low, sing-song voice.
“He’s just grumpy because he’s not as cute as you.
He doesn’t understand what a burden it is to carry such sweetness.
In fact—” He froze, his hand still on Phee’s neck, as the glint of something gold in the pile of straw in the corner caught his eye.
Is that…?
“Say, Lassie,” he stretched out the words slowly. “Your goose doesn’t happen to lay golden eggs, does she?”
Atlas dropped his arm to his side, letting the axe hang harmlessly. “What? Of course not.”
“You’re absolutely sure?”
“I think I would know if my goose did something as unusual as lay golden eggs.” Atlas drawled the words as if he never heard anything so preposterous in his life.
Obviously he has never seen some of the birds in Faerie.
“Excellent,” Jax said, giving the goose one last pet before hopping lightly to his feet. He bent his waist in a deep bow and waved one hand with a flourish. “It has been lovely to make your acquaintance, but I regret to inform you that I must be on my way.”
“No need to regret it. I don’t.”
“And there are those charming manners again.” He smiled fondly. “You truly are a paragon of warmth and welcome, Lassie. I’ll be seeing you.” He flicked two fingers out in a salute as he stepped quickly around the giant and exited the barn as quickly as he could without appearing to run.
I’ll just go back to the orchard and wait for him to leave, then come back and get the egg. For all that he claims not to have a golden goose, I don’t trust that he won’t change his tune if he actually sees the dragon egg. Gold has done stranger things to men.
“Please don’t.” Atlas’s words followed him as he rounded the corner of the barn and promptly collided with a second figure.
“Ow.” Jax stumbled back a step as he held a hand to his sore chin. “Does everyone in this realm have such hard heads?”
“Watch where you’re going!” The angry voice resided in the undecided space between youth and manhood. Dark eyes simmered with pent-up frustration and the darkness of grief, and the boy’s round face pulled into a scowl.
Jax lifted an eyebrow. “Maybe you should watch where you’re standing.”
The boy threw his shoulders back, no doubt intending to make himself taller, though he still only came to Jax’s chin. “Do you even know who you’re talking to?”
“Hmm.” Jax crossed his arms and tilted his head, pretending to be deep in thought. “I can’t say that I do. Did I miss the introductions?”
“I’m Jacques.” The boy’s eyes widened pointedly as he said the name, as if that information alone were significant.
“Really?” Jax chuckled with genuine amusement as he stepped around the boy to ensure they were both out of sight should Atlas step out of the barn. “I’m Jax. What a coincidence.”
“Prince Jacques.”
“Oh, right. What a coincidence, Your Highness.” Jax punctuated his words with the tiniest of bows.
The action only made Jacques’ scowl lines deeper. “You ran into me.”
“An honest mistake, I assure you. I don’t often go around checking the corners of a giant’s barn for lurking royalty. Please forgive me.”
The prince did not grant the requested absolution, but a sudden change in topic indicated that he found the apology at least somewhat adequate. “Can a goose really lay a golden egg?”
Jax shrugged as he turned and peered around the corner of the barn. “Depends on the goose.”
“Can that goose lay a golden egg?”
“I don’t know. It’s rather impolite to ask at a first meeting. Atlas seemed to think not.”
“Then why did you ask him about it?” Jacques leaned closer, his eyes narrowing.
“A matter of professional curiosity. I’m a Bird Catcher by trade.”
“That’s not a real job.”
“Six generations of Papagenos would beg to differ,” Jax said lightly, smiling to hide the uncomfortable feelings that always resurfaced whenever he spoke about his family.
He ducked back behind the wall as he spotted Atlas stepping out of the barn and striding towards the castle-house with the diminutive goose waddling adorably after him.
“And while I would love to stay and chat, there’s a job that I need to see to. ”
Jacques followed at his heels as Jax crept back into the barn. “What is it?”
“I suppose you could call it a search-and-rescue mission.”
Now that he knew where it was, Jax headed straight to the pile of straw and plucked out the golden egg.
It was dense and heavy for its size, which at its widest part was about the same as a ripe orange, and it was hot to the touch, as if he had just pulled it from a kitchen hearth rather than a pile of straw.
Once his fingers made contact with the smooth surface, the dragon song that had been so muffled before rang loud and clear in his mind.
“You lied! You told me there wasn’t a golden egg!” The prince lunged forward, his hands grasping.
Jax swatted his hands away and settled the egg carefully into his satchel.
“I told you I didn’t think that goose laid golden eggs.
Which is true. I am reasonably certain that that goose lays eggs of a perfectly average type.
” He crossed to the door and looked across the yard toward the house, weighing his options.
There’s no way Drosselmeyer picked this place purely on a lark, which means there must be some significance. Atlas doesn’t seem too keen on visitors, though. Do I risk his wrath by going to the house and asking if Dross left any kind of message behind?
Or maybe I’m overthinking things. He is a wizard, after all. Who knows why he does what he does.
“Hand it over.”
Jacques’ imperious, demanding tone pulled Jax from his thoughts. He turned. The prince was standing with his hand out, palm facing up and fingers beckoning for the egg.
Jax blinked twice in surprise. “No.”
The prince let out a huff of impatience. “I command you to hand it over.”
“I’m afraid I must respectfully decline.” Jax directed his attention back to the world outside, though he kept half an eye on Jacques, which meant he caught the moment that the prince’s hand darted out, reaching for his satchel.
Muscle memory took over, and before he could even think through the actions, he snagged the boy’s wrist. He twisted the arm up and back until Jacques’ wrist was pressed between his own shoulder blades.
He tsked. “What kind of royal decorum do they teach in this realm? If a man declines to share his egg, you don’t take it; you get your own. ”
Jacques whimpered, “Let me go.”
“Are you going to try to steal from me again?” Jax twisted his wrist just a little further to get his point across.
“No.”
“Then I see no reason why we can’t be friends.”
As soon as Jax released him, Jacques whipped around with a furious expression twisting his face. “We’re not friends. You just assaulted your prince. When my brothers find out what you did—”
“Now, now. Let’s not let a simple misunderstanding kill our friendship before it even has the chance to flourish,” Jax interrupted, ticking off his fingers as he ran through his list. “First of all, my prince is safely back in the Faerie realm and would never consider me at all a physical threat. Secondly, I did not ‘assault’ you; I prevented you from committing a crime that would have horrible diplomatic repercussions. Thirdly…” He tilted his head as he considered the angry adolescent.
“Why are you here, anyway? Climbing that cliff seems like a ridiculously dangerous endeavor for someone as important as an heir to the throne.”
“Let’s just say I wanted to get out of the castle for a while,” Jacques answered vaguely, looking at him with a sudden distrust. “What do you mean your prince is in the Faerie realm?”
“He lives there. So do I.”
A thought hit him suddenly as he said the words, as cold as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head.
He had been so intent on reclaiming the dragon egg that he had neglected to account for the fact that, without the wizard he had been pursuing, he had no way to get back home.
His smile faltered, but he quickly recovered his breezy facade.
I’ll figure it out. As Uncle Avi says, it’s not over until the dragon sings, and this one hasn’t even hatched yet.
The prince’s eyes widened. “But that would make you…”
“A Bird Catcher,” Jax supplied, throwing an arm over Jacques’ shoulders and steering him toward the house. “And a rather hungry one at that. Let’s go see if our host’s hospitality is as large as his frame.”
And hope that Drosselmeyer left something behind that will take me home.