Chapter 16 #2
Dmitri dropped his head to his desk. “What kind of a prince am I, Jax? This has been going on right under my nose. I never would have suspected Boris. I liked him.”
“I don’t think you’re alone in that. He’s obviously a master of transformations.”
Dmitri lifted his head just far enough to respond to Jax’s attempt at humor with an unimpressed scowl. “Ha ha.”
“Thank you. As for what kind of prince you are, you’re obviously the kind that takes the well-being of your people to heart, which I think makes you the very best kind. You’re not turning a blind eye.”
“Right.” Dmitri exhaled heavily and leaned back in his chair.
“Though this begs the question of what to do with Boris after Odessa’s is broken.
I don’t even know if we have precedent for this kind of crime in Kovskia’s history—most of the trouble with magic is confined to the northern countries or the Adhavi Empire—and I don’t exactly have the spare time to research how to deal with a rogue sorcerer. ”
Jax straightened. “I do.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind?”
He smiled grimly. “If it means finding a way to ensure that Boris never hurts Odessa or anyone else ever again, it would be my absolute pleasure.”
Jax rubbed his tired, gritty eyes as the clock in the library chimed the hour.
Sunset had long since come and gone, and he was still no closer to an answer than when he started.
Dmitri had been telling the truth when he said that Kovskia’s history had been largely free of magical mishaps, and the few that were recorded had been the result of petty disputes.
There were no guidelines on how to deal with a man who had cursed three innocent people and forced them to live as animals in his Menagerie.
“Although, under any other circumstance, that would be a cause for celebration, not a sore spot,” he grumbled as he stretched the muscles in his back and neck. “Maybe Bean can eat him.”
“I’m fairly certain that would be bad for his digestion.”
Jax yelped and jumped up from his chair so quickly that it fell backwards to the floor. He spun toward the familiar voice with a scowl. “Do you ever enter a room like a normal person?”
A tall man in light blue robes stood between him and the flickering fire in the hearth that was providing the light for Jax to read by.
His white beard hung down to his chest, and his blue eyes were bright and piercing underneath bushy eyebrows that resembled fat caterpillars on his forehead.
Despite his white hair and wrinkles, the wizard Drosselmeyer was surprisingly spry and, as Jax knew from his experience with the cliff, apparently as physically capable as a man a third his age.
His eyes twinkled. “I could, but then where would I find my enjoyment?” Jax could practically see the sparkles of magic in his warm baritone voice.
“You could ask someone to tell you a joke. Or read a book. Or find a hobby.”
“And if my hobby is sneaking up on unsuspecting Bird Catchers?”
Jax pulled a face as he leaned down to right his chair. “At least it’s better than dropping them headfirst into strange realms without any warning.”
Drosselmeyer hummed. “Would a warning have made the experience any different?”
He paused for a moment, considering. “I suppose not. If anything, Odessa and Dmitri are the ones who would have benefitted most. Do you know how hard it is to convince someone that you’re not from their world, but you’re also not crazy?”
“Yes.”
It was not the answer Jax was expecting, though perhaps he should have been. “Oh. Well then. Are you here to send me back?”
He looked over his shoulder at the pile of books on the table, and regret knifed through his chest at the thought that he wouldn’t be able to see his part through.
But it’s probably for the best this way. I don’t think I can stand by and watch as Odessa flirts and laughs and marries someone else.
Drosselmeyer’s voice was gentle. “That depends. Do you want to go back?”
Jax’s attention flew back to the wizard. “What?”
“Do you want to go back?”
“Do I have a choice? I’m sure my family is worried out of their minds, and if I’m gone much longer, I won’t hear the end of my Father’s lecture on responsibility until I’m 80.
” He forced a laugh. “Besides, I have to show him my dragon and prove that I’m not nearly as much of an embarrassment as he feared. ”
“There is always a choice.”
Jax closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Look, I know the whole ‘wizards are vague and mysterious’ thing is important for your image, but would you mind explaining things clearly for once? Because it certainly didn’t feel like there was much of a choice when you stole my dragon egg and led me up a Beanstalk and then let me fall to what I was certain was my death. ”
“You could have chosen not to pursue the egg. You could have gone home,” Drosselmeyer said, his voice growing stern.
“You chose to climb the Beanstalk yourself rather than wait to send a message up. You chose to tarry at Atlas’s home rather than leave right away.
You chose to help his goose rather than try to save yourself.
Don’t delude yourself into thinking you were powerless, Jax. ”
He threw his hands up in exasperation. “And you could have chosen not to steal it in the first place!”
“True.” The wizard was annoyingly calm in the face of his emotions. “But I needed to know which you would choose.”
Jax turned the chair around and threw himself down. “I redirect your attention to my previous request that you explain things clearly.”
Drosselmeyer crossed his arms but remained standing. “Why did you chase the egg?”
“You already know the answer,” he groused. “I wanted to prove to Father that I’m not the blight on the family legacy.”
“Your father loves you, Jax. Don’t put words in his mouth that he has never said out of your own assumptions that they may be true. He wants to see you happy and fulfilled. His worry for you is rooted in his fear that you will chase after dreams and never be satisfied.”
“Right. Because I ‘lack responsibility.’”
“No. Because your heart recognized what your mind did not—that you were made for something more.”
Jax groaned and scrubbed his hands down his face. “Dross…”
Drosselmeyer sighed. “What do you know of wizards, Jax?”
“That you ought to come with interpreters?” he muttered.
At the slight raise of Drosselmeyer’s eyebrow, he relented.
“You’re like the conductors of an orchestra.
You not only hear all of the music, but you have the score in front of you.
You know what it’s supposed to sound like, and your job is to direct the musicians—which in this metaphor would be us regular Faerie folk—to play our parts correctly.
To enter at the right time, to temper our dynamics, to use appropriate expression, and so on. ”
The wizard nodded. “It’s important for a good conductor to know his players well, to know which are the strong players who can carry a solo, which players are the necessary glue that will hold a section together with the inner harmonies, and, in some cases, which are the players who can play a cue if necessary, stepping in to cover a part that is desperately needed but somehow missing. ”
“I’m assuming I’m not the soloist in this scenario,” Jax said drily.
“The Almighty formed you perfectly to play a part—Jax Papageno, the Bird Catcher. But also Jax, the Dragon Charmer, and Jax, the Assistant to the Assistant Keeper of the Menagerie. When Odessa was cursed, Boris assumed she would be overlooked. She’s a swan, a commonplace bird that most would pay little attention to. ”
“But a Bird Catcher would,” Jax said slowly, taking the words in. “Is that why I’m here? Because you knew that I would notice something was wrong?”
“I certainly hoped. You always could have chosen not to take a closer look or get involved, but I had faith that the curiosity and sense of adventure that the Almighty blessed you with would lead you to play the cues and fill in the notes that were missing. Of course, you can still choose to go home, if that is what you wish. Your father will welcome you either way.”
From somewhere in the depths of his robes, Drosselmeyer pulled out a small golden harp. He passed it to Jax. “It’s been enchanted to play itself. If you want to return to Faerie, simply strum the strings and it will take care of the rest.”
Jax looked down at the instrument, indecision warring in his chest. On the one hand, he was struck with a sudden longing to see his family.
Drosselmeyer’s revelation that his father was not as ashamed of him as he had assumed made Jax want to rush home and look his father in the eyes and ask if it were true. On the other hand was Odessa.
And while he was ready to throw himself at her feet and beg her to let him love her for the rest of his life, he wasn’t entirely sure it would be welcome.
If it weren’t, he didn’t know if his heart could take it.
He glanced up at Drosselmeyer. “What would you do?”
“What would I do?” the wizard repeated. “To avoid being called out as ‘vague’ and ‘mysterious,’ I would go to the woman I’m in love with and very plainly ask her how she felt.
” He shook his head. “You young people. So many of your problems would be fixed by simply communicating with one another, rather than assuming that you know what is going on in someone else’s head. You love Odessa.”
He said it as a statement, rather than a question, and it took Jax a moment to realize it was true. “I…do.”
“Then tell her. Play your part, and let her decide what happens next.”
He nodded, blowing out a nervous breath. “Right.”
“Oh, and Jax?” Drosselmeyer’s eyes twinkled. “The harp doesn’t have a time limit. You can choose to go home, but you can also choose to go home later.”