by Erin Johnson
I brightened. "The army?"
She nodded, and the others gathered closer. Sam handed me Iggy's lantern and then wrapped his thin arms around my waist. "I'm ssso glad you're okay." He leaned back and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I wasss sssso worried about you."
My chest tightened with remorse. "I'm sorry, Sam." I lifted Iggy up to take a look and my flame half-turned from me. "I am, Iggy. I should have thought more about how all of you would feel."
"Yes, you should have." Iggy sniffed.
"I was just caught up in the moment and the chance to finally see the army… and Horace." I frowned.
Misaki watched me carefully. "What?"
"Well… I didn't actually get to see Horace." My lips quirked to the side as I thought about it. "The guy, Leo, he said Horace wasn't there, but… I just had this strong feeling that my brother was nearby."
"Lurking?" Iggy flashed his eyes at me and I had to chuckle.
"Probably." It was Horace's style. My brother, the lurker.
"So… was it everything you'd dreamed of?" Iggy batted his eyes. "Archery lessons, horseback riding, canoe races?"
I gave him a flat look. "I think you're thinking of summer camp, not Badlands Army camp."
Iggy returned the flat look and I sighed. "You're just upset that you didn't get to go with me."
My little flame scoffed. "Shells yes, I am."
Ben came forward with his head hung. "Imogen. I'm sorry for messing around and making you fall into the river like that."
I shook his shoulder. "Hey. I waded out too far and just slipped—it was an accident. It wasn't your fault."
He raised his eyes and gave me a small smile. "Thanks. It's just… it's like Misaki always says—"
Misaki flashed her eyes and gave Ben a tight shake of her head, but he didn't see. "The foreigners have no common sense—don't assume they do."
Iggy burst out in cackles.
Ben glanced at my flame, then looked up at me, his eyes rueful. "I'm sorry. I should have remembered."
"How clueless I am?" I shot Misaki a look and her face flushed bright red. "I see how it is."
She bared her teeth and winced. "Eh… sorry."
I laughed and waved it off. "Well, if that's what you think of me, I can see why you were so worried." I grinned. "But I'll just take that as a compliment—it shows how much you care."
She flushed an even deeper shade of crimson and sniffed, then shook her head. "Care? I don't care. I just—I'm in charge and it'd look bad on me if something happened on my watch."
"Uh-huh." I waggled my brows. "Sure."
"Aw. Misaki loves us." Iggy batted his eyes again.
"I don't— Grrrrr!" She stalked off down the hallway toward the bathhouse with a chuckling Jun on her heels.
He glanced back and winked. "Well, I for one do care and am glad you're safe."
I grinned. "Well, thank you."
Jun stopped and turned just before disappearing around the corner. "Oh! And can you all meet tonight at the usual spot?"
I nodded. "I think so—I'll just check with Hank."
Sam looked at Kenta, who gave him a slight nod. "Yesss. We're in."
"Great." Jun grinned. "I have something I'd like to propose to you all. It should be fun." He padded off after Misaki.
10
Eavesdropping
I turned to Kenta. "What's that all about?"
He gave a tight-lipped smile and raised his brows. "I have a thought—but we'll have to wait until tonight to see if I'm right."
I grinned. "Ooh. I'm excited." Maybe he had a supersecret guard mission for us. I bounced on my toes, thinking it over as Sam and Kenta stepped through the curtained door onto the porch.
"See you later tonight," Kenta called with a wave.
"See ya!"
That left me and Iggy alone with Ben. He ran a hand through his jet-black fashion mullet, the other hand shoved in his pocket. "So… you didn't get to see your brother? Bummer."
I chuckled. It was hard not to like the kid. "Yeah. Bummer, for sure."
Iggy clicked his tongue. "You didn't have another harrowing encounter with your homicidal brother… darn."
I rolled my eyes at my flame, but Ben, uncharacteristically serious, stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder. He pressed his lips tight together. "Keep your spirits up, Imogen. I'm sure you'll have another narrowing discounter with Horace soon, or…" His brows pinched together and his eyes darted to Iggy. "Or whatever he said." He looked back up at me and smiled brightly.
I pressed my lips tight together to keep from laughing and patted his hand. "Thanks, Ben."
He nodded. "I've got to get back home to help my mom around the house." He bowed his head and bounced out the door. "See you tonight."
I gave him a little wave, then looked around the empty lobby. Where was everybody else? I shifted the little package for Rhonda in my hand and decided to deliver it first—it was actually a little heavy and my hand was getting tired.
I climbed the smooth wooden stairs up to the second floor and padded down the tatami mat hallway toward Rhonda and Francis's room at the end. I shook my head as I took in the beautiful bouquet of flowers wrapped in brown paper, the glowing jade necklace, and the several wrapped boxes that already hovered magically outside her door. Chuckling to myself, I set my gift down among them.
"She's too popular for her own good," I whispered to Iggy. She and Francis would still be sleeping for another hour or two, so I quietly moved back toward the stairs to head down, but paused when I heard voices on the other side of one of the doors.
"Snooping again?" Iggy lifted a brow.
I held my finger to my lips to shush him and pressed my ear to the door. Yep. That was definitely Hank's voice.
"It's scary, man, you know?"
I lifted my brows. What was scary? I shook my head to clear it. What was I doing? Spying on my own boyfriend? I should just move on or knock and head in… or I could just listen for one more moment.
"I mean, on one hand, I'm so grateful for this chance to find myself. Before, being a prince—that pretty much decided my whole life for me. It determined my job, where I'd live, who I'd marry." He chuckled. "Now I have so much freedom, it's what I always wanted—but I didn't realize how intense that'd be, having to decide everything for myself."
A chuckle sounded. I recognized Wiley's voice. "Yeah, I never really thought of that. Most of us have our teenage years and twenties to mess around and figure things out. You're like thirtysomething and having to live all that at once." He chuckled again. "Good luck, man."
I grinned. Hank had talked all this over with me before, but I was so happy he was confiding in Wiley. Finally, Hank had realized that he had friends now—and he could talk to them. I smiled to myself and took a step to move on, but froze when he spoke next.
"Exactly." He groaned. "Which is why I'm torn. I want to, but I feel like—what can I offer her?"
My mouth fell open. What was this now? Her? Who? Me? Offer me what? I backtracked and pressed my ear to the door.
"Look, man, I know how you feel. Believe me. I went through the same, well a similar thing with Maple. I mean, the girl's smart and sweet and the head of the royal bakery… or was. But I felt like, who am I?"
I strained to hear through the pause that followed.
"What'd you do?"
Wiley spoked again. "I just tried to be the best version of me—to be worthy of her." He chuckled. "Well, maybe half that, half tried to charm her to ignore all my faults. But hey—it worked. And besides, you're figuring it out—you've been baking for Jun's tea house and doing odd jobs."
I nodded to myself. It was true. Hank had been experimenting with incorporating green tea flavors into our pastries and sold them to the tea house every few days. He'd been waking at the first hints of dawn, before anyone else in the house was up, to do it. He'd also been working odd jobs for the businesses around town—delivering flowers, milking the octopi for quill ink, doing intricate engravings
for the jeweler. He didn't mind the early hours, or the hard work either. I grinned as I thought about his seemingly endless curiosity—he always came back around midday and gushed about everything he'd learned that morning. He kept the money he earned in a jar on the windowsill of our room. It was nearly full of gold coins. He'd been especially sly about not telling me what he was saving up for.
I gasped—a thought suddenly popping into my head. He was saving up… wanting to do something but doubting what he had to offer me…. Was he going to—
I stopped myself, not even allowing the thought to fully form. I pursed my lips and blew out a slow breath, willing my wildly churning thoughts to slow down. I couldn't jump to conclusions—especially ones that made me want to squeal and throw happy punches in the air. Because how disappointed would I be if I were wrong? I straightened, lifted my chin, and continued on down the hallway.
"You done stalking your man?"
I jumped. I'd forgotten Iggy was there in my hand. I kept my chin up. "Yes."
Iggy snickered. "Are you freaking out about what you heard?"
"Me? Freak out? Psh." I waved my free hand, jogging down the stairs. I had to talk to Maple—immediately!
11
Too Many Cooks
I flew into the still-empty lobby, padded across the smooth wooden floor, and slid open the sliding door. SLICK. I closed it behind me and made my way down the hallway toward the bathhouse. "Anybody home?" Doors lined the way, but no one answered until I slid open the door to the bathhouse. "Maple?"
Annie, her gray hair pulled back by a red handkerchief, squatted in a fluffy cream-colored towel behind a similarly dressed little old lady from the village. They both crouched with their knees up under their underarms, facing the bathing pools. Steam curled up from the still, clear water, and the sliding door to the back garden had been thrown open to let in the sunshine and cool breeze. Annie, her hands covered by beige sisal mitts, scrubbed the old lady's upper back.
"Oh. Sorry." I half-turned away. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
Annie and the little old lady, Miho, turned their faces toward me.
"Oh, it's fine." Annie waved a mitted hand. "Nothing you haven't seen before."
"Oh… we've seen a lot more," Iggy grumbled.
It was true. Annie and Miho had become fast friends, though I'd never even heard Miho speak. I had no idea what they talked about… if they talked at all. But a couple times a week, they scrubbed each other here at the bathhouse, often wearing much, much less than the towels they currently sported. Miho had also gotten Annie and Rhonda to join in on the weekly mah jong game with her and her little old lady friends. It was cute—except for when you popped into the bathhouse and saw more than you'd bargained for.
Annie flashed a smile as she continued to rub her mitts in circles over Miho's back and shoulders. "I think Miho and I are trendsetters." She tipped her head to the side.
My eyes followed her gesture. Rini, Jiji's fluffy white cat with mismatched eyes, sat right at the edge of one of the rectangular, steamy pools. Her eyes drooped half-closed and I could hear her purring from across the room as Cat, Maple and Wiley's weird little monster of a pet, crouched behind her, running his monkey paws in circles around her back.
Iggy made a disgusted noise. "He's mimicking Annie."
My stomach turned. "Clever girl."
Iggy frowned up at me. "He's a boy."
I grinned. "Jurassic Park? Never mind."
I bowed out of there and closed the door behind me, then padded around the first floor toward the kitchen. As I neared it, the heavenly scent of chocolate wafted toward me and my mouth instantly watered. I floated in, my nose in the air. "Sea snakes, what are you making?" I moaned. "Do you need taste testers?"
My eyes lit on the big mixing bowl of fudgy batter and Maple snatched it out of reach just before I grabbed it.
"Hey. I was going to dip my finger in that."
She flashed her bright blue eyes at me. "I know." She jerked her head behind her.
"Oh." I hadn't even noticed Jiji when I first came in. I bowed to the sweet old lady who’d been kind enough to let our whole gang stay with her these last several weeks. "Good afternoon, Jiji."
She smiled, creases forming at the corners of her twinkling eyes, and bowed back. "Hello, Imogen. I hear you've been up to more mischief."
I leaned against the butcher block island. "That's an exaggeration."
I waved it off but she eyed me doubtfully. "Mm-hmm."
I clicked my tongue. "Jiji! You don't believe me?"
She shook her curly white-haired head as she chuckled. "Nope. I know you too well now."
I grinned and looked the counter over for a place to set Iggy's lantern. Despite the tidy, minimalist decor throughout the rest of the guest house, the kitchen was an explosion of chaos. I shoved a dirty cast iron pan to the side and set Iggy's lantern down in its place. Jiji, drying her hands with a pale green towel, moved past and gently slid the pan back into place, moving Iggy's lantern to the side. I bit my lip and looked to Maple for her reaction.
My friend kept her eyes resolutely on her mixing bowl as she slowly poured a pitcher of steaming coffee in, and a wooden spoon magically mixed it into the runny chocolate batter. A muscle jumped in Maple's jaw and it wasn't until Jiji bowed out of the kitchen, off to run an errand in town, that Maple let out the breath she'd been holding.
She plunked the pitcher down on the countertop with a disgruntled sigh. "Ugh!" She turned to face me as the enchanted spoon continued to mix the batter, dragging her batter-speckled hands through her hair and tugging back the blonde wisps that had flown free of her milkmaid braid. "I can't handle it anymore. Look at this place." She swept a hand around the messy kitchen. Dirty dishes piled high in the deep farmhouse sink by the window, and baskets of utensils and random produce sat scattered around the counters and even hung from the peaked ceiling. Spoons and ladles dangled from racks and hooks on the wall, and jars of home-canned goods crowded the spaces between. Even most of the drawers and cabinets burst open, overfull.
"You want me to burn it all down and we can start fresh?" Iggy curled his lip back. "You should see the inside of the oven." His flames shuddered.
Maple lifted her apron and buried her face in it, shaking her head. "I know I'm a horrible person. I know she's taken us in and we'd be monster meat without her, but—"
She dropped the apron and turned her wide eyes to me. "But the kitchen is a pig's sty and the worst part is, she acts like each thing has its place! Like she wants it this way! I can't tell you how many times I've cleaned this whole place up till it's practically shining, only to come back hours later and it—it looks like this." She swept an arm out and whimpered, then buried her face in her apron again.
I couldn't hold back a chuckle. I stepped closer and wrapped my friend in a tight hug. "I know. We just have to do our best to be patient until—" I racked my brain. Until we found a way off the island? Would we ever? What if we were stuck here? Would we ever have our own place? I gulped. "Until we all get settled and figure things out."
She nodded against my shoulder.
Figure things out—the phrase jogged my memory and I leaned back, suddenly excited all over again. I squeezed her shoulders, and she lifted her red face. "What?"
I looked around, checking that we were still alone. "I was just upstairs, and Hank was talking to Wiley and…."
She lifted a blonde brow and her face lit up. "And what?"
"And…" I giggled. "And I think Hank's thinking of—"
"Hey, ladies!"
I jumped and we both whirled toward the doorway. Wiley sauntered in, plucked an orange from a hanging basket, and began to peel it. Hank walked in behind him, and his face lit up when he saw me. My talk with Maple would have to wait for another time.
My stomach fluttered and I bit my lip. "Hi."
"Hi." Hank gave me a lopsided grin as he came up and wrapped his arms around me. I melted into his warm, solid embrace. "I missed you today."
>
He kissed the top of my head and hugged me tighter. "I missed you too. I just had to get some bakes done for the tea house. Oh!" He held up a finger and fished an oval-shaped object wrapped in wax paper from his pocket and held it out to me. He grinned. "I saved you a biscotti."
"Yes!" I snatched it from him, then rose on my toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. He'd been dipping their ends in a delicious matcha glaze he invented. "They're my favorite."
He winked. "I know. I'll head out with you and the guards tomorrow, okay?"
"Oh. That reminds me." I leaned back from him and turned to Maple and Wiley.
He dipped his finger in the runny batter and Maple swatted his hand away. She beamed, though, when he tasted her creation and closed his eyes. "Oh, this is good."
"All right, feeling like a fifth wheel here!" Iggy lifted his little flame arms. "Enough with the cuddling and the making eyes." He rolled his.
I chuckled. "Fine. I was going to say, Jun has something he wants to talk to us about tonight at our spot. Everyone in?"
Hank nodded. "Definitely. I wonder what it is?"
Maple bit her lip as Wiley snuck another taste of the batter behind her back. "I hope it's something that gets me out of this kitchen—I need some space."
Wiley moaned as he licked his finger. "Mmm. What is this?"
She turned. "Hey!" She shooed him away from the bowl. "It's just an experiment. I'm making a chocolate coffee bundt cake with a matcha glaze."
I licked my lips. "Yeah, I'm gonna need to try that."
I reached for the bowl, but Maple scooped it into her arms and hugged it tight to her. "Get out of here—all of you!" She grinned, but pushed us all toward the door.
"Wait."
"What?" Maple lifted a brow.
"Did I mention I went to the Badlands Army camp today?"
Maple's mouth fell open and Hank and Wiley spun to face me.
Hank looked me over, his brows pinched. "You're all right?" He gripped my shoulders. "They didn't hurt you?"
