The Common King

by Brian Olsen

  They all put a hand on the king. Jasmine grabs Nate’s arm and forces him to touch him as well. The magical artifacts come together into one big pile behind them and Shonda reaches back to get a hand on it.

  They vanish.

  The towering inferno collapses immediately, the flames around us fizzling out. The tops of the walls continue to burn here and there, but all the fuel in the basement is burnt up. There’s nothing left but us and the clothes on our backs. Everyone’s down on the ground, holding one another in pairs or small groups.

  I step away from the wall. “They’re gone.”

  Alisa untangles herself from her parents’ arms. “How are we alive?”

  “Er, yes.” Ihsan coughs. “I believe I may have had something to do with that.”

  He’s holding Kenny’s hand. Kenny’s shaking, but he looks down at their linked hands and gently pulls his away.

  “And Kenny as well,” Ihsan adds.

  “You…imprisoned us?” Alisa asks.

  Ihsan nods. “I acted quite instinctively. I’m far from regaining mastery of my logomancy, but Kenny’s amplification helped immeasurably.”

  I whisper to Zane, “How’s your vision?”

  He blinks. “Getting better. Starting to see spots.”

  Andy gets up. “But you didn’t put us anywhere. We’re still where we were.”

  “Ah.” Ihsan holds up a finger. “Not exactly. We’re in another realm, isolated from the real world. We can see and hear what goes on around us, but the reverse is not true.”

  “Nate.” Mr. Montgomery clenches his hands into fists. “We have to get Nate.”

  “We will.” Alisa puts a calming hand on his arm. “We will, Mr. Montgomery. We won’t abandon him. But he’s safe for now. You heard the king. He promised not to hurt Nate. Jasmine won’t let him.”

  Mr. Montgomery rubs his eyes. “That’s not Jasmine. She’s a monster now.”

  “She still loves him,” I say. “Whatever else she’s become, she still loves him. Alisa’s right. Nate’s safe for now.”

  “But we’ll go after him?” Mr. Montgomery repeats. “We won’t leave him with them?”

  “Zane can’t travel yet.” I look over at Mr. Liefer, who’s trying to rub his eyes with his upper arms. “I don’t think Mr. Liefer can, either. We have to wait.”

  “Shall I let us out?” Ihsan asks. “Let the prison collapse?”

  “No!” Alisa throws up her hands. “No! For one thing, it’s probably still pretty hot down here. And for another…” She folds her arms and paces. “He thinks we’re dead. Maybe we can use this.”

  Sounds come from the street above. Sirens getting closer. A vehicle grinding to a halt, then people shouting.

  Andy jumps, I guess to see what’s happening, but his head reaches the level of the top of the walls and he’s knocked back to the ground like he hit something. “Ow!”

  “My apologies.” Ihsan helps him up. “My talent lies in creating prisons. For something so ambitious, I had to keep the boundaries small. We are, for the moment, restrained to the confines of the basement.”

  A torrent of water sprays over us. Steam hisses where it hits the stone, but the water rises until it’s around our ankles. We can’t feel it, it passes right through us, but we all flinch from it anyway.

  Mrs. Liefer laughs, a sharp bark of laughter. She slaps her hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry.”

  Mrs. Deng glowers at her. “It’s not funny.”

  “It’s not, it’s not.” Mrs. Liefer laughs again. “I’m sorry.”

  We stand there, in the ruins of a charred stone basement, pelted by blasts of water we can’t feel. I laugh. It’s not funny, but I laugh anyway. A couple of others do, too.

  Ihsan scratches his head. “Perhaps I can make us a little more comfortable. Kenny, with your assistance?”

  Kenny nods. “Amplify.”

  Ihsan spreads out his hands. “Imprison.”

  The water fades away. So do the charred stone walls. A well-appointed room, with cheery yellow wallpaper, appears around us. There’s a ceiling overhead with inset lighting. The floor’s got a cushy blue carpet. Chairs and sofas and loveseats, and tables with lamps and plants. Yasu, understandably panicked, squirms out of Mr. Ambrose’s arms and hides behind a sofa.

  I lead Zane over to the hallway and look down. The hall and the other room have been altered the same way, except the other room has several sets of bunk beds. The staircase is gone, replaced by a wooden door.

  “A water closet,” Ihsan explains. “I hope this will suffice.”

  Mrs. Liefer says, “It’s very nice, as prisons go. Thank you.” She helps Mr. Liefer up and into a comfy brown armchair.

  Everybody starts exploring the new space. Everybody but Mr. and Mrs. Green, who stay on the floor. Mrs. Green rocks back and forth while her husband comforts her.

  “Mom?” Alisa crouches down next to her. “It’s okay. I know it was bad, but we’re all right.”

  “Jerry,” her mother moans. “Jerry.”

  Alisa gasps. “Ihsan?”

  He shakes his head sadly.

  “He was upstairs,” Mrs. Green continues. “When the building was destroyed. He’s…”

  “Oh, Mom.” Alisa wraps her arms around her parents. “I’m sorry.”

  “He didn’t know about any of this,” Mrs. Green says. “I put him in danger every single time he came to work and I lied to him about it. That wasn’t fair. That wasn’t right.”

  “Not just Jerry,” Mr. Green says. “We can’t hear the screams now, but they’re still there. How many people were hurt or died when he threw the remains of the museum aside like it was nothing? Are the neighboring buildings on fire right now? We have to stop this.” He kisses his daughter’s head. “We have to stop him, Alisa.”

  “We will, Dad.” Alisa stands up. “We will.”

  “I still have a few memories of him.” I lead Zane to a loveseat and sit down with him. “From dreams Jasmine showed me. I don’t remember him ever showing off power like this.”

  “And you people fought a war against him?” Mrs. Deng asks. “How could you possibly have survived?”

  “Do you remember fighting him?” I ask Zane. “You fought him one-on-one and almost beat him, right?”

  Zane stiffens a little. “I don’t…I don’t really remember.”

  “He wasn’t this strong before.” Mr. Liefer sits forward in the chair, blinking widely. “He was the most powerful logomancer in the world. By far. But I’ve never seen, or heard of, him displaying control like this. So many different manifestations of his word, all at once. Something’s changed. Kenny, you weren’t—”

  “No!” Kenny jumps up. “And screw you for suggesting it, Mr. Liefer.”

  Ihsan pats Kenny’s shoulder. “Now, now, I’m sure your teacher wasn’t—”

  Kenny pulls away. “He killed my family right in front of me. No, I’m not still helping him.” He folds his arms. “He got stronger the whole time we were at the hotel. He’d have me amplify him sometimes, but it was like he was testing something. By the end it felt like I was barely having any effect on him at all.”

  I lean in to Zane. “You all right?”

  “I’m seeing a little better.”

  “Not what I meant. Seemed like asking about fighting the king bothered you.”

  He shrugs. “No. Everything’s fine.”

  “Zane, we said we’d—”

  “Not now.” His tone softens. “Please. Just not now.”

  “Chris, Zane, Lily,” Alisa says. “Let’s check out the other room. See about sleeping arrangements. Ihsan, can you do food?”

  He scratches his head. “I am uncertain. I can try.”

  “Kenny will help you.” She jerks her head towards the hallway. “Come on, you three.”

  Zane and I get up, and Lily disentangles herself from her mother. I lead Zane to the hall but he pulls away and makes his own way there, holding his arms out in front of him to feel the walls.

  I
n the other room, Lily sits on a lower bunk and bounces. “Comfy. Are we really all sleeping in the same room? My mom snores like crazy.”

  I sit next to her. “There aren’t enough beds for everyone. But people can sleep on the couches, too.”

  Zane grabs the edge of the bed and lowers himself into it. “I’m guessing Alisa didn’t pull us in here to choose bunks.”

  “You’re guessing correctly.” There’s a bare round table in the center of the room, which Alisa perches on, facing us. “I didn’t want to say this in front of Kenny, but I’m starting to wonder why the Common King killed both his father and his brother.”

  “He was angry,” Lily suggests. “You fought back and he lost control.”

  I thrum my fingers on the bed. “I don’t think so. Did he look out of control to you?

  Lily looks down at her hands. “I wouldn’t know. I was helping Zane and Andy.”

  Damn it. I forgot. All of the Lilys with us in the flaming hallway died. Since they never re-merged, the surviving Lilys didn’t get their memories. I put my arm around her and rub her back.

  She looks up at me and smiles weakly. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

  I touch my forehead against hers before continuing. “This has been nagging at me, too. We didn’t know it then, but he stage managed our whole trip to the hotel. He placed Finlay in with the artifacts because he knew we’d take them. He knew we’d come for Kenny, and he knew Kenny wouldn’t leave without his family.”

  “If he was so in control,” Zane asks, “then what’s the point of killing both of them? He needed at least one hostage to keep Kenny on his side, right?”

  Alisa snaps her fingers and points at him. “Exactly.”

  All my swirling and conflicting thoughts suddenly click into place. “He wanted us to rescue Kenny! He wanted Kenny to help us!”

  “Yes!” Alisa says. “Because he wanted us to do exactly what we did! Cast the spell to strengthen the Moment. He wanted us at full strength, that’s why he didn’t kill any of us—” She clenches her fist. “Oh, god, I’m sorry, Lily.”

  Lily hugs herself. “No, you’re right. He knew he could kill me without making us weaker.” She laughs, without much humor. “There’s always more of me to go around.”

  “But I don’t get why.” Alisa taps her necklace. “Why would he want to strengthen the Moment? He can’t regain his throne if he can’t change the world back.”

  I stand up. “Oh, damn.”

  “What?”

  “I’m an idiot.”

  She smacks my shoulder. “Spill it!”

  “How did he win the crown in the world before?”

  “He threw a war and everyone came.”

  “No, no. Before the war. How did he build an army? How did he get the support of the people?”

  “By…oh.” Alisa slumps. “Oh.”

  “Hello?” Lily waves her hand in the air. “Somebody with lots of memory holes over here. Clue me in.”

  “He gained support from humans by scapegoating the magical creatures,” I explain. “Made them out to be dangerous. Spread distrust. Used Mr. Miller’s illusions to frame them for horrible crimes.”

  “He preys on people’s fears.” Zane hugs himself. “Exploits their insecurities.”

  Alisa twists some braids in her hands. “He’s going to do exactly what we thought. But for a different reason. He’s going to let the magical species out. Let them run wild. Cause panic.”

  “We assumed he wanted to break the Moment because we assumed he wanted to rule the old world again,” I say. “He doesn’t.” I drop back flat on the bed. “He wants to rule this one.”

  Twenty-three

  It’s quiet in our prison, with all the sounds of the outside world shut out. Everybody’s asleep, except me. I’m lying uncomfortably in a brown easy chair, in the room we’ve come to call the living room, listening to nothing. Well, nothing except Yasu, running from bed to bed, feeding on everyone’s bad dreams. He’s eating well tonight.

  Oh, and I’m listening to Mrs. Deng, too. Can’t help it. Lily was right, she snores like crazy. Even from the bedroom down the hall I can hear her. I don’t know how anybody else can sleep.

  So maybe it’s not all that quiet in our prison.

  We achieved nothing today. We told everyone about our realization that the Common King used us, then spent the rest of the day talking about it. Or listening to the adults argue, really. Mr. Montgomery wanted to know why we didn’t mount an immediate rescue of Nate like we did with Kenny, and Alisa pointed out that Kenny’s rescue was a trap, and the king wanted us alive then, and now he doesn’t, so charging in after Nate would just get everyone killed and we needed to come up with a solid plan. Which makes perfect sense, except nobody could come up with a plan that everyone would agree on, and everybody got madder and madder. We went to sleep pretty late.

  The loveseat next to me creaks. I don’t move. It’s Zane. Getting up to use the bathroom, maybe? He was distant all day. Not mean like before. Upset about something, but he wouldn’t tell me what.

  I keep my eyes closed while he moves around. His blindness wore off a couple hours ago, and with his shadow powers he can see in the dark. I listen to him get up and take a few steps, then stop. Not the bathroom, then.

  I open my eyes. Can’t see much, there’s only one little night light in the hallway, but that shines just bright enough for me to make out his outline. He’s standing in a corner of the room, away from any sleepers. I can’t see what he’s doing. Just standing there, I think.

  No, he’s got his phone. It turns on and lights up his face. He winces and taps the screen a few times, turning the brightness down. He types something. Sending somebody a message. He lowers the phone and leans against the wall. He’s breathing hard. Nervous.

  Maybe it’s his mom? But we agreed not to tell anyone we were alive yet, in case Jasmine checks their dreams. Zane was fine with that. So who’s he texting?

  I’m sure it’s completely innocent.

  The phone lights up again. He looks at the screen, reads whatever message came back, then puts the phone away. He takes a deep breath and puts both hands on the wall. I can sort of see the darkness swirling where he touches. He must be trying to make a portal. It’s got to be harder than normal because we’re inside one of Ihsan’s prisons and he doesn’t have Alisa helping him this time.

  He exhales and steps back. I can’t tell if he did it or not.

  He steps into the wall.

  I jump out of my chair and run to where he disappeared. Oh, geez! Somebody’s standing in the hallway. Scared the hell out of me but I can’t stop. I need to see where Zane went. I get to the spot on the wall and touch it. My hand sinks into the cold. The portal’s still there. I step through and my foot kicks the bottom of the wall. The portal’s shrinking but I duck my head and step up and get through it in one piece.

  I pass through the cold and emerge in light. There’s carpet under my bare feet. Before my eyes can adjust somebody shoves me from behind. Mr. Montgomery is climbing through the rapidly disappearing portal. I grab his hand and pull, and he stumbles out onto the rug with me.

  “Where—?”

  I put my finger to my lips and he stops. I know where we are. I don’t see Zane, but there’s a turn in the hall just a few feet ahead of us. I peer around it and see a door a little ways down just closing. Nobody else is in sight.

  “We’re in the hotel,” I whisper. “Where the king’s been hiding.”

  “Why would Zane come here alone?” Mr. Montgomery whispers back.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I’ve been waiting all night for you kids to do something.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He raises an eyebrow. “It’s not hard to predict you’re going to take matters into your own hands, Chris. But I thought Alisa would be the one to get Nate’s rescue started.”

  He’s fully dressed, shoes and all. I’m in a t-shirt and shorts and bare feet. I probably should have figured the same th
ing and slept in my clothes. He steps past me and looks down the corridor.

  I point towards the door I saw close. “Zane went through there.”

  Mr. Montgomery looks at a brass sign mounted on the wall. Different locations in the hotel are listed, along with arrows pointing in the right directions. “That’s a ballroom.”

  “He texted somebody. Maybe Jasmine or Shonda knows we survived and reached out to him? Maybe they want to help us.”

  “Maybe.” He frowns. “Why wouldn’t he wake us all up? And why would they reach out to Zane and not Alisa?”

  “I…” I hug myself. The air conditioning here is blasting. “I don’t know. We should go after him. He might need help.”

  “No.”

  “Mr. Montgomery—”

  “No, Chris. We’re not walking blindly into this.” He looks at the sign again. “Come on. This way.”

  He leads me straight ahead, past the turn to the ballroom. A ways down there’s a door on our left marked for employees only. Mr. Montgomery tries the handle and it opens. It leads into another hallway, but this one has doors on the left and open arches on the right. The nearest open arches lead to a large kitchen, while ones further down lead to rooms with stacked chairs and folded tables.

  “For the staff,” Mr. Montgomery whispers. “They’d come in and out of the ballroom from this side, opposite where Zane went in. Come on.”

  The doors on the left swing rather than turning with a handle. Mr. Montgomery and I get up close to one, him up high and me crouched low, and push it open just a crack. I can only see a tiny sliver of the ballroom, but the lights are all on. There’s nobody in view, but the voices are clear as day.

  “I knew you’d come,” the Common King says.

  “Really?” Zane replies. “Hard to believe, seeing as you tried to burn me to death along with everyone else.”

  “Why would you say that? You must have guessed when you didn’t burn that I made you immune to fire first.”

  “You—?” Zane cuts himself off with a sharp intake of breath.

  “Hm.” The king snaps his fingers. “You didn’t know that. Which means you never felt the flames. You and your friends escaped my spell. How? I didn’t expect you or Liefer to be able to use your logomancy, blinded as you were.”