by Nina Walker
I looked away and stared out the window, hoping she would forget about me. But a few seconds later, she sat down in a seat only two rows from me. At least she couldn’t see my blood-stained pants from where she was sitting. I took a careful breath.
“How do I know you?” the girl asked with a friendly lilt in her voice.
“I don’t know,” I lied. Even though school had been out for the summer, I knew there had to be plenty of gossip about me. It wasn’t every day that someone turned out to be a color alchemist. I was definitely visible now.
The girl frowned. Her espresso colored hair was tied in a knot on top of her head, and she was dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt. “What are you doing up so early?”
I didn’t know how to get her to leave me alone.
“Just heading home from a friend’s house.”
“Me too. My parents don’t let me sleep at my friends’ houses. But I talked them into this one on the condition I would come home really early.”
“Yup, same here.” She liked to talk, I could tell that already.
“Where do you go to school?”
How was I supposed to answer that? Oh, you know, the palace. “I graduated.”
The girl nodded.
The train started to slow, and I didn’t know if I’d ever been so grateful to get off a train car before.
“This is my stop.” I would wait to stand until the last possible second, giving her little time to notice my filthy pajama bottoms.
“Oh, okay, I’ve got one more stop. Have a good day.”
“You, too.”
“Hey, wait a minute. That doesn’t make sense.”
“What?” I stammered, sure she had remembered who I was. Maybe she even knew my name. She’d pull the emergency alarm, and I’d be swarmed by those awful royal officers in their staunch uniforms.
“If you already graduated, then why would you have to ask for your parents’ permission to stay with a friend?”
“Let’s just say they’re overly protective.”
The train stopped, and I darted off. I glanced back at the girl. She waved. I could only hope that in a few hours, maybe even a few minutes, she’d forget all about me. She’d go back to her world of high-school sleepovers and regular teenage life.
I quickly exited the station. The sun was barely beginning to rise. The sky was turning a lighter shade of night. Or was it a darker shade of morning? I smiled as I slipped through the first backyard unnoticed. I was almost home. I was almost free.
18
Lucas
I woke to heavy pounding on the door. The black of night was barely turning blue. The sun would be rising soon. Who was here so early?
Stumbling to the door, I opened it before remembering I wasn’t alone. Sasha was sitting up in my bed, running her hands through her sleep-tangled hair.
Faulk stood in the doorway, the hall light casting shadows around her. My father was at her side. He was dressed in powder-blue pajamas, an unusual sight for even me to see. Faulk was clean and professional, dressed in her standard white uniform. My eyes adjusted to the light as I took them in.
“What’s going on?” I asked, my voice raspy and dry.
“Do you know where she is?” Faulk spat.
“Who?” I tried not to yawn but couldn’t help myself.
Faulk shook her head, frustrated. There was also a tinge of something else in her stance. Was it fear?
My father glared. “Jessa has gone missing.”
The fog of my mind immediately cleared at the mention of her name. Jessa was missing? What did he mean by “missing”?
“She could have been kidnapped. But from the looks of it, it’s more likely that she ran away.”
Richard glanced past me and froze. Sasha was in my bed, staring back at him with a guarded expression. I knew how this must look. But I reminded myself that we wanted people to think we were a couple. It was the only reason she’d slept over, even though nothing happened.
“Guardian!” Faulk gasped, startled to see her. “What on earth are you doing in here? You can’t be in this wing. Ever.”
Sasha’s eyes darted to me. I laughed, pulling on the rakish mask I’d used so many times in the past. “What do you think she’s been doing in here?”
My father and General Faulk both turned beet red.
“Forget it, Lucas,” Richard said. “Let the grown-ups take care of this. Your judgment has obviously gone sour.”
“Why do you suddenly care what I do?”
“I never cared much for the girls you’ve dated, but I didn’t interfere, either. I always assumed you knew what was appropriate. It appears, however, that I was grossly mistaken. A color alchemist? You’ve gone too far this time.”
“What’s wrong with color alchemists?”
“They don’t belong in your bed!” His voice burned. “Our guardians work for us. They are not meant to be with us. You’re the crown prince. It’s high time you acted like it.”
He reached past me, grabbed the door, and slammed it in my face.
Cool silence fell over us as I turned to gauge Sasha’s reaction. Even in the near darkness, I knew there was anger in her eyes. I could feel it radiating off her in waves.
“I’m sorry. He’s always like this around me. I forget that other people rarely see that side of him.”
“You’re his own son and he doesn’t even treat you right!”
“Well, so much for the whole sleeping over idea. I don’t think that got us anywhere productive.”
Stupid!
“We’ve got bigger fish to fry,” she said, getting out of the bed. She fumbled with the light switch on the wall and blasted us into brightness. “Get dressed. We need to get to Jessa. We have to find her before they do.”
Jessa had not only crossed the line—she had gone far beyond it. Accidental alchemy was one thing. Even hurting her maid hadn’t landed her in prison. But purposely running away from the palace? Fleeing my father and her promises to him? That was something else entirely.
I pulled on a sweatshirt and running shoes from my closet. I hurried to get dressed so I could stop this disaster from getting any worse.
“Where do you think she could be?” Sasha asked as she finished lacing her own shoes.
She didn’t even have to ask. We both knew where Jessa would go. Without a doubt, Jessa was looking for her family. I’d never met a person who cared so much about her flesh and blood the way she did. She hadn’t been permitted any communication with them for over four weeks. Faulk had assured her they were safe and moving on with their lives. That wasn’t good enough for her. And to Jessa’s credit, it had turned out Faulk had been lying.
“But they’re not home anymore,” I said, realizing just how dire this situation was. No wonder Faulk was so angry. She’d lost the whole family.
Jessa was going home to an empty house. Sasha had already told me that the Resistance had extricated the Loxley family. They were somewhere in hiding. I wondered how Richard had reacted when he’d found out about this. And why hadn’t anyone told me?
“It’ll be a trap,” Sasha said. “The place has to be swarming with Faulk’s people by now. Jessa is going to walk right into their hands.”
“So what’s your plan?”
“Obviously, we have to beat her home and intercept her. Are you ready?”
“And then what are we going to do once we get her? Just bring her back?”
“No.” Sasha paused. “We need to get her in communication with her parents so she can convince them to let us see if Lacey is an alchemist.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“I need to get the go-ahead. But I’m pretty sure the only way is to take her into hiding, as well.”
Take her into hiding? Just when I realized how much I cared for Jessa, I was going to lose her. And probably forever.
Can I do that to myself? Can I let her go in order to keep her safe?
I didn’t have to think twice about my answer.
/> “Let’s go.”
Getting out of the royal wing should have been easy. I was sure Richard and Faulk had left immediately. But I hadn’t stopped to think about my mother.
Sasha followed close behind as we walked down the hallway and into the large living room. The padlocked door had guards stationed outside, but I knew they wouldn’t bother us.
“And who is this?”
I jumped at the sound of my mother’s voice. “Good morning, Mother,” I said, stepping closer.
She was sitting quietly on a sofa in the darkened room. A cup of tea balanced delicately in her hand and a throw blanket covered her legs.
“Your Highness.” Sasha stood next to me and bowed. “I’m Sasha.”
“Hello, Sasha. I’m Natasha.”
“I was just walking Sasha back to her room.”
“In the guardian wing?”
“Yes.”
There was a long pause before my mother nodded.
“Would you mind waiting outside, dear?” she asked Sasha. “I’ll only keep him a moment.”
Sasha nodded, bowed again, and immediately bolted for the door. I hoped she would wait for me. Maybe she could use this time to formulate a plan for how we were supposed to rescue Jessa. How were we supposed to do that without getting caught by my father? If anyone could figure it out, it would be Sasha.
“Come sit by me.” There was a softness in her voice that I hadn’t heard in a while. “Do you remember much of your childhood?”
I sat down next to her, despite my urge to hurry. She was small and frail, and the thin blanket wrapped around her legs seemed to drown her body.
“Some,” I said. The truth was that the very best memories from my childhood included my mother. While my father had always been so strict, Natasha had been kind. She used to take me everywhere with her. We’d play what she called “games of the wild imagination.” She was never afraid to crawl through the grass with me or climb trees. I would always cherish those memories of my mother, but it was painful to dredge them up.
“You were such a bright child. Always full of energy.”
“Are you okay, Mother?”
“I’m sorry, Lucas.”
“About what?” I asked. What had gotten into her?
“I’ve been so absent lately. Always nursing my headaches. I haven’t been here for you. Not like I used to. Not like you deserve.”
“It’s okay.”
“I’m going to do better. I promise.”
I didn’t know whether or not to believe her, but the little boy inside me jumped at the thought. The very idea of it brought a hope I hadn’t felt in a while.
“Me, too. Listen, about Sasha…”
“I’ll handle your father.” My mother smiled. “If you really love her, we’ll find a way to make him understand.”
What? Is she coming back to me?
“Thank you, Mother. But actually, I don’t love Sasha. We’re only going to be friends from now on.”
Natasha laughed. “You young men are so fickle.”
Unexpectedly, I wanted to tell her about Jessa. I wanted to spill my guts and go into detail about our exchanges with each other. But of course, I would never do something so juvenile. Too much had happened. And I needed to be careful. “I’ve got to go, Mother.”
It took everything in me to stand up. I hadn’t experienced this lively version of her in years, but I didn’t have time to stick around to enjoy it.
“Wait. I need to tell you something.”
Her voice had turned frantic and she reached out for my hand.
“What is it?”
“Something is wrong. I’ve been living in a fog, Lucas. I’m not myself.”
“It’s going to be okay.”
“No. Something is wrong, Lucas. I don’t know what is happening. But my thoughts…they’re not right.”
“What do you mean?”
She shook her head and placed her hand on her forehead. “They won’t let me say. They tell me not to say, and I can’t.”
“Who won’t? What are you talking about?”
She bit her lip and looked up at me. Her eyes went from clear and alarmed to cloudy once again.
Who’s been hurting her?
“I need to lie down,” she said, laying her head against the arm of the large couch. She rubbed her eyes. “I’ve got a headache.”
One second ago, she insisted that she needed to tell me something, and the next, she was complaining about her headache. The same headache that had been plaguing her for years. It was as if she’d forgotten our conversation in the blink of an eye. This had to be the result of color alchemy. It was even clearer to me that someone was controlling her mind. Of course there was another red alchemist somewhere in the palace. But who? What was I going to do about them? As soon as I got Jessa to safety, I would come back here and help my mother.
“Please, Lucas, leave me to rest,” she whispered.
Something sinister was happening, and I had to stop it. I left the dark room and hoped it wasn’t too late.
Sasha was waiting for me just outside the doorway. As soon as I exited the royal apartment, she motioned for me to follow her. She took my hand and spoke loudly so the guards could hear. “Will you walk me back to my room, babe?”
“You got it.”
No one followed as we strode quickly toward the front exit of the palace, where the cars were kept. This early, there weren’t more than a few guards milling around. And of course, they didn’t say a word to me. I could do whatever I wanted while inside the palace. At least, as far as they were concerned.
“Let’s get you out of here before someone stops you. Your father made it pretty clear he wants you off Jessa’s case.”
I considered that for a moment. The truth was, I couldn’t go anywhere unnoticed. I never had. We walked out onto the front-entrance steps, just as the sun was rising. I turned to the closest guard and spoke with complete confidence. “We need a car. Can you order us one? Immediately, please.”
He looked at me, a little dazed at first, before nodding and repeating my words to someone at the other end of his slatebook.
Sasha grabbed my hand and steered me away from any listening ears. “We’re just going to drive away?”
“I’ll tell my father that I was trying to help. He doesn’t have to know that we actually found her. I’ll send you two away and return empty-handed, and claim that you ran off with her.”
“Am I expected to leave with you but not come back? No way. That will send too many red flags. My cover would be blown.”
“So what’s your idea, then?”
She shook her head. “I’m finding another way out of here. I don’t want anyone to know I was ever gone. You go ahead and I’ll meet you in Jessa’s neighborhood.”
“How are you getting out?”
“Don’t worry about me,” she said as a shiny black car pulled up. A driver got out and walked around to open the passenger door. “We’re wasting time. I’m going to get Jessa out of the capital. You just get to her before anyone else does.”
“Do you have her parents’ address?”
“I’ll get it to you. Just go find her, Lucas. Go find Jessa.”
She shoved me toward the vehicle before turning on her heels and jogging back inside the palace. How was she expecting to get out of here? The Resistance had more pull than I first realized. They had no excuse not to meet with me. This was the last time I was helping them without a proper meeting. But there was no time to speculate. I needed to act quickly.
I jogged over to the driver and plucked the keys from his hands. I closed the passenger door and hurried to jump behind the wheel. “Sorry, buddy. I’m going alone.”
The tires peeled out as I sped down the driveway. In my rearview mirror, I watched as a pair of security guards ran out onto the steps. At home, they didn’t follow me everywhere. They didn’t need to because I never went anywhere, anyway. And no one came inside the palace without going through security first. These
poor guards were probably going to get in trouble for this.
I knew Faulk had more than a head start on me. I had no time to spare. The black wrought-iron gates opened wide, and I steered the car out into the early morning of our capital city.
Luckily, my slatebook was with me and I could easily pull up directions to Jessa’s childhood home as Sasha had already forwarded the address to me. Man, she worked fast. The time read thirty-nine minutes until arrival at my destination, which made me swear violently under my breath. I hurried to memorize the directions. It was a good thing no one was out this early, because I was about to be driving very fast. I would do everything in my power to make it to Jessa in half the time indicated by the directions if I could. I had to get to her before Faulk did.
The phone on my slatebook rang, and I answered it immediately when I saw Sasha’s name pop up.
“I’m texting you a map of where we’re meeting. Memorize the location.”
“You’re not meeting me at Jessa’s house?”
“No, too obvious.”
“How’s that?” I asked, turning down a city street with screeching tires as I headed up the ramp to the freeway.
“Oh, you’ll see. And Lucas, power down your phone now. Just in case its location is being tracked.” She hung up.
I glanced at the directions a few times before shutting down the device and pushed my foot down hard against the gas pedal. I was in a race. A race against Faulk and my father. A race against my memory and the places I was supposed to go today. And right now, a race against the brilliant sunrise that was beginning to light the sky.
19
Jessa
Something was wrong. The closer I got to my house, the more I began to question myself. On the surface, it appeared to be a normal quiet morning, but there was an undercurrent of unsettling activity. I couldn’t explain it, but it didn’t feel right. As much as I wanted to get home, I moved at a snail’s pace. I tiptoed through the yards, hiding in the dark shadows as I willed the sun to stop rising.
