Prince of Attania, 2

Merrell frowned at Tom Jadock. “This is him? The troublemaker?”

Tom looked taken aback, then angry.

Daniel quickly smoothed things over. “This is Mr. Jadock, whom Attan met this past year through Tom’s younger brother.” The younger brother in question was quickly approaching. “Gregory Jadock. He and Attan attend school in Low City,” Daniel explained as Greg reached them, out of breath.

“I realize that,” Merrell said irritably. “He’s the one who caused all that trouble near Low City this past year. You!” He pointed at Greg. “What’s wrong with your hair? Cut it!”

Greg gulped as he recognized the Enforcer. He moved closer to Attan, whose dark hair was neatly short.

“Where is your uniform?” Merrell glared at Attan. Tom he ignored completely.

He meant the enforcer uniform Merrell had given him with strict instructions to wear it always. “I didn’t think I should wear it here,” Attan said, earning himself another glare. He and Greg both wore the coveralls with the large S for Sons of Men.

“We’re leaving. Now. And I expect you to wear the proper uniform from now on.” He looked at Greg. “You’re to stay here for the remainder of the summer. Attan won’t be returning to Macek’s school in Low City. You’ve done well here. We won’t forget that.”

Tom had been silently fuming for being ignored. Now he spoke out. “What about me?”

Merrell turned. “You? If I had my way you wouldn’t exist. Be glad I didn’t find you first.” He disappeared into a cloud of wind, drawing both Attan and Daniel with him, though Attan worried a little at leaving Greg with his unpredictable brother.

Tom shouted into the sky, “Emma sends her regards, Enforcer!”

Instantly, Merrell took back his human form, leaving Daniel and Attan to follow suit. Daniel grinned in anticipation, noting Merrell’s shocked expression. Attan formed right next to Greg, ready to yank the non-family boy right out of there if things became volatile. It seemed that they might; Merrell grabbed Tom by the throat and shook him viciously. “What do you know of Emma?” he growled.

Tom couldn’t answer until the Enforcer let go, which he did with a disgusted grunt. On his knees, Tom gasped through his swollen throat, glaring at Merrell angrily. “You know exactly who she is, Enforcer! And you know what you did to her! She’s my mother!”

“She’s alive?” Merrell spoke softly, all concentration focused on the young man kneeling in the dirt before him. He waited until Tom slowly struggled to his feet, still breathing raggedly. “I thought she died in the fire.”

Tom spat, clearing his throat. “Well, unlucky for you she didn’t just die. Instead, she had me!”

Merrell remained silent so long Attan was afraid he was never going to respond. But he did. “She named you Thomas?”

“After you,” Tom said. “She waited for you to come back for her but you never did.”

Daniel’s eyes followed the two Thomas’s back and forth, avidly waiting for one or the other to explode, but they seemed to have passed that point. Instead, Merrell abruptly turned on his heel and walked away, leaving the rest of them gaping after him in confusion. “Well?”

They all scrambled to catch up with the Enforcer, who, rather than transforming with just Attan and Daniel as he’d originally planned, now seemed set on taking the one-rail back into the underground city. “Should I come too?” Greg whispered to Attan, who replied that this concerned him, too, so yes—as long as the Enforcer allowed it.

They trooped back over to Ben’s place, borrowing his office although Merrell allowed Ben to remain. Daniel leaned against the inner door, a slight grin on his face, while Merrell gestured for Tom to seat himself in front of Ben’s desk. He barked at Attan, “Change your clothes.”

Attan disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing in his room upstairs where he hurriedly dug out his enforcer uniform, snapping out the wrinkles. He put it on and flashed back downstairs, hoping he hadn’t missed anything. Only Greg reacted to his sudden appearance. “That was fast,” he whispered. Attan grinned.

“Tell me about Emma,” Merrell said softly, but his eyes, focused intently on Tom, were hard.

“She had me the winter after the big fire that destroyed Low City. I heard she screamed your name continuously the night I was born.” Tom put his palms on the desk and leaned forward. “Did you know her, Enforcer? She said you did. My father,” Tom glanced once at Greg, but pushed on, “thought it was because of the fire. He thought more than just her eyes got damaged that day. She told him she was your lover. For that, he brought her—and me, along with her—back to their old village and left us there so he could have a better life. He thought she was crazy. So did I, for a lot of years. But she wasn’t, was she?”

Attan risked a glance at Greg, whose face had gone slack in shock. That wasn’t how he’d heard the story. Attan returned his attention to Merrell. Merrell sat rigid, his face expressionless. “What are you saying?”

“He’s saying he thinks you could be his real father,” Daniel said, pushing off from the door. He ignored the gasp from Greg. Grinning crookedly, he added, “The timing’s right.”

“Were you my mother’s lover?” Tom asked harshly.

Merrell scowled, looking away briefly. “Yes,” he said, meeting Tom’s burning gaze. This time, Attan gasped out loud. Until this moment, he hadn’t truly believed it was possible. “She cleaned house for me,” Merrell said. “I didn’t know she was pregnant.” He paused. “Those were confusing times. We came to Low City to avenge the King’s son’s murder. And to prevent a disaster. An even bigger disaster,” he explained at Ben’s start of surprise. “None of us was as powerful as King Roy, though we tried to control his outburst. As it was, only half the city burned.”

And the King’s son hadn’t even been killed, Attan knew, for little missing Prince Roderick had turned out to be his own father, King Jet. What Merrell very carefully avoided mentioning, however, was that the part of Low City which burned was exclusively the non-family half. Merrell had led the enforcers back then, even if it had been King Roy who actually burned the city.

“I knew she was married,” Merrell admitted. “So was I—many times over. It was—difficult, searching for the lost Prince through any means we could. Emma—soothed me. After the fire, I searched for her but finally accepted that she must have been one of the ones who had perished. I never dreamed she might still be alive.”

“Or that you left her with a child,” Tom muttered angrily.

“What? No.” Merrell stared hard at Tom. “She must have already been pregnant when I met her. Family and non-family can’t breed.” He stood up.

Tom stood, too, barely containing his trembling as he tried to rein in his anger. “That’s a lie!” he shouted, to Daniel’s amusement. “My mother told me you were my father!”

“She’s mistaken,” Merrell said, calm in the face of Tom’s growing fury. “Maybe she was damaged in the fire. We were lovers, nothing more.”

But there had been something more. Attan was sure he’d seen his great-uncle’s eyes soften at Emma’s name. He felt something for the woman, even though she was non-family. He was about to say so, when he caught sight of Greg’s stricken expression.

“You never believed I was your brother,” Greg whispered hoarsely. “All this time. You used us!”

“But he is your brother after all,” Daniel said, not helping the situation but enjoying it immensely. “Isn’t that ironic? Now that that’s settled . . . .” Daniel clapped his hands together, as if ridding them of accumulated dirt.

“Arrest him.” Merrell pointed at Tom. “He never should have been left free to roam around this place. He’s a danger to Family and non-family both.”

Tom tensed, the color finally draining from his face as he realized the position he was in. Ben started forward, stopping short of actually touching Tom. He shook his head. “This isn’t the answer,” he said. Even Daniel stared at his uncle in surprise. He had not expected that reaction.

“You’d do that to Emma’s son?” Tom asked bitterly.

“I loved Emma, not her son,” Merrell replied implacably. “You are a troublemaker.”

Ben came around the desk. “Then let the Sons handle Tom,” he said. “He’s one of ours.” Ben signaled, and both Daniel and Greg came forward. “Get him out of here.” The two Sons of Men shuffled Tom between them, murmuring quietly to him when he would have protested. They left Ben’s office and quickly disappeared into a nearby building. Ben turned back to Merrell, clearly angry. “I will deal with Tom Jadock. I was dealing with him, in my way.”

“See that you do,” Merrell replied. “Or I will. Come, Attan.” Without further conversation, Merrell disappeared once more. Attan gave Ben a sheepish shrug, and followed. Merrell went through every tiny opening in the rocks to the surface and then, as wind, flowed to the west of New Parrion but not much farther.

Attan realized, as they materialized beyond the first set of hills that marked New Parrion’s borders, that Merrell had reached the limit of his Elemental transformation. He took back his physical form and sank gratefully into the back seat of a Family limousine which had been parked and waiting for him. Attan climbed in next to him. Merrell did not have the Elemental stamina to travel long distances as Daniel had. Maybe because he had been older when he had learned to transform.

They drove back to Low City, where Attan was allowed to see his mother briefly, considering he would be staying at the Family school at Arden from now on. He wanted to ask the older man so many things, but Merrell seemed brooding and remained silent for most of their drive. Attan debated whether or not to tell Merrell that he knew Emma, too, and that, although blind, she was able to sense elementals, was able to sense him in his Elemental state. In the end, he settled for talking about Emma’s artwork instead.

“She carved this amazing piece out of stone that looks like a wave on the ocean,” Attan said, for something to fill the silence. They were on their way back to Arden from Low City. “I brought it with me—do you want to see?” Attan had grabbed the piece from his room when he left Low City. “I can do this . . .” Attan sent a piece of his essence into the rock, lighting it from within.

Merrell took the statue from Attan. “You’ve seen Emma? Spoken to her?”

Attan nodded. “She’s blind because of the fire, and a little confused, but she still carves these stones.”

“Take me to her,” Merrell demanded.

They’d passed the cut-off to Midver a while back, so it meant going back over the Mattick River and picking up the main road that ran along its eastern bank back towards Low City until they found the small side road which led inland and eventually circled round the dusty bowl that was Midver. Attan felt bad as the Enforcer’s limousine pulled up in front of the town store. Between his father, Ben and Attan, they had tried very hard to keep Family out of the Midver situation. That was about to abruptly end.

Midver’s main store was well-stocked this time, thanks to the Sons of Men and Attan’s own efforts, and no thanks to Tom. Merrell got out of the limo, followed by his driver and another enforcer who traveled with them. Even a small, backward town like Midver knew who the Enforcer was. Roger, the shopkeeper, froze in the act of hefting a bag of flour into someone’s cart. His eyes darted to the limo, and to Attan, who was just getting out of the car. His customer left his cart, backed slowly away, and then ran.

“Where’s Emma, Roger?” Attan asked. He forgot he, too, had on an enforcer’s uniform as Roger’s eyes grew even rounder. “It’s all right, there’s no problem,” he reassured the shopkeeper, hoping he was telling the truth. “This is Thomas Merrell, he’s my—ah—uncle,” Attan explained.

“He knows who I am,” Merrell said impatiently, as Roger nodded emphatically. Everybody knew who the Enforcer was. Only now, they would figure out who Attan was as well. Attan hoped it would not ruin his relationship with this town, which his father had told him was his responsibility from now on.

They didn’t have to wait long. For reasons of his own, Attan had chosen not to bring Merrell directly to Midver’s small chapel. Now, Emma, followed at a distance by at least half the town, hurried over from the chapel where Roger’s customer had run in panic.

“My Thomas!” she cried, her usual cry when strangers entered her town. But as she got closer, she slowed down, then stopped. “Thomas?” she asked, surprise evident in her voice. “Is it really you?”

Now her eyes were glazed over white, and Attan knew she couldn’t see. But somehow she knew this wasn’t her son. Behind her, echoes of “The Enforcer” could be heard quite plainly. All around her, also as usual, zinged the unique elementals which inhabited Midver. Maybe they told her what they saw. They zinged into Attan, also, happy to see him again. If it weren’t for the questions it might generate with Merrell, Attan would have transformed to greet them more fully. Instead, he stood quietly next to Merrell.

“Emma.” That one word held more emotion than Attan had ever heard in his great-uncle’s voice. Merrell took two steps forward and swept Emma into an embrace. He led her away from both his enforcers and the rest of the townspeople so they could talk quietly together. Attan was left staring at the townspeople, who stared back at him with something like betrayal.

He walked into Roger’s store, leaving the other two enforcers outside by the limo. Roger and several other people followed him inside. “You’re an enforcer now too?” Roger asked. “And a royal?”

So he hadn’t figured out exactly which royal Attan was. Attan felt relieved. “You know how it is,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. “Not all the royals are cut out for leadership. Really, it’s okay,” he said, as some of the others started murmuring worriedly. “Merrell knew Emma years ago. He just wanted to see if she was all right.”

“I’ll bet,” someone muttered. “After he tried to kill her along with everybody else in Low City. All those royals are just alike.” He stopped, horrified at what he had just said.

“No, they’re not,” Attan said. “I’m not. My father’s not. Merrell didn’t try to kill Emma. He searched for her after . . . after. But until today he thought she was dead. It will be all right, you’ll see.”

“So that’s it? You’re one of them now?” A woman with wiry gray hair asked him.

Attan smiled. As far as he knew, he’d always been ‘one of them.’ Good to know the people of Midver didn’t think of him like that anymore.

“No—well, yes, but not the way you think. My father said I can still come and visit Midver, help out if you need it. So I’ll be around. Don’t let the uniform intimidate you—I’m still the same person—only Merrell says I have to wear it now as part of my training.”

“Your father, your father,” Roger said. “You keep mentioning your father but you never said exactly who your father is. He’s a friend of Ben Reaves, but he’s related to the Enforcer. Just who is this paragon of Family then? Have we heard of him?”

Yes, they’d heard of him, Attan was sure. He was reluctant to actually say it, though, as if anything could change things more than the Enforcer’s presence already had. He winced. “Uh, you know him as King Jet.”

Absolute silence. Attan wiggled, wishing he could disappear, knowing he could but figuring he really shouldn’t. Wanting to.

“Does Tom know? Does Renn?”

Attan nodded. “I’m still me,” he said in a small voice.

“That’s good.” One of the younger villagers, one whom Attan had gotten to know on his last few trips here, grinned at Attan. “You’re still you, so it doesn’t matter. Actually, it does matter—we have the Prince of Attania on our side!” A few of the others chuckled.

“I suppose if your father allows you to come here, it’s all right,” Roger said with a small smile.

Emma bustled in, followed by the Enforcer himself, driving all conversation to a complete halt once again. “Young spirit!” she called, moving unerringly for Attan. “Thank you so much for bringing my Thomas’s together. I knew you would!” She gave Attan a big hug. “Now everything will be all right!” She grasped Thomas Merrell’s hands and stared sightlessly up into his impassive face. If her dead white eyes bothered him, he didn’t let on. “I’m glad you came.”

Merrell patted the top of her head and backed away, motioning for Attan to follow. In the car, as they drove away, Attan asked, “What did you say to her?”

Merrell countered with, “Why did she call you ‘Young Spirit?’”

Attan figured he didn’t really have to know.