Prince of Attania, 2

Nothing. No spark, no presence. Is that what death was? Attan shuddered. The body that lay crumpled on the floor of the bookstore like so much meat was empty. Is that what happened to non-family when they died? Family, even those who could not (or would not) transform into their Elemental states at will, reverted to elementals and were absorbed back into Attania upon death. Where did non-family go?

Attan thought of his friends: of Greg, and Ben and Reggie, of Emma, Roger and Elea, non-family all. They seemed so vibrant and full of life. Until this moment he hadn’t considered that once they ceased living, they would truly be gone forever. It hurt his heart just to think about it.

The enforcers had rounded up the participants in the upstairs room but found they had nothing to charge them with. Belonging to Sons of the First was not a crime, per Jet’s decree. They left the dead man to his comrades and called the mission over. The suspicious activity the enforcers had found was not the one they were sent to investigate. They never did find the Family person who supposedly was cheating non-family in Breen.

John was as subdued as Attan on the ride back to Arden, if not for the same reasons. John had not experienced what it felt like to enter dead flesh. But the entire episode, culminating in the totally unnecessary death, had unsettled John as well.

When the enforcers reported the incident to Merrell later that day, they glossed over the death as well as their failure to complete their original mission. They did, however, remark that this group of Sons of the First had contained both Family and non-family. Attan had thought it unusual, too, but Merrell didn’t seem particularly startled by the news. Attan wondered if perhaps finding the meetingplace of the Sons had been the goal after all.

Matt was waiting for Attan at dinner. He grinned and stuck out a hand made of fire, his signature element. He was one of the first ones Jet taught to change his essence into his element, rather than just use the element as a tool. Attan grinned back and became fire too, his mother’s element, and one of his favorites. He kept it to just his hand and arm; the royals were leery of Attan’s displays of power. Their essences intertwined and it was almost, almost as good as merging.

“I have something I want to show you,” Matt said, as they filled their trays and made their way to Matt’s usual table. “Not here.” Matt’s table consisted of Matt, Attan, John, and Tommy and Charles when they were around. Sometimes one or two of the older enforcers would sit with them, but Matt was the only teacher in the group.

They ate quietly, not even Matt in the mood for chatter, though the rest of the dining hall was noisy. Attan told John he’d meet him back at their room later, and went off with Matt to the practice area on the back lawn. “What is it you wanted to show me?” he asked when they were alone.

Rather than explaining, Matt just transformed into wind and waited for Attan to merge with him as that element. Matt’s awareness permeated his own and Attan was startled to note that Matt perceived the free elementals which were always present, though until now none of the others had ever noticed them. Attan joyfully welcomed them into his merge, marveling again as Matt’s essence did the same. Was this a new phase for Family Elementals? His father would be pleased.

They took back their physical forms, and Attan realized that Matt was still aware of the free elementals all around them. “Are they always there?” he asked Attan in a hushed voice.

“Pretty much.” Attan grinned. “When did you start noticing them?”

Matt stared up at the sky, remembering. “About the time you came to stay, I think.” He looked back at Attan. “This is how you see and feel all the time?”

“Yeah.”

They both stared up at the sky. Meanwhile, free elementals zinged in and out of both of them.

“Amazing,” Matt said.

“You think more Family will start to feel the free elementals too?” Attan asked. “Now that you have?”

“I hope not!” Matt said fervently. He led Attan back towards the trees. “How do you do it? I feel all this and that’s all I want to feel—I don’t want to eat, sleep, I don’t even want to teach. I just want to be—them!” He swept his hand out. “No wonder more and more of us choose to release. If all Family could feel what I’m feeling, they would all want to release!”

“Are you going to release?” Attan asked slowly, wondering if that’s why Matt had brought Attan out here.

Matt shook his head. “No, I’m not. I’m just saying I understand why Family do it now. And they don’t even know for sure like I know. They just believe. Maybe they’re lucky, because it’s hard to know what it’s like and then not want it all the time.”

It was hard. But Jet had found a way to make it work, maybe because he’d been interacting with free elementals since he was a small child, the same way Attan had been interacting with them since before he was born. Attan understood how Mattie felt because he felt like that all the time. He smiled. “Remember Parker?” he asked. “He came back because of his mom. That’s why I stay, too. Because of my mom and dad. You just need to find a reason to want to stay for a while.”

“I know that too.” Matt frowned. “I forgot all about Parker. Do you think he can sense them too—the free elementals, as you call them?”

“I don’t think he does, or he would have said something,” Attan replied. “Anyway, he’s young. He probably wouldn’t think it was unusual.” That’s what Jet had figured, anyway. The younger the Elemental, the easier it was to adapt.

“Let’s go back, then,” Matt said. “For now, don’t mention this to anyone else. I’m worried that some of the others won’t be able to handle it. I’ll talk to Jet about it, see what he thinks first.” Matt hesitated. “Can he see them too?”

More than just see, but Attan didn’t want to get into that right now. “Yeah,” he replied. “He can.”

There were three more mass releases over the next few months in towns and cities across Attania. It was all over the news. In every case, Merrell sent enforcers out to interview some of the witnesses. He made sure Attan went along on these interviews, accompanied by John, of course, who had become a sort of friend as well as his guardian. The only consistent thing Attan noticed was that at each place of mass release, there seemed to be a large amount of free elementals. Attan didn’t know if they were drawn to the energy of the place due to the release, or whether they were actually the released entities of former Family who remained in their familiar surroundings out of habit. The elementals themselves didn’t know—they lived in the moment, and such concepts were beyond them.

Attan saw his father less and less frequently, as Family matters and his new families in Darcy and Wister kept Jet fairly busy. Attan found himself missing home. As the weather turned colder, he asked permission to return to Low City to visit his mother. On the way back, he intended to stop at Midver to check on the town as well.

Merrell granted him permission, provided John accompany him. That meant that Attan would have to travel by car rather than in his own way, which would take twice as long. But John did not have the stamina to maintain his Elemental form for long periods of time. They drove directly to Low City first, to the stately home the King and Queen officially used. It had a separate wing for enforcers, one for guests, and one for close family. It wasn’t the home they usually used. Doll, however, was waiting for them, dressed tastefully in a pale gray dress. She hugged Attan so tightly it almost hurt, but she made no move to transform, and since she didn’t, Attan didn’t either. But he missed that closeness with his mother.

John smiled when Attan introduced him, then excused himself and their driver, also an enforcer, so that Attan and his mother could have some time together. The minute the two enforcers left the room, Attan let go of his physical shape and became fire, shooting to the core of his mother as he had when he was a small child. Doll became fire also, merging with her son to share all that had happened while they were apart. Jet had visited, once, and Doll would go to Darcy at the year’s end to see him again. Attan, too, at Arden. Attan was glad of that. With all the news about his father’s new brides and hopes for more heirs, it seemed Doll was more and more pushed to the side.

“I truly don’t mind it,” she said as they materialized. Sometimes words were better to communicate complex feelings. “I love Jet. He loves me. But he is the King, and powerful, and I’m not so powerful.”

“Yes, you are,” Attan said. People tried to imply that because Doll was mainly fire, then her son, Attan, was not the most powerful heir that Attania could have. If only Jet had an heir with a woman who was his equal in power, then Attania’s power—Family power—could be assured, for that child would certainly inherit the power of both his parents. Attan had inherited power along with something more when his parents conceived him not in physical form but while they were both Elementals.

Doll patted his hand. “You’re sweet, but I really am content. What about you? Are you eating well? Are you happy?”

Happy? Attan thought about the conversation he’d recently had with Matt. He was truly happy when he transformed. But, he guessed he was content, also. He nodded. “It’s different, but it’s interesting. No one really treats me like a Prince so it’s not so bad.” He didn’t share the reason no one among the royals treated him like a Prince was because they didn’t like him. Either that, or they did, like Matt and John, maybe. Either way, most people at Arden spoke to him plainly if at all. Since Attan didn’t really want to be a Prince in the first place, that suited him just fine.

Later that night, he used the brief respite he’d gotten from John, who stayed in the enforcer’s wing so that Attan could spend time with his mother, to transform and leave the official residence. He wanted to see if Greg was back. He actually missed his old school friend. When he got to the farmhouse, everyone was sleeping since it was the middle of the night. He zipped through the rooms as a quiet breeze, past Greg’s gaggle of sisters, but Greg wasn’t home. He must have decided to stay in New Parrion after all. Since Attan didn’t want to talk to any of Greg’s sisters, he headed back to Low City. He was loath to give up his precious night of freedom, though, and wandered aimlessly around the city, past the school and the docks, to the non-family side of Low City. This side had always seemed more like home to Attan anyway.

Their old house was dark but Attan visited it anyway, zipping through the walls to his old room. Dark, but not deserted. Attan heard movement in the other room. Had his mother sold their house while he was away and moved permanently to the official residence? But no, all his furniture was still in his room. Who else was here?

Attan followed the sound to the bigger bedroom his parents shared. Someone was living here. The man in the bed tossed restlessly from side to side before finally growling under his breath and sitting up. He hadn’t noticed Attan, a shadow among shadows, in the corner by the door. The man stalked out of the bedroom, turning on lights as he made his way to the bathroom.

Attan took form and sat on the edge of the bed. He knew that man. Had his mother rented out their small house to him? But why, when Macek Merrell had full use of Family facilities on the other side of the river closer to the school he ran?

“Attan!” Macek Merrell stared at Attan from the bedroom doorway. “I thought you’d be visiting your mother.” For some reason, Macek’s pale face reddened.

“I was.” Attan stood. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know anybody was staying here.”

Macek came in the room, self-conscious in his pajamas. “I—ah—sometimes I come here. Your mother and I—we’re friends.”

Oh. Attan wondered if he was supposed to feel something about that. He decided he felt glad that his mother had a friend in Low City so she wasn’t all alone. “That’s nice,” he replied. “I’m sorry if I disturbed you.”

“No, I’m glad you came. Will you merge with me?”

Of course Attan would merge. He understood his mother’s contentment much better after merging with Macek, who radiated happiness tinged with apprehension. But why apprehension? Afterward, Attan asked, “Will you and my mother have a baby?”

“What!” Macek jumped backwards and nearly fell over the bed.

Attan guessed not. “I’d better go,” he said. “It was nice to see you again.”

“Nice to see--?” Macek got over his shock and hugged Attan. “Don’t worry about your mother and me,” he said.

“I wasn’t,” Attan said. “I know you’ll take good care of her. My dad knows it, too.” He waved and transformed into wind, leaving Macek staring after him with his mouth open.