Prince of Attania, 2

A somber crowd gathered on the steps of the City Hall in Darcy. Attan, standing beside Jet, was nearly as tall as him, and already towered over Doll and Lorra both. When had he gotten so tall?

Daniel stood with the royal Family in his enforcer uniform, which Attan also wore. They hadn’t yet made the announcement of who was to succeed Merrell. Daniel, Jet and Ben had decided to tell the people of Attania Merrell had released his physical self rather than tell them their Enforcer had been murdered. It raised a set of its own problems: on hearing the news, there was sure to be a backlash of similar releasing all over Attania. However, it was better than letting people think their government was not secure.

The crowd stirred as Jet stepped forward. It was mostly royals, brothers and cousins and various other relations, those that could be gathered quickly for this announcement, although it was being simultaneously broadcast all across Attania. Most of those present were loyal to Jet. It would be interesting to see how many of them remained loyal after they digested the news about Merrell. His sons, Macek and Tommy, were there, as was Sephira, who had practically been Merrell’s wife. Her son, Charles, stood beside her with one steadying hand on her elbow as Jet made his announcement. Sephira’s face betrayed shock, but no sadness. Jet hadn’t expected any; Family were nothing if not practical.

Doll knew already, as did Madelyne and Lorra. And Attan. Jet had thought it only fair to tell them, so they would be prepared. Even so, they seemed as stunned as the rest when Jet announced that Merrell had chosen to release and was no longer a part of the physical world. Those that knew Merrell knew how full of life he was.

Eyes turned speculatively to Attan and Daniel, the two most obvious choices for Merrell’s successor, though some people twisted around to look at Macek and Tommy as well. Neither one of Merrell’s sons had the right temperament for the job of Enforcer, never mind the amount of sheer power that would be required. And Attan was too young. Period. Sometimes Jet wondered about Family. Where was their common sense? Then again, it had always been about power in the end. It still was.

“Daniel Murrow will succeed Thomas Merrell as Enforcer.” Jet spoke firmly. He wasn’t in the mood for argument. Not from Family, and not from Daniel, either. Since Daniel had joined the Sons of Men, he hadn’t been interested in Merrell’s position any longer. But Jet needed Daniel. More, he trusted Daniel.

There was little argument. Everybody was still adjusting to the news. Jet ended the conference by saying he would hold a meeting of all the Family heads from various cities across Attania as soon as they could all be assembled. That didn’t stop the news broadcasts from making wild guesses as to the future of Attania and Jet’s kingship.

Jet returned to the King’s compound in Darcy with a few of the royals who would be immediately affected to start planning. Macek had already warned him that he needed to oversee the press, which Merrell had always taken care of previously. “Why don’t you take care of that detail?” Jet asked wearily.

Sephira stormed into Jet’s private office. “I want a position for my son,” she said, planting her hands on Jet’s desk. “If he can’t be Enforcer, then he should get a city to rule. Like Low City.” She ignored Daniel, Macek and Attan in favor of glaring at Jet. Daniel stifled a laugh and Macek frowned.

“I’ll consider it,” Jet replied evenly, startling them all, not least of them Sephira. He’d figured she would either take that tack, or go after Daniel as she had once before. Sephira was ambitious; she couldn’t help herself.

“Oh, well—then. Thank you.” Sephira wheeled about and departed much more quickly than Jet had anticipated. He grinned.

“You’re not really going to appoint Charles Wyling as Governor of Low City, are you?” Macek gazed at the closed door a little worriedly.

“As if Charles could run a city,” Daniel said. “Or the enforcers.”

“He is our brother,” Jet reminded Daniel. The potential was there. “But no, I have plans for Charles and Tommy Merrell too. I’m sending them to Ben. He could use a little Family help. After that, we’ll see what Charles is suitable for.”

Attan didn’t think that was fair. If anyone got to go to New Parrion, it should be him. “What about me?”

“You’re the Prince,” Jet said. Like it or not. “I need you to be seen.”

“So I’m to remain an enforcer, then?” Attan asked.

“An enforcer in training,” Daniel said with a wink. “Don’t you want to work with me?”

At that, Attan perked up. “You mean I’d get to stay with you from now on?”

“I still want you to attend classes at Arden,” Jet said.

“Speaking of Arden,” Macek said warily, “Who’s going to take that over? I have the training.”

“No, I thought I’d ask Mattie to take over that role. I want to keep you in Low City as Governor, though you’ll still retain your position as education coordinator for Attania.”

Macek sat back, relieved. “I see. By placing people you trust in key roles, you’re consolidating your power. Clever.”

Was that what he had been doing? Jet had just seen it as filling necessary positions in the wake of Merrell’s passing. Who else would he choose except people he knew could handle the various jobs? Jet gave Macek a crooked smile. “And of course, I trust you to watch over the Queen in Low City while I’m not there.”

Macek reddened, glancing quickly at Attan. But it hadn’t been Attan who’d told. Doll shared everything with Jet—everything. And truth be told, Jet was glad she had Macek in her life.

“That’s it, then. Daniel, you’d better get to Arden and coordinate with the enforcers there. Attan, you’ll join him, but not yet. I still need to talk to you in private. Macek, please make sure the press doesn’t sink us before we even start.”

Daniel saluted Jet, only partly joking, and disappeared in a totally unnecessary clap of thunder. Macek grimaced, and made his exit a little more gracefully. Jet leaned back in his chair and sighed. “How did I ever get to this place?” He felt guilty immediately for saying it.

Attan pulled up a chair and sat across from his father. “You wanted to talk to me?” There hadn’t been time for a full merge up until now. Attan knew Merrell had died, not released, but he didn’t have all the details. Jet went into him now, fire to fire, and shared what he’d hesitated to share with Merrell’s own son, how the Enforcer had been murdered by non-family, how it was an accident. How it never should have happened. But it did.

“But you can’t just leave him there!” Attan came out of the merge a little horrified at Jet’s punishment of Tom Jadock.

“Why not?” Jet muttered. “He killed Merrell. But you saw?” Jet had wanted to merge with Attan to show him the unusual reaction of the cave’s elementals. “How the lights surrounded Tom and wouldn’t let me harm him? Why would they do that? How could they do that? He’s not one of us.”

“I saw.” Attan still thought Jet should send him back to New Parrion rather than Charles and Tommy. He had a better chance of communicating with the unusual free elementals which presented as bands of color which ran across the cave walls far beneath Parrion. “They remind me of the free elementals in Midver.”

Jet stared at him. “You think they’re the same? There’s no way such a thing could be possible. But Merrell talked to the mother, right? Didn’t you tell me she thought she could sense elementals? I’m wondering if Merrell had second thoughts.”

“I doubt it. First of all, Emma calls them ‘spirits,’ and doesn’t realize they are elementals at all.” She also called Attan ‘Young Spirit,’ though he didn’t mention that to his father. “Secondly, he—ah—might have told her he’d look after her son.”

“What?”

“I think he didn’t want to hurt her, but maybe he felt obligated to at least talk to Tom.”

“That makes what happened even worse,” Jet said.

“Does Greg know? About his brother?”

“Who?”

“Greg Jadock. My classmate from Low City.”

Jet shrugged. That was the last thing on his mind right now. “Talk to the woman at Midver, find out what Merrell said to her. Maybe you were right all along about these particular elementals being different. They’re not manifesting as colors, are they?”

No, not---wait a minute, they had put on a show of colors in the chapel. It wasn’t exactly the same as the bands of colors in the caves, because those basically only moved in flowing lines, but the free elementals in Midver had manifested in colors. “I’ll find out,” he told his father.

“Tomorrow,” Jet said. “Eat, get some sleep. I’d go with you, but I’m going to be tied up here for a while. When you get back to Arden, I’ll find you.”

Attan nodded, and disappeared. Jet pushed up from his desk and rubbed his temples. It had been a very long couple of days.

Even lunch couldn’t sidetrack Jet today. He bypassed the main dining hall as shadow. He wasn’t avoiding the cousins who were hoping to have a word with him, no. He was just postponing it.

Doll was reading in the room she had been assigned at Darcy. Here, Lorra was the Queen whose bed Jet shared. Madelyne had a room on the floor below. But it was Doll Jet wanted. She laid down her book when Jet materialized and patted the bed beside her. He came to her and she hugged him, human warmth. The shaking began as reaction finally set in. Merrell was gone. Jet would have to do this alone. He cried, and Doll let him. Of all the Family only Doll understood his sorrow because she felt things too. “I love you,” Jet whispered into her shoulder.

“I know,” Doll replied, soothing him with kisses.

Attan didn’t wait to go to Midver. There was no point. His father was busy, Daniel was busy, and even John had left him alone during this royal Family crisis. Who knew what the next day would bring when they all remembered he was the heir again?

He reached the bowl that was Midver before sunset and decided to investigate the old mines where the townspeople got their stone for carvings. If Midver’s elementals and the elementals underneath Parrion were the same, he might find evidence of it here. The hills were riddled with small holes, mining shafts, and some natural caves which had collapsed in part due to the extensive mining. Altogether a dangerous place, if one weren’t an Elemental. Attan pushed through the mining areas into the smaller caves beneath, passing through the ones which were too collapsed to have spaces anymore. Eventually he found himself beyond the boundaries of Midver, deep underneath Attania. The land was flatter here, rising up into cliffs the closer it came to the southern sea, which was still a long way away. The caves, such as they were, narrowed and widened following the contours of the land above.

There were always elementals about. Attan took them for granted and interacted with them naturally whenever he took elemental form. It was easy to forget the physical world while being elemental. Attan lost track of time and distance; he vaguely registered color striations in the cloud of elementals he was a part of, which snapped him back to the here and now. There were color bands along the cave walls, which had been steadily widening for a while now. Attan shot out an opening into starry night and realized he could see the southern sea off in the distance. He also saw people. There were houses built into the side of a cliff and a glowing bonfire burning in the middle of a fire pit. People were singing around it.

The elementals Attan was a part of gladly embraced the fire. Water elementals fizzled out and rejoined the earth, while wind stirred up the flames and brought them high into the night sky. Attan, who could be whichever element he chose, became fire and joined with the glowing flame. Why would anyone want to be on the outside looking in when one could be the flame?

A persistent tickle at the edge of his consciousness brought Attan back to his senses. “Attan!” Someone was calling his name. Aware, he perceived the sea of faces around the fire, most of whom were still singing. One face in particular stared straight at him, and he had a jarring moment of startlement when he realized he recognized it—what’s more, she recognized him among the myriad elementals of which he was a part.

Elea backed slowly away from the group of people around the fire and Attan followed, changing quickly to a light breeze as he moved in her wake. She entered one of the cliff houses and turned, waiting for Attan to take physical form. “You can’t be here!” she said urgently. “You have to go!”

Attan took a moment to look around. The inside of the house seemed ordinary enough, though poor like Midver. No electricity, no gadgets of any kind. No elementals, either. Attan realized they had all been drawn to the mesmerizing bonfire. “Where is here?” he asked. “I came from Midver, and the elementals brought me here.”

“This is my home,” Elea replied. “These are my people. They’re gathering tonight. You have to go, or you’ll be gathered too.”

“Gathering? What’s that?”

“Please, Attan. They’ll be looking for me soon. I have to go back.”

It didn’t make sense. “Do you mean you’re doing something to the elementals?”

“Yes!” Elea peered urgently into his eyes. She hesitated. “Not elementals. Spirits. Like you.”

Spirits. The higher order elementals, like the ones in Midver. And him. What made them more aware than other elementals, and why were Elea’s people gathering them?

“Please go. Before it’s too late.”

Already the singing had gotten louder, and Attan could hear footsteps pounding towards the door. He didn’t want to get her in trouble so he made to disappear.

“No!” Elea grabbed his hand. “Stay human!”

There were no elementals left anywhere nearby—none. Whatever this gathering was, it clearly affected the elemental state. Attan kept his human form. He turned to face the doorway, out of his depth. What could make him safer in his human body than as pure elemental?

So here were the men of Elea’s village. Whenever she had come to Midver, it was always in the company of women. Tonight, only men crowded the entrance to the little house built into the side of the cliff. They were mostly sandy-haired like the woman Attan thought of as Elea’s mother, but totally human. A few of them had Elea’s white-blond coloring. None of them looked happy to see him.

”Move aside, Elea,” one of the lighter blonde men said grimly.

“I won’t!” Elea said. She looked incongruously fierce standing in front of Attan, who towered over her. In the few months since they’d last seen each other, Attan had grown tall. Elea was no longer the skinny child he’d first met, either, though she was still a child. She had grown, too. It sounded in her voice.

“It’s all right, Elea,” Attan said, moving her gently out of the way. “I’ll talk to them.”

Her eyes betrayed her anxiety, but she quietly stepped to Attan’s side, leaving a small hand on his arm to remind him to stay human, he thought. For now, Attan would play along, until he found out what was really going on here.

“You shouldn’t have come,” the man who had spoken to Elea said. “I know who you are—the spirit Emma told us about. You’re the Prince, too.”

“So if you know who I am, what is the problem? Is this gathering a secret I’m not supposed to know about?” Attan was more than relieved that the men of Elea’s village weren’t the danger. They couldn’t hurt him in any form. He continued. “I followed the elementals—you call them spirits—from Midver. I didn’t know they would end up at your village. If I’m trespassing, I am sorry.” But I am the Prince, Attan thought to himself. He could go wherever he wanted in Attania.

“That is the problem!” Elea’s father, or so Attan guessed he must be, shouted. “What if you were gathered up with the rest of the spirits? What would your father the King do to us? You should never have come here!”

Attan began to get annoyed. He could take care of himself. “Just what is this gathering? What happened to the, er, spirits I came with?”

“They were gathered,” Elea’s father replied shortly. “We sent them back to where they belong.”

“The bonfire?” Attan had sensed the elements dissipating into their natural states as the fire affected them, all except fire, which he had been when Elea called to him. He tried to peer beyond the men in the doorway. They moved so he could see. There was no more fire. And no elementals for as far as Attan could sense. “What happened to them?”

The blonde man pointed. “We sang them to the sea. Where they belong.”

The sea! Attan staggered back a step, steadied by Elea’s hand on his arm. Emma talked about the sea, so did Tom Jadock. And Attan had seen the elementals in the east which manifested as color in their mad rush to the sea where they had—just—disappeared!

“It’s probably all right now,” the man said after a few minutes. Attan watched as the women who had sung the spirits into the sea now picked their way back to the cliff houses. He spotted Elea’s frizzy-haired mother among them. “They’re finished.”

“But how? Why? Why would you do that?”

Elea took both his hands in hers. “The spirits who come to us chose this. They are ready to return to the sea. We don’t choose them; they choose us. That’s why I didn’t want you to get caught up with them. I knew you didn’t choose this.”

Return to the sea? Is that where elementals came from?

“I can see you have a lot of questions,” the man said. “If you don’t mind waiting until morning, we might even answer some of them for you. But now is time for sleep. Maude!” he bellowed. The frizzy-haired woman approached, frowning at Attan as she did so. “Can you put up the young Prince for the night?”

Maude was clearly unhappy, but she nodded sharply and told Attan to follow her. Elea squealed, still holding onto Attan’s hand, and pulled him along with her. “You can stay at my house!” she said happily.