Prince of Attania, 2

Attan did not have any luck with girls. And he wasn’t even trying.

He stood uneasily in the great hall at Warren as cousin after cousin filed by. It had been like this ever since the King’s announcement had been broadcast across the land. Instead of suspicion and resentment, Attan and Daniel were getting invitations to dinner and requests for aid from the various Family communities they visited. Daniel took it all in his stride, acting as if it were all perfectly normal. Attan adjusted the collar of his grays to the amusement of one of the younger ladies from Warren, a daughter of the current governor. He quickly dropped his hands and stared straight ahead, as an enforcer should.

He stood next to the new Enforcer, rather than slighty back with John and the other enforcers who accompanied them on this trip. That was because, even though he was an enforcer-in-training, he was also the King’s son. And now, with another royal child on the way, he would most likely become the Enforcer after Daniel. He glanced at his uncle through hooded eyes. Not that he wanted it any more than Daniel did. Attan turned his attention to the front of the big room.

Just yesterday three Family had chosen to release in the middle of a public park. Warren’s governor had attempted to stop the ceremony, even though Jet had decreed that it was not illegal. The three had left behind families and jobs. Daniel’s enforcers had arrived in the middle of the aftermath, with Warren’s few authorities trying to calm down the crowd who had gathered. The son of one of those who had released screamed angrily at one official who tried to get him to go home quietly. Daniel had emerged from his limousine and gathered stormclouds to himself as he rose ominously above the park with lightning streaming from his spread fingers. “Enough!” he bellowed, in a fair imitation of Merrell. Everything stopped.

“It’s the Enforcer!” A murmur went up among the crowd. “And the Prince!” Attan had followed Daniel, though he remained by the limousine while Daniel floated in the air above them. Attan could feel the swirl of free elementals all around them. Without stopping to consider the ramifications, he let go of his body and became wind so he could feel them better. An awed sigh went through the crowd, but Attan didn’t hear it. He was too busy noticing the free elementals as they swirled around various Family in the crowd, including the distraught son of one of the Family who had just released. The son’s physical body didn’t hide his true nature. To Attan’s senses, the man’s true self pulsed wildly, expanding far beyond his physical limitations before being sucked back. It was as if his essence strained to leave its physical confines. He saw the same fluctuation in several other Family who had gathered. They were on the verge of transforming at the very least, releasing if they couldn’t control it.

There was no time to discuss the matter with Daniel. Attan expanded his awareness and touched the essences of each family in the crowded park, projecting calm. Gradually the wild fluctuations in their energy subsided and no one inadvertently transformed. Attan changed back to his physical self just as Daniel descended from the sky. Daniel gave Attan an

inquiring look. Since he’d been corporeal, he hadn’t seen what Attan had done. The end result was that the crowd silently disbursed. Warren’s officials thanked the Enforcer profusely for his timely intervention.

Which is how they’d ended up here, at yet another state function. Mechanically, Attan marched behind Daniel into the banquet hall where they’d both been given seats at the governor’s table. The girl who’d smiled at him also sat there.

The governor mainly spoke to Daniel, leaving Attan at the Family girl’s mercy. She was a few years older than him, though Attan was taller. He avoided eye contact, concentrating on the soup in front of him, and wondered how much longer he would be expected to sit through this. The girl plunked a hot roll onto his plate. “The soup tastes better if you dip your bread into it,” she said, doing exactly that with her own soup. Attan realized he’d been swishing his spoon back and forth in the soup.

“Oh, it’s good,” he hurriedly assured the girl. ”I-um-I’m just not very hungry.”

She laughed. It was a soft, clear sound that made Attan look up. “Beatrice,” she said with that same wry smile that said she thought Attan was a little bit stupid. Or maybe not. “And you’re the Prince. Are you as powerful as they say?” Beatrice’s eyes danced. “Would you like to see the gardens?” she asked.

Anything to get out of having to eat dinner. Attan nodded, and let her lead him out of the banquet hall. Daniel was engrossed in conversation with the governor, but several others took note of their departure, including John, who quietly excused himself and followed at a discreet distance.

Attan was aware of John’s presence, and glad for it. Beatrice made him a little uneasy. She brought him to an elevated garden on the roof of the house, where flowers bloomed even though it was night. Beatrice whirled to face Attan. “I’ve heard stories about you,” she whispered. “I have a few tricks of my own. Want to see how I made this garden grow?” She transformed into a pillar of light. The garden became bright as day, brighter, as Beatrice in light form flitted all around the space, blotting out the stars. “Can you do that?” she asked breathlessly, as she took back her human form. “Show me!”

She grabbed Attan’s hand. Instinctively, he let his physical body go and merged through hers, light because she had been light. His touch triggered the transformation in her and they merged. Attan came out of it first as he sensed both awe and distress, and realized that it was the first time Beatrice had merged with another Family.

She stared at him in horror. “Is that—I’m not supposed to—“

John stepped forward, dropping the shadows which had cloaked him. “Prince Attan, the main course is being served. You should go back to the banquet hall.” He held out his arm to Beatrice. “Miss? May I escort you to your table?”

Attan had never been so relieved to go eat, even if it meant dealing with the consequences later.

Without looking at Attan, Beatrice took John’s arm and let herself be led back to their table. About half-way through dessert, she leaned over to Attan and whispered, “Don’t say anything to my parents about what happened.”

What had happened? Attan wasn’t sure, but he nodded anyway. Later, John explained it to him: in outlying towns like this, Jet’s progressive ways hadn’t completely taken hold. Family still did not use their elemental abilities openly. Beatrice might have learned to let go of her physical body, but she kept it a secret—and she had no idea that merges like the one Attan had imposed upon her were even possible.

“You learned all that in the time it took to walk from the garden to the banquet hall?” Attan asked, impressed.

John shrugged. “She was confused. I listened.”

The next day, Beatrice was not among the Family who saw them off on their journey. The next stop would be Wister, where Daniel, at Jet’s request, would assign some of his enforcers to guard Wister’s Queen while Jet was away.

Daniel turned to Attan with a grin as soon as the car got underway. “Girl trouble?”

“Not really.” Attan sighed. It hadn’t even gotten to that point. “I don’t think she likes me very much.”

“Kid, you’re probably better off. She wanted you for your power, I think.”

Daniel had been paying attention back at the banquet. But he was wrong. “I don’t think she wants it anymore,” Attan answered, and proceeded to describe what had happened to his uncle.

Daniel laughed heartily. “That’s one way of handling it,” he commented.

In Wister they had to put up with hordes of news reporters, until Daniel finally lost his temper and ordered them out of the governor’s mansion, regardless of the fact that he was a guest there. He was the Enforcer.

Madelyne didn’t look any different to Attan’s eyes. Was she really carrying his little brother or sister inside her body? Attan wanted to see, but Madelyne refused to transform, and told him he couldn’t transform to look for himself, either. She was worried it might be harmful for the baby, who would be born in early summer. Disappointed, Attan wandered around the house, watching televised news reports of his father on the western coast in Tashkan.

The trouble had come to a head when Jet confronted the local governor about Family abusing their abilities to the detriment of the non-family who farmed the land for them. In Tashkan, non-family were not allowed to own land, and they were only allotted a small portion of what they produced. The rest went to Family in the city. This was the area where, years ago, a splinter group of the Sons of Men had fought Jet and Merrell for those very same reasons. Not much had changed here, although it had in other parts of Attania.

For once, the news was not all pro-Jet. That may have had something to do with Merrell’s death, for Merrell heavily censored the media. Whatever the reason, many of the broadcasts were critical of Jet’s stance, labeling him a non-family sympathizer. This was being broadcast all across Attania, and was probably doing more harm than good. That was one of the reasons Daniel was heading out there.

The other reason was that Jet was starting to lose his perspective along with his even temper. Daniel was afraid he might snap—and that would be disastrous for all of Attania.

Madelyne sat down on the sofa next to Attan. She watched the television silently for several minutes. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid when you go out there,” she said, softening her words with a brief smile. “I need him to come back to me.” She reached out for Attan’s hand, patting it with her own. “Would you like to feel the baby?” Still holding his hand, she put Attan’s hand on her abdomen. After about a minute, Attan felt a sudden movement.

He jerked his hand away. “Was that it—the baby?” At Madelyne’s nod, he tentatively put his hand back on her belly. After a moment, the baby kicked again. Attan grinned. “That’s amazing!”

“It is, isn’t it?” Madelyne smiled happily.

They were still watching television when Daniel found them a while later. “Maddie,” he said politely to the Queen. “I need to borrow the kid here for a while.”

Attan followed Daniel, becoming wind as he streamed high into the air above Wister. When they merged, he knew everything Daniel did. Ben had just communicated with Daniel. Tom had somehow slipped past his guards and was nowhere to be found. He didn’t want to blame Greg, but Attan’s friend was the most logical suspect. Tom’s former comrades had been cleared almost immediately; since coming to New Parrion, they truly believed they had entered

the Sons’ headquarters. Ben had separated them all and integrated them with his own Sons. They hadn’t been in contact with Tom Jadock for months. That left Greg Jadock, Tom’s brother.

“Greg wouldn’t do that,” Attan said. But Greg might. He’d done it before, when he believed in Tom’s vision. “Greg asked to join the Sons of Men.”

Daniel just looked at him. That wasn’t necessarily proof of Greg’s innocence. What if Greg had wanted to join so he could be close to his brother? Attan shook his head. He didn’t want to believe it of his friend, but . . . . “They should search Renn Jadock’s farm,” he said. “Midver, too.” He wanted to go back, in case Midver needed him, but Madelyne needed him too. His father needed him.