Prince of Attania, 2

Attan spent his time going back and forth between Arden and Midver. Now that the new royal babies were born, nobody paid that much attention to him, so he usually went in Elemental form. Sometimes, when he visited Midver, he never left Elemental form.

His purpose was to check for signs of Tom Jadock, Merrell’s killer. Attan had friends in Midver, but none of them were human. Once he’d made sure there was no sign of Tom, Attan joined Midver’s free elementals and roved the maze of caves and caverns below the town.

He reported to Daniel regularly, and still attended classes at Arden when he was in the area. Mattie in particular used Attan as a teaching tool. That didn’t endear him to the other students. Attan felt most comfortable in Elemental form, and escaped to Midver whenever he could.

Attan had seen his new siblings briefly after they were born, but until now had not been formally introduced. Daniel informed him that he needed to put in an appearance at Darcy in his capacity as First Prince. He met his mother and Macek Merrell in Low City so that they could travel together to the capital. Doll was a Queen in her own right, and mother of the First Prince, so she would attend the welcoming ceremony beside her son.

She looked the same to Attan, who saw her inner self, a core of fire. On the outside, she may have had a few more wrinkles, not many, but enough to show she was slowly aging while Jet was not. Maybe it was because they were so often apart these days. Doll did not merge in her Elemental state as often as when Jet was with her. Now that Attan no longer lived at home either, she had little call to transform. Attan merged with her, fire to fire, and felt her strength. Doll didn’t mind. It was inevitable, and she still had Macek.

You have me and Dad too, Attan thought, pouring it into their merge not so much in words as in emotions. Don’t leave us.

That startled Doll back into physicality. She laughed. “I’m not that old!” She drew her son into a hug, marveling at how tall he’d gotten since the last time she’d seen him.

Attan wasn’t sure what to expect when he met his new brothers and sister. He didn’t expect to feel such an irresistible pull to merge with them. One look at the other two Queens, however, made him reconsider. Jet had told him their views on the matter.

Queen Doll took her place on her husband’s left, with Attan on her left. Jet squeezed her hand. On Jet’s right was Darcy’s Queen Lorra, holding her twins on a cradle of air beside her, though the girl, Lilli, kept trying to climb out. Lorra held her in place with fingers of wind. The other twin, the little boy Bian, was content to gaze around the room, wide-eyed. His gaze caught on his father’s familiar face and he calmed right down. There were advantages to being Darcy-born. The King was often in residence.

To Lorra’s right stood the third Queen, Madelyne of Wister, holding tightly to the hand of a little boy who obviously didn’t want to be held. He tugged at her and whined his displeasure until she knelt down and whispered something in his ear. Then he quieted down, with a satisfied grin on his young face. Attan wondered what Madelyne had promised him to get him to behave.

News cameras were everywhere as the King introduced his heirs to the world. Macek hovered in the background, directing the questions the reporters were allowed to ask. He had been a good choice to handle the media. No one asked if Attan would be supplanted by his young brother Zephyr, though that question was foremost in everyone’s mind.

Afterward, the family met more informally in a private dining room. Only Jet, his wives, and his children were allowed. The women were easy with each other, though Madelyne and Lorra each kept their children by their sides. Jet gravitated towards Doll, whom he hadn’t seen in months, leaving Attan at loose ends. He didn’t want to intrude on this rare private moment between his parents.

Lorra had let the twins out of their cradle and now they were crawling around the floor at her feet. Lilli pulled herself up on her mother’s leg and held on with one tiny hand. Bian crawled steadily towards Jet, who sat on a sofa with Doll. Jet lifted up his young son and held him easily while he talked to Doll. Attan smiled wistfully.

He caught Zephyr staring curiously at him from across the room. Madelyne motioned him over. “Zeph,” she said, “this is your older brother Attan. Say hello.”

Zephyr looked up at him, not at all shy. “Hello,” he dutifully said. He reached out his hand to touch Attan. “You’re big.”

Madelyne gently pulled Zephyr’s hands down to his sides. “That’s not polite, Zephyr,” she admonished him. But that wasn’t the reason, Attan knew. His smile was a little strained. Did Madelyne really think he would hurt his own brother?

Food was brought in and placed upon a long buffet table against one wall, and gradually everyone relaxed. Zephyr followed Attan around the room asking incessant questions. “What’s that? Can I have one? Are you really my brother? Why are you bigger than me?”

Finally, Attan sat him down at a table and put a plate of fruit and crackers in front of him. He sat down next to the boy and took a cracker off the plate. “Mmm, good,” he lied.

Jet grinned from across the room to see his two sons interacting. He still held Bian loosely on his lap while Doll cooed to the little boy. Lorra and Madelyne were deep in conversation by the buffet table.

Little Lilli suddenly let go of her mother’s leg and tottered across the room. Zephyr noticed her first. “Lilli!” he shouted, scrambling out of his chair to embrace his little half-sister gently. Attan jumped up, too, unsure what he should do, but the mothers had it under control, praising both Lilli and Zephyr.

Lilli took several more steps between her mother and Madelyne, her mother and Jet, Jet and Doll. It was left to Attan to keep Zephyr from interfering, as he kept trying to ‘catch’ the little girl so she wouldn’t fall. Attan threw an apple to Zephyr, who caught it awkwardly, delighted at the new game.

He ran towards Attan, apple poised to throw, when he stumbled and fell forward into Attan. Only he didn’t collide with him, he went through Attan, instinctively merging to avoid injury. Attan released his physical self almost immediately when it became apparent the little boy did not know how to take his back. Jet flowed into them too, forgetting in the moment that he held young Bian on his lap. He transformed with his younger son.

It was all over in an instant; Attan found Zephyr’s essence and coaxed it back into physical form, with Jet, still holding Bian, right behind him. They met the horrified stares of the mothers, except Doll, who only looked concerned.

“It wasn’t my fault!” Attan blurted.

Lorra quickly snatched Bian out of Jet’s arms, checking him over for any signs of damage. Madelyne held onto Zephyr, and the look she shot Jet was one of pure panic. “He’s too young!”

“He’s fine,” Jet replied. “They both are.”

Zephyr stared wide-eyed at his brothers and father, not sure of what he’d done to merit all the attention. His little form wavered, and Madelyne clutched him to her protectively. “He’s not fine!” she snapped. That didn’t help matters. Zephyr continued to lose his hold on his own substance, flickering into invisibility and out of it until Attan was sure he’d disappear completely again.

Jet held out his hand. “May I?”

Madelyne reluctantly let go, and Zephyr came to his father who transformed once more, taking his young son with him.

Attan badly wanted to join them, but he held himself back. It was very quiet in the dining room, with only young Lilli’s pleased gurgles rising and falling in the background as she walked along the edge of the sofa.

Long minutes later, Jet reappeared with Zephyr in his arms. “He’ll be fine now,” he reassured Madelyne, handing her son back to her. “But he needs teaching so he doesn’t go wandering off on his own. Attan—“

“I can teach him myself,” Madelyne interjected. “He doesn’t need to come to Arden yet. He’s still a baby.”

“Agreed,” Jet said. “I thought Attan could come to you in Wister and help guide the boy until he’s a little older.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Even Attan knew it. “Thank you, but no,” Madelyne replied. “You’re his father. I’d rather you visit him in Wister more often to check his progress.” She had seen Attan disappear when her son accidentally merged with him, but she hadn’t realized that he had been the one to bring her son back.

Jet gave in. He didn’t want his son at Arden at such a young age, either. “I’ll make a point of it. Zephyr knows he can’t transform without an adult to help him, so you shouldn’t run into too many problems.”

Bian was not far behind his sister in walking, and Lorra soon had her hands full with two mobile toddlers, one of whom had experienced transforming to his Elemental state, though, unlike Zephyr, Bian had shown no signs of being able to do it on his own yet. Jet was kept busy shuttling between Wister and Darcy to oversee his children’s esoteric education a lot sooner than anyone had planned.

Attan found himself at loose ends again: the Prince whom no one really wanted around. No, that wasn’t quite fair. Jet wanted him around, and Lorra and Madelyne both liked Attan. They just didn’t trust him near their kids.