Lucky Rabbit

“So I’ve known all along,” Lian said, lifting his face to look, not at Pandy, but at his friends. “I knew my father had contracted with a powerful Dark elemental, that he broke… every law ever written about Dark magic, and that Thaniel is- He’s not-” He swallowed hard, fists clenching in his lap.

For the last fifteen minutes, his voice had been so dispassionate as to be inhuman. He told them about overhearing his father’s orders, about the fatal carriage trip, and even about Bryan Conroy bringing his son back from the dead. Only now did his voice waver or his expression shift, and Pandy was almost certain he’d forgotten she was even there.

“Every day, I expected the Knights to come. But they didn’t. Time passed, my leg healed, and we received a message that I should return to school. I ran. Left them behind, like the coward I am, but I didn’t tell anyone. I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk Thaniel-”

His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat, shaking his head as he went on, “But someone was bound to find out eventually. Our family would be disgraced. Father would be arrested, if he wasn’t simply killed, and I would be an accomplice, because I knew and didn’t say anything. Any friends I had would be in danger. You would be in danger. If they believed I told you, and you didn’t speak, you’d be as guilty as I. Especially you, K- Aiden.”

Looking up, he met the prince’s eyes. “You were so sick, and your father died, and I didn’t even know. Edgar sent me a letter, telling me, but I didn’t read it. I didn’t read Dorian’s letters, either. Such as they were.” He raised a brow at Dorian, who flushed, looking away. Now what was that about?

Sighing, Lian ran a hand through his hair, a gesture so reminiscent of Augustus when he was tired and let his chancellor persona slip that it caught Pandy off guard. Golden curls framed his face, making him look almost as much like an angel as Thaniel, though Pandy knew Lian at least was a fallen angel at best.

“I thought it would be better if I just stepped away from you all. Better for you and… less tempting for me. But now it’s all out,” he gave Pandy an unreadable glance. “So what do you have to say?”

Dorian looked conflicted, probably because his rule-following brain said he should be doing something, but the queen herself knew what was going on, if not the details Lian had just given them, which meant there was nothing left for him to do. Kaden, however, just crossed his arms and glared at Lian.

“We would have stood with you,” he said simply. “Even… even then. If you’d told me everything, I would have gone to Mother and we would have worked something out.”

Lian let out a derisive snort. “I know. That’s exactly why I couldn’t tell you.”

For a moment, it seemed the two might get into an argument over which one should have been allowed to protect the other, but then Edgar said, “What happened to the coachman?” Everyone stopped and looked at him. He was frowning thoughtfully as he added, “This Nels. You didn’t say what happened to him.”

Lian’s lip lifted. “If I knew that, I would have done something about it long ago.” This obviously held new meaning for everyone given what Pandy had told them about Lian becoming a mass murderer, and even Edgar looked a bit uncomfortable. Lian sighed and clarified.

“Of course Father sent people to the carriage the moment Thaniel and I were stabilized. They found it easily enough, simply by following the trail of destruction where it slid down the hill. It looked like the edge of the road crumbled, but right before that, marks from the wheels indicated that the carriage swerved wildly, though there was no indication of why. Mother’s- Mother was inside, beyond help, but Nels was nowhere to be found.”

He huffed out a breath, smoothing his hair back as he gathered his composure. “They found where I landed, based on the pile of branches and books stained with blood, as well as another, similar area higher up the hill. They think that’s where Nels fell, but there was no sign of him. If he died, he was carried off by something, and if he lived-” Baring his teeth, he said, “It was a very wise decision for him to flee.”

Pandy shivered. There was Killian again, cold and deadly, but Lian’s friends ignored it this time. Unimpressed, Edgar pressed again. “And George? The groundskeeper? Surely your father spoke to him.”

Lian sat back, then flinched away from a particularly painful pressure point. “George swore he never touched the carriage. He tried the first night, but Nels had fallen asleep among the hay near the door, and George was afraid he’d be discovered. After that, he thought he’d have plenty of time to try again, but he was busy getting the grounds ready for winter, and he simply never got to it. Father believed him, but I had a word with him myself.” His eyes were fragments of sub-zero gemstone. “I believe he was telling the truth about doing nothing, but only because he was too frightened to even try.”

Edgar nodded as if this confirmed something. “If so, then the logical conclusion is that it wasn’t sabotage, or at least not sabotage by the groundskeeper. But the question remains – was this truly an accident? And,” he pinned his friend with a look, “why exactly did your mother feel she needed to run? You told us what happened, but no part of that actually explained why she wasn’t willing to stay and be attended by your local healer. Why she specifically felt the need to come to Knightmere and the temple of Ismara.”

Lian glared at his friend, and if Pandy had been on the receiving end of that look, she would have frozen solid. Edgar just raised his brows and looked over the top of his adorable glasses. Finally, Lian said, “It was the baby.”

Expectant silence greeted this, but he didn’t give in, allowing it to stretch until Edgar said, “And?”

Lian gritted his teeth, gave Pandy another look that made it obvious he wished she wasn’t present for this conversation, then sighed and said, “Something was wrong with it. From the beginning, Mother struggled. I remember when she was pregnant with Thaniel, and it was like she glowed a little brighter every day. I suppose that should have told me he likely has Light magic, if I’d ever really thought about it.”

Slumping forward in a very un-Lian-like way, he said, “The first time I heard her mention going to Knightmere was a month or so after she told us about the baby. She brought it up at dinner, as if there was no question we would all go, and Father acted as though she’d slapped him. He left the room, and she followed. It was the first time I ever saw them fight.”

“But not the last,” Edgar said flatly.

“Far from it,” Lian admitted. “They tried to hide it from Thaniel and me, and I doubt Thaniel knew anything was going on after that first night. After I was sent home from school, however, I often stayed up at night to read or study, and sometimes they didn’t realize I was there. Something was wrong with the baby, something Mother couldn’t fix, but she thought someone at the temple could. Father-”

Here he frowned, looking truly puzzled. “Father thought he could take care of it, but he had no ability to heal. He didn’t even work with potions or medications of any kind. But Mother seemed to believe it was possible, which was why she waited as long as she did. Only when she sensed her time was coming did she decide she couldn’t wait any longer.”

Edgar pushed his glasses up with his forefinger, frowning in concentration. “What illness or malformation could a Dark elementalist repair that a Light elementalist could not?”

Lian stiffened at the word ‘malformation’, but didn’t protest. The idea had to have crossed his mind. “I have no idea,” he said, his voice as cold as his eyes. Edgar continued on, oblivious.

“You said they found your mother, but what of the baby?” he asked, and Lian gave a single, full body shudder.

“They couldn’t tell,” he said softly. “Her body was… burned. Father identified her himself, but there was so much damage. There was no way either of them could have survived.”

Lian was staring at his hands now. They hung limp and defeated, a child’s hands even now; soft fingers and wrists, still busy growing into their future strength. Above his head, Edgar and Kaden exchanged glances, then a nod before Kaden clapped Edgar on the back.

“Come on, enough of this. We should go and get lunch. Maybe let Edgar show us his new stallion.” He smirked at Edgar, whose cheeks actually pinkened slightly. What was happening? Before Pandy could think about that too hard, however, the prince was turning to her. “But first, where is my sister?”

Pandy sat up. Oh, yes, that was a thing she should check on! Though, wasn’t Eleanor’s presence supposed to be a secret? This time the smirk was aimed at her, as the prince seemed to read her mind. “They know, but of course we can’t talk about it outside of the library and here.”

Wait, did everyone know the library was Professor Beeswick’s personal domain? Why was Pandy always the last to find out about all the cool stuff? Feeling slightly put-upon, she levered herself to her feet, pointedly ignored Dorian – who had to be a full foot taller than her already – as she squeezed out of the door and shouted, “Ellie!”

Immediately, loud shuffling could be heard, with several voices speaking in excited whispers. Rather than coming down from upstairs, however, someone emerged from the door leading to the servant’s quarters. That someone was not Ellie. In fact, it wasn’t anyone Pandy recognized.

The child wore a pair of rough-spun linen coveralls over a brown shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal tanned forearms. Their hair was a rough crown of medium-brown curls only a few shades darker than their skin. They had straight, heavy brows that tilted down at the outside, making them look perpetually surprised and not terribly bright, and enough dirt beneath their chewed-off fingernails that it was visible even in the ever-inadequate lighting of Avington House.

“Yes?” they said in Eleanor’s voice, staring at Pandy with Eleanor’s eyes. Well, eyes the same color as Eleanor’s anyway, but their lashes were short and dark, rather than long and pale, and their eyes were hooded.

Someone pushed out from behind Pandy, and Kaden said, “Eleanor?” in a voice that couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d been smacked upside the head with an electric tortoise.

Eleanor’s cheeks darkened beneath whatever makeup had been used to alter her skin tone and features. “Kaden?” she squeaked.

“What happened?” the crown prince asked, looking distinctly pale as he stepped closer to his little sister. Turning to face Pandy, there was no missing his shock and anger as he repeated, “What happened?”

She shook her head, at as much of a loss as he was, when Empress Glory stepped out into the hall behind Eleanor. The Empress, too, had changed. She now wore a dress that was the very picture of what Pandy imagined a governess might wear. Her throat and wrists were covered in close-fitting lace, and her dress hugged her upper body without being too revealing, while the skirt swept to the floor in understated elegance. She even had small golden spectacles perched on the end of her nose, and freckles dusted her cheeks.

“This is Evan, a kitchen boy,” Glory said, her whole body stiff with propriety as she dipped into a curtsey that was probably exactly the right depth and angle for a tutor welcoming home her employer.

‘Evan’ nodded vigorously, then grinned so broadly Pandy thought ‘his’ face might split. “Gloria is going to teach me how to act! She dyed my hair and skin, so I can even go out in the rain. It takes a special soap to get the dye off. And there’s no magic involved.”

“You cut your hair,” Kaden said, voice choked, and Eleanor’s hand went to her head as she bit her lip.

“We had to. I couldn’t hide it all under a hat all the time. But Kaden, I like it.” She shook her head, curls bouncing. “I feel so much lighter! And it will grow again.”

Kaden looked like he was going to swallow his tongue, so Pandy moved in between the prince and his sister, desperately hoping this wasn’t going to end in her becoming a bunny-kabob. It was Empress Glory’s fault, anyway. But if Kaden stabbed Glory, the woman would be really-dead, while if he stabbed Pandy, she would only be temporary-dead. Slightly-more-dead, temporarily?

“Does Mother… know?” the prince finally managed, as his friends gathered around him in the hall. Isidor was there too, and he looked like he was enjoying himself almost as much as Eleanor was.

“Oh,” Eleanor said guiltily. “I couldn’t tell her. I thought it would take longer before-” She glanced back at Glory, who raised a cloth bag.

“I’ll make a wig of the hair we cut off,” she said calmly. “If she washes off the dye and puts on the wig, no one will know anything has changed. Though she said she shouldn’t need to go out as Eleanor for a few months at least.” Folding her arms across her chest, she gave the prince an insouciant lift of the brow.

Releasing a slow breath, Kaden managed to say, “That’s true. And I suppose this is… an added layer of protection. As long as you’re happy?” He gave Eleanor a piercing look, and she nodded vigorously, the grin returning.

“I like pants!” she announced, sticking out a brown, bare foot and wiggling her dirty toes at them all.