“Will you let us see it?” Aden inquired.
“Get off my bed, you beast,” Onric teased, with only a hint of real annoyance. “And take the pup too.”
“Haha.” Aden scooped up his puppy and settled on a cushioned chair in front of the roaring fireplace. “Very funny.”
“Yes,” Ian said, answering Aden’s initial question while throwing a sidelong glance at Onric. “But we are not using it.”
“Can I see it?” Aden asked.
“It’s harmless, Ian.” Onric reached into the pocket of his jerkin and withdrew a small silver case that fit easily in the palm of his hand. It was cylindrical in shape, delicately constructed of thin silver panels that had been embossed with a pattern of trailing leaves.
“That’s it?” Aden sounded disappointed.
Onric carefully pressed his thumb against an indentation along one side, and the cylinder opened up to reveal a simple iron needle. Its dark color and rough texture contrasted with the elegant case it was sitting in. He picked it up, carefully turning it over. “It’s a needle. What were you expecting?”
“I don’t know. Something a little more flashy.” Aden stood to get a closer look.
“Enchanted items were commonplace back then,” Onric explained, still examining the rough needle.
“And now they are highly illegal, and we are going to send it to the Council per the Edict of Cleansing.” Ian had not moved further into the room, but he spoke with the easy authority that one who is both the crown prince and the eldest of five siblings is naturally accustomed to.
“We do not even know if itisspelled.” Onric placed the needle back in its elegant case. “Should we not find that out before wasting the Council’s time?”
“The law states that all items suspected of being enchanted are to be turned in for inspection and confiscation. They are too dangerous to be trifled with.”
Onric knew the law. And he knew that Ian knew that he knew the law. They had taken all the same classes together. “It’s just a needle. We’ll ask Mum and Dad when they return.” He put the case back in his pocket, hoping that by alluding to their parents he had satisfied Ian’s high moral standards.
“They’re back!” The door to his room slammed open and his younger sister, Meena, bounced in. At eighteen years old, she was the spoiled baby of the family but Onric respected her for her fierce confidence.
“Who is back?”
“Mum and Dad!” Twenty-year-old Erich followed Meena into the room. “And they want to see us all. Now.”
Onric followed his two younger siblings to their parents’ spacious suite. The salon attached to their rooms was the preferred family meeting place, away from the palace visitors and staff. A place for family alone. Mostly it was where they relaxed together, but occasionally it was used as a meeting place for more important things the family needed to discuss. And when one was part of a royal family, there were a lot of important discussions.
Walking quickly, Onric passed his younger siblings, even though Erich was taller than him, and entered the salon first. His parents were seated on a velvet-covered bench and rose as he entered the room. He encompassed his mother in a warm hug.
“Welcome home, Mum,” he said.
“I missed you.” She hugged him back. She was a head shorter than Onric, but she could easily command any room with the natural dignity of a queen. Then again, she was a queen. After a close embrace, she released him to hug her other children.
As Onric turned towards his father, he realized they were not alone.
An unassuming middle-aged man stood outside the cozy circle of chairs. His hands rested on the back of one as he watched the family reunion. He immediately seemed out of place. Whether it was his fair skin and light hair, which marked him as a foreigner, or just the way he had separated himself from everyone else in the room, Onric could not tell.
Noticing that Onric had seen him, however, he dipped his head in acknowledgment.
Onric responded with a curt nod but continued towards his father to welcome him home. Though he felt uncomfortable with the stranger’s eyes on him, he gave his father a hug. King Frederich was taller than all four of his sons, although Erich had nearly caught up with him. “Welcome back, Dad.”
“I’m sure we were sorely missed.” His father’s low voice held a hint of sarcasm.
“Of course you were,” Onric responded, feigning hurt. He stepped out of the way when his father turned to hug Ian, settling on a comfortably padded wooden chair where he could keep the stranger in full view. His parents would introduce the man when they were ready.
His eyes wandered back to his parents, noticing the weariness in their posture even as they joyfully hugged each of their children. The lines around his mother’s eyes seemed to have deepened. Both of his parents seemed frighteningly aged, despite having been gone for only five weeks.
If they had invited a stranger into the family salon, then this meeting was for more than just a welcome home conversation. Guessing at what they might say, Onric felt justified in his search for the spelled needle.
“While it is good to see you all again,” his father said, catching the first pause in conversation, “your mother and I do have some news to share before we retire, which we are eager to do.”
