Quest Maker (20 page)

C
aden tried to force himself to cut Brynne's hair in the middle of class and, later, at the kitchen table—both at times he expected someone would stop him. But he couldn't do it. It was as if doing so with assured failure was the same as disobeying. He tried to tell them, but found that the orders prevented him from doing that, too.

Rosa had made him his favorite Ashevillian meal: trout tacos. It had the uncomfortable feel of a last meal.

“You're not eating,” she said.

“I'm not hungry.”

Likely, Rosa thought his lack of appetite was because of his impending visit to the caseworker the next day. It was true that he was nervous about that. Now, however, he was more worried about what he might do to Brynne—and what Brynne would do to him if he succeeded and cut her
hair. He looked across the table at her. He needed to warn her somehow.

Her hair hung loose around her shoulders. Here with Rosa and her friends, Brynne seemed to feel safe. But she wasn't, not tonight. When Caden kept staring, she arched her brows.

“Is my beauty blinding you?”

“Take care of your hair,” he said.

Rosa's frown deepened. Likely, he was doing nothing to persuade her that he was sane. But the curse gave him no choice.

Caden leaned forward. “You must be careful, Brynne.”

Tito was on taco number five. He leaned over and whispered, “Stop saying weird stuff.”

“As you wish,” Caden said.

“Caden,” Rosa said gently, “is something wrong? You can tell me. I do want to help.”

But he couldn't tell her. He couldn't tell any of them. “A kind offer. But I can't say what's wrong.” His friends didn't even seem suspicious. They probably thought he couldn't speak because of Tito's order. He turned to his taco. A future Elite Paladin needed to keep a healthy diet, and he hadn't eaten much this week. Rosa wouldn't believe him anyway.

After dinner, while Rosa tinkered with her art, they sat on the porch. The air was cool, and there was an earthy smell in the evening mist. The half-moon hung
low in the sky. Caden scowled at it.

He had to make the others understand. He tried mimicking something like hair cutting, but it seemed the closest he could do was sword form number three.

“It's too late to practice,” Tito said.

It was never too late to practice, but that wasn't Caden's aim. “No,” Caden said. He pointed to Brynne, then spelled out “C-A-R-E-F-U-L” on his phone. He showed the others.

Jane looked at it and smiled. “You spelled a word,” she said.

He sat a little straighter. Perhaps spelling contests had some value after all. “Careful,” he said.

Brynne seemed less impressed. “Careful? You're making even less sense than usual.”

Caden couldn't say “I'm going to cut off your hair tonight and take it to Rath Dunn” although he felt most certainly that he was going to do so. “Rath Dunn still wants your hair. It's an ingredient in his spell.”

“We already know that,” Brynne said.

“You're in danger.”

“I know. But you know who will be in real danger. The person who tries to cut my hair.” She patted him on the shoulder. “Don't worry. Anyone trying will regret it.”

Caden already regretted it. He got a paper and pen, but all he could write was “be vigilant” in the common tongue. It seemed writing and speaking both counted as telling.

Tito leaned forward. “Okay, weirdo, I order you to tell me what's wrong.”

An order. But Rath Dunn had given him the order first, and as he had learned, the order given to him first was the one he must obey. The clearest Caden could communicate was “I'm worried for tomorrow.”

“You have your proof,” Brynne said. “It will be enough. All you have to do is get it to Ms. Primrose tomorrow.” She smiled. “Then you and Prince Jasan will be saved.”

“What you need to be worrying about now is the meeting with the caseworker,” Tito said.

“There are more pressing matters.”

“If you're hauled away, the other matters won't get solved, bro. Not by you, anyway.”

Brynne stretched and looked at the sky. “I'm going to bed.” She pointed to Caden. “You go to bed, too. You need to rest. Admit it, I'm right.”

That was an order. It didn't seem Brynne, Tito, or Jane realized it. Caden got up to head to his bed. “You're right,” he mumbled.

In one last-ditch effort before bed, he asked Sir Tito to tie his hands with the laces of his shoes. “Bro, no,” Tito said. “Go to sleep already.”

Caden went to sleep. He awoke in the middle of the night. Tito was sprawled across his bed, his eyes were shut, his face slack and peaceful. His purple quilt was in a wad at the corner of his bed.

Caden felt his rebellious legs swing out of the covers. He gripped the sheets until his fingers were numb. He had to stay in bed. He didn't. He got up.

As he passed Tito, he tried to knock the bed, hit the wall, slam the bathroom door. Do something to wake him. But his body wouldn't do as he wanted.

In the bathroom, he grabbed the sharp scissors he used to trim his hair every two weeks. Then he sneaked down the stairs. The creaky step didn't even creak.

The door to Rosa's room was open, and he heard her snoring. If he could just wake her somehow, she'd know something wasn't right. With all his willpower he tried to turn into her room. As soon as she awoke and saw the scissors, she'd stop him.

He didn't walk into her room. His feet turned. His hands quietly opened the door to the girls' room. It was dimly lit from a nightlight in the corner and the moon out the window. Brynne slept in the bottom bunk curled up like a wind cat. Jane was in the top, a small lump under the pink-and-white quilt. He tried to scream. To bang into the nightstand. He tried to stomp on the floor but ended up simply doing a light-footed dance. He'd trained with third-born Lucian in stealth. No matter how hard he tried, he made no sound.

The girls didn't wake.

Like usual, Brynne had braided her hair to sleep. It hung across her face. He crouched and willed her to awaken. She didn't. With three swift cuts, her braid was in his hand and he was creeping back upstairs.

He felt the deep heat of shame on his cheeks. Maybe
Brynne was right to like Jasan so much more than him. Jasan had saved Brynne's hair. Caden had cut it.

He tucked the hair in the pocket of his coat and climbed into bed. Tomorrow, he'd give Rath Dunn the hair. He looked at the half-moon shining from the window. Caden would help his enemy and his enemy would wonder why. If Rath Dunn figured his curse out, the next order might be to hurt Brynne or Jane or Tito. Or maybe he'd order Caden to collect Jasan's blood, and Jasan would be betrayed by yet another brother.

Caden awoke to screaming. He hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep. The hair. He jumped from bed and ran down the steps. He heard Tito run behind him. Rosa was out of her room, baseball bat in hand, nightgown crooked. She stood at the door to the girls' room.

“Brynne, calm down.” That was Jane. “It . . . it doesn't look that bad.” She did not sound convincing.

Caden stopped in the hall. Tito ran past him until he was standing beside Rosa. He looked into the room, then out at Caden, then back into the room. Tito creased his brow.

Brynne burst from the doorway. “My hair!” She was crying. Her hair frizzed in short strands. It was uneven and longer on the left than the right. “My hair . . .” She turned and saw Caden standing at the end of the hall. She knew at once. “You did this.”

Everyone stared at him. Rosa's mouth was agape. Caden felt a flush fill his cheeks. It was his fault, but if Brynne hadn't cursed him, this never would have happened. He hadn't wanted to cut her hair. He would never hurt her. “I tried to warn you.” Suddenly, he felt angry, too. “It's because you cursed me.”

Brynne looked ready to tackle him.

Rosa grabbed Brynne by the shoulder to stop her, then made her take several deep breaths. With great care, she released her. “You're just as lovely with short hair,” Rosa said. “You girls get dressed and wait for me downstairs. You too, Tito.”

“I didn't have a choice,” Caden said again. What use was it? Rosa wouldn't believe him.

Brynne hadn't moved. Rosa gently pushed her toward her room. “Get dressed,” she said. She gave Jane and Tito pointed looks, and they ambled toward their respective rooms and day clothes. “You three have school.” She hadn't included Caden in that.

Soon, Caden and Rosa were alone in the hall. “Did you cut Brynne's hair last night?”

“Tell no one.”
Caden frowned. “I can't say.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing good.”

Brynne opened her bedroom door and said, “I can't go to school like this.”

“Brynne, you can't miss school. The awards ceremony
is today. We'll fix it.” She motioned her back inside. “I need to talk to Caden.”

She was going to take him to the nuthouse. He'd lose his friends and his horse. And if he didn't go to school today to give Ms. Primrose the evidence and complete his quest, he'd lose his life.

He felt his heart plummet.

Brynne took a shaky breath. Through gritted teeth, she said, “It's not his fault, not really. Please don't send him away.” Brynne sometimes withheld information. She teased him and tormented him. But she would never truly let harm come to him. They were allies. They were friends. “It's . . . I cursed him. Someone must have ordered him. Rath Dunn, no doubt. Or Mr. Bellows.” Her tone became scathing again. “He already tried to get my hair once. He'll regret that.”

Rosa looked even more concerned.

While Caden appreciated Brynne finally admitting he was telling the truth, this wasn't the best time to do it. “You're doing nothing to convince her I'm a good influence,” he said.

Brynne put her hands on her hips. “I'm trying to help you, prince.”

Rosa looked at Caden. “Go get dressed, too, while I figure out what to do with you.”

An order. “As you wish.”

Tito was dressed and pacing the attic room. “What the
crap, Caden?” he said. “Rosa will send you away for sure now. How did this happen?”

“I can't say.”

Rosa called for Tito. She probably didn't want him alone with Caden, lest Tito start talking about tyrants and witches, too. Tito turned toward the steps. “Be there in a minute.”

Caden sat on the bed. The hair was tucked in his coat pocket. “Bring it to me.” The order was like a physical pull. He couldn't let anyone keep him from the school today.

From under the bed, he saw the edge of the escape rope. The pull of compliance was strong. He had to get to the school before he was carted away to the Ashevillian nuthouse.

He chose the blue T-shirt with pictures of snowflakes. It reminded him of home. In the mountains of the Winterlands, there was always snow. Asheville was turning warm. There hadn't been snow in weeks. Perhaps the flakes on his shirt would give him luck. He pulled on his coat, his cell phone and magic paper clips in one pocket, his compass and Brynne's hair in the other. Hot or not, he would wear it.

Tito watched him. “What's going on?”

“I told you, I can't say.”

Tito frowned. “Don't do it.”

Like before, Tito's order seemed to have no precedence over the earlier one. “I'm going to do what I'm going to do.”
Of that, Caden was certain.

“Okay. I order you not to do it.”

“It doesn't work that way.” How Caden wished it did. “You know whatever order I get first, I have to follow. Especially if it's from someone of higher rank.”

Tito walked back and forth across the room. He seemed to be thinking hard. “Yeah, okay,” he said. He was sharp. Surely, he'd guessed what was happening with Brynne's magical locks, whose order Caden was following.

“And you know what I'm about to do,” Caden said.

“Based on Brynne's new hairdo, I can guess.” Tito looked worried. “I could try to stop you,” he said.

Caden wasn't sure if that would work. “I feel like I'd fight you on that.” As good as Tito was with training, as much natural talent as he possessed, Caden still had years of experience on him. Years where he'd trained with brothers gifted in leadership, strength, stealth, accuracy, fortitude, agility, and speed. “I feel like I'd win.”

Despite Tito's worry, he snorted at that. “Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that, Your Smugness.”

“I feel like I'd win,” Caden said again. He grabbed the escape rope. “I feel like I'd win.” With exasperation, he turned to Tito and gave him a look. “I feel like I'd win.”

“You can stop now.”

Caden stopped. He placed his hand on Tito's shoulder. After stealing Brynne's braid, Caden had spent the night in fitful dreams. But he'd also come up with a plan, one that
might help them on this dark day. He might have no choice but to give Rath Dunn the hair, but maybe he could use it to his advantage.