Summer's Cauldron (6 page)

“And I am his wife,” a woman with a gentle British accent said as she stepped up beside Mr. Apollo. She was nearly half a head taller than Mr. Apollo, with long, flame-like hair sitting in an unruly mane around a narrow, porcelain-white face, complimented by a dazzling necklace of nine large sapphires hung along an intricately woven gold chain. The glittering stones seemed to glow from within as they caught and reflected the golden light of early evening.

“My
lovely and enchanting
wife, Esmeralda.” Mr. Apollo corrected. “The star of
The Eternal Story
and the woman whose brilliant idea it was to bring the carnival across the ocean once again to see the Americas.”

“Oh, posh,” Esmeralda said with a wink at her husband. “I haven’t been to Runewood since I was a girl. I grew up in the carnival, you know, and left it for some inexplicable reason when I thought I was too grown-up for such things.”

“One is never too grown-up for the carnival,” Mr. Apollo said, his voice deep and serious.

“Fortunately, I met Mr. Apollo after he bought the carnival, and he showed me the error in my judgment,” Esmeralda said.

“The only fault I have ever found,” Mr. Apollo said, beaming at his wife.

“You don’t have to charm me, Dear,” Esmeralda said, her eyes twinkling at her husband’s words, “I’ve already bought a ticket.”

“For life, no less,” Mr. Apollo said with a laugh as he kissed his wife’s cheek.

“Victoria, you are looking as lovely as ever,” Esmeralda said, turning from her husband to Victoria, Alex, and the Guild.

“Thank you, Mrs. Apollo,” Victoria said, trading triple cheek kisses with Esmeralda. “Allow me to introduce my friends.”

“Oh, they hardly need any introduction,” Esmeralda said, turning to the others with a wide smile. “A boy of your size, you are clearly Clark, brave young giant. And you must be Ben, the boy who held a dragon’s fire. This must be the lovely and talented Daphne, whose fine control of magic is remarkable beyond her age. And you are Rafael, changeling of renowned skill. Which means you must be Nina, young adventuress and sister of this young man, who is, no doubt, Alex Ravenstar, savior of Runewood, and quite possibly, the rest of the world.”

The radiance of Esmeralda’s smile washed over Alex much as her words had and he felt his face burning with embarrassment. He could see the other members of the Guild were just as enchanted and self-conscious as he was. He never got used to this. Being known for saving the town from the Shadow Wraith had seemed like a great thing for the first day or so. Soon the constant stares and whispers and people stopping to thank him had grown wearisome and altogether annoying. The unwanted attention it brought him from the girls at school might have been enjoyable, if it were not for the fact that they seemed to annoy the one girl, or girl centaur, whose attention he actually desired.

As the months had passed, Anna and the Mad Mages spread rumors suggesting Alex had been less central than he had claimed in the battle to seal the Shadow Wraith back in its prison and the townspeople of Runewood gradually lost interest in him and the Guild. But, everyone still knew what they had done. Now, it seemed the story of their exploits had traveled far beyond the mountain walls of the Rune Valley.

“Esmeralda, you’ve made them uncomfortable about their uniqueness,” Mr. Apollo said.

“They should be proud of being unique,” Esmeralda said, staring into Alex’s eyes. “It’s our specialness that makes us important. Don’t let anyone tell you different.”

“You don’t need to worry about my brother not thinking he’s special,” Nina said, poking Alex in the ribs.

“I suspect you are all very special,” Mr. Apollo said. “Now, if I know Victoria, she is in the mood to get under foot and poke around where she shouldn’t be, while the carnival sets up.” His eyes twinkled as he teased her.

“I do not poke around,” Victoria said, her chin rising with her voice. “I investigate.” Mr. Apollo and Esmeralda laughed.

“Then please be our guests and investigate to your heart’s content,” Esmeralda said.

“And be sure to tell your father we are holding his usual booth under the usual terms, should he wish to have it,” Mr. Apollo said. “Now, if you will excuse us, there is a carnival to pull up out of near nothingness before the sun is down.”

Mr. Apollo and Esmeralda waved as they walked toward a group of carnies pulling boxes from a wagon. Alex looked around at his friends. Nina smiled at him.

“We’re famous,” Nina said in an awed voice.

“Around the gorping world,” Daphne said with a laugh.

“Yeah,” Alex said with a sigh. “Great.”

“Well, at least we’re famous for doing something good,” Clark pointed out.

“Good?” Ben said. “We saved the town from the Shadow Wraith. That’s better than good.”

“Being famous doesn’t feel as fun as I thought it would,” Rafael said. “Maybe we should try being rich instead.”

“It seems the sensible thing to do is ignore it until it fades away,” Victoria said.

“Well, lucky for us,” Alex said, looking over at Victoria, “we always do the sensible thing.”

Everyone laughed and Alex felt the tension in his shoulders melt away. It was a strain having people know you before you knew them, especially if they knew you for something you had done. Particularly if that something seemed heroic. What most people didn’t understand was that Alex didn’t think of himself as heroic. He had only done what he felt certain most people would have done in the same situation — what was necessary. Moreover, he knew the others in the Guild felt the same way.

“Time for the tour,” Alex said to Victoria. “Show us all the best parts of the carnival.”

“Oh, yes,” Victoria said, her long hair swishing in time with her tail. “That’s exactly what I’ll do.”

Victoria led them through the grounds as the carnie workers swarmed around them, the carnival slowly taking shape and coming to life with every passing minute. Victoria kept up a running commentary about which ride was which, what games offered the best odds of winning, which sideshow acts were the most interesting, all the while waving to old friends, exchanging hugs and kisses and brief introductions of the Guild before passing on to the next fascinating sight.

“Those two long boxes are coffins. Bernard and Heloise are vampires. They’ve been married forever. Or at least a couple of centuries. They have an act, but they are also the night guards. Who better to guard the grounds at night than vampires?

“That thing there will become the
Giant’s Wheel
. Goliath the giant runs it. That’s him there. His real name’s not Goliath. It’s Horace. But who wants to ride a Ferris wheel manned by a giant named Horace?

“That wagon holds a water tank. A mermaid and a selkie share it. Velma and Paulina. Look, they’re waving. Hello. They are terribly nice when they’ve had a chance to swim a bit, but they can be ever so cranky when they have been cooped up in the tank for too long. I hope they have time to make it to the lake before they leave.

“Over there, that’s Nick and Nora, the naga and nagini. They are perfectly wonderful people, but I can never be around them for too long. As soon and their snake half starts moving, I feel an overwhelming urge to stomp on them. Don’t tell them I said that, though. They were very nice to me when I was little. And this is…”

Victoria continued her descriptive tour as the as they journeyed through the carnival grounds and the sun slowly sank to meet the horizon. As it did, the carnival gradually filled with shadows. As it grew darker, Alex became more certain someone was following them. A shadowy figure, all in black, would appear at the corner of his eye, but was gone when he tried to look at it directly. It was as if the person melted into the darkness between the tents and wagons and carnival booths. The presence of something, or someone, watching from the shadows brought back unpleasant memories.

“I think someone is following us,” Alex whispered to Rafael. He whispered not so much to keep the knowledge from the others, they knew enough not to stare around and give away the advantage, but more to ensure that whoever was in the shadows did not realize Alex had discovered their presence.

“I don’t see anyone,” Rafael said, risking a quick glance in the direction Alex had indicated. “And I can’t smell anything odd, other than all the aromas of a carnival.”

“Keep an eye out,” Alex said. Being a changeling gave Rafael much better eyesight than a normal human being.

“And this is Melvin,” Victoria said as Alex turned his attention back to her voice.

“Which one?” Alex asked.

Even as accustomed as he was to strange creatures and wondrous sights, Alex found his mouth gaping open as he watched a minotaur struggle with a griffin in front of a large open cage with thick black iron bars. The minotaur stood nearly seven feet tall, with muscled arms the size of small tree trunks. His bull face was contorted in a grimace as the griffin’s wings whipped about his head and its large beak snapped at his hands.

“Get in there, you dozy beast,” the minotaur said in a thick Irish accent. With a great shove, the minotaur knocked the griffin into the cage. Before the griffin could recover, the minotaur slammed the cage door shut. “How many times have I told you, no flying at night. It scares the locals.”

“I see Sheila is still giving you trouble,” Victoria said to the minotaur, who was obviously Melvin.

“Victoria,” Melvin said, his bull face breaking into something resembling a smile as he lumbered forth and wrapped his massive arms around Victoria. She made brief, and largely unnecessary, introductions of Alex and the Guild.

“Ah yes, the heroes of Runewood,” Melvin said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Victoria, it’s so good to see you. I was hoping I’d run into you. Is your father here? Will he have his booth again? He still owes me a game of chess.”

“I’m sure Daddy will have his booth again,” Victoria said. “I can’t imagine he could resist. Any more than he could resist a game of chess.”

“And a mug of ale,” Melvin said with a deep rumbling chuckle. “The only chance I have of beating him is if he has me down two to one in pints of ale.”

“You are a bad influence on Daddy,” Victoria said with a chiding wave of her finger.

“I’m a bad influence on everyone,” Melvin said, laughing again. “These daft creatures most of all. The which, I should attend to. You tell your father I said I’d spot him one pawn and two pints.”

“I will inform him of your challenge,” Victoria said as Melvin waved and headed off to a row of cages near the wagons, cages containing creatures Alex wasn’t sure he could identify.

“Melvin is the creature trainer.” Victoria reached through the bars of the cage holding Sheila the griffin and petted her on the head. Sheila rubbed up against Victoria’s hand and squawked with pleasure. “All of the creatures have acts. Sheila here does absolutely amazing aerial acrobatics. Although she does have a habit of carrying off local livestock that gets her into trouble.” Sheila snapped her beak at Victoria, who simply laughed and pulled her hand away.

Alex was more than a little impressed with the fact Victoria had spent so much time with the carnival and knew so many of its most interesting people. He was even more impressed with the fact she seemed so universally well-liked by everyone they encountered. Apparently, he was not the only one swayed by her many charms. Alex was about to compliment Victoria on this when he noticed her attention had turned to a young centaur carrying a stack of wooden crates across the grounds. The crates obscured the centaur’s face, but Alex could see a shock of black hair waving behind the boxes.

“Oh, goodness me,” Victoria said. “A centaur. I haven’t seen another centaur in ages. Hello. Hello there. I wonder if he knows any of my friends in Warwick. I say, are you deaf? Hello.”

The centaur lowered his armful of crates to reveal his face. He looked to be about two years older than Victoria. His midnight black hair fell with a gentle curl to the middle of his back. His face was long and angular with high cheekbones and piercing ice-blue eyes. He blinked in surprise and Victoria gasped. She was not the only one to make a noise, as Alex noticed both Nina and Daphne sigh slightly as they gazed up at the somewhat mesmerizing features of the young centaur boy.

“Victoria,” the young centaur said in a sharp British accent, his mouth hanging open slightly.

“Nathan,” Victoria said, her hands rising to her mouth to cover her shock.

Something about the exchange and the tone of their voices made Alex’s stomach flop. He looked between them and could tell immediately by the cast of their eyes exactly who Nathan was.

“Nathan,” Victoria said again. “Whatever are you doing here?”

“I work here,” Nathan said. “In the carnival.”

“You joined the carnival?” Victoria asked. “Whatever for?”

“You always said how much you enjoyed the carnival,” Nathan said. “And I wanted to see the world. To travel. And this seemed like the best way. And after your last letter, I thought…”

“I see,” Victoria said, her cheeks reddening as she noticed Alex and the Guild intently following every word of her exchange with Nathan.

“So I thought…” Nathan said.

“Yes,” Victoria said.

“And here you are.”

“And there you are.”

“I’m so happy to see you.”

“Yes. Happy.”

They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity to Alex.

“These must be your friends,” Nathan said. “The ones we all hear about.”

“Yes,” Victoria said, still staring at Nathan as though he were some manner of mirage.

“I’m Alex,” Alex said, thrusting his hand toward Nathan.

“A pleasure,” Nathan said, effortlessly shifting the crates to one arm and gripping Alex’s hand in an iron-firm grasp, though his eyes never left Victoria’s.
Does he have to be so strong and handsome
, Alex thought. As Nathan released his hand, Alex made quick introductions of the rest of the Guild. Daphne and Nina sighed again as Nathan shook their hands. Clark frowned and shook Nathan’s hand briefly. The spell that had held Victoria’s attention captive seemed to have broken. Now she could not seem to look in Nathan’s general direction without her hindquarters fidgeting.