The Three Furies (Erec Rex) (31 page)

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going to stop him. "They don't go into that kind of detail. It doesn't matter--"

"
Doesn't matter?
No way, mister. It matters to me, I'll tell you that. Just forget about it."

"No, I meant it doesn't matter that they didn't explain that. They kind of . . . implied that I'd live, I think."

"You
think
." She started to pace back and forth. "Will you do me a favor? Please? Before you run off and get yourself killed, let's just talk to your father and Queen Posey. See what they say. Okay?"

"Can we talk to them today? Like now? Because this can't wait."

"Okay. Come with me." June found Jam in the kitchen with his aunt. "What is the best way to speak to King Piter and Queen Posey, Jam? Cell phone or e-mail?"

"Modom, I will speak to Queen Posey's staff and find out what they prefer. Just a moment, please." He held up his forefinger, shook it, and put it to his mouth. "Yes. I am calling from the Rex family. June O'Hara and Erec Rex wish to speak to the queen and to King Piter. Which way would they prefer to speak? Yes, I'll hold. . . ." He waited. ". . . Yes, hullo. We do have e-mail here. Very well." He pulled a paper pad from his vest and wrote on it. "Thank you. They will contact the king and queen shortly."

Jam bowed his head to June. "Modom, Queen Posey requests that you and Erec e-mail her. She is not listed, but you can find her servant here, and she will put them on." He handed June the paper. "Please use my aunt's e-mail in her room."

"Thank you so much, Jam," June gushed. "Erec, Jam is the most polite gentleman I have ever met. You would do well to learn from him."

Jam's face turned red and he exited the room quickly. June typed the name on the paper into the touch screen. "C-a-s-s-y D-e-r-b-y-s-h-i-n-s. There it is."

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In a moment, a woman's picture lit up the screen. She wore a shiny cap of little scales on her head and a huge smile. June tapped on her image and the woman with the large smile and small cap appeared live on the screen. "Cassy Derbyshins, Castle Ashona. May I help you?"

"Yes. This is June O'Hara and Erec Rex. We would like to speak to King Piter and Queen Posey, please? Somebody just placed a call--"

"Oh,
yes
. Of course." Her smile widened to the point of cracking. "They're expecting you. One moment, please."

She disappeared, leaving a white screen. Soon Erec's father and aunt appeared. Erec was amazed at how healthy King Piter looked. He was tall and square-shouldered, and his face glowed. Being near Queen Posey's scepter had put more life in him than his own scepter had recently. The queen looked beautiful and radiant, long dark curls waving under her silver crown. The three thin, dark lines below each of her eyes made her look tired, but Erec knew they were from Instagills, like he had in his wrists, which let her breathe underwater.

"Erec!" King Piter cried. "And June. I've heard from my plants that you're doing well in Americorth North. Erec--you seem to have disappeared for a while, but I'm glad to see that you're back. Is everything okay?"

Queen Posey blew a kiss and waved.

Erec nodded. "I got my fifth quest and did some of it."

"Where did you go?"

"I had to meet King Augeas and introduce myself. Those were the quest instructions, at least. But I found out my real job was to save all the people in his Nightmare Realm. A certain one in particular."

"A certain one?" Queen Posey leaned forward, interested.

"The Clown Fairy. Her name is Wandabelle. Baskania took her there because it's the only place that can trap her. He's going to give

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her to the three Furies in exchange for some special powers."

"You
found
her?" King Piter's jaw dropped. "Thank goodness. So, she's in the Nightmare Realm? We have to figure out a way to save her right away. The clown societies are desperate for a leader. Many are sick and dying, others are wandering aimlessly in the wilderness. They won't survive without someone to rule them, and only the Clown Fairy can help." He pursed his lips in thought. "How were you able to escape King Augeas's realm? I can't believe you were there ... and left. That is supposed to be impossible."

"The Hermit prepared me. I had to learn how to change my dreams and perform some magic. But I have no idea how to rescue Wandabelle. King Augeas was extra careful to give her no way out."

The king frowned. "I should go myself."

Queen Posey objected. "You can't do that, Piter. Look what happened when you were just a few days away from your scepter. And I can't risk leaving all of Ashona without a queen, and become trapped forever in a nightmare. We'll find the Hermit and ask him to go."

"Good luck with that," Erec said. "He seems to follow his own orders." He looked at his father. "Is Queen Posey--I mean Aunt Posey's scepter helping you more than . . . ours was? You look a million times better." Erec wasn't sure whether to refer to the scepter as his or his father's.

The king smiled. "It's far stronger, and I have completely recovered. So much that I forget my limitations."

June was confused. "I thought your scepter was the strongest, your highness."

"It was--when my castle was intact. That gave me strength to handle my scepter, as Posey has, and also let my scepter work at its highest power." He turned to his onscreen companion. "But you are right, dear sister. I would be a fool to leave your side. I will talk to the Hermit. He may know of a way."

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A new voice behind Erec made him jump. "We all know a way, but some of our ways are wayward. Or just ways with words."

Erec spun around and found the Hermit perched on one foot like a flamingo in the middle of Aunt Salsa's bed. Her pink sheets were wrapped around him like a toga, and one of her pillowcases dangled from his bald head like an oversized cap.

"Hermit!" Erec was so happy to see him that he would have given him a hug--were he not so odd. "What a relief that you're here. We
all
need you now." He wondered if the Hermit would understand that Erec wanted him to help rescue Bethany, too, though the king was focused on Wandabelle.

"We all need you? No." The Hermit shook his head with a grin. "You need all
we
. Remember that." He nodded sagely as if he had settled everyone's problem, then sat on the bed with a look of contentment. Erec hoped Aunt Salsa didn't stroll in now and see the state of her bedsheets.

The king's voice took on a pleading tone. "Erec has found that the Clown Fairy is being held in King Augeas's Nightmare Realm. You, of course, know the significance of this information. Is there any way that you can release her? Do you think you are capable of doing that?"

"You are talking to the wrong person!" The Hermit laughed, then pointed at Erec. "Ask that guy over there. He's the only one who can save her."

Erec's eyes widened. "Me?"

The king and queen both protested. "I don't know," Queen Posey said. "It seems too dangerous for a boy, and a future king. He could get trapped there."

The Hermit rubbed his chin in thought. "I see. Did that explanation stop you when you were fulfilling your quests to become queen?"

She cleared her throat, taken by surprise. Everyone, including

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Erec, had forgotten what the Hermit had subtly pointed out--that rescuing Wandabelle was part of Erec's fifth quest.

The king shook his head. "I don't know. These quests that Erec has done have been so dangerous. Visiting the Nightmare King? Joining the five Awen to the Twrch Trwyth? He could have easily died doing any of these things."

"Yet here he is!" The Hermit threw a hand toward Erec.

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Erec nodded. "I guess the Fates know what they are doing."

The king nodded, solemn. "I know," he said quietly. "It's just hard for me, that's all. But you are right. If the Fates sent Erec there on a quest, likely he would be the only one able to help her." He put a hand over his eyes and sighed. "I suppose you'll watch over him again, Hermit. Are you going to leave now, Erec?"

"No, not yet. I have to do something else first." Erec gulped. "That's why we needed to talk to you."

June looked horrified. Erec was sure she was already upset that he would be returning to the Nightmare Realm. But after Piter had approved of it, both as king and as Erec's father, she could not argue.

"I have to rescue Bethany. You saw her; you know what's going on."

"Erec, leave that to me," King Piter said. "I've been working on it since I got here. Did you think I'd just leave Bethany trapped with Baskania? That girl is like a daughter to me. Her parents were so dear to your mother and me. If I had only kept a better eye on her, not been so obsessed with my scepter ..." He shook his head. "I guess it's
your
scepter now. Anyway, with the help of my plants, I've found out where she is. It's not good news, I'm afraid. Baskania is keeping her at his most highly guarded fortress, in Jakarta, Indonesia."

"I know. Oscar told me in a letter. Baskania took Oscar in, and he's sending me all of the information he finds out."

King Piter sighed. "Poor Oscar. I hope he gets away before it's too late."

Erec nodded. "I also saw Bethany for myself, now that I have the Seeing Eyeglasses back. She's not doing well."

The king expected as much. "So we know where she is. I have been gathering information and talking to Posey. We have sent him a formal request to return Bethany. In response, we received a letter from Bethany saying she was fine, and to leave her alone. Baskania attached a note that she was doing important work, and we should be proud of her.

"We are preparing the Ashona army to invade and rescue her. The Alypium army is no longer at my disposal--Baskania has taken over there. President Inkle looks to him for instruction. But Ashona has outstanding fighters. They will break in and rescue her, no doubt."

"What if it doesn't work, though? I went to the Oracle and asked the Fates about Bethany. They said there was only one way to rescue her, and they gave me instructions. Nothing else will work." Everyone stared at him in silence, so he continued. "I had to find the man with the magnet, and get him to use it on Bethany. Then I had to do most of my fifth quest, which I did. Now I'm supposed to find Bethany, get her to drink dragon blood--which I have ready. That will break the Draw that Baskania put on her. It's the only way for her to make it out alive."

King Piter was speechless. In the silence, the Hermit sang, incongruously, "These are the sweetest, the funnest moments. The funniest time of your life. Woo-hoo!" He slapped his side and giggled.

"I don't know about this." King Piter looked stunned. "It's one thing to let you go back into the Nightmare Realm--at least you already escaped from there once, and it's part of a quest. How can I let you walk straight into Baskania's high-security fortress? What are the odds of you escaping?"

"That's what I told him." June's voice was hoarse. "This is ridiculous. He's a kid, remember that. Not some superhero. I don't know

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what he's thinking, even talking to the Fates about this at all. He should leave it to you. Your armies are much better equipped to march into that place than he is."

King Piter wasn't so sure. "The Fates said it was the only way she would escape alive?"

"Wait!" June threw her hands up in the air like stop signs. "There is a big problem here. The Fates said that Bethany would escape alive.
Could
escape alive is more like it. But they never said that
Erec
would escape alive. That would be impossible."

"The White Queen sometimes believes as many as six impossible things before breakfast." The Hermit giggled. "It just takes some practice. Here we only have one impossible thing before breakfast--no problem at all."

"Hermit." The king rubbed his eyes. "What do you advise here?"

"It's not for me to sell advice when three Fates have already given it for free."

"So you think Erec should go to Jakarta? That he would survive?"

The Hermit tipped his head in thought. "That depends on what you mean by 'survive.'"

"No!" June shouted. "Try another way."

King Piter was thoroughly unhappy. "I understand, June. Believe me. But look at all of the outcomes. What if Queen Posey's army attacked but could not get through to save Bethany? What if they did get through to her and she was killed in the rescue? And what would that do to Erec? Would he ever be the same again? If Queen Posey's army could help the girl, then the Fates would have said so at the Oracle. Now I see that sending the army would be a mistake. I'm afraid we'll have to leave it up to Erec."

"Leave it up to . . ." June's eyes were filling with tears. "I can't let that happen. I'm sorry."

King Piter's voice was soft. "How will you stop him, June? He

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knows everything. If he does not go, that will be because he chooses not to. He knows how you feel, but he also knows that his best friend will die if he doesn't save her."

June sniffed, tears running down her face. "Would you really run away and go . . . there?"

Erec hugged his mother, seeing how upset she was. "I would never hurt you on purpose. But I don't know how I can leave Bethany there to die. And what if Baskania pulls the information he wants out of her? If he learns the Final Magic? I think we're all forgetting about that problem. That could be the end of life as we know it."

June said, in a stiff voice, "I guess that there's no choice, then, is there?"

"If you go, Erec, you must be prepared," King Piter put in. "I will tell you a few things that will help you when you get to Jakarta."

"If you don't mind, I'm not going to be a part of this." June sniffed. "Erec, come talk to me when you're done." She left the room.

The king drew his mouth down sternly. "You better come back, you hear me, Erec?"

"I will." He shrugged. "Just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it."

"Okay. First of all, I have plants all over, but not in any of Baskania's compounds, fortresses, or corporate buildings. So I won't know what's going on while you're inside there. Keep the Seeing Eyeglasses with you--it's the only way you'll be able to communicate with anyone. The Jakarta fortress is going to be hard to break into. They say the entrance is hidden. It's located in an eye care shop, I've heard, but I don't know the details. In fact, it may be impossible for you to get inside at all."

The Hermit waggled his eyebrows. "Erec has his ways."

"One thing I do know," the king said. "All types of ferocious creatures guard that place. So you'll need to have someone with you