Andrew was struggling to keep his composure. Jarnvaror was still nesting on the great bronze warrior outside the arena. He saw the dragon watching him. Jarnvaror even called what Andrew assumed to be a greeting. But there was no sign of his brother at the statue or anywhere in the plaza nearby. At the very least, then, he was sure Peter hadn’t taken the king and his noble cousin out for a morning flight.

  But that would have been one of the better options. He didn’t like contemplating what would happen if the three of them had decided to carry out the Scepters’ plan on their own. The plan itself seemed hasty enough. With just the three of them? Those three in particular? It was downright dangerous. He would have thought that Jeremy at least would have had more sense. The other option was that the trio was wandering the city looking at the merchant stalls and games set up before the events of the magic tournament could begin.

  Andrew spent as much time as he dared trying to confirm that second possibility. But he didn’t know the streets well enough, nor where any attractions would be. Going into the arena wouldn’t help. The structure was massive, and he wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to find his way out again if he went in on his own. So he marched back to the camp.

  The tempt was empty. He guessed the girls were still at the castle, so he started heading in that direction. He bumped into the three of them on the path from the castle to the camp. Hannah and the Queen had both put on simple cloaks over their clothing, which looked far too hot for the day’s weather. All three wore somber expressions.

  “I take it you didn’t find them?” Queen Emily asked.

  Andrew shook his head. “Jarnvaror was there, so they haven’t flown off. But no, I didn’t find them. What are you doing out here?”

  “We barely have half an hour till the meeting now,” Queen Emily said. “It’s very bad that my brother hasn’t come back yet.”

  “I understand,” Andrew said, who was thinking almost the same thing, verbatim. “We may need to send people out to search.”

  “It would be almost as bad for our country’s reputation if we made the king’s disappearance public,” Hannah said. “We were talking about that just before you got here. Better they think he’s a late riser and a bit rude than that he wondered off on his own without telling anyone.”

  Andrew felt his gut drop. “Please tell me you’re not doing what I think you’re doing, Your Highness.”

  “I have a few ideas what stalls my brother would have taken the others too, since we’ve been here before,” Hanna said. “Emily is the only one who can get Henry to come back. So we’re going to go look for them.”

  “Yes. Because one monarch missing wasn’t bad enough,” Andrew said. “What about guards? Why not let Daniel go look?”

  “I think Daniel is the only one who could convince our guests to delay the meeting without revealing too much about why we’re gone,” the queen replied. “So I want the two of you to go tell him what’s going on. As for guards?” She held her cloak out, revealing a tiny dagger at her waste. Hanna did the same, revealing a rapier.

  “Not as good as my brother,” she said. “But hopefully it will be enough of a deterrent.”

  “We need to hurry,” Emily said. “Both of you, get to Daniel.”

  “We’ll be back in no time,” Hannah insisted.

  Before Andrew could think of another response, the two noble girls were gliding down the path leading into the city. He looked at Anna. “You didn’t try and talk them out of it?” he asked.

  “I knew it wouldn’t be worth it,” Anna said. She held up her bracelet and explained. “The Wisps haven’t stopped sharing other people’s feelings with me since we went to the dungeon.”

  “This is just wrong,” Andrew muttered.

  “I tried talking them into bringing guards,” Anna said. “They thought that would draw too much attention.” She sighed. “After we tell Daniel, we should probably just go after them ourselves. But they’re right. Someone here needs to know what’s going on.”

  Andrew turned to see the two girls heading out into the main city. “Fine,” he muttered looking back to Anna. “Let’s just hurry.”

  Finding Daniel turned out to be easy. The first servant they bumped into was able to give them directions to the Chancelor’s quarters. When they arrived, Daniel was just finishing his breakfast. He smiled as they entered, then frowned as he saw their expressions. “Is something the matter?” he asked.

  “King Henry, Jermey Thornwood, and my brother are all missing,” Andrew began. He wanted to phrase it in a way that, if at all possible, would protect his brother. “We think they went to explore some of the festival’s attractions and lost track of time. I wasn’t able to find them. The Queen and Hannah Thornwood have gone off looking for them.”

  The Chancelor’s eyes shot up in surprise. “They went personally?” Andrew nodded. “And you didn’t try and stop them?”

  “We weren’t able to talk them out of it. They insisted it would be a scandal if they sent someone else. But Queen Emily wanted you to know.”

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  “It might be a scandal either way,” Daniel said, his frown deepening. “It very well might be.” As he spoke, Andrew felt Anna take his hand and clutch it. He glanced down, wondering what she wanted, and saw her face was rigid, as if she were trying very hard to control herself. He was worried too, but this seemed different.

  He almost asked what it was, but before he could, Daniel rose and brushed past them saying, “You two go after them. I’ll see what I can do about this mess.”

  Andrew took a step to start leaving the palace so they could go look for the others, but Anna held him in place. “What is it?” he asked, looking at her.

  “His expression…” Anna said, speaking slow. She swallowed, then tried again. “His expression didn’t match his emotions,” she said. “He looked really worried but he was… excited.” She let go of him and started following after Daniel.

  Andrew waited for a moment, stunned. He caught up to her in a few strides. “Why would he be excited?” he asked in a whisper. “Are you sure the Wisps understood him? Maybe they were confused. What does it matter, anyway?”

  “Because there was something in that feeling that was really unsettling,” Anna said. “And really familiar. We need to follow him. We need to see what he’s doing.”

  “We need to find the king and queen, and make sure my brother doesn’t get himself thrown in stocks for corrupting the king.”

  “Andrew, he felt like Sheil!” Anna said. “Like there was some sort of determined anger at his core. It doesn’t make sense he would be so excited to learn the king and queen were missing. Unless… I don’t know. But we need to!”

  Andrew frowned. He couldn’t remember ever seeing the Chancelor angry. Mildly displeased, maybe. “What do you mean at his core?”

  “Central?” Anna said, more like a question than an answer. “The other emotions move around it, but it seems like it motivates all the others.” She turned, following Daniel down another hallway. Andrew could tell she was keeping her distance, but she wasn’t to concerned about being spotted. He supposed she was able to tell Daniel was too distracted to notice. Anna continued speaking though. “I don’t really know how else to describe it.”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Andrew managed. “I don’t understand what this even means. He’s hiding his feelings. So what?”

  “That anger motivated his excitement,” Anna said. “Why? What could he be so angry about that he’s excited when his monarchs, his…” she trailed off. Andrew couldn’t think of a reason why, but as far as he could tell, Daniel didn’t let his feeling get in the way of his work.

  “His what?” he asked.

  “His young cousins,” Andrew said. “Like Sheil.”

  “Sheil?” Andrew asked.

  “After the interrogation, Queen Emily told me Sheil is her cousin. Just a distant one.”

  Andrew blinked. He knew Daniel was one of the royal’s closer cousins. Something in his mind was starting to turn. It was just out of reach. But now he wanted the next piece. He stopped objecting, and just followed after Anna, keeping an eye on Daniel and hoping they wouldn’t be noticed.

  They found themselves exiting the castle on the far side into the rear courtyard. It was a lovely garden, with neat flowering hedges growing up against the far walls and beds of roses providing their perfume for the castle residence. Daniel continued to march right through it as he had inside. He turned, following the inner wall a little ways, until he was about halfway through the courtyard. Then he stepped off the paved path, into grass that was clearly not tended too quite so well.

  As he realized that Daniel was coming to a stop, he also realized that he would naturally look around to see if anyone was nearby before doing anything. With barely a whispered warning, he pulled Anna to the side so the two could hide behind one of the raised flower beds. Just before they were out of sight, Andrew saw the chancellor start looking around. Thankfully, by turning the other way first..

  A few moments later, he heard the murmur of Daniels voice. Too far away to make out much. Maybe every third word. But Anna’s face had gone pale.

  “What?” he mouthed.

  Anna pointed through the tangle of flowers to where Daniel was standing. Then to her wrist and mouthed two words. “Dungeon. Sheil.”

  Andrew pressed closer. He couldn’t see much through the stalks and leaves, but he could make Daniel out. His voice was muffled by the distance, but he could still make out most of the words.

  “We have a unique opportunity,” he was saying. “We may be able to solve several problems at once if we act fast… Just a small change, actually, but again, we’ll need to rush it.”

  “How do you know it’s Sheil?” Andrew asked.

  “Sense her,” Anna said. “Same as earlier. Only now… devotion?” she said, looking almost panicked even at the thought. Andrew wished he could use the Wisps to sense them at the same time. He’d thought Sheil hated nobles. And especially the royals. Why would she be devoted to Daniel. It didn’t help that they could only hear Daniel’s side of the conversation.

  “Seems like the king has wondered off with the beast tongue and the young lord Thornwood… Were they?... Yes I imagine you’re right. It doesn’t sound like the thing little Emily would have done on her own, otherwise. Regardless, if we want to take advantage, it mostly means moving the plans up a bit. We won’t be in quite the same positions as planned, but it should be easier to get the crowd on our side. That was my thought at least…”

  He paused for a while, saying nothing other than a muttered, yes or no. “Can you tell what Sheil is saying with them?” Andrew asked.

  Anna shook her head. “Only that she’s very happy to see Daniel, that she’s excited about something, and nervous about… I think the same thing. Their plan, I suppose.”

  “Right,” Andrew said. He felt sick, knowing that Daniel was the one working with the Wisp Steelers. He still couldn’t imagine why, but there wasn’t any denying it now.

  “Brilliant!” Daniel continued after a longer silence. “I’ll make sure to do that soon… Here,” Andrew saw motion through the bush as Daniel bent down. “I’ll leave the communication to you. Not long for the trap now.”

  Daniel, waited a moment, probably listening to a final comment from Sheil, before heading back inside.

  Andrew and Anna remained where they were until they heard the door latch. Then the two stood, looking around. The garden was still empty. From here, they could finally make out the bars to the dungeon low on the wall in the patch of untended grass. They couldn’t see Sheil from here, but she would probably be able to hear them if they made any noise. So as much as he wanted to run, he made sure he and Anna walked back to the door, and that they closed it quietly back inside the castle.

  “We need to warn Peter and the others!” Anna burst.

  “I know, but about what?” Andrew said. “All we know is Daniel was the spy.”

  “He mentioned the king going off on his own was an opportunity!” Anna reminded him. “Whatever their plan is, they’re going to try doing something while the Scepters aren’t here. We need to get them back!”

  Andrew nodded. The two of them rushed for the entrance.