Baskania laughed, and Rosco joined in, chuckling. “That’s a good one. You’d like to keep your eyes, just like everybody else. What you want doesn’t count, though. Remember?”
“That’s not it.” Erec tried not to sound desperate. “I need them for a while so I can help you more. To do things I couldn’t do for you if I was blind.”
“What would that be?” Baskania sounded amused. “I can’t
imagine what you could do that anyone else working here could not.”
Erec thought hard. “The Furies. I need to use my dragon eyes to be able to see them. And if you wanted me to try to trade things to get your scepter back . . .” He hoped that Baskania could not tell that he was completely lying.
Baskania rubbed his chin. “You need your dragon eyes in order to speak with the Furies again? What if I just talked to them myself?”
“They don’t like you. Pardon me, master, for I think they are fools. But they believe that you were trying to take advantage of them in the past. You were going to release them from Tartarus, but only if they gave you what you wanted. They do not want to talk to you. In fact, if you approach them, they will destroy you.”
“Well, then.” Baskania looked alarmed, and then excited. He rubbed his hands together and sat down at his desk. “It looks like I have a few choices to make. If I kill you now, I get both of your dragon eyes. I may never see the scepter again. If I trust you to serve me, I may get the scepter back and the dragon eyes. Or you may escape and I will end up with neither.”
“Why would I escape if I came here on my own?”
“That is another question I ask myself. You may be here to steal something.”
“What would I want? If I was going to steal from you, I can’t imagine I’d come offer you my eyes, anyway. It’s up to you if you want to take them now or wait and let me try to get your scepter first.”
“One thing will make it easy to trust you. I’ll allow you to keep your eyes for a short while, until you attempt to get my scepter back from the Furies. But you must sign them away to me now. That will guarantee that I will get them, one way or the other. Will you do that?”
“Of course.” Erec gulped. This was terrible. Was this really what he was supposed to do?
“Okay, then.” The Shadow Prince produced a sheet of paper by waving his fingers over his desk. He tapped it a few times with a quill, and then signaled Erec to come over. “Sign here.” He pointed to a line at the bottom of the page.
Erec reached for the quill, and the thing jerked back in the air and stabbed his index finger.
“Sign it with your blood, Erec.”
Erec trembled inside. He tried not to show his feelings. Was this blood oath going to be the end of him? Was this going to brainwash him to become the person he saw in his future?
But he set his finger over the page and signed his name with his dripping blood.
“Good.” Baskania patted the page, satisfied.
Erec assessed himself.
Have I changed? Do I want Baskania to have my scepter, now?
He was relieved that he did not feel any different. “How does this work?”
“It’s simple. You’ve given your eyes to me. All I have to do is claim them and they will be with me immediately.”
“Will that . . . hurt? Will they just get yanked out?”
“Hmm . . . I never really thought about that. I guess we’ll have to see.”
Spartacus growled, “He’s thinking that it will hurt you more this way, and he’s glad about it. I’m half tempted to dump one of those flower pots over his head.”
“Don’t!” Erec shook his head. Baskania looked at him, suspicious, and Erec’s heart started thumping. He thought fast. “Don’t take my eyes that way, by claiming them like that. Just let me know when you want them and I’ll come to you.”
“That depends, I suppose,” Baskania mused. “How soon can you get the scepter to me? Can you go see the Furies tomorrow?”
Erec did not know the reason for his being here, but it seemed
that one day was not enough time. Plus, now he had a chance to find Bethany’s brother, with Rosco’s help.
Rosco was silent, but watched Erec intently. Erec wished that he would say something, to try to fix things. But he understood that Rosco needed to appear like a bystander, and not raise suspicion.
“I can’t go tomorrow.” Erec cleared his throat, thinking. “The Furies won’t talk to me again that soon. They said I could come back in a week.” As soon as he said that he cringed. Why hadn’t he given himself longer to find Bethany’s brother, and do whatever the Fates wanted him to do? At the same time, he did not want to stay here at all. A week would feel like forever with Baskania breathing down his neck.
Rosco looked surprised, but then frowned suspiciously. “I don’t know about this. I’m not sure I would trust this kid for a second unsupervised around here. We should find someone to watch him like a hawk, make sure that he doesn’t get into anything.”
Baskania’s mouth curved into a smile. “Good idea, Rosco. I take that as an offer. Erec, you are to remain at Rosco’s side for the entire week. One week from today you shall return to the Furies with whatever objects I decide to give you as a fair trade, and reclaim my scepter for me. After that, I will take your dragon eyes, and you may remain on as a servant here, or in Jakarta.”
That sounded horrendous. Erec was glad that Baskania could not read his mind. He had one week left—at least he would be with Rosco during that time. If only he knew what he was supposed to be doing that would help him free those captured souls. That was the reason he was here to begin with. . . .
Rosco sighed. “No problem, sire. I suppose I could use him while he’s here. I’m going to crack down on those fools that are trying to find Bethany Cleary’s brother. Erec here can do some of the work. Wouldn’t it be a nice irony for him to hand his girlfriend’s brother over to you.”
Baskania nodded. “Nice touch, Rosco, as usual. Make sure he
doesn’t leave your sight until next week.” He turned his attention to a stack of papers on his desk.
In a second, Erec’s surroundings changed to a spacious room with an overstuffed couch and ornate chairs. Beautiful framed paintings covered the walls and woven rugs were underfoot. Erec recognized the place as Rosco’s apartment. With relief, he sank into the cushions on the couch and hugged a pillow to his chest.
Rosco sat next to him. “You going to be okay? That was pretty rough.”
“I think so. I don’t have much time here, though, and I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be doing.”
“Let’s assume that the Fates know better than we do. It seems they like to put you in the right place, at the right time, so the right things will happen.”
“Yeah, but that’s what is so confusing. Say they wanted me to be alone in Baskania’s fortress with him now? What if I wasn’t supposed to have called you?”
“It’s too late to worry about that now. But the Fates know how you handle things, so it’s probably not a mistake.” He shrugged. “Well, you have a week. Why don’t you rest up today. Tomorrow morning we’ll talk to the group searching for Bethany’s brother.”
Erec nodded, trying not to think about what the end of the week held in store for him.
After a breakfast of cheese omelets and toast, magically made by Rosco, Erec felt like a new person. Sure, things were bad, but they could be worse, right? Even if Baskania took both of his dragon eyes, there must be a way, through some spell, that Erec could regain his sight again. Everything seemed possible in the Kingdoms of the Keepers. It would be scary if Baskania was able to see into the future, but at least he would never have the scepter. Nothing
could make Erec give that to Baskania, and even if he became hypnotized somehow, Rosco and Spartacus would make sure it didn’t happen. During this week he would figure things out. . . .
“So, are you ready to go to Jakarta? That’s where the Erec Rex headquarters is.”
“Erec Rex headquarters? Wow, that makes me feel important.”
“Oh, you are very important to the Shadow Prince. You know, by sauntering into his office and offering him everything he’s always wanted, you’ve made him a very happy guy.”
“I’ll meet you there. Nice to tell me where you’re going this time,” Spartacus said, even though Rosco couldn’t hear him.
Rosco snapped his fingers, and the setting around Erec and him changed again in a flash. Erec had been standing in Rosco’s kitchen popping raisins into his mouth, and all of a sudden he was in a busy hallway with soldiers rushing past.
“Sorry about that.” Rosco noticed Erec’s shock. “It’s a lot easier to get around this way than using a Port-O-Door.”
“I can’t believe how good you are at magic now.” Erec remembered when Oscar could not do the simplest things. That is until his tutor, Rosco—his future self—taught him everything he knew.
Rosco shrugged. “I’ve had a lot of time to practice. Follow me—this is the way to the E.R.H.Q: the headquarters all about you and Bethany. I used to spend a lot of time here.”
Erec did not want to think about what Rosco might have been doing in the past, before he considered Erec a friend again. They went down a short side hall into a large room with high ceilings and oak paneling. Shelves of books lined the walls. Researchers and typists occupied rows of tables, and agents in long cloaks wandered in and out.
“May I help you?” A woman glanced up from a glass desk by the door. “Oh, hello, Rosco, and . . .” She looked at Erec in shock. “You brought . . .” She held a hand out and stood. “I can’t believe it.
Stay right there.” She picked up a phone. “You need to come down immediately. Rosco is here with
Erec Rex
. . . . No, the real Erec Rex—the boy, himself . . . I’m not joking, he’s standing in front of me, right here. . . . No, he’s not doing anything. He’s just waiting with Rosco. . . . Yes . . . Yes . . . Thank you.”
A tall man with short-cropped brown hair dashed into the room. His sparkling green eyes grew wide when he saw Erec. “I . . . Why are you . . .” He turned to Rosco in shock. “Did you bring him here?”
“No,” Rosco cracked, “he brought me. Erec Rex decided to offer himself up to us, just to help a bit. Isn’t that nice?”
The man looked back and forth between Rosco and Erec, not believing his ears. “Are you . . . serious? I don’t understand. Does the Shadow Prince know that he is here? I mean, we have to alert him,
now
.”
“Of course he knows, Noj. This is our new project, here. We only get to keep him for one week. Then the Shadow Prince has other plans for him. But I wasn’t joking. Erec Rex has changed his mind about things . . . with a little help.” He chuckled wickedly.
Noj looked too nice to be working for Baskania. “Um . . . that’s great. Wow. I, uh . . . come on in and sit down. Can you talk a minute? I never thought I’d have this opportunity. Can I hear what made you decide to help us?”
Erec and Rosco followed Noj into a comfortable study. Noj gave Erec a soft drink and pulled out a tray of cheese and crackers. He sounded excited. “This is a huge treat. I mean, I’ve been leading our teams here, studying about you for years. And with all that’s happened lately we’ve made a lot of headway against the enemy.” He looked embarrassed. “I mean . . . I guess you’re not the enemy anymore. I don’t know. . . . How did it happen? This seems so unlikely. I mean great—but unlikely.”
Erec laughed. “I agree. Believe me, helping Baskania destroy
the world is the last thing I could see myself doing.”
A look of recognition crossed Noj’s face, and he looked at Rosco with a smile. “Okay, so he’s not perfect. I always heard that he twists things around like that. I can see how he could con people who didn’t have their guard up.” Noj looked at Erec with suspicion.
“Great job, Erec.” Spartacus laughed. “You better keep your ideas to yourself here.”
“Tell me about it.” Rosco grimaced at Noj, rolling his eyes. “Kid’s a barrel of laughs. He got his soul back from the three Furies—you know he gave it to them last spring. And now he’s a different person. He’s sensible. But you can’t tell all the time from talking to him.” Rosco winked. “We thought it would be perfect if he brings his girlfriend’s lost brother to us. Maybe he’ll have some information. Where are you at with that now?”
“Spinning our wheels, I’m afraid.” Noj shifted in his chair. “We’ve found out that Ruth Cleary, Bethany’s mother, did indeed have another baby after Pi and Bethany. This was not too long before the Shadow Prince cleaned out all the evil influences from King Piter’s castle.”
Evil influences?
Erec wondered if Noj truly believed that killing Bethany’s parents and the palace guards was “cleaning out evil influences.” And also putting King Piter under a spell, and making Erec, his mother, and his triplet siblings disappear.
“So,” Rosco pressed on, “the baby was born about eleven years ago, then. What happened to him?”
“Unknown. His parents were disposed of during the clean-out, Pi Cleary was raised by an aunt, and Bethany was watched by Early Evirly, raised as his niece. The Shadow Prince planned to use her as a seer, like her mother was, once she was older. Erec here messed that plan up. But nobody knows what happened to the baby. The Clearys did not have a lot of close friends. They spent
most of their time in the castle. And even the people who knew the baby then have no idea what happened to it that day.”
“Hmm.” Rosco rubbed his chin. “Any leads?”
“Only one.” Noj pointed to Erec. “Him.”
For a moment Erec’s fists clenched in panic.
He
was Bethany’s brother? That wasn’t possible. He had kissed her—
Then he realized that it couldn’t be him—he was fourteen, not eleven. They had different fathers.
Rosco frowned. “What do you mean? You think he knows something? Or he’s hiding the brother?”
“Nope. But he might remember something.”
Erec shook his head. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I have no memories at all from that time of my life. I found out that my memory was removed—” He instantly shut his mouth before saying any more. The last thing he wanted this group to find out was that he had a memory floating around out there somewhere. . . .
“Exactly.” Noj slapped his hand on the table. “Your memory was removed when you were young, as was Bethany’s. We haven’t been able to locate hers anywhere, but we do have a strong lead now on yours.”