Island of Graves (2 page)

“Oh good!” said Mr. Stowe. “Aaron's dead. I guess you were the good son all along, Alex,” he said to Aaron. “Aaron got what he deserved. I'm glad he's gone. Now you can be the Wanted son.”

In the dream, Aaron was tired of pretending and tried to explain. “I'm not Alex! I'm Aaron!” he cried again and again.

But his father only laughed. “Your lies won't work on me anymore, Alex. Stop covering for your awful brother, and accept that you are the only son we want.”

No matter how many times the dream played out, it always ended in confusion, with Aaron desperate to explain the truth. But no one would listen.

On the cool damp floor of the shelter, Aaron's body lay still, but inside his mind he was struggling and fighting, kicking and shoving, trying to pull himself out of the fog and nightmares that enveloped him.

He was not successful.

A
lex was a little embarrassed driving the boat back to the lagoon. His friends saw him coming and gathered to wait under the tree where the platyprots often perched. Lani held the robe he'd shoved at her, folded neatly and draped over one arm. Samheed, at her side, had a smirk on his face so exaggerated that Alex could see it from the boat. Simber lounged in the shade on the beach, casually nibbling at a claw and pointedly not looking at Alex, while Spike swam nearby and trumpeted water from her blowhole as he waded back to shore.

Sky stood with arms crossed, a teasing sort of smile on her
face, which made Alex blush all the more. It was clear they all had heard by now what he'd set out to do. And he knew he wasn't going to hear the end of it.

Automatically he looked for Meghan—she'd stand up for him. But then he remembered, and her death ripped Alex's heart in two again. Would it get easier? Would he ever get used to her absence? Or would he have to live with this ache every single day for the rest of his life?

He swallowed hard, hesitating in the shallow water, and then forged ahead toward his friends.

When he reached land, Sky met him on the beach and fell into step with him, linking her arm in his. “Is everything running as it should?”

Alex shot her a puzzled look. “Huh?”

“The boat's working all right?” she asked, a little too innocently. “No damage from the ice?”

A hint of a smile twitched at the corner of Alex's lips. “Oh. Right. No damage,” he said. “Glad we got that checked out. What's next on the list?” He cleared his throat and dared not look at Samheed.

Lani pushed her long black hair over one shoulder and held
the robe out to him, her piercing orange eyes dancing with glee. She didn't say anything.

Alex slipped his arms through the holes. “Thanks for keeping it dry while I, ah, checked on the boat,” he said, fastening it at his neck. Maybe they were going to let him off easy.

But then Samheed let out a snort.

Alex looked at him. “Shut it, Sam,” he muttered in an attempt to remain perfectly straight-faced. “Don't start with me.”

“Seriously, Al,” Samheed said. “What exactly did you think you were going to accomplish? Stupid move. When will you finally realize that Aaron isn't worth it? You are such a—”

Alex lunged at Samheed, plowing into him and throwing him off balance. As Samheed stumbled, he grabbed Alex by his shoulders and shoved him to the lawn, where they rolled around, arguing and gasping and laughing at the same time. Platyprots and rabbitkeys scattered, giving the boys a wide berth. They took up a lot more space now than they had a few years ago, when they'd had their first tussle in Artimé.

Lani looked at them with disdain, and then she and Sky turned to Simber, who was lumbering to his feet and shaking
his head ever so slightly. Together the three of them left the boys on the lawn and strolled to the mansion for dinner.

» » « «

“Of course you're right,” Alex admitted to Samheed about ten minutes later. The two lay on their backs on the lawn, chests heaving from the fight. “I'm ready to give up on Aaron now.” It felt okay to say, which gave Alex a bit of comfort. He pushed himself up on one elbow. “And thanks to Gondoleery, we have plenty of other things to think about.”

“I think she's a little nuts the way she was talking and cackling after the battle,” Samheed said, staring at the sky. “Which is even more scary than dealing with a somewhat sane dictator like Aaron. Gondoleery's unpredictable. Any idea what she's going to do next?”

“No.” Something about the question bothered Alex, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. “I'm planning to see what we can find out about her from Liam. Maybe tomorrow. Did Lani melt the ice in Quill, too, or just in Artimé?”

“It's gone everywhere.”

“So Gondoleery knows we did it,” Alex said.

“I would assume so, you dolt. She's not stupid.”

Alex laughed and elbowed Samheed hard in the ribs. “Shut it.”

“Ow! All right,” Samheed said. “This time. Only because I'm exhausted. I'm still sore from the battle, you know.”

“Yet you still managed to pin me. Like always.”

“I have my pride.”

“Yes, you do.” Alex yawned. “You know what would be nice?”

“What?”

“If we didn't have to constantly worry about being attacked.”

“Yes, that would be nice,” Samheed agreed. “Maybe someday.”

Alex frowned. It seemed endless. And it was unsettling and exhausting not knowing what was going to happen next. It felt like all they did these days was fend off attackers.

After a while Alex and Samheed got to their feet and limped into the mansion. It had been a long few weeks with little sleep. And after being away for so long, it was nice to be home and have a chance to explore more of the many secrets left behind by Mr. Today. Alex was glad he'd come to his senses and turned back home.

» » « «

After dinner Alex stopped in the hospital ward to check on the injured. Henry Haluki was there, administering medicine as usual. He seemed busy, so Alex didn't want to disturb him too much. But he knew how tirelessly Henry worked, and he was worried about him.

“You don't have to do it all, you know,” Alex said gently. “Get some sleep.”

Henry kept his head down. “I will when I'm done here.”

Alex watched him work for a moment, but the boy didn't look up. “Are you okay, Henry?”

Henry paused, then nodded. “I'll be okay.” He looked up, finally. “Thanks.”

“Sure,” Alex said. “Let me know if you need anything. Or if you just want to talk. I know this is hard.” Alex waved his hand, indicating the injured among them.

“It's not hard seeing the ones who are improving,” Henry said. “It's the other ones . . .” He dropped his eyes once more and continued his work.

Alex smiled grimly. He understood. Or at least he thought he did. But Henry gave nothing else away, and Alex respected
the younger boy's need for privacy. Still, Henry's mood seemed off. “The offer stands,” Alex said. “I'm always here for you.”

Henry nodded, then began counting aloud the number of drops he was putting into a small vial. “Six, seven, eight . . .”

Alex pursed his lips, then turned and quietly walked away. He remained thoughtful the rest of the evening. But with his mind turning back to Gondoleery and the issue at hand, he soon forgot about Henry.

W
hen Alex woke up the next morning, he was desperately trying to hang on to a thought that had burrowed around in his mind for a good part of the night. It concerned Gondoleery and the conversation he'd had with Samheed the previous afternoon, about wondering what she would do to them next.

Hasn't Gondoleery already done enough?
He stared at the wall, cocooned inside his luxurious bedding, which he'd missed so much on the ship. “Maybe we're doing this wrong,” he said, his voice rough with sleep. He thought some more, and after a time, sat up rather quickly.

Taking a notepad and pen from his bedside table, he began scribbling. A minute later he paused and looked up at his blackboard. “Clive?” he called.

Clive's face pushed out. “Yes, m'mage?”

Alex closed his eyes and expelled a breath. He tolerated Clive's attitude, which had gotten better ever since Alex had given Clive more responsibility. Threatening to assign the important jobs to Samheed's blackboard, Stuart, seemed to work well too. But Clive still liked to give a smug greeting now and then, especially when Alex had been away for any length of time.

“Really?” Alex asked. “Must you? It's getting tedious.”

“I assumed you missed my charming personality,” Clive said.

“Oh, but of course.”

Clive nodded serenely. “Continue, your excellence.”

“Clive,” Alex said, “I want you to assemble a meeting in my office for tomorrow evening after dinner. These advisors, please: Simber, Florence, Ms. Octavia, Claire, and Samheed and Lani and Carina and Sean—”

“Whoa, hang on,” Clive said. “Not
all of them can access the secret hallway.”

“They can now—they just need to go through the 3-D door I made. Lani has it. Have the ones who need to use it connect with her.” He thought for a moment. “Invite Sky, too. She has great ideas.”

“You got it, your imperial majesty.”

“Knock it off,” Alex said. “Also, can you arrange for Liam Healy to meet me on the lawn in an hour?”

Clive blinked. “I'm sorry. Who?”

Alex crinkled up his nose. “Drat. Don't you have him in your . . . system, or whatever you call it?”

“No.” Clive frowned. “Is he new? One moment. My assistant is going to be in big trouble for this. . . .”

“You have an assistant?” Alex asked.

But Clive had disappeared. Alex watched the black screen with curiosity. Soon Clive pushed his face out of the blackboard once more. “All set. Mr. Healy has been located and a blackboard personality assigned to him. I imagine he'll be quite shocked to hear from it. I almost wish it were me. . . . It's
such
fun the first time. But then, well, you never know what sort of chump you'll end up with. . . .”

Alex ignored him. “So he'll meet me on the lawn in an hour? Near the fountain, please.”

“We'll relay the message,” Clive said. “Anything else?”

“The babies . . .” Alex tapped his chin. “I suppose I should visit them like Florence wants me to. Where might they be?”

“I don't know. They don't have a blackboard. I'm not sure where they keep things like that.”

“What, extra blackboards? I hardly think they need one yet.”

“No, I meant babies.”

“Oh. Don't worry,” Alex said. “I'll ask Florence. I didn't see them in the hospital ward.”

“If I hear anything about their location, I'll let you know, of course.”

“Thanks, Clive. That's it for now.”

Clive melted into the screen.

Alex got dressed, ordered breakfast up to his room through the tube, and started back to work on a plan.

After three quarters of an hour, he made his way downstairs and outside. It was a beautiful morning, and many Artiméans
were taking advantage of the lawn actually being pleasant to sit upon once more, now that the ice was gone. The fountain bubbled merrily, perhaps even more enthusiastically than usual, for the water in it had been frozen under Gondoleery's ice spell too.

Liam wasn't there yet, so Alex swung by the border between Artimé and Quill, where the three girrinos stood quite a distance apart, trying to do their job of protecting the entrance to Artimé. Now that the wall was down everywhere, they had quite an expanse to cover.

There were others stationed along the border as well. The ostrich statue and the tiki statue were among them, as well as Jim the winged tortoise, who rose and fell with the flap of his wings between five and ten feet off the ground. The ostrich stood on one foot, looking quite bothered by anything and everything.