Tyler only realised he'd destroyed all the practice dummies when he looked around for another one to hit.

Panting, dripping sweat and rainwater onto the floor, he stared at the straw drifting to the ground, at the dismembered dummies circling him, limbs and heads removed with surgical precision, straw spilling from slashed torsos.

There was only one with its head left on, and it was looking at him balefully. Its arms lay neatly on either side of its shredded torso.

Tyler glared at it. He could never do something properly, could he? No matter how hard he tried. Marcy. Alex. The Trial. Sora. Sora and Talib. His mother.

How long had he been here for? It had to be at least twenty minutes. Lunch had probably started- not that he had anyone to eat it with, or any real reason to be out there at all.

How could he have been so stupid? He shouldn't have even gone out there in the first place. He should have known it was too good to be true.

With a snarl, he spun, whipping his sword in an arc towards the dummy's reproachful face-

There was a resounding crash, and another blade caught his, halfway.

Tyler stared, shocked, at the sword. It was definitely no training sword; no training blade was forged as well, or had a gold hilt, or-

Tyler saw the name engraved on the blade before he realised who was holding it.

Slowly, he looked down Excalibur's blade, leading to its owner.

"What did these dummies ever do to you?" Asked King Tedros of Camelot, nudging the straw with the toe of his boot.

Tyler jerked back so fast he nearly fell over.

Tedros? Here?

Well, in the Swordplay Arena. Here, as in the School, wasn't surprising, he'd seen him earlier, he'd obviously come to see-

Alex.

Oh, no.

Tedros didn't mention the sudden look of horror on Tyler's face, probably because he didn't notice. He was looking at Tyler's sword arm.

"If you hold it like that, you can hurt your wrist."

Tyler looked down at his grip on his training sword.

"Oh." A memory surfaced. "Alex told me that. In like, one of the first lessons. I… forgot."

"Think you mean you ignored her," Tedros said mildly. Tyler looked up, stricken. Tedros blinked at him.

"Remembered who you are, now. Sophie kept giving us updates, even though it had nothing to do with her school."

"You know that-"

"You and Alex have been at each other's throats for months? Yeah."

Tyler considered stabbing himself with his sword. Probably wouldn't kill him, it wasn't very sharp. Then he'd just have to go and face Sora in the infirmary again. Best not to.

"And…" he said carefully. "You're mad about that?"

Tedros scratched his beard with his free hand, in a thoughtful sort of way.

"When I was younger, I would have been. I'd have tried to fight you about it, probably. And I was pretty annoyed at home when I was hearing about it…"

Tyler unconsciously took a step back.

"But not really, no." Said Tedros.

"Seriously?"

"It's your problem, kid. Think there's more to it than possibly surface level suggests, based on-"

He stopped himself slightly too late.

"Based on that recent performance with my dear mother?" Said Tyler tiredly.

Tedros nodded slowly. It struck Tyler how bizarre this whole setup was. Talking to his childhood hero about how he'd spent months scrapping with his eldest daughter and his problems with his mother. He wondered briefly if it was a stress hallucination.

"Think we've got some things in common. Or had." Tedros mused, staring at the straw on the floor.

"Intense inferiority complex coupled with an absentee mother and dead father, which turned into an ego problem?" Offered Tyler. Then realised what he'd said.

Why did I say that-

He went to backtrack, but Tedros seemed to legitimately consider it. It occurred to Tyler that maybe he wasn't quite as impulsive as he'd been in his youth.

"Well, I wasn't gonna say it like that, but… yes."

He sheathed Excalibur and looked at him. Tyler did his best to copy the single, fluid motion with his own training sword.

"I've met your mother before," Tedros said. "At a summit in Oakwood."

Tyler blinked. He hadn't known that.

But of course, he hadn't.

"I'm sure the honour was all hers." Said Tyler sourly.

"She was very… emphatic." Conceded Tedros.

"Only to people with a title higher than Lord ." Muttered Tyler. "Let me guess; she was rude to Queen Agatha when she realised she couldn't pry you off her, said something subtly uncomplimentary about Alex or Prince Marcus, then spent the rest of the visit implying that you and Princess Rosalind were the only two members of the Royal Family worth anything. And she didn't mention me."

Tedros did laugh, then.

"Almost. She was overly nice to me and rude to Agatha, so Rosalind and Alex spilled wine on her on purpose. She went to suck up to Empress Eunha for the rest of the visit."

"Remind me to thank Alex." Tyler muttered.

"You can thank Ros too, it was her idea, she just got Alex to help. And your mother did mention you, actually."

Tyler blinked, startled.

"She did?"

Tedros peered at him. He looked distinctly pleased, and Tyler suddenly got a horrible feeling that he knows what she-

"She said I was your childhood hero, and you had a copy of-"

Tyler flung himself down on the floor so fast that he knew he'd have bruises.

"Don't say it, don't say it!" He begged. "I prayed like, every night that you didn't know it existed, I bought it for the stuff about tournaments-"

"Agatha bought it as a gag gift, and starts reading it out every time I get too vain." Tedros mourned. "I know it exists."

"Alex has a copy, they're annotating it for your fiftieth, Sora told me." He paused. "I don't think you're supposed to know that."

Tedros snorted.

"For two clever kids, the twins are idiots. The three of them annotate it in Alex's room, and you can hear them screaming from the stables, they always have the window open." He paused. "Actually, it's always Ros who insists on that, maybe her loyalty to me runs a bit deeper than I thought-"

"I really want to die." Said Tyler, from amongst the straw. "I didn't think Mother knew anything about me, let alone that ."

Tedros looked slightly less amused.

"Who's raised you for sixteen years, then?"

"Various nursemaids." Said Tyler, picking straw off his shirt.

"No father?"

"I said, he's dead."

"Grandfather?"

"Some rich lawyer in Putsi."

"Uncles?"

"One. He's as odious as his sister."

Tedros looked at him with a familiar sort of consideration, heavy brows pulled over his clear eyes. Alex's eyes were the same colour and shape as her mother's, but Tyler realised that her expressions had all come from Tedros. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"Why do you ask?" Said Tyler.

"No reason." Said Tedros, sounding very much as if there was a reason. "We should go get lunch."

He offered him a hand, presumably to pull him off the floor.

"...we?" Said Tyler, confused at the implication he was included, and also knowing that meant he had to sit with Alex. Tedros blinked at him, still offering his hand. It was the one with his signet ring, and the ring was twisted a little. He could see part of the lion crest.

"Unless you fancy being hungry."

Tyler weighed up his options. His pride had suffered too much today to be given any precedence.

He threw it aside and accepted the proffered hand.

"-he had like, no control over his horse, so, personally, I thought he cheated, but-"

Tedros stopped, staring at the four additional people sat by the lake.

"Oh." Said Tedros and Hester in unison. "It's you."

Agatha rolled her eyes and went back to eating.

June eyed Tyler with suspicion. Tyler looked away quickly and ended up looking at Nadiya.

She shuffled closer to Alex and indicated the space beside her.

Tyler sat gingerly down in-between Nadiya and Hester, who shot him a murderous look. Apparently Tedros wasn't the only one who knew about his scraps with Alex, but, for whatever reason, she didn't say anything.

Tyler wasn't really sure that was better.

Speaking of Alex, she had been staring in confusion at him. Tyler wasn't really surprised, but he was a little uncomfortable when she looked across at her father for an explanation. Tedros made an expression at her which Tyler interpreted as play nice.

Embarrassed that he was only being accepted on Tedros's authority, rather than on his own merit, he stared at his knees and listened to Dot and June argue.

"No, the wound was green, so it can't have been hemlock or anything like that."

"Sometimes it looks green-"

"It wasn't HEM- OW!"

June snatched her bleeding finger from Anadil's rat and stared at her mother's covenmate.

"The hell was that for?"

Anadil handed Hester half of her bread and turned her red gaze on June and Dot.

"As I've been trying to say for the past ten minutes, you're both wrong, it's a close relative of hemlock."

"How the hell do you know that?" Demanded Dot, trying to get June to show her the bitten finger. "June, it might get infected-"

"It won't-"

"I met Akiyama Emi earlier when I was going to the bathroom." Said Anadil simply.

Alex raised her hand.

"Is anyone ever going to tell me where Nevers actually go to the bathroom?"

The Nevers in the circle looked at her, looked at each other, then declined to answer.

"I'll know one day," Alex assured Tedros, who snorted.

"Good luck. I'm friends with loads, and no one's told me yet."

Hester snorted.

"None of us are friends with you, we tolerate your presence whenever we come to see Agatha." She turned to Anadil, leaving Tedros looking rather chastened. Tyler, taken aback by this revelation, snuck a look around the circle. No one except Nadiya looked surprised.

"She doesn't mean it." Whispered Alex to them.

"Sounded like she did." Murmured Tyler, uncomfortable.

"If she didn't say anything to smack him down, we'd be worried she'd been replaced." She turned back to talk to her sister.

Tyler could see why his mother would have liked Rosalind, to begin with; she was very pretty and had lots of thick dark hair that didn't seem to be able to decide if it was brown or black, depending on what light it was in. Her eyes seemed to waver between shades of blue in a similar way. But Tyler got the impression she didn't care much for the Fair Princess label that was smacked on her. She was dressed in dark shades of burgundy, like her mother, though a little finer, and didn't look as if she was amused by the group of various younger brothers and cousins ogling at her from under a tree several feet away. Tyler didn't blame her.

Her brother was a little less noticeable, which Tyler got the impression he was pleased by. His colouring was all the same as his sister, but he didn't have the same impressively handsome face as Rosalind; he had an overbite that was his Royal Rot cartoon identifier, coupled with the fact that his crooked ears skewed his glasses sideways on his face, and his skin appeared to blemish much easier than his sister's. He had a similar sort of sharp intelligence gleaming from his clear eyes, but it was a little more masked than Rosalind's.

And neither of them were really anything like Alex, apart from the fact they all looked the same around the mouth and eyes.

He didn't really know much about siblings, but this was sort of surprising-

Then he noticed Nadiya sat next to him, properly.

Siblings.

Parents.

She was on her own.

Why was she on her own?

He looked around. No one who looked as if they could be related to her.

Suddenly, the fact that she'd invited him to sit next to her made a bit more sense.

"Nadiya," said Tyler. "Would you walk with me for a bit? I need to go and check on my wolf for Animal Communication."

Alex stood up.

"I'll come too!"

She said it with enthusiasm, but Tyler didn't miss the suspicion she was eyeing him with. He didn't- and had never- had a problem with Nadiya, but he supposed Alex was right to expect something horrible from him.

The idea made him guilty, an emotion he'd been suppressing up until very recently.

He hesitated, uncomfortable, but Nadiya nodded quickly.

"Yeah, come on, Alex. Excuse me, everyone-"

"You do wolves in Animal Communication?" Said Tedros incredulously as they left.

"Sucks for you to have come here during the boring traditional days." Grinned Alex, and trotted after Tyler and Nadiya.

"Akiyama Raiden?"

Raiden turned from spying on Talib to see Rosalind of Camelot stood behind him.

"Oh, hello, Your Holiness. Yes, I am he. What gave it away?" He asked, spinning his wheelchair in circles. "Be honest. Was it my eyes? I've been told I have a smouldering gaze."

"Your grandmother called you by your name at least twice, and I stood next to you when you introduced yourself to my father." Said Rosalind, ignoring the fact that he'd deliberately used the wrong honorific. Interesting. "Also, I've seen you at summits for years."

"...Right." Said Raiden.

"What are you doing?" Asked Ros.

"Spying on the famous Talib and his family." Admitted Raiden cheerfully.

"The Class Captain?"

Rosalind followed his gaze to where Talib appeared to be trying to justify himself to his grinning sister and father, as if they were making fun of him.

Raiden rather thought there were two similar agendas going on in opposite camps. They were looking at him.

He waved cheerfully and made a mental note to confront Efua M'Barek later, and see what she had to say about her brother.

Talib appeared to be wanting to die, watching his sister and father laugh.

"Hmm." Said Rosalind. "Interesting."

Raiden stared at her, wondering how she could possibly have followed the trains of thought-

"Sophie." Said Rosalind, by way of explanation. "Gossips about students in both schools. I listen, even if my mom doesn't."

"Of course she does." Muttered Raiden.

Rosalind changed the topic.

"Look, I was wondering if you'd be able to help me."

Raiden raised an eyebrow.

"If it falls under any of the categories of general mischief, chaos, revenge or just being stupid , sign me up."

"It's about the other visiting families."

"Tedros doesn't want us for espionage, does he? I think you'd be a good spy, actually-"

"It's about those cretins." Rosalind pointed to a group of boys crammed in the doorway of the Entrance Hall, staring at them. "They've all decided they have a crush on me- they don't, because two of their mothers have already asked Dad what my dowry is-"

"What is your dowry?"

"I don't care, and neither should you."

"A lot, then. And you could do so much worse than me. Just saying."

Rosalind stared at him, utterly unamused.

"Joking." Said Raiden, quickly. "Princesses aren't my type."

"You'd be the only one." Muttered Rosalind.

"I do love to beat my own path." Agreed Raiden cheerfully.

"Admirable. Anyway, they've decided to pool their pocket money and they bribed one of those cherubs to-"

There was a thud and Raiden jerked away from the smelly, stubbly, golden-winged cherub that had landed heavily on the back of his chair.

"Found ya!" He grinned, displaying several missing teeth.

"Who are you?" Raiden demanded.

"Jimmy." Said the cherub.

"That it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then, Jimmy, get off my chair."

Raiden shoved him off the back of his chair, and was more than mildly dismayed when all the cherub did was flutter to the ground.

"No can do, kid. Been told by them other kids over there to serenade this lady for the rest of the weekend." He held up an oversized, dented harp with several warped or broken strings. "Observe."

Raiden thought it was supposed to be a Jaunt Jolie folk song, but, honestly, it was hard to tell. Jimmy's voice was chainsmoker-rough and raspy, and he slurred every other word. Coupled with the broken harp, it was painful.

It was also massively undermined by Rosalind's fury.

"The rest of the weekend ?" She snarled.

"Be angry about it after he's finished." Groaned Raiden, fingers plugged firmly in his ears. "Can't cope with both at the same time."

People were starting to stare, now. Rosalind's pale cheeks were staining what Emi called Embarrassed Tedros Scarlet.

Her brother came running over.

"What the hell is this? Ros-"

"It's what happens every other day!" Rosalind stormed. "I can't go anywhere without some cretins following me about. You-" she spun to Jimmy. "I'll get my father to pay you to shut up."

He stopped instantly.

"How much?"

"More than their pocket money." Scoffed Rosalind.

"Your dad the King over yonder?" Asked Jimmy.

Raiden could see Tedros peering over his wife's shoulder, bewildered by the scene playing out.

"Yeah."

"Dunno about that, love."

"What?"

"See, I'm mates with them monkeys what performed at his coronation, and they didn't get paid for it, so I don't think his Highness is mighty reliable." He paused. "In fact, I think the Dean of this place hired them initially for today, 'til someone told 'er bout that, and she just stuck 'em in the kitchens. So I could always go and get 'em-"

Rosalind and Marcus looked at each other, then, slowly, back at Jimmy. Both of them suddenly looked a lot older than they were. Raiden wondered how much damage they could do as a team. Probably quite a lot.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to watch them commit a homicide was interrupted when one of the boys came stumbling over, apparently elected as the leader from the way he'd been shoved forwards.

"Is...um, is there a problem?"

"You tell me, skinny-ankles." Snapped Rosalind.

"She's not mighty happy, kid." Jimmy patted the boy's knee. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea-"

"Keep playing!" Shouted one of the boys in the huddle.

"Hey, Raiden?" Marcus said softly.

"I'm listening, lord."

"What is it with you and-" Marcus stopped himself. "Never mind. Look, from experience, I think it's best if we try and stop this now."

"Uh-huh." Raiden watched as Agatha peeled herself off from the group of her school friends and came marching over. "Out of interest, what happens if this is allowed to continue?"

"Depends who deals with it." Said Marcus.

"Whew, ominous. What are you suggesting?"

Marcus looked suddenly awkward.

"Well… I'm not sure. I've never actually been able to stop anything before. Usually, they just laugh at me."

Raiden resisted the urge to squish Marcus's cheeks.

"And you think I'm not going to get laughed at?"

"You have social skills." Muttered Marcus.

"You're a Prince, what do you mean you don't have-"

Jimmy started playing again, this time a butchered rendition of Lavender's Blue- but with Rosalind's name shoved hastily in wherever it would fit- until Agatha booted the harp out of his hand and demanded to know what was going on.

People were starting to laugh, now. Raiden felt sorry for Rosalind, but he didn't think she'd appreciate behind told so.

He turned back to Marcus, dropping the social skills issue for now.

"We could always take your dad's sword and kill him?" He offered, teeth set on edge.

Marcus grimaced.

"If I could actually lift it, I'd be tempted."

"A pity." Murmured Raiden.

Agatha joined in the argument, and Sophie came rushing out of the Tunnel of Trees, presumably sensing drama about to occur.

Marcus looked expectantly at him.

"Do you have a plan, then-?"

Raiden never got to explain what his plan was because Rosalind appeared to come up with one.

Her face cleared, and she spun to Skinny-Ankles, who looked eager. He raised a hand to shut Jimmy up, and there was an audible sigh of relief in the Clearing.

"Prove yourself," she said simply. "What would you do for my hand?"

Skinny-Ankles didn't look as if he was used to thinking.

"Um." He said. "I would fight… a…"

"Take your time."

"A… a snake."

"A cobra? A copperhead?"

"A… grass snake." Decided Skinny-Ankles.

"Woah, slow down, Lancelot." Said Raiden. "Getting a bit too ambitious, there."

"Snakes are my worst fear." Said Skinny-Ankles- then was promptly trampled by the rest of the boys, who rushed forward to offer their suggestions.

"I'd fight ten snakes!'

"I'd fight one hundred snakes!"

"I'd fight a rattlesnake!"

"Snakes are my worst fear too!"

"Snakes give me nightmares!"

"Makes two of us." Murmured Tedros, who'd strode over to stand behind his daughter.

"Snakes?" Rosalind said. "Really? Wow."

The boys nodded eagerly. A few of their mothers had edged forward, looking equally excited. Raiden could hear odd words-

"-dowry-"

"-influence-"

"-so many new hats-"

Agatha glared over at them and they shut up.

"Snakes…" Rosalind mused, eyebrows furrowed. The boys hung onto every syllable. "Snakes…" she looked down. "Like that snake there?"

Everyone else looked down.

The adder hissed.

The boys screamed.

The way they scattered was, Raiden thought, akin to the most magnificent of bison stampedes. Rosalind watched them go nonchalantly, whilst Tedros tried to pretend he hadn't just tried to shove Agatha behind him, and awkwardly returned Excalibur to its sheath.

"What kind of luck was that?" Spluttered Raiden, watching as the adder disappeared in pursuit of the boys, and several overambitious fathers swept up daggers and raced after them.

Agatha shot Sophie a suspicious look, but Sophie shook her head.

"That really was just luck, darling."

Rosalind smiled, relieved.

"Like you said. Stroke of luck."

"I hope it doesn't bite any of them." Said Talib anxiously. He must have drifted over during the argument.

"It won't, don't worry." Dismissed Rosalind. "And even if it does, they won't die. Probably. Come on, old man. Let's go get dessert."

As Tedros and Rosalind disappeared off to the castle, Jimmy turned to Agatha, who was still holding his harp.

He grinned.

"Hi. Don't suppose you'd consider giving me that back? And a tip? A big one?"

"No." Said Agatha bluntly. Jimmy took a step towards the castle.

"Well, I suppose, I'll just carry on following her, them. 'Cause I've still been paid by them to do it. Aaaall weekend."

He paused. Watched Tedros and Rosalind.

"Or I could get out them monkeys, given her father's with her. Would that persuade you?"

"What monkeys?" Demanded Agatha.

"They're in the kitchens after the Dean realised she shouldn't have hired 'em. They wear little red jackets. Tumbling troupe. Think they performed at a certain high profile coronation. I've got a song about it if you'd like me to play it-"

"Play this !" Barked Agatha, and broke the harp over his head.

Several people cheered.

Raiden turned to look at Talib.

"Hey," he said. "Heard you know my brother."

Tyler didn't get around to mentioning The Nadiya Issue until after they'd wrestled Alex's wolf back into his kennel; he'd been so excited to see her that he'd tried to follow them, and Alex had been worried that he might scare Chicken.

The conversation had been light at first. Tyler had kept trying to steer it towards family, and Nadiya kept setting it on the track of Alex's family, which Alex was more than happy to chat about.

Also, the Jimmy Debacle had been rather a distraction, even if they had only seen it from afar.

"I thought Rosalind would be a bit different, I have to admit," Nadiya told Alex, dodging Tyler's question about siblings and if Nadiya had any. Again.

"Yeah." Agreed Alex. "Everyone always does. It's because she looks the most like Dad." She considered this. "Actually, I think she's been getting to look more and more like him, recently. Must have more of his genes or something."

Then she caught on. Finally.

"Hey, do you have any siblings?"

Tyler resisted the urge to cheer.

Nadiya shook her head quickly.

"No. No, just me and my parents."

Alex nodded slowly. Tyler prayed her brain would take her the extra step-

"Why didn't you invite them to sit with us, then? I'm sure my parents would like to meet them."

Ah, shit. Right, but not the right angle-

Nadiya swallowed. Tyler glanced at Alex, trying to catch her eye, but she wouldn't look over.

"Um," Nadiya said faintly. "Well. I thought-"

"Wait." Said Alex. "I don't think I've even-" she looked over, too late. "Tyler, have you seen them?"

"No." Said Tyler weakly, starting to think this might not have been a great idea, because Nadiya looked, alarmingly, as if she was about to cry.

Alex turned to her, bewildered.

"Are they even here?"

Slowly, Nadiya shook her head.

"What?" Spluttered Alex. "They didn't come?"

Another head shake.

"They're not as dreadful as Tyler's mother are they- oh, sorry, Tyler-"

"Absolutely no offence taken." Sighed Tyler.

"No, they're- they're not horrible, don't get the wrong idea-"

"Oh, no, don't cry!" begged Alex. "It's okay!"

Tyler thought it was a bit late, considering she was already crying, but kept his mouth shut.

Nadiya shook her head frantically, but tears were already dripping off her chin.

"No, no, they're just really busy, they don't really… really have…" she trailed off, mouth wobbling.

"They don't have much time for you." Finished Tyler quietly. Nadiya nodded.

No wonder she didn't have siblings.

But now, Tyler frowned.

"Nadiya, what's your surname?"

"El-Amin." Whispered Nadiya. Alex looked blank, but Tyler had put the pieces together. He'd always thought she looked familiar.

"The royal diplomats? They're at everything ."

"Yeah." Nadiya sat down heavily in the grass, wiping her face. "I know."

Tyler and Alex sat down awkwardly next to her. For now, they seemed to have an unspoken agreement to put aside their differences.

"Have you been holding onto this… What, all day?" Asked Alex gently. Tyler was forcibly reminded that, no matter how goofy she seemed, she was still a big sister.

"They sent a message to tell me yesterday." Murmured Nadiya, taking Alex's horribly crumpled handkerchief and blowing her nose. "They had an emergency mission to Bremen."

At least they told you, Tyler thought grimly.

"They never come to anything," Nadiya said miserably. "Never. I barely see them."

"We should start a club." Murmured Tyler. He caught the look on Nadiya's face. "Okay, sorry."

"They're not as bad as all that. Just busy." Nadiya pulled up a few clumps of grass. "They always write to tell me about everything they see, and all the people they meet. They've met Alex's parents, and your mother, multiple times."

"Let me guess, they didn't get on with my mother." Tyler flopped back in the grass, staring at the sun starting to sink below the trees.

"No." Admitted Nadiya. "They were very surprised when she said her son had got into Good, because-"

Tyler interrupted.

"They didn't know she had a son, yeah. Pretty common reaction, it seems."

Maybe he should talk to Nadiya more. They seem to have some things in common.

Alex, who had been oddly quiet, suddenly piped up.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

Nadiya bit her cheek.

"Didn't want to make a fuss."

"You never want to make a fuss."

"I know."

"You should talk more."

"Maybe." Nadiya started to pick her clump of grass apart. Alex sat up, frowning.

"No, not maybe! You spend all this time trying to fix our stupid problems, and you never tell us about your own!"

Nadiya pursed her lips.

"I don't-"

"Me and Marcy fighting, getting me ice for my nose, trying to argue with Pollux after I catapulted that knife and broke the plate-"

"That was just common sense."

"Maybe so! But you need to think more about yourself ."

Nadiya was silent. Alex awaited her response.

Then she caught Tyler staring.

"What?"

"I'm starting to think you're a bit wiser than I thought." Admitted Tyler.

"I'll take it." Alex turned back to Nadiya. "So?"

"I'll... try." Nadiya conceded.

"Better than nothing!" Beamed Alex. "I bet you're still trying to solve something for someone else, like, right now, though."

Nadiya winced, embarrassed.

"Well, I guess so. Only after like, yesterday, though. I actually was worried that-"

She cut herself off, and Tyler suddenly had a good idea of who the worry concerned.

"Hey, guys." Talib sat himself down next to Alex. Behind him, there was a flurry of movement in the Clearing; it seemed that Sora had finally made an appearance, based off the presence of Emi, June and Anemone, and all the shouting. "What're we doing?"

"Discussing families," Alex told him. "Where's yours?"

Talib waved a big hand vaguely in the direction of the Clearing.

"Talking to Marcy's uncle and Kia's parents. Farming things. Lack of interest in nobility. All that."

"Nice." Alex peered behind him. "Is that Sora, who's just arrived?"

Something shifted in Talib's usually cheerful expression.

"Yeah." He said. "Yeah, he's… yeah." He trailed off. Nadiya's eyes narrowed.

"Aw, I'm gonna go and see him, then!" Alex sprang to her feet. "Come on, guys!"

She hurried off.

Slowly, Tyler and Nadiya stood up. Both of them looked at Talib.

He offered them a smile that was clearly forced.

"Go on." He said. "I think I'll stay here for a while."

Reluctantly, the two of them headed after Alex.

Nadiya caught the look on his face.

"Do you… know what's going on?"

Tyler nodded slowly.

"I can't fix it. I've been too terrible to both of them. But... maybe you can." He paused. "I agree with Alex, by the way. About how you need to take time for yourself, not just everyone else."

"That's a first." Muttered Nadiya. "You agreeing with Alex. But yeah, fine. Just help me with this."

Tyler hesitated.

"Please." Pushed Nadiya.

Tyler looked back at Talib, sat by the lake on his own.

He turned back and told her everything he knew.

"-and the boar turned into a person?"

Agatha looked incredulously around at the cluster of people around her. Hester, Anadil, Dot, and Sophie all looked similarly bewildered. Tedros, though, was braiding Rosalind's hair, and Marcus was doing the Royal Rot crossword.

"Ten letter word for someone who illegally transports and sells alcohol or other substances?"

"Bootlegger." Said Agatha absently, still staring thoughtfully at Alex.

"Oh, right-"

"I've never heard of anything like that." Continued Sophie. "And when we went to look, after the Trial, we couldn't find anyone. We combed the whole forest."

"Maybe it was temporary?" Offered Anadil.

"It's not supposed to be possible." Muttered Hester. "There's no such thing as Reverse Mogrification."

"You know me." Shrugged Alex. "Like to do impossible things."

"It has to have been something else. Some spell you didn't know you could do." Sophie turned to Agatha. "Could it have been a branch of your magic?"

"Talents aren't really hereditary." Agatha dismissed. "The only exception is that siblings sometimes share bits of magical proficiency. And Alex is lovely, but she isn't 100% Good. She can't grant wishes."

"Well, whatever it was, it shocked it enough to stop it charging." Mused Dot.

There's a pause.

"Hope you can do it again, then." Muttered Agatha.

A thoughtful silence descended. Alex hadn't really thought about her boar-to-man spell since it had actually happened in the Trial; she'd had enough on her plate. Maybe she ought to get Marcus to research it.

She glanced over at Marcus, who had almost finished the puzzle.

"Eight letter word for something that appears to be real, but isn't?" He asked.

"Illusion." Supplied Rosalind, staring over Hester's shoulder.

Marcus looked irritated he hadn't thought of it, as usual. Alex resisted the urge to bestow her usual "you can't remember everything" wisdom upon him, knowing she'd just get the "Maybe you can't" response.

"Thanks." Marcus sighed, and started the sudoku.

Tedros followed Rosalind's gaze to the cluster of boys, still staring, just from a safe distance, now. A concussed Jimmy was slumped at their feet, glaring at Agatha.

"I feel like I should just marry you off. Stop this happening all the time." Tedros told Ros.

"Marry her off? At thirteen?" Demanded Agatha. "Do you want a divorce?"

"Or Ros to murder you." Muttered Alex.

"I'm joking!"

Rosalind just snorted as Tedros tied off her hair. They all knew Tedros would never really do it.

She changed the topic;

"I can feel your jealousy from here."

Tedros sighed.

"I miss having hair that's one colour."

"And having hair in general?"

Judging by that comment, though, she thought he needed to pay for the suggestion of marriage.

"I am not balding!" Hissed Tedros.

Rosalind shrugged.

"No, but you're going grey."

"It's fine!"

"You've got, like, three new grey hairs. Just today."

Tedros snatched a silver plate from the table and stared at his reflection, horrified. Hester rolled her eyes at Alex. Alex grinned at her.

"Remind me I've got some stuff for you, later." Hester told her quietly.

Alex blinked at her.

"What sort of stuff?"

Hester glanced at Tedros.

"I didn't have those this morning!" Tedros was wailing.

Alex beamed.

"Stuff I'm not meant to have. Got it."

Hester winked and turned back to Anadil.

"You don't have them now, you blind old bat!" Agatha was telling Tedros. "I see you every day, nothing's changed!"

"No, look-" Tedros turned back to his reflection, and frowned. "Wait, no, I swear I saw-"

"Sucks to be blind and greying and way too easily convinced by me, I guess-" Rosalind cut herself off.

Jimmy was stood at Tedros's knee.

"Hey, your Maj." He said.

Tedros stared at him, not stupid enough to miss the fact that something seemed to be wrong.

"...what do you want?"

Rosalind looked pointedly at Alex.

Alex looked at Agatha.

Agatha looked at Marcus.

Everyone got the message.

"Hey." Said Alex. "Did you guys see my spear?"

"No." Said Ros, even though she had.

"No, show us." Said Agatha, moving around the side of the table to reach them.

Jimmy smiled at Tedros. Alex whipped the stick from her belt and handed it to Marcus.

Marcus, clever enough to catch on, shuffled around on the bench. Rosalind stood up to get a better look. Alex wandered around to stand behind Jimmy, who was too focused on trying to psych Tedros out to notice.

"Into a spear," Marcus said.

Really, it did extend quite far.

Far enough to knock someone over, for example.

Ten minutes later, Agatha, the twins, and Alex dangled a bruised Jimmy over the lake, using Alex's spear again, this time as a stake to tie him to. Jimmy was screaming, which was a sound oddly similar to his singing.

"I WON'T LET OUT THEM MONKEYS I PROMISE YOUR MAJ, DON'T GET MY WINGS WET I CAN'T RIGHT FLY WITH EM WET- you gotta buy me a new harp though-"

Rosalind let go of the "stake", and Jimmy came perilously close to the water. The screaming increased.

Sophie and Tedros stood nearby, looked pained and bewildered respectively.

"Not... those monkeys?" Tedros asked Sophie weakly. Sophie eyed him.

"Why do you think they're trying to drown him, darling?"

Tedros went an ugly sort of grey colour.

"OKAY, FINE I PROMISE!" wailed Jimmy. "NO STRINGS ATTACHED!"

"That's the spirit!" Beamed Alex.

"I love it when Evers act like Nevers," Emi told her grandsons from under her tree. "It's good for the liver."

"To be honest, I think they're pretty much always like that." Admitted Sora, as Jimmy was hauled back in unnecessarily slowly. "Alex is, at least."

"No." Emi dismissed. "She's not, not in the way I mean. From what you've told me, anyway. To be honest, I actually think..."

She trailed off, staring thoughtfully at the group as Jimmy was released and Tedros made a hasty retreat back into the castle.

"You think what?" prodded Sora.

"Nothing I can prove," said Emi, but she leaned back, apparently pleased.

Raiden frowned at her.

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll see." Grinned Emi. "If I'm right, there'll be no way you can miss it."