Chapter 2: Testing

  My brothers insisted on waking up early. The sun had barely risen when I heard them stomping around downstairs. I pulled my pillow over my head in an attempt to block them out. The noise was unbearable. They made the whole house shake in their preparations, and it sounded as if a whole herd of wild horses was galloping by. After five minutes, I gave up on going back to sleep. I rummaged through my tiny closet - if you could call it that - and got out the sole suit in my possession. It was a bit small on me, but if I was going to see a king that day, I needed to look my best. Even if my best tore at the sides when I lifted my arms.

  Now adequately clothed, at least for the most part, I slipped downstairs to see what we had for breakfast. Cassidy was waiting in the kitchen with a big pot of oatmeal. With such a large family (nine sons, one daughter, and two parents), we had invested in equally large pots and pans to cook enough food for all of us. I had tried to lift the smallest of the set once, and its weight convinced me never to try it again. Cassidy and Mother must've had strong arms in order to cook with those pots and pans.

  "You hungry?" Cassidy asked, already tipping oatmeal into a bowl.

  "I'm a teenaged boy. When am I not hungry?" I replied, grabbing my bowl and a spoon from the drawer.

  Cassidy laughed. Her laughter was always music to my ears. It sounded like windchimes mixed with bells, and it made the world fresh again. "Make sure you stay out of trouble, Firth Henderson!" She waved the stirring spoon at me. "I don't want to have to clean up after you!"

  "Okay, got it! No need to be so bossy." I whispered the last tease under my breath, but she heard it and scoffed at me.

  "For that, you can eat outside. Go on, mister, go!" Cassidy pointed me out of the kitchen and onto our porch, still gesturing with the spoon. I didn't mind. I liked the porch better anyway.

  The oatmeal was hot to the touch. I let it cool for a few minutes, then tasted it. Yup, same delicious oatmeal with a hint of cinnamon and spice. Mother always made it the same way. She claimed to have a "secret ingredient," but we all knew it was our homegrown spices that gave it an extra kick. No one knew how to grow those herbs just like my Momma did.

  I heard a few distant shouts and instinctively ducked down. Foley and Fergus ran in from town, yelling their heads off. It took a while before they were even close enough for anyone to hear them. "He's here!" the twins shouted. "King Justian is here! He just arrived!"

  The rest of my brothers appeared from wherever they had been. Torin, Caolan, and Brone were working with Father in the fields, as usual, and the younger three had been gallavanting off in the woods somewhere. Torin looked like he was asking Father something, and then he and the rest of the pack stampeded toward town, whooping the whole way. Father wiped the sweat off of his brow and kept working.

  I crept back into the kitchen, carrying my empty oatmeal bowl. Cassidy had already cleaned up from breakfast, and by the looks of things, it had been empty for at least a week. "Hey, Cass," I called, setting my bowl next to the sink. "Foley and Fergus say the King's here. He's in town right now if you want to go see him."

  "Of course I want to see him!" Cassidy rushed down the stairs and grabbed me by the hands, twirling around with me. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime!" She paused, putting her hands on her hips. "Wait a minute... don't tell me you were seriously thinking about staying at home today!"

  I shook my head. "I have more important things to do than gaze at our beloved leader in awe. It all sounds like a waste of time to me."

  "Aw, Firth, you're such a bore! Come on, have some fun for once!" She made her best puppy dog face at me. "Pleeeeease?"

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  I laughed at her efforts to persuade me. "Alright, fine! But I'm only going for you - is that clear?"

  Cassidy saluted smartly. "Clear as mud, Firth sir!" Then she broke down giggling. "This is going to be the best day ever!"

  "This is the worst day ever," I muttered. A filthy, smelly crowd pushed in on me from every side. The shouts and cries of the people around me drowned out anything the King might have to say. I had to stand on my tiptoes just to get a glimpse of King Justian, and even then, I only saw the back of his head.

  The entire town was packed with people who had come to see the King. Folks from miles away had driven there in their run-down wooden wagons and with their entire families, too. I couldn't even see my brothers through the mess, and considering how tall Caolan was, it was nothing short of a miracle.

  Trumpets sounded from the four corners of the main courtyard we were in, bringing some semblance of silence to the people. The King's royal herald, dressed in deep purple and a silly-looking hat, stepped forward. He cleared his throat. "To the citizens of this charming little town, I give my greetings. As you all likely know, King Justian is here on a special mission."

  Here, the crowd broke into cheers. The poor herald could barely get two sentences out before being interrupted. He waved his hand, and the trumpets played again, louder than before. The people quieted.

  "Ahem, as I was saying... What was I saying again? Oh, yes, that's right. The King's special mission!" The herald spoke with a conspiratorial and even childish tone, as if he was about to announce that they would all be getting cookies before dinner. "King Justian has been searching for someone who is able to wield an ancient talisman of unspeakable power. None of the nobles were able to use this talisman, and so the King took his search to the lowliest. By which I mean you guys."

  A guard moved to stand next to the herald. He was holding a satin cushion, which had a small, intricately carved box nestled within it. The guard lifted up the cushion for all to see, and the crowd oohed and ahhed.

  "The King devised a small test to determine who has the capability to access the talisman's power, and each of you will get the chance to pass this test," the herald continued. "It is the King's order that everyone in this town gets a chance to try their hand at passing the test. Just get into an orderly line, and we can commence the testing!"

  People pushed and shoved for the honor to be first in line. People were knocked to the ground in the mad rush. I pulled Cassidy into a nearby alleyway to avoid the onslaught. She tried to slip back into the current of people stampeding past us, but I held her back. "Are you crazy?!" I asked. "You'll get crushed out there!"

  Nothing could dim the hopeful light in her eyes. "I'll do whatever it takes to pass that test! Just imagine what kind of power you could wield!" Her voice trailed off as her imagination took over.

  I could feel the draw myself. But something felt off. Nothing like this had ever happened before. It all sounded too good to be true. And as I had learned from my brothers, anything that sounded too good to be true generally wasn't real. This was no exception. But it couldn't hurt to try... could it?

  "If you want to take a crack at it, then I'll go with you," I told Cassidy. "But let's wait until the madness dies down. It's total chaos out there."

  She grinned. "I knew you'd come around! Hopefully, it won't take too long."

  As we waited, I watched what was happening by the herald so I would know what to expect when Cassidy took her turn. A long line of people stretched through town and ended just in front of the guard with the velvet cushion. The King's elegant chair was moved forward, and as each person came up, he asked them a few questions. Then the person left, always with a disappointed look on their face. It didn't take long for each person to go through the test, and the line shuffled through quickly. And yet it never seemed to end. People flowed into the line from every corner of town like rats spilling from the sewer. If the King went through this many hopefuls at every single town in the country, then it was a wonder he hadn't found the right person.

  I tried to fathom what King Justian's standards might be. How did he know who could use this mystical talisman and who couldn't? Did it take courage? Wisdom? Kindness? Any one of my brothers would say that I had none of those attributes. I never stood up for myself, even after years of teasing and even bullying. I didn't magically have the answer to every problem. And even though I cared deeply for Cassidy, it's always easy to be nice to those who are nice back, and it didn't necessarily mean that I was a kind person. I felt assured that I would never be picked.

  "Let's go," Cassidy said. "The line's dying down now." It hadn't died down, not really. But she was eager to test her luck. As for me, I was safe in the certainty of a predictable future, and nothing could touch me now.