They ran back to the pavilion outside the castle. News of the attacks in the arena seemed to have reached this point already as everyone sat huddled in small groups talking in nervous whispers and casting nervous glances in that direction. Anna and Andrew couldn’t bring themselves to say anything as they went.

  Peter took the opportunity to introduce everyone else to the trio of guards and the mage. He seemed surprised when they introduced themselves in turn, as if he hadn’t realized he’d never gotten their names. The guard who was wounded was named Ronald, and he was the most senior of the three. The other two, Kieth and Dean, were a few years younger than Ronald and even Andrew. Both were still older than Peter, if only just. The curly haired mage was Thomas, and he was rather surprised when he realized the pair of young twins he’d been helping protect were the king and queen. All four of them offered to stay and keep looking out for the pair until they were safe.

  As they made the offer, Anna glanced at Andrew. She could tell Andrew wasn’t quite sure whether or not to share their discovery with the others. But the Thornwood siblings, the trio of guards, and Thomas the mage had proven themselves more than the chancellor ever had. She thought she caught the moment Andrew came to the same conclusion. “About that,” he began. “I’m not sure if they’ll be safe back at the castle.”

  “Why not?” Hannah asked.

  “Was there an attack there, too?” Ronald asked.

  “No,” Andrew said. “It’s just…” he paused, then shook his head. “I don’t know how to say this,” he muttered.

  “Maybe we should wait for Sol?” Anna suggested. She looked back over her shoulder, wondering how long it would take him to deal with the situation and return. “He might know what to do.”

  “What’s going on?” King Henry asked again. “There were a lot of Wisps in there, and Peter said he saw Zech.”

  “Were the Wisp Stealers making their move?” Queen Emily asked.

  “Yes,” Andrew said, his voice uncertain. “I think they changed their plans because they realized you weren’t in the palace.”

  “What?” the royal twins said at the same time.

  “So is the Wisp Stealer’s spy here?” Hannah asked.

  “Did you find out who it is?” Jeremy asked.

  Andrew nodded. “It’s Daniel,” he said.

  Silence fell as all eyes turned back to look at Andrew. Jeremy and Hannah looked horrified, while their new companions seemed to be trying to place the name in the first place. Peter whistled and told Jarnvaror, who didn’t seem to react much either way. The king and queen looked utterly confused. Henry let out a nervous laugh. “There’s no way,” he said.

  “You must be mistaken, surely,” his sister agreed.

  “We listened to him plan with Sheil,” Andrew said. “He went to talk to her through the bars in her cell. He told her that their plan would need to be moved up while you were out of the castle.” He paused, looking between their faces, as they became even more bewildered. “We weren’t sure what the plan really was, but we think we saw it. If Zech started the attack, then…”

  “But Daniel wouldn’t!” Henry said. “He’s family, he’s like a brother to us!”

  “Sheil is family, too,” Emily said.

  “He was excited when he realized you were gone,” Anna said. “That’s what made us worry.”

  “How do you know?” the king demanded.

  Anna held out her hand, where most of the Wisps had returned to her bracelet. A few, though, had gone into the equipment the others had picked up and were still working to calm the Wisps there. Silently, she asked Halcyon and the others to begin sharing feelings from those around her again. They obliged, and now she could feel the king’s confusion, hurt, and fear, in addition to seeing it on his face.

  “The Wisps have started telling me what others feel,” Anna said. “They’ll tell you, too, if you want.”

  Henry stopped and let Anna approach him. “I just touch it, right?”

  Anna nodded. “Touch it and focus on who’s feelings you want them to tell you about.”

  He did, and his sister joined him. A moment later, Anna felt her own feelings reflected back through the Wisps, then Andrew’s. A moment later, it shifted again as the twins examined one another, then Thomas. The pair looked intently from person to person, and each time they moved their gaze, the Wisps’ influence changed.

  “Just because he was excited doesn’t mean…” Henry began, but he didn’t seem able to finish. He was shaking now.

  “I know,” Anna said. “It just made me worry. So we followed him and heard him planning with Sheil. I don’t know why either of them are doing this. But they are part of the Wisp Stealers.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be going back to the castle, then,” Hannah said.

  “We need to at least get our gear,” Peter said. “Jarn’s saddle and stuff.”

  “Are you planning to run away?” Jeremy asked. Anna could tell from the Wisps that he’d meant that to be playful, to lighten the mood. His tone was much harsher than he’d meant it to be.

  Peter shook his head. “No, but if we really have to fight the Wisp Stealer’s now, I’d rather get people up on dragon back,” he said. “Riding bareback is a bad idea.”

  “In the meantime, we need to figure out how we’re going to talk to the others about Daniel,” Andrew said. “We heard him, but we don’t really have any evidence ourselves.”

  “We could pretend not to know,” Peter suggested. “It’s not like he caught you or anything.”

  “No,” Anna said. “The longer he remains where he is, the more people are in danger. Especially the king and queen.”

  “We’re not in danger anymore!” King Henry insisted.

  “Then we need to figure out some way to convince the others about it,” Andrew said, ignoring Henry.

  As they spoke, they made it back to their part of the pavilion. The camp seemed still and restless, with no one moving about. The few people they saw gave Jarnvaror nervous glances, but said nothing as they made their way to the open area by the Wisp Seekers’ tent. Peter started preparing Jarnvaror’s saddle as soon as they arrived. The trio of guards stood protectively around Henry and Emily while Hannah and Jeremy tried to comfort them. Anna went over to Andrew.

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  “Any ideas?” she asked.

  “No,” Andrew said. “I can still hardly believe Daniel was the one who… well.” He shook his head and glanced over his shoulder. “Even if the king and queen believe us, and I don’t think they do, how do we convince everyone else if it’s just our word against his? Will we need to, or will the soldiers just follow their orders? I need time to think.”

  Anna looked down the path and saw a large group approaching them at some speed. “I think you’ve got about a minute,” Anna told him.

  Andrew took a breath. “We stick to the truth. I think that’s all we can manage.”

  Anna heard the panicked voices of people arguing in the group well before they were close enough for the Wisps to inform her of their emotions. Most of the words were lost as people shouted over one another, but she made out bits and pieces. “—your men—,” came a feminine voice, to which another woman scoffed, “Mine? How dare—” only to be cut off by more shouting.

  When they were close enough, dozens of emotions that were not her own slammed into her. She could feel everything from panic to loathing, curiosity to indignation. She couldn’t parse which feelings belonged to which person approaching them with hurried strides, except for one. Several of the Wisp had attached to a familiar core of cold rage and the emotions that seemed to surround it. Daniel was with them, she was sure.

  “What happened?” Queen Talitha asked first, stepping out from several of her royal guard. “We heard there was some kind of attack in the city.”

  “Where are they!” demanded Thalia, rushing ahead of her own guards and scanning the group gathered in the Wisp Seekers pavilion. Her eyes lit up on Henry and Emily, and she held her hands out to them. “Here, now!” she barked. Then her gaze swung to Peter and the others. The Wisps latched on to her, and Anna felt her mix of panic and relief turn to utter rage. “How dare you take them away from me!” she spat. “How dare you! Putting them in danger like that.”

  “Mother,” Henry said, taking a few steps forward. “I wanted to go. But we were attacked.”

  “Exactly,” came Daniel’s voice as he stepped up beside Lady Thalia. His tone was all concern and reprimand. But Anna, through the Wisps could feel his fury and also a sense that was difficult to describe. A sort of hope that he might still make something of the whole situation. He continued, “They were reckless to take you along! Criminally reckless.”

  Anna felt panic suddenly well up inside Thalia again, and she nodded. “Yes!” she said. “These travelers, these children cannot be allowed around you anymore!” she said. The panic seemed to surge inside her. “No, we cannot even work with them.”

  “Lady Thalia!” Anna said, a horrible suspicion rising up inside of her. But before she could continue, Captain Yamada spoke up.

  “My lady, we don’t even know the nature of these attacks yet. We must have a report.”

  “Be silent!” Lady Thalia snapped. “This is about the safety of my children!”

  “From what we’d heard, people have been killed,” Queen Talitha said. “You’re children have a duty to protect them, as much as I do my own citizens. Let us just hear what happened.”

  “We aren’t entirely sure what happened,” Queen Emily said. She gestured to her brother. “As Hannah and I caught up with my brother the king and the others, we thought we saw a man send a signal into the sky.”

  The king nodded his agreement. “Right. Then an attack started. We were attacked by some foreign mages and warriors, and—”

  “I beg your pardon,” came the voice of the Rykyuujin diplomat. “But my people would not attack in the middle of negotiations.”

  “Nor would ours,” insisted Talitha’s advisor, Mado.

  “Hold on,” Captain Yamada insisted. “These may have been criminals for hire.”

  “Thank you,” Queen Emily said to the captain. “Because there were also—”

  But her mother, looking horrified between the dignitaries on either side of her, interrupted the young queen. “Attacked by foreigners?” she said. Anna could feel more panic swelling inside Lady Thalia. In fact, she was sure there was too much for it to be coming from a single person now.

  “I assure you, I was aware of no such plot,” Queen Talitha insisted.

  But the look of horror on Thalia’s face didn’t change. She backed away from the others, closer to Daniel.

  “It was the Wisp Stealers,” Peter said. “I saw—”

  “You will not speak to me!” Thalia shouted. “You little, wicked, ungrateful child! It’s because of you my children, your king and queen, were in danger in the first place. I will not hear excuses from you!”

  Anna grabbed Andrew’s hand and pulled him down. “Daniel!” she said, trying and failing to keep her voice low. “He’s using one now.” Even as she spoke, she saw the Chancelor’s attention snap to the two of them. She could feel the rage and shock rush through him. For once they matched the expression on his face.

  “What are you talking about?” Thalia demanded.

  But before either Anna or Andrew could answer, Daniel spoke, raising his voice so that none could speak over him. “Oh, I see!” he said, his voice sounding fearful, reluctant, and betrayed. But the Wisps told Anna he felt desperate rage. “It makes sense now. You’ve been working with Zech, haven’t you?”

  “No!” Anna said, feeling everyone else’s shock at the statement.

  “It finally makes sense. These Wisp Stealers are the only other ones who can use these Wisps. And the spy only seemed to appear when you did.” Anna could feel Daniel growing calmer, as if he was sure his lie would succeed. “Tell me, how long have you been planning to lead the royals into their trap?”

  “But they saved us,” the king said, looking with confusion between Peter and Daniel.

  “It’s true,” Ronald said to sounds of agreement from his two companions. “We saw the attack.”

  “He’s lying, trying to save his own skin,” Andrew said.

  “How dare you accuse any of us!” roared Lady Thalia, her voice rising with terror.

  “I can feel his emotions through the Wisps,” Anna said. She offered her arm to the king and queen. “Here. Touch it and you’ll know.”

  Even as the twins reached out to her bracelet, Anna felt a sense of absolute jubilation that she knew was from Daniel. She looked, and just barely caught the grin before he transformed it into a look of horror. “She’s enchanting them!” he said. “Bewitching them.”

  “What’s going on, Daniel?” Emily asked. “Why are you… this is…”

  “Get away from them!” Lady Thalia demanded with a shriek. She jabbed a finger at the Wisp Seekers. “Guards! Guards! Arrest them! Arrest them!”

  Anna felt all of the other emotions disappear, replaced by the calm determination of the Wisps’ normal influence as Halcyon and several dozen others erupted from her bracelet. They spun and bobbed between the two groups. “Halcyon, no!” Anna said, the calm making it very clear to her how bad an idea this was. She didn’t need the Wisps to know what Daniel was feeling now. As controlled as his face was, he could hardly keep the note of triumph out of his voice.

  “You see?” said the chancellor. “She’s trying to control us all. Resist! Resist!”

  “I don’t believe this,” Captain Yamada said, those his companions rushed back, away from the Wisps as much as they could. “What’s going on.”

  Talitha backed away as well looking between Daniel and the Wisp Seekers. “This is wrong,” she said.

  “Of course you’d say that!” Thalia insisted. “I see now! You, these fools, the Wisp Stealers, all of you were in league against Grealand, against my children!”

  “What?” demanded the Selasi advisors.

  “How dare you!” spat the Ryukyuujin diplomat.

  “Yes, that make’s sense, my lady,” Daniel said.

  “That’s not true!” Anna shouted.

  “Get them!” screamed Thalia, as if she was unaffected by the Wisps. “Get them! Bring them back to me!”

  “Daniel, why?” Henry yelled. “Why are you doing this?”

  Daniel didn’t answer. He pointed to them and commanded the guards. “Rescue the king and queen. We might be able to save them. But we can’t listen to them while the others are still alive.”

  “That sounds like the cue to go,” Jeremy said.

  “Mount up!” Andrew agreed.

  “Jarn can’t take all of us!” Peter said.

  “Then the three of you, at least!” Hannah said, “Along with Henry and Emily.”

  “What about all of you?” Anna asked.

  “We’ll be fine,” Jeremy insisted. “We won’t fight. Just go! Get out of here while things cool down.”

  “Why is Daniel doing this?” Henry asked, looking to his other cousins.

  “I don’t know,” Jeremy said. “But you two need to get out of here, get somewhere safe. And right now, that’s on dragon back.”

  The king looked back over his shoulder. As he hesitated, the guards seemed to collect themselves well enough to start pushing through the Wisps. He and his sister moved to scramble up the dragon. Peter was ready, helping them lash their legs into place.

  “I’m sorry,” Anna said to the others.

  “Just get out of here!” Hannah said. “Go somewhere safe.”

  “No where will be safe for you!” came Thalia’s scream.

  “Alright, everyone’s in,” Peter said. “Jarn, it’s time to go!”

  The dragon rose, kicking off the ground and beating his wings. The guards, harried by the Wisps, stumbled back in the wind he kicked up. Then the dragon was too high for any of them to reach as he started into the sky.