“How about two out of three?” Eleada said.
“Deal,” Ben said, reaching out and shaking Elaeda’s hand. Alex saw the look on Ben’s face. It was the same look he had seen on Rafael’s face. A look he suspected was probably on his own face as he started to think about Victoria again. Ben wasn’t going anywhere.
“We’ll catch up with you later,” Alex said, but Ben’s attention was focused entirely on Elaeda.
“First Rafa, and now Ben,” Nina said, walking away with the others. “Must be something about the carnival.”
“Or the cute carnies,” Alex said.
“Romance is for suckers,” Daphne said with a flick of her hair.
“Mmm,” Clark said, his wide face contorted in almost palpable anxiety. “What’s love got to do with lollipops?”
Daphne stared up at Clark for a moment and then burst out laughing and punched him in the arm. Turning to Alex and Nina, she said, “Since we’ve lost two sets of eyes, maybe we should split up for a while. Clark and I can go around one way and meet you two on the other side. Maybe he can sniff out some ancient magic.”
“Good idea,” Nina said before Alex could say anything.
“Great,” Daphne said, heading toward a carnival ride called
The Widow’s Well
. “We’ll see you in an hour.”
“Ah, if I smell anything, I’ll let you know,” Clark said, waving as he followed Daphne into the carnival.
“Do you think he’ll ever tell her?” Nina asked as they watched Clark and Daphne fade into the crowd.
“Tell her what?” Alex asked.
“Seriously?” Nina asked. “Even you can’t be that stupid.”
“The question,” Alex said, knowing exactly what Nina was talking about, “is what will Daphne do when he tells her?”
“Oooo,” Nina said, her eyes going wide with the thought of Daphne’s possible reactions to Clark making a declaration of his love. “Maybe we could tie her down first.”
“I don’t want to be anywhere nearby,” Alex said.
“Maybe Clark will get lucky,” Nina said, “and Daphne will realize she likes him, too.”
“Daphne likes Clark?” Alex said. “Like Clark likes Daphne?”
Nina stopped and looked up at her brother, her face filled with sympathy. “You really are that stupid, aren’t you?”
“You’ve got to be mistaken,” Alex said. “Daphne is… and Clark is…” Alex wasn’t sure how to finish that thought. He kept walking instead.
“Clearly the problem is not Victoria,” Nina said, following beside Alex.
“What about Victoria?” Alex asked.
“Boys,” Nina said. “There must be some rule that you all have to be dropped on your heads as babies.”
“You’re right,” Alex said, not really hearing his sister. “We should stop by and see how Victoria is doing.”
“That may be the first sensible plan you’ve ever had,” Nina said.
“She may have learned something from her father about the artifact,” Alex said.
“Whatever you need to tell yourself to head in the right direction,” Nina said.
“Their booth is over this way,” Alex said, cutting into the heart of the carnival. Nina laughed and chased after him.
Chapter 10: Carnival Conversations
Victoria was not, however, conferring with her father about mysterious magical artifacts. Instead, Alex and Nina found her in the middle of some sort of conversation with Nathan, her impossibly handsome centaur ex-boyfriend.
“Ah, maybe we should come back later,” Alex said, seeing the flustered look on Victoria’s face.
“Don’t be silly,” Nina said, grabbing Alex’s hand and dragging him forward.
Victoria and Nathan stood outside a medium-sized tent, open at the front. A large hand-painted banner draped over the opening read,
Radcliff’s Radical Magical Mysteries
. The interior of the tent was lined with folding tables, each piled with various magical contraptions, many of which Alex recognized from Victoria’s father’s workshop. Unlike in the workshop, each of the inventions was now labeled with a handwritten note giving it a descriptive name suggesting its nature and properties. Alex noticed a bowl of mumbling marbles on one of the tables next to a large rock labeled,
The Floating Stone
. Only Victoria’s father would see the need to make a stone that could float.
As Alex and Nina came closer, they could hear Victoria and Nathan.
“But you still haven’t explained,” Nathan said, his voice strained.
“It’s complicated,” Victoria said, wringing her hands.
“But there was an agreement,” Nathan said.
“Not that I agreed to,” Victoria replied.
Nina did not wait to see where the conversation was going to lead, but inserted herself into it the middle of it. “Hi, Victoria.”
Victoria and Nathan both jumped a little at the sound of Nina’s voice. They had been so engrossed in their discussion they hadn’t noticed Alex and Nina walking up to them.
“Oh, hello, Nina,” Victoria said, a pink flush filling her face. “Hello, Alex.”
“Hi,” Alex said. Allowing Nina to drag him into the middle of a conversation between Victoria and Nathan was clearly the worst idea he’d had since…Well, it was hard to tell with so many bad ideas in his past, but he was pretty sure this ranked among the top three.
“Hello, Nina,” Nathan said, a coolness filling his deep voice. Alex wondered if his own voice would ever be that deep. “Hello, Alex.”
“Nathan was stopping by to see how Daddy’s booth was doing,” Victoria said.
“Yes, I was checking on Victoria,” Nathan said. “She gets bored and loses interest in things so easily.”
“Not when they’re interesting, I don’t,” Victoria said, her hooves stamping lightly in the packed earth beneath the tent.
Well
, Alex thought, his mood lightening slightly,
I may not be handsome, or have a deep voice, but nobody can say I’m not interesting.
“We were stopping by to check on Victoria, ourselves,” Nina said, looking up at Nathan’s long face with a somewhat dreamy cast to her eyes.
“How are sales?” Alex asked, searching for a safe subject.
“They’ve been a little slow, actually,” Victoria said, “but Daddy’s enthusiasm is boundless, so he’s gone back to his shop to retrieve a few more items he thinks will have more appeal.”
“Those self-hammering nails can be tricky,” Nathan said. “I know from personal experience.”
“I told you not to hold them like that when saying the charm,” Victoria said.
“As usual,” Nathan said, “your explanation left out some detail.”
“I’ve always found your father’s inventions to be very useful,” Alex said.
“Thank you, Alex,” Victoria said with a slight sigh.
“Nathan,” a voice said from behind Alex. A voice Alex immediately recognized and caused him to swallow involuntarily. “I’ve been looking all over for you,” Leanna said.
Alex turned as Leanna walked across the carnival grounds and joined them. She was wearing bright green shorts over her goat legs and a bright green shirt that made her bright green eyes seem to jump out at Alex. “Oh, hi, Alex,” she said, bursting into a smile as she stepped up close to him.
Alex found his brain was suddenly having trouble forming words. This was the kind of situation that caused his mind to move like molasses. To have a beautiful girl who had saved his life staring up at him with her enchanting green eyes, in front of the girl who he wanted to be his girlfriend, who had been talking to the far-too-handsome centaur boy who had been her boyfriend, and seemed to still want to be her boyfriend, and all while his sister watched with a look of absolute amusement on her face, made Alex’s brain numb. Alex would rather have been back in the cave with the Shadow Wraith. At least there, he knew what he was doing. At least there, he didn’t have to worry about what came out of his mouth.
“Oh, hi,” Alex finally said, speaking slowly to make sure what was in his head didn’t come out of his mouth.
“How are you feeling today?” Leanna asked. “All healed up?”
“I’m feeling great,” Alex said, unable to stop himself from smiling back at Leanna. How do you not smile at a pretty girl who is smiling at you, even if the girl you really want to smile at you is standing right beside her?
“Been on any of the rides yet?” Leanna said, a teasing lilt to her voice.
“I’ve been avoiding them so far,” Alex said. “I want to make sure everyone else has a chance to ride them before I bring them crashing down around me.”
“That’s very generous of you,” Leanna said, laughing. Alex stole a glance at Victoria, but she wasn’t laughing.
Great
. Alex thought.
Now, I’m charming.
“You were looking for me?” Nathan asked, drawing Leanna’s gaze from Alex’s face.
“Oh, right,” Leanna said, her eyes lingering on Alex for a moment before turning to Nathan. “I wanted to run lines with you. It’s been a while. We don’t want to mess up.”
“Right,” Nathan said, a serious look coming across his face.
“Run lines?” Victoria asked.
“For the show,” Leanna said. “
The Eternal Story
. Didn’t Nathan tell you? He and I are actors in the show.”
“An actor,” Victoria said, looking quizzically at Nathan.
“It’s the only opening they had in the carnival,” Nathan said, his eyes suddenly darting between Victoria and Leanna.
“Don’t be so modest,” Leanna said. “He’s a natural. The crowd loves him. Loves us, actually. All our scenes are together.”
“Together?” Victoria asked.
“Naturally,” Leanna said. “We play the star-crossed lovers. Destined to be together, separated by fate and misfortune, but tossed into each other arms in the climactic moment of our reunion. People cheer at the final kiss.”
“Do they really?” Victoria said, titling her head as she looked to Nathan.
“Didn’t Nathan tell you any of this?” Leanna asked, mimicking Victoria’s expression as she looked at Nathan.
“I hadn’t gotten around to…” Nathan began, flustering as his face flushed. “It was…Well…”
“I can’t wait to see it,” Nina said, her voice loud and clear as she, too, looked at Nathan.
“Yes, I’ll be looking forward to that, as well,” Victoria said. Alex realized he wouldn’t mind seeing it, either.
“Your golden tickets get you in free,” Leanna said to Victoria before turning back to Nathan. “So, do you want to rehearse? I don’t want to interrupt if you’re busy. I know you haven’t seen Victoria in a long time. Maybe I could talk Alex into running lines with me.”
“Me?” Alex said, caught completely off-guard by his sudden entry into the conversation. “Acting?”
“It’s easy,” Leanna said, her attention focused completely on Alex once again. “We simply read through the lines and act out the scene. You’d be great, I’m certain of it.”
“I’m sure I have time,” Nathan said. “Victoria is busy and we can catch up later.”
“Yes, I’m swamped with customers,” Victoria said, looking around at the empty tent.
“If you don’t mind sparing him,” Leanna said, her eyes once again holding on Alex for an extra second before turning to the others. “It probably would be best to rehearse with my actual lover. I mean my actual, make-believe lover.”
“Yes, I can see how that would be helpful,” Victoria said, her tail flicking as she smiled.
“Maybe some other time, Alex,” Leanna said, grabbing Nathan’s hand and leading him away. “I know a place where we can have a little privacy. Bye, Alex. Bye, Nina. Bye, Victoria.”
“I’ll see you later,” Nathan said over his shoulder to Victoria.
“I suppose we’ll all see the both of you later,” Victoria said. “Kissing in front of everyone.” Alex doubted Nathan heard that last bit, as Victoria had lowered her voice to a near-whisper.
“I can’t wait to see the play,” Nina said. “They say it’s different every night.”
“It seems you’ve passed up a preview, Alex,” Victoria said.
“I’m not much of a thespian,” Alex said.
“You pretend you know what you’re doing all the time,” Nina said, poking Alex in the ribs.
“I do know what I’m doing,” Alex said. Nina and Victoria snorted with laughter. “Most of the time. And I’m always pretending to be myself even if I am pretending.”
“That does make a difference,” Victoria said. “Particularly when we’re facing things like you-know-what.”
“Did your father know anything about that certain object we’re looking for?” Alex asked, happy to be talking about dangerous and life-threatening things again, even if in vague code words.
“I asked him, but he said he’d never heard of anything like it,” Victoria said. “And unfortunately, he made me promise to let him examine it if we find it. I tried to convince him destroying it was the only reasonable thing to do, but once his curiosity is aroused, he can be very unreasonable. And speaking of the search, where are the others?”
“Rafael thought Kendra might have some information that could be useful,” Alex said, unable to stop himself from grinning.
“And Ben thought the same thing about Elaeda,” Nina said, stifling a giggle.
“I see,” Victoria said. “The carnival seems to have captured their imaginations.”
“Daphne is with Clark seeing if he can smell any magic around,” Alex said, lowering his voice as a middle-aged woman in a large, floppy purple hat entered the tent and began examining the inventions.
“It was her idea,” Nina added.
“Really?” Victoria. “How interesting.”
“Seems everyone’s paired off,” Nina said. “I’m supposed to guard my brother every second, but I was thinking about getting an ice cream, so maybe you could watch him for a bit.”
“I’m not a pet dog,” Alex said with an annoyed tone.
“That’s true,” Nina said. “Dogs are more obedient.”
“Well, I…” Victoria said, flustered for a moment as she looked at Alex.
“How much is this?” the woman in the purple hat asked from the tent, holding up something that looked like a cheese grater welded to an eggbeater.
“It seems I have a customer,” Victoria said, glancing back at the woman with the florid hat.
“We can come back,” Alex said, feeling a little flustered himself. Why shouldn’t he want to spend some time with Victoria? “We should keep looking for that thing and those people.” That was not at all what he really wanted to do.