He beamed, then told me where the wedding was. The next woman in line wanted me to represent her son in a trial and speak on his behalf. I wasn’t sure what to do about that one, so I said I’d get back to her. The next man wanted me to seek out – then punish – a miscreant who had stolen some galfalgos from his garden. I made a mental note to ask someone what the heck galfalgos were, and told him I’d look into it.
There were some two dozen people with questions or requests like those. The more that was asked of me, the more uncomfortable I grew. What did I really know about any of this stuff? I finally cleared through that group, making vague promises to most of them.
There was one more group of people waiting for me. They were well-dressed younger men and women, in their late teens or early twenties. I recognized them from the party.
‘Rodrayo?’ I asked, to the guy at their lead.
‘Hey,’ he said.
‘And . . . what is it you want of me?’ I asked.
A couple of them shrugged.
‘Just thought being around you would be fun,’ Rodrayo said. ‘Mind if we party with you a little bit?’
‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Well, sure, I guess.’
I led the group through some hallways in Keep Smedry, getting lost, and trying to act like I knew where everything was. The hallways of Keep Smedry were appropriately medieval, though the castle was far more warm and homey than one might have expected. There were hundreds of rooms – the building was of mansion-sized proportions – and I really didn’t know where I was going.
Eventually, I found some servants and had them take us to a denlike room, which had couches and a hearth. I wasn’t certain what ‘partying with me’ meant to Rodrayo and the others. Fortunately, they took the lead, sending the servants to get some food, then lounging around on the couches and chairs, chatting. I wasn’t sure why they needed me there, or even who most of them were, but they’d read my books and thought my adventures were very impressive. That made them model citizens in my opinion.
I had just finished telling them about my fight with the paper monsters when I realized that I’d never checked in with Grandpa Smedry. It had been about five hours since we’d split up, and I was tempted to just let it slide until he came looking for me. But we needed more hooberstackers, and the servants had vanished, so I decided to leave my new friends and go looking for the servants to ask for a resupply. Maybe they’d know where my grandfather was.
However, finding servants proved more difficult than I’d assumed. I felt uncharacteristically fatigued as I wandered the hallways, even though I hadn’t really done that much during the last couple of hours. Just sit around and be adored.
Eventually, I spotted a crack of light down one brickwalled corridor. It turned out to be coming from a half-open door, so I peeked inside. There, I found my father sitting at a desk, scribbling on a piece of parchment. An ancient-looking lamp gave off a flickering light, only faintly illuminating the room. I could see rich-looking furniture and sparkling bits of glass – Lenses and other Oculatory wonders, which seemed to have a glow about them because of my Oculator’s Lenses. On his desk was a half-empty wineglass, and he still wore the antiquated suit he’d had on at the party, though he’d undone the ruffled tie. His shoulder-length hair was wavy and disheveled. He looked a lot like a Hushlands rock star after an evening performance.
As a child, I’d often dreamed about what my father would be like. The only facts I’d had to go on were that he’d named me after a prison and that he’d abandoned me. One would think that I would have imagined a terrible person.
And yet, I’d secretly wished for there to be more. A good reason why he’d given me up. Something impressive and mysterious. I had wondered if, perhaps, he’d been involved in some dangerous line of work, and had sent me away to protect me.
Grandpa Smedry’s arrival, and the discovery that my father was both alive and working to save the Free Kingdoms, fulfilled a lot of these secret wishes. Finally, I gained a picture of who my father might be. A dashing, heroic figure who hadn’t wanted to get rid of me, but had been betrayed by his wife, then forced to give me up for the greater good.
That father in my dreams would have been excited to reunite with his son. I’d been hoping for enthusiasm, not indifference. I’d imagined someone a little more like Indiana Jones, and a little less like Mick Jagger.
‘Mother was there,’ I said, stepping into the doorway more fully.
My father didn’t look up from his document. ‘Where?’ he asked, not even jumping or looking surprised at the intrusion. ‘At the party this afternoon. Did you see her?’
‘Can’t say that I did,’ my father said.
‘I was surprised to see you there.’
My father didn’t respond; he just scribbled something on his parchment. I couldn’t figure him out – at the party, he had seemed completely involved in being a superstar. Now, at his desk, he was absorbed in his work.
‘What are you working on?’ I asked.
He sighed, finally looking up at me. ‘I understand that children sometimes need distractions. Is there something I can have the servants bring you? Entertainment? Just speak it, and I shall see it done.’
‘That’s all right,’ I said. ‘Thanks.’
He nodded and turned back to his work. The room fell still; the only sound was that of his quill scratching against parchment.
I left and didn’t feel like searching out servants or my grandfather anymore. I just felt sick. Like I’d eaten three whole bags of Halloween candy, then been punched in the stomach. I wandered, vaguely making my way in the direction of where I’d left my new friends. When I arrived back at the den where I’d left them, however, I was surprised to see them being entertained by an unlikely figure.
‘Grandpa?’ I asked, looking in.
‘Ah, Alcatraz, my boy,’ Grandpa Smedry said, perched atop a tall-legged chair. ‘Excellent to see you! I was just explaining to these fine young fellows that you’d be back very soon, and that they shouldn’t worry about you.’