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“Because I really like you?” Gil blurted.
Sophie stared at Gil. “Really?”
Gil smiled, then slapped his forehead. “No! I mean yes. I mean, also, Uma’s got something magical that she wants to show you.”
“Something magical? There’s nothing magical on the island.”
“Well, she has something,” Gil insisted.
But Sophie clapped her hands and suddenly looked delighted. “Does she have it? We’ve been looking for it everywhere!”
Gil had no idea what “it” was, but figured correctly that the right answer was “Yes!”
Her wan face glowed. “Great! I’ll be there. But she better return it,” warned Sophie. “I need it back as soon as possible!”
“Okay,” said Gil, relieved it had all worked out. Now Uma wouldn’t yell at him. Uma could be scary when she felt like it, which seemed to be always. “See you there!” he said enthusiastically, hoping that somehow Uma had whatever Sophie was looking for.
“King Ben is here! King Ben is here!” The villagers of Stone City left their work and dwellings to line the road near where the royal jet had landed. Ben got out and waved to his people, who waved and cheered back. They walked together in a merry parade all the way to the center of town. After hours of sitting, it was a relief to finally arrive at the peaceful valley in the middle of Northern Wei. Like its name, all the buildings and houses in Stone City were made of rock, and the village itself had been built near a giant mushroom-shaped stone. The Great Wall loomed over the north side of the village, casting a long shadow.
They passed the city gates that led into the greatest pavilion, and followed the cobblestoned path all the way to the front of the structure, where the town’s leaders were waiting to greet them.
Elder Wong, who wasn’t a gray-bearded official in a smock, but a young man who wore his dark hair in a ponytail and was wearing a natty suit, bowed upon seeing Ben. “Thanks so much for honoring us with your presence,” he said.
“Charlie?” Ben asked, delighted. “You’re the elder of this village?”
“Hey, man,” said Charlie, slapping Ben a high five. “Yeah, went home and took on the role. Looks like you did too,” he said, motioning to the golden circlet that Ben wore as his traveling crown.
Charlie had been a few years ahead of Ben at Auradon Prep, and Ben was glad to find an old friend in unfamiliar territory. Maybe this dispute could be settled easily after all.
“Hey, Lonnie,” said Charlie. “How’s Shang doing?”
“Still coaching R.O.A.R. and trying to get that hip-hop record out,” said Lonnie, giving Charlie a hug.
“Nice,” said Charlie. “Come on in, let’s talk over boba.”
Ben and Lonnie followed Charlie inside the stone house, which, while ancient and minimal on the outside, was outfitted with the latest gadgets inside. Ben spied a large-screen television on the wall, a roving robot sweeper on the carpet, and a high-end security system with a twelve-camera display. Charlie led them to a small room with a view of the mountains and a portion of the Great Wall.
Charlie sat cross-legged on the floor in front of a low table that had been set for them with the village’s finest china and silver, and Ben and Lonnie did the same.
Instead of diving right into the business at hand, Ben and Lonnie regaled Charlie with the latest news from Auradon.
“Is it true that Audrey’s dating Chad?” said Charlie, shock written all over his face. “Whoa.”
“Yeah, although I hear Audrey’s changed her mind about him,” said Lonnie with a laugh.
“Oh no, really?” said Ben, who hadn’t heard that rumor. “Poor Chad! He’ll be crushed!”
They talked about the Seaside Festival, and Charlie mentioned the Imperial Palace was looking forward to hosting Ben during their Auradon celebration. “I hear they’ve hired acrobats from all over the kingdom,” said Charlie. “Especially the ones who can do tricks with fire.”
Lonnie smiled. “The fire dancers were always my favorite.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait,” said Ben. “It’s going to be amazing. Too bad Seaside got rained out.”
“It happens,” said Charlie.
“So what’s going on here?” asked Ben, accepting a tall glass of boba from a smiling servant. He sipped the round tapioca balls through the extra-large straw.
“See up there?” asked Charlie, putting down his glass and pointing out the window. “Those dots in the sky? They’re flying carpets. You think they’d be quiet, right? But they fly so fast they can create a sonic boom. So every time one of them flies over the wall to our side, everything in the village shakes. It’s horrible. Babies cry, things fall off tables, and see that cluster of trees over there? They’re olive trees. They’re planted on the Agrabah side of the wall, and when the carpets fly over, they shake the trees.”
