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“My” —I struggle to say the word out loud— “father got me out of it. But that means I’m going to spar the king for practice. Did you know he was reigning champion of the competition?”
“You just called him your father.”
“I know. I’m trying to get used to the reality, even though my dad will always be my dad.”
“So, King Tiberias is Father and Drake is Dad?”
“That’s where I’m at. They’re both my dads. Just in different ways.”
“At least you have a chance to have a good one.”
We say goodbye to the band and head for the parking lot.
Bash leans against his bike. “Now that we’re alone, fill me in. I’m dying of curiosity.”
I sigh dramatically and tell him all about my failed mission in the fourth-year library. He laughs at the part about Earwyn hearing me but her friends thinking she was crazy. “Now I want to see if I can find those other books. If the public library doesn’t have the ones I found before, I’ll know something is up.”
“But why would someone go to all that trouble?”
“Do you know how many people wanted my dad dead? People were screaming for his blood.”
He crosses his arms. “Fair enough, but it still seems like a long-shot. How would somebody even know you’d find those books? You wouldn’t be allowed in the academy library for another three years, and you didn’t know about the underground public library.”
I hold his gaze. “Unless it was someone close enough to me to know I’d get in. Maybe someone even planted ideas in my mind without me realizing it.”
“That would definitely be interesting. But who would do that?”
“Isn’t that the big question? Maybe my father?”
His eyes widen. “You think the king would be behind this?”
“Why not? My dad tried to kill him and then took over his place as king.”
“Tiberias isn’t murderous.”
“No?” I ask. “He’s the one who declared the battle to the death.”
“But that’s different.”
“Having the idea planted in my mind was to his benefit.”
Bash doesn’t look convinced. “But he’d have to get the book into both libraries unseen—while everyone thought he was dead. That’s not very likely. Who else would be behind it?”
“Unfortunately, he’s the only one I can think of specifically. We know it wasn’t my dad or Middlebrooks.”
“That’s true.” He grabs the helmets. “Let’s get going.”
I lean against Bash and let my mind wander until we get to the library. As much as I don’t like the idea of my father being behind this, it’s the only thing that makes sense. Who else would it have been? My mom was on land, and I can’t think of a single person who could’ve been behind something so elaborate.
Bash parks the bike, and we head inside. “You think they’ll let me in?”
“I think it’s open to all members of the royal class, but if not, I’ll use the princess card to get you in.”
“Maybe we shoulda brought Rudder.”
I shake my head. “I already told you, we’re done using him. I’d hate for him to get in trouble. I’ll figure out how to use the Ayers power for such things.”
He stops in place. “You can do that?”
