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Jack went around healing people until his watch was empty, which was long enough to get most men back on their feet.
The ones that could be saved, anyway.
There were no survivors from Ryan’s crew. Between the fight in the sky, the crash, and then getting ambushed by multiple demons, every single one had been killed. The thought turned my stomach, and if I thought too long about it, I’d make myself sick.
At least Petra and Sammy hadn’t been on this trip. They’d be heartbroken at the loss of Captain Ryan, but they’d be alive. I’d take what victories I could get, small as they were.
Of Wilde’s crew, a handful had been killed by the demons. The surviving men carried them back to the Tachsif, lining them up on the ground beside the ship.
The owner of the mansion had some choice words to say about that, but in the face of Captain Wilde, bruised and bloody from his own injuries, and upset at the loss of his men, the owner backed down quickly and sent a maid to fetch extra sheets to cover the bodies.
Eggert was left in charge of the ship and the men, while Wilde and Havoc brought Jack and me to the palace.
We walked through the quiet streets of what Jack called the Villa. Gigantic houses with even bigger lawns sat on either side of us, and I couldn’t stop staring at how fancy they all looked. One of them had a marble statue in the front yard.
“We finally made it,” Jack said, laughing a little bit. He ran his hands through his hair. He looked so different from the boy who’d first approached me in a rainy market. Greasy hair, dirt-smudged cheeks, torn and muddy clothes, and a certain look in his eyes that he didn’t have before. More alert and watchful. Hungry.
“Don’t say stuff like that,” I said. “You’re asking for something else to go wrong.” I was more than ready for this little adventure to be over. I wanted a safe place to sleep for a few days, I wanted some solid meals, and I wanted to see my friends again. Not necessarily in that order.
He shook his head. “Nothing can get to us now that would delay us that long.”
The lingering dizziness in my head begged to differ.
“Is now a good time to ask questions?” Havoc asked. “Because I have several.”
“Agreed,” Wilde said. “We’ll start with those creatures we just fought.”
Jack sighed. “They’re called demons. I don’t know how much I can tell you about them.”
“And the...magic...you two were doing?” Havoc asked.
I could barely wrap my head around magic, let alone the idea of me using it. It was bizarre to hear someone else asking about the magic I’d used. It didn’t sound real.
“That’s a royal secret,” Jack admitted. “So, um, you’re now sworn to secrecy?”
Wilde snorted. “There’s a little more to officially swearing secrecy than that,” he said. “But we’ll keep quiet.”
“Thank you,” Jack said. “I’ll ask Mother how much we can tell you about all of this.”
“So, your whole family has always been able to use magic?” Havoc asked.
“Dad can’t,” Jack said.
“This is a new thing for me,” I chimed in.
The addition did not seem to make Havoc feel better.
“And how did you two end up on that Chimer ship?” Wilde asked. “Are they the ones who kidnapped you?”
Jack and I both sighed. “It’s a bit of a long story,” Jack said. “Would you mind waiting until we meet with my-our-parents, so we only have to explain it once?”
I almost stopped walking.
Our parents.
I was going to have to think about that now. I had parents. Nice ones, presumably, who didn’t just abandon me on the side of the road like I always thought.
Would they still be nice when they met me, though? I wasn’t some perfect prince, like Jack. Would they try and turn me into that? Would they even let me see my friends again? Or would they claim they were beneath me now?
Or, in a worst-case scenario, would they deny that I was their son? I didn’t want to be, but that was my choice. The thought of them rejecting me was so much worse. They probably had some idea of what their son would be like, and I doubt they pictured a thieving street rat when they wondered about Prince Alex.
A large wall loomed ahead of us, an iron gate barring our entrance to the palace beyond.
Jack perked up when he saw it and walked faster.
I slowed down, making Wilde bump into me.
“Come on, your Highness, no getting cold feet now.”
Jack’s title being used on me made my head spin. That was going to be a thing now. I was the Crown Prince’s brother. I was a prince. That was...not possible. Even with all the evidence saying it was true, even though I was growing used to the idea of being Jack’s brother, the idea of being a prince, of being royalty, was just too much.
“Hello!” Jack called at the gate.
A guardsman on the other side did a double take. “Y-your Highness?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” Jack said, beaming at him. “Could you open the gate for us?”
The guard dropped the keys in his haste to get the gate open, and continued staring open-mouthed as the four of us walked in.
“Thank you,” Jack said.
“Your discretion is appreciated,” Wilde added.
That startled the guard into closing his mouth and nodding, throwing us a quick salute when we moved on.
We were on a cobblestone path, neatly trimmed grass on either side. There was a stable on one side and a garage on the other.
In front of us, the palace reached for the sky. The walls were a creamy stone, dotted with large glass windows.
Jack had grown up here? He called a massive place like this home? It felt like all of Gallen could fit inside those walls with room to spare.
“Mom and Dad are probably both in separate meetings,” Jack mumbled. “Should we clean up before we see them? Or just summon them to the dining room with lunch?”
My stomach growled at the mere thought of food, and Jack put a hand over his own.
“You’re right, we’ll have lunch first, and then we can bathe. And then I’m going to sleep for three days in a real bed.”
This was actually happening. My mouth was dry, and my heart pounded in my chest.
“They’re going to be so excited to see us,” Jack said. “You especially. You don’t even know how happy it will make them that you’re alive.”
If they even like me.
He led us inside the palace, hopping up the steps two at a time, and then waved down someone who’s only job seemed to be standing near the door to greet people. “Would you mind having the cooks send a full lunch spread to the small dining room?”
The boy didn’t look any older than us, and he had the same awestruck look on his face the guard at the gate had. Like they couldn’t believe the missing prince was just going to waltz back into the palace like nothing had happened.
“And send someone to find the king and queen, let them know that’s where I’ll be.”
The boy bowed. “Of course, right away, your Highness!”
“Thanks!” Jack said.
The boy rushed off to do as Jack said, pausing once at the start of a long hallway to look back. “Welcome back, sir.”
Jack grinned and thanked him again. “It’s good to be home. Come on, the dining room is this way.”
I continued following him. It wasn’t like I had any other choice at this point.
Nothing would ever be the same after this. My simple street rat life was probably over the moment I met Jack.
Now I was a prince, with a crazy revolutionist hunting me, and an actual family that might genuinely want me. Every one of those facts was crazier than the last, but somehow, that was my life.
I’d always been good at making do with what I had. This was the first time I’d ever felt that, maybe, just maybe, I’d been given too much.
Only one way to find out.