The Legend of the Eight: The Hunted (Book 5)

2: The Heir & the Spares

TWO: THE HEIR & THE SPARES
FEBRUARY 2
KATE DIAMOND

ON THE TABLE IN FRONT of Kate Diamond was a bowl of steel cut oats topped with fresh strawberries but she hadn't taken a bite. It was Wednesday morning and the Dining Hall was quiet—nearly silent. Kate sat by herself at the table—no one else was there yet—and she held her phone to her ear, deep in conversation with her older brother, Prince Leo.

"What did Dr. K say? Has he made progress with the cure?"

"He and Damon are working 'round the clock, Kate, but there's only so much they can do," answered Leo and his voice sounded strained. "They're not a miracle workers. It's been three months. It might be time to face the facts."

"You want us to just accept this?" Kate snapped back into her phone and two tables to her right, the Briggs twins—Kendall and Meredith—looked over. Kate quickly lowered her voice. "Leo, this is Dad! He's not just... He's not gone. He can't be."

"He's been comatose since the explosion," Leo said like his sister needed reminding. Like she wasn't there when it happened. "And he's not getting any better. The Council has everything ready for Sunday."

A sour taste rose in Kate's mouth and her heart sunk in her chest. "They're really going through with it, huh? I didn't believe it when Mom told me."

"You know the law," Leo said, regretfully. "After 100 days of an inactive King, the next in line steps up to take the throne. After Sunday's coronation, I'll no longer be Prince Regent. I'll be King."

All her life, Kate knew the day would come when her brother would be crowned King but she never thought it would happen so soon—under these circumstances.

Three months ago, Kate and her friends traveled to the Veil where they saw the damage done to it by the Doctor. Kate's father, King Walter, was already there repairing the holes with Dr. K, Damon Donovan, and Luke Heart. Only moments after arriving, Kate and her friends discovered a series of land mines around them. They went off that night.

"I just can't believe it," Kate said after some time. She picked up her spoon and began stirring her fruit into her oatmeal. What was usually her favorite breakfast meal had never been so unappetizing. "And don't get me wrong, you'll be a great King. But I just can't wrap my mind around this. It's too soon. It was never supposed to be like this."

Leo breathed heavy into the phone and then cleared his throat. "Hey, Kate, uh... I have to run. I have meetings up to my ears with the Council and then I have fittings for my robes on Sunday. I'm sorry. A car is scheduled to pick you up Friday after class. Any word on Wil yet?"

Both ends of the phone were quiet as Kate chewed on her lip. By mistake, she bit down too hard and drew blood. She winced.

"She'll show up," she said after a minute.

"Will she?" doubted Leo. "She hasn't been in the same room as Mom in weeks. What makes you think she'll be there on Sunday?"

"Because I know she'll be there," Kate said, despite her memory of the disastrous holidays—the last time the Diamond family had been together. "Sunday's about you. Not Mom. She'll be there. She'll show up."

"CAREFULLY OBSERVE THE CURVATURE OF the follusbuck leaves and how they mirror the twists in the vine," instructed Mrs. Truly during Tuesday's Botany class. She stood at the front of the classroom with a large pot on the floor. Growing inside it was a length, vined plant with dull green and yellow leaves. It was called a Follusbuck Vine and it was used for its extraordinary healing properties when mixed into the correct potions. The plant was nearly as large as the woman lecturing about it and from her seat, Kate could clearly see every distinctive twist and line in the vines.

Kate tapped her pen against her notebook where she'd been taking notes about the plant—drawing parallels between it and its uses in modern potion-making. Traditionally, the leaves needed to be burned to ash before being mixed into the solution though advances in modern technique now allowed a wizard to toss the entire vine right into the boil.

"Some have found success in rubbing one of those leaves directly on the affected area," taught Mrs. Truly. "But this has only been tested in dire situations and full studies regarding this technique have not been completed yet."

Seats to Kate's left, her classmate, Georgia Mae, raised a hand, causing the stack of bracelets on her wrist to clank together.

"Yes Miss Mae?"

Georgia cleared her throat. "If we have access to something as powerful as these leaves, why are spells like Salubrius still in use? And why do people still die?"

Mrs. Truly nodded while she listened. "Interesting point. As you'll remember from your Basic Magic lessons years ago, no spell, no potion, no source of magic is ultimate. There must always be a balance between give and take. And giving an individual ultimate power over life and death would disrupt that balance."

Balance, thought Kate. Like the way Eva Athos, the great Alchemist, took away Bartemius Thawne's magic and divided it up among eight innocent children. Balance like the way the Vacancy Stone absorbed the magic of whoever came in contact with it and trapped it inside for eternity. With magic, there was always a balance and with that balance came sacrifice—a word Kate and her friends were all too familiar with.

LATER THAT NIGHT, KATE WAS alone in her room, putting away a basket of laundry and listening to the entire music collection of Taylor Swift. Nicole was downstairs in the common room with Alex Hummel, watching a boot-legged copy of the newest Pirates movie, which meant Kate had free rein in the dorm while Taylor told her to shake it off. She sorted through unmatched socks in her underwear and a tee shirt from last summer's charity golf outing, dancing around the room without a care.

Kate was so wrapped up in her own little dance party that she didn't hear the knock on her door or notice when her visitor opened it for himself. In fact, she only realized she wasn't alone anymore when she spun mid-shake and saw Liam Heart standing there, biting his lip.

"Liam!" She jumped and tried using her arms to cover her half-naked body but it was no use. He'd seen it already. "What are you doing here?"

Liam was laughing and then held up a box of mint fudge grahams and a bag of kettle corn. "I, uh, was going to bribe you with snacks to see if you'd come hang out with us downstairs. But clearly, you're having your own kind of fun up here."

Kate scrambled to find a pair of jeans, sweatpants, leggings, anything to put on over her pink lace underwear. She found Nicole's red and purple flannel pants and practically jumped into them. Liam watched every second of the struggle with a smile on his face.

"But if you'd rather stay up here and hang, I could be convinced," he said, watching Kate blush.

Quickly, she crossed the room to him and reached behind him, closing the door. "You could be convinced, huh? What if I said I was planning on watching sappy romance movies in my bed all night?"

Liam walked to her bed, stepped out of his shoes, and then sat on top of her duvet.

"Then I'd say I'm down for that."

Kate smiled and walked over to a waiting Liam in her bed. He took her hands and pulled her into it with him. She laid down beside him, her head in the nook of his arm, and pulled her computer into her lap. She paused the music and switched on a movie for them to watch.

The spent the night like that—arm in arm, bodies intertwined, heartbeats synced—and when morning came, Kate woke with Liam draped around her. And it almost—almost—made everything in the Realm alright again.