The Monoliths of Andirat are towering blocks of stone carved with huge faces. They are all that stand in the once proud capital of Andirat City.
—ANDIRAT, A HISTORY
I used to spend my free period with Syke. We'd walk around the grounds, pretending to spy on people. Or she'd try to convince me to sneak into secret places and then mock me when I wouldn't, so I'd have to come up with something more fun to do, like a tree-climbing race, which she always won, even when she gave me a ten-minute head start.
Unfortunately for me, that free time was another thing I'd lost. Now I faced my toughest teacher, in secret.
Professor Zaida.
Every free period I met her in Uncle Ludwig's secret library, which was hidden below the regular library, so she could teach me about Andirat, a country that didn't exist anymore, and how to be a prince, which was a ridiculous notion. Me? A prince? Whenever I took an online Minion Career Aptitude Test, I usually got something like "Dungeon Cleaner," "Target Practice Dummy," or "Blame This Guy."
But I was a prince, so I had to learn to act like one. My family, the Natherlys, had ruled Andirat, a country across the ocean, for two hundred peaceful years, up until eight years ago, when Andirat's five generals revolted and took over. I was the only member of the royal family to escape alive.
Before Andirat, my ancestors had ruled a country right here on the Porvian Continent called Erudyten. It had been a peaceful and wealthy country until it was attacked by its jealous neighbors, forcing the ruling family to flee across the ocean. So that was twice in history my ancestors were defeated in battle and had their countries torn up. Not a good track record, if you ask me.
I sat in front of a giant book about the fall of Erudyten, unable to stop thinking about Janet's hug. Professor Zaida twice told me to get "that stupid smile" off my face and concentrate.
"Your grandfather, Charles Natherly the third, was obsessed with reclaiming his ancestral homeland. Erudyten is now four countries—Riggen, Brix, Carkley, and Voran—which are ruled by four of the most oppressive evil overlords here on the Porvian Continent," she said. "Your grandfather wanted to reunify Erudyten and free those people from their oppression."
"Huh? Oh, right. My grandfather. I called him Papa Chuck," I said. "He read me bedtime stories and taught me how to spit."
She frowned at me. We both knew I didn't remember my grandfather, or any of my relatives. I joked, but really I was sad that I had to learn about my family from a book, that they weren't around for me to get to know them.
"Runt," she admonished. "This is important."
"I'm sorry. It's just ... Shouldn't we be looking for the witch who cursed me? Why does it matter what my dead grandfather wanted? He's gone. Erudyten is gone. It was destroyed two hundred years ago."
Professor Zaida was as obsessed with Erudyten as my late grandfather. She was a covert librarian of the Great Library, which had been built to save the books in Erudyten from being destroyed by the invading armies. Through the centuries the librarians have dedicated their lives to protecting those books.
"Mistress Moira is searching for whoever cursed you. There's nothing you and I can do that she can't do better. My job is to prepare you for what comes next. You need to learn about leadership. Now—"
She stopped abruptly as Uncle Ludwig passed by our table, muttering to himself, as usual. His life's goal was to find the Great Library, the secret repository of all the world's knowledge. He knew that an Archivist of the Great Library worked at Dr. Critchlore's, and he was determined to find out who it was so he could find the library.
I was sitting across from an Archivist, and she and I both knew exactly where the Great Library was located.
"Why don't you tell him?" I asked Professor Zaida as Uncle Ludwig disappeared with a handful of research papers. I knew that Professor Zaida was worried he couldn't keep a secret, but she shouldn't have worried about him—I was the one who couldn't keep a secret. And I was supposed to be helping him. How was I supposed to keep pretending to look for it?
"I cannot divulge anything about the Great Library." She looked at me sternly. "And neither can you. Fortunately for you, we're almost done moving it, so you have nothing to tell."
"That's good. But I know Pravus's henchman poisoned a bunch of your operatives. You must need more people. Why not him?"
"It's complicated."
"Are you still mad that he never thought you could be an Archivist?"
"I'm used to people underestimating me, Runt," she said, probably referring to the fact that she was a little person. "Now let's get back to work. Your grandfather—and your father too—were disgusted by what the EOs had done to the beautiful homeland of their ancestors. His generals wanted to invade, starting with attacks on Fraze Coldheart in Riggen, the location of Erudyten's former capital city, but your father was working on a diplomatic solution—"
I shook my head. "Why do I need to know this?"
"It's your heritage," she said. "Runt, you are the last in a line of great leaders. You must be ready to lead those who would follow you against the generals who overthrew your family."
"Nobody will follow me," I said, laughing. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm kind of a joke around here. Everyone knows I spent my whole life thinking I was a werewolf. They know I'm an idiot."
"No, Runt," she said. "You are a prince."
I sighed. "Tell that to Professor Murphy. Maybe then he'll respect me."
"In other words, you're not interested in earning his respect. You want it given to you for an achievement you had nothing to do with."
"Well, when you put it that way ... yes."
"Runt, that's no way to earn someone's respect. It's what you do that matters, not titles, or whom you know, or what you say about yourself. Prove that you are worthy of his respect."
That was an impossible task, but I was tired of trying to convince grown-ups that he hated me.
"And we discussed this," she said. "We're keeping your identity a secret. For your protection."
"So I shouldn't tell anyone?"
"No!"
Oops.
I'd told Syke, and I was pretty sure that Janet knew too. Once, after she'd gotten my medallion back from the imp who'd stolen it, she told me that if I found out I was a missing prince, she hoped I would remember the people who had been nice to me. At the time I'd thought she was being silly, but now? She must know. But how?
Uncle Ludwig returned from upstairs. He came right over to our table.
"Critchlore asked me for a book on minerals," he said. "They've reached a breakthrough in deciphering The Top Secret Book of Minions. He thinks we need something called sudithium. Ever heard of it, Professor Zaida?"
"I don't think so," she answered.
"He also wants a list of meteorite-impact craters," Uncle Ludwig said. "I have my own mysteries to solve—without any help, I might add." He glared at me.
"Sometimes the greatest secrets are hidden in the most obvious places," Professor Zaida said.
Uncle Ludwig gave her a funny look and then went back to the stacks, mumbling something about quitters. Professor Zaida winked at me. She enjoyed toying with Uncle Ludwig.
I leaned over to her and whispered, "Do you know what sudithium is?"
"No, I really don't," she said. "But we've let Dr. Critchlore use the resources of the Great Library to decipher his book, and we'll help him research that question as well."
"Okay, then, how about getting me a book about the Oti tribe?" I asked. My vaskor friend, Sara, had told me that she was "Oti," but I'd never heard of that tribe, and Uncle Ludwig didn't have any information about them in his library.
"That's not important right now," Professor Zaida said.
I slumped in my chair. I needed to learn more about Sara, and the rest of the vaskor. A few months ago, when I'd visited the Great Library, I may have, sort of, freed her from her spell of obedience to the royal family.
It had seemed like a nice thing to do at the time.
