Alex said nothing for a full minute. But then his smile popped up like flowers after a long rain, and Tala had to muffle a squeak when he scooped her up in a hug. “Yes,” he said. “We’re even.”
And he began to cry.
It must be a strange kind of relief, Tala thought, to find someone you couldn’t accidentally damage for the first time in your life.
They were coconspirators now, so plans were carefully made. Mark the frog was carried back to his home where, two hours later, he woke up dizzy and disoriented on his front lawn, with a puzzling inclination to eat bugs.
The Jones family moved away not too long after that, and Tala was almost certain it had nothing to do with Alex and his curse.
2
In Which Carly Rae Jepsen Songs Make Excellent Training Tools
There was no real reason, in Tala’s mind, to make a big deal out of welcoming Prince Alexei Tsarevich, exiled Avalon prince and refugee, into Invierno. First, it made much more sense to celebrate leaving Invierno than coming to live in it. Second, Alex had been very clear about not wanting to draw any attention to himself, and a party defeated that purpose. Third, she still had sparring practice with her father that same night because he had refused to cancel. Nevertheless, the small gathering was to take place at Lola Urduja’s house next door. Which meant Tala had to deal with an audience full of titos and titas criticizing her every move, because that’s what titos and titas do.
A Filipino party in Invierno was light on the decorations and heavy on the food. While Tala stood on her front lawn and focused on avoiding her father’s kicks and punches, the others set up a long table practically groaning with dishes. The savory smells wafting in from that direction were proving a huge distraction.
Her mother was hard at work, but not with the food. She carefully placed four hideous statues in the farthest four corners of their lawn.
Tita Teejay, who was also watching, shuddered. “Lumina, we should probably buy some nicer-looking spells next year. These gnomes look terrible.”
“They belonged to my grandmother. And they’re not gnomes, they’re dwendes.” Tala’s mother manhandled another grotesque statue into place. “These are the only working camouflage spells I’ve got. Rightmart recalled the prettier ones, remember?”
“What’s important,” Tita Baby said solemnly, adding a bowl of bagoong sauce on the table, “is that nobody sees.”
“Eyes on me, lass!” Her father roared when Tala turned to stare at one of the titos, a nondescript-looking man in khaki shorts and a bizarrely electric orange Hawaiian shirt, who was bringing out a whole roasted hog, skin fried to a reddish-brown perfection.
He kicked her legs out from under her, and she yelped in protest as she went down. “Pay attention, Tally!”
“But how did they get their hands on lechon?” she asked, astonished, even as she struggled back to her feet. Not that she was complaining—she could inhale all that delicious, crackled pork skin in one sitting—but she couldn’t even get a taco in this town without someone adding ranch dressing to it.
“He knows people who know some people,” Lola Urduja said primly, sweeping past with her cane and a plate full of sizzling sisig to add to the already growing pile of food. In typical Filipino fashion, banana leaves covered the table in lieu of plates and utensils. “Extend your arms farther, hija.”
“You can’t expect me to keep fighting when all this food is happening literally right next to me,” Tala whined.
“Five minutes,” her father allowed. “Five minutes where ye have tae dodge everything I throw at ye, an’ then a couple of rounds with yer mum’s spelltech.”
Achieving this was harder than it sounded, because Kay Warnock had shoulders built for war, arms and fists that look right at home in a brawl, and a neck like a bearded battlement. Kay Warnock was a Scottish oak in human form, vaguely threatening in the casual way he loomed over other people.
“Did you know about that frog thing His Highness has?” Tala asked, trying to think of anything else but the food she wasn’t allowed to eat yet.
“Aye, but he’s not one tae talk about it, so I don’t. Arms up.”
“What happened to the last family that took him in?” Tala persisted. She’d been left in the dark about most of the details, including why the prince had moved to Invierno. Surely even royalty-in-hiding had better options. Tala’s imagination conjured up hidden rooms within Monte Carlo casinos, private beachfronts in the Maldives, or maybe even magic-shielded apartelles along the Riviera.
“The Locksleys?” Her father snorted, whipped out an unexpected right jab that she only just blocked in time with her wooden staffs. Arnis was a Filipino martial art that relied heavily on stick fighting. Her father, a Scotsman, had no business being good at this. “Got cold feet about hiding him, seems like. Poor lad’s a target everywhere he goes, an’ they’re too much in the news nowadays tae keep him safe.”
“Will they catch him here?”
“Not if I’ve anything tae say about it. Hopin’ he stays long enough tae enjoy the rest o’ his childhood. We’ve got a better chance at protecting him than those rich sooks.”
“Because Mum and I can break spells?” Magic didn’t work in Invierno, but spelltech was already a way of life in the Royal States of America. Everyone liked the convenience of it, even if magic nearly caused Armageddon every now and then. Minor spells were harmless even by local government standards and worked only about a third of the time, but as far as many Invierno residents were concerned, a third of the time was still better than none of the time. Invierno’s natural magic dampeners still afforded her family some protection, even as they brought more spelltech back to phones and airports and cars.
“Aye, that’s one reason.”
“Does that make Lola Urduja and the others Alex’s bodyguards?”
“Don’t let your lola’s age fool you—she’s good enough tae fight wi’ the Lost Boys, an’ there’s no one I know stronger.”
“Are we the prince’s bodyguards too?”
“If you can arse yourself enough to beat me for once, sure.”
“I’m getting better!” Tala protested.
Laughter sounded behind them; her mother was now laying out a dozen cell phones in a circle on the ground. “Then let’s see if you’ve perfected control of your agimat, anak.”
Tala looked a lot like Lumina Warnock, down to their short statures, long black hair, and flashing brown eyes, with dark skin more nature than sun. People were wary of Kay, but it was her quiet mother most people were afraid of.
Tala groaned, but handed her arnis sticks over to her father. Magic didn’t work on her, but sometimes she could disrupt spells around her without meaning to. These exercises were to help her control it better. “Again?”