Archive of Our Own

I suppose everything got to be different as Maxwell Hyde and I were about to return to Earth from Blest, about three years ago . I was trying to convince him that he should teach me how to walk between the worlds, instead of just leading me. "I don't want to be responsible for the fall of human civilization," he said.

He was looking up at the sky as he said it. The night sky in Blest wasn't terribly different than it was on Earth, except that there was a whole lot less light pollution, on account of them being more Ayewards. At least I think that's why. Anyway, same old constellations. It was really early in the morning right before dawn, and the winter constellations were up in the sky. Orion was in the South East, just like it would be at home.

"I have to be able to walk between the worlds. I want to be able to come visit Blest. You know, and Roddy," I explained. What I wasn't saying is that I wanted to learn from Romanov, but I wasn't sure how Hyde would feel about that. Romanov was pretty useful to Maxwell Hyde from time to time, and maybe even a better magician, but Romanov didn't play by any of the rules that Maxwell Hyde did. I would rather live my life like Romanov, who didn't have anyone to deal with. No rules, no regulations. 

"She'll be plenty busy with her studies, lad," said Maxwell Hyde, completely evading my request, and he clapped me on the shoulder affectionately. "Ready to go?" And we began walking uphill, back Naywards, towards Earth. We had to climb from lattice to lattice, and I noticed that Maxwell Hyde kept looking forward. I liked to look around, there were paths between the platforms, going off into infinity. Hyde had a problem walking the dark paths between worlds, and didn't seem to notice the paths in the mist. It gave me a thrill to think I could see things Maxwell Hyde couldn't.

Maxwell Hyde took me right to Rupert's house, since they were colleagues of a sort. It was where my sister Maree lived, when she wasn't at school. She was practically married to Rupert, but he hadn't yet proposed, and they were waiting there with my Dad. Maree was real worried about me -- I could tell -- because the minute she saw us emerge in the backyard with the pond and the Quacks, she ran off the porch to come and hug me. I'm glad that Maree was worried about me. When you become a Magid, your fate string gets untangled from everyone else ' s. It seemed to me, that when Maree's fate string was untangled from mine that maybe she wouldn't love me anymore, but that wasn't the case.

Rupert was mad. He was always sort of a stickler for the rules, except for maybe when it came to Maree, and he was trying to control his anger, but was only just managing it. I could tell, because he has this vein on his forehead that tends to buldge a bit. I was supposed to forget, but I went to Blest anyway. Rupert didn't like it when I did things he couldn't explain. "I'm glad you could bring him back," said Rupert, jaw tight, as he held out his hand for Maxwell Hyde to shake.

"No problem," said Maxwell Hyde. "It was better than having to look for him in the dark paths between worlds." He said this laughingly, and that's when I realized he was kind of nervous -- nervous like when my dad and I met him and he was playing best selling murder mystery novelist. Maybe he didn't really like meeting new people, or something.

"Dark paths between worlds," said Rupert, in a dangerous, deadpan voice. "He can walk the dark paths between worlds."

Maree came over immediately and soothed him, patting his hand. "Come on, let's bring Nick inside to see his dad," she said. We did that, just then, and soon we were all arranged around the kitchen table, where Rupert served us all hot beverages. I don't really remember the conversations much from that, but I think this is the important bit: Maxwell Hyde told Rupert and Maree in no uncertain terms that I needed to learn magic. And he even volunteered to do it, but he made them promise not to show me how to dileberately walk between the worlds.

Great, I thought. How was I supposed to have Romanov teach me, if I couldn't get someone else to teach me to walk between the universes? I resolved to have Maxwell Hyde bring me to visit Romanov and Mini. I was sure I could convince him that Romanov was essential to my magical education.

I did convince Maxwell Hyde to take me to visit Romanov several times, but he never left me alone with him. Grundo kind of looked miserable every time we arrived, and I got the feeling that Romanov wasn't the cuddles and good feelings kind of dad, but mine wasn't either, even if I always knew he cared. Grundo looked like he lived for visits, at least. Grundo was always asking about Roddy, and Maxwell Hyde was always making vague comments. It wasn't a very fruitful year, at least in the sense that I couldn't get Romanov to teach me.

Then, two years ago, Maree came back from a Magid mission and told me to come over immediately and to bring my dad. She had apparently called Maxwell Hyde, thinking it was important to have my magical tutor there. And Simon -- Rupert's brother, and the advisor to the Emperor -- was lurking in a corner.  

Maree sat me down in Rupert's kitchen, and moved around like she owned the place. Rupert had just proposed, but that was only because Maree was pregnant. Considering how proper Rupert is, I couldn't believe it took him as long as it had. "I have something to tell you," she said, and she seemed really serious, but she seemed to be trying to cook and since she wasn't very good at cooking I wasn't good at taking her serious voice seriously. She did make an okay cup of coffee, which is what she put in front of me.

"We've got followings in the Empire."

"What?" I asked. Clearly, she was talking about the Empire where our brother -- half brother, really, who was half Centaur-half Human anyway -- was heir to the mythical returned Emperor. The mythical returned Emperor was kind of like King Arthur, or maybe Churchill was supposed to come back to England. I asked Rupert about this once, and he twitched and said that I should stop asking questions. Must be some kind of Secret.

"There are factions," said Maree, "who would like to make either you or I into the supreme ruler of the Koryfonic Empire."

"Should have known that there would be a problem. Nasty lot," said Rupert. "First, there's the specism that Rob is up against. Yeah, there are Centaurs all over the Empire, but not everyone sees them as people. Then there's the fact that when an Emperor who has been, for all intents and purposes, dead for a few millenia suddenly comes back to rule? It's kind of hard to swallow. It's pretty obvious once you see him, of course, but not everyone sees him. Some refuse to look, sure he's putting a glamor over everyone."

"I don't want to be an Emperor," I said, and tried to stand up out of my chair, but Hyde actually came up behind me and put his foot behind the leg of my chair so I couldn't run away.

"Actually, the women's liberation in the Empire is trying to back me. Probably only because they've seen me more often, training to be a Magid in their sight while Simon advised the Emperor." Maree sat down, and she looked a tad pale. Rupert came to her rescue, taking up hosting duties, and getting her a drink.

"People aren't exactly sure that you exist, Nick," said Rupert. "There's a small faction that wants to find you, but they've never seen you, especially since the abdication ceremony was pretty private."

"But they did abdicate, right?" asked my Dad, who was actually pretty sharp sometimes. It didn't seem like he'd be sharp, especially since he spent my entire childhood being in denial about the fantastical. Seriously, he doesn't even like to think that writing has an air of mystery to it.

People nodded, around the room. Dad demanded, "Then what's the problem?" My dead mother wanted me to be the Emperor. I wanted to be a Magid, until I met Romanov. Romanov didn't want to be what people wanted him to be -- so he became himself, and he doesn't have to follow any rules.

"The problem is that the line ends with them. The mythical Emperor doesn't have any living blood relatives, and if something happened to Rob, then Nick and Maree would be the next in line, abdication or no -- they would still have the most legitimate claims." Simon explained this. "It would be nice if the empire just stabilized and was done with, but the fact is that if something happened to both the Emperor and Rob, there would be no legitimate claimants to the throne but them."

"I thought they wanted that Empire to crumble," said Maxwell Hyde, leaning forward curiously . "It seems to me that was definitely the plan not a decade ago. That's why the youngest Magid always oversaw it."

"Thanks," said Rupert crankily, and Maree laughed behind her hand. Rupert was the Magid overseeing everything when the Empire nearly fell, due to an assassin's bomb. Boom, there went my father that I never met, even though my dead mom talked about him all the time. "But I don't think that's the plan any longer. While it doesn't seem that the Emperor has any more plans for conquering, part of why it's important that he comes back every several millennium is because it helps move the universe a bit more Ayewards."

"Everything's been a little bit more Ayewards since the raising of the land in Blest," said Maxwell Hyde, pondering. "Do you think that the Emperor is under threat of assassination?"

Simon stepped out from the shadows of the kitchen. "Everyone is always under the threat of assassination in the Koryfonic Empire," said Simon, shaking his head. "Our Emperor is a doesn't succumb easily to... death. But obviously, nothing is  guaranteed ."

"So what are our options?" I asked. I shifted back in my chair again, trying to see if I could escape, but after a year of magical tutoring Maxwell Hyde seemed to know my techniques for escape and wasn't letting me have it.

"Well, basically, I lay low, and you lay lower. If they don't know for sure if you exist, then you're safer that way," said Maree.

"But you're pregnant!" said my dad, who was rather protective of Maree, probably because my dad's brother had adopted her.

Maree waved him off. "I'll stop treating animals that kick, and I'll stop taking cases that involve smugglers and explosions."

"How do I lay lower?" I asked, miserably. I thought they, the magical cabal and my dad, were going to tell me that I couldn't travel between worlds anymore, that I couldn't study magic anymore, and that they might take away my memories again. 

"You move in with us," said Rupert. He was looking at Maree, completely besotted, and not  at me even though the comment was directed towards me. Maree smiled at him, he smiled back, and then he looked up to address the crowd in his kitchen. "There are all sorts of distraction enchantments around this place, and we can make sure you live as normal a life as possible."

Everyone agreed, and Hyde offered to catch Rupert up on where I was in my magical schooling. He said, "My only disappointment is that the boy still can't raise a witch light." I was mortified, but Maxwell Hyde told the truth.

A lot of things happened that year. Rupert and Maree got married, and Maree had a baby girl called Sophia. Maree made me learn to care for Sophia, when I wasn't in school, or taking lessons from Rupert. It was really strange, caring for this little being. I could speak with Maree’s animal patients most of the time, but Sophia I had to learn to communicate with. And since she was so tiny, and I was so big... one false move on my part could hurt her a lot, and so I had to learn to be gentle, to deal with my every day physical power.

At the same time, I had to get used to a new school. It wasn't so bad. I mean, I had plenty of friends at my old school, where I lived with Dad, but they were friends I had had since primary, and they didn't quite get me anymore. Sometimes I needed to be alone, okay? They didn't always understand that.

One year ago, I finally managed to raise a witch light reliably. Which was the solution to one of my problems, but really just the start of others.

I got an email from one of my old friends, one of the really geeky ones, one who used to play Bristolia with me. He was a good enough sort, but really into science fiction and fantasy -- especially fantasy. After I came back from Blest, you know, three years ago, I overhead him talking about one of Maxwell Hyde's books.

"Yeah, and they watch sport," he was explaining to someone. "And the descriptions are really amazing." He went on to describe the sport that Maxwell Hyde and his grandson were obsessed with.

I was sitting nearby with my laptop and was just distracted enough that I forgot that I hadn't ever read any of Hyde's books, and that commenting on the absolutely realistic details of fantasy might prove slightly disastrous.   "My favorite part is the comedy shows," I said, without thinking.

Both my friend, and the boy he was talking to turned to look at me, and I looked up from my laptop at them. "What?" I said. "It's not like my dad doesn't read aloud sometimes." I thought about adding some details about how he does it when I'm trapped at the breakfast table half asleep, but figured that'd've been going too far.

The friend in question was enough of a fanboy that he had never really spent too much time around dad, thinking him some sort of writing god, and believed me, thankfully.

Anyway, one year ago, that friend emailed me. He used to read a lot of what I wrote about Bristolia, after all, and his email said this:

Nick:

Maxwell Hyde just came out with a new young adult novel -- it was completely unexpected coming from him, since he's always been more of the hardboiled detective novel type writers. But one of his main characters, his name is Nick and it's in the first person, and it sounds JUST LIKE YOU AND YOUR WRITING, man. If it didn't have one of   those "All similarities" disclaimers, and I were you, I'd totally sue! lol!

And I immediately signed off, stormed out of my basement room (Maree and Rupert gave me the basement room, just like at home with my dad) and found Rupert in Sophia's nursery. "You have to take me to Blest," I said, angry.

"I can't," said Rupert, who was sitting in the rocking chair, rocking Sophia. Sophia was sleepy, but fighting it. At a year old, Sophia was just as stubborn as Maree and Rupert combined. I think I was doing a pretty good job of teaching her how to escape from embarrassing and difficult situations, and man, was I proud of her. It was really fascinating watching her turn into a little person. But, that wasn't what I was worried about right then.

"What do you mean you can't?" I demanded. I knew it was because it was Sophia's bedtime, and someone had to stay with Sophia, even if she was asleep. "Maxwell Hyde has taken my report of the Blest incident, and instead of taking it to the Upper Room, he published it! He put his name on it!"

When I was a kid, Maree would've gotten up and started ranting and raving on my behalf. She was my protector when I was small, and then I grew up to protect myself. I couldn't really expect that Rupert would have the same reaction, but he was a stickler for rules . Rupert frowned. "Okay, he should have at least asked your permission before doing so, but since the Blest reweaving, we've had some really good receptions of fantasy novels, and I bet he was just trying to work on the young adult market..." he drifted off slightly, but I didn't stick around to hear it. 

I didn't slam doors or anything -- I would never hear the end of it if Sophia woke up -- but I did punch every pillow that I passed as I went to go stand out in the backyard. The Quacks would at least listen to me. I thought about how Romanov would deal with this. He probably wouldn't have left Maxwell Hyde with the manuscript. Romanov probably would've challenged him to a duel, or something, and made him regret ever taking him for granted. Romanov certainly wouldn't have been stuck on some backwater world where he had to hide his magic, or have his sister and brother-in-law take him between worlds like he was some kind of child. At least if I wanted to go somewhere in England, I could take public transportation by myself, but when I wanted to go visit my friends on Blest, I had to get a nanny to take me.

Romanov wouldn't let anyone tie him down. I shouldn't let anyone tie me down either.

I was determined to learn to walk between worlds, and I wondered why I hadn't tried this since Blest. Maybe I was getting too comfortable, too soft, and the idea kind of disgusted me. First I tried to think of how it felt to go downhill, to go Ayewards. I decided that it might be good to start on the stairs of the back porch, and try to keep going. I thought about how easy it was to raise a witch light now, and tried to make that same feeling work as I walked down the stairs... but I didn't end up going down hill. I ended up tripping on a rock and face planting in the grass.

It was at about  that point that Maree came out of the house, still wearing her vet stuff. She had been out on a call to a nearby farm. "You're probably old enough that I could teach you how to go between worlds," said Maree. I jumped up, frightened because I hadn't heard her come out, and also out of embarrassment from being found on the ground.

"Everyone seems to think I'd end civilization as we know it if you did that," I said, bitterly. I brushed the grass off of my knees, trying to look casual.

Maree shrugged. "It would take a whole lot of effort for you to end civilization," she said. "I think it was meant as more of a protection for you, so you wouldn’t go exploring. There are lots of nasty places Naywards of here, who would think nothing of shooting you because you moved wrong, and obviously there's the whole problem of assassins and conspiracies from the Empire managing to reach you."  She leaned on the railing of the porch. "I mean, we can think of it as your learner's permit, like with a car. You only have permission to go certain places, and you'll have to call when you're there, and when you're leaving to come back and such."

I thought this through. I just needed Maree to agree to teach me to walk between the worlds, and after that, I could make sure I got the education that I wanted. "Yeah, I could do that," I said, trying to use my best eager but serious face.

"I'll check with Rupert," she said, smiling. That was pretty much the last thing I wanted to hear, but it turns out that Rupert was amenable to the idea, and they taught me the following Saturday, teaching me how to go visit Rupert's brother Will, who has a million daughters. The eldest two or three immediately swarmed around Sophia, and Maree let them cart her daughter off. Everyone sat around the table, and I suddenly felt terribly young. 

"You know," said Will, “travelling between worlds is really only something that Magids can do.”  He set out tea for everyone. "It has something to do with the balance of the universes."

"There are free lancers," said Maree. "I've met a few. They're generally pretty useful to engage with, and if Nick becomes a freelancer, then he freelances. If a Magid position is open, and he's the best candidate, then he's the best candidate."

"So you think this is more about career building?" said Will, surprised. Despite the fact that he lives Ayewards, and has several daughters who are mages and are learning magic, he didn't seem to think about it. "What do you think about this, Rupert?"

I held very still while Rupert spoke. "I think that once a can of worms has been opened, it's really hard to close it again. It doesn't make sense to me that we'd teach Nick magic, especially in a place like Earth, and then not give him the space to experiment with it. Yeah, Earth is not nearly as Ayewards as it ought to be, but that doesn't mean we can't educate Nick in magic like children all over the Ayewards part of the Multiverse."

I breathed a sign of relief. I had hoped that Rupert would be on my side, but it was really hard for me to get over that original vision of him, the one where he didn't like the fact that Maree and I had done things that were hard for him to explain. He grew up on Earth, same as me, and sometimes the idea of people doing magic like it's normal is hard to accept, you know?

I wouldn’t realize it until later, but Rupert, Will, Maree and Simon were all trusting me with a lot of responsibility. (Yeah, they were all in on the decision, apparently. Maree even called Hyde. It turned out that it wasn't any spontaneous display of generosity, but something that had been planned out.) The analogy of the learner's permit with the car only goes so far, but it's probably the best that I could do. I mean, they were teaching me something that was inherently dangerous -- after all, Maree nearly died when the door between worlds was opened. People died in car accidents all the time. It was something that could give me a huge degree of freedom, much like driving a car could, and open up all sorts of adult responsibilities -- like ways to make money. But they weren't going to teach me those things. I would have to find a mentor.

The teachers at school were always talking about finding a mentor, who could help you find your way in life. I knew that Romanov had to be my mentor. But it was a matter of finding him, and convincing him. He didn't seem too interested when I had first left Blest and Maxwell Hyde had taken me to visit him. But maybe that's because he saw me as being under Hyde's tutelage.

So I visited Romanov's island in time and space from time to time, as it were, over the next year. I used to go to Maxwell Hyde's house, sneak the use of his magical phone while his daughter wasn't looking, and then sneak out again, and find Romanov's island. Mini was always happy for a visit, even if it wasn't quite what I was looking for, it was always awesome to talk with her, and sometimes we would go on adventures that she promised to never tell Romanov about. But it was Mini, so I was never sure if she could resist. Either way, I never saw Romanov.

Which brings us to two months ago.

Because of new political rumblings in the Empire, and because Rupert was right, that once I learned magic I couldn't unlearn magic, I started applying to Universities off of Earth. I often had to take a special exam, because they didn't understand the British grading system, but the one that gave me the best offer was the major university on Blest, in their version of England. So I took a trip there. Maree came with me.

Most of the trip was spent in an utterly boring tour of the university, full of propaganda. Maree and I bantered back and forth about how uninteresting the tour was, and what the more interesting history of the university probably was -- what kind of twisted student magic must have happened in the dormitory hallways, or what the best path for streaking must be so that the maximum people can see you, but you're least likely to get caught by an authority figure. It was like old times, like when we were kids, before Maree became a wife and a mom. But somehow, I figured this was okay, that things were different but still the same.

We were in the cafeteria, and I left Maree sitting at a table chatting with some the parents of some of the other incoming students, and I walked across the large room to get another glass of fizzy. That was when I spotted Roddy, sitting at another table. Something about having lived with Rupert and Maree for a few years told me that I had been an absolute prat thinking that I would marry her, or whatever my plans had been when I was a fourteen-year-old fool. Not that I am any less of a fool at the age of seventeen, but I feel like I'm at least slightly aware of it.

I got my drink, and found myself getting inordinately nervous about talking with her, but I walked over there anyway. She looked different, but I couldn't place it. "Hi," I said, and waved awkwardly. She was sitting with someone else, but it wasn't anyone that I knew.

I don’t think Roddy knew who I was right away, because I watched recognition dawn across her face. She jumped up out of her chair, then flinched and grabbed her leg, recovered, and smiled with her arms wide open for a hug. "It's been long enough that I've missed you!" she said, smiling. "Can you sit with us? It kinda hurts for me to stand for long."

I thought that was a weird statement, but I said, "Sure, let me tell Maree where I'll be."

"Your sister the Magid?" asked Roddy, smiling. "Invite her over!"

Walking over to tell Maree where I'd be and invite her over too, I realized that what was different about Roddy is that she looked like an adult. It was something that seemed pretty intangible, like I couldn't describe it exactly. She was always a determined person, but now it seemed like nothing could stop her.

"Hey," I said to Maree, gesturing over towards where I would be. "Roddy's over there, and she's invited us to sit with her, okay?"

The tour guide, a generally unappealing student, said, "You mean Arianrhod Hyde, the Lady of Governance?" She gasped, seemingly impressed. "You're an off-worlder, how do you know her?"

"How'd she get to be the Lady of Governance?" I asked. I knew that Roddy was going to be apprenticed to Ms. Candace, but I didn't think that she'd get the official title so fast.

"She's been the Lady of Governance for two years now!" said the excitable student. "It was a very quick apprenticeship, no one expected her to take up the post so  soon." I frowned. Great. Roddy was someone big and important now. And who was I? Some silly kid who had to call home every time I wanted to go off world.

I caught Maree's eye just as she rolled them. She got up and hooked her arm through mine. "Domestic witch," she said, whispering as we went to join Roddy. "She's never going to amount to much magically, but can sense others. She's impressed by Roddy, and really, by anyone who can raise a witch light faster than she can."  I rolled my eyes too, but was suddenly afraid that I was not as fast as I could be at raising a witch light. Even if I am much better than I was when I first tried.

"You know, your grandfather published our incident report on Earth," I said, as I sat down.

Roddy laughed. "Yeah, I know. He told me he thought that might get your goat." She smiled and then turned to Maree. "I heard you have a child at home! How sweet."

Maree looked surprised and pleased that Roddy might know this. "Her name is Sophia," said Maree. "She's about 18 months old, and walking and talking."

"Has she tried drawing on your walls yet?" asked Roddy , grinning. She shifted in her seat, and winced and grabbed her leg.

"Oh, God, has she," said Maree. She gave Roddy something of a strange look, probably wondering why a girl of 17 was asking about her toddler's development like another mom would. "There are some beautiful scribbles in our entryway."

"It isn't quite magic," said Roddy, " b ut some of my witches tell me that a damp sponge and baking soda on it rubbed on the stain would get most of it off."

"Thanks for the tip," said Maree, smiling. "So, tell me about this Lady Governance position."

I was pleased with how well that Roddy and Maree got on together. They were well matched -- determined, driven, and ultimately forces for good. They traded tips on domestic magic for a good, long while.

We found out that Roddy was, indeed, the Lady of Governance. She had taken over the position about a year and a half ago, and Ms. Candace had passed on shortly after relinquishing her post. "She was older than the Merlin was, who died three years ago."

"Who is the Merlin now?" I asked.

"Grundo's being groomed," said Roddy. "But he's not quite ready yet. He's here at the University, getting formally trained in some magics."

Before long, it was time for Roddy to go to her tutoring session, and she left using a crutch.

"Did she always have an injured leg?" asked Maree, as she exited the dining hall.

"No," I said. I was remembering her running, and wondered what toll being the Lady of Governance took. We went home after that, and I prepared to move to Blest for University.

And yesterday, two days after I moved in at the University, someone knocked on my door. I got off my bed, where I was reading, and opened the door, expecting some hall monitor or something telling me that I was needed at some assembly or another.

It was Romanov.

"You've been looking for me," he said.

"For the past three years!" I blurted. "You practically ignored me when I came with Maxwell Hyde, and then you were never there when I came alone. I mean, Mini's a great friend, but I was looking for you." I had practiced what I was going to say to him so many times in my head. I had tried so many different variations of convincing him that he should take me on as a student. None of those versions of events included me ranting at him for never being there when I came by.

"You weren't ready," said Romanov, leaning on a walking stick. The stick had a serpent wrapped around it, and an apple was the top nob.

"And what makes me ready now?" I asked. I berated myself. No! I should've been telling him 'Yes, of course, I am ready now.'

"It certainly isn't your patience," said Romanov. "But I have some business ventures that I need a younger partner to maintain. I believe you'll be best for the job."

"Who sent you to kill me?" I asked, trying to drive a hard bargain.

"Help me out, and maybe you'll get to know," he said. He picked up his walking stick to examine the nob.

"Better not involve the Plantagenate world. I bet they're still trying to find me to kill me for infiltrating their security accidentally." A chill went up my spine, remembering how they remembered me when the gaggle of us kids went after the goat to find Romanov.

"No worries," said Romanov.

"It can't interfere with my studies," I said, crossing my arms, remembering what Maree said when she was offered the position to train as a Magid. "I'm leaving here with credentials."

"So are we in agreement, or not, that you may learn from me, and that I may profit from you?"

"What about Grundo?" I asked. Seemed like his son might be the more obvious "younger associate."

"He's made his choice," said Romanov, and that seemed to be all he wanted to say.

I only paused for a moment. Maree said that she would be fine with it if I ended up a freelancer. And Rupert said that the world transit was kind of like building career skills. And then I remembered everything that the secondary teachers said about needing a mentor.

"Yes," I said. And he gave me a note, telling me to meet him behind the student union at midnight tonight.

When I left Blest, I was sure, so sure, that I needed Romanov to teach me. But after living with Rupert and Maree, who looked after me, who made me see that I wasn't alone and fending for myself (because, after all, they created a multi-universe network of people to look out for me), it doesn't seem right to go it alone out there in the multiverse with someone who wouldn't give me the time of day for years.   I want to help people like Maree and Rupert and Maxwell Hyde do. I want to have magic and Deep Secrets, and things to do that keep the universe magical, even in unmagical places.

The University has magic to teach me, and knowledge for me to learn. I'm tired of being the abdicated prince of some massive Empire that had been tutored on a backwater world and doesn't know anything about anything. This University can teach me everything I need to know about the multiverse, and I don't want to risk that.

But Romanov has magic and secrets too. He's got an island that can go forwards and backwards in time, and a magic oven that bakes bread. He travels those dark paths between worlds better than practically anyone else, and he could teach me about all the half worlds that he finds, and how to solve crimes and maybe commit them, and maybe even tell the future.

Nothing will stop me from learning it all.  I’m going tonight.