The Three Furies (Erec Rex) by Kaza Kingsley Page B

"Look at me, letting my desires speak for me. My place is to stay in Ashona until either you or I am able to be near my old scepter safely. If I feel I am ready, I'll let you know. Tell me, of course, when it returns to you." He smiled.
    "I wish I knew who this man with a magnet was." Queen Posey crossed her arms. "I'll ask everyone at home. If he lives in Ashona, you will soon know." She looked at her brother. "Are you ready?"
    "As ever."
    Jam helped the king up. He looped an arm around his sister, they walked to her Port-O-Door, and with a slight splash it disappeared.
    81
    * * *
    Erec looked out the window. The sun was setting, leaving a hazy pink aura over the open field behind his father's house. The men had gone away, but they would probably be back with reinforcements. Erec wondered if Baskania would figure out a way through the water wall. At the least it would show the Alypian people that the king still had some power--unless they realized the water wall was Queen Posey's trademark.
    A red smudge in the grass caught his eye. It looked like the snail Oscar had been using. Erec went to pick it up.
    Dear Erec,
    I heard some news about Bethany, but I'm not sure that you'll like it. At least she is alive. She's a prisoner in Baskania's fortress in Jakarta, in Upper Earth. It's his top-security complex, where he keeps the people and things that are most important to him. That place is totally locked up with spells and armed guards.
    I don't know, Erec. I'm sure you want to rush in there and save her, but it sounds like if you did you'd just be locked right up alongside her. I know Bethany would rather have you free than be a prisoner next to her.
    This next part is really hard to write. Baskania is scanning through Bethany's brain. He's trying to find out where the key is to teach him about the Final Magic. He's already given her a bunch of tests, but they didn't turn up anything. If he runs out of other ideas, he's going to take her brain out and see if his scientists can figure out where the message is hidden.
    82
    I was thinking about going there myself, but there's no way I could get to her. I don't know what to do. If you need me for anything at all, though, I'm here for you.
    Your pal,
    Oscar
    It felt like rocks filled the inside of Erec's stomach. The enormity of what he had to do hit him like a bullet. Bethany had been captured by their worst enemy. Even if Erec did everything that the Fates told him to do, in the right order, how would he ever get her out of Baskania's prison?
    He silently thanked the Fates for telling him how to go about saving her, but he was still terrified that he wouldn't succeed. What if there was more he had to get right and he didn't figure it out? If he had to climb the steepest, ice-covered cliff, if he had to swim through boiling tar pits, Erec was ready to do whatever lay ahead.
    With his blood boiling and no clue what to do next, he felt frantic. What he wanted the most was to find Bethany immediately, to go straight into Baskania's fortress in Jakarta and demand to see her.
    Just what Baskania would want him to do, of course. The only reason he was still keeping Bethany alive at all might be to capture Erec.
    83
    CHAPTER SEVEN Magnet Mountain
    HINK. FIND THE man with the magnet. Find the man with the magnet.
    King Piter had no clue who it could be. Queen Posey was going to ask around Ashona, but she had never heard of him. Could it be someone in Aorth? Or in Otherness--the wilds where untamed magical creatures roamed?
    Jam stared at the notes he had jotted down as if he were wondering the same thing. He sighed. "Should we perchance look
    84
    for a magnet store? Not sure if there even is such a thing. Maybe a magic shop would know if there was a magnet specialist." He looked doubtful.
    "We can look on the MagicNet. I'll search for 'magnet man' or 'man with magnet' and see what comes up."
    "Great idea, young sir," Jam said, relieved. "Let's do that straightaway."
    Jam led him to King