Disclaimer: The Keys to the Kingdom series and the Abhorsen trilogy do not in any way belong to me, they're the property of Garth Nix, etc.
The Path
Michaeli knocks on his door and waits a bare second before waltzing into his room.
Arthur opens his mouth to complain - he's not a kid anymore - but the look on her face stops him.
"You won't believe who Mom's entertaining right now," Michaeli says, sitting primly on the bed beside him without so much as an invitation.
Arthur ignores his annoyance in favour of his curiosity. "Who?" he asks. He'd seen the expensive car parked in the circular drive in front of their home, but it's not like it was an uncommon sight. Both Emily and Bob are important members of Ancelstierran society, and other important people come and go rather frequently.
But for Michaeli to find their visitor interesting... That's worth noting.
"The ambassador from the Old Kingdom!" Michaeli whispers. "And some guy in a mask; probably his bodyguard. They're talking quite civilly, but I can tell Mom's upset. She sent me out when she realized I was in the library. Not that I was eavesdropping! I was there first," she adds, a bit outraged.
Arthur feels a frisson of unease, barely registering the rest of what Michaeli is telling him. Any influence Bob and Emily have is based in the south; they shouldn't have anything to do with the Old Kingdom.
Except.
Arthur's adopted. His parents were minor diplomats from the Old Kingdom, but - as Emily and Bob had told him - they wanted a better life for him. Things are different between the two countries; life is harder in the Old Kingdom, which is governed by strange laws that defied Ancelstierran comprehension. After his parents had caught a strange illness in Ancelstierre not long after Arthur was born, they had implored their friends, Bob and Emily, to adopt him and give him a better life in Ancelstierre.
"Maybe they're here to take you back," Michaeli says wickedly, smirking.
Arthur winces. He'd made his peace with being adopted, or so he'd thought. Still, it's not something he likes to joke about.
Michaeli seems to realize that because she immediately looks contrite. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it," she says, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and giving him a quick hug. "Why don't we go find out what this is all about? It's probably something stupid."
"Oh," Arthur says, pushing his unease away and slipping out of her grasp. "I see. You just want me to use the secret passage because you're too big now."
Michaeli rolls her eyes, but doesn't bother denying it. They both know the truth.
Arthur's the youngest of Bob and Emily's children. Eric is in his last year of school and Michaeli is attending college, though they're on break right now. Arthur's the only one small enough to fit in the secret passage that he had inadvertently found one day when he was following his older two siblings around.
Their home is an old house. It's been in the family for ages, and has plenty of strange rooms to occupy young children. Arthur loves it, and has many fond memories of exploring the place with Eric and Michaeli.
The secret passage leads to the kitchen and the library from the linen closet, and the three children had made great use of it since he'd discovered it seven years ago. But Michaeli'd grown steadily since then and Eric hit his growth spurt two years ago, so Arthur is the only one who still makes use of it.
Michaeli casually loiters outside the bathroom, on the lookout for anyone not in the know about the passage - namely, the servants and the rest of their family. Arthur pushes aside the stack of linens at the bottom and knocks out the fake back, revealing the passage.
"Good luck!" Michaeli whispers, before putting the linens back into place and closing the door.
Arthur swallows, his unease from before returning with full force. He's always felt safe in the house before, so why is he suddenly so nervous?
It's probably nothing, he tells himself firmly. He'll go and listen to the conversation between Emily and the ambassador like Michaeli wants, find out it's nothing important, and feel silly for being so nervous after.
The three youngest children never could figure out what the passage was for, and hadn't been inclined to ask more knowledgeable adults who almost certainly would have forbade them from using it. Regardless, Arthur knows its twists and turns like the back of his hand, for all that he hasn't used it much lately. Between boarding school and his siblings growing up, there hadn't been much cause to.
The opening in the library is a four foot square section of bookcase that swings outward when the mechanism on the passage side is triggered, or when the correct book on the library side is pulled out.
Arthur crouches at the end of the passage, careful to stay away from the mechanism. It wouldn't do to reveal his position, after all.
"Life in the Old Kingdom is very different from here in Ancelstierre," Emily is saying. She isn't the type of person who angers easily, and even when she does it's in an understated way. Still, Arthur knows her well enough to agree with Michaeli's assessment - she's angry.
"More than you can possibly know," an unknown man - the ambassador, Arthur assumes - agrees. He has a deep, steady voice. It would probably be reassuring under normal circumstances, but there's an undertone of frustration. "That is why-"
Whatever the ambassador says is lost to Arthur, who shrinks back when someone walks past his bookcase. The masked man that Michaeli had been talking about? Arthur hadn't heard him approach, but he can see movement through the cracks in the wall; neither of the voices are close enough to belong to the person.
"His parents wanted a better life for him!" Emily says in response to what the ambassador had said.
"I understand-" the ambassador begins, but the third person cuts him off.
"That is all well and good, but I am telling you it is impossible," he says, speaking for the first time that Arthur has heard. His voice is exceedingly pleasant, even coloured as it is by anger. "Arthur is the last, after me."
The boy in question flinches back, some of the accumulated dust scraping against the wooden floor as he does so. He waits with baited breath, but it seems like no one heard the faint scuff. Just as he's beginning to relax, he hears the third speaker rummage in the bookshelf and suddenly he's tumbling out onto the carpet as the door to the passage swings open.
"The duty will fall to him whether he is trained or not. I do not, I think, have to tell you which will be the better alternative," the masked man finishes. He looks to be gazing down at Arthur, though even at this angle Arthur can't see through the eyelets of the glossy silver mask. All Arthur can see are the man's lips, which seem unnaturally red against the silver of the mask and the pale skin of his chin, which is the only part of his face exposed.
"Arthur," Emily scolds, striding over to him. Arthur scrambles to his feet, pressing against her side despite being far too old to take comfort in such childish things.
The ambassador is a tall, broad-shouldered man with raven black hair and equally dark eyes. There's something like regret in his expression as he studies Arthur.
"What- what's this duty you keep talking about?" Arthur asks, a bit ashamed at how his voice cracks on the question. There's no point in pretending he hadn't been listening to the conversation, and it's not like Emily can punish him because he's probably going to have to leave and go to the Old Kingdom-
He forces that thought from his mind; it's too distressing to even consider right now.
The ambassador opens his mouth to speak, but at a sharp gesture from the masked man, closes it again. Arthur looks from one man to the other; who is really in charge here? Is the masked man the ambassador's bodyguard like Michaeli had thought?
"If you are familiar with life in the Old Kingdom - unlikely - perhaps the title of Abhorsen will mean something to you," the masked man says. "That is the duty bestowed upon you by your lineage, and it is a duty that you cannot escape, no matter what anyone else says."
Arthur barely hears that; he is familiar with life in the Old Kingdom, inasmuch as any citizen of Ancelstierre can be. Emily and Bob had sent him to a northern boarding school for that specific purpose, to learn as much about his biological parents' home as possible.
The Abhorsen is sort of vigilante who operates apart from the law. There is only one at a time, and their purpose is to put down the dead who do not pass on, and those who control them - necromancers.
He's a bit murkier on the details of how, exactly, the dead can come back. Depending on the source, it's either Old Kingdom superstition or a phenomenon that is unique to the Old Kingdom. The mechanics are never discussed. However, Arthur doesn't believe it's mere superstition. There is a class on Charter Magic at his school and he's seen it work, though it defies all scientific laws held by Ancelstierre. And if magic exists, then surely the dead must as well.
"I thought it was, um, hereditary?" Arthur asks. "Neither of my parents were Abhorsen, were they?"
"They were not; none of that line have been Abhorsen for many years," the masked man says. "However, my line is at an end. None are suited to be Abhorsen; the only one left is you."
"What if you have kids?" Arthur asks desperately. "Siblings? Cousins?"
"Neither of my brothers are likely to have children," the masked man says; his lips twist into a smirk, which is frankly unnerving. Arthur can't see his eyes, much less the rest of his face - it looks like a disembodied mouth smirking at him. "Even if another child is born to this line, they would be too young to inherit."
Arthur licks his lips. "But- I can just hold the title until someone else comes along, right?"
"I'm afraid it doesn't work like that," the masked man says, though he doesn't sound very sorry about it. "Besides, the Clayr have Seen you. You are to be the next Abhorsen, whether you like it or not."