Chapter Seven

Sarah woke up at seven for a change, rubbed her eyes, and got ready for a big day.

Once she had woken all the others up, they went downstairs and ate breakfast. Sarah held back as everyone else exited the Palace.

She turned to her Uncle Nicko. "How many brothers do you have?" He grinned. "Read up on your family history. I have six." "Technically, you're not my real family" she pointed out. "True. Still."

She put her dishes in the sink. "What were their names?" Nicko snorted. "Please. Sep, Sam, Jo, Edd, Erik…" His face darkened. "…and Simon." "Simon? I never heard of him." "You don't want to."

Sarah eagerly asked, "Did he have a kid? A wife?" Nicko nodded. "Her name was Lucy. His wife, I mean. Lucy Gringe." Sarah's heart beat faster. "I think they had a kid, but they lost it." Sarah leaned forward. "That kid they lost? I think someone found him." Nicko's eyes widened. "Him?" Sarah closed her eyes. "All right, I'll tell you the whole thing, but I'd be better if we had Koran."

There was a voice from outside: "Ask question, get answer" and Koran walked in, leaned against a wall, and grinned. Nicko nodded. "Speak of the devil. Well, Sarah?" Glancing at Koran, she said, "Koran can start. Tell Unk about Rian." Koran began:

"It was at the party last night. I was just sitting there when this 15-year-old kid walks up to me and asks my name." Nicko frowned. "What did he look like?" "Tawny-ish hair, bright green eyes, slanted eyebrows, gray tunic, gold belt. Anyway, he introduces himself, and then says that he's seen someone like me before. He said that he had no parents, and he lives with his uncle at the boatyard. When he left, he called me Merrin."

"And we found out later that this Merrin guy is Koran's dad. Weird" Sarah burst in. Koran looked at her, surprised. "Really?" "Yeah. He said that you looked a lot like him." Nicko stood up and knocked a chair over. "WHAT??!!" He looked at Koran. "You're the kid of that stupid son of a—" "Unk, I think you need to tell us a bit more about your childhood. Now."

"Yeah, I mean, we're your kids, and you never told us anything." Silas jumped in from outside. Sarah looked at him. "How long have you been listening?" "A while" said Nora, also walking in. Then came Marcus and Milo. Nicko sighed. "Okay, okay. This might be a bit hard for you lot."

"Sarah, Milo, your mother and your Uncle Sep were the greatest friends when they were 13, like you guys are, along with your father. Practically inseparable. Heh" he chuckled. "It was around that time that your father started liking your mother. Anyway, I suppose Sep told you about the Queste?" They all nodded, even Koran. "The reason that happened was because of Merrin's own greediness. He was around the same age as those three, and Simon's apprentice." "What exactly did Simon do? What happened to him?" asked Marcus.

"Simon was the eldest of Silas Senior's children. He really wanted to be the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice, but, as you know, Sep got it instead. In all of his envy and rage, he went and plotted in the Badlands. He captured Jenna, and brought her back, but she escaped. The rest isn't that important, except that it was Simon who discovered Flyte after a few centuries—" "The WHAT??!!" yelled Koran.

"The Flyte Charm. Sep has it; surely he's shown you, Koran?" "Yeah" said Koran, and then he dug in his pocket and dug out something small that glittered.

It was a tiny golden arrow with silver wings that beat softly. "He gave it to me."

Sarah gasped. "Whoa." Silas leaned in and grinned. "Cool." "Have you used it?" Nicko asked Koran. He nodded. "Yeah, I use it to get around."

"Well, that's neat. Back to my story, eventually all of us (me, Sep, and Jenna) got back to the Castle, where Simon had—ah, how he did it isn't too important, but in a nutshell, he tried to kill Marcia." "Seriously?" demanded Nora. "Seriously. You guys ever met her?" "Yeah' said Sarah. "She comes by the Palace sometimes. Always complaining about her shoes. 'Oh no, they're covered in mud!' or 'Disgusting, whoever owns that dog should clean up it's poo.' Then I have to remind her that she's dead, and she snaps at me. Huh."

"Anyway, that's what Simon did. Merrin became his assistant after your Great-Aunt Zelda rescued him from a—geez, if I keep breaking off, I'll never finish this. So he became Simon's assistant. He wasn't afraid to cause other people misery, or even death." Nicko glanced at Koran, only to see that the kid's face was hard as stone. "Later, he decided that Simon wasn't treating him well enough, so he ran away. He actually lived in the Palace for a while." Sarah let out a sniff. "The reason I hate Merrin so much is because he almost caused the death of both Sep and Jenna by sending them both on the Queste that none had ever returned from."

"Around when I turned 17, he ran off with some girl and was never seen again. I had heard rumors that he was killed by a wild dragon, and all I can say is good riddance."

Silence greeted the end of his tale. Then Koran said softly, "I never knew my father was so…evil. Twisted." "Then you can join Rian's club" replied Silas. "His father was a stupid jerk too. No offense, dad." "None taken."

Sarah looked up and Koran and said quietly, "You have to live down what your father did, Koran. That's the only way you can forgive yourself." He glanced down at her in surprise. "I didn't expect that to come from you." She shrugged and said cheerfully, "I only say one or two serious things a year. I figured this was a pretty good time for that."

Sarah stood up. "We need to go find Rian, and he has to hear what we know. Come on, guys." "Don't forget you leave at noon!" Nicko called as the six of them left.

They went to the boatyard dragging their stuff (they figured they would wait and load up), and Sarah went to look for Rian. She ended up bumping into Rupert Gringe.

"Huh? Oh, hello Princess. What can we do for you?" "I'm looking for Rian" she said looking at him. "You don't happen to know him?" "He's my nephew. I'll get him for you."

A few minutes later Rian came from behind a giant ship. "Hey, Sarah. What's up?" She stared him in the face. Finally she said, "We found out who your parents were." He grinned. "Cool. Let's hear it."

She led him back to the others and they told him what they had found out. "So my father's a murderer" sighed Rian. "I figured it was either that or a circus performer." Milo burst out laughing. "Why a circus performer?" "Meh. I dunno." "And he's not exactly a murderer because he didn't succeed." "Still."

Milo suddenly burst out, "Doyouwannacomewithus?" Rian raised his eyebrows. "Huh?" "We're going to our Great-Aunt Zelda's to finish the Test" Nora explained. "Oh. What is this 'Test'?" Rian asked. Sarah smirked and glanced at Koran. "A torture device" grumbled the latter. Rian laughed. "Sounds like fun. How can I help?" "Traitor" said Koran indignantly.

Then another kid stumbled in, clutching his foot. "YOWOWOWOW—oh, hi Rian and lot." Rian grinned. "Always the clumsy one, eh Rack?" "I suppose." As he walked over, he tripped and fell in a boat. The boat tipped over and squashed him under it. "YOW!" Rian rolled his eyes, the grin still plastered on his face, and rolled the boat over. Rack had his whole body smashed into the ground. "I hate this job" he growled, his voice muffled.

Nora laughed.

Pulling himself up, Rack said cheerfully, "You guys ready to go?" "Can we squeeze in one more passenger?" asked Sarah, glancing at Rian. Rack's smile became forced; Sarah wondered why. "Um, sure, I guess." "Great. Can we leave now?" Rack frowned. "Maybe, let me go ask Jannit." He rushed off and came back a minute later. "She says sure." "Then let's go. Rian, you wanna bring anything?" "Nah."

Rack showed them the boat. It was a motorboat, medium-sized, stocked with food and drinks. "Hmm…does it have pool?" asked Marcus. Nora rolled her eyes.

Sarah sat down on a chair on deck. She felt the wind in her face and smiled. "I like it." "Good. Then we'll go."

The rest of them jumped aboard and settled themselves.

Rack grabbed a hold of the wheel and yelled, "Hold on to your butts!" Then they took off, speeding towards the marshes.