When Olwen spotted Erec, his eyes widened. He excused himself and went straight to Erec.

"You remember my son?" King Piter chortled. "He's been talking about you a lot lately. For some reason he's been obsessed with you."

Olwen nodded, though he was trembling. "Can I speak with him a minute?"

"That would be nice. He'd love it," the king said. "And then if you want to change clothing I'll have one of the servants help you."

Erec turned to Clio. "Put me down."

"Okay," Clio said, amused. She said to Olwen, "Do you mind? I hate to interrupt your birthday."

"No, please," Olwen said. He crouched before Erec. "You were right about the pies," he said softly, "but I'm still not sure what that means. Maybe you heard your father talk about the clown. Maybe you talked to the clown about putting a pie in my face." He thought a moment. "I guess, though, it would be tough to predict the rest. I could have stopped myself from trying to get the clown back, but something about the way he looked at me just got me, and I let myself go. I don't know." He shook his head. "Do you have something else you could tell me to prove what you're saying? It's just hard to assume you're really from the future."

Erec tried to remember what else the king had said about Olwen.

352.

Wait. There was something. The king said soon after today you got captured by a sorcerer who did something bad to you, trying to get the Trwyth Boar. You barely survived. Keep an eye out. Be ready for him."

"Thanks." Olwen looked shaken. "Listen, I need to think about this longer, see what happens."

"Come with me," Erec said. "Let me show you something."

Olwen announced to the others that he would be back, that Erec wanted to take him somewhere. King Piter and Clio protested, saying that it was his party and he didn't have to take care of a child. But he waved them off and followed Erec out into the west wing.

After walking a ways, Erec said, "It would be quicker if you carry me. If you don't mind."

Olwen picked him up, and Erec directed him into the catacombs under the castle. "I'll show you how I got here." He knew that the king would have a fit if Olwen, or anybody else, found out about the Novikov Time Bender. But Erec didn't care what King Piter thought. Especially after finding out how the king basically had been rejecting him as his own son all this time. Plus, the castle would be on its side soon, and that would keep Erec from getting back to the Time Bender. He needed Olwen to understand now.

Homer floated in the room where the Time Bender was. "Hello, Erec," the ghost said. "You've brought a friend. Nice to meet you, Mr. Cullwich."

Olwen stumbled over his words. "I...you're a golden ghost. And...this--" He walked over to the Time Bender, surveying it from top to bottom. "Is this what I think it is?" He looked at the dials inside. "C-can...I use it to go forward? See the future?" Olwen ran a hand over the machine.

"It's a Time Bender," Homer said. "Erec used it to get here, into his three-year-old body, from ten years from now."

353.

Erec shuddered, thinking of what Olwen might experience in the future.

"It's too dangerous," Homer told him. "You might go past the time when you are no longer alive, and then you would remain stuck there."

Erec did not want to tell Olwen that he knew when and how he would die. But maybe he could find a way to change that. "Olwen," he said, "someday Baskania will ask you if you know where the Twrch Trwyth is. Please do not tell him you swallowed it. Okay? It's really important."

Olwen turned pale. "How did you know...? I was just researching how to get rid of it. And that was the way that was recommended to me."

"I know because I heard you tell Baskania in the future. Just...don't say it to him, okay?"

Olwen nodded, absorbing all he'd been told. "I think I'm convinced. I was going to get rid of the thing anyway. It's too dangerous for me to keep. If you need it for one of your quests, Prince Erec, to fix the Substance with the Awen--if you can do that--I'll let you have it." He reached behind his neck, undid a clasp, and pulled a long chain from under his shirt. On it hung a glass vial in the shape of a fat pig. The top of the vial was soldered onto the chain. Erec could see tiny fragments of hairs in the vial, and a miniature comb and scissors.

Olwen handed it to Erec, but Erec did not take it. "We need to hide it here," he said. "Find a crack in the stone. Somewhere it can stay hidden for ten years and not be found accidentally."

Erec felt the Twrch Trwyth would be safe in the room where Homer kept watch. Olwen felt around the walls. "Here's a loose stone." He pulled it out. "Right in here might work. Will you be able to reach it?"

"I'll be a lot taller then," Erec pointed out. "Just do me a favor, okay? Please don't tell anyone you put this here. Especially Baskania, 354.

when he asks you later. Or he'll get it before I do and use it for all the wrong things."

"I know enough about Baskania to know that he should never get hold of this vial." Olwen studied the loose stone, then turned to Erec. "Will you remember where it is in ten years?"

"Sure. I'll be there to get it in two minutes."

Olwen looked surprised. "You're not going back upstairs? What will I tell your parents?"

Homer said, "You can say he went back to the nursery. That's where they will find him, when this Erec goes into his future again. And the little Erec won't remember one bit of this."

Erec took a deep breath. It was time to go back. If only he knew the small details of what would happen to his parents soon, like he did with Olwen, maybe he could convince them he was really from the future. But there was nothing he could think of.

"As long as you leave the Twrch Trwyth here, I'll go back now. Thank you." He reached a little hand up to shake Olwen's big one.

355.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

King Piter's First Mistake.EREC'S BODY WENT through strange distortions, painful stretches, and yanks in the Time Bender. Dust clouds whizzed around the glass from left to right, making him dizzy. He was sore and tired when it cleared, and it took some effort to push the glass door open and sit up.

The loose stone where Olwen had hidden the Twrch Trwyth looked just as it had before.

356.

There was a noise in the room, then a gasp. Erec turned and saw red hair....

Oscar was in the room with him.

Oscar looked as scared and shocked as he did. He almost fell over, backing away. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Sorry," he kept saying, wringing his hands. "I didn't think I'd see you here. Or I'd have never come. Sorry, Erec. I'm so, so sorry."

They both looked around, waiting for Baskania to materialize at any moment.

"I'll go," Oscar said, his face red and distorted, as if he were starting to cry. "Why are you here? Wait, don't tell me anything." He stopped. "Listen, Erec. I will not not let Rosco tell about this. He can't." Oscar caught his breath. "It's not just saving you, which I would do no matter what, it's also the Time Bender. Baskania let Rosco tell about this. He can't." Oscar caught his breath. "It's not just saving you, which I would do no matter what, it's also the Time Bender. Baskania cannot cannot find out about this. Imagine what he would do to the world? We'd all be dead, long ago, if he was to get his hands on this." find out about this. Imagine what he would do to the world? We'd all be dead, long ago, if he was to get his hands on this."

His face grew a deeper scarlet and he kicked a wall. He grunted, "I can't. I won't. Rosco, if you are hearing this, listen hard. I will end my life right now if you send Baskania here. I can't go on like this. If you ever felt a thing for me, this needs to stay quiet." He paced, pounding and kicking the stone wall until his hand was bleeding. Erec was frightened for him on top of being afraid that Baskania would show up. "Erec, I will not let Rosco tell this." He looked at Erec with pleading eyes.

Erec knew as well as he did that he had no real control over what would happen. "Why were you here at all, Oscar? Didn't you get my snail mail?"

"Yeah." Oscar nodded miserably. "But I had no idea you were in the castle now. Seems like you were always off doing quests all over the place. And even if you were, I never thought you'd be down here in this room. I was so careful when I snuck down here, so that 357.

nobody would see me. I kept my head down the whole time and stared at the floor so I wouldn't see anybody at all. I can't believe you were here in the Time Bender."

"But why did you come here?"

"I had to see it again." Oscar pointed at the machine. "I just had to. Can't explain. I've been thinking about it, that's all. I had some ideas I needed to talk to Homer about." He nodded toward the golden ghost.

"Look, we need to get out of here," Erec said. "Baskania might show up any minute."

"Okay. Sorry, Erec." Oscar looked miserable. "I'll stay far away now."

Erec felt terrible for him. "Look, let me know if I can help you with this Rosco thing. I'll do anything, okay? And we'll always be friends. Promise."

"Yeah, sure." Oscar sniffed and ran out of the room.

Erec looked both ways down the hall to make sure nobody was coming. Then he pulled the loose stone out of the wall. Olwen Cullwich's boar-shaped vial was right where he had placed it ten years ago. Erec removed it and slid the chain around his neck and tucked it inside his shirt, alongside his Amulet of Virtues.

Baskania still had not shown up, which surprised Erec. Had Rosco actually listened to Oscar's threats? His insistence?

Homer hovered in the air. "Good luck, Erec," he said. "I hope you succeed with your quest."

Erec thanked him and left while the coast was still clear.

There was still no sign of Baskania, or Oscar, as Erec walked back to the west wing. It was strange and wonderful seeing everything from a normal height again. He felt so much more confident in a teenage body instead of dealing with those spindly, tiny arms and legs, relatively huge head, and embarrassing voice.

His visit to the past could have gone better, but at least he 358.

had the Twrch Trwyth around his neck. The Hermit had been right again. And the Fates knew what they were talking about. Erec just had to realize that the Twrch Trwyth had been waiting for him all along, back in time. Thank goodness Olwen had left it there for him.

Erec grew sad as that thought came to him. Olwen was dead now. Erec remembered seeing him die. But hadn't going back in time changed how that turned out?

He thought so. Something was different now. Hadn't something awful happened to Olwen before? He remembered it, in a way, something terrible, gory, and upsetting. Something about Olwen being torn apart? But that memory was fading fast.

No, Olwen was not torn apart. Erec remembered hiding in the bushes with Bethany and Jack. He had been panicked that Baskania would make Olwen spill the beans about hiding the Twrch Trwyth. But before Baskania could ask him much, Olwen had popped something into his own mouth and had died immediately. He had taken his own life to protect Erec's secret. Baskania searched Olwen's house and didn't find anything, then gave up.

Erec could not believe how generous and noble Olwen had been. Erec had a vague feeling that things were different before he had gone back in time. Something awful and disgusting had happened to him before, Erec thought, but his memory of that quickly faded. Maybe Olwen's fate had changed after he went into the past. He guessed he'd never know. But there was one thing he knew he had not fixed. He still had not figured out how to save Aoquesth. Maybe it was impossible. But he would never give up.

Now Erec had another mission. Before he returned to the Isle of Man to try his luck at hooking the five Awen to the Twrch Trwyth, he had to talk to King Piter. His father.

359.

The king was in his throne room with the Hermit. Erec walked in, stone-faced. "Can I have a moment, please?" he asked the Hermit. "With my father."

King Piter's eyes widened in fright. The Hermit, however, looked as casual as if Erec said this alarming truth every day. He patted Erec on the head as he left. "Have a good time, little Poo-Poo Head."

"So." Erec scowled at his father. "I guess I can't expect you to give me any satisfactory explanation why you abandoned me with June. And then, on top of it, why you never bothered to fess up that you were really my father--even though you knew I was trying to figure that out all this time."

He was seething, and he paused to catch his breath. "You have a lot to answer for. And I'm not leaving until I get all the details."

The king grabbed his scepter and looked around the room in fear. Erec looked too, wondering if Baskania had appeared, but he saw nobody. "Erec, I tried to explain. You are not ready to know this yet. I am not ready either."

It sounded to Erec like the same old song and dance. "You can keep saying that, again and again, but it's not going to take away what I already know. I just went back in time, with your Time Bender, to when I was three. I tried to warn you, by the way, of what was going to happen to you. Too bad you wouldn't listen to me."

"I know." The king nodded. He seemed a shadow of his normal self. Weak. Resigned. "I realized too late that I should have listened to you then. I am sorry, Erec. I've made some mistakes, but that was a big one. My second big one."

King Piter had once told Erec that he would make three mistakes, and so would Baskania. The Fates had predicted that, and by now Erec believed what the Fates said. So, letting himself get put under a spell by Hecate Jekyll was King Piter's second mistake. Now Erec knew that if the king had listened to him, he could have prevented it. And the king 360.

had said that he didn't know what his third mistake would be.

"So, what was your first mistake?" Erec asked.

"It was a big one." The king looked around again fearfully. Erec did not see anybody else with them. "I'll tell you in a minute. But first, please remember I never wanted to abandon you. I did not have a choice because of my first mistake. I love you, Erec. I always have."

"Just not enough to admit to me you are my father," Erec said bitterly. "I guess you were afraid I would take up too much of your precious time." His mouth twisted in disgust. "Funny, you had the time for Bethany. You let her think you were like a father to her."

"Bethany needed me," the king said. "Think about what she had before, with Earl." His eyes were moist.

"I needed you," Erec said fiercely. "My whole life I grew up thinking I had a horrible father from that memory replacement. But I still wanted to know who he was. To know something about where I came from, where I belonged. I wished for a father so hard and for so long. You don't know how much it meant to me. But here you were, alive and well, and not even bothering to send a postcard." Erec's voice caught. "I guess you were too busy trying to fix the Substance to even make one phone call."

The king rubbed his forehead furiously. "It's not like that, Erec. It is my fault you are feeling this way, my fault that I couldn't tell you a long time ago. But that's the way it worked out."

"Why?" Erec demanded.

"Give me a minute." The king took a breath. "You'll find out soon enough, anyway." He looked sick, wiping sweat off his forehead. Then he glanced up. "Here's one thing I might as well tell you. You know the memory replacement you got, the horrible father?" He paused while Erec nodded. "That was Bethany's memory."

Bethany's? Erec was confused. He thought Bethany's parents were supposed to be so great. "That was her father?"

361.

"No, it was not her father. It was Earl Evirly."

Erec was stunned. Earl? The voice in his dream had sounded familiar after he'd met Earl. But he had never made the connection.

The king looked weary. "Just go to the Memory Mogul when you get a chance. He'll take the memory out for you. You don't need to carry that one around."

Erec noticed that the king was waving his scepter toward him. It was odd. The king never played around with it, and Erec knew why. He was smart to handle it as little as possible. But King Piter was definitely bouncing it toward him, even though Erec could not feel any magic coming from it.

The king observed the scepter in his hand. "Best I tell you now, Erec. My first mistake was a big one. Even bigger than not listening to you and letting myself get hypnotized for ten years." He sighed. "You had not only warned me, but months earlier I had a warning from the Oracle as well. The Fates told me that I would be gone soon, out of action. They were referring to my being bewitched by Hecate Jekyll, it turns out. But I thought they meant I was going to die.

"They said that my child would succeed me and fix what I could not fix. They may have been talking about the Substance. I still hope you will be able to fix that, Erec, when I could not." The king was shaking his scepter more as he spoke. "I thought I would die soon, that you three would take over for me. I wasn't happy about going, but I had no idea that things would turn out so badly in the castle. The Fates are not always forthcoming with all the information, I am afraid.

"So my first mistake was misinterpreting the warning that the Fates had given me, even before I ignored yours. Boy, did I get that wrong. I was convinced I was going to die. So, when Hecate Jekyll put me under her spell, in my last clear moments I was sure that was the end for me. Of course, if everything went her way and they 362.

crowned the Stain boys as kings at the coronation, she would have killed me soon after, I'm sure. They were just keeping me around to convince people that I was handing my throne down in an orderly, planned way.

"Hecate Jekyll cast her spell just five days after the awful night when intruders broke in and almost captured you. Your mother barely escaped with her life. I was still stunned by it, but I was figuring out ways to bring you back, protect you here. I was worried though, since I thought I would die soon and not be around to help you. Your dragon eye had been waiting for you here in the castle. But since my AdviSeers were all gone, and everything was a shambles, it did not seem safe here anymore--especially since I was sure I would not be around to watch it for long. Aoquesth agreed to guard it for you, luckily.

"You see, I did put one thing together. In those few days after you were almost kidnapped, I remembered everything that you had warned me about. You had said you came from the future, from ten years later. You said you got your dragon eye around then. Earlier than you should have, mind you. So I told Aoquesth when you would be showing up for it."