Erec decided not to push him now, after everything they had both gone through. But his mother was out there somewhere, and he would find her. And his triplet siblings, too. It would be nice to get to know them. He wondered if it was his brother or sister who was missing. Prince Muck-Muck or Princess Pretty Pony. Well, he would just have to find the missing one. That was all. It would be great to do the rest of the quests as a team.

"What will you do now? Where will you live?" Erec kicked a broken piece of a column out of the way as they walked. A shiver ran through him as he thought about living in Alypium without King Piter to protect him, or protect anyone, as well as he once had.

The king said, "I'll be spending some time in Avalon, I think. The druids were quite helpful there. But I'll be here, too, keeping watch.

397.

I'll build a house with the scepter, for myself, you, Jam, a few servants. A doghouse for Wolfboy. Bethany will have her own area, attached. It won't be as nice as she's used to, though." He shrugged.

"But a lot nicer than what she had with Earl Evirly," Erec said. "I think as long as she's with you she'll be happy. She likes to think you're her father. I think she was upset to find out you're really my father."

He felt a twinge in the back of his eyes, where his dragon eyes were. The thought of Bethany made him frown. Something wasn't right, it seemed, but he didn't know what. Was she in some kind of danger? There was no real reason to think so. Maybe he was just worried about her being upset.

While he was thinking about it, Erec stumbled over a cement block and fell down a hole onto some steps. "Where do these go?" He trotted down the stairs, then saw they led into the twisty tunnels under the castle. "The catacombs," he called up the stairs, then came up. "Nothing's guarding them now."

"Then this is where our house will be," the king said. He stood awhile, as if calculating the house's size. Wind whipped through his hair and cloak.

"What's that?" Erec pointed at a large object sticking out of the rubble. They walked closer and saw gold gleaming through the dust.

It was the king's huge throne. Beside it sat the Lia Fail, the stone that screamed. The throne and rock stood miraculously untouched, perched on a small circle of wood floor. Everything around it had collapsed.

"I think the house will contain this as well." The king smiled. "Glad one thing is still in its place."

"So we'll have a pretty big house, with a throne room and huge catacombs below, and servants? Not much else from the castle I'd miss, anyway." Then he remembered something. "What about the pool table? In the game room?"

398.

The king knew what Erec was talking about. "Posey used that to visit sometimes. It was also an escape route. Should be around that way." He pointed east. After wandering a ways, they found a wet spot around a tunnel of water. The king looked down at it. "I'll put a pool here, in our gardens, huh?"

"How will you explain this to the people of Alypium? Will they still think you're their king?"

King Piter had already considered that problem. "I'll tell them I wanted to downsize. That this was the next step in your becoming king. If they think I'm truly out of the picture, someone will build a castle for the Stain boys tomorrow. And try to get the scepter from me. I'll have a harder time keeping it safe now."

Erec could see the worry in his face. "I'll help too, Dad. But if you want people to think you're king, better make this house a nice one. Like a castle, right?"

"You got it. Walk over here." They stepped away from the water tunnel, where their pool would soon be. The king made a sweep with the scepter, and the rubble and mess dissolved into the air. Piles of plaster and wood rippled, then vanished. The ground swept itself smooth until a field of dirt appeared where the castle had stood. The debris and wreckage vanished from the castle gardens and the maze.

The king took a deep breath. With an effort, he stamped his scepter on the ground. A beautiful house with a few turrets and the flag of Alypium on top rose before Erec, building itself in fast motion. It was springing straight from the king's imagination into real life. Outside, around them, immaculate gardens arose. The sight was spectacular.

The king dropped the scepter. He looked stunned, desperate. "Hold my hands," he whispered hoarsely.

Erec grasped his fingers and felt him shaking.

"It's..." The king looked pained. "I forgot what that scepter can 399.

do. How bad it is. Without...without my castle to help me. Just hold me here for a while, so I don't pick it up again until I'm ready."

Erec squeezed his father's hands, keeping him from grabbing the scepter like he knew he wanted to.

The house was wonderful inside. Erec was sure he would not miss the castle at all, except for what it had meant for King Piter. Soon he heard barking and stepped outside. Wolfboy bounded up, knocking him onto his back. "Hey, boy." He wrestled his wenwolf dog a bit, scratching his ears. "Glad you're okay, pup."

He looked up and saw a surly Bethany and a shy-looking Jam approaching. When Bethany saw him, she looked around for somewhere else to go but gave up when Jam forged ahead of her.

Jam nodded at Erec. "Young sir. Bethany told me you discovered you are the king's son. Congratulations, sir. I assume you will be living with him here then?"

"Don't congratulate me," Erec said. "I kind of made a mess of things." He gestured at the quiet gardens where the king's castle once stood.

Jam smiled. "I'll be taking care of Bethany, then. We'll find a place nearby--"

"No way," Erec said. "You two are living here with King Piter. He planned it all out. Bethany gets her own whole section of the house, with her own servants." He laughed. "Bigger than where I'll be staying, I'm sure."

Bethany's eyes lit up, but she remained quiet.

Jam cleared his throat. "I can still live with the king?" He broke into a big grin. "Well, then." He dusted his butler coat off. "I'll have a lot to do getting things in order. Let's see how many servants we'll have to run the ship now." He strode toward the house with big steps, murmuring about fine cutlery and soup pots.

400.

Bethany bit a thumbnail nervously. "Was it your idea for me to stay here? Or King Piter's?"

Erec knew what she was asking. He smiled. "King Piter's. All the way. It wouldn't be home for him without you. You know that."

She shrugged. "Yeah. But now that he has a real son, I can't imagine he'd have much time for a fake daughter."

"Bethany, don't be stupid." Erec threw a twig at her. "You'll always be like a daughter to him. Your mom was his best AdviSeer. She was almost part of the family."

Bethany stared over Erec's head. "I guess this kind of makes us siblings, then?" She didn't look too happy about it.

"Yeah," Erec replied. But he wasn't sure what he thought about that either.

Erec figured he'd follow the directions in his letter from himself. He found Jam in the huge kitchen suite in the house, directing traffic and polishing cabinets. "Jam? Can I talk to you a moment?"

"Of course, young sir. Tell me how I can assist you." Jam followed him to a small window seat that overlooked the pool. In the tunnel below it was the waterway system that could take them all the way to Ashona.

"Jam, this is really important to me, okay?"

"Yes, young sir?" He looked nervous.

"I want you to know, I really appreciate you. The things you're always doing for everyone else are tremendous. You are the most giving person I've ever met."

"No, really, young sir. That's kind, but not deserved." Jam blushed.

"I'm not done, Jam. I think you're great. Bethany thinks you're great. King Piter couldn't do without you. I mean, none of us could. You really are a good person. I mean it. Inside and out."

401.

Jam was beet-red now. "Please, kind sir. I only do my job. Nothing more. I'm nothing special."

What had the letter told him to do? Keep going on and on until he looks like he'll faint. "No, Jam, you are special. You jumped right in to help me in Otherness. You stayed to fight with the Hydra and Valkyries even knowing you could have died. You are a true hero, Jam. I look up to you. Maybe someday I'll be as great a man as you are."

Jam was squirming and actually looked sick. "Stop. Really, I don't deserve--"

"You do. You are the meaning of the words 'brave' and 'kind.' You..."

Jam was pale. His head began to wobble in a circle like he might faint. Erec smiled and left him alone to recover.

When he walked back into the kitchen, Bethany ran into him. "There you are! Cutie Pie had another secret for me. It's the same thing. Balor and his brothers are stealing pie again, at the Green House."

"Why would they steal it at the Green House?" Erec asked. "Wouldn't they take it from other people's houses?"

"Maybe they're taking it there to eat." Bethany was working it out in her head. "I just put my stuff away, and I know just where the gag Serving Tray is. Let's whip up some treats for them to find, and leave them near the Green House. We can hide and watch what happens to them."

Erec felt a twinge behind his eyes. It wasn't a cloudy thought or even a premonition. But he knew something was not right about the pies. He just couldn't put his finger on it. "Don't go without me, Bethany, okay?"

"Yeah, of course," she said.

Erec's mother visited him with her glasses while he was roaming through the king's new house. He was glad she hadn't seen what this 402.

had looked like when it was all in ruins. It took a while to explain to her what had happened.

June's voice choked. "That's why he didn't want me to tell you? He said he had good reasons, but I never knew."

"I saw you when I went back in time," he said. "Do you remember me talking about meeting Olwen Cullwich back then?"

"It was ten years ago, Erec. I don't remember that at all." She paused. "Danny found a strange note in his coat pocket the other day. Something about clowns." Then she sounded uncomfortable. "Are you coming home soon?"

Erec thought about it. He had worn himself out with this last quest. It would be great to go back for a while after he helped his father settle in, and after he went with Bethany to see what the Stain brothers were doing, stealing pies. He still had a strange feeling about that and didn't want her to go alone.

It confused him a moment, though. He was living with his father in Alypium. Should he still also live at home with his adoptive mother? Then he realized--that was why June sounded nervous. She was wondering the same thing. Well, she didn't have to worry.

"Yeah, sure, Mom," he said, smiling around the room since he didn't know where she was. "I can't wait to come home again."

Bethany carried a cake in a covered platter she had found in the kitchen. Erec lugged a pie on top of a wrapped container of pudding. He shuddered thinking what was inside of them. The fake Serving Tray had done a good job when Bethany asked it to make the food look good on the outside. The first pie she tried had turned out too disgusting to think about. As for the pudding, a nasty rodent had popped its head out, making her shriek and drop the serving platter straight into the big pudding bowl. She brought her fingers close to pluck it out, but thought better of it. They would have to get the tray back later.

403.

The Green House, a stately mansion, took up a whole block in the center of town. The front door was set back from the street. They found plenty of shrubs to hide in, but nowhere to put the goodies.

"Well, I have this." Bethany pulled her remote control out of her pocket. Erec felt a twinge of jealousy when he saw it. She'd had over a month to learn to use it better while he had been at home. "Let's see...." She pointed the remote control at the sidewalk leading to the front door and pushed a button. "Phero," she whispered.

A small coffee table appeared on the sidewalk.

Erec was impressed. "If you gave me that remote, I'd be lucky if I could move that table an inch."

Bethany looked pleased. "You just need more practice, that's all. Actually, I do too."

"I don't know. That seemed pretty good to me."

Bethany shrugged. "Only problem is, I don't know where the table came from. Don't have a great grasp of that yet. Someone, somewhere, is putting their coffee mug down and it will crash to the ground."

Bethany left the lids on the cake and pudding but put the pie out on the table uncovered. Then they found a spot behind some bushes that covered them completely. Several people eyed the pie when they walked by, but luckily nobody stopped.

"We should have left some sheep food out too, for Dollick," Erec said with a laugh.

After waiting and chatting about King Piter's new house, they almost gave up. "Wait." Bethany pointed. The Stain triplets were heading into the Green House.

"Hold on." Erec pointed his spy watch, the one that used to be Balor's, at the Stain brothers. It amplified sound from a great distance. He pushed and turned a dial. Balor's voice rose quietly from the watch. "...don't know whose it is. Just leave it. It could be old."

But Damon was drooling. "Pie...I like pie. What kind is it?"

404.

Bethany whispered, "Humble pie. Eat it."

"How am I supposed to know, bonehead?" Balor knocked on the bone under Damon's hat. "I didn't make the pie. Come on, let's go in."

Damon stood looking at the pie, then lifted the covers off the cake and pudding. "Oooh. Cake."

Bethany crossed her fingers. "Let them eat cake."

Next thing they saw, Damon was scooping handfuls of cake to his mouth. To their surprise, he looked like he was enjoying it.

"Uh-oh," Bethany whispered. "I didn't make the cake with the good Serving Tray, did I? Could it have made a normal cake?"

After Damon took a few more mouthfuls, Balor began to retch, and Dollick started to baa. "Look what you're eating, bonehead." Balor pointed at the cake.

"Cake," Damon said lovingly.

Bethany started to giggle. "I wish I could see it," she whispered.

"Is it good?" Dollick bent his head over the cake and took a bite out of it like an animal, then spit it out. "Yueicch! This is...bleeegh! Augh!" He coughed and spit.

"Pie." Damon stuck his hand into the pie and popped a wet handful into his mouth.

"What are you eating?" Balor sounded furious. "Look at that!"

Erec laughed so hard he had to cover his mouth with his arm so no one would hear. Soon Bethany was doubled over, hand on her mouth, pounding the ground in merriment. "Serves 'em--" She hiccupped. "Serves 'em right for stealing pies."

"C'mon, you two freaks," Balor said. "Let's get inside. Dad said Bethany will show up before long. He wants to talk about plans."

"What?" Bethany whispered. "Could that be me they're talking about? What's going on?"

Damon ate another scoop of pie, then he got a funny look on his face.

405.

"Oh, no," Balor said. "What's wrong now, Damon? If you're going to--"

Damon turned around and started throwing up onto the grass. Balor and Dollick looked the other way.