Falu Red

It was immediately clear that something was up the second Val and I walked into the courtyard.

“Did a bomb explode somewhere?” Val raised an eyebrow.

“I can’t rule that out…” There wasn’t a face in sight that wasn’t at least a little confused, with more people stunned than not. Thank the gods Mary isn’t here. I don’t want to imagine her trying to hide behind one of the stone pillars.

“That’s the main message board, right?” I pointed toward the massive paper-stuffed board at the center of the square. “I thought they just posted like club advertisements and stuff.”

I’d tried to read it over earlier, but there were so many! I made it through maybe three posters before getting bored.

“School news to be precise,” Val frowned. “Come on, whatever this is can’t be great.”

We fought our way through the crowd. The closer we got, the more faces I saw plastered with fear. Asking questions didn’t help much either—fifty different stories from a hundred different people.

“I’ve never seen everyone this freaked out,” Val mused, the only person in sight who looked amused.

“Val!” Arthur’s voice cut through the crowd. I spotted him pacing back and forth near the board, nearly chewing straight through his nails. “Thank the gods you’re here!”

“Chill, man. What happened?” Val shoved her way toward the center.

“It’s Isaac!”

I froze, my thoughts floating back to last night. “Isaac? What could someone that straight-laced have done?”

“He’s disappeared."

“Excuse me?” I kept my voice steady. Surely no one overheard us. I double-checked the doors last night. “Disappeared where?”

“That’s what I want to know!” He’s on the verge of breaking down. What the heck could have happened last night? “He was here, then he just—”

Val grasped his shoulders to bring him back to reality. “Calm down, dude. We’re not going to get anywhere with you like this.”

“I—”

“Arthur?”

He took a deep breath. “Fine.”

“What happened? You said he just, like, vanished?” I jumped in, straining to keep my voice normal.

“Yeah,” Arthur sighed. “Isaac randomly left our room around nine, said he had something important to do. Wouldn’t tell me what it was, though.”

“Around nine?” My voice shook the slightest bit. He got to my place around eleven… “Everyone!” I shouted across the courtyard. “Did anyone see Isaac after nine?”

I glanced left, then right, hoping anyone would have an answer.

But no one did.

So Mary and I were the last ones to see Isaac. I tightened my lips.

“Did he give you any hint, anything at all?” Val asked. “He is royalty, are you sure he didn’t disappear for some diplomatic reason?”

“He’s always told me about those trips,” Arthur scowled. “All he said was that I’d be asleep before he’d be back.”

“I see…” Val pondered something, glancing up at the message board. A single note in Arthur’s handwriting was at the center. Prince Isaac is missing! Please tell the administration if you have any news of his whereabouts. “Still, it's early. We should give it some time before doing anything too drastic.”

Should we? I had more questions than I could count. The ‘something important’ Arthur mentioned was obviously me. That doesn’t explain the two-hour time gap.

It was only a ten-minute walk between our dorms, and I had a strong doubt that Isaac simply got lost. People would have noticed a skirmish on campus. Throw that out too…

“Where could he have gone?” I muttered.

“Ruby?” Val asked. “You say something?”

“Oh, no!” I gave a dumb grin. “Just wondering where he went.”

“You and me both, girl.”

“What’s going on here?” A soft, older voice cut through the commotion. “It’s been a long time since so many people crowded around the bulletin board.”

“Professor!” Arthur leaped down from the board as Professor Fairburrow walked into the square. “Did you hear?”

“About the prince? The staff just got done with a meeting discussing that very thing.” Fairburrow slowly walked through the students, carving the way with his wooden walking stick. There wasn’t an eye not looking toward him.

“What did they say?” Arthur glanced up, hopeful.

“Not anything of substance, I’m afraid.”

“Have you guys heard anything? Anything at all?” Arthur was nearly dragging Professor Fairburrow at this point.

“Nothing at all. The royal family won’t say a word, which would make me think he’s off somewhere. I wouldn’t stress, Arthur.” Professor Fairburrow said, gently rubbing Arthur’s head.

Maybe if the staff hasn’t heard anything either… Professor Fairburrow’s hint wasn’t lost on me. And maybe the timing is suspicious in the other sense…

Vertanian royals didn’t sit things out. If something needed to be done, the prince and princesses were typically the first ones out the door. That was basically common knowledge.

Isaac slipping in to give me his manifesto right before a deployment would make sense. He wouldn’t have time to tell me otherwise…

“That lines up…” The more the gears turned, the more I got convinced. Everything lined up perfectly.

“What lines up?” With the professor taking the spotlight, Val had slipped over to my side. “You’ve not said anything substantial for a bit. That’s not like you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m just worried about Isaac, but I’m pretty sure Fairburrow’s telling us he’s alright.”

“Maybe.” Val didn’t seem convinced.

“I’m sure of it.” He has to be.

The only alternative was that Isaac walked out of my room at like midnight, all while talking about freeing Prismas, then disappeared off the face of the earth. If something happened to him between my door and whatever he planned to go next…

I couldn’t afford to think of the alternative.

“Whoa, where did that fire come from?” Val smirked for a split second. “I was saying that earlier, but the more I think about it, things don't line up. Like—”

“Nah.” I crossed my arms. “You’re like Arthur, overthinking it.” But the second I finished, a small part of me flinched. That was way too harsh...

“Excuse me?”

“I talked to Isaac a bit yesterday. He didn’t say anything about leaving, but what he did say kind of explains this.”

“What did you two talk about?” Val dropped the amusement from her tone.

“Nothing special. But with the professor backing me up, I feel pretty confident saying he’s fine.” Why does this almost feel like a bluff?

“That just makes me more concerned…” Val looked back toward Professor Fairburrow. “You sure it was nothing special?”

“Absolutely!” Complete lie, but I couldn’t exactly tell Val that Isaac wanted to liberate Prismas. That was ambitious even by my standards. And much less that I saw Isaac two hours after his disappearance.

“You’re hiding something.” Val leaned in, pressing me against a stone pillar. I could feel her breath on my lips.

“I am?”

“I’ve met monkeys harder to read than you, Ruby. I don’t know what you’re hiding, girl, but if it has anything to do with the prince's disappearance—”

“It doesn’t! Or well, it does, but in a way that makes me think Isaac’s ok!”

“Ruby…” Val gritted her teeth.

“What caused your change in tune anyway?” Val had been saying the same stuff minutes ago! I didn’t think she’d turn out pinning me against a wall. Though, a part of me didn’t mind this whatsoever.

“Long story.” Val pushed away after what felt like an eternity. “But if there is something, don’t feel you need to hide it from me.”

“Have some faith in me, girl,” I bluffed, turning on my heels. “Come on, we’ve been standing around for the last eighteen years. Lunch isn’t going to eat itself.”

“At a time like this?” Val raised an eyebrow.

“What do you think he’d want us to do, starve? I don’t want an angry Isaac marching down on us when he gets back.”

I could see hesitation in Val’s eyes. “Whatever, pick your battles and all that…” Val started to stroll away, her steps a bit too casual for my liking. “So you coming or not?”

She’s onto me. “Coming!”

I shrugged. Isaac would have plenty of cool stories to tell us when he returned. Nothing I could do but wait.