The Twilight Prince

Chapter Seven: The Admiral

It took a moment for my thoughts to catch up with all the words.

"I think it means you're the magic police," I said.

The Admiral nodded. "After a fashion. Do you believe in magic?"

"I didn't until yesterday."

"Then we must be doing a fairly good job," she said. She smiled. "There are forces at work in the world that the general population only hears about in fairy tales. It is our responsibility to protect our country and its people from dangers that they can never know about.

"As it happens, and as you've surely realised, one such threat manifested here in Hastings at around noontime yesterday. Our people noticed a massive magical occurrence on the seashore, and I dispatched a team to investigate. We took one prisoner, but he knows next to nothing, and he's telling us less. We might not have managed even that much, if it weren't for one thing. Someone prevented the spell from completion..."

As the Admiral continued, I thought back to the events of the previous day, and how the Horseshoe Men swept in just in time to save my life. Something had happened to break the spell, and maybe that something had kept me awake while everyone else was sleeping.

Was it Éven?

"Do you drink tea, Mr Frazer?"

I snapped back to attention as if I had just been caught day-dreaming in class.

"I'm sorry?"

"Tea. Do you drink it?"

"Yes, of course."

"Just as well. I wouldn't know what to do with you if you didn't."

The barmaid came in to the room with a tray bearing a pot, a milk jug, a plate of biscuits, a porcelain mug, and a dented enamel tin cup. She set down the tray and poured the tea, and gave the tin cup to the Admiral and the mug to me. She also handed the Admiral a piece of paper, and picked up the tray and left.

The Admiral read the piece of paper and slipped it into her leather dossier.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Confidential," said the Admiral.

I frowned and sipped my tea. It tasted smoky and a little flowery.

"Where were we? The beach, yes. A powerful spell struck this town yesterday; extraordinarily powerful. Anyone who could resist a spell like that would have to be special. Anyone who could resist that spell would be a person of interest. So, do you see why I had to meet you?"

I didn't see at all. I didn't know what any of this had to do with me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because someone resisted the spell," she said patiently.

"But who?"

The Admiral tutted and shook her head very slightly.

"You, Mr Frazer. I'm talking about you."

The claim was so ridiculous that I threw my hands in the air in protest.

"No," I said. "I didn't do anything! I didn't resist any spell! I was just... there."

The Admiral opened her dossier and adjusted her spectacles.

"It says here your name is Benjamin Douglas Frazer, seventeen years old, born and raised in Hastings, East Sussex, the second child of Douglas and Mary Frazer. I see that your brother Daniel—"

"Danny."

"Danny," she continued, "is joining the Army as a private. Very good. You're studying for your final exams, after which you intend to go to university, but you haven't settled on a course. I must say, you've done a fine job of convincing everyone around you that you're normal."

"I am normal."

"Yes, of course. And there's no such thing as magic," said the Admiral. "Mr Frazer, even at my age I've learned that life still packs a few surprises, and that is what you are. A surprise."

She closed the dossier and breathed in the scent of the tea. She took a long, gratified sip. I could feel the tension rising in my spine. I wanted to get out of there, and she was just...slurping tea.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I want you to tell me what happened yesterday, in your own words."

I folded my arms and scowled.

"I don't know what happened," I said.

"Tell me what you experienced. How did it start?"

The Admiral pushed the plate of biscuits across to me. They looked good, but I didn't trust them. They might contain a truth serum or something. Besides, I wasn't there as a guest. I was there under protest.

"Mr Frazer?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I just wanted my mum to be OK," I said. "I found her unconscious on the kitchen floor. I thought something was wrong, so I went for help, but it wasn't just her. Everyone in town was asleep. I found my brother passed out on the Harbour Arm, and that's when the lady appeared, and I pretended to be asleep."

"Do you know the lady's name?"

"Selkie. The guy called her Lady Selkie."

"The 'guy' being...?"

I hesitated. I felt like Éven was a secret that I didn't want to share.

"He saved my life. He stopped Lady Selkie from killing me. I don't think he was a willing part in all this."

"So, he may need our help. What was his name?"

Her idea of 'help' might not be the same as mine, but she knew I was withholding information, and I was worried where that might take me.

"His name is Éven," I said.

"Can you describe him?"

"He was young and pale, with dark hair and dark eyes. He was...handsome." I don't know if I blushed, but I worried that I might.

"Did he speak to you?"

"He knew I was only pretending to sleep, so he told me not to move. That's when they summoned that thing from the sea. It was going to drown my brother, so I jumped up, and she just...unravelled. Then Selkie came after me. But I didn't do anything!"

"You saved the day, Mr Frazer."

I shook my head.

"I didn't. I was just there. I don't know who those people were, or what they wanted. I didn't do anything to anyone."

"They are the fey. The lords and ladies of the fairy realms." She leaned forward in her chair. "This is the great secret that you can never share with anyone. You understand?"

I nodded, but it was more a mechanical response than an honest one.

The Admiral continued in a hushed voice.

"Magic is real, and magic belongs to them."

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