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The phone rings.

“If that’s my dad, tell him we need to speak to your aunt.”

“We’ll see.” He gets up and picks up the receiver. “Hello?” He drops the phone but then catches it and puts it back to his ear. “King Tiberias, it’s an honor to speak to you.”

It sounds so weird hearing him speak in such a formal tone. But I don’t have time to think about that, I race over to him and speak into the mouthpiece. “Uncle Tiberias, we need to talk to one of the castle prisoners!”

Bash pulls the phone away. “What was that, your highness? I didn’t catch the last part.”

I reach for it, but he spins around, keeping it out of my reach. “Uncle Tiberias! I need—”

“Your majesty, I think your niece would like to speak with you.” He throws me an eye roll before handing me the phone.

“Thank you.” I bring it to my ear. “Uncle Tiberias, we really need to talk to one of the prisoners in the dungeon.”

“I’ll gladly send a car to pick you up.”

“Go to the castle?” I exclaim. “Can’t we speak to her over the phone?”

“You don’t want to come here?”

“Aren’t there riots everywhere?”

“No. Every report I’ve heard has been about peace being restored to our beloved Valora.”

I plop onto the couch. “Apparently, you haven’t heard about the academy.”

“What do you mean?”

“After your news broadcast, the students turned on me. When I escaped to my room, they broke down the door. I barely escaped with my life.”

“What?”

“Everyone associates me with my dad.”

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I should’ve foreseen that. Let me make things right, then you can return to the academy with a guarantee of safety.”

“You’d do that?”

“Yes, of course. Give me some time, then I’ll be back in touch.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Stay close.” The call ends.

I stare at the phone.

“What just happened?” Bash takes it from me and puts it back.

“My uncle said he’d fix things at the academy.”

“Really? How does he plan to do that?”

“He didn’t say.”

Bash puts his arm around me. “Do you want to go back?”

“If it’s safe.”

“So you’ll drop the idea of undoing my anti-shifting spell?”

I frown. “For now. I’d still like to show you the surface. Have you meet my friends.”

He kisses my palm. “That sounds wonderful.”