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“So, when did you pick our team name?” I asked as I fastened my bracelet to my wrist.

“Oh, please don’t think we were trying to leave you out,” Kylie said, wincing. “It was yesterday after the General’s big, dramatic, post-Quest presentation. Which, by the way, whoa! What does he think he’s playing at, rewarding us but punishing you for the same thing? Way uncool!” Her hands balled into fists. “Anyways, after General Grumpy-pants dismissed us, we walked back to the Apprentice Village together. Along the way, we brainstormed team names. You know, to make this feel like more than a team and not just another stupid competition the Government forced on us and…” Kylie’s hands flew to her face. “Oh, dear, I’m doing it again, aren’t I? Talking too much. I told myself that I’d try to stop doing it because Knights are supposed to be so, well, dignified. But then once I start talking, I really can’t stop…oh, no! I’m doing it again!” she squeaked, then covered her mouth with both hands.

I touched her on the shoulder. “It’s ok. In fact, I like it.”

She spread her fingers just wide enough to say, “But will the Government?”

“Honestly, I don’t give a wet noodle what the Government wants,” I said, which elicited a gasp from Bronte. “What I meant was, you should be your charming self, Kylie. Because that’s what the people of Gaia need: Knights who feel real. They need kind, relatable Knights who will show them compassion, not hide behind a helmet like a faceless phantom.”

After the General’s lie of a Quest yesterday—and my adventure with Kato the day before—I was sure of this more than ever before.

“She’s right,” Asher agreed, fiddling with the bracelet on his wrist. He looked around uncomfortably, as though he were afraid the General was lurking nearby. “Just don’t say it too loudly.”

“Yeah, I should probably keep my head low, at least until the Program is complete,” I agreed. “It will be harder for the General to punish me once I’m an important Knight going off on important Quests.”

“Speaking of important Quests, I wonder what ours is today,” said Kylie.

“Today you’re going to the Magic Emporium,” our mentor Eris declared with a smile as she joined us. “Your Quest is to purchase the following: one everlasting flame, a vial of sand from the Crimson Coast, a pack of dandelion dust, and one unicorn hair. You will find all of these things at Miss Christie’s Magical Curiosities.”

“A shopping trip?Thatis our Quest?” Dutch’s eyebrows furrowed. “I am an Apprentice, not an errand boy.”

“These Discovery Quests are about coming to understand your magical strengths,” Eris told him calmly. She didn’t seem the least bit bothered by his response. “Not every Quest you take will be filled with fireworks and battering rams.”

My teammates all looked at me. I suppose their reaction was fair. My plan to win yesterday’s Quest had led to all the fireworks and battering rams.

“There are other, more subtle forms of magic,” Eris continued. “For example, understanding magical ingredients and how they are used. That’s the branch of magic you’ll be exploring today. And over the coming weeks, you’ll be exposed to many more kinds of magic. That’s the best way to discover your own personal kind of magic—and find your Tribe.”

“Will we be learning anyactualmagic?” Dutch asked her.

“Eventually, yes,” she told him. “But for right now, you need to be patient and trust the system.”

“No problem,” Bronte said immediately. “The task sounds easy enough.”

“Then let’s see what you can do.” Eris said it like this shopping trip was going to be difficult.

And that alone made me pretty sure it would be.

CHAPTER2

BROTHERHOOD

“Next stop, the Magic Emporium,” a cheerful female voice chimed through the train’s speaker system.

Kylie, who was seated directly to my right, nudged me. She was gawking at a glossy poster stuck to the wall, directly under the closest speaker. “Hey, check that out,” she giggled.

The poster’s colors were so blindingly bright, so distracting, that it took me a moment to realize why she was giggling. The advertisement featured an impossibly flexible contortionist dressed in a shimmering blue bodysuit, posing inside a glowing magic bubble. The words ‘Portia and the Circus of Dreams’ were written in big, flashing letters, along with a list of dates and locations throughout the Many Realms.

“I’ve actually seen her perform,” Eris told us. “She’s really talented.”

Eris was seated to my left side, her helmet completely covering her face. Kato would have approved of her discretion.

Knights wear helmets.

That’s what he’d told me. And even now, I could hear his words echoing inside my head.

“What’s so funny?” Eris asked me.

Blushing, I stopped chuckling. “Nothing,” I muttered.