Cyrus yawned as he turned over and opened his eyes to greet the dawn. He had finally gotten a good night sleep even if the air seemed choked by a ghostly malaise. He knew that where he was headed was full of evil, and maybe it was even more sinister than Rosemary and her gaggle of evil clowns. He didn’t want to go, but when he thought of hearing Trinity’s dainty and sweet voice for the first time, he felt a lot better. He looked and saw Van outstretched on the ground, the magic on her face had faded leaving her auburn skin smooth and supple. Archibald snoozed loudly on top of a log with his arm hanging off. Cyrus knew for sure that whatever he faced, he wouldn’t be facing it alone. He had both the motivation and the friends to back him up; it made his highly stressful life a little easier.

“Hey guys. I think we should get going,” Cyrus said quietly.

Van blinked and her large brown eyes slowly opened to look at Cyrus. “Funny you’re the first one to be up, Prince Sleep-a-lot,” she said in her playfully ribbing voice.

“If I’m going to deal with more Everbloods, I’d rather not do it alone,” Cyrus responded.

“Five more minutes, mom!” Archibald said murmuring on his log.

Van lightly kicked the log. It rolled, knocking the snoozing Majester off it into the leaves. “Owch,” he said. “To be fair, my mom would do that too.”

Cyrus and Van laughed together.

After eating some of their rations and packing up their belongings, Van, Cyrus and Archibald headed through the dry forests. They reached a grove of withered pale trees where the forest ended into a valley of dead crabgrass. Down in the valley was a large shanty town with buildings made of dark wood and stained metal built on top of each other. In the center of the town stood a dome of solid gold radiating like a sun in the middle of a morning sky. A steamy haze drifted through the hot air and the sky was a sickly purple. In the far distance behind the town, large mine shafts cut into the mountains on the horizon. This was indeed the famed mining town of Scum County.

“I’ve been here numerous times but I’ve never that gold plated dome,” Archibald remarked. “I wonder if my old friend, the Don is behind this.”

“You know the Don of the Thieves Town?” Cyrus blurted out.

“Of course,” Archibald exclaimed. “I’ve been all around the world and Scum County is just a hop skip away from the castle. We’re going to require an audience with the old Don because if anyone would know about the shady part of the country where the Everbloods dwell it is him.”

“Do you think we should clad Cyrus in more casual garb, like us, old bean?” Van said with a newly grown mustache.

Archibald looked over at the prince in his cape, robe and velvet tunic. “I think it would be the best,” he said, “Not even the Don should know of Cyrus’ identity. The stained sin of Victoria and Richard are all over him.”

Archibald swung up his briefcase and out popped a much less garish tunic of dark brown and matching pants made of raw hide. “Fortunately, I packed some clothes just in case the prince needed to go incognito.”

After changing in the bushes, Cyrus emerged looking like a chubby peasant boy. Van ruffled her magical beard. “I think he looks much more respectable this way. Like a working class boy rather than a foppish noble. I much prefer it this way.”

“I prefer my royal clothes,” Cyrus responded “But if people won’t beat me and mug me, I’m all for these.”

The three walked down the hill to a large wooden gate where a faded sign hung lopsided by one chain. The sign was so faded and battered that the text on it was unreadable and the poles it hung from stunk from mold, rot and fungus. Beneath it, a girl in her early twenties leaned against the pole. She had long orange hair that reached down to her lower back, a pale veneer and a dark robe. She looked up and a smile came across her face. She waved at them. “Ah travelers,” she said “We don’t get much around here. What brings you to this wicked town?”

She winked seductively and moved in her robe—which was cut like a V—allowing her pale legs to move through it. She put her hands on Archibald and Van’s shoulders. “Handsome men like you should be careful. There’s all kinds of nasty folk around.”

“Thanks for telling me, young lady,” Archibald said with a smirk. “I’m glad you’re so concerned about us.”

“Of course,” the girl said with a tilt of her and a smile. “I would hate for anything to happen to you.”

Cyrus, feeling a bit neglected that an attractive young woman was paying attention to Van and Archibald, skulked off to the side but when he side eyed the girl, he noticed her shadow was a lot larger than she was. It had long sickle shaped hands and its head had a large gaping mouth with sharp teeth. As soon as Cyrus saw it, it retreated back to being her regular shadow. “Uh…” Cyrus said.

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“Do you mind, princey, this young woman is letting us know all about the perils of this village,” Archibald said and Cyrus noticed that the young woman had her hand on his behind.

Cyrus rolled his eyes. “Van, I…”

“It is Sir Henry to you, ruffian, and I would prefer if you didn’t refer to me by that name,” Van said, glaring at Cyrus.

It became clear to Cyrus that Van was keeping up her façade in front of this girl and Archibald was much too distracted as well. He gave a short sigh and prayed that the woman wouldn’t try anything.

“So baby,” Archibald said “Do you know what’s with the gold dome?”

The young woman let go of Van and Archibald and walked in front of them. “Ah yes, the Don found the motherlode of gold in the mines and our poor little town has been rolling in it. It’s been quite good for our economy and the Don turned our embassy into a magnificent castle.”

“That’s excellent,” Archibald said with a nod. “Thank you for letting me know, sweetheart.”

“Of course,” the girl said with a head bob. “Anything for handsome strangers like you two. After all, a girl like me just has to be sweet and you spoil me with your kindness and care. It’s that kind of love that makes the world go round.”

“I could scarcely agree more, love,” Archibald said with a grin.

“Well, thank you for that!” Cyrus said. “I think it’s time we go now.”

“Don’t be a stranger now,” the girl said waving.

“What is your name?” Archibald asked.

The girl thought for a second before speaking. “Maddie.”

“Well thank you sweet Maddie, I’ll be sure to keep in touch.” Archibald said with his squawky laugh.

The three of them walked past Maddie into the town, but Cyrus turned around and saw Maddie’s sweet smile mutate into a callus grin. He looked back, but again she smiled at him with her sultry eyes. Cyrus was extremely wary of women with changing faces after his encounter with Rosemary, but he was careful not to say anything until they were way out of her range.

Upon entering the town, the three saw the unsavory folks Maddie spoke of. Most of the men hung around front porches made of rotten wood, leaning on beams of gray wood that could hardly hold up the amount of metal and wood piled on top of them. The men were dressed in dark leather boots with scruffy, faded bandannas either on their head or around their neck and each had a sneer or scowl on their whiskered faces. The streets were silent, and the men were motionless like predators stalking their prey. Only their eyes followed Cyrus, Van and Archibald as they hurried past.

“I hope the town’s big enough for the three of us,” Archibald said, with a snicker.

“Why do you say that?” Cyrus shot back. “I’m not that fat. Still these guys look like they could beat me up real good.”

“You know,” Van said, observing the patrons of the town. “Didn’t you say that Coates had stationed soldiers here?”

“You know, that’s funny,” Archibald responded. “I don’t see any. That is kind of suspicious.”

Van looked at the Majester nervously. “Do you think they staged a revolt against them?”

“I don’t know,” Archibald said. “You’d think word would have reached Cyrus’ parents if that was the case. As opposed as I was to them enforcing the laws here, I’m not comfortable with this either. We should be wary.”

As they reached the foot of the golden dome, Cyrus gaped at its magnificence. In the middle of a run down shanty town was a building made of solid gold. It was the size of the Colossus Colosseum in Cyrus’ mythological storybooks. Even the steps that lead up to the arched entrance were constructed of 24 karot gold and lining the them were enormous statues of a scary looking middle aged man. His right eye was covered with an eyepatch, an intense scar crossed his face from cheek to cheek, his hair was closely cropped and slightly receding and he possessed a look in his remaining eye that could reduce a lion to a mewing kitten.

“Gotta admire what my pal’s done with this place,” Archibald said rubbing his chin.

“I still can’t believe you’re good friends with a known criminal overlord,” Cyrus said, flinching when he saw the Don’s solid gold veneer.

“One thing you need to understand about the Don,” Archibald started. “Is that he sounds like a massive criminal overlord, but in reality, he’s just a guy who looks out for the lesser people in this country. Sometimes when you’re poor you have to fend for yourself in ways that you’d never do if you’re rich.”

“I see,” said Cyrus. “But I don’t really get it.”

“Just know that even when we call him “The Don” it’s just because his name is Donnie. I’m telling you Cyrus, my boy, that there’s more to this world than good and evil. When you get to my age, you see everything in shades of gray.”

Cyrus was silent. He finally understood there was something he didn’t understand and decided rather than to challenge it, he’d listen to his friend’s wisdom. Instead he ran up the stairs to a large paneled wall where the entrance should have been. Cyrus felt alongside the shiny gold plates. “Uh guys, there’s no door. How are we going to get in?”

“You’re not, fat boy,” the gold wall said with a scratchy voice. “The Don ain’t taking seeing anyone at this time. Much less an unpleasingly plump child.”

Cyrus balled his hand up into a fist and began to slam the paneled wall. “How dare you call me that. You’re one to talk, you big fat wall!”

“Ay Cyrus,” Vanessa called out in her feminine voice, “I hope you know there’s a person behind the wall!”

“I knew that,” Cyrus said turning around as Archibald strolled up to the wall.

He flicked his finger and gave a signature wink. “The Famous Majester of the Coates Kingdom would like to see his old pal, Donnie Larson. Ya know, just for old times sake.”

The wall stopped talking leaving them in stunned silence. They stood in the unnatural blaze of the midday sun until the scratchy voice finally returned. “The Don says ‘prove it,’ do you have any certification?”

“Since when did you need certification to see an old pal?”

“Sorry, you ain’t gettin in otherwise.”

“Well, if you insist…luckily I got my card of certification from the Magicademy” Archibald said, but as he reached around his belt, his confident smile changed to a look of uncertainty. “My wallet…it’s…”

Cyrus immediately knew what was up. “Archibald, you didn’t listen to me, but there was something evil about that Maddie girl. She had a twisted shadow, much like the one that followed Nick when he was possessed and every time she looked at me, she had a sinister grin.”

Archibald scratched his scruffy but chiseled chin. “Well Cyrus you should have said that earlier, my boy. It’s the only logical conclusion to my wallet having flown the coop. Can’t believe such a beautiful girl would have her way with my money. Normally they ask first.”

The wall laughed at the cruel irony of the situation. “Welcome to the town of hard knocks bub, sorry but you ain’t getting in anytime soon.”