Page 77 of Boy of Chaotic Making

Cora stood immediately. “Is Briar coming? Might I ride with her?”

Lady Helen’s face fell. “She insists on staying. I don’t know why she bothers to visit if she won’t participate in anything. Come along.” She smiled brightly at Owein. “You’ll both share a carriage with me.”

Lady Helen split up Hulda and Merritt, so Merritt could ride and play translator on the way to the palace, though it was more between Lady Helen and Owein than Cora, who seemed occupied by the passing city outside the window.

“She seemed very pleased with you,” Lady Helen affirmed for the dozenth time, referring to Queen Victoria and the dinner the night before. “I received a letter from her this morning thanking me—she’s always been very gracious—and she mentioned as much.”

“Glad to hear it,” Merritt replied, and glanced at Owein, who didn’t know what else to say on the matter. They hadn’t talked very long. So he, too, decided to look out the window, watching the city pass with Cora, occasionally glancing her way. Their gazes never met.

The carriages pulled into a large carriage house outside the palace, four guards standing at quiet attention outside the four massive doors. Owein put his paws up on the window to get a better look at the vehicles within. They were large and small, four-wheeled and two. One of the carriages was completely gilt in gold, and it hurt Owein’s brain to imagine how much such a thing must be worth, and how aggravating it would be to clean without magic, but he supposed the royal family had plenty of that to spare. The footman came around and opened the door; Cora stepped out first, then Lady Helen, followed by Owein andMerritt. The other carriage was likewise emptying its occupants, which included Prince Friedrich, Baron von Gayl, and Hulda. Mr. Blightree had been called away before breakfast, for reasons Owein didn’t know.

He went up to an enormous carriage that could have easily fit twelve people, its side black and polished, with the royal insignia painted boldly on the door. The spokes of its wheels were bright red, and the gold ornamentation on top depicted cherubs and a crown. A temptation itched him, urging him to use a spell to melt off the silly statuettes, or change the color of a single wheel to blue ... but that was something a child would do, and Owein wasn’t a child anymore. Still, the thought niggled at him.

Ridiculous, isn’t it?Merritt asked as Lady Helen detailed the “splendors” of one of the adjacent vehicles to Hulda. The others had stepped outside.How many carriages does a person need?

I suppose a lot of people live in the palace.

Point taken. But I doubt they’re all using these.Merritt ran a hand over one of four gilt lamps attached to the black carriage as he walked toward the others.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Lady Helen called. “That one was commissioned by King—”

Owein didn’t catch the rest of the sentence as a hefty gale rushed through the carriage house. He bent his head low, waiting for it to pass, but the wind increased in speed, bouncing between the walls and swirling in on itself, catching dust as it went. Carriages creaked under the force. Owein’s nails scraped on the floor as it pushed him sideways.

Hulda screamed, “Look out!” just before the wind force doubled, and the enormous carriage beside Owein toppled over.

A yip escaped Owein as he dropped to the ground. He had an instant, a moment, aninstinct, and acted.

The toppling carriage erupted into black, red, and gold confetti all around him, swirling into the air. Only seconds after the gale had started, it stopped, leaving the chaocratized bits of carriage to flutter down as snow.

“Heavens!” Lady Helen rushed forward, her hair in complete disarray. She dropped to her knees before Owein. “Are you hurt?”

“Owein!” Merritt barked over her, running to his side. Owein tried to recall where he was and what had just happened. In the back of his mind, he understood that he would remember momentarily, as soon as the confusion from the spell wore off.

“What happened?” called out a distant man, perhaps one of the guards. Owein couldn’t see past Lady Helen, Merritt, and now Hulda grouping around him.

Oh, right. The carriage.

“Search the premises!”

“Call for assistance!”

“That was no revolutionary.”

“What happened?” Cora cried.

“Heaven help us. Helen!” Prince Friedrich called.

“Is he all right?” called the baron. “I can move these vehicles!”

“He’s fine,” Merritt called over his shoulder as he settled a hand on Owein’s neck.

Owein rose to his feet and shook confetti from his white-speckled fur.I’m fine,he echoed, and the footsteps of a dozen guards thundered in the carriage hall, rifles drawn and bayonets gleaming.

Lady Helen rose to her feet. “I want to know the cause of this travestythis instant! I’ve hadenough!”

One of the guards approached and shouldered his weapon. “My apologies. We ... I don’t know.”

“Then retrieve someone whodoes.” Lady Helen’s voice took on a dark tone. “There are men stationed everywhere! Surely someone saw something!”

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