The Common King Read online

  Contents

  Title

  About This Book

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-one

  Twenty-two

  Twenty-three

  Twenty-four

  Twenty-five

  Twenty-six

  Twenty-seven

  Twenty-eight

  Twenty-nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-one

  Thirty-two

  Thirty-three

  Thirty-four

  Thirty-five

  Thirty-six

  Thirty-seven

  Thirty-eight

  Thirty-nine

  Forty

  Forty-one

  Thanks from the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Brian Olsen - The Future Next Door

  Also by Brian Olsen - Multiverse Mashup

  About the Author

  Copyright

  The Common King

  Yesterday’s Magic: Book Three

  Brian Olsen

  About This Book

  For more from Brian Olsen, including alerts to future books, sign up for his newsletter at www.brianolsenbooks.com.

  The Common King

  Evil has returned…

  Chris failed to prevent the Common King’s resurrection, and now the most powerful logomancer the world has ever known is back, gathering his followers and plotting to regain his throne.

  Only a handful of Chris’s friends remain to oppose the evil tyrant. They hatch a desperate plan, taking them across the world in search of new allies and new magic. One problem – they can’t win without Chris. And Chris is lost forever.

  The Common King is here. And this world will burn…

  The Common King is the third and final book in Brian Olsen’s Yesterday’s Magic, a young adult contemporary fantasy series that began with The Sudden World and continued with The Floating Room.

  One

  “Did you know it takes eight minutes for light from the sun to reach us?”

  I move the odd little object under my palm – it’s called a “mouse” – and the tiny arrow on the glass – I mean, the “monitor” – moves with it. The word “light” is colored blue and underlined, and that means if I press the left button on the mouse while the arrow is over it, a signal will go from the mouse to the “computer.” Then the words and images on the monitor will change and I’ll be on a “page” with more information about light. I do so and scan through the text. Hm. There are many words I don’t know. I’ll have to “click” on them too. I’ve been in this new world for weeks but there’s still so much for me to learn.

  My name is Kirt Kanaxchild, although most people know me as Kirt Nonechild. I am also called the Common King, and I am the rightful ruler of the world.

  A group of traitors rebelled against my rule but failed to depose me. Out of desperation they cast a spell that rewrote reality as if the Logos, the source of all magic, had never existed. This spell, which came to be called “the Moment,” changed the world beyond recognition, into one where science reigned supreme, where logomancers forgot their power, and where magical creatures never existed. Worst of all, it imprisoned me inside my own mind. For four weeks my body was usurped by a false personality created by the Moment. An ineffectual, moralistic weakling named Chris Armstrong. But my will is stronger than any illusion and I regained control of myself, just as I will soon regain my throne.

  “Tes?” I say. “Did you hear me? I thought light moved instantaneously. I didn’t know it took time to travel. Did you know that?”

  Still she doesn’t answer.

  My seat is on wheels and I can spin it to face any direction. It would make a good throne. I turn and Tes is lying on her back, sprawled across the sofa. She’s reading a shiny, flexible book – a “magazine” – about the vapid celebrities of this world, and her ears are plugged with those little metal things that relay the sound from the tiny device everyone carries everywhere. The device is a “phone” but I don’t remember what the ear things are called.

  I had a phone – it belonged to Chris Armstrong – but I smashed it. You command the device by touching it, but the glass – the monitor? No, the screen. The screen was too small and it never did what I wanted so I threw it against a wall. Tes gave me another type of computer called a tablet, but it was just a larger version of the phone so eventually I smashed that, too. Finally she brought up a larger computer from the inn’s office. No, not inn – hotel, that’s the word. This computer has the mouse to point with and letters arranged on a “keyboard” when you need to make words, and touching the image does nothing. It’s much easier to use.

  I watch Tes for a moment. Her long curly red hair spreads out across the sofa’s cushion. Her skin is pale but clear and healthy, marred only by a few freckles. She turns a page, tapping her feet in time to whatever horrible music she’s listening to. She looks like she belongs in this world. She could be an ordinary seventeen-year-old young woman, the plain, ignorant “Jasmine O’Kane” that my enemies convinced her she was.

  But she’s not. She’s Tes Tesbrunchild, my dearest friend, my wife, my Nightmare Queen.

  Sometimes she needs reminding of that.

  Sun.

  She cries out in pain, drops her magazine, and yanks the listening-things out of her ears, throwing them to the carpet. She sits bolt upright and glares at me. “Not funny!”

  All logomancers choose a single word through which to channel their magic, and “sun” is mine. My connection to the Logos is stronger than anyone’s, and I can do a great many wondrous things with it. Heating up a few little pieces of metal and…what’s that material everything here is made of? Plastic. Heating up metal and plastic is child’s play.

  I don’t hide my amusement at Tes’s sour expression. “I asked you a question. You couldn’t hear me.”

  She picks the little white things up again. “You better not have melted my earbuds.”

  Earbuds. Ridiculous name. “They’re fine. Did you know that it takes eight minutes for light from the sun to reach the world?”

  She rolls her eyes. “Earth. Not ‘the world.’ Earth. And yes. Everybody knows that.”

  “Not everyone.”

  “Chris knew it.”

  I jump to my feet. The chair flies backwards and smashes into the desk. “I told you not to say that name to me!”

  She throws the earbuds to the sofa and stands, yelling, “If you’d let me show you his memories, maybe we wouldn’t have to wait for you to finish home-schooling yourself before we do something!”

  “There are no memories to show!” I smack my palm against my forehead. “Chris Armstrong is dead. He never lived! He was a trick. A lie!” I step up to her, getting in her face, and with a sneer add, “He was no more real than Jasmine O’Kane.”

  “I’m Jasmine O’Kane!”

  “You’re Tes Tesbrunchild!”

  “I’m both!”

  “You’re nothing! A spoiled, vapid child, unworthy of the power of the Nightmare Queen!”

  Her green eyes flare with rage. “I’ll show you power! Nightmare!”

  And I’m in my birthplace, in the real world. My father’s castle, in his barony. In the dining room. I’ve just slain both my parents, to hide my noble origins and secure my growing support from the peasantry, who believe I am one of their own.
In reality I left as soon as the deed was done, but in my nightmares my mother’s body burns without being consumed, and she asks me why, why, why as her skin crackles and blackens.

  I laugh. The castle disappears and I’m in the hotel room again.

  “There she is!” I say. “There’s my queen!”

  Tes’s fiery expression softens. After a moment she joins in with my laughter, lightly shoving my shoulder. “You’re such a jerk, Kirt.”

  “Just making sure you haven’t gone soft, my friend.”

  “Never.”

  I brush a strand of hair away from her forehead. “I worry about you, Tes. You’ve changed so much. I don’t like it.”

  She offers me a comforting smile. “The Moment changed us all, Kirt. Those of us who got our memories back, we’re a blend of our old lives and our new. Jasmine’s a part of me now and I don’t want to lose her, but I’ll always be your friend. I fought and bled to get you back.”

  I perch on the edge of the desk. “You’re not sorry I’m here, are you, Tes?”

  “No! Why would you think that?”

  “Didn’t you believe I, too, would return as a mixture of old life and new? Part myself, part Chris Armstrong? Not wholly Kirt?”

  She takes my hand. “I did. I don’t get why you’re different from everyone else. But I’m glad to have you back.” She shrugs. “Chris and I didn’t get along that well most of the time, to be honest. He was only friends with me because of Nate.”

  “Ah.” I smirk. “Nate again.”

  “Don’t start.”

  Nate was Chris Armstrong’s best friend. Tes, as Jasmine O’Kane, was romantically involved with him.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to abduct him?” I’ve asked her this before, and she always says no. I don’t understand why. “It’s no bother. I want you to be happy.”

  She shakes her head. “It wouldn’t be the same. He loved me before, not who I am now.”

  “I could abduct his family, too. Threaten to kill them if he doesn’t treat you the way you deserve.”

  “Aw.” She kisses my hand. “That’s sweet. But no. I’ve gotta learn to get by without him.”

  A thump from across the room attracts my attention. One of the servants, an older woman, bumped the door as she came in.

  “I’m sorry!” She grabs the doorknob to help lower herself to her knees. “I’m sorry, Your Majesties! I’m sorry!”

  I look at Tes. “What’s she apologizing for?”

  Tes shrugs. “Existing?”

  I sigh and stand, then reset my chair in front of the desk. “Would you deal with whatever this is? I hate talking to these people.”

  Ever since we left Charlesville, the town I, Tes, and many of our fellow logomancers were reborn into, we’ve been living in a luxurious inn – hotel, damn it, hotel – in a small mountain range called the Adirondacks. It didn’t take a great display of power to convince the staff to expel the other guests, close for business, and cater exclusively to me and my people. Tes uses her nightmare magic to inspect their dreams and make sure none of them are betraying our location to the world. I killed one of the cooks our second day here, and the rest of them have been well-behaved ever since.

  That’s enough studying for today, I think. I stroll over to the window and look out. I took the best suite in the hotel, obviously, and I’ve got a wonderful view of the mountains. So green, so peaceful. Lovely.

  This world really is beautiful, I have to admit. And much bigger than ours. More land. I don’t understand why removing magic would reshape the planet. Perhaps some ancient logomancers, thousands of years ago, rearranged the continents to suit themselves, and without their influence the world – the Earth – formed differently. Who knows? So much still to discover.

  I’ve always enjoyed exploring. It’s why I set out from my parents’ barony in the first place. It seems so long ago now, but I was twelve so it’s only been five years. In five years I built an army, conquered a kingdom, ruled a world, and lost it.

  It won’t take me nearly that long to get it back.

  “My Lord?”

  Tes knows to address me properly when we’re not alone. Reluctantly I turn away from the mountains to see that Kelle Gerddinchild has joined us. The maid must have been waiting to introduce her. Kelle’s situation is interesting. She’s a logomancer with power over ice, and her appearance is as cool as her magic. Her eyes are blue as the sky on a cold clear day, and her skin is even paler than Tes’s – as pale as snow, would be the obvious comparison – offset by her long, raven-black hair.

  Also, she used to be Chris Armstrong’s mother.

  I have no such filial attachment to her, obviously, but as “Neve Armstrong” she looked after my double’s welfare. Kelle herself I never knew very well. She joined my cause close to the end of the war, recruited by Muln, my late adviser. After I won the throne Muln dealt with most of the day-to-day affairs of ruling the kingdom, and Kelle reported to him. Muln told me she was one of his best people, particularly helpful with the trouble the magical species caused us, but I rarely spoke to her directly.

  Now, with most of my loyal subjects still lost in their manufactured lives, Kelle has taken a position in my inner circle second only to my queen. She worked with Tes and Muln to restore me to my right mind, betraying the man she believed to be her son. I don’t ignore loyalty like that.

  “Kelle.” I nod to her. “Good news, I hope?”

  She bows. “Yes, Your Majesty. Mrs. Kumar is calmer now. I believe she’s ready.”

  “Excellent. Assemble everyone in the ballroom. We’ll be right down.”

  Kelle bows again and walks backwards a few steps before turning to go.

  Tes claps her hands and squeals in delight. “Yay! I love playing with minds!”

  I laugh. “I know you do.” I extend my hand to her. “Come then, my dear. Let’s go make a friend.”

  Two

  I’ve tried to avoid going back to Charlesville since we tucked ourselves away in this hotel, only returning when necessary. It’s my enemies’ base of operations, and though I’m confident they can do me no harm, my power base is still relatively weak. The traitors have reawakened more logomancers than I have, and if I expose myself to them too soon, they might disrupt my plans.

  I’ve risked four trips into Charlesville so far. The first was to abduct the family of Kenny Pillman. Kenny is a logomancer with the power to amplify the magic of others. Unfortunately, he’s part of the rebellion against me. He hid himself away from both sides during the war, but word of his power spread and my enemies found him before I could. Not that I need my magic amplified, but still, that’s a power best kept out of enemy hands. Kenny remembers little of the real world, just enough to know that I’m not someone he wants to help. I’ve secured his cooperation by locking his parents and younger brother in one of the rooms of the hotel and threatening their lives. It’s kept him docile.

  The reason for my second trip to Charlesville is sitting on the floor in the hallway leading to the ballroom. He sees Tes and I coming and waves.

  I stop and nod down at him. “Dante.”

  “Hey, Chris.” He shakes his head. “Sorry. I mean, hey, Your Majesty.”

  Tes coughs.

  Dante smiles at her. “Hey, Jasmine.”

  She starts to say something, probably something cutting, but I touch her wrist and she stops herself. Dante is an idiot but he needs to be indulged.

  I knew him as Ope, in the real world. He was a logomancer with a fairly passive power, but he caught my eye and I brought him into my court, and very soon thereafter into my bed. I hadn’t had much time for such dalliances before becoming king, and not much more time after. But I had begun my war as a boy and ended it as a man, and I deserved to enjoy the things that men enjoy. Muln wasn’t happy about it, but Tes encouraged me. Ope was dim and not much for conversation, but that was fine. I had other people to talk to, and conversation wasn’t what I wanted him for.

  He’s still just as ha
ndsome, in this world. A little taller than me, a little broader. His brown hair used to lay like a mop, but now he styles it to curl up from his forehead in a fetching manner. His expression has always been ignorantly cheerful, but now it’s even more so. Exhaustion is heightening his blissful idiocy, I suppose, as I only allow him to sleep for short stretches. Although the reason I’m keeping Ope awake is not the same in this world as it was in the world before.

  After I regained control of my body, Tes told me how the Moment worked, how the logomancers who cast the spell were reborn as people in Chris Armstrong’s life so they could watch for any sign of my reawakening. She told me how Muln, at the last moment, inserted my allies into the spell as well, ensuring I wouldn’t be surrounded only by enemies. Good old Muln.

  While my servants’ memories of their true selves are incomplete, mine is whole. Once we were secure in the hotel, Tes showed me “web sites” on the computer and “apps” on the phone where people communicate with their friends. They share personal images, or humorous anecdotes, or information about prominent figures who have behaved offensively. A quick scroll through Chris Armstrong’s list of friends showed me many familiar faces, and when I saw Ope’s among them, I knew we needed to rescue him immediately.

  Ope’s power – no, Dante’s power, he still prefers his fake name. Dante’s power wasn’t of much use in the world before, but here it’s vital. Dante’s word is “hide.” With Kenny amplifying him, Dante has kept us safe from my enemies. One of the traitors has “truth” magic she might use to scry our location. That can’t happen until we’re ready, and thanks to Dante, it won’t.

  “Are you well, Dante?” I ask. “Did you sleep at all today?”

  He nods. “I got some micro naps in, thanks. Gotta cast that hotel-hiding spell pretty often, though, or it’ll wear off.” He grins and shakes his head. “I’m doing magic! That’s so awesome! My mom won’t believe it!”

  I resist the urge to smack him. “Remember what we discussed, Dante. About your friends and family.”

  “Yeah, no worries. I won’t tell anyone where I am, and I won’t talk about magic stuff until you say it’s okay.” He rolls his eyes up until they’re mostly white. It’s something he does when he’s thinking hard, which isn’t often. “I told them I’m on a booze cruise to the Bahamas and then I’m taking a gap year in Prague and I’m detaching from social media so no pics.” He smiles up at me, seeking my approval like a puppy. “Was that good?”