Read Online The Secret of Ashona by Kaza Kingsley - Free Book Online

could feel his face grow hot. He wished that Bethany had come with him so she could hear this as well. “Janus? Why are all of these people with you? Who are they?”
    Janus’s voice filled with pride. “It’s your fan club, Erec. And it’s growing. You can thank your friend Jack for all of this. When he sent a mouse in here with a message for me once, it gave me an idea. I’m not allowed to leave this place, but there is no reason I can’t have visitors. I trained a few mice carefully, feeding them by hand. Then I strapped notes on their backs and let them go outside, hoping they would approach people for food. Well, a few of them did, and my notes got out. Next thing you know, life has been wonderful!”
    “What did the notes say?”
    Janus cleared his throat, embarrassed. “Well, they said I was having a party here, of course.”
    “A party?”
    “Um, yes. I figured that if I was going to invite people to visit, I might as well give them a good reason to come. So I always have a party going now. We have a great following. Some people bring music, others bring food, and I bring . . .”
    Erec waited to hear what Janus had to offer. A few voices shouted, “Tell him! Tell Erec what you bring to the party!”
    Now Janus sounded quite embarrassed. “Oh, dear. I bring . . . well, I bring excitement, I suppose. Adventure. Something out of the ordinary.”
    How could Janus, the person with the most boring job on the planet, someone who had to sit and wait all the time, bring excitement to anybody?
    Another voice shouted, “He brings you , Erec Rex. Illegal, unapproved, risky, dangerous you. That’s what’s exciting. It wasn’t just a party he invited us to, it was an Erec Rex party! On top of all our fun, we knew that at any time you might show up and do that magic with the paper. That was really cool!”
    Someone else chimed in, “We all thought you were some kind of criminal mastermind before Janus told us the truth about you. That’s the word around Alypium—you are pure evil. Which is actually why most of us came here to begin with. None of us had seen you in person, so the chance that we’d get to glimpse the underworld villain we’d all heard about was kind of thrilling.”
    “But you’re not like that at all!” a girl’s voice shouted. “Janus was so cool, telling us the real story about you.”
    Erec flushed with excitement. People had heard the truth—and they believed it. Maybe he did have a hope of ruling them someday as a good king. . . .
    But no. He didn’t have a soul.
    “Come in here, Erec! We want to see you in person!” A chorus of cheers arose, along with shouts of agreement.
    When it quieted down, Erec said, “I can’t fit through the drain. This is the only way I can get here now.”
    Dissatisfied murmurs filled the room. Janus sounded uncomfortable. “Well, Erec, maybe you could stay there awhile and let people take turns looking at your eye through the hole?”
    “Yes!” People sounded happy with that suggestion, so Erec agreed. When he put his eye against the drain hole, he finally got agood look at Janus. In the past, the man had been covered in dust, dressed like a shabby survivor of a desert island. But now he wore sunglasses, a suit, and a bow tie. His long white hair had been cut and pulled into a neat ponytail, and he looked more like a movie star than a prisoner in a dungeon. The partygoers took turns staring at Erec’s eye, waving at him and peering inquisitively. Finally, Erec pushed his fingers through the drain hole and waved good-bye.
    “Where were you? We were worried!” Bethany’s arms were crossed. “I was going to come find you, but Jam talked me into waiting. Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine. Sorry, Janus had a party going on in there—and the people were all part of a fan club for me. I couldn’t believe it.”
    Bethany looked like she couldn’t believe it either. But before she said anything, Erec felt something warm in his grip. “It’s the