The False Prince

Despite Mott’s protests, Sage flees the dining hall after escorting Amarinda back to her room and instead heads back to the boys’ shared bedroom. On the way, Mott asks Sage what he thinks of Amarinda; Sage says he feels bad that Amarinda will be forced to marry a prince she does not love.

In the bedroom, Errol prepares Sage for bed. As he dresses Sage in his pajamas, Errol lets him know that all the servants are aware that Tobias was the one to slash Sage’s back, that it was not an accident brought on by him sneaking out the window. That is not the only secret the servants know: They are, as Errol informs Sage, aware of Conner’s plan for the boys, but it is a secret they will “carry to the grave” (198).

When the dinner is over and Tobias and Roden come back to the room, they tell Sage that Conner is furious with him for not returning to the grand hall after escorting Princess Amarinda to her room and that Sage needs to appear before Conner at once. Sage makes his way to Conner’s study, at which point Conner calmly asks what he thought of the princess. Sage replies that she is beautiful.

Sage takes this opportunity to ask some questions of Conner as well. He wants to know what will happen to the impersonator if Prince Jaron is actually found alive; Conner assures him that he is unequivocally dead and that whoever is chosen will be able to provide proof of his identity—there will be no question in anyone’s mind that the impersonator is the real Prince Jaron. Their conversation gets heated when Conner accuses Sage of being unable to decide if he is able to carry out this plan or not. When Sage assures Conner that he is “your prince,” Conner is pleased that Sage is finally bending to his will, but Sage is unhappy about Conner’s smugness.

Princess Amarinda leaves Farthenwood with her entourage early in the morning, and the boys’ schooling sessions resume. In the afternoon, Mott takes Sage aside to practice sword fighting, and they spar with wooden swords. Mott notes that Sage has likely gotten worse and that Jaron was an excellent fighter.

As they spar, Mott tells Sage that, though he is Conner’s servant, he would not kill for him—Mott is a person with limits. Sage counters, “‘Then your limits are meaningless. Cregan killed Latamer on Conner’s orders, and you helped it happen. That’s the same thing’” (206). Mott seems offended and ends the lesson immediately. Later that day, Mott stops Sage as he enters the dining room to tell him that, actually, he did not know that Conner was going to kill Latamer. Sage understood it before Mott did.

Conner delivers news to the boys as they eat dinner that evening. The corrupt regent Veldergrath, who wishes to seize the throne, sent a letter to Conner saying he heard a rumor that Prince Jaron may be alive. Veldergrath wants to know if Conner has any specific information about where Prince Jaron is. With Veldergrath getting suspicious and asking questions, Conner must choose a Prince Jaron in just two days.

The next morning, Conner tells the boys that they will not be doing their usual lessons. Mott appears in the boys’ bedroom with the last known picture of Prince Jaron, a giant “painting of a boy standing beside a tall hedge in a springtime garden. He [has] light brown hair with darker streaks underneath, a mischievous smile, and a hint of trouble in his bright green eyes” (211). Each of the boys goes through a makeover to look more like Prince Jaron, having their hair cut and dyed and getting measured for the proper garments.

As they boys undergo their transformations, Sage overhears Conner complimenting Roden: “‘I am exceptionally impressed […] You have surprised me, Roden, and pleased me’” (218). On the other hand, Conner tells Tobias that he is no longer a strong candidate.

Sage looks exceptionally like Prince Jaron after his makeover, and Conner asks Sage to kneel before him so that he may inspect him more closely. Sage refuses, as a prince would never kneel, or so he says. Before Conner can argue with him, Cregan rushes into the room to say that Veldergrath is coming. He is on the way with an entire company of men who are not in uniform, but are very likely armed. Conner thinks that Veldergrath wants only to intimidate, not fight, and orders the boys to hide deep in the secret passageway system. Veldergrath must not know that Conner has any knowledge of where Prince Jaron is. Before the boys enter the secret passageways, Conner gives Sage a “small locked box decorated in emeralds,” with the instructions that they should not open it and must see to it that it does not get into Veldergrath’s possession (216).

Tobias leads the boys into tunnels, and from some gaps in the stone, they see that Veldergrath and his men “[are] at least fifty in number, and each carrie[s] a sword. But they [are] still too far away for us to tell which of them [is] Veldergrath” (217).

Conner walks out to greet Veldergrath and his men when they reach the entrance of Farthenwood. The two men are diplomatic with each other. Veldergrath reports that he has come here because he has heard “troubling news” about him; Conner replies that they can talk business after they have eaten dinner, which Conner has had his staff prepare specially for Veldergrath’s arrival. After dinner, Veldergrath questions Conner about Princess Amarinda’s visit; he heard that she was told Prince Jaron is possibly alive. Conner agrees that that is true. Veldergrath is still suspicious and asks Conner what need he has for a replica of Prince Jaron’s sword and why he was visiting orphanages collecting young boys. Conner has legitimate answers ready for each of these questions. Veldergrath also asks if Conner knows the whereabouts of a box covered in emeralds, which went missing from the king’s residence:

[Sage’s] fingers [rub] over those emeralds. Conner must have stolen this box from the king and queen, either shortly before or shortly after their death. I [don’t] know what [is] in it, but whatever this box contain[s], it [is] probably going to be used as proof that one of us [is] Prince Jaron (222).

Conner says he has no idea where the box could be. Veldergrath is still suspicious and has his men search Farthenwood for the emerald-covered box or Prince Jaron.

Veldergrath’s men start with the dungeon far below the castle. The boys move to the passages on the upper floors. As they make their way through the passageways, Roden observes, “‘Sage, did you know you looked so much like the prince?’” (225). Sage says he is still nervous, that facing the regents will be the true test of whether he can pass for Jaron or not.

The boys can hear Veldergrath’s men rummaging through cupboards in their quest to find the box or any evidence that Prince Jaron has been at Farthenwood. Tobias sheepishly admits that, if the men search his mattress, stuffed inside they will find papers describing Tobias’s ascent to the throne, which include many specific details of Conner’s plan. Sage is irritated but knows that they must retrieve those papers before Veldergrath’s men find them, if they are to have any chance of maintaining their cover.

Retrieving the imitation of Prince Jaron’s sword from a hole covered by wooden plank in the floor, Sage readies himself to enter the boys’ bedroom from the secret passageway. Creeping quietly so as not to alert Veldergrath’s men, Sage makes his way to the mattress and finds that “the papers [are] right inside, tightly folded. I [tuck] them into my pocket and then [crawl] back to the doors. I [am] about to dart safely into the tunnels when a voice [says], ‘Did anyone hear that? Like footsteps inside the walls’” (229). Moments later, Sage hears the voice again, this time crying out in pain. Imogen runs into the room, holding a fireplace poker that she used to strike the man who was getting too close to finding the boys’ hiding place.

The man Imogen struck growls and “advance[s] and she [swings] at him, but this time he grab[s] the poker. With one twist, he pull[s] it from her hands and yank[s] her toward him” (230). Sage sneaks out from his hiding place, still holding the imitation sword. Imogen looks in Sage’s direction and accidentally betrays his presence; the man flips around and aims to strike. He asks, “Prince Jaron?” as Sage thrusts his sword deep into the man’s body, killing him. Mott soon arrives and tells both Sage and Imogen to leave at once.

Mott uses the dead man’s knife to stab himself in the arm and falls to the floor. When the rest of Veldergrath’s men rush into the room and see both Mott and the dead man lying on the floor, there is a commotion about what happened. Mott comes up with a lie: He must have startled Veldergrath’s man, which caused him to lash out and attack him. Mott had no choice but to defend himself. Veldergrath’s men decide not to tell Veldergrath about this. Sage is alarmed at having killed a man as he watches them dispose of the body.

Imogen and Sage remain in the tunnel until Veldergrath’s search of Farthenwood is complete. Sage is reeling from the fact that he has killed a man, even though it was in defense of Imogen. Conner collects them from the tunnels, leading them to the bedroom where they are joined by Roden, Tobias, and Mott.

Sage explains what happened that led to the man’s death: Sage needed to retrieve Tobias’s papers, which would have incriminated everyone, including Conner. Conner is pleased by this explanation, “turn[ing] to me, his expression different from before. [Is] it respect? Gratitude? [I’ve] so rarely been looked at in any favorable way, I [can’t] recognize it” (236). Then Conner presses Sage: “‘Tell me that you will be a good and noble king, that you want to claim the hand of the betrothed princess, and that you are glad I’ve done this for you. Lie if you must, but tell me that you want it’” (237). Sage says he is unable to tell a lie of that magnitude for the rest of his life. Roden, on the other hand, says he can. Conner swiftly names Roden as Prince Jaron and tells him that they will report the royal palace of King Eckbert in Drylliad after breakfast the next day.

Roden assures Sage and Tobias that, once he is king, he will make sure Conner never harms either of them. But later that night, Sage notices Roden lying awake in his bed. Roden tells Sage that he should have run when he had the chance because he has decided that he cannot save Sage and Tobias after all. When Sage asks why, Roden explains: “‘You know my answer. You and Tobias are threats to me now. There’s only one way to guarantee you’ll never come back to expose me’” (239).

The next morning, Errol comes to their bedroom to prepare Sage and Tobias for their last day at Farthenwood. Roden, having been selected as Prince Jaron, is taken to different quarters to eat his breakfast and have servants prepare him for the day. Mott enters the room and chastises Sage for not just saying that he could live a lie—Sage would have been chosen if he had. Sage does not respond. Mott brings Sage and Tobias to the entrance hall so they can say their goodbyes to Conner and Roden. Sage is idly rolling a coin between his knuckles when they are about to leave. Conner sees this and exclaims, “‘How can I have been so foolish? The devils must be laughing, for I nearly ruined everything!’” (242).

Conner rushes to Sage to ask him where he learned to roll a coin so smoothly among his knuckles. Though Sage is left-handed, he can perform the trick with his right hand, as well. Conner insists that he and Sage speak in private.

In Conner’s office, he informs Sage that there is a way for him to be Prince Jaron without feeling like he is lying his whole life: He can take the throne for a few years and then assign it to another person and leave the royal sphere so that he may live a private life. It turns out that Prince Jaron was famous for his ability to roll a coin over his knuckles, so this minute detail puts Sage high above the rest of the candidates. Conner implores Sage, again, to accept the position. Finally, Sage agrees, but he has terms and conditions that Conner needs to accept. Conner is exasperated but hears Sage out. The first condition is that Tobias and Roden must not be killed—they must be kept safe, and they will accompany Sage to Drylliad. The next term is that Imogen must also come with him to Drylliad, and after Sage is named prince, he will release her and her family from their debt to Conner. Conner agrees to these demands, so they begin preparations to leave for Drylliad.