“I see your point,” Queen Alycia hesitated.
“Not as strongly as you should,” pushed Karaza. “Every time Garl speaks to another elf, he poisons the people against you. If he is not killed quickly, he will strike you down even after his death. The words that he speaks to others will remain within them when he dies. They will act upon his lies as if they were truth, and it will be too late to expose him. He must die soon, or your throne is forfeit. I would be happy to arrange it for you.”
“Very well,” sighed the queen. “Do what must be done, but I do not want to know anything about it. His name will never be discussed between us again.”
“It shall be as you wish,” smiled Karaza as he bowed deeply.
No sooner had Karaza left then Malid entered through another door. He bowed before the queen.
“I heard that the foreign girls have been arrested,” Malid stated. “Am I to prepare a trial against them?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary after all,” answered the queen. “I plan to have a talk with them today. If they are open to reason, there will be no charges brought against them. What is the state of the Council of Elders today?”
“Things died down with the arrest of Vitalora,” replied Malid. “There have been no further grumbling or accusations. I think things will get back to normal.”
“Oh,” said the queen as one eyebrow rose. “Volox is no longer demanding that I send an emissary to the humans?”
“Not a word out of him,” smiled Malid. “I think the arresting of Vitalora took the wind out of his sails. Volox has been as meek a new fawn. I think we should delay the trial of Vitalora for a while just in case. If Volox acts up, I can threaten to expedite the trial.”
“I like the way you think,” smiled Queen Alycia. “Perhaps over time we can even get a confession out of Vitalora. It would be very helpful to keep everyone in line if he was forced to give it publicly.”
“I will work on that,” promised the Head Elder. “Is there anything on the agenda for the Council of Elders today?”
“I want the elders to review our preparations for war,” replied the queen. “I have been thinking that we might benefit from some advance notice of the human's attack. I would like the views of the elders on this topic.”
“Do you mean along the line of spies sent abroad?” asked Malid. “Or ships constantly patrolling the Barrier Islands? Things like that?”
“Yes,” frowned the queen, “but there will be no spies sent abroad. There will be NO contact with humans whatsoever. Not even spies. Perhaps signal fires from the Barriers Islands? We could station some men on them, can’t we?”
“We could,” nodded Malid. “They would be quickly overrun, but they would be able to warn us of an impending attack. We will look into it.”
“Good,” the queen replied dismissively. “Notify me when you have something for me to review.”
Malid bowed and backed out of the throne room. Queen Alycia walked to the railing and gazed down upon the citizens as they made their way to their places of work. She wondered if any of them truly appreciated what she was doing for them. They had no cares except doing their daily chores, while the queen was burdened with great responsibilities. Her thoughts drifted to the need to remarry. Even by elven standards, the king had been dead a long time, and the country had no heir.
She frowned as she thought about Tamar. She had been close to suggesting such a union with the young officer, but he had turned into such a disappointment lately. She was glad that she had not broached the topic. Her mind was reviewing all of the potential suitors when she heard someone enter the chamber. She turned to find Rattal bowing to her back. With her mind still on suitors, Queen Alycia chuckled to herself at the sight of the officer. Rattal was definitely not on the list.
“Tamar has assigned this meeting to you again today?” asked the queen.
“Actually,” frowned Rattal, “I do not know where Tamar is. He did not arrive at his office this morning.”
“What do you mean?” the queen asked sharply. “Where did he spend the night?”
“I do not know,” Rattal said softly.
“You don’t know?” shouted the queen. “Wasn’t it your job to keep track him? What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I was attacked while following him last night,” admitted Rattal. “It was made to look like a robber attacked me, but I believe that it was Tamar. I will find him soon.”
“You had better find him soon,” threatened the queen, “or you will be on the wall defending the city during the first wave of attacks.”
“I will find him,” Rattal promised.
“Leave the reports,” snapped the queen. “I will look at them later.”
“As you wish,” bowed the officer.
“Just a minute,” interrupted the queen. “The two foreign girls are in the prison. Have someone bring them up to see me. I want to have a friendly chat with them. You can find the prison, can’t you?”
“I will see to it right away,” bowed the officer.
* * *
Garl held up his hand when he heard the noise of someone approaching. The boys immediately dashed out of sight while the old man slid behind a tree. A few moments later, the elder walked into view. Garl grinned and stepped onto the trail.
“Tayo, Volox,” smiled Garl. “A bit of a long walk for a city lad, isn’t it?”
“Tayo, Garl,” frowned the elder. “Actually I was on my way to Etta. Perhaps we can walk together.”
“I am not heading that way,” shrugged Garl. “Why are you going to Etta?”
“I wish to see Mistake and MistyTrail,” answered Volox. “I miss them.”
“So you just decided to walk for several hours to visit?” probed Garl as he signaled for the boys to come out of hiding. “Do not think poorly of me for failing to believe you, Elder. What is your true goal?”
Volox looked at Eltor and Caldal moving out of their hiding spots. A deep frown etched into his forehead.
“I should be asking you the questions,” retorted Volox. “As en elder I am aware that all three of you have been forbidden to enter Morada, yet you all appear to be heading directly towards it. Why?”
“The girls were arrested in the middle of the night,” offered Eltor, earning him a glare from the old man.
“The girls trusted Volox,” Caldal jumped to his friend’s defense. “Besides, we may be able to use his help in freeing them.”
“Arrested?” gasped Volox. “Then I am too late. You are right about my motives, Garl. I was coming to Etta to take Mistake and MistyTrail to someplace where they could hide. I feared that the queen might strike out at them.”
“Then you know who they are?” asked Garl.
Volox stared into Garl’s eyes trying to find the answer to the question the old man had just asked. Finally, he sighed and shook his head.
“I think I understand who you say they are,” Volox answered. “I do not know if that is the truth, or just something that your crazy mind has dreamed up for excitement, but either way it puts their lives in jeopardy. I wanted to spare them from that.”
“How will the elders act if they girls are indeed the princesses?” asked Garl.
Even though Volox expected that Garl’s premise was that the girls were the lost princesses, it still startled him to hear it verbalized. He stared at the old man and wondered if he really was crazy.
“The elders do not speak as one,” Volox finally answered. “The queen is not at her best these days. She has had Vitalora arrested for treason. Whoever the girls are, it is best if they disappear for a while. The last place we want them is before the queen.”
“We agree on something,” nodded Garl. “For your information, they are Alahara and Alastasia. I have no doubts about it.”
“How can you be sure?” asked Volox. “There is no sure way that you can know.”
“Isn’t there?” retorted Garl. “You are not a mage, but even a learned elder has probably come across some references to the Kieran spell of compulsion. Have you heard of it?”