“What is this?” he asked.
Mistake forced her face to turn red by holding her breath and forcing her facial muscles. She smiled weakly at the guard.
“I use it to clean my toenails,” she answered softly. “I get infections a lot from running in the jungle.”
The guard grimaced as he handed the tool back to Mistake. MistyTrail almost burst out laughing when the guard subconsciously ran his hand over his own clothes as if to wipe it clean.
“Follow me,” said the other officer as he led the girls away.
He walked them along a short corridor and into the throne room.
“Touch nothing,” advised the guard. “The queen will be with you shortly.”
Mistake and MistyTrail gazed around the empty room. It was simple and clear of unnecessary furniture, yet held an air of importance. They walked to the railing and gazed downward. A whole section of the city spread out before them, and they marveled at the view.
Mistake turned around to view the room and then reached into her pack and extracted the carozit. She held it upside down and watched the balls clang together. MistyTrail immediately reached out her hand and placed it on top of Mistake’s. The balls moved almost imperceptivity apart. There was hardly room for a hair between the balls, but they could both see that they were not touching.
Suddenly the balls clanged together, and the girls looked up and saw a woman enter the room. Mistake and MistyTrail looked at each other knowingly. The woman approached without greeting. Mistake and MistyTrail remained frozen, unsure of what to say or do.
“What is this you have?” asked the woman as she reached for the carozit.
As the woman touched the carozit, the balls flew upward. All three of them reacted to the unexpected movement of the balls by letting go of the carozit. It tumbled to the floor. The woman stepped back a pace and stared at the girls.
“It is customary in Elvangar to bow when you meet the queen,” the woman said sternly.
“We will,” promised Mistake as she bent down and picked up the carozit. “Is she nice?”
“I am the queen,” replied the woman, frustration seeping into her voice. “Queen Alycia. Which of you is which?”
Mistake and MistyTrail immediately bowed. Neither of them had to force an embarrassed look to their faces when they rose.
“I am Mistake,” answered the Fakaran, “and this is my sister MistyTrail. I apologize for not knowing that you were the queen.”
“That is excusable,” smiled the queen as she seemed to warm to the girls. “I guess living in the human world you are used to more extravagant clothing. The elves believe in simplicity. Someone should have already given you some elven clothes,” she added as her nose crinkled at the animal skins that the girls wore. “I am sure that we can rectify that when you leave.”
“Why have we been imprisoned?” asked MistyTrail. “If we have broken any of your laws, it has only been through ignorance. We certainly have not meant to.”
“You have made certain statements,” frowned the queen. “Statements that in Elvangar have special meaning. I have come to understand that a crazy man poisoned your minds. He will be dealt with, and you will be released. It is nothing to concern yourselves with.”
“If you mean Garl,” replied Mistake, “I don’t believe that he is crazy. I wouldn’t want to see him harmed either. He is about the only one here in Elvangar who has really befriended us.”
“What you believe is irrelevant,” snapped the queen. “It is what I believe that matters. He tried to tell you that you are from the Kieran line. False representation of your ancestry in Elvangar is a serious offense. As I can tell after seeing you that you were not aware of this offense, I can hardly punish you for it, but Garl knows better. He was banished from Morada and stripped of his membership in the Society of Mages for previous offenses. He has obviously not learned yet how to behave.”
“But we are Kierans,” protested Mistake. “Garl proved it with a magic spell.”
“I was told that you recanted such foolish statements,” scowled the queen. “If you persist with such nonsense, I will have no choice but to punish you.”
“We will stop,” promised MistyTrail before Mistake could say anything to further anger the queen. “I guess we are still ignorant of the elven ways. We do hope to learn more about the elves. Do you have children?”
The queen’s forehead creased as she stared at MistyTrail. She tried to determine if the question was asked innocently or not, but she could not.
“I did have children at one time,” said the queen, “but we no longer discuss such things. It is considered rude in Elvangar to pry into the background of royalty.”
“We do not mean to be rude,” interjected Mistake, “but this magical carozit indicates that we are relatives of yours. Neither of us knows our parents so we were wondering if you know who they are. Did you ever have daughters around our age?”
“You insolent whelp,” snapped the queen as she stepped forward and slapped Mistake hard across the face.
Mistake reeled from the blow, her carozit falling to the floor. Tears came to Mistake’s face and her fists closed in anger. She bent down to get her carozit, and the queen swung her leg to kick Mistake while she was bent over.
“Don’t hurt my sister!” shouted MistyTrail as she cast the spell of compulsion on the queen.
The queen fell to the floor and screamed as her hands flew to her head and clasped it tightly. MistyTrail stood in a trance staring at the queen as Mistake leaped to her feet.
“Stop it,” shouted Mistake. “Release the spell. You are hurting our mother.”
MistyTrail snapped out of her trance and shook her head just as the guards raced into the room. She immediately dropped the compulsion spell.
Chapter 25
The Patriots
The guards raced across the floor of the throne room. Two of them immediately drew their swords and moved between the fallen queen and the two girls. Four other guards continued onward to seize Mistake and MistyTrail. The queen stopped screaming and began to groan.
“What is going on here?” one of the guards asked.
“They attacked me magically,” moaned the queen.
The guards holding Mistake and MistyTrail viscously tightened their grips on the girls. They dragged Mistake and MistyTrail from the throne room and turned them over to the waiting squad of soldiers with orders to return them to the prison. Word spread quickly that the queen had been magically attacked.
Back in the throne room, the guards were just helping the queen back to her feet. Her head throbbed with a dull pain, and she swayed when she stood, so the guards gently carried her to her throne and set her down.
Within minutes Karaza entered the room. He moved swiftly to the queen and knelt next to the throne. He dismissed the guards with a wave of his hand, and they dutifully retreated to the adjoining room.
“What happened?” inquired Karaza. “I heard that you were attacked magically.”
“The foreign girls,” the queen said weakly. “They used magic on me. My head throbs with pain. Make it go away.”
Karaza wove a calming spell and a healing spell together and cast it on Queen Alycia. Almost immediately the throbbing dimmed and then disappeared altogether. The queen sighed with relief.
“Why did you have them brought before you?” Karaza asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice. “I said that I would take care of them. Tell me all that transpired.”
“You led me to believe that they were innocent,” scowled the queen. “You said that they recanted their statements that they were of the Kieran line. You said it was all Garl’s fault. You lied to me.”
“I did not lie,” retorted the mage. “I put them under a truth spell. They stated that they were not of the Kieran line. You must tell me what transpired here.”