Avalar caught Tamar’s gaze. He looked at the elven girls with curiosity.
“You two are not from Elvangar,” Avalar stated as he recalled Tamar’s statement inside the temple. “I thought that meant that you were born on Motanga, but you appear to be very familiar with the humans. Who are you?”
“You cannot tell from our faces?” asked Mistake.
Avalar stared at their faces. He noticed the similarity to his own, but he shook his head with disbelief. Just the memory of his daughters brought tears to his eyes. MistyTrail walked to the helm and wrapped her arms around Avalar. Mistake smiled and joined her.
“Can it be?” Avalar asked as tears rolled down his cheeks. “Dare I think it is possible?”
“You had better believe it, Father,” cried MistyTrail.
“Or we will take you back to the Island of Darkness,” added Mistake.
“But Karaza told me that you both had died,” cried Avalar as he hugged both girls.
“When did you see Karaza?” Tamar asked worriedly.
“About a year after my capture,” replied the elven king. “I guess he was captured, too. We only spoke briefly and then I never saw him again.”
“He lives in Morada,” spat Tamar. “He is the Head of the Society of Mages. He said that you were dead and that he saw your remains.”
Avalar’s hands closed into tight fists, and his face contorted in rage. MistyTrail and Mistake backed away from their father as they felt his body tense and go rigid.
“Take the helm, Mistake,” snapped Avalar as he walked to the rail and clenched it with his hands.
Mistake obediently took the helm, but her teary eyes remained on her father. After a few minutes, Avalar appeared to calm down. He exhaled slowly and let go of the rail. He wiped the tears from his eyes and turned around. He smiled at his daughters.
“I am sorry to disrupt our reunion,” apologized Avalar. “The problem is one that I will deal with when I return to Elvangar. Now it is time for us to get to know one another again. The first thing we must do is rid ourselves of those names. No daughter of mine will be named Mistake. Which of you is Alahara?”
Mistake and MistyTrail looked at each other and shrugged.
“We don’t know,” Mistake and MistyTrail answered in unison.
Avalar smiled and dismissively waved Tamar and HawkShadow forward. He walked behind Mistake and lifted her tunic. Mistake went rigid, but she did not interfere. Avalar grinned and let the tunic fall back into place. He took Mistake’s hands off the helm and turned her around and hugged her.
“You are Alahara, the first born,” Avalar said as he kissed her on the forehead.
He turned to MistyTrail and embraced her. He kissed her on the forehead and said, “And you are Alastasia. You followed on the heels of your sister. Praise Kaltara that you are both alive. Tell me everything that has happened in your lives.”
“First,” smiled Alastasia, “We need to get Mistake, err, Alahara away from the helm. She knows nothing about sailing, and I don’t want to die.”
“She will learn,” smiled the elven king as he wrapped an arm around each of his princesses. “Just because you fail once at a task is no reason to abandon it. I can see that I have much to teach you two. You will both share in manning the helm on the way to Angragar. Now where do we start?”
* * *
Lady Mystic hid in the corner of the stairwell, tears rolling down her cheeks. She watched Aakuta lead the invaders to his small storage room and then fled up the stairs to her room. She slammed the door and then kicked it in a fit of rage. She picked up a chair and threw it against the wall, knocking books off the shelves. Finally, she collapsed to the floor and began beating her fists against it.
“I told him not to put me in this position,” Lady Mystic screamed. “Master Malafar,” she spat. “Father of the Star no less. How could he do this to me? I should skin him alive. No. No, that would be too good for him. He must be made to suffer.”
Lady Mystic’s hands went to her head and she began to pull on her hair. Finally, the fury worked its way out of her system. She sat up and gasped for breath. She was exhausted.
“I can’t do any of that,” she sighed. “I still love him. How could he do this to me? I told him not to make me choose between him and Father. Why couldn’t he just listen to me? What am I to do now?”
* * *
The alarms blared loudly as Aakuta stepped out of the small storage room and closed and locked the door. He looked both ways in the corridor before backing to the opposite wall and sending a powerful force bolt into the door of the storage room. The door splintered under the impact and collapsed amidst a shower of wooden splinters.
Aakuta nodded approvingly and walked away. He wound his way through the maze of corridors until he came out in the large room at the rear of the temple. The area was a scene of chaos as soldiers ran around wondering what was happening. He walked across the room and found the officer he had seen earlier escorting the invaders. The officer turned and looked at him in surprise as he recognized him.
“Aakuta?” the officer said nervously.
“Come with me,” ordered Aakuta. “I have some questions to ask you.”
“I am on duty right now,” frowned the officer. “The alarms are sounding. I cannot leave.”
“It will only take a minute,” insisted Aakuta. “Are you defying me?”
“No,” the officer said quickly, “but it must be quick. My men are being called to duty.”
Aakuta turned and strode back across the floor of the large open room. The officer dutifully followed. They entered a corridor off the rear of the room and Aakuta opened the first door he came to. He looked into the room and saw no occupants. He stepped in and waited for the officer. When the officer stepped into the room, Aakuta closed the door.
“You escorted some people into the temple tonight,” declared Aakuta. “Who were they, and why were they here?”
“I didn’t tell anyone,” the replied nervously.
“Answer my question,” glared Aakuta. “Who were they, and why were they here?”
“Two soldiers and two elven girls,” answered the officer, his voice quaking with fear. “They said that they were ordered here by you.”
“By me?” Aakuta echoed with outrage. “An obvious lie,” he spat. “Who else heard such treasonous talk?”
“No one,” replied the officer. “The soldiers were quite adamant about not revealing your name. They told no one else. I really must go now. My men will be looking for me.”
“Let them look,” snarled Aakuta as his reached out and grabbed the officer by his throat.
The officer’s hands rose and wrapped around Aakuta’s arm, but the mage’s strength was magically enhanced. The officer’s head snapped to one side, and his limp arms fell to his side. Aakuta tossed the body in the corner and left the room.
The dark mage made his way up the stairs. He entered the library and grabbed a book off the shelf. He sat in a comfortable chair and pretended to read it while the alarms blared all around him.
Suddenly, the door to the library flew open and four soldiers entered with their swords drawn. They looked around the room, their eyes landing on Aakuta.
“Has anyone been through here tonight?” asked one of the soldiers.
“Not a single person,” Aakuta answered calmly, “and I have been here for hours. What is that infernal racket?”
“Alarms,” answered the soldier as he waved two of his comrades into the room. “There are invaders in the temple. I am posting guards in this room. It would be advisable for you to return to your quarters. These invaders are armed and dangerous.”
Aakuta put the book down and rose. “Perhaps I have read enough for one night. Good luck with your hunt.”
Aakuta rose and walked by the soldiers and into the corridor beyond. He made his way up the stairs, but instead of going to his quarters, he went to Lady Mystic’s. He knocked loudly on the door and received no answer. He frowned and knocked louder.