“As you can see,” Midgedeclared, “I was not able to find even the smallest hole to gainentry.”
“Let’s go back to the mansionand get something to eat,” Garth said suddenly. “We can discuss ouroptions tonight and retrieve the Crown of Lighttomorrow.”
The group filed out of the cave andheaded back to the mansion. Nobody noticed that Tedi had notemerged from the cave. Tedi stayed behind and was crawling into thetunnel in hope of finding an entrance to the vault.
* * * *
Niki was enjoying the open market andwhen she saw a food peddler with a couple of tables set out, shedecided to get something to eat. Niki sat down and the peddlerhanded her a chalkboard with the day’s specials. Niki could notread the script and sat there staring at the chalkboard.
“Perhaps I can help,” offeredthe man with long, black hair and black eyes as he sat at Niki’stable. “His specials are all seafood. Today he has crab cakes,jumbo shrimp, which are really quite small, I promise you, andmussels. I would recommend the crab cakes.”
“Why, thank you,” Niki gotout. “You must live around here to know so much.”
“Actually, I am from Trekum,”the dark man said. “My name is Dalgar.”
“Oh, I am also from Trekum,”chirped Niki. “What a coincidence. Have you been herelong?”
“I have been wandering eversince my wife died,” Dalgar confided. “I have been searching for mylost daughter.”
“Your wife died and you lostyour daughter?” Niki exclaimed. “How terrible that must be foryou.”
“It is terrible for everyone,”Dalgar explained. “You see, my daughter must be found so she canlead her people to greatness.”
“Lead her people?” Nikiinquired. “Can’t you lead the people? Who would she lead inTrekum?”
“Ah, you have many questions,”Dalgar smiled. “My wife was the Empress of Sordoa and our daughtermust be found to unite and rule over Sordoa once again. I cannotlead them because I am not entitled to. Only my daughter can dothat.”
“I do not understand,” Nikiqueried. “I thought the Empress was married to the Emperor and herdaughter was also the daughter of Sarac. What you are saying makesno sense.”
“Where ever did you hear suchfairy tales?” laughed Dalgar. “Aurora was not married to theEmperor. She was the Emperor’s advisor and heir. The Emperor wasunmarried and had no sons or daughters of his own. That is why hemade Aurora the heir. She was so wise in advising him that he knewshe would make an excellent Empress. As for Sarac and Aurora . . .I cannot imagine the swine that would spread such disgusting tales.Aurora hated Sarac with a passion. She would never bear his child.No, that Princess Callie of Targa, now that was more Sarac’s taste,but never Aurora.”
Niki’s head spun with thecontradictions between Dalgar’s story and Kalina’s. Suddenly, itdawned on Niki where she had heard the name Dalgar before. He wasthe Black Devil who had escaped with Aurora from the Rangers’attack on Mordac’s castle.
“I thought Aurora was a BlackDevil?” questioned Niki. “Aren’t they servants of the DarkOne?”
“Oh, yes,” laughed Dalgar.“Aurora and I were both Black Devils. We are the ones responsiblefor freeing Sarac from Jenneva’s trap. That does not mean that wefollow Sarac without question. Aurora and I had made plans to rulethe world before Alex and Jenneva killed her.”
“Alex and Jenneva killedAurora?” Niki asked confusingly. “I thought Sarac killedAurora.”
Dalgar shook his head sadly. “Someonehas filled your head with nonsense,” Dalgar declared. “Oh, Saracwanted Aurora out of the way all right, so he allowed theinformation on her whereabouts to fall into the hands of Alex andJenneva. They did his dirty work for him.”
“I am really confused,”admitted Niki while holding her head with her hands. “If you andAurora were plotting against Alex and Jenneva as well as Sarac, whyare you willing to tell all of this to me? Aren’t you afraid Imight tell somebody?”
“I do not think so,” smiledDalgar. “You wear Aurora’s cloak and you have Aurora’s hair andface. You will not tell anyone because you are my daughter and withmy help, you will rule the world.”
Niki’s head snapped up and she stared,openmouthed, at Dalgar. “You mean I am really going to be a Queen?Or Empress, I mean? You can make that happen?”
“Together we can make ithappen, daughter,” smiled Dalgar. “We must not let anyone know thatwe suspect their lies just yet, though. You will continue to playalong with your friends as if nothing has changed.”
“How will that help me becomeEmpress?” Niki asked. “Suppose they find out about you?”
“You will not let them knowabout me,” ordered Dalgar. “They seek to destroy Sarac. We willhelp them do that, up to a point. When we are ready, we willdestroy them and Sarac and there will be nothing to stand in ourway. You must get them to lead you to Alex and Jenneva. We need toavenge Aurora’s death by killing those two and Sarac. You willlearn everything you can about their plans and movements. I need toknow everything I can about each member of your group and wherethey plan to go next.”
“Well, I know they are lookingfor the Crown of Light right now,” offered Niki. “It is supposed tobe at the bottom of that mountain.”
“What do they want with theCrown of Light?” puzzled Dalgar. “Wait . . . tell me everything youknow about them already.”
While Dalgar sat attentively, Niki toldhim about the members of the group and how they met. She explainedabout the Sword of Heavens and the fairy’s demands for the Crown ofLight. When she went into detail about how they rescued GeneralGregor from the Royal Palace in Tagaret, Dalgar smiled. He paidparticular attention to the meaning and description of Tedi’snecklace.
“So, it would appear thattheir next stop will be back to the fairies if they manage to findthis Crown of Light,” surmised Dalgar. “I will explain a number ofways for you to get information to me. The easiest will be for youto leave a message at the campsite when you leave in the morning.I’ll have someone following the group and they will be instructedto retrieve the messages. If you stay in a city and do not camp,you can leave a message at any Black Devil drop with my name on it.Now listen closely and I’ll explain how to identify a Black Devildrop in case you need to use one.”
Dalgar and Niki spent another hourtalking and making plans to rule the world. Dalgar warned Niki thatother Black Devils would ambush the group if they found out aboutthem. Dalgar explained that there would be little he could do tointervene if that happened and she should be prepared to defendherself. After Dalgar left, Niki returned to the mansion in ahappier mood than she had been in a very long time.
Chapter 26
Crown of Light
Everyone except Tedi was in the sittingroom discussing the various approaches to getting the Crown ofLight when Niki walked in humming to herself. Garth immediatelyturned towards Niki and frowned while shaking his head. No onesensed Garth’s displeasure at seeing Niki and everyone greeted herwarmly when she asked what was going on. Arik summarized the eventsof the day for her and waited for some revelation on how they couldretrieve the Crown of Light. Instead, Niki sat down on the floorand leaned her head against the wall.
When the discussion continued, Garthtapped Kalina lightly on her arm and led her outside. When theywere far enough away from everyone, Garth stoppedwalking.
“I think the stalactite may bethe key,” Garth declared. “If it passes through the roof of thevault, it is the only place where the vault is not solid. Is itpossible to melt the stalactite without causing harm to themountain?”
“It would certainly be easierto shatter it,” Kalina replied. “I can do that without causing themountain to drop on us. It will be extremely loud, but the ventlooked big enough to allow the pressure to escape. I think I can dothat.”
“It is just getting dark now,”Garth mentioned. “Why don’t we ride out towards the mountain so weare alone. As soon as it is dark we can enter the ventunseen.”