“I shall,” nodded the king. “Some people have an uncanny sense of danger. I am one of them, and I suspect that the two of you are as well. The reactions of the elven people to this coming war are stronger than they should be. While some elves can always be expected to voice support for continued isolation, I do not believe the current numbers that have been demonstrating against this war are anywhere near what they should be.”
“You think someone is riling up the people?” asked Alahara.
“Exactly,” nodded the king.
“We could help you find out who it is,” offered Princess Alastasia.
“You already are,” grinned Avalar. “One of the reasons for you attending the Society of Mages is to find out if anyone is acting against me. I felt it was better if I did not plant seeds of doubt within your minds, but time is running out.”
“You suspect mages of this?” asked Alahara.
“I suspect that spells of compulsion are being used,” confirmed the king.
“For what purpose?” frowned Princess Alastasia. “That sounds rather nefarious just to avoid a war that they will probably not partake in.”
“You are perceptive,” smiled the king. “I have dwelled on that question for some time now. The only gain that I could think of makes no sense at all.”
“To seize power in Elvangar,” interjected Princess Alahara. “Why do you think it makes no sense?”
King Avalar’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He shook his head as his lips split in a grin. “You two always amaze me. It makes no sense because there is now a clear line of succession. If they wanted to seize control of the country, they should have done it before the two of you rescued me. Their battle is that much harder now with four of us.”
“They did try it before,” Alastasia pointed out. “Just because they failed when it should have been easier does not mean that they will quit when the going gets harder.”
“They?” frowned the king. “You are talking as if Karaza had confederates. Have you discovered something at the Society of Mages?”
“No,” Alastasia shook her head, “but we will look harder now that we are aware of why we are there.”
“You are also there to learn about magic,” declared the king. “My primary purpose in getting you into the Society of Mages was to have you educated. I am still hesitant to have you actively involved in uncovering the plotters. It is not because I doubt your skills, but because you are too dear to me to lose you. Perhaps I am wrong in now involving you.”
Alahara and Alastasia exchanged quick glances, as if each were asking the other an unvoiced question. They nodded in unison.
“I think someone tried to kill us today,” Princess Alahara declared. “We were not going to mention it to you for fear of upsetting you, but I think we all need to be open with each other during these trying times.”
“Tell me about it,” frowned the king, his hands tightening into fists.
Princess Alahara related the entire story from the end of the practice session with Tamara and Galantor until their return to the Royal Tree.
“You are to avoid contact with Kanis,” Avalar said bitterly. “You are both princesses of Elvangar. You owe no obedience to that woman. Stand up to her if she tries to control you.”
Will you kick her out of the palace?” asked Princess Alahara.
“Not this time,” replied the king. “I was just about ready to do so, but now I want to keep an eye on her. When she threatens my family, she has overstepped her bounds. She should expect no mercy from me.”
The three members of the Royal Family sat silently for some moments, the tenseness in the air bearing down on all of them. Eventually, the younger princess spoke.
“Maybe Alahara and I can infiltrate the protesters to find out who is behind the demonstrations,” suggested Alastasia. “That might be one way that we can help.”
“Tamar is already taking care of that,” replied Avalar.
“Eltor and Caldal?” Alahara asked in surprise. “Is that why they are in Morada?”
“You do not miss much,” smiled the king. “Your two friends from Etta volunteered to join the protesters. Tamar meets with them daily. So far they have not managed to discover anything. I fear that time is running against us.”
“And as time goes by,” frowned Alahara, “the conspirators will get more daring to achieve their goals. Alastasia and I can take care of ourselves when things get hectic, but I fear for mother. They may try to kill her.”
“I will see that she has guards at all times,” nodded Avalar. “Create the air tunnel for me now. I must speak to Marak and then meet with members of the council.”
* * *
Alahara and Alastasia decided to split up the next day at the Society of Mages. Their thought was that they could cover twice as many mages in the same amount of time and still get their lessons in for the day. The elven mages who belonged to the Society of Mages were the best magicians in all of Elvangar. Most of them, male and female alike, had attitudes reflective of an elite people. They looked at the most basic chores in life as beneath them and always had others serve them. Some of the mages transferred that servant status onto the junior members of the Society, while others treated the students with a parental compassion. Maraton was one of the former.
Princess Alastasia tried hard not to grumble under her breath when Maraton ordered her to get him some food from the kitchen. She had been in the middle of learning a spell to mesmerize animals and had just begun practicing it when Maraton demanded that she stop. The squirrel chattered noisily and dashed away. It might be hours before she could find another subject to practice on.
As Alastasia stood in the kitchen ladling soup into a bowl, she heard several youths whispering at a table in the corner. She did not turn to look upon them, but she froze, her ears straining to listen to the voices. While she was unable to discern what the boys were saying, she knew for certain that the voices belonged to the ambushers from the previous day.
Alastasia placed the bowl of soup on the table in front of her and quietly wove an air tunnel and directed it to the table in the corner. She kept her back to the boys, who were facing away from her.
“The demonstration tomorrow will be the biggest yet,” declared the leader. “It is supposed to be peaceful like the others were, but we are going to change all that.”
“What are we going to do?” asked one of the younger boys.
“We are to start throwing stones at the guards,” explained the leader. “Encourage others around you to do the same.”
“Are you crazy?” asked one of the boys. “The soldiers will attack us if we throw stones at them. I am not about to be maimed for this job. It doesn’t pay that well.”
“We won’t be hurt,” assured the leader. “Once you get others throwing stones at the soldiers, move to the rear of the mob. When the soldiers attack, run. Let the others get hurt.”
“What’s the point?” asked one of the younger lads. “Why start a fight?”
“Because that is what we are being paid to do,” scowled the leader. “Since when have you been choosy about the tasks that we are assigned? After our failure yesterday, we are lucky to still be getting paid. Just do what I tell you to do. Finish eating and meet me outside. I want to check on something before I leave here.”
Princess Alastasia swiftly dropped the air tunnel and grabbed the bowl of soup. She slipped out of the kitchen before the leader had risen from his chair. Out in the corridor, the princess moved to the first corridor and ducked into it. Moments later the leader of the boys exited the kitchen and walked towards the offices of the mages. Alastasia waited a while before stepping out and following at a distance. The boy never looked back as he wandered the corridors. He walked up to a door and knocked loudly. A muted voice answered his knock, and the boy entered one of the offices and closed the door. Alastasia passed the door and noted the name on it. She continued walking and delivered the soup to Maraton.