“Then she is deluded,” snapped the mage. “Vand is powerful. Blood will flow freely over the human lands. While all of the kings and leaders of the humans are slaughtered, no one will even get close to Vand. She is a fool.”
“Is she?” retorted Kanis. “She has been close to Vand twice already. She has moved around the Island of Darkness as if it were her home. She even broke into the temple and stole Avalar from the dungeons. As for knowing the strength of the humans, she has lived with them all of her life. Who are you to judge their chances in the coming war better than her?”
Maraton sat in silence for some moments contemplating the words of the queen’s sister. Servants came into the room, and the mage ordered two expensive meals. He waited for them to leave before speaking.
“I must figure out what all of this mean to our plans,” he said softly. “Alahara is slated to die at the protest tomorrow.”
“No,” Kanis said adamantly. “That would spoil everything. Avalar would gain the sympathy of the people for his loss. Besides, she is on our side. Think about it. She is against this war, and she has the credentials to be heard. Instead of killing her, we need to get her to address the people. When she is done talking, not only will everyone be against this useless war, they will look upon Avalar as weak.”
“Weak?” echoed Maraton. “Because he cannot control his own daughter?”
“That and more,” nodded Kanis. “He will also appear weak because he languished in prison for decades. He had to wait for his young daughter to come and rescue him. Properly framed, it will also make Alycia appear too weak to rule. After all, she sat by and did nothing for close to twenty years.”
“The only one looking good in all of this will be Alahara,” frowned Maraton.
“And she will be leaving for the human lands,” grinned Kanis. “This will be much easier than we had planned. I will be forced to step in to keep the reign of Kieran going.”
“What if she decides not to leave?” asked the mage.
“Then we eliminate her,” shrugged Kanis. “I do not think she will stay. She has no love for the elves.”
“Then we need to pressure the council members for a vote against the war tomorrow,” nodded Maraton. “The protest must be large and violent before Avalar speaks. Do you think Alahara could be convinced to speak against her father?”
Kanis laughed heartily. “One of the main reasons that she wants to be at the protest tomorrow is to embarrass Avalar. Will she speak if given the chance? I guarantee it.”
“Excellent,” smiled Maraton. “I will see that she gets her chance. I am afraid that I must forego the meal. I have many people to speak to about the changes. I only hope that I can get to all of them in time.”
* * *
Alahara and Alastasia got off the lift and stared at the distant stage as it was being completed. Hundreds of workers scurried about the large wooden structure putting on the finishing touches. A chill shot down Alastasia’s spine.
“Father is going to very exposed up there on the stage,” she commented softly. “I am not sure that this is such a good idea.”
“Just concentrate on what we have to do,” advised Alahara. “We are just a small part of this plan. Put it all out of your mind except your own duties.”
“I cannot,” Alastasia shook her head. “Neither can you. While your words are nice, we both understand that we cannot lose sight of the bigger picture. We must be ready to step in where others may falter.”
“Well,” sighed Alahara, “at least try. Our task is the most important.”
“Not true,” countered Alastasia. “Everyone has a large part to play today. I am glad that Tamar told us about Eltor and Caldal infiltrating the protesters. I thought it was rude of them to be in Morada and not speak to us.”
“They didn’t get very far with their infiltration,” replied Alahara. “Not as far as we did.”
“We really don’t know if we have succeeded yet,” warned Alastasia. “Anyway, I think their new duties are better suited to them. I hope they succeed.”
“They will,” Alahara said with confidence. “Look. There is Kara. Let me introduce you.”
A small group of around a hundred protesters had arrived early for the demonstration. They stood quietly watching the completion of the wooden stage, their homemade signs protesting the war hanging from limp hands. Princess Alahara guided her sister to the edge of the crowd where Kara stood leaning against a building. He straightened up when he saw the princesses approaching.
“Both of you?” Kara asked with surprise.
“My sister feels as I do,” smiled Alahara. “She is just shy about it.”
“That’s fantastic,” grinned Kara. “Let me introduce you to the people who have already gathered. We can start singing some protest songs.”
“Not yet,” Alahara shook her head. “We will not reveal our opposition to the war until the king is on the stage. If we were to do so any earlier, he would send soldiers to escort us into the palace.”
“Then we would miss the whole demonstration,” pouted Alastasia.
“Oh,” frowned Kara. “I understand. That does make sense. I was wondering, Alahara, would you be willing to get up on the stage and talk about the humans today?”
“Talk about the humans?” echoed the princess. “What do you mean?”
“Well you know that the elves are not needed in this war,” explained Kara. “I was hoping that you would tell the crowd about your views. I think it would have a tremendous impact.”
“It sure would embarrass the king,” Princess Alahara chuckled nervously as she saw Levitor come around the corner.
Kara waited impatiently for an answer as thoughts whirled through Alahara’s mind. Levitor glanced her way with a snarl on his lips, and Alahara dropped her gaze to the ground. Finally, she looked Kara in the eyes and smiled.
“You ask a lot of me,” she said, “but I am willing to steel my courage if you are willing to do the same.”
“What do you mean?” asked Kara.
“I will go up on the stage and speak,” offered Alahara, “if you and your two friends will come up on stage with me to protect me.”
“Protect you?” gulped the boy. “From the soldiers?”
“Not the soldiers,” chuckled Alahara. “From my father. Avalar will not dare to be seen pushing young boys around to get to me. All the three of you have to do is stand around me. That is all.”
“That’s it?” asked Kara. “Sure. We will do it. Does this mean that you will speak?”
“It does,” grinned Princess Alahara. “I will speak right after the king does.”
“Fantastic,” the boy replied excitedly. “I have to spread the word. I will find you later when everything starts happening.”
Kara ran off and Alastasia moved close to her sister. “Why did you agree to speak?” she asked in a whisper. “I thought we were just supposed to disarm the crowd?”
“This will work out better,” smiled Alahara. “While Kara may have convinced many of these protesters to come here with the promise of gold, there are citizens here who truly believe that Elvangar should stay out of this war. I think we should try to convince them of the truth.”
“Better you than me,” sighed Alastasia.
“Oh, you will be involved as well,” grinned Alahara. “Let’s get started on what we came to do. Remember to use an ordinary compulsion spell first. Only use the Kieran compulsion spell if the other one fails. We don’t want to be causing pain if we don’t have to.”
Alastasia nodded, and the princesses split up. For several hours they moved slowly through the gathering crowd. Every time they say a boy with a pouch of rocks, they cast a compulsion spell on him. Each boy immediately left the gathering and returned without the rocks. The boys had no recollection of leaving the gathering and dumping their rocks by the side of the river.
* * *
A muted voice gave permission to enter the office. Garl opened the door and entered the room. He stood staring at Maraton and waited until the mage raised his head to acknowledge the Head Mage.