“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.
“This soup is cold,” scowled Maraton. “Get me another. Be quick bringing it back this time.”
Princess Alastasia nodded meekly and left the room. Instead of going to the kitchen, she wandered through the corridors looking for her sister. It took her over half an hour to find Alahara and describe the conversation that she overheard.
“Who is the mage that the leader reported to?” asked Princess Alahara.
“Salfour,” answered Alastasia. “I had a session with him earlier today. He was not very enthusiastic about teaching me, but that is true of many of the mages here. What should we do now?”
“First we speak to Garl,” answered Alahara, “then we find Tamar. Garl knows the mages here better than we do. He will know what to do about Salfour. We must warn Tamar about the confrontation tomorrow. Many people will get hurt if the soldiers react the way that I think they will.”
“Let’s go,” urged Alastasia.
“What about Maraton’s soup?” asked Alahara.
“Let him get his own,” shrugged Alastasia as she headed for Garl’s office. “I am no servant.”
Alahara raced after Alastasia. When they reached Garl’s office, the old man was just entering it. They followed him through the door and closed it.
“This is hardly the proper way to enter the office of the Head Mage,” scolded Garl. “Even though you are relatives and princesses, here you are students, and you shall behave as such.”
“Today we are not students,” retorted Alahara. “Today we are spies. What can you tell us about Salfour?”
“Spies?” Garl asked as if he was surprised. “What do you mean?”
“Father explained it to us yesterday,” answered Alastasia. “I wish we had known sooner. We think Salfour is involved with the demonstrations.”
“And much more,” added Alahara. “He met with one of the boys who tried to kill us yesterday.”
“Kill you?” echoed Garl as concern
etched into his voice. “How did they try to kill you?”
“With arrows on a trail outside the city,” replied Alahara. “That is not important right now. Alastasia recognized their voices and they were talking about the demonstration for tomorrow.”
“Then the leader went to visit Salfour,” nodded Alastasia. “What can you tell us about him?”
“He is mostly a loner,” frowned Garl as he moved to the chair behind his desk and sat down. “He has been at the Society for many years, yet he only speaks to one or two other mages.”
“Who would those one or two mages be?” asked Alahara.
“Let’s not be jumping in the pool before we know how deep it is,” warned Garl. “Just because this boy spoke to Salfour does not mean that Salfour is trying to overthrow the king. If you make unfounded accusations, no one will believe you when you do find the correct culprits.”
“We are not making accusations yet,” replied Alastasia, “but it would be helpful to narrow down the mages that we must spy on. Whom does Salfour talk to?”
“Levitor and Maraton,” answered Garl, “but I will not have you making any accusations against any of them without proof. If you do so, I will have you both expelled from the Society of Mages. Do I make myself clear?”
“Exceedingly clear,” frowned Princess Alahara. “I thought you were on our side? Why are you protecting them?”
“I am the Head Mage,” answered Garl, “and I take my responsibilities seriously. It is disturbing enough to think that any mage under my care would be involved in such a plot, but I demand proof before any public accusations are made. I will not see the reputation of the Society of Mages besmirched for anything less than the provable truth.”
“So how do we get this proof?” asked Princess Alahara. “We can’t just come out and ask them to confess.”
“What reason would there be for boys to be running around inside the Society building?” asked Princess Alastasia.
“Many of the mages have boys who do errands for them,” replied Garl. “It is quite a common practice.”
“Do you keep track of who they are?” asked Alahara.
“No,” answered Garl. “There has been no reason to.”
“What if something was stolen?” prompted Alahara. “Something valuable? What would you do?”
Garl’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Alahara. He sighed and shook his head.
“I would doubt that any of our members would resort to stealing,” answered Garl. “If something valuable was missing, I would ask the mages which servants they had into the building that day. Then I would investigate, but this is not a good plan.”
“Why not?” asked Alastasia. “We would learn the names of all of the boys who had been here today.”
“We might,” answered Garl, “but I suspect that if your suspicions are true, some of the mages would deny that anyone had been here today. One other result of this plan would be particularly nasty. Suspicion would immediately fall upon the six junior members. It might mean the end of the program.”
“Well,” frowned Alahara, “we must do something. Those boys are going to try to make the soldiers attack the protesters tomorrow. A lot of people are going to get hurt.”
“We must inform the army,” stated Garl. “They will know what to do.”
“We will take care of that,” Alastasia offered instantly. “Come on, Alahara. Let’s go.”
Princess Alahara looked quizzically at her sister, but she followed Alastasia, who hurried out of the office and out of the building.
“Hold on,” Alahara said as they reached the street. “Why are you rushing off? You dropped that conversation like a skillet with a red-hot handle. What is wrong with you?”
“What is wrong with me?” fumed Princess Alastasia. “Why were we wasting time talking to Garl? All he cares about is his precious Society of Mages. Never mind that mages are working to kill the entire Royal Family. Forget about citizens dieing in the street as the soldiers attack tomorrow. Dismiss everything as long as the Society of Mages’ reputation is left intact. How could you stand there talking to him any longer?”
“Wow,” Princess Alahara remarked with awe. “And I thought I was the one with the short temper. I have never seen you act this way. What is really bothering you?”
“I don’t know,” sighed Princess Alastasia as her eyes dampened. “This is just so frustrating. We should have killed those boys on the trail yesterday instead of trying to keep ourselves safe. Not only are they helping the mages to kill us, they are also going to get a lot of other people killed. I do not understand the elven way of dealing with problems. In the Sakova I would just have eliminated the threat.”
“You are going to go up against three of the mightiest mages in Elvangar by yourself?” asked Princess Alahara. “Think about what you are saying. We don’t even know for sure that Salfour and his associates are really involved in this. While the boy did go to his office, it is quite possible that Salfour merely uses the boy for errands and someone else is using him to provoke the riots. I am sorry, MistyTrail, but Garl is right on this. We need proof. Let’s talk to Tamar and see what he says.”
Princess Alastasia nodded silently, and Alahara led her away from the building. They headed towards the army offices to find Tamar. As they walked over the bridge that crossed the river running through the city, Alastasia gripped her sister’s arm tightly. Alahara stopped and turned to see what the problem was. She saw Princess Alastasia staring at three boys below the bridge on the banks of the river. The boys were gathering stones and putting them in small pouches.
“Those are the boys,” Alastasia whispered. “The tall one is the leader that visited Salfour today.”
“They are so brazen as to gather the stones in full daylight?” questioned Princess Alahara.
“Brazen?” shrugged Alastasia. “No one knows what is coming tomorrow except us. Who would find anything strange with boys gathering stones?”
“Let’s go talk to them,” suggested Alahara.
“Are you crazy?” asked Alastasia. “It is not like they will not recognize us.”
“Let’s see how they react to us,” retorted Alahara. “If they become extremely uncomfortable with our presence, we will know that we were their targets yesterday. That is a fact that we have not yet established. It is possible that they planned for someone else to come along.”
“Alright,” nodded Alastasia, “but only one of us will go. The other will remain here and be prepared to shield the one talking to them.”
“Fair enough,” agreed Alahara. “I will go talk to them.”
Princess Alahara backtracked off the bridge and found a path heading down to the riverbank. She walked up behind the boys and spoke loudly.
“Tayo,” called the princess. “A great day for playing in the river, isn’t it?”
The boys turned as one and stared at the princess. The two younger boys immediately ran off along the riverbank. The oldest boy stared, his mouth distorted as if he had eaten a particularly sour lituk.
“It is a nice day,” the boy finally answered. “You are one of the princesses, aren’t you?”
“I suppose,” Alahara frowned as she nodded. “I was hoping that you wouldn’t notice.”
The boy’s features showed alarm as his eyes narrowed. “Why would you say that?” he asked nervously.
“I don’t want to be a princess,” stated Alahara. “In fact, I don’t care much for living in Elvangar. Everyone I meet is afraid to talk to me because I am the princess, but I don’t care anything about any of that. I think I will run away, just like your friends did.”
“Really?” the boy asked with surprise. “They ran because they don’t like girls. They will get over it. Why would you run away? You have everything. You will be queen some day.”
“Not me,” laughed Alahara. “I am going to be on the first boat heading for Fakara when the war starts, and I am never coming back.”
“Never?” asked the boy. “But what if the war n
ever happens? I mean there are a lot of people who don’t think we should be fighting for the humans. There may not be a war.”
“I hope there isn’t,” shrugged Alahara, “but I will find a way to leave in any event.”
“You aren’t for the war?” inquired the leader. “I thought all of the Royal Family would be for it.”
“Hardly,” laughed Alahara. “In fact, I might just protest the next time there is a demonstration.”
“I don’t believe you,” the boy retorted skeptically. “Even if you didn’t agree with the war, your father would not allow you to attend a protest.”
“Watch me,” countered Alahara. “The king does not own me. I bet a lot more people will come out against the war if I am there.”
“I heard there might be one tomorrow,” hinted the boy. “We’ll see if you show up.”
“If there is,” smiled Princess Alahara, “I will be there. You can count on it.”
“I have to go,” the boy said suddenly. “I will look for you at the protest.”
“What is your name?” Alahara shouted after the boy.
“Kara,” the boy shouted back as he entered the trail and disappeared.
Princess Alahara smiled and returned to the bridge where her sister waited for her.
“What was all that about?” asked Alastasia.
“I was just making friends,” grinned Alahara. “I have a plan for tomorrow. I will explain it later. Right now I must get back to the Society of Mages. You find Tamar and inform him of what we know. Ask him to meet us tonight in the palace.”
Chapter 10
Naming the Players
Princess Alahara raced to the Society of Mages. She avoided the busiest streets and kept herself to the alleyways. She slipped into the building without being seen and burst into Garl’s office without knocking. The Head Mage looked up with a deep frown on his face. His mouth opened to rebuke the princess, but Alahara held up her hand for silence.
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