by S K Wee
“That’s right, Conny used to live here when she was an apprentice to that monk. Kelgar, I think his name was. He and his sister both died several years ago. I remember Aunt Rose telling me the stories.” Kappy knew the palace hosted great evil while his father ruled. Anduras brought back the good and just to balance the scales. Now it would be up to him to maintain what Anduras had begun.
“You’re going to make an excellent ruler, Kappy. Everybody says so and I know in my heart that you will be great.” When she said it, Kappy could almost believe it.
“Thank you, sweet Dianna.” Dianna was twelve-years-old and Kappy could see a hint of the beauty she would become someday. With her bubbly and inviting personality, she would be quite a catch for some young man. Kappy was going to make sure the young man was worthy of her, that’s for sure.
*****
As the three of them stood there, each relived memories of the past. Twig was well beyond the vengeance he had felt the last time he had stepped foot in the palace. He could tell both Frankie and Conny had bested their inner demons also. So much had happened since they had met in this building all those years ago. Rose changed so much of the décor that Twig had a hard time remembering where some of the events of the past took place. He knew the Council Chambers were where Mohana had met his end. Twig had been there to kill the monster but was nearly killed himself. If it hadn’t been for Darby and Wagner, he would have been long dead.
“What are you thinking about, Twig?” Frankie came up beside him and he wrapped his arms around her.
“We all have memories here, but the one that stands out far above any other is meeting you two here. What would our lives have been like without each other?” These were his two best friends in the world. They had been through so much together.
Conny stood by his side and turned to look at them. “I, too, hold those memories close. Whatever else happened within these walls, the fact that we found each other is by far the most important.” Twig hugged both Frankie and Conny, one on either side of him. These two women were extremely precious to him.
“Ah, there’s my wife. In the arms of another man.” Ekky walked up behind them. “I was looking for you.” Ekky gave his wife smile in spite of her still clinging to another man. “I thought you were going to show me where the evil sorcerer tried to steal your soul or something like that.” Conny’s husband sounded like he didn’t believe a word of it, but Twig realized that Ekky knew exactly what happened or almost happened to his wife.
“Why yes, I would love to show you, my husband. In fact, I’ll try to perform the same type of ritual on you, after I get you bound to the table. Let’s go.” Conny had her sweet innocent look on, but Twig was sure she was thinking about how she could take advantage of her poor trusting husband.
“Watch out for her, Ekky. She was apprenticed to the evil sorcerer and learned all sorts of evil tricks,” Twig advised with a laugh.
*****
The earlier conversation with Kappy did not make Dianna very happy. She idolized Kappy ever since she could remember and now that she was getting a little older, she more than idolized him. In her eyes, he was the most handsome, wonderful boy she had ever met and she dreamed of becoming his one true love, and one day, his wife. But the earlier conversation she had with him made her realize he thought of her as a little sister and that was definitely not how she wanted to be looked upon by him.
Just before dinner, her aunt Huhana had arrived from Waldeburg along with Uncle Rhiver. They were two of her favorite people. Huhana was her father’s aunt and she would always share stories of his youth from a time before he had been evicted from the forest by the arrogant, sanctimonious elves. Though she was happy to see her aunt and uncle, along with them came the other elf couple who they had taken in many years ago. Taichi and Sarala had chosen to stay in Waldeburg after being rescued from bondage instead of returning to the forest of the elves. Dianna had never gotten close to the couple and they usually remained isolated from the rest of the population. She had a hard time trying to figure out why they would want to attend this particular event when they had never shown any interest in any other human celebration.
While sitting out in the garden, pouting over how Kappy treated her earlier, Sarala came and sat next to her. This surprised Dianna since Sarala had never gone out of her way before to speak with her or try to be friendly.
“Precious Dianna, how lovely you look. It seems like you grow more beautiful every time I see you. Soon you will be a young lady with many young men vying for your attention.” Sarala smiled at her and having smoothed Dianna’s ruffled feathers she couldn’t help but smile back at her.
“Thank you for saying so, but the one I would like to be attentive doesn’t seem to notice me at all.” Dianna didn’t know why she admitted that to a virtual stranger.
“Mmm . . . is that so? You know, I seem to remember a quaint little shop near the waterfront that sold little trinkets that helped to woo the most reluctant of admirers. I wonder if that little store is still there after all these years. There was a medicine woman who specialized in charms of that sort. I knew her quite well, actually.” This was much more conversation than Dianna had ever heard come from Sarala. But the thought of a charm was quite intriguing to her.
“What was the name of the shop? Maybe we could send one of the servants to town to verify if it still exists.” Already, Dianna was visualizing her true love finally looking at her with love in his eyes. She could picture it so well.
“No one else could purchase the trinket for you, though. You see, the charm has to be set up with your aura by the woman. I could ask around, but if you want one, you would have to get it personally. Also, I’m not sure if you should mention it to anyone else, you know what I mean? It might lose potency if the young man found out about it. We may be able to sneak out and get back here without anyone noticing that we were missing. There are so many people here and so much entertainment going on this evening.” Dianna knew that her amma would be furious with her if she left without telling her, but she also knew that Conny would never condone the use of any sort of charm either. What was a young woman in love supposed to do? How else could she get her heart's desire?
“Amma has shown me a secret way out of here. Are you sure it wouldn’t take very long? How much do you think it would cost, Sarala? I don’t have much coin with me.” They could hurry and never be missed. It would be hours before anyone would think to look for her. Diana’s heart was pounding with excitement. Her thoughts were centered on Kappy’s embrace once he declared his love for her.
“Don’t you worry about the money, dear. I’ll take care of everything. Show me where this secret exit is.”
*****
With so much going on around her, Rose nearly missed some of the signs. She quickly found Kappy and hauled him into her office after dinner.
Though she was used to giving him advice on most issues, this one was a bit more difficult. “Please sit down. I have already heard what happened at the Academy and why you were punished. I understand what drove you to commit such a violation—it’s normal to be curious. What I will not tolerate is your attempt to seduce the servants in your own palace. It is both immoral and unethical. These people work for you and have no recourse but to follow your orders. Your orders should never involve something that they were not specifically hired for. Do you understand me?” Kappy looked scared. Rose had never used this tone with him before, but she would never let him follow through with what she believed he was considering.
“Aunt Rose, I . . . I’m sorry. The young maid smiled at me and I thought she would be all right with my idea. I see what you mean, though. She might think I was demanding something of her or that she couldn’t deny me.”
“That’s exactly what she would have believed. It isn’t fair to the servants at all. If I have to, I’ll make sure you have only ugly old matrons for servants. I will not stand for that behavior from you. It’s almost like . . . like . . .” Rose really didn’t want
to draw any parallels to his terrible father.
“Like my father? I’m sorry, Aunt Rose. I never ever want to be compared to my father.” Kappy hung his head in shame. This talk really wasn’t going as well as Rose had anticipated.
“Oh Kappy, you’re nothing like him at all. He was a sick, depraved man. You are just a normal, healthy, horny teenaged boy. You need to learn some discipline but that comes with age and experience.” When Rose looked up at her nephew, he had tears in his eyes.
“I don’t know what is normal and what is not.” Kappy sniffed. “I realize my father wasn’t normal. But, Aunt Rose . . . I’ve got these feelings and images that I can’t get rid of, and it keeps me awake at night trying to fight. I’m trying to be a better man than he was. I don’t know what to do.” Looking at her confused nephew, Rose decided Kappy needed something more than what she could teach him.
“Kappy, tomorrow you’ll be crowned as the ruler of this country, the Amir of Bhaelor. I believe you will become a great leader, but for now, it is obvious you are still very much a teenage boy. Tonight, I will buy you a lesson from town. Let me get in touch with a dear friend of mine and we will see to furthering your education just a little bit more.” Rose felt this would be the right move. Kappy was nothing like his father, and she was sure he just needed someone to show him how normal he really was.
Leaving the party behind, Rose escorted her nephew over to the estate she and Anduras had lived in prior to moving into the palace. In one of the rooms on the upper floor, there was a passage into a carriage house on the other side of the wall that surrounded the palace. This was where he would meet with one of Rose’s working girls. She had been instructed to teach him things he was afraid to learn on his own. The fear Kappy had of following in his depraved father’s footsteps kept him from the normal experimentation of young men and their bodies. Hopefully, by the time his tutoring session was over, he would be able to sleep like a baby and feel refreshed for his coronation in the morning.
Chapter 5
Coronation Day, Port Devdan, Country of Bhaelor
By the time Kappy returned to the palace the previous evening, he was so worn out that he went straight to bed. He was so excited to talk to Sylly about all that transpired but didn’t feel up to locating him. For the first time in recent memory, Kappy had a wonderful night’s sleep—missing were the dark dreams that usually visited him throughout the night. Thank Blessed Sar for his Aunt Rose. She had somehow seen through his fear and found a way for him to experience what was normal for someone his age. Kappy had been living in fear that he would become as depraved as his father. But now, for the first time, he realized that his tastes would never go so astray.
Ever since he was old enough to register the difference between boys and girls and learned about anatomy, and basically where babies came from, he had also heard some of the rumors about what his father was like. He knew his father kept young slave boys for his pleasure. He also heard about the torture his father put captives through for his entertainment. For some reason, all these thoughts swam through Kappy’s mind whenever he started to feel his desires well up. He was so worried this was how his father began his descent into madness that he hadn’t realized the difference. But the young woman Aunt Rose provided for his training made sure he knew what was normal, healthy behavior and what was not. Kappy was grateful Aunt Rose provided the lesson in this way, as he would have been ashamed and embarrassed if he was required to sit through more talks with her or Frankie.
Intruding on the past evening's lessons were thoughts about what today was. Kappy would be crowned Amir of Bhaelor, supreme ruler of the country. As scared as that thought was previously, he now felt more confident and assured. Aunt Rose would still be there to guide him and he had taken lessons from Uncle Anduras all his life. Today he felt more like a man and less like the confused teenage boy he was yesterday.
As he finished his bath, he found the regal robes he was to don for the day's events. They were deep purple in a soft velvet material. When he began to get the undergarments on there was a knock at his door. When he opened it—expecting either Sylly or Aunt Rose—he was surprised to see Frankie standing there. She had a sad look on her face, which was totally out of character for her.
“What’s wrong, Frankie?” Kappy stepped away from the door so she could enter his room.
“I need to have a talk with you. Please, sit down with me. Much has been going on through the night but Rose didn’t want to disturb you, and we all agreed. There was nothing you could have done to help the situation so we let you sleep for your big day.” Frankie and Kappy sat at the small table that held the morning’s small breakfast.
“What is it? What has happened? You should have woken me.”
“Dianna has disappeared, along with the two elves that were staying with Huhana and Rhiver in Waldeburg. Late last night, or rather, early this morning, the body of Sarala was found near the waterfront. Her throat was cut and she had a lot of bruising. She definitely was in a fight prior to her death. She was the last person seen with Dianna in the garden shortly after dinner last evening. No one has seen Dianna since. The other elf, Taichi, is nowhere to be found either so we have to assume that he took Dianna with him. Rose is seeing to the investigation but of course, Conny and the rest of the family are inconsolable.”
“Why would Sarala be killed? I’m sure Dianna couldn’t kill her but she may have fought with her. Is there any other evidence?” Kappy was trying to piece it all together, hoping against hope that Dianna was safe.
“We’re not at all sure who killed Sarala. If it was Taichi, we can’t come up with any reason why. We need more information.”
“Frankie, we’ll have to do this coronation a different day. Once we find Dianna and make sure she is safe. We have to find her.” Kappy thought of his last talk with her and how much she had grown. Her whole life was in front of her.
“It has been decided that the coronation ceremony will go forward as planned. We have the best trackers out looking. Darby and Wagner will surely be able to track them. Other than that, there is not much the rest of us can do but pray. It would serve no purpose to delay the ceremony.” Frankie’s father, Darby, was known as the best tracker there was. Years ago, Darby and Wagner were partners and worked for a spy network that was based in Port Devdan. Kappy had heard rumors that the spy network was still in operation.
“I wanted Sylly at my side through the ceremony. He will soon become the captain of my guard. I can’t expect him to stand beside me when his little sister’s whereabouts are unknown.” Kappy felt some of Sylly’s pain. Even though Dianna was not his sister, Kappy had always thought of her that way and her disappearance was devastating.
“We’ll make do with whoever is available. Don’t worry, I’m sure they will have a lead soon. Come on, I’ll help you get ready. I won’t let you go through this alone.” Frankie reached for the royal robe and held it out for Kappy. “By the way, your colors are so much calmer this morning. With the exception of your worry over Dianna, you seem to be prepared to take on your new role.”
*****
Where did things go so very wrong! Conny had just managed to get her family all together—Dankal, Seisyll, and Dianna. She loved all three of them and had been so worried about Sylly going to Port Devdan with Kappy. She wasn’t at all ready for any of them to grow up and leave the nest. Ekky had finally talked her into letting loose a little—after all, they could visit Sylly any time they wanted to and he was all of sixteen. Ekky even mentioned her own youth—she had left home for the monastery when she was barely eleven years old.
But now Dianna was missing—her baby, Dianna. All she could do was pace back and forth through the parlor. Waiting and waiting for news, any news. She talked to everyone within the palace and questioned them about Dianna. They managed to piece together what they believed might have happened but there was no way to be sure until they found her. Darby, Wagner, and Twig were trying to find a trail but thus far, it seemed like th
ey had simply vanished. One of the patrons of a waterfront bar witnessed the three of them—Dianna, Sarala, and Taichi the previous evening prior to when they found the body of Sarala. He noticed what seemed to be an argument but paid little attention. The only reason he remembered them at all was the expensive gown worn by the young girl. The other two were dressed more like servants, which was odd for elves, and they seemed to be hauling the young girl somewhere she didn’t want to go. The man saw no reason to interfere in an obvious domestic disagreement.
If there were any sort of magic used in the abduction, Twig would surely be able to see or feel it. Unless the residue was already wiped away and Conny hoped that wasn’t the case. They already located a device implanted into Sarala’s wrist that Twig wanted to study further. He felt it was a communication device but it seemed different than any they were using. Conny studied the piece of metal that was dug out of the body but couldn’t see the magic like Twig could. Not only was the design foreign to her but the metal was certainly not common to the area either.
The elf couple had been living and working with Huhana and Rhiver for more than ten years. Prior to that, they were held captive in the Duke’s estate in Marcella. Once all the captives were released, Sarala and Taichi requested to stay in Mandalay. They did not want to return to the Silvanas Forest where the other elves called home. Conny had spoken to Rhiver about the couple and found out little. Rhiver had never gotten much out of them. The worked and stayed with them but never really opened up about their past. Rhiver had never pushed them for information since most elves were close-mouthed about their lives.
