Glancing at Governor Sadius, then at Jolende and her attendants, Asen now understood the significance of that crystal medallion the Kororians constantly wore. So that is what gives them their power. They have no powers of their own; they must wear the crystal at all times. But if this phérium, as Chenek described, is that dangerous, why would these people risk their lives using such a thing? The crystal is notoriously unstable, and is capable of bursting into flames, causing a major conflagration.
He stared at the phérium medallion dangling from Jolende's neck, wondering if she used its awesome powers to persuade his father to agree to the impending marriage. He looked at Sadius who was in deep conversation with Banes. Just what hold does this man have over his father? Asen broke his gaze, returning his attention to a troupe of jugglers performing an intricate routine. His hand travelled to the tiny pouch suspended from his belt. Yes, it is still there, and with any luck, at the precise moment, he will use that magical shell. Perhaps now is the time. One more moment in the company of his father, Jolende, and the other nefarious individuals pretending to have his best interest at heart...
He took out the shell, then dropped it on the tent floor. Immediately, it cracked open, filling the tent with thick pink smoke. Pandemonium broke loose. An assassination attempt was instantly suspected. Guards swarmed the area. King Vlaric and his entourage was ushered out of the tent and hustled into a nearby carriage.
All parties were accounted for, save one. When the smoke cleared, Asen was no where to be found.
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Starfield House took on a peculiar quiet. On Landing Day, the place usually teemed with activity, mostly from those who couldn't stomach any more "celebration" of a day which wasn't theirs to celebrate.
Actually, Starfield House, shortly after the parade, quickly filled with people and creatures from the neighboring regions of Benut and Nemir. Much chatter about Prince Asen's impending marriage to Princess Jolende, and what ramifications such a union meant for those continually oppressed by the Crown. Those gathered knew nothing of the current situation down in Indria Plaza, and really they could care less. So what if someone tried to assassinate King Vlaric. It wouldn't be the first time. All that mattered now was a chance to get away from the crowd, enjoy a nice repast, and share in pleasant conversation.
By the time Sivin and his family arrived, the lobby was already packed, so was the Amethyst Room and Dragonwood Lounge. "Oh," said Khalina, "if only we arrived earlier. There's no room–"
"Sivin! Khalina! Over here," called out Ubu, gesturing from the bank of elevators. "Bring your family up to Moopie's suite. There is plenty of food and drink, and I'm sure Princess Evore would love to meet the newcomer."
Tanina, ecstatic that she'll have the chance to meet the beautiful fairy princess, said, "Oh, Papa, say yes!"
Khalina eyed her husband, echoing the same question, "Why not? We're here, and it'll be several hours before we can get a train home."
Turning to Danielle, Khalina said, "Dani, you will love Evore. She is one of the few in this entire land who looks out for the downtrodden. And don't worry. You don't have to bow down to her as to the Eldonian 'king' or Prince Asen."
Dani smiled, saying nothing. She was spooked enough as it was, what with that odd little key falling right in her hands, not to mention the man who told her to take care of that key. And what did he mean that, once in Starfield House, she will learn just who she really is? Dani Bennett already knows her name, family, home, job...
Oh God, what is coming over me? I feel as if I don't belong here, but part of myself says otherwise...As if I've been here before but don't remember. All I want to do is go home, to my parents, away from this wretched world of Eldonia. Why can't anyone ever leave here? I'm in prison if anything. My folks probably think I'm dead, killed in that hurricane, and I'm not accounted for. Mom, Dad, I want to come home to you, but I can't...I'm alive and well and stuck in Eldonia, a land that is not even on a map!
Automatically, Danielle followed her adoptive family to the elevator where Ubu waited. She could not get over the way the man stared at her, studying her. What was it with these people? The stares and whispers from the many guests in Starfield House as Dani strolled through the lobby were discomforting enough. Was she that foreign in their eyes? What was it that made them gaze upon her so intently?
Shrugging, Dani rode up the elevator, still saying nothing. She didn't know what to say in the presence of these people. As kind as Sivin and his family were, Dani still felt like an outsider, a stranger in their midst. She stared out the glass elevator door, marvelling at the massive atrium and marbled lobby below. So much change in a handful of days. She thought of Prince Asen and his friend. They were exceedingly kind to her and Tanina when they met outside the tavern. If his father is so cruel, why is the son the complete opposite? His friend, Lord Cadmore, seemed friendly enough, so friendly that...
That was him! That was the man who told me to hang onto that key! He said something about learning who I really am...What if? I've always wondered about my birth parents, and Mom and Dad wouldn't tell me exactly how they came to adopt me. What if I am one of...On my God!
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"Did you see what happened?," asked a patron in the Golden Tiara.
"Not exactly," said his companion, "but I think it came from within the King's tent. I don't understand it. One moment we were all watching the entertainment, then the next His Majesty's tent filled with pink smoke. The King and his court are safe, from what I've gathered, but the Prince is no where to be found."
His friend nodded. "Sounds more like a kidnapping. What is the latest news?"
So went much of the conversation among tavern patrons. At first, an assassination attempt was feared, but what transpired after the smoke cleared indicated a kidnapping. Immediately, Landing Day ceremonies and activities had been cancelled by His Majesty's orders. The Royal Guard instantly responded by securing the immediate area around Indria Plaza then spread out in a ten-mile radius. If the kidnappers and their precious hostage were still in the city, they would be found with all deliberate speed.
"Do you think it was one of them?," said another patron, quaffing his ale, obviously referring to the Benutians and Nemirians.
His companion replied, "I wouldn't doubt it, but why do it now? Especially since His Highness is about to marry Princess Jolende. Which is why I wonder King Vlaric hasn't sent his soldiers to that place."
"Starfield House," said his friend with a sneer. "Home to all freaks and ne'er-do-wells. You think they took the prince there?"
The friend shook his head, saying, "Maybe not, since that would be the first place His Majesty will look."
Listening to this conversation was another young man who sat by himself at a corner table. He heard it all, and he feared the king would have soldiers swarming all over Starfield House within moments. He took something out of his pocket then proceeded to press many buttons. Ah, the message has been sent. He only hoped that Prince Asen was not there, and that whoever kidnapped His Highness, that is if he was kidnapped at all, has long left town.
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Danielle sat in the spacious, beautifully decorated penthouse suite, quietly sipping tea and munching sweet cakes and fruit. She said little by way of conversation, preferring to listen to Sivin and Khalina's confab with Ubu. She also studied the others in that room, especially Moopie, the half-fairy aide to Princess Evore. The others, especially Wallace, sparked her curiosity. She learned of Reba Decker's peculiar circumstances: crash-landed in the Nemirian Mountains after a botched kidnapping attempt. Reba was only five at the time and now has little memory of her former life in Savannah. Wallace was a World War II flying ace in The Royal Air Force, and he crashed in the middle of Benut after getting lost in thick fog during a reconnaissance flight. As for Jarvis Wolf's arrival in Eldonia, this was a mystery to Danielle as he didn't straight out tell her. The only account he could offer was, "I took a wrong turn on Route 66."
Huh? He arrived here by car? How did he accomplish driving to a faraway land that is not even on any map?
At any rate, much of Dani's attention focused on Evore, perhaps the most dynamically beautiful woman Dani had ever seen. Evore was a full-blooded fairy, yet, to Dani, she didn't resemble the usual image found in children's storybooks. Evore was no, "Namby-pamby, dew-sipping dainty. She's quite a kick-butt gal and not bad in the looks department," as Jarvis so aptly explained.
Indeed, Evore's appearance conveyed something a potent yet playful sex appeal, but without the malicious promiscuity as evident in Jolende.
Tall, curvy, blonde-haired, lavender-eyed, Evore cut quite a figure. No billowy, flowery, gossamer apparel ever touched her body. She never allowed it. As she explained to Danielle, since Nemir's terrain is rugged and many parts experience much blustery weather, such clothing is not appropriate as well as not her style. Besides, she abhorred the outside world's image of the cutie-pie dainty fairy, and her style of dress and way of carrying herself attested to that fact. Her choice of fashion was sexy and seductive but not threatening nor calculated. She preferred tight, shiny outfits that showed off her spectacular curves. More often, in her native Nemir, she would wear body-hugging leather and liquid metallics. However, for today's special events in Tyq, Evore wore a silver catsuit, skintight and shiny, heavily trimmed in gleaming diamonds and emeralds. Her white butterfly wings lay at rest across her back, a diamond tiara graced her blonde head. To complete the ensemble, she wore tall calf-hugging black leather spike-heeled boots. Her movements were graceful, fluid, and gently erotic. It has been said Evore, while not a promiscuous lady, enjoys an occasional romp with a mystery man presently stashed away on Mount Soraring, the highest point in all Eldonia.
Danielle also studied Moopie, Evore's official aide. Whereas Evore's appearance evoked "tough gal" sex appeal, Moopie's persona was more to the sweet. A half-fairy, Moopie, as petite as Evore was statuesque, preferred a more conservative rustic dress, mostly greens and golds to match her forest birthplace. Her jagged-edged gossamer wings, while not as massive as Evore's, tended to flutter even at rest. Her platinum blonde shortcut glowed as if kissed by the moon, which was true. Moopie was born in the light of the full moon.
Evore studied Danielle just as intently. Sublimely sipping sweet lavender tea, the fairy princess watched this new arrival's body language, listened to her speech patterns. Oh yes, whatever mannerisms Danielle picked up from her adoptive parents, she hadn't completely lost the bearing of a goddess. Even now, Evore could detect so much Amarah in Danielle. That telling drive, ambition, thirst for learning, a compassionate heart, and iron will was there, inside. There was still the matter of revealing to Danielle the truth of her origins, and Evore left that initial task to Chenek and Ubu.
Attempting to make small talk just to break the ice with Danielle, Ubu, nodded to Governor Chenek and Evore then asked, "Where are you from, Danielle? And by what means did you arrive in our fair land?"
"Well," she replied, "I'm originally from North Bend, Ohio. I was reared there, but now I live – well, used to live – in South Carolina, near Charleston. I'm a corporate attorney in a small law firm. My parents are still living in North Bend, and I was to go home before that storm hit, but I waited too long, and...Well, I got washed over the bridge and into the river. I thought I was going to drown, but I ended up here."
Moopie, ever curious of Dani's past life in the outside world, pressed further, asking, "If you don't mind my asking, but when were you born?"
Danielle, not knowing why the little half-fairy would ask such a thing, but guessing it was just part of the general conversation, replied, "My birthday is April 2, 1959."
Then, assuming she'll be asked about her parents, added, "I was adopted, you see. My parents, Greg and Joanne Bennett, at least as they explained, could have no children. Something about Mom not being able to conceive after a bunch of miscarriages. Dad said they tried to adopt a baby but couldn't get past all the red tape involved. I was found on the steps of the church my parents attended. Mom said she had just dropped some old clothes for a rummage sale. She got to talking with the pastor and time got away from her. That's when she found me. I was in a basket, all wrapped up in a colorful blanket. There was a note attached saying, 'Please take care of my child. I can't'. And that was it."
Then, looking at that doll Khalina still clutched, Danielle suddenly recalled, "The only other item in the basket was that doll. I guess my birth mother made that for me, and it's the only ties I have with her. I tried to find my birth parents, but nothing panned out. I assumed they were the type who didn't want to be found. But I just wanted to get some medical history...You know, if some disorders run in their families. And to ask why they gave me up. I supposed they fell on hard times and couldn't afford to keep me."
A tear trickled down her cheek; Dani said with a quaver in her voice, "I've kept that doll all these years. Never really played with it as I didn't want it to get torn or soiled. Mom kept it on the mantle, then I took it with me when I relocated to Charleston. That was the first thing I packed before leaving. I kept it in a box and grabbed it just as my car went over into the river. I hanged on to it for dear life. If I was to die, I wanted to be with something I valued more than anything else. Well, more than any of my other material possessions. No way would that doll end up swept away in a storm surge."
Khalina looked at Sivin, who cast eyes on Chenek and Ubu. It all began to fall into place, but there were a few details yet to be revealed. Such as who really spirited the baby away from Eldonia and made that child's journey to the outside world possible. There was also that person who placed the child on the church steps, and remained behind to watch the child mature, if only from afar. That person was now in that room and relayed much information before Danielle ever set foot in the suite.
Responses to those messages Evore sent out were finally received, but there was another, more pressing matter to attend. As much as Evore wanted to reveal Danielle's true origins, this latest message took precedence. Gesturing to Jarvis and Reba, the fairy princess ordered the pair to go downstairs. This was a necessary precaution, she said, or else King Vlaric's men would swarm all over Starfield House.
At last, Chenek asked, "Evore, what is wrong?"
Evore replied, gazing at Danielle intently, "There was a disturbance in Indria Plaza, during entertainment. The King and his entourage is fine, but Prince Asen is missing. The word is that the King suspects someone from Benut or Nemir is the culprit. His Majesty could send his men here at any time."
Before anyone could respond to this news, someone pounded on the door. Voices could be heard outside. Had Vlaric sent soldiers already? Has Starfield House fallen under siege?
No, because once the door flew open, in walked Reba and Jarvis accompanied by two gentlemen. The shorter of the pair instantly removed his hood, saying, "We didn't know where else to turn. No one saw us come here, and we entered via the service door. Please, my friend and I beg asylum from Vlaric and his ilk. Help us escape."
All eyes were on this man, and all there could not believe Lord Cadmore himself actually took the risks to help a dear friend. The second man needed no introduction. He removed his oversized cloak and hat, then he said, "It is I, Prince Asen, and I ask for asylum from my own father. Please, I can't marry Jolende as it is all part of a more sinister plot. I have proof my father intends to harm your people in ways unimaginable. Please, I beg of you. Hear me out and help me to escape my father's clutches and destructiveness once and for all."
Copyright©2006 by P.R. Parker. All rights reserved.