Malena was again pacing nervously. It was now obvious Lakin was moving forward with their plans, without her. There were too many unknowns in this situation. Slowly, she sat down on her throne. “Moray, report to me,” she hollered into her mirror. It took a few moments, but her call was answered.
“One moment, my queen. I must go where I will not be noticed.”
Malena nodded, and waited. It felt like an eternity before Moray finally spoke.
“There have been developments, majesty. It would appear the princess has invoked the spirit of the earth and is currently a tree. The young prince nearly incinerated the library, and is now unconscious. Also, Gillock is here.”
Malena sat back in her chair. “Gillock is there, but Elizanne is not? Very odd. I thought for certain she would join with her children. No matter, it is good news indeed to see the power growing in the children. How long have they been in these states.”
“Two days, my lady. From what I can tell, the princess possesses elven type powers, and the prince is most definitely a war wizard. They were supposed to be getting trained by the elf king when this happened. I assume this is why Gillock showed himself.”
“Interesting. Then Elizanne may be nearby.” A smile slowly crept onto her face. “I want you to be as helpful as possible. After all, you are currently an elf. Report to me again if your situation changes.”
“It will be done, my queen.”
Within moments of the mirror going dark, it again turned into a swirling mist of someone calling. Malena could tell it was coming from Lakin’s room, but the face that greeted her was not Lakin.
“Vernia, this is a surprise. What can I do for you?”
“We have a problem,” stated Vernia.
Malena smiled. “What kind of problem could you and I share?”
“It looks as if our services are no longer needed.”
Malena had no idea what she was on about. “Please, go on.”
Vernia, glad to have her attention, sat back in her chair. “Lakin has taken in a new enchanter. He has taken it upon himself to personally train her, and has brought her to his bed. She is more powerful than you are and that makes her more appealing than I. So you see we have a problem.”
Malena was quite disturbed by this revelation, but hid it. “Why would this little tramp be a problem? I am sure you just think she is more powerful than I am.”
“He immediately took her down below to train. With all the training she has been given she is now more powerful than Queen Elizanne. If he continues this intense training she will be as powerful as he within four months.”
Malena could no longer hide her anger. “What a fool! And who is this young magic user?” she asked, but already knew the answer.
“It is Princess Brin. I have been ordered to send a letter to the king informing him that his daughter is now part of the Order.”
Malena laughed, but it was not that of humour. Her voice had an insane pitch to it. “Oh, this is perfect. He is going to use Brin to become king. I cannot believe I did not see this coming.”
Vernia was confused. It was obvious that Malena was upset by the news, but it also appeared as if the news had embarrassed her. “What should we do? We cannot allow him to succeed, especially since it was us who brought him this far.”
Malena shot out of her seat. “There is only one thing we can do, my dear. The twins will succeed, that we know, but if Lakin has become so enthralled with his new playmate, he may not realize how quickly it is coming. We must keep him down below for as long as possible. We must also help the twins along. They cannot afford any more delays. The sooner they succeed the sooner I will be free and then we will be able to deal with Lakin’s treachery.”