mysterious adventures continued. They were now flying with the Angel in his starship and had no idea what to expect next. To all their questions the Angel simply replied:
“We have no time to waste; I will explain everything on the way.”
The Angel looked tenderly at the boys. Their childlike gifts of spontaneity, hope and faith in their success had helped them produce miracles. They firmly understood that it was vitally important that they find the Divine Star that was so priceless to the whole of their family line. And the Angel thought to himself:
“What great kids.”
Meanwhile the cousins were trying to analyse all that they had seen in the Archive House of Lives. They had witnessed so much about the lives of their family ancestors. Although truth is told they had often been at a complete loss as to what to do because their ancestors both alive and dead had been simply remarkable people. They had worked and brought up their children honestly and had successfully overcome many difficulties in their lives. Michael and Ben had been exceptionally keen to rush to their aid and the Wise Old Man and the Angel had helped them do this in various ways. The Wise Old Man, who was in charge of the amazing House of Lives, and the Angel had given them the ability to change into anything they wanted: be it a tiger, elephant or crocodile. In their wildest dreams the cousins couldn’t have dreamt up anything more fantastic than what they had been through. And they had been a great help to their distant ancestors at some of the most difficult and trying moments of their lives. They understood this from the number of times that the Angel had sent up rays of light up into the sky to add strength and light to their own family Star, their pride in their family roots. Michael and Ben understood everything about their family's personal histories from various times in history and the adventures and events that their ancestors had been through ranging from the curious to the tragic. But even when their ancestors had died, it all made sense.
Grandfathers Peter and Paul had died during Second World War in the twentieth century. One had died fighting at the front, the other in a concentration camp. They were brave and courageous men and had perished in the defence their country as the Angel put it:
“Their fate was a cruel, yet beautiful one.”
However, there was one life history that, try as they might, the boys just could not understand. They were amazed that such a thing could have happened to one of their family line. It was all so unusual for their family. The life of a Princess… How could there possibly be a Princess in their family tree? They stared in open eyed disbelief at the Wise Old Man and the Angel but they both insisted that this was so.
”Yes, yes this story has a direct link with your family line and pay close attention to this story because it is very instructive. It is a most a mystical story almost on a par with a fairy tale…”
Once upon a time there was a Princess. She was beautiful, young, and clever, and loved by everyone in her family. She had other brothers and sisters and her father and mother were very kind and noble people. In a word, they were a royal family. Everyone loved each other and got on very well. When the Princess was still very young, her grandmother gave her a golden ring crowned with a huge pearl for her birthday. The ring was like any other except that it had one very special peculiarity. If you looked at the ring for a little while... about a minute or so and then said:
“Princess, oh Princess sing me your song: The pearl would open out and a tiny little girl with a crown on her head would appear, curtsy and begin to sing the following song in the most beautiful little voice:
Rejoice in the sun,
The twinkling of the stars
The tender looks
That surround you
Rejoice and never be sad.
Having finished her song the little Princess would wave farewell, disappear and the pearl would close again. The Princess really loved her ring and never ever took it off. Her sisters and brothers also had rings but none of these contained a singing Princess.
But one day the family suffered a terrible misfortune: they were captured by people serving the forces of darkness. For a time these people kept the family in captivity. And during this period each member of the family was kept under close observation. They studied the family’s each and every movement around the clock. And thus our Princess was also kept under observation.
One of the evil prison guards noticed that she would often look at her ring and quietly talk to it… The Evil One understood that the Princess had transferred a part of her soul into the ring. And he began to hatch an evil plan. After a while the royal family were executed in cold blood. As she was dying the Princess saw the Evil One rush up to her and wrench her beloved ring from her finger.
Then she heard him malevolently hiss:
"Well, my little Princess, when you come back for your ring I will personally extinguish your soul.”
The Angel who had come to collect the Princess's wonderful spirit also overheard the Evil One's loathsome promise. When the royal family’s souls were undergoing rehabilitation after the evil deeds that had been done to their bodies, it became clear that the Princess would have to return to the Earth because a tiny part of her soul remained in the custody of the Evil One. And the Princess’s brothers, sisters and parents beseeched the Higher Powers to allow them to accompany the Princess back to the Earth and to live whatever life might be ordained for them - if only they be allowed to be near their beloved Princess. And some of them were granted their wish.
When the sad story of the Princess was over, Michael and Ben asked in one voice:
“What’s going to happen now? Who is this Princess?"
"You will know everything presently,” the Wise Old Man answered.
“Does this mean we are directly related to such a famous family?" asked Ben.
“Not by blood, but in spirit,” smiled the Angel.
“Hooray! A royal spirit lives within us, a royal spirit lives within us!” Ben cried out in uncontained joy.
Everyone burst into peals of laughter.
“You are still so naïve and innocent, Ben,” said the Angel stroking his head, “the fact that you have royalty in you is in fact a stone around your neck. Do you know why?”
“Why?” the cousins cried simultaneously.
“Because this is why the forces of darkness are taking such a keen interest in your family and this could be one of the reasons why they have stolen your Divine Star," proposed the Angel, "although, of course, there are many other different reasons as well."
Michael and Ben were bursting with curiosity: Who was this Princess and into which of their relations had she been reincarnated? But the Angel and the Wise Old Man kept their own counsel on these questions. Perhaps it was because of this secret that they had not shown the boys many of the conflicts that had taken place in the lives of their close relatives? The boys were so overwhelmed by these thoughts, and their imaginations were racing so far ahead that the Angel decided to bring them back down to reality:
“Don’t worry yourselves too much my dears; you will learn everything in its own good time. But now you need to get yourselves ready because you still have a very important job facing you. Listen: We are going to fly to the City of the Robots. The Princess’s ring is being kept there and it is vital that you find it and bring it safely out of the city.”
“And return the ring to the Princess?” Ben interrupted impatiently.
“And then everything will be made clear?” Michael murmured hopefully.
“Oh, you two and your impetuous curiosity!” smiled the Angel. “First you will need to get into the city and find out where the ring is being hidden. Then you will have to work out a plan to get it out of there unnoticed. The city itself and everything in it are closely guarded. In addition to security cameras there are energy sensors everywhere, which fix on to anyone and anything which gives off a life force. Therefore, they will be able to get a fix on you even if you are in
visible.”
The boys became somewhat alarmed when they heard how the city was guarded.
“Is it very important to get this ring back?” Michael blurted out.
“Yes, it is very important if you are to ensure that the Princess’s energy and the energy of your whole family line is to be restored. The Princess’s soul is in a state of constant agitation because a small part of her spirit is being held by the servants of Satan. And things could come to a terrible pass: Because by studying the part of her soul in their possession they might be able to insinuate themselves into the Princess’s life force - taking it over completely. Although, the forces of darkness are working hard on this evil plan, thankfully they haven’t succeeded in reaching this stage yet.
“That's good," said Ben.
“Yes, the forces of darkness have already been warned a long time ago not to overstep what is permissible,” the Angel reassured the boys, "but they are insatiable in their desire to control the world, and especially to control the vital life force granted to humans. But you already know this well."
And the Angel switched on a small screen in the starship. And right in front of their eyes there flickered famous clips from various documentary films that they had seen. The boys now looked at all this information with totally fresh eyes. This meant that the traditional idea of the struggle between good and evil