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  "The princess?" balked the advisor. "That is impossible. Orenda is due to give birth at any time now. She will have her hands full tending to her own child. This is not a wise decision."

  "It is my decision to make," asserted the king. "She can move back into the palace and have her child here."

  "With her husband?" questioned the advisor. "I thought you did not care for Zalman?"

  "What is there to like about the man?" snapped the king. "He never talks, and he has no respect for the royal family. I don't know what my sister ever saw in him."

  "I cannot enlighten you in that regard," replied the advisor, "but I do know that Orenda would never move into the palace without him. He is the reason she chose to move out into the city in the first place. Besides, it is not right for a princess to perform the duties of a wisper, even if she does have the Talent. It just isn't done."

  "Well it will be done this time," declared the king. "Send for Orenda. If her husband must come with her, so be it. Now that that is settled, I have some other tasks for you to manage."

  Naveena did not wait for the conversation to finish. She turned and hastily made her way across the large room and out of the palace. Now that the king no longer needed her services, she knew that she must get her sister out of the city before he decided to punish Flori. Naveena raced through the city streets and dashed into the home she shared with her sister.

  "Get your belongings together," Naveena shouted as she entered the house. "We must leave Tarent immediately."

  Naveena had started to gather her most prized possessions when she realized that Flori had never responded to her statement. Thinking that Flori was still sulking, Naveena threw down her clothes in disgust and stormed into Flori's room. As she threw open the door, she screamed in horror. Flori's body was hanging from a ceiling beam, her face blue and her tear-stained eyes shut.

  Naveena grabbed a knife and leaped onto the bed. She cut the rope and caught her sister's body as it fell. She placed the body on the bed and removed the rope from around her sister's neck. With tears in her eyes, she hugged Flori.

  "You did his work for him," cried Naveena. "Why? I could have gotten you out of the city. We could have lived long lives somewhere else. He would never have found us. I would have protected you like I always have."

  As Naveena rocked her sister's dead body, her tears slowly dissipated. In their place a burning rage began to boil.

  "He did this to you," spat Naveena. "I will make him pay dearly for this. No, not just King Eugeon, all of Borunda will pay for this crime, all of the Land of Nine Kingdoms. Everyone will lament this day for the rest of eternity. I shall see to that. I promise you."

  Naveena gently placed her sister's body on the bed and rose. Steeling her mind with hatred, she stormed out of the house. The daylight had long passed, and the city streets had been empty for hours. The wisper made no effort to avoid being seen as she moved quickly towards the beach where Princess Orenda lived in a small unassuming house.

  When she neared the house, she slowed down to think about what she was going to do. The thought caused shivers to race up her spine, but her rage was resolute. Naveena moved stealthily towards the house and slid next to a palm tree. Concentrating her powers as she stared at the small structure, she called forth a spell of fire. Within moments the thatched roof ignited, and the flames danced swiftly in every direction.

  "Now there is only one wisper in Tarent," snarled Naveena. "Let's see how your brother handles that."

  As she watched the flames grow and start to burn the lower structure, Naveena heard a scream from the ocean side of the house. She raced around the burning structure, her eyes searching for the source of the scream. Standing away from the house on the beach was Princess Orenda and in her arms was a newborn boy. The princess saw Naveena and shouted to her.

  "Naveena," yelled the princess, "come here. Hold Zinan while I go wake up Zalman. I fear he will sleep through the fire and perish."

  Naveena ran to the princess and accepted the baby. As Orenda raced into the burning building, Naveena called forth another spell of fire. She directed it at the rear of the structure so that Orenda would never escape alive. She smiled inwardly as she heard the princess's deathly scream.

  "What is happening?" called a man as he ran along the beach and approached Naveena.

  "A fire," the wisper replied blandly without turning away from the flames. "Some woman handed me this child and raced into the building. I don't think she is going to come back out."

  "You must be a stranger to our city," remarked the man, "otherwise you would know that that is Princess Orenda's house."

  Without turning her face to the man, Naveena bent down and placed the baby on the sand.

  "She said his name was Zinan," Naveena called as she stole away from the man before he could get a look at her face.

  Conflicting emotions raced through Naveena as she ran back to her home. She had never used her magic to destroy anything before, and it scared her, but it also sent a thrill racing through her body. She had powers that few others had, so why shouldn't she use them to get her revenge? Someone had to pay for Flori's death.

  After a few minutes she managed to get her emotions under control. She had claimed a sister for a sister, but it didn't quell her thirst for vengeance. She was sitting in the dark of her room plotting the next step of her revenge when a loud knocking sounded on the door of the house.

  "Open up in the name of the king," shouted a man.

  Naveena's mind raced as she tried to imagine how they had found out that she had started the fire. As the knocking sounded anew, she quickly reviewed her magic spells and chose the one she would use on the soldier outside.

  "Open the door," shouted the man. "The king has need of a wisper."

  Naveena frowned in confusion. She suddenly realized that they had not discovered her crime. She moved quickly and partially opened the door to gaze into the face of Lavitor, the king's advisor.

  "Naveena," the advisor nodded in recognition, "your services are needed at the palace. Grab some clothes and come with me. You will be moving into the Royal Palace."

  "Moving in?" questioned the wisper. "Isn't my sister already there?"

  "Flori did not come home?" Lavitor frowned.

  "Home?" echoed the wisper. "Why would she?"

  "It is too much to go into right now," answered the advisor. "Suffice it to say, you have been chosen to raise Prince Garrick."

  "That is quite an honor," smiled Naveena.

  "Double the honor," replied the advisor. "You will also raise Prince Zinan."

  "Ah, twins?" smiled Naveena. "The royal couple must be thrilled this evening."

  "I would not describe the king's mood as thrilled," frowned the advisor. "He has lost his sister and his wife this evening."

  "The queen and the princess are both dead?" Naveena responded, her mouth open with horror and her eyes wide with shock.

  "Yes," Lavitor sighed heavily. "Now is not the time for me to explain what has happened. You will have the responsibility of raising two newborn boys. It will be quite an honor for you."

  "I am sure that it will be," Naveena replied. "Will I be free to engage my sister when she returns from wherever she has gone tonight?"

  "I am afraid not," answered the advisor. "At least not until the passing of Queen Abigal fades from the king's memory. I fear that he might associate your sister with her death."

  "Preposterous," retorted Naveena. "Still, one does not argue with the crown. How long will my services be required?"

  "How long?" echoed the advisor. "You are to raise the children, Naveena. Your services will be required for as long as the children need you. Hurry along, the babies need your attention now."

  "You go on ahead," smiled Naveena. "I have a few things to take care of here before I leave. I will be along shortly."

  Chapter 2 - Sowing Revenge

  Sowing Revenge

  Lavitor, the head advisor to King Eugeon of Borunda, stood in the dar
k empty street of Tarent and watched the door to Naveena's house closely. His final task of a long and dreary night was complete, and he had no reason to hurry back to the palace. His first thought was to wait outside Naveena's home and escort her to the palace, but he dismissed the idea before it could take root. There was no danger of harm coming to the wisper in Tarent. The city was crime-free except for the pettiest of offenses. The gates of the Royal Palace always stood open, and Naveena well knew her way to the palace. She had been invited there many times in the past.

  Lavitor turned away from the door and strode aimlessly through the city streets. His thoughts were troubled over the day's events. In the span of a single day, Borunda had gained two princes and lost a queen and a princess. It was a day that would be remembered for generations. As much as he mourned Queen Abigal's death, he could not find it in his heart to place blame on the wisper, Flori. He knew the young woman as one who loved the royal family more than her own life, and he knew that whatever killed the queen, it was not something the wisper could have foreseen. Sometimes life was just cruel, he reasoned.

  The noise of a crowd interrupted the advisor's thoughts, and he looked up to find himself approaching the house of Princess Orenda. A wry smile crossed his lips as he realized where his aimless meanderings had brought him. It was fitting that his dark thoughts should lead him to the scene of the harshest of the night's tragedies. He stopped abruptly and stared at the smoldering frame of the small beach house.

  Lavitor had loved Orenda, but she had spurned his desires long ago. He thought her rejection was one of rank and status, and that was understandable. Lavitor was, of course, an advisor, not a noble. Had he been able to maintain that illusion, life would have been more bearable for him, but when she married Zalman, Lavitor knew the princess's rejection for what it was.

  Zalman was a peasant, the son of peasants, and the grandson of peasants. The man had never seen the inside of a palace, and very likely never would have. For a long time, Lavitor stewed over the marriage of Orenda to such a lowly man, but that ended just a few months ago. The advisor clearly remembered the day that Orenda sought him out at the palace. She had come in an attempt to reconcile with King Eugeon, who had vehemently opposed the marriage, but the visit had been in vain. The Borundan King had refused to meet with Zalman or allow him entry into the palace. Princess Orenda was heartbroken, and she had turned to Lavitor for comfort.

  "Do not hold the decision against Eugeon," Lavitor had urged. "It is Abigal who abhors the thought of you marrying a man of no station. She will never relent in her thoughts, and the king is obligated to please her. Go back and talk to Eugeon. He has the power to dissolve your marriage as if it never existed. Things can return to the way they were."

  "Never!" Orenda retorted sharply. "I love Zalman, and he means everything to me. I care not a whit about royalty and station. My purpose in coming today was to resolve relations with my brother, not the King of Borunda. I do not care if I ever set foot in the palace again, but I do not want to lose my brother."

  Tears flowed from the princess's eyes, and Lavitor reached out and hugged her. His own love for the princess overrode his desire to possess her, and he finally realized that his love demanded that he do what he could to make her happy.

  "I will talk to Eugeon," Lavitor said softly. "It will take some months to overcome the queen's objections, but I am sure that you and Zalman will be welcomed in the palace before the end of summer."

  The princess lifted her head off of the advisor's shoulder and looked into his eyes. She smiled sincerely and kissed him on the cheek.

  "Thank you, Lavitor," she said softly. "I know of your feelings for me, and I know how hard this will be for you, but I do love Zalman. I love him more than life itself."

  "As I said," Lavitor smiled, "by the end of summer, you will be back in the palace."

  "It is not the palace that I care about," Orenda replied. "Just get Eugeon to come and visit me. That is all that I ask for. By summer I shall give birth, and I would so like to have Eugeon there for the occasion."

  "Birth?" echoed the advisor. "Blessed Monarch! Abigal is also due to give birth in early summer. The king will be overjoyed by the news."

  "I do not expect him to be joyful of my condition," frowned Orenda. "He detests Zalman, and my pregnancy seals forever my betrothal, but I do want him to accept me as a sister. That is all I ask for."

  A tear started to slide down Lavitor's cheek when a shout interrupted his reverie. The advisor looked up to see a soldier running towards him.

  "What is it?" the advisor asked a little too gruffly.

  "I am not sure what it means," the soldier answered defensively, "but I thought someone should know about it."

  "Know about what?" the advisor asked impatiently.

  "We were dousing the house with water to make sure the fire did not restart," explained the soldier. "I was going around and checking for hotspots when I noticed something strange. There is a hole in the side of the house."

  Lavitor looked past the soldier at the smoldering ruin. Only one wall was standing, attached to a small portion of a connecting wall. The rest of the structure had collapsed and burned to cinders.

  "There is barely a side of the house left," scowled Lavitor, "and you think a hole in it is significant?"

  "I do," nodded the soldier with a growing sense of concern that he was making a fool of himself. "I have never seen anything like it before, and I have cleaned up after many house fires. Come and take a look. It will take but a moment."

  The soldier turned and headed back towards the burnt house without waiting for a reply. Lavitor fumed at having been so discourteously severed from his contemplation to inspect the damage of a burnt house, but he obligingly followed the soldier towards the last remaining wall of the structure.

  "So there is a hole in the side of the house," snapped Lavitor. "So what? The princess died in that fire. Now, that is something I care about, but the remains of her house hold no interest for me."

  "But maybe she got out of the fire," suggested the soldier. "The only witness to the event was a neighbor, and he said that she did not come back out the back door. Maybe she escaped through the hole in the wall."

  "Anything could have caused that hole," Lavitor shook his head. "The fire could have eaten through the wood faster in the middle, or a burning beam from the roof might have smashed through it. The hole means nothing."

  "But it is a strange hole," argued the soldier. "Look at the edges where the wood is broken. There are no burn marks at all. In fact, the paint is not even blistered from the heat. I have never seen anything like it, and I know that Princess Orenda held the power within her. She might have escaped."

  A brief flicker of hope lit in Lavitor's heart as he moved closer to inspect the hole. Indeed, the edges of the hole were free of any effects of heat or fire. Lavitor reached out and tentatively touched the edges of the wood. He half expected his fingers to burn from the touch, but the wood was as cold as winter ice.

  "Get more men out here immediately," Lavitor ordered with renewed hope. "I want ever inch of this house sifted and examined. I want trackers and dogs to see if they can pick up the scent of the princess."

  "There are only a few men on duty this late at night," replied the soldier. "I will notify the barracks to get everyone down here in the morning."

  "Wake the men up!" shouted Lavitor. "I want every set of eyes out here that I can get. I want a report in my office the moment anything is discovered."

  Without waiting for a response, the king's advisor turned and hurried off in the direction of the palace.

  * * *

  By high sun of the following day, Lavitor was exhausted from a night without sleep. He was sitting at the desk in his office awaiting the next report, when a loud knock hammered the door. He shouted for the person to enter, and the door opened to admit an officer.

  "The royal physician has examined the bones from the fire," the officer reported. "He is convinced that they re
present the remains of Princess Orenda."

  "And what convinces him?" asked the advisor.

  "Everything is consistent with his expectations," reported the officer. "He verified the authenticity of the royal ring from her finger. The skeletal remains show proof of prior injuries including a break to her left forearm from when she was a child. He has no doubts that it is the remains of the princess. I am sorry."

  "As am I," sighed the advisor. "What about Zalman?"

  "No other remains were found in the house," declared the officer. "We cannot even find anyone to verify that the man was in the city at the time of the fire. In fact, few people have ever seen him. He pretty much stayed to himself. The trackers did follow a trail that originated near the standing wall, but they lost it in the surf."

  "Lost it in the surf?" echoed the weary advisor. "Are you suggesting that the man marched out to sea and drowned?"

  "Certainly not," the officer shook his head. "The trackers searched along the beach for some ways and did not find the tracks coming back on land, but that is not to say the man drowned. I imagine if we expanded the scope of the hunt, we would eventually pick up the trail again. How far do you want us to extend this search? Is Zalman a suspect in the fire?"

  "No," sighed Lavitor. "There is no possible reason for Zalman to want the princess dead, still, I would like to know what happened out there last night. Extend the search to the limits of the city, but no further."

  "As you wish," saluted the officer.

  "One other thing," the advisor said as the officer turned to leave. "Find out what village Zalman came from and send a scout up there to see if he has returned. If he has not, have an artist talk to the villagers and construct a picture of the man. I want the picture spread widely throughout Borunda. The man is not to be considered a criminal, but I want him brought to the palace if he is found."

  "And if he resists?" the officer asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "I want him brought to the palace," restated the king's advisor.