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  "Did someone else help him perhaps?" questioned the wisper.

  "No," Lavitor shook his head. "Over the last few months I have suspected that Zinan might be doing Garrick's work for him, so I took steps to ensure that Zinan did not interfere."

  "And what steps did you take?" interrogated the wisper.

  "Zinan was confined to the palace," explained the king's advisor. "He could watch out the window and see what Garrick was doing, but he could not communicate with his cousin. I am sure of that."

  Naveena grinned with the acknowledgement that Zinan's skills had progressed to the point of conquering the separation of short distances.

  "I didn't realize that the boys were taking up so much of your time," Naveena said soothingly. "You have done exceedingly well in preparing them for their futures. Perhaps I was wrong to force you to arise so early. Go back to bed. I will take care of the boys today. Their lessons with you will be canceled."

  "Are you sure?" Lavitor asked hopefully. "I really could use the extra sleep."

  "Then let it be so," Naveena smiled. The wisper leaned down and kissed Lavitor before turning and leaving the room.

  Naveena marched straight to Zinan's suite, but the boy had already risen. She searched for over an hour, but none of the servants or guards had any idea where the prince was. No one had seen him. Eventually, she strolled into the library and halted at the sight before her.

  Prince Zinan sat in a large leather chair with a pile of books on the table beside him. He held a single book and appeared to be deeply engrossed in it. Two young female servants were also present. One knelt on the floor before the chair and was painstakingly washing the prince's feet. The other held a bowl of fruit and was slowly feeding the prince as he read.

  "Studying?" Naveena barked harshly. "Or are you more involved than that?"

  Zinan jumped to his feet and dropped his book as he turned to stare at the doorway. The woman who had been washing the prince's feet fell backwards, spilling the bowl of water onto the floor.

  "You scared me," Zinan gasped defensively. "I was just preparing for today's lessons."

  The wisper waved for the women to leave, but neither one of them moved. She frowned at being ignored, but a smile crept over the prince's face. He looked at each woman in turn and they both abruptly left the room.

  "You will soon be the king's advisor," scolded Naveena. "As such, you should never consort with the staff of the palace. Do you have any idea how quickly rumors can fly in such a place as this?"

  "You consort with the king's advisor," Zinan pointed out.

  "I am not a servant," snapped Naveena. "A wisper is a highly regarded member of the court. Do not try to make excuses for your behavior."

  "I don't need excuses," grinned Zinan. "Neither of those women will remember a thing about being in here with me. You are the only one who shares my secret. Did you not understand that they were under my spell when they refused your order to leave?"

  Naveena was stunned. "You do not use the Talent for such purposes," she admonished, but the fervor had deserted her tone.

  "Nonsense," shrugged Prince Zinan. "The Talent is to be used, or it is worthless. If I can utilize the Talent to gain an advantage in any circumstance, I am obligated to do so. Is that not what you have done here?"

  Naveena's mouth fell open and she stared at the young prince for his audacity, but his words struck a cord of truth in her. She had indeed used the Talent to manipulate the entire palace to her liking, but she had never once thought of it as wrong. It was only when she had seen Zinan abusing the Talent that truth came before her eyes.

  "There are dangers in using the Talent, Zinan," cautioned Naveena. "It is a power much greater than any mortal. It can consume you."

  Even as she mouthed the words, a pain seared within her body. Naveena bent over in agony and dropped to her knees. Her eyes closed in pain, and she fought the urge to scream out in anguish.

  "I have no problem using the Talent," Zinan said calmly as he watched the wisper's face contort in pain. "Perhaps you are not strong enough to contain its power."

  Naveena gasped for breath as the final ravages of pain sped through her body. A moment later, the pain was gone. With tears in her eyes, she looked up and saw the prince staring at her with disinterest. She wiped her eyes and rose to her feet.

  "You will not misuse the power like that again," she said sternly. "I have not spent my life training you to have you waste it on such trivialities."

  "What have you trained me for?" asked the prince. "Years ago you promised me adventure and excitement if I studied hard and long. Well, I have done as you requested, and I have yet to see my reward."

  "You have fulfilled your end of the bargain," agreed Naveena as she weakly walked to a chair and sat down. "Today, I will take steps to fulfill my end of the bargain. Before I do, there is one matter that must be taken care of, and it is one that you must accomplish."

  "Tell me," Prince Zinan smiled with anticipation.

  "Prince Garrick must demand that I be named his regent," explained the wisper. "Can you guarantee that?"

  "Easily," shrugged Zinan. "Garrick has no ability to withstand my attacks. His mind is like putty in my hands. What do you plan to do?"

  "That is not your concern," Naveena replied evasively. "Just make sure that you succeed with your part. Your future adventure and excitement depends upon it."

  Naveena did not wait for a response. She rose from the chair and promptly left the library. The episode in there had made her feel weak and uncomfortable. She slowly made her way back to her suite, her mind replaying the scene in the library over and over. While the pain had made no sense to her at first, she was sure that the Talent induced it, but her mind refused to delve deeper into the mystery. It was as if there was a wall deep within her mind that could not be looked beyond.

  Naveena opened the door to her suite and found Lavitor talking to General Ortega, the head general of the Borunda army. Both men looked towards the door as she entered.

  "Good news, Naveena," smiled Lavitor. "A guard in the city of Koar thinks he saw Zalman a few days ago. I am sending a squad of soldiers and a tracker to pick up the trail. With any luck, we will have him in custody soon."

  "Was Flori also sighted?" asked the wisper.

  "Just Zalman," the general shook his head. "We will interrogate him when he is arrested. We will find out what happened to your sister."

  "Arrested?" balked Naveena. "I thought the instructions were to kill him on sight?"

  "We can always kill him when we are done interrogating him," shrugged the general. "What is the rush?"

  "How many times in the past fifteen years have you almost captured the murderer of Princess Orenda?" snapped Naveena. "Has it been fifty? A hundred? Maybe two hundred? It is so many that I have lost count. Just follow your orders, General. Kill the man before he becomes an even greater embarrassment to your army. Do you understand?"

  The general's eyes narrowed and his hand fiddled with his mustache, but he did not verbally respond to the wisper's tirade. Lavitor felt the tension in the air and stepped between Naveena and the general. He faced General Ortega and spoke softly, but firmly.

  "Send out the squad," ordered the king's advisor. "Their orders are to execute Zalman as soon as he is captured. It is well past the time to put this sordid episode in our nation's history to rest. There will be no need for interrogations. Zalman has nothing left to tell us."

  "Very well," grumbled the general. "The orders will be given now that they have been received from a proper authority."

  General Ortega cast one final glance of defiance at the wisper and marched out of the room. Lavitor sighed heavily when the door closed. He walked to a chair and sat down.

  "You must remember your position in the palace," Lavitor said softly. "You are the wisper, and while that is a well respected position, it is not one of influence in the policies of the kingdom. A simple whisper to me could have resulted in the same ending without drawing the ange
r of General Ortega."

  "Why should I care how the general feels about me?" scowled Naveena. "Besides, I am not only the wisper, but the wife of the king's advisor. What is the general going to do about it? Is he going to complain to you about my attitude?"

  "Naveena," pleaded Lavitor, "don't make everything so difficult. There are proper protocols to be observed in any palace. It is the way things are done in the civilized world. Is that too much to ask?"

  "I suppose not," conceded Naveena. "I am sorry."

  "Let's forget it," offered the king's advisor. "It is over and done with. I thought you were going to be with the boys today? Why have you come back here?"

  "I just left Zinan," answered Naveena. "He was in the library studying for today's lessons."

  "Studying for today's lessons?" echoed the king's advisor. "That rascal is trying to discover arcane laws to trip me up. That is what he is doing. No longer am I testing his knowledge, but rather he is testing mine."

  "Perhaps," laughed Naveena. "He did mention something about wills, and that prompts the question. Has King Eugeon executed another will since the one he penned five years ago?"

  "No," Lavitor shook his head. "I would not even think to ask for another one. I am just grateful that you managed to get him to agree to the last one. Why do you ask?"

  "I was just curious," smiled Naveena as she rose and stood facing Lavitor. "Then you are still named as regent?"

  "Of course," nodded the king's advisor. "I am already running the kingdom anyway, so it makes a great deal of sense."

  "Yes, it does," Naveena said in a monotone voice as she stared into her husband's eyes. "There is something that you must do today. Listen closely."

  Lavitor stood facing his wife with a bland expression, his eyes glazed over. Her words flowed softly in a monotone that could not be heard a few feet away, but the king's advisor offered no reply, nor did he give any indication that he even heard her words.

  When she was done, Naveena turned and left the room. There were no words of farewell, nor any promise to see him later. The wisper moved swiftly through the halls of the palace and down the stairs. As she approached the office of General Ortega, she grabbed a nearby servant.

  "The king has ordered a bath," she said to the servant. "Arrange it immediately."

  Without waiting for a response, Naveena continued on her way and entered the general's office. The general looked up and recognized the wisper. His expression betrayed his displeasure of the visitor.

  "I came to apologize for my outburst earlier," Naveena said without preamble. "It was uncalled for, and I am sorry for my words."

  The general's brow wrinkled with puzzlement as he gazed at his visitor. His hand ran over his baldhead as if he were searching for the words to say in response to the apology.

  "I guess I get so passionate when I think of Zalman and the hurt that he has brought to both the royal family and my own, that I forget my station," Naveena continued. "You cannot imagine how embarrassed I am about my behavior."

  General Ortega blinked and his lips quivered between a smile and a frown. It was as if he could not decide if what he was hearing was the truth or not.

  "You must understand my position, General," the wisper continued. "I have had the responsibility of raising two very special boys. Those boys are the future of this country, and I love them both dearly, but it pains me everyday to think of the reason for my being in the palace. If Zalman had not perpetuated a gross, malignant evil upon this country, those two sweet boys would still have mothers alive to take care of them. There is not a day that goes by that I don't wish I could shove a knife into Zalman's body and twist it with all my might. I know that is not the proper way for a member of the Court of Borunda to feel, but it is exactly the way any mother would feel towards an evil person that had harmed her child."

  "And you have grown to be their mother," the general nodded sympathetically. "I do think I now understand you, Naveena. I am sorry for having misjudged you in the past."

  "It is not your fault, General," Naveena smiled meekly. "I too often give little regard to how others see me, and one cannot be blamed for getting the wrong impression of me. It is entirely my fault. I should be more conscious about appearances, but frankly, raising two strong-willed boys is an extremely time-consuming job. They are both extremely intelligent and that keeps me on my toes at all times."

  "Well," the general smiled warmly, "I have to admit that you have done a magnificent job. Prince Garrick impressed everyone last week with his new duty roster. Frankly, I had to scold some officers for failing to notice the needed reforms before the young prince pointed them out. Both you and Lavitor are to be congratulated on the fine young men you are preparing for this country's future."

  "I thank you for your warms words," smiled Naveena. "I will make it a point to relay them to the king's advisor. Perhaps it will lift his spirits. Frankly, I am worried about him, General."

  "Worried?" frowned General Ortega. "About Lavitor? Why?"

  "I think he is losing his mind," sighed Naveena. "He has daily nightmares and wakes up sweating. One minute he is kissing me passionately, and the next he is beating me horribly. There is something terribly wrong with him, and I don't know what to do."

  "This is the first that I have heard of this," replied the general. "Are not your wisper skills capable of helping him?"

  "I have tried," sighed Naveena, "but I cannot find the source of his dementia. If it gets any worse, I may have to have him locked away for his own safety. He gets so violent sometimes."

  "Locked away?" echoed the general. "Surely things have not gotten that bad?"

  Shouts rang through the corridor outside the office, and the general rose from his chair as if that would enable him to hear better. The shouts were indistinguishable, but they clearly indicated some type of calamity. Loud footsteps rose above the shouting, and the door to the general's office flew open. A panting officer stood in the doorway. His face was a mask of remorse.

  "The king is dead!" he shouted across the room.

  "Report," demanded the general.

  "Servants were preparing a bath for the king," The officer said after he caught his breath. "As they brought in the last buckets of water, they found the king with a knife plunged into his chest."

  "An assassin!" gasped the general. "Shut down the palace immediately. No one enters or exits without my express permission."

  "There is no need," the officer shook his head. "The assassin was still in the room when the servants returned. We have him in custody."

  "And how did he gain entrance to the palace?" inquired the general.

  "He lives here," frowned the officer. "The assassin is the king's advisor, Lavitor."

  "Oh, mercy!" wailed Naveena. "Oh, no! This cannot be," she added as she collapsed to the floor and fainted.

  A sudden silence filled the room as the general thought about the ramifications of the officer's report. While the silence lasted less than a minute, it seemed an eternity to those present. Finally, the general's training broke the silence.

  "I still want the palace sealed," ordered the general. "Lavitor is to be put in a cell immediately. There will be no consideration of his station, and make sure that he is not capable of harming himself. I want him guarded every minute. Escort the wisper to her suite, and post a guard outside. She is not to be disturbed until she feels well enough to emerge on her own."

  "As you command," saluted the officer as he moved to pick up the unconscious wisper.

  "I also want the council of advisors to assemble," the general continued. "Send two officers to Lavitor's office. Find the king's will and bring it to me."

  "Two officers?" questioned the officer.

  "Two," nodded the general. "I will take no chances of anyone tampering with the king's last wishes. No one person is to be in custody of the will until it is read to the council, not even myself."

  The officer nodded and picked up the unconscious wisper. He carried her out of the office a
nd began shouting orders to soldiers milling in the corridor. Within moments the palace was sealed, and the will was delivered to the general. The general ordered the two officers to remain in his office until he was informed that the council had assembled. When word arrived, General Ortega and the two officers marched to the council chambers. The general placed the will on the table and dismissed the officers.

  "Gentlemen," General Ortega addressed the council. "The king is dead. As the assassin was the king's advisor, I have taken it upon myself to obtain the king's will and deliver it to the council."

  "Lavitor?" gasped one of the advisors. "That is impossible."

  "It may be impossible," the general shook his head, "but he was caught in the act. The servants found him holding the bloody knife. Lavitor's wife also informed me that the king's advisor had been acting strange and violent recently. In fact, we were discussing it when the murder occurred. I fear we were too late to help Lavitor."

  "And certainly too late to save the king," remarked one of the advisors. "Are we certain that these are the king's last wishes?"

  "We are," nodded the general. "Two officers seized it immediately upon the death of the king, and they have not left my side until I just dismissed them."

  "Then let us proceed swiftly to appoint a regent," suggested another advisor. "Borunda must not spend a day without a rightful ruler."

  "I agree," nodded the general as he pushed the will towards one of the advisors.

  The advisor opened the will and read it aloud. It was a fairly short document and left everything to Prince Garrick as everyone expected it would. Neither was anyone surprised that Lavitor was named the regent for the young prince, but one stipulation did raise a few eyebrows.

  "He wanted Prince Garrick to choose his regent should Lavitor not survive him?" questioned an advisor. "That is most unusual. The lad is only fifteen. What does he know of such things?"