‘I could haveguessed as much but your intentions were honest and pure so itmakes no difference to me. You are my Captain and still my prince.Will you pledge yourself to me?’
‘Umm. Therecould be a problem. I’m not sure whether it is legal for a creaturelike me to join with a Newman like you.’
Miranda smiled.‘Have you wondered why The Lady reincarnated you as aLlanllean?’
‘Yes I have.’replied Aquitain. ‘I think it is another one of her jokes onus.’
‘Tain, when Iused the Miracle scroll I asked her to make you the same kind as meso that we could fulfil the second condition for lifting thetattoo. She made you a Llanllean and at first I didn’t understandbut it finally sunk in that I might not be a Newman as I hadthought all my life but instead I might be a Llanllean. The tattoois somehow blocking me from turning into my spider form.Allalanllea just confirmed that I was born a Llanllean so we arecurrently the same kind. It doesn’t scare you that I’m a Llanlleandoes it?’
‘No Mandy ifthere’s one thing above everything else I’ve learnt over the lastfew weeks is that beauty comes from within regardless of what youlook like externally. I love you very much and I would be honouredand very pleased to pledge myself to you.’
‘Then it’ssettled. When Allalanllea returns we will go and see the HighWizard to witness our pledges.’ said Miranda happily.
‘Are you sureyou want do this without your mother’s knowledge or consent? She islikely to react quite badly.’ asked Aquitain.
‘I don’t needher consent and we’ll never get her blessing so there is nothing tostop us.’
Aquitainthought for a minute or two. In the last few weeks he had been aNewman, a Logicon slime creature, a bear and now a Llanllean shapechanger. He had done the most extraordinary things and already diedtwice. Miranda was right. Currently they were the same kind. Ifthis was the case they should take advantage of the situation fortomorrow or next week he might be some other creature or even deadagain. Who could tell in a Time of Chaos?
‘You arecompletely right my love. Let’s go and see Featherdown rightnow.’
So theyteleported excitedly to the wizard’s tower, only to find him absentand not expected back until later in the day. Quite disappointed,Aquitain decided it would be prudent to do a little planning abouthow they might keep out of Miranda’s mother’s way.
‘I need tospend some time in the laboratory to make some amulets to preventyour mother from scrying for us.’
‘You mean likethese.’ said Miranda with a smile and showed him the bracelets thatAllalanllea had given her.
‘It seems thatyou and my nanny are thinking along the same lines.’
‘I’m beginningto like your nanny,’ replied Aquitain as he examined thebracelets.
There’s only oneproblem with these of course. If we get separated and we’re wearingthese we may not be able to find each other.
Chapter 6 TheCrossroads
Allalanllea arrivedback in the cave to find that Aquitain and Miranda were no longerthere. At first she worried that something might have happened tothem but there were no signs of disruption in the area. The waterelementals were peacefully swimming around so she settled down onthe rock to wait. It gave her time to think. So much had happenedso quickly.
She was nolonger the Royal Wizard to Queen Snowbelle. Her job caring for andprotecting Miranda had ended. It felt like a great load had beenlifted from her shoulders. There were so many things that she hadwanted to do when she was younger but there were so many problemsin the world. For the first time in memory she was unsure of whatshe should do.
When she sawMiranda and Aquitain appear she hurried over to them.
‘Your motherhas guessed that I wish to return to Moonmist and has alreadyblockaded the southern gateway which will be open for the next twoto three days. If I can’t get through during that period I willhave to wait a month before I can try again.’
‘Couldn’t youfight your way through?’ asked Aquitain.
‘What and killpeople that I have known for years? No, I will not do that. Wouldyou?’
‘I guess not.’he replied thinking about what he would do if he had to fight hisway through his grandfather’s guards who he had known all hislife.
‘Do you knowthe universal coordinates for a location on Moonmist perhaps youcould create a temporary gateway to there?’ asked Aquitain.
‘Curiously, Ihave never heard of anyone ever creating a temporary gateway toMoonmist and have no idea of the universal coordinates as I’vealways had free access to Snowbelle’s gateway and that’s beenblocked at the Moonmist end by her enemies for the last twoweeks.’
‘There’ssomething strange happening there but even Snowbelle can’t find outwhat it is. I’ve heard that the Elendari Queen has accused theLlanlleans of treachery and that is very unusual as they’ve nevertaken sides in any of the Elendari politics that happensthere.’
‘Do you thinkthat the Elendari Champion’s Sceptre might have anything to do withit?’ asked Miranda cautiously.
‘That’sunlikely. Your mother has had the Champion’s Sceptre ever since shetook it from King Thoras over a hundred Mudrun years ago. However,if one of the Lords ever managed to get hold of it then that mightcause a shift in power there.’
‘She hasn’t gotit anymore.’ replied Miranda.
‘She gave it toQueen Beatrix for some reason and a few days ago it was stolen fromher. Aquitain found it when we captured the Temple a few daysago.’
‘That’s right!Now that you mention it she did give it to Queen Beatrix as a tokenof the alliance between them. By the Gods! Your mother doesn’t knowit’s missing yet. She would have told me if she did. That suggeststhat Queen Beatrix is afraid to tell her. Where is it now?’
Miranda thoughtfor a few moments. ‘I used it to kill the druids at the sanctuaryand for some reason left it there when I left. Quab would probablyhave it or perhaps he would have given it to Featherdown.’
‘You actuallyused it and left it lying around on the ground?’ repliedAllalanllea aghast at the thought.
‘Anyone couldhave just picked it up and walked
