‘That isunbelievable!’ replied Llanlorian. ‘A mind wizard of all people!You must be jesting. That would torment Snowbelle to madness.’
‘No I am notjesting. Strange as it may seem that is what has happened.Snowbelle has been becoming increasingly unstable over the last fewyears. I have left her as I can no longer accept her ways.’
‘This mindwizard must be very unusual to incite Miranda to rebel. Tell meabout him.’
‘He seems to bea true shape changer but one like I have never seen. He callshimself Aquitain and is entangled in the strange web of chaoticevents that have recently occurred on Mudrun.’ repliedAllalanllea.
‘Some think heis an Agent of Chaos others are not sure.’
‘What! Thatwould be against the teachings of The Lady. Has he enchanted her insome way?’ exclaimed Llanlorian quite surprised.
‘Yes she isenchanted but not by his mind magic but by his heart. He is astrange one. Chaos occurs around him yet he endeavours to undo theworst of it. He is not mad with rage or filled with hate but speaksof hope and acts out of compassion and duty.’
‘His actionsallowed Jacintra the Chaos cat into Mudrun yet he later banishedJacintra from Mudrun. The elementals think he is a Fount returned.He has made friends amongst the little people yet we would expectan Agent of Chaos to make only enemies.’
‘Perhaps it isa grand deception?’ suggested Llanlorian.
‘Chaos is knownto use deception to great advantage.’
‘It’s possiblethat you are correct, Llanlorian. I’m not sure. Maybe that is whyThe Lady has allied Miranda with him. Perhaps She is waiting andwatching for signs of a grand deception.’
Llanlorian wasvery thoughtful for a minute or two.
‘Perhaps I havemisjudged you. Your motives for your previous actions are clearer.There seems to be great Powers at play here.’ suddenly changing tothe shape of an elderly Elendari woman.
‘Did you allowan Elendari hunter escorting a hooded prisoner to pass through notlong ago? asked Allalanllea.
‘Yes he paidthe toll and seemed harmless enough.’
‘I was informedby one who knew her scent that the prisoner was the PrincessMiranda.’ said Allalanllea.
‘She has beencaught in some trap whether accidental or planned and is now on herway back to her birthplace. I’m worried about her. I’m torn betweentrying to help her or help our people.’
For the firsttime Llanlorian smiled.
‘You sound likea doting nanny. The chance of being accidentally caught in a trapon Mudrun and taken back to her birthplace in Moonmist is too smallto comprehend. There will be a reason, too complex for us to guessbut a reason all the same. You have protected her until she couldchoose her own path. If she is truly involved with an Agent ofChaos not even the gods will know her destiny and there will bemany twists and turns before it becomes clearer.’
Allalanlleapaused for thought.
‘You are rightmy friend. The Lady will watch over Miranda. It is time our peoplebenefited from my skills. I think I shall find out what happened tomy sister. It seems unusual for a Royal Healer to become a rebeland lead attacks on Elendari villages for no apparent reason.’
‘I will let youpass Allalanllea but heed my advice.’ cautioned Llanlorian. ‘Bevery careful. It will not be easy to regain the trust of ourpeople. Long ago you were condemned to death by the High Council.They will not listen to your words as readily as I have.’
‘Thank you, Llanlorian!I will take my leave. There is so much to do. I think I shall needa new identity or two.’
Chapter 14 Guests at DarkmantleEstate
The courtyard wasrelatively deserted. Many of the Lord’s men were searching thesurrounding countryside for information about some man with a limpwho had been seen near the animal house. The word was that he wasinvolved in the disappearance of the Lord’s fighting animals thatwere to be teleported to Queen’s Aurora’s castle for entertainmentat her party. The Queen was going to make an important announcementas well. What was going on? Nobody seemed to know.
‘Milady, youshouldn’t be here? It is extremely dangerous. If he catches you, hewill kill you in a most horrible way. I’ve heard that he hasn’t gotenough animals for the Queen’s ball. After the catastrophe lastnight, he sent out a group of huntsmen to Mudrun to catch somemore, but not all the hunters came back. Apparently, his petwyvern, the Huntmaster and a hunter were trapped there when someoneclosed the gate from the other side. It’s put him in a particularlyfoul mood today.’
Snowbellesmiled and thought. ‘Miranda must have discovered the gate andclosed it. She’s getting skillfull, but a little over confidentlately. Now that she has Aquitain there’ll be no stopping her.’
‘Yes, I supposeyou’re right.’ she said then thought to herself,
‘Nobody seemsto know what you’re up to Wyvern Darkmantle. I think I’ll go to theQueen’s palace and have a look around there. You’ve been involvedwith some Yith, so you’re up to something interesting that’s forsure.’
There was asurge of magic and Snowbelle disappeared only to reappear momentslater near the centre of a hedge maze in the Queen’s garden. Thiswas such a beautiful creation that just the thought of a nightthere excited the minds of many a young Elendari lover beyondimagination.
Its walls weremade of a tall dense olive green thorn bush making it difficult andprickly to pass through. Its pathways were filled with beautifulfloral fragrances and erotic statues. It had soft yellow magicballs lighting the way, hovering over the main branches. The sidebranches had no lights but were filled with flowers thatfluoresced, soft purple, yellow and red colours in the dark. Theside branches also led to dead-ends containing lover’s seats shapedout of living plants that grew beautiful perfumed blossoms whiletwo lovers sat in them.
On either sideof the seat was a funnel shaped plant, one blue and one red. If agold coin was dropped into the red funnel a trixie appeared with aviolin and he played a beautiful laconic love song laced withenough magic to set a fire in the coolest heart. If a gold coin wasdropped
