‘By the gods, this is sounding worse and worse. It sounds likewe could be in the middle of a Yith invasion, what are we going todo?’
‘The key to the Yith problem is Argenta. We need to recapturethat back. Are you a gatekeeper there?’
‘No, I thought ... mother said that there could only be onegatekeeper at a time.’ said Miranda.
‘Apparently she didn’t know there could be more than one.Llanlorian made me a gatekeeper on Astaria while she was still agatekeeper herself, so we’ll need your mother’s help to getin.’
‘The Yith might also have been the ones that captured my gateworld, so we’ll have to capture it back as well, and then we candeal with the Mentarin.’
‘By the gods, we’re going to be busy.’ chuckledMiranda.
‘We’ll have to raise an army and to do that I’ll have to beQueen.’
‘So you really want to be Queen do you?’ asked Aquitain. ‘Ithought that was all some sort of game.’
‘It was before, but now it’s different. Gemelica is on theside of the Mentarin and we need to unify the Elendari and theLlanlleans, which are now all my people. They all know Darkmantle,with help from him and with you as my champion; we will be able todo it!’
‘By the Powers, if they wanted chaos they’ll get it with youMandy. If you want to be Queen, then Queen you’ll be! I only hopewe live to enjoy the benefits. I’d really love sitting up on ourthrones watching all those naked women enter the ball room wearingonly their glamour.’ said Aquitain
‘Oh. No you won’t! If I’m Queen then I will stop that stupididea. They will all have to wear clothes!’
‘Princess Miranda, Lord Warden, we’re almost at the Hidden Onesettlement called Banshee.’ said Navarro.
‘May I suggest that the Princess reforms as a Newman and youall cover your faces. The Hidden Ones all wear a chafra like Gizel.While the Elendari don’t mind showing their bodies to anyone, theHidden Ones prefer absolute personal privacy and there may beproblems if you are uncovered. May I also suggest Lord Warden thatyou don’t let it be known that you can see through theirchafras.
Miranda laydown so that Tigerlilly could get off then shifted to her MirandaNewman body form.
‘Okay.’ replied Miranda, ‘I have no problems with that.’ andshe created an illusory chafra with a hood over herself and anotherover Tigerlilly.’
‘That’s new.’ said Aquitain. ‘When did you learn to createillusions?’
‘When I was being tortured by Pendergrass and the guards.’ shereplied. ‘Thanks for sending Binki to help me when I was beingtortured. I don’t know what would have happened withouthim.’
‘Binki?’ queried Aquitain.
‘Oh sorry.’ she chuckled. ‘That’s what I called him.’ And sheopened her hand and a small green bear appeared and looked atAquitain with interest.’
‘I remember now Mandy. I didn’t know where you were so I sentlittle illusory construct shaped like a passion flower using adream sending to remind you of our love. They usually only last ashort while after they have been received but you have changed andreinforced it somehow making it last longer. You could have sent itback with a message if you wished.’
‘Really! I never knew that. Perhaps if I need you in a hurryin the future then I can send it.’ she replied.
‘It is likely to be a part of your sorcerous abilities. Canyou remember creating illusions when you were younger before youbecame a druid?’ he asked.
‘No, but come to think of it. I used to imagine stormsstarting and growing before they did. Maybe they were likeillusions that changed to become reality.’
Navarroproduced a small wooden wand and cast a glamour shaped like achafra on himself.
Five minuteslater the party crossed a flat bare piece of rocky ground andstopped at a sturdy wooden gate set in a mossy grey stonewall alittle taller than a Newman. A dim yellow magic ball held in abracket over the gate illuminated the area around the gate forseveral paces.
Two stonegargoyles were standing on the stone wall, one on each side of thegate. A bell rang and a minute or two later a welcoming party oftwo chafra clad people came out of the gate one bearing a lantern.They whispered briefly with Gizel, and then with Navarro, beforefinally inviting the group in through the gate.
On either sideof the path were rows of plants of various types.
‘I recognize some these plants.’ said Miranda. ‘They havemedicinal properties.’
Further downthe dirt path were some stone buildings, with roofs that coveredwith slate tiles. They passed several small grey rock buildings andstopped outside a larger one that was near a cliff face, which roseup above them. The guide whispered briefly to Navarro thenleft.
‘We are to wait in this building until after moonrise.’ saidNavarro.
They enteredthe building through a coarse cloth curtain and found four simplewooden bunks; a table and several chairs. On the table was apitcher of water, some rough ceramic mugs, a box containing somefood and a lantern. Rather than use the lantern Navarro rested hislight staff against the wall and sat down on a chair. Miranda satopposite him and poured herself a mug of water and sampled somefood then called Tigerlilly over and fed her some food anddrink.
‘I haven’t been here before.’ said Navarro starting up aconversation.
‘I’ve visited Rosanllea several times over the past couple ofyears but always at the other settlement which is smaller than thisone. She’s an excellent healer and has brought a lot of relief bothphysical and mental to the suffering among the Hidden Ones. She hasa special interest in problems of the mind and has been able tohelp several runaway slaves forget their mistreatment at the handsof the Mentarin.’
‘What do you know about the Hidden Ones.’ askedMiranda
‘From what I have heard they were predominantly rejects fromElendari society. Initially they were people that disagreed withtheir Lords or the Queen and were banished. They gathered in smallgroups and fought amongst one another until a very brutal Lord wasbanished by the Queen. He and several of his guards joined
