“Brother, I must ask for your assistance.” Luyna spoke from the doorway, keen to avoid any further contact with the atmosphere.
Orion was resting close to the bed where a silhouette beneath the sheets was all that could be discerned of the queen’s fragile presence. Luyna could just make out the crescent moon mark on her brother’s face that was the twin of her own.
“The castle is close to rebellion,” Luyna warned.
“I cannot leave,” Orion replied without opening his eyes.
“When will you accept the truth,” Luyna added. “Queen Etherelle is beyond redemption.”
“While she lives, I will remain here,” Orion answered. The weariness could be heard in his voice.
“You expect me to run everything while you sit here,” Luyna accused.
“You brought this on yourself, sister,” Orion remarked.
“Perhaps you are right,” Luyna responded bitterly.
“It is best if I deal with this matter myself.”
Leaving her brother to his vigilance, Luyna decided to seek allegiances elsewhere. Despite her powerful magic she could not hold everything together alone and clearly violence was not the answer. Luyna required a different kind of deterrent. Travelling the empty corridors of the castle, she almost crashed into her twin daughters, Celeste
and Coral. On seeing their mother, the girls grabbed hold of Luyna’s dress in an unusual show of affection.
“Mother, you must punish them,” Celeste cried.
“They were being mean to us,” Coral sobbed.
Luyna had a lot on her mind so found the unexpected intrusion exasperating. However, she dutifully calmed the girls down until they were able to tell her what had happened.
“We were just minding our own business,” Coral started.
“Playing a game,” Celeste inserted.
“When a group of those rotten performers started making fun of us,” Coral continued.
“They said Damselfly sang like a bird and we sang like a cockerel,” Celeste confessed.
“What were you singing?” Luyna enquired.
“Nothing, just a little rhyme we had created,”
Coral defended.
In reality, the twins had been boasting about Damselfly’s exile and had been scolded by Polter and Geist, the acrobats, for doing so. Luyna guessed that her daughters were not quite as innocent as they said, though she was still furious that anyone would have the audacity to discipline her children.
“Don’t worry, girls, I will see to it,” Luyna promised.
Both children had a glint of mischief in their eyes as they watched their mother depart. They would enjoy hearing about how the perpetrators were punished. Hand in hand the girls skipped away singing their song.
The princess is gone,
Leaving the king without an heir.
Who will the crown rest upon?
The Children of the Moon will soon be there.
Luyna was fuelled with indignation at her daughters’ treatment and could not hide her irritation when she came across Tyten.
“What are you doing about this situation?” the sorceress demanded.
“My hands are tied,” the Captain of the Guard replied. “Any show of force from my soldiers will only make matters worse. We need greater powers to deal with this insurrection.”
Luyna understood the sense in Tyten’s request, so the two of them went to find Judge Vale to request greater powers for the castle’s guardians. Judge Vale was locked in his office, too frightened to leave amidst the animosity towards him. He had demanded two soldiers remain with him at all times for his personal protection and even that was not sufficient for him to feel safe. When Luyna suggested a new proclamation giving Tyten’s men greater authority, she found her idea met with skepticism.
“What punishment is going to make them forget?” Vale argued.
“We don’t need them to forget,” Luyna explained. “Just to know that any resistance will have consequences.”
“We cannot lock up the entire castle,” Vale stated.
“We only need to discover what these people most fear,” Luyna revealed.
This thought gave her a fresh insight into the two men who shared her confidence. Tyten famously was driven by a prophecy that foretold his defeat by love. The captain’s whole life had been spent serving his duty and perfecting his own skills. No one in Thronegarden could wield a blade half as well as Tyten, though the captain lived alone and had no close acquaintances.
Judge Vale loved power. He reveled in being respected and lording it over other people. His vanity was Luyna’s best chance at persuading the man to her cause.
“We could outlaw any mention of Damselfly,” Luyna suggested.
“How would you patrol something like that?” Judge Vale questioned.
“My men could do it with the right support,” Tyten agreed.
“What do you think, Vale?” Luyna requested.
“I am not sure.”
“Perhaps if it came from a greater authority,” Luyna considered.
“You mean the king?” Vale questioned.
“No, I mean Chief Justice Vale,” Luyna teased.
Judge Vale’s fear of the mob was lost in his desire for greater accolades, and he readily agreed to Tyten and Luyna’s plan. Any mention of the exiled princess would be a crime and those found guilty would be stripped of their roles. Any further occasions of ingress would result in expulsion from the castle or a term of imprisonment in the castle dungeons.
“That should be enough to deter these reprobates,” Luyna hoped.
“What we really need is an example,” Chief Justice Vale proposed.
“I have just the person in mind,” Luyna revealed, her yellow eyes shining malevolently.
Gregorian the gatekeeper had been the first civilian of Thronegarden to witness Damselfly’s return. Escorted through the Garden Gate by Orion
