Gradually the panic in the hall passed and the guests calmed down. Maica cried over the body of Mayle.Slowly the guests anger at her act of retaining them in the hall receded and was replaced by their compassion. They approached Maica and helped her up and into a chair.King Dulman from the kingdom of Fordor assumed control briefly and ordered the guards to remove Mayle’s body to his chambers. Meerde was present and confirmed preliminarily that Mayle’s death was due to poison.The guests gradually calmed down and left for their chambers.Maica remained seated at the table of honor, or what was left of it until the last of the guests had departed the hall to their chambers. Only then did Maica retire to her chambers.Maica sent m

Maica sat in the great hall on the throne next to the throne of King Mayle which was covered in black velvet as a sign of mourning.She had already sent for the high priest and asked him to expedite the coronation officially making her the queen of Ethlerry. She added that since she was carrying the dead king’s child, succession was clear and should be granted without objection.The high priest was reluctant to do so stating that the nobles of the kingdom had to come together to vote to confirm the coronation.Maica pointed out that she knew the process but reiterated the dire situation with the kingdom being attacked already following the death of King Mayle. The kingdom needed a clear leader as soon as possible. It would not do to lose the kingdom to an enemy while people pressed their right and title to the throne.

As they rode in silence, Shay and Fiere both thought of their fathers.Shay regretted her anger at her father for not telling her about what had really happened with her mother’s disappearance. She thought of how distant he had become back on earth and wished she had done more, tried to do more to help him.He had no doubt been dealing with guilt of lying to Shay while he searched frantically to find Rhian. And as he had closed himself off, she had done nothing but accept it eventually. She could have tried harder to pull him out of his self imposed isolation. But she hadn’t. She had been too busy with her own life and her own concern initially and then anger and confusion at why her mother had left.And yet, her mother had left of her own volition. She had made her own choice. Betrayed them both and left them to wond

Food was brought for them and they ate outside the tent that had been allocated to them to explore the book and find a suitable location to which the army could move near the castle. They ate in silence and Shay couldn’t help but look up at the stars. She wondered if one of the stars she could see were Earth or if she was in an entirely different universe. The stars were quite sparse compared to what she remembered from the milky way on Earth. She had the opportunity to look up at an unpolluted night sky when she had camped with her friends and had been amazed by the beauty and magnitude of the milky way. Yet under this sky, the stars were few. She did not doubt that the night sky held even less pollution than when she had seen the Milky Way while camping. The stars should therefore be brighter. And the ones that she could see were brighter. But there were so many fewer stars than what she was used to. Another thought struck her then. If she was in the same universe had she

She awoke with a start in the early hours of the morning. Her lamp had burned out and she asked the guard to relight it. Refreshed, she continued reading. In the book, she found much information. According to the story, Maica had plotted with Algwad to overthrow the kingdom. They had plotted together to kill King Mayle and succeeded after which they threw the kingdom into war immediately to set aside any opposition to Maica being crowned queen. The war, however, was not the war they fought now. Algwad had been with Maica all the way. He had not betrayed her. On the contrary, they plotted and succeeded in ruling the kingdom at war for many years. Maica’s hurried coronation which set aside the normal procedure for the coronation of a new ruler became lost in time as the kingdom fought a war begun by Maica and Algwad against an invading army. There was no invasion from another army as yet as far as Shay was aware. This war should have commenced in the last few d