King Remine was back in Monteg. He was standing in the foyer with Queen Gwen and Princess Rada looking at him as though they had just seen a ghost; with Loque Bella and Prince Mangus standing on the side looking on."Impossible," Princess Rada said. "You were dead . . . We saw you. There was blood everywhere . . . You were dead.""I was dead but I came back," King Remine said."How?" Prince Mangus asked."I guess the fayagan blood in me could not allow me to die and so I came back.""I didn't know fayagan's could bring themselves back to life," Princess Rada said."They can't. You forget that I am half fayagan and half chryzome. My fayagan half can't bring me back to life but my chryzome half can and it did.""Goodness it's like seeing a ghost.""It really is," Prince Mangus agreed and King Remine just chuckled."It's good to be back home and to see my family. To see my love, my beautiful love come to me. I have missed y

Later that night, the palace was quiet as everyone was fast asleep. In his room Prince Mangus was sleeping peacefully when suddenly someone crept into his room and began to gently shake him awake."Wake up Mangus . . . Wake up," a voice whispered and when Prince Mangus opened his eyes there was someone sitting on his bed."Mother," he said."Keep your voice down Mangus.""What are you doing in here? Oh goodness is something wrong?" he asked and quickly sat up."Yes. Something is very wrong and if it is not fixed I'm afraid it will lead to the death of many.""What's going on mother?""My darling it's your father," Queen Gwen said."Has something happened to him?""No, I left him in bed sleeping.""What's wrong then?" Prince Mangus asked."You have to take her and leave.""What?""You have to take her and leave now," she said."Take who?""The moon essence. You must take her away

Loque Bella reached for her hand bag and dug into it looking for something, falling over even. She couldn't see it and so she lifted her hand bag upside down and offloaded its contents onto the floor. She then started scattering them about looking on and spotting what she was looking for she gasped. It was the card Gorette gave her of The Winding Times clock shop and giving it a big kiss Loque Bella then stood up and rushed out of her apartment.Outside, she ran down the street to The Winding Times clock shop and burst in. There were clocks of different shapes, sizes and colours ticking away on the shelves and looking around for a bit, Loque Bella walked further in and approached the empty front desk."Hello?" she called out and hit the bell. "Hello!""Coming," a voice said from the back door and a moment later someone walked out of it. It was Gorette; not at all looking the way she was looking the last time she saw her but clean and elegantly dressed like she w

Loque Bella's world went black and quiet. But in that blackness she began to hear something in the distance; a sound that got closer and louder. It was the sound of the wind blowing through the trees.Suddenly opening her eyes, light came to them. Her vision was blurry for a few seconds but then it started to clear up.She was lying on her back with her eyes on the celing. She was in a house by the looks of it a small house, sleeping on a small mattress on the floor.Loque Bella sat up. She looked through the window at the wind blowing through the trees and then around the room. There was a double bed to her left, a closet in the corner where clothes were hung and neatly folded and a staircase leading downstairs.She looked at herself. Her hands first and then down at her chest, placing her hand right where King Remine's sword pierced through her flesh even and just sat there to herself for a good while with a wondered look on her face.What was ha

Night time came and at the dining table, Loque Bella and Marius sat eating dinner; lamb soup and freshly baked bread with a glass of water on the side.Marius was eating but Loque Bella was just sitting there playing with her food; with her eyes puffy from having cried the whole day."You should eat," Marius said."I'm not hungry," Loque Bella responded."You need to eat so that you can gain your strength.""Strength for what? Strength to do what? With me so completely far away from home it's as good as being dead. I should have just stayed dead.""No. You don't mean that," he said."Yes I do. I'd rather be dead than be here wherever here is.""That's not a very nice thing to say.""No it's not but I don't want to be here. I'm sure Quentin is a lovely place but it is not my home and I want to go home. And if I can't go home and here is where my life is now then I don't want it and I would rather be dead than stay here aw