Finding the throne room was not as easy as Alaron had thought. The Castle Valiant was an intricate pattern of rooms, but the prince had grown up knowing how to navigate it. These caverns were a mix of natural and gnome-made. They were unpredictable. Add to this the fact that he had no bearings because he was underground, and Alaron was utterly lost.His nose caught the scent of food, and his stomach growled. If the prince was lost anyway, he may as well not starve. But then Alaron remembered that the real Lukoss was heading to the royal kitchen. If this were the same place, that could be a problem. "If it happens, I will deal with it," the boy muttered.Quietly, Alaron crept into the large cavernous kitchen. There were trays of food on the counters that a dozen beautiful ladies were preparing and plating. Alaron stuffed some of the contents of one of the plates in his mouth. They were so delicious that the boy groaned. One of the ladies looked his way, but seeing that he appeared to b

Zan walked into the Empress's personal garden. "There you are, Your Majesty!" he said with a deep bow. "The entire Palace is looking for you."Aurora, Brinn and Mairwen were surprised by his sudden entry. His skills as a Guardian made him unnervingly undetectable. "Is something wrong?" The Empress asked with her brow furrowed.Zan did not answer right away. He ghosted away to call off the search. The three ladies exchanged glances. They had told Nurlan and Eira that they did not want to be found. It seemed that the two had done too good a job of 'losing' them. "My apologies," Zan said as he materialized once more. "It occurs to me that I am disturbing you."Aurora waved her hand to call him near. "You are most welcome, Cheif Zan. What have you come to say?""Two things, Your Majesty. The first being that we have rounded up the last of the names that Duchess Ravenna was persuaded to give us." The Chief shifted uncomfortably."Unfortunately for every traitor we catch, two more seem to s

"I would be happy to provide passage," Polymedes gulped. "My boat is always available."Devrim narrowed his gaze. "Do you perchance know how the eagle carries passengers across the lake?"The faun nodded slowly. "I do, actually. But she is busy with her hatchlings today. I cannot call her just now.""Polymedes!" Phoca was angry. She did not know that he was the source of the carrier eagles. Their interactions had always been at the dock."I am sorry, my lady," Polymedes apologized. "But I do have many businesses. A faun has got to eat.""Then we must go by boat: is that what you are saying?" Devrim asked for clarification."It is, good sir, but I promise my boats never sink. You will be quite safe," the faun swore with his hand in the air."I know we will be, because you are coming with us," Devrim gave a mischievous grin. The faun's eyes nearly popped out of his head."N-no. I must watch the dock in case I have other customers in need of passage." Polymedes took several steps away, h

Having made it to the shore nearest the gnome's entrance, Devrim and Gandr carefully slunk until they could find a spot to watch the entrance to the cave unobserved. The first hours were uneventful. Finally the two got comfortable enough that they began to whisper."How well do you know those tunnels?" Devrim asked."I have been through most of them. But it has been eight years since I last set foot in those halls." Gandr's voice was tinged with sadness."Is that where you were between our run-in with Cafer and you deciding to join spymaster Brinn?" Devrim had always been curious, but Gandr only ever responded that he was righting some wrongs.The halfling gave a brief nod. "I freed as many of their slaves as would leave, and spent time looking for an elf that I left behind in the dungeon. I never found her. I hope she escaped on her own, but..." his voice trailed off."You cannot be sure," Devrim finished the thought. He patted the halfling on the arm. "Not knowing is even worse than

Devrim ducked in and out of caverns and passages, trying to find any trace of either Gandr or Alaron. The greyish light of the underground world meant that he couldn't hide in the shadows; there were none. There were very few gnomes around, which the Emperor found strange.The couple of beings that Devrim did run into refused to make eye contact. Instead they scurried along to make sure that they would not be seen with a possible intruder. The Emperor was thankful for their silence. After a much longer walk than he had bargained for, Devrim could hear a crowd jeering around the next bend. Pulling the hood of his cloak tight, the Emperor braved the crowd of gnomes, stooping to be closer to their height.It quickly became clear that the group was shouting and throwing mushy food at a poor creature on a pedestal. He was so covered in dripping pulp that Devrim at first did not recognize him. Then the bulky figure looked up and the Emperor could see Grisley's marred visage looking out sull