Victoria\'s POV

I saw Cassie go off with Maland, and only then could I heave a sigh of relief. God only knows, where Mike is now? I wonder if he went back to the University or someplace else. He had his memories wiped off, that means he shall remember nothing about me. The thought disturbed me somehow, I wasn\'t particularly glad contemplating a second reunion with my brother. What shock would it be to him, to be confronted with a sister whom he thought was dead, twice?!

It was one of the reasons I had not volunteered to go with Maland. I wanted to spare Mike the nasty shock of seeing me alive, and also I thought it would be better if Cassie were to break the news to him. I have never been particularly sensitive when it comes to revealing something, and Mike didn\'t need my help discovering the truth.

Also, the more important reason why I had chosen to stay was Magnus. I had talked to Cassie earlier about it, and we had decided unanimously, that it\'s for everyone\'s best that Magnus remains hidden for the time being. With Cassie gone now, Magnus can be safely disguised as her and presented before the Queen without raising her suspicions. We had decided that until Cassie returns, I am to keep a watch on Magnus and try to hold the deceptions in place.

And, try and find Sofosys while I am doing all these. I had last spoken to him when I had made my detour outside the palace and after that, I neither had the opportunity nor the freedom to meet with him. I suspect he\'s in hiding now, the Queen\'s orders had specifically incriminated him for the crimes that I had committed, and she seems convinced that Sofosys had a role to play in Magnus\' escape.

The whole search team is looking for them, while Magnus lay safely in my room. But, I have to be more careful, I thought….. Magnus is a very cunning creature, he will definitely attempt to escape and if I am not on my guards all the time, he may even be successful. I was thankful for the charm that bound me to him, even though it discomforted me to be bound to his soul, but there were no better options.

I was rather worried about my brother now. As far as I had heard from Maland, Mike is more probably a Goblin than a fairy. That creates more questions than it answers. For example, how is it possible, that both of are Goblins and both of us belong to the same family but with different lineages? I was adopted and Mike was a natural son, yet we both are not Human. Mike\'s real mother hardly spoke of her first husband, and as a result, Mike never got to know about him.

He doesn\'t even know his father\'s name, let alone ever seeing a photo of his. I found it quite incredible, that Mike\'s mother would forego any mention if her previous relationship, or would destroy anything related to it. Was the relationship so painful to her? And, more importantly, was Mike\'s original father a Goblin then?

There was no way to know now, and I contemplated all the options while I walked back to my room. On opening the door, the first thing that I saw was Magnus reading the Queen\'s diary, a deep frown on his face as she carefully flipped through the pages.

I let out an yelp, and Magnus dropped the diary in astonishment. He looked up, immediately on his guard, and seemed rather relieved to see me at the door.

"Oh! It\'s you." He said, casually reclining against the bedpost, "I thought I had been discovered!"

"I had put you to sleep!" I said, angrily shutting the door behind me, "How did you wake up on your own? Now, don\'t try to be oversmart okay? You know very well that you cannot escape this place."

Magnus looked mildly amused.

"Yes, I know. Your soul is bound to me so you will no where I am. And, why would I try and escape? I have nowhere to go, and everywhere I go I will be hunted. I think, I am rather safe here, with you."

He smiled flirtatiously.

I flinched at his comment, trying to ignore his rather intense stare.

He continued, "Your spell broke off on it\'s own. I think you weren\'t putting your mind into it while you performed it. You were careless, and distracted. Now, tell me what the reason behind such gross distraction?"

I frowned but answered anyway. I told him about Mike\'s fate, how the Queen had decided to punish him by sending him on Earth and removing all his memories. When I had finished, Magnus still continued to stare at me with his electrifying blue eyes.

"That\'s a pity." He declared at last, "I rather liked that boy. He was….what to say, spirited. The Queen shouldn\'t go around punishing everyone who gives her the slightest inconvenience. And, he\'s a Goblin you say! Now that\'s quite remarkable, though not completely unexpected. Goblins are the closest to the human race, so it\'s only plausible that they should mate."

"Unfortunately, The Queen doesn\'t think so. There\'s no evidence of a Goblin mating with a human in her official records, so she had dismissed the possibility." I sighed.

"But, you are a Goblin." Magnus smirked, " And there\'s no record of you either."

I looked at him suspiciously, unable to comprehend his meaning.

"See what I mean to say is…" he continued, "it\'s not possible for the Queen to know everything. She assumes that she does, but she\'s not omniscient. She doesn\'t even keep account of her own family."

"What does that mean?" I asked with a hint of exasperation in my voice.

"See this diary." Magnus said picking the diary up, "It\'s written by the Queen but it cannot be opened by anyone except her. That\'s the arrangement right? Now, how is it that you were able to open it?"

I stared at him in shock, I had completely forgotten that he had read the Queen\'s diary. What if he knew how to reverse the spell that bound him to me? Oh, how could I be such a fool as to leave this precious thing lying around where anyone can chance upon it!

I snatched the notebook away from his hand and held it defensively against my breasts.

"Wh..what do you mean? Did you read this whole thing?" I asked in a jarred voice.

Magnus seemed to sense my discomfort, and it gave him immense pleasure.

"Don\'t worry, I have learnt nothing that I had not known before. I still have no idea how to escape your clutches, if that\'s what you are so worried about. But, I found something rather interesting about you. It seems, that you share the Queen\'s blood, for that is the only plausible reason why you were able to open it."

I stared at him, bewildered.

"Are you mad?" I finally whispered.

"No, absolutely not. See." He snatched the book from me, and tried to open it himself. It didn\'t give way, suddenly it looked like the pages of the book were held together with a very strong adhesive.

He handed the book over to me, and prompted me to open it. I could open it without any form of resistance.

"That...that doesn\'t make any sense." I said softly.

"Yes it does." Magnus whipped, "This diary is bound by blood magic. Anyone who shares the blood of the owner can only open it. That is Cassadrei, but she didn\'t open this diary. You did, because you share her blood."

My head spinned at his words. Can it be true? I had never imagined the possibility but….

Then, another thought stuck me. What if this is some trick of his? Maybe he\'s trying to distract me somehow, to fuel his own motives? No, I will have to find out the truth. And, there\'s only one person who can provide that to me.

I clutched the diary in my hand, and rushed out of the room. By now, I am pretty clear about directions, so it took me less time to reach the Queen\'s bedchambers. I had run the whole way, so by the time I reached it I was out of breath.

Thankfully, I found the Queen alone in her chambers, resting by the side of the mantle piece. She was a bit astonished to see me, and her frown deepened when she looked at the red notebook that I was carrying.

I pretended to be indifferent as I said, "Your Majesty, I have found this book lying in the hallway, and try as I might, I can\'t open it. It seems like it\'s someone\'s personal belonging, so maybe you should look into it."

The Queen took the diary from me casually, and opened it to flip through the pages.

"Thank you." She said, "it\'s actually mine. I must have dropped it somehow."

I feigned to look shocked.

"But Your Majesty, how could you be so careless? This is your personal diary, and you should take better care of it! What if it fell into wrong hands?" I said.

The Queen smiled, looking not at all worried.

"It doesn\'t matter." She replied, "No one will be able to open it without me. It\'s bound by an Ancient magic, and only those who share my blood shall be able to open this book. And, I don\'t think Cassie would be imprudent enough to snoop around her mother\'s personal diary."