NARRATOR

Queen Iphigenia lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling and contemplating the further actions that should be taken regarding all the matters at hand. Her head ached dreadfully, but still there was not rest to be taken, and she had replied on the herbs to make that headache go away. They haven\'t started working yet though.

Her room was furnished to the bare minimum. The crimson wallpapers on the walls were studded with portraits of various Queen that had ruled over the Kingdom in the bygone ages. On the mantle piece, stood a vial containing something purple, a potion to afford her some time before the curse took it\'s full effect. Off late, the medicines have stopped working altogether, and every living moment was now becoming a agony to her.

The Queen stretched her legs, which were sore from inactivity and perhaps the effects of the curse as well. Her ankles were red, and as she placed her foot on the floor, they groaned in pain as if unwilling to move. The Queen chattered her teeth, trying to shove the pain away and took another sip of the purple potion.

Soon, a moment of relief poured over her and she felt revitalized, even though it were to be short-lived. She glanced through the pages of her diary, going through her latest entries that she had made a day before. The enchantments that she had put on it will allow no one apart from her to open them, so her words were safe. Even then, she still wondered how it got to Victoria. That snoopy girl, she must have tried to read it and failed, and so she came to return it and cooked up a false story to defend her theft.

"I will have to deal with her later." The Queen thought, "but for now, I have more pressing concerns."

She rang her bell twice, and within few minutes, Cresylee entered the room. She was dressed as usual, looking impeccable in a grey warrior suit, with her hairs tightly pulled up in a bun. Cresylee was almost forty now, nearing the age of retirement as some would say. The Goblins had very specific rules regarding the retirement of a General, anyone who is more that forty-five is not allowed to serve anymore, rather they are put up on a pension, and made to act as an advisor to the Crown.

The Queen knew that Cresylee would hardly like that. She was very much like Iphigenia herself, hard and battle-worn, her own life dedicated to the well being of the country. She was a battle addict, and the life of court would never suit her. And, Iphigenia knew it fully well, that she would find it very hard to replace Cresylee. For now, she depended largely on her battle senses.

Cresylee bowed a little and then stood in a military position, awaiting the Queen\'s further orders.

"What is the news on the front?" The Queen asked her.

"Thirty thousand soldiers, ma\'am. But, only half of them are well trained for warfare, others are merely children who have just learned to hold a sword properly. I am trying my best, but I have my worries that they won\'t be enough for a battle."

"We have to do the best that we can." The Queen sighed, "Winning a war against Arphoelus with just thirty thousand soldiers won\'t be an easy task. We have to find some other leverage against them. It\'s a pity that Magnus escaped when I had tried so hard to contain him! Traitors everywhere, what shall I do? He could have provided us with valuable information to win the war."

"With due respect" Cresylee said with a slight haughty tone, "I don\'t think that Magnus would have been of any help. Afterall why would the King of Arphoelus care for a peasant boy who has manager to rise to a higher position? I am sure he doesn\'t know any state secrets, or else the King would never have banished him."

"Maybe you are right." Queen said softly, "But Magnus is the King\'s son. Could he abandon him so easily?"

This time Cresylee positively snickered, "It\'s all a lie, My Queen. He can never be the King\'s son. Every child of Arphoelus claims the same, so you shouldn\'t pay heed to such stupid claims."

The Queen looked thoughtful for a while, then she decided to drop the subject.

"There\'s news about an Arphoelian uproar. The New King wants to assert his dominance, so he wishes to attack us once again. We need to be prepared. That\'s the main reason why I called you today. You need to send delegations, to different Kingdoms and ask for their help. We need to renew our old alliances."

Cresylee looked like she couldn\'t have been happier. Perhaps it was the trust the Queen put into her that made her act so. Nevertheless, she controlled her emotions and replied mechanically, "I will do my best, Ma\'am."

Then, she saluted and left the room.

After she had departed, the Queen sat down and opened the drawer hidden behind her bed stand. It contained a single sentence, embossed in gold that said, "North of the Drehyn Tower, near a small hut by the Peach trees.",

She folded the letter carefully and tucked it into the pocket sewn into her gown.

Just at that moment, her husband entered the room.

Rathaerys was accompanied by the small Petrywinkler, named Cookie who was rapidly growing up now. They seemed to have taken quite a liking to each other. Rathaerys looked around and confirmed that no one else was present.

"Did you get the letter?" He whispered, still cautious of eavesdroppers.

"Yes. I was just reading it. So, are you sure that I\'ll find Sofosys there?" The Queen said suspiciously.

"I am absolutely sure." Rathaerys declared, "But, you should remember your promise. You are not to tell anyone about his whereabouts, and you shall go to him alone and talk to him."

"Do I really have to do all this?" The Queen sighed, "Can\'t I just arrest the man and put him in the prison? He is a traitor and you want me to negotiate with him!"

"He did nothing that would label him as a traitor.", Rathaerys said sternly, "And, you should not forget that all these years he had been Cassadrei\'s guardian and had looked after our daughter like his very own. I am sure that if he had any role to play in Magnus\' escape, he would have a good reason why. So, go and talk to him."

The Queen nodded, giving in to her husband\'s wishes.

"And, did I just see Cresylee leaving the room?" Rathaerys said, "She was positively beaming. I wonder what has happened. Any way, I don\'t really trust that woman so you better be careful around her."

"Rathaerys!" The Queen replied in shock, "I know you are prejudiced against Cresylee, but don\'t you dare suspect her. She has been in the family for ages, and she herself trained our daughter. How can you be so disrespectful of her?"

Rathaerys said nothing, and departed leaving the Queen standing there in great exasperation.

She too left after a while, and reached the address that was supposed to be Sofosys\'.

The knock on the door was answered by Sofosys himself, who didn\'t seem at all surprised to see her.

"Come in." He beckoned and the Queen followed him into the hut.

She looked around at her surroundings with great suspicion, as if she expected Magnus to hop at her at any moment. But, there was no one in the room apart from Sofosys and her.

"Rathaerys said that you would come." Sofosys said, clearing his throat, "and, before you start accusing me of anything, I should tell you that I know nothing about Magnus\' escape."

The Queen opened her mouth to protest, then started saying more slowly, "I hope that you are not lying. Because you know that I won\'t be able to forgive you multiple times."

"I donot know where Magnus is. I had no role to play in his escape. And that\'s the truth." He said firmly.

The Queen stared at him for a while, expecting him to confess but none came. Sofosys wasn\'t lying, she understood that. Then, where was Magnus?

"You must know how much valuable he was to us." The Queen said, resigned, "And now he\'s gone. Arphoelus is declaring a war against us, and we don\'t have the weapons to fight them. I don\'t know what we should do now."

She knew that Sofosys won\'t have an answer to her question, so she continued, "Also, there have been claims that the guy who was Cassadrei\'s key, is in fact Half-Goblin. Maland insisted on it, but somehow I can\'t believe it. I searched the records but there weren\'t any evidence of a Goblin-Human union in more than a century."

Sofosys looked utterly shocked by the revelation. Mike, a Goblin! Why didn\'t it strike him earlier? Mike\'s powers were indeed too strong to be that of a Fairy. But, a question nudged at the back of his mind. If there are no evidence of a Goblin-Human union….but of course there were no records of his relationship with Helly, he had made sure to obscure it. Then, can it be….can Michael be…

He had no time to ponder upon the question further, because the Queen suddenly turned very pale and collapsed on the ground with a resounding thud.