Victoria\'s POV

Magnus was crouching down on the ground, holding his head and screaming in an inhuman voice. He looked like he was having a terrible headache, and I jad no clue how to help him. His scream reverberated through the forest, breaking it\'s essential silence.

I rushed to Magnus\' side, and helped him prop himself up. He wouldn\'t give way,and now he started mumbling in an inaudible tone. His condition was so dreadful that I couldn\'t bear to watch him like this. Something is happening to him and I had no idea how to stop it.

"Magnus! Get up! What happened? Is it some sort of Magic? How can I help you? Are you alright??" I said all these in succession, several times and I felt frustrated at my position.

It would be impossible to explore these forests without Magnus\' guidance, and he looked totally incapacitated. Something is wrong, but I don\'t think I can help him even if I knew it. After all, didn\'t he say that this forest has many magical enchantments that prevent anyone from entering it. Was Magnus suffering from something like that?

Magnus finally looked at me, his face was covered in sweat and he looked like a fugitive who hadn\'t slept for days.

"What is it? Tell me." I asked desperately.

"Water…" He murmured.

I immediately procured water through magic and gave it to him. He could only take a few sips, before the convulsions started.

Magnus lay on the floor, his muscles taut in pain and groaned with his head in his arms. Something, or someone was torturing him severely. I went by his side, and put my arm behind his head, I moved him to his side and took all the necessary  precautions to protect him from any injury. He was drenched in sweat now, and I held onto him tightly, as if on doing so it will stop the convulsions.

I don\'t know how long I lay there, holding Magnus but after some time, the shakings stopped. He lay there, as still as a statue, and for a moment I felt terrified that he was dead. I quickly checked his pulse, but thankfully it could still be feebly felt. Magnus\' face was drenched of colour and his lips were as white as that of a sandstone.

Looking at him, lying like that invoked something strong inside me. I don\'t know how to term it, but all I wanted to do at that moment was to stop his suffering. I missed his ferocity, his blazing eyes as they looked at me defiantly, and seeing him transformed to a whimpering creature was intolerable.

Inadvertently, I remembered the kiss we had shared, only hours ago….he was so lively and passionate then, and as much as I keep denying my feelings, I couldn\'t deny that I had enjoyed kissing him. Oh God! What am I getting myself into?

Magnus was muttering something in his sleep. I leaned close to him, to hear his whisperings.

"Please! Just leave her. Don\'t beat my mama, she\'s so weak... she\'ll die! Please don\'t beat her, let us leave please!"

I realised, with a shock that he was crying! Magnus, the ever powerful destroyer of Kingdoms, was crying like a baby in his sleep!

I listened more closely, to make sense of his words. Now, his tone changed, and he was talking confidently to someone

"Yes, I am Evelyn\'s son. Now, don\'t you remember her, Your Highness? She worked in your palace for several years, you were playmates and lovers once, and….you had a child with her. Now, you may not have loved her, but she was totally devoted to you. You father had banished her, fearing that the news would get out and your betrayal almost made her insane. But, she told me the truth, Father…. and all she ever wanted in her life was seeing me unite with you!"

His tone changed again, this time profusing with enthusiasm.

"I can do this Father! Just leave all of this  upto me. I will bring those wretched Mafhaelorians down to your feet, right where they deserve to be! Yes, yes it will be done tactfully...no one will suspect a thing, I promise. Now, I have heard that the Queen has an impressionable teenage daughter…. Cassadrei is it? We will use her as the bait then."

His voice changed to a boastful snicker.

"I promise to make you proud, and prove my worth to you. Then, you will see how truly I serve you, Father….and you will understand that there\'s no one more capable than me, to rule this Kingdom. Yes, I know you will keep your promise... Arphoelus will soon be mine!"

His voice was soon marked by terrible distress as he spoke.

"But surely, Cassadrei won\'t pose any threat to you! I had kept my promise, and delivered the Kingdom to you, but you...you shouldn\'t harm her. She\'s just a child, and I promise you she won\'t do us any harm."

His voice shivered as he spoke next, filled with fury and disgust.

"How dare you?! You had promised me not to harm Cassadrei, but you sent a Petrywinkler after her! She could have been killed, thank God she is an Animal-whisperer! No, why should I have told that to you? So that you can do something to harm her again?"

"You sent an assassin after Cassadrei??" His voice was pure rage now, "Enough with all this! Where\'s my crown that you had promised me?"

He laughed derisively as he spoke next, "I knew it! Traitor! You dare to deny me my birthright, you think you can stop me by playing tricks? I am your first-born, and I am destined to rule this country. Now, I will have no more of your nonsense, I am leaving and I promise you that revenge will be served!"

His further mutterings were incoherent and he fell silent after that. I sat down for a long time beside him, holding his hand and shivered from a knowledge that no one had known before. Magnus had fought with his father, left his kingdom, all because of an argument where he protested against the king\'s attempts to kill Cassie.

I bet no one knew of these, and Magnus would never tell anyone. If only Cassie knew that he had tried to protect her all along….If only all of them could hear what I just had! Did he deserve so much hatred and punishment from all of us?

While I was busy thinking all of this, a figure suddenly appeared in front of me. It was a short statured fellow, wearing a ridiculous purple gown that was longer than him. I was immediately on my guard, but the man spoke in a reassuring voice,

"There\'s no need to be afraid of me. Afterall, you came all this way to meet me! Now, don\'t be so agitated, we do have a lot to discuss, Adrianna."

I felt a jolt at that name. It was the same that the Queen had given to her stillborn child, and now…. it\'s actually my original name. I didn\'t know how to react to that..

"There is no need to be alarmed." He said pointing to Magnus, "He\'ll be alright. He had a lot of pent up things, and the forest brings out the worst in all of us. But, for him….maybe the forest brought out the best in him."

Donald chuckled. He looked really pleased with himself.

"How did you know that we would be coming?" I asked doubtfully.

"What kind of Dark Magician will I be, if I didn\'t know such simple things?" He said airily, "Now….come to the point. Where are you here?"

"Couldn\'t you have known that too?" I grumbled.

Donald looked amused.

"My powers have their limitations too. Unfortunately, I am unable to read minds. Now, please let\'s not waste both of our time, and tell me."

I stumbled upon my answer as I said, "My mother...the Queen... she\'s dying. We need to do something, to save her. Mafhaelore will fall if she dies, and.. I can\'t let that happen. Isn\'t there anything that you can do for her?"

Donald clicked his tongue and said, "Now...now, that\'s a difficult prospect. As you know, she is already living on borrowed time. I am afraid, it\'s not in my power to help her again."

"But isn\'t there anything that can be done?" I asked desperately.

Donald looked a bit thoughtful, as it searching for an answer among his convoluted memories.

"Actually, there is something that can be done. I don\'t know if it\'ll work though. The Enchanted Forests are….are peculiar. One may lose himself in it\'s depth and it\'s seldom advisable to visit it alone. Still….maybe, maybe you\'ll find your answers inside that forest."

"What are the Enchanted forest? How will I go there?" I asked confused.

"Ah!" Donald replied, "That\'s a great question, but unfortunately I can\'t help you much with it. Goblins consider the forest as a myth, and as a result they have never been to it. We, the Practitioners of Dark Arts, however are sure that it exists. It\'s lurking right in front of our eyes, only we are unable to perceive it."

"But how will I reach that place if no one knows about it?" I asked exasperated.

"It\'s there and it\'s not. It\'s present but yet it\'s not. It\'s right in front of your eyes, but we are blind." Donald chuckled, "It contains all the answers that you seek. So, isn\'t it advisable for the forest to be hidden as it is?"