Children of the Sun and Moon (7 page)

Gillock smiled.
“Yes, it will. You know what needs to be done?”

Korben smiled
back. “Yes, it will be done.”

Gillock,
confident Korben would make the necessary arrangements, turned, and
knocked on Koral’s door.

The day was
again beautiful but the sky told of rain to come and with it being
spring this was definitely not unheard of. Koral loved this time of
year. The flowers were starting to bloom, and she could not wait
for the garden to be full and fragrant.

“There are many
things we can do to develop your magical abilities,” remarked
Gillock to Koral, drawing her out of her reverie. “Today, we are
going to stay in the garden and see what you can do.” Gillock
walked to the centre of the garden, where the fountain was. “This
will be the perfect spot to do our first experiment.”

Koral looked
confused. “What am I supposed to do here?” she questioned.

“Here we are
going to develop your ability to manipulate water,” he
responded.

“You had said
my strongest ability would have to do with water, but is it really
so simple?” she asked.

“It is
manipulation of the space surrounding the water. It is quite easy
really. You need to concentrate on creating a ball out of the
water. See it forming in your mind, and then project that image
onto the water.”

Koral nodded,
sighed, and prepared her mind. First, she concentrated on the
water, blocking out everything around her. Then she created a
picture of what some of the water would look like in the form of a
ball. Once she had the image in her head, she sent her thoughts
toward the water. At first, nothing happened, but then some of the
water started to rise out of the fountain. Slowly at first, then
more and more started to rise. Once it was out of the fountain it
started to form into the shape of a ball. “Move it towards the
flower bed,” came Gillock’s mental command. Slowly she moved it
over to the flowerbed. “Let the water slowly drip down onto the
flowers,” he commanded. Koral began to let the water drip from the
ball, but this amount of concentration was beginning to take its
toll on the princess. She could no longer maintain the shape and
the water came splashing down. Exhausted, Koral sat down on the
bench.

“That was very
tiring,” she remarked, breathless.

“That was
incredible,” Gillock declared.

“Why?”

“That's not an
easy thing to do for someone who has never used their powers in
this way before. Forming the ball is fairly difficult, but moving
it over to the flower bed and releasing it slowly is extremely
difficult indeed.”

Koral looked at
Gillock and laughed. “You told me it was an easy trick,” she
exclaimed.

Gillock smiled
back. “If I had told you it was difficult you wouldn’t have
succeeded.”

Koral, still
laughing, agreed.

“So shall we
try it again?” he asked.

Koral took a
deep breath, stood up, and nodded her agreement.

The scrying
pool clouded over and Elizanne sat back in her chair. The thought
of so much power inside Koral frightened her. Gillock had stated
Eric had natural abilities, so he needed to see what Koral was
capable of doing. Elizanne had not expected Koral to be able to
manipulate water without an amulet. Her daughter was not an average
enchanter, which meant she was a perfect target for Malena at this
stage, and the Magima. This was all so unnerving for her and today
a guard had heard people in town were talking about Eric and
rumours were spreading about where he really was. So many problems
to solve, and no time to do it. There was obviously a spy in the
palace, but she had no idea who it could be. They had so many town
folk as staff and then the visiting dignitaries all had their
entourages. It could be anyone. Then there was the general. With
Koral’s magic growing Elizanne was worried. Too much would have her
discovered. She decided it was time for her and Gillock to talk
about what to do. Elizanne walked through the adjoining door
leading to her bedroom and changed into woods clothes. Many things
needed to be done.

Elizanne walked
into the garden, but many hours had passed and only Gillock was
there. Gillock stood as she approached. “I have been waiting for
you,” he stated when she was close. “You were watching your
daughter practice. It must be disturbing to see the potential she
has.”

Elizanne looked
at him sternly. “Too much time has passed. She is very dangerous at
this stage. The general is here and although we cannot see any,
there are Magima present. I also feel there is a spy in the palace.
The entire town knows of Eric leaving. We must do something about
this now!”

Gillock nodded.
“I’ve known of a spy for quite some time. I have some defences up
so Malena and the Magima are unable to see what I’m doing. They
will not be looking for spells of that kind. Anything more could
let either know we suspect something. Right now, it’s in our best
interests to let Malena think we don’t know she is watching, or
that she has placed a spy in our midst. She has been waiting for
this day, and she knows Koral and Eric must cross into the Void to
accomplish their task. Malena wants out.” Gillock's voice was
grim.

“Tomorrow is
the festival. We need to be on the lookout for something to go
wrong,” she advised. “Koral must be watched.”

“That will be
my job,” stated Korben coming up from behind.

Elizanne turned
and smiled. “Always where I least expect you to be, Korben.”

“Korben will
watch her, your majesty,” said Gillock, turning their attention
back to him. “Don’t worry about her. What we need to do is find
Eric.”

“That will be
our first priority after the festival,” said Elizanne.

“Not to change
the subject, but there is someone here to see Gillock. He said he
was a friend from a long time ago,” interrupted Korben.

Gillock stood.
“Thank you. I have been waiting for him to show himself.”

Confused,
Elizanne and Korben just nodded as he left. “With so many people
staying at the palace at this time it is a wonder if the gods are
present,” Elizanne remarked. Korben laughed and took his leave.
Alone in the garden, Elizanne decided to go and finish what she had
to do. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

Gillock and
Elizanne were not the only ones stunned by Koral’s abilities. Brin
had been watching them in the garden from the shadows the entire
time and was quite shocked at what she had seen. Her mother’s
abilities were bad enough and now it appeared Gillock and Koral had
these abilities as well. Things were getting quite out of hand but
she had no idea what she was going to do. The anger within her was
so intense it scared her and once she saw her mother leave, she
headed up to her room. A good night’s rest would help clear her
head. By morning she was sure she would have figured out what to do
with the traitors in her family.

The evening was
filled with people doing last minute preparations. Rain had begun
to fall, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. Small cloudbursts
were always expected. Koral was in awe at the way the nobles were
acting. Demanding they be wakened before dawn to prepare for the
day. It was amazing how many pages were needed this year, not to
mention cooks and maids. It was obvious, this year the festival
would be the largest ever. Gillock was even seen from time to time,
and never without his companion.

Koral had not
seen the General all night, which was normal. He hated these
gatherings, but she could not help but wonder if he suspected
something. Koral was also worried about Brin. She had not seen her
sister much today, and when she had, Brin had not said two words to
her. Knowing tomorrow was going to be quite eventful, Koral decided
it was best to just stay out of everyone’s way and get some sleep.
Tomorrow she would find Brin and see if she wanted to flit about
the festival with her. Maybe it would help get their relationship
back on track.

CHAPTER FIVE

The first rays
of dawn crept over the trees and it was as if everyone had been
waiting for the event. Within minutes, people were emerging from
their homes, hustling along the streets. Everyone wanted to be the
first ones open for the festival. The clouds, which had moved in
overnight, had disappeared and it looked like it was going to be a
beautiful day. The noise from the festival grounds awoke Koral. She
could tell it was early because the sun had not fully enveloped her
room. Throwing on her robe, she moved out of bed to have a look.
Tavern tents were getting ready to open their flaps and the priests
from the Temple of Ademorna and the Temple of Almena were out
preparing to save the souls of the people who would go into them.
The priests from the Temple of Allorethna would not be making an
appearance until later in the day, as was custom.

Koral moved
from her window and called to Maiya. With it being so early, she
figured it would be the perfect time to have a bath. It felt as if
she had only soaked for a short time when Maiya returned, informing
her the castle was awakening. With a sigh, Koral got out and went
to get dressed. Judging by the sun’s position, she figured almost
two hours had passed. The noise from her window had gotten louder
and she went over to look.

Koral could not
believe the bustling she was seeing. It was unbelievable how within
that time the streets had completely filled with patrons. Sellers
were bargaining with people for their wares and already arguments
on quality were arising. Some noblemen and their wives, dressed as
if it was a ball, were looking for the best buys in wines and
cheeses. The laughter of children could be heard among the noise of
the crowd. Koral smiled to herself. It was definitely going to be
the largest celebration yet. Maiya came to her room again and
informed her the morning meal was going to be served soon. Koral
quickly finished getting dressed, and headed downstairs.

The morning
meal was her favourite part of the festival. It was served in the
castle, and anyone was allowed to attend. This was a custom only
practised in Klayhern. Most of the nobles would not show up for the
meal because they considered it disgusting to eat with the poor, a
thought which always bothered Koral.

Walking into
the main hall, she could not believe how many people were already
here. She glanced across the room and saw her parents serving. Her
father loved every minute of this and it made her smile to see him
enjoying himself so much. Being raised in a castle made him
royalty, but it was the way he always treated everyone with
respect, no matter their station, which made him such a great
king.

Koral could not
believe the excitement this day brought. It had always been a
favourite time for the twins. Eric would love this, she thought,
but decided it best not to dwell on the fact he was not here.
Instead, she went and helped serve. It was always a great
experience for her, being able to help the people of Klayhern. It
was satisfying to know you were helping those who did not have very
much.

The town of
Klayhern looked forward to this day as well. It was a great time to
sell their wares and most would go home with more money than they
would usually see for a month’s worth of work. This festival always
brought more people than all of the others, partially due to the
fact it was also the twin’s birthday. Everyone was in such a jolly
mood that Koral eventually forgot all together that Eric should be
there. Once everything was done, it was time for Koral to go and
see all taverns.

Koral decided
she did not want to do this alone, and set out to find her sister.
Koral searched everywhere but could not find Brin. Realizing that
with all of the people about, she was probably just missing her,
Koral decided to just head out on her own. Gathering her strength,
she set out into the festival.

From her
window, she had seen the festival to be in full swing, but she did
not realize just how many people were actually here. The streets
were so crowded in some areas she had to push her way through. Of
course, once she was recognized people would move out of her way,
it was trying to get recognized that was the trouble. After a
while, she just gave up and moved with the flow of people.

There appeared
to be many more tents this year than last and it was attributing to
the crowding problem. She was amazed at all of the different foods
and wares present, beautiful cloth from around Keenley as well as
some of their native foods. Koral was amazed at some of the fruits
and vegetables from that area. The different foods looked so
delicious and she had never seen such vibrant colours in cloth.
Koral felt she could spend hours sampling the foods and trying on
different dresses, but knew protocol would not allow it. Instead,
Koral decided she would ask her father to take her to Keenley.
After all, he went a few times a year to see how Duke Dubar was
running things so it would not be a bother for her to tag along. It
made her wonder why he never took any of his children on his trips
south or why he never brought back any of the magnificent foods she
was seeing everywhere. “More questions,” she muttered to herself.
Glancing up at the sun, she realized quite some time had passed and
decided it was time to visit the tavern tents for their
blessing.

The first two
tents were normal, with the usual type of patrons making it dull
and uneventful. When she arrived at the third, however, things
changed. Gillock, dressed in a strange green robe, and his friend
were inside. This in itself was odd, as Gillock did not like to go
to the tavern tents until later in the evening. At first, this was
the only thing out of the ordinary. It was not until she began
talking with some of the patrons that something felt odd. She knew
Korben had been following her, as he always did during the
festival, but it felt as if someone else was watching her. Looking
about she noticed Gillock's friend was staring at her. What was
more unsettling was Robyn, who was off to the side doing the same
thing. She was used to people doing this, but both appeared to be
studying her every move. This was quite disturbing for her so she
quickly took her leave. Looking about she noticed there was a stand
selling beautiful material for dresses so she decided to inspect
it. She needed to get her mind off the tavern.