The Lost Heiress of Avalon

Chapter Eight: Mother's Lair

Queen Taneisha

"Did you think you could leave without saying goodbye?" he said and stepped out from behind the wall and showed himself.

He raised his wand and aimed it at Tryamon,
"You, move over here. NOW!! Or I swear to the High Priestess that I will not hesitate to kill her!" He said and looked at me.
I looked over at Aria and then at Tryamon and then over at him, "take me instead. They are small girls and do not need to be involved in this. The matter is between you and me," I replied and stepped closer to him.
"Mother no!" Aria exclaimed, "it is alright, my love," I replied and he nodded.
He grabbed me by the neck, "Do not move an inch!" he warned, stuck his wand into his back pocket and bound my wrists together behind my back.
"Everything will be fine. Just trust me, okay?" I said and looked over at my girls.
He grabbed his wand and raised it, aiming it at my heart.

He led me out of the library and into the dungeon.
He placed an incantation on the dungeon so that we appear to not be here and that anyone looking from outside will not know we are there, they cannot see or hear us.

He cast a spell on me which paralyzed me.
The paralysis has left me powerless and utterly at his mercy, which appeared to be none existent.

"Now that I have your attention, I can introduce myself," he said and laughed maniacally.
"My name is Kaleb and I am your nephew," he said and I was stunned.
"Nephew? I have a sibling?" I asked and then he hit me, "Shut up! I AM TALKING HERE!!" he screamed and ran his hand through his unkempt hair.
He paced back and forth,  "You will see, the hell mouth will open and devour all those It deems unworthy," he chanted, like a mantra to himself and made sure that I heard him.
He wanted me to question him, to pay notice to him, but alas I could not. Not yet, anyway.
"Why are you not doing anything?" He asked me and laughed, "oh right, you cannot do or say anything!" He teased me and held his stomach, doubling over in laughter.

Aria
I took out my phone and dialled Ryden's number,  but it was busy.
I threw my phone down on the ottoman at the window, "shit!" I yelled and rubbed my temples.
I looked over at Tryamon and she was sitting in the exact same seat with her face in her palms, crying.
I walked over to her and patted her back, "we will find her," I told her and headed out of the library.  I walked up to the guardroom, "Alright men, the mother has been kidnapped and I cannot find Ryden," I said sternly as I walked in.
"Yes, Princess!" They all stood on attention and awaited further instructions,  "find Ryden and his father. He would know how to go about rallying the troops. I need two guards on Tryamon and one on me," I commanded. I remembered what my father has taught me and walked out, Levi, one of the guards, followed me and I walked into my mother's study.
I walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out the dummy book, the bookshelf gave way and opened up to her Lair.
I entered and Levi followed suit.
"Wow, I did not even know this existed," he said and studied the Lair in awe.
"Yeah, if I was not as curious as I am and did not follow mother one night, I also would not have known about this," I said as I pulled her spell book out.
Levi walked over to the potion armoire and almost pressed his face against the glass  "what are all these?" He asked and tapped his forefinger against the glass.
"Potions, "I replied and finally broke the seal and opened mother's spell book.
Levi gasped stepped back and walked over to where I stood. He peeked over my shoulder, "is that a spell book?" He asked.
"Yes, it is my mother's," I replied.
I studied the index and found a location spell. I paged to it and read the instructions out loud:
Objective: To locate a person or target

Requirements: Map and Object or blood belonging to target

Incantation: Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem.

"Levi, please fetch me one of my mother's scarves," I ordered him and he left the room.
Minutes later he came back, "Sorry Princess,  I could not allocate a scarf, but I have found one of her handkerchiefs.  Will it work?" He asked and held it out to me.
I nodded and took it from him. 
I unfolded it, placed it in between the pages of the spell book and closed it.
We stepped into mother's study and I unrolled the map of Avalon on her table.
One of the guards knocked on the door and inside, "Princess, we cannot find Ryden nor his father," he said, "but I have asked one of the elders to assist us in rallying and manning the army," he said and looked at Levi, who looked at me and the back at the other guard, "good, but keep looking for them and keep me updated," Levi ordered and the other guard left.