Search for the Crystal Key (A Continuation of Dark Escape)

Chapter 18

Luella stormed out of the bedroom. Joshua was acting very strange. He was far too preoccupied for a man just returned from a lengthy assignment. Rumor had it the young woman he brought back was the young enchantress's doppelganger. Rumor also had it that the girl was under the impression she and Joshua were engaged to be married. How did she get such an idea? Could that rogue of a lover of hers played such a role while he was away?

Although furious with Joshua, it wasn't the reason for her rampage now. Once again Balthazar overlooked her prowess as a sorceress and sent for that decaying old man. Why would he favor a witchdoctor over a powerful sorceress? It was an insult.

She was a young girl when her mother, Elspeth, brought her through the boundary to Shadow Land. It was a bold move on her part. A bold move that paid off.

Born human, Luella was the daughter of a powerful sorceress who felt her abilities were wasted. She wanted a far greater challenge than what she encountered from the villagers who came to her for a remedy here and a remedy there. When she discovered the portal to Shadow Land, she boldly passed through it and presented herself and her services to Balthazar. Taken by her beauty, Balthazar made her his palace sorceress as well as his head mistress. Luella was raised within the palace walls, enjoying all the luxuries and privileges of a princess.

A human living in Shadow Land walked a perilous line. Knowing her looks and her hold over Balthazar would eventually fade, Elspeth taught everything she knew to Luella. Her daughter's best chance for survival rested within her knowledge and skill as a sorceress.

As she witnessed her mother's eventual decline from favor, Luella kept her warnings in the forefront of her mind and studied magic every possible moment. Palace life was all she knew. She had no memories of the human realm and no desire to live in exile amongst shadow people and mystical beings. She wanted to remain in the familiar surroundings where she grew up. When the fateful day came and Balthazar exiled Elspeth from the palace, forcing her to return to the human realm or spend the rest of her days as a cast off in Shadow Land, Luella was fully grown and thoroughly prepared to step into her mother's shoes as palace sorceress and Balthazar's mistress. To her disappointment, surprise, and dismay, she wasn't appointed the position of palace sorceress and was vehemently rejected as mistress. Instead, she was forced to stand by and watch the old witchdoctor receive the honor of court magician and the very sultry daughter of one of the palace attendees replaced her aged mother.

To add to her insult, the old coot of a magician was allowed to come and go as he pleased. This was a luxury her mother never knew. On the few occasions that they did leave the palace unescorted, it was in the night and in secret.

Cast out alongside her mother, they scrambled for safe harbor within the walls of Shadow Land. Her mother, after many failed attempts to persuade her to accompany her back through the boundary, finally set off alone. Luella was uncertain if the woman made it or not.

Fortunately for Luella, her beauty was of such depth that she was able to win the heart and protection of Balthazar's most revered and handsome soldiers, Joshua. Although the luxuries he provided for her fell short of those of the palace, they were in no way modest.

She found she really didn't miss palace life. The freedom Joshua allowed her far outweighed any luxury she lacked. She'd never feared her position in his household or his heart until he returned from the future, having failed at obtaining the crystal key or the young enchantress who hid it.

There was something different about him. She feared the enchantress may have put a love spell on him. More than once she found him calling the woman's name in his sleep. To top things off it reached her ears that he returned with her doppelganger who had the audacity to inform anyone who'd listen she was betrothed to Joshua. This was a rumor that better have no credence to it!