The Immortal Guardians: Book IV

Chapter 17

His name was Berengar Bui, and the most interesting part was that he wasn't a Mage. My guess was that he fit in with them.

"I don't like this. "Henri whispered out the corner of his mouth.

"Neither do I" I cleared my throat. "What do we do?" We were waiting on Berengar to come back.

"Go see the Old Queen" Henri suggested, he actually sounded serious.

"How in the world are we going to find her?" my eyes popped out of my head. "That woman is better protected than-"

"You have her magic on you." Henri told me. "Ask your grandmother."

"My grandmother doesn't' even know I'm alive." I blinked, trying to not get annoyed by the mention of my grandmother. "She probably doesn't even care."

Henri's eyebrows shot up.

"Well you might want to get in touch with her so she can set up a meeting with the Old Queen. I don't trust this man."

"Nobody does."

We both turned to the door. He had been standing at the door. We hadn't heard him come in.

Henri and I both mumbled pathetic apologies but his smile only widened.

"I don't care." He waved us off. "So let's talk price. I have an excellent Mage that will take care of your little problem." He winked at me.

"We want to get in contact with the Old Queen." I blurted before he could continue.

"The Old Queen and I do not-"

"You are lying." I interrupted him, his eyes had twitched momentarily from my eyes. He arched an eyebrow slowly. "You don't like her but you know where I can find her."

"I know someone that knows where you can find her." he interrupted me, clarifying. "That's going to cost you."

"Name the price." Henri and I replied at the same time.

My head was still spinning as we left the room. So much information had been given to us. We also had given up all our valuables to get that kind of information.

"The Old Queen is a Mage." Henri breathed. I raised my hands to keep him quiet. We couldn't talk while we were still in the city. Someone could overhear us.

"Do you think we paid him enough? I feel like he might like to sell the fact an Immortal Guardian and Goblin had spoken to him about breaking a Mage curse. This doesn't feel right."

"We need to move fast, and the faster we get out of here the less time it might be before we are caught." I whispered quickly untying my horse. Henri and I walked away as quickly as possible.

We mounted our horses and led them away.

"How is it possible that nobody found out that she was a Mage?" Henri blurted out as soon we were out of the city.

"Well wasn't there a rumor that she killed her in laws. Maybe they found out." I grimaced. The look of the city was no longer beautiful. It felt like if its outward appearance was trying to hide its horrors. "She might have killed everybody or anybody that truly knew who she was.

"Jeesh, how did the King not know who she was? Your old King was a brilliant man, and was a mind reader."

"She cursed him?" I suggested. At this point anything was possible. She could have done anything to make sure she became Queen. "What I'm confused about is how did she end up in Weston? Weston is a pricey school."

"Scholarship?" Henri shrugged. "Professors tend to invite students and pay for someone's education if they are talented enough with a scholarship supplementing the rest."

"True, Byron's education was paid for by Dr. Nan." I nodded in agreement with him. It made sense. "Who would pay for her education? She comes from a very poor village" I looked down at the map. We were going to visit an old relative of hers. "and according to Berengar her family wasn't educated at all."

"We will find out." Henri answered. He glanced over his shoulder. I followed his gaze. We weren't being followed. "Let's take a different route to her house."

"Yeah, we'll be careful until we are out of here." We rode in silence to her house. The strange landscape didn't change in fact it seemed to get even more outlandish. I felt like if it had been done on purpose. It was just strange.

"Has my vision changed?" Henri asked. I blinked too. Everything was purple, including the sky.

"Nope it's purple." I answered with eyes wide open as I glanced around. Wow, everything was purple. That took a lot of magic.

We followed the trail downwards to the side of the small village. Somewhere I could hear a river running next to us. There was nobody else around as we walked alongside the hill. There wasn't even any sound of birds nearby.

"It is eerily quiet." Henri commented as we rode down the hill. It was starting to slope downwards.

"Yeah, I don't like it any better." I noticed he had drawn up his sleeves upwards. I placed my hand on the hilt of the stolen blade.

I turned my head around. Nobody was behind us but I had a feeling we were being watched. The landscape suddenly changed, and it was normal. The purple tint was gone.

"Ummm" Henri turned his horse. I pulled my horse close to him. I pulled out my blade.

The ground under us started to shake with stones growing next to us.

"Mage magic can't do this." Henri replied. The horses started to whine under us. I put a calming hand on mine. "That is either Immortal or Wizarding magic."

"You are right." we turned to our right. A woman with flowing white hair replied. She lifted her hands and the giant stones surrounded us. Some men on horses appeared around us.

"So my sister finally sent someone to find me. It was only a matter of time." she lifted her lips in dislike. "My great sister, the White Queen sent someone to come find me."

"No we are searching for her." I replied trying to keep my voice steady and calm.

"Search for her" the woman laughed. She threw her head backwards. "Good luck."

"Berengar said you would know." I answered quickly. The stones stopped moving.

"What did you sell to that devil? Your soul." Her mouth was curled with amusement but her eyes were cold.

"Almost." Henri muttered under his breath. "We need to talk to you, you know the Old Queen, she cursed Iris."

"Cursed you?" she didn't look surprised though. "What did my sister want with you?" Henri and I looked at each other. We were going to have to explain everything to her.