The Kingdom of Noitcif

Chapter Twenty-Seven - The Power of the Stone

  "I can't believe you made it out of there, Penny," Rosalind breathed, clutching a cup of pomegranate juice. "I've seen my father's bad side, and it makes me shudder to think of how calculating and cold he can be."

  Espen silently swirled the juice around in his mug at the head of the dining table in his suite, wondering whether he should tell Rosalind what Engres had said. She was the one who made up his mind for him.

  "It really worries me to know I'm related to that horrible man,"she finished as she sank mournfully into her chair.

  "What if I were to tell you that you were his adopted daughter, Rosalind?" Espen relayed, watching her expression.

  "Adopted?! Who told you that?"

  "It came from the emperor's own mouth."

  Rosalind sat in stunned silence, staring ahead at nothing in particular, until finally she exclaimed, "Penny, do you know what this means?"

  "What?"

  "It means we aren't cousins, after all!"

  Earlier, after being welcomed, greeted, and hugged as he returned to his kingdom, the young king withstood a long lecture from both Lee Rose and Camilla about not going out at night to see strange shadows.

  "I know you had good reason," Camilla reassured him with a smile. "Just, please, take a couple of guards with you next time. I nearly fainted when I heard you had gone missing."

  "How did Noitcif even discover I was in Ytilaer?" Espen inquired.

  "One of the knights on duty told us he had seen Engres' plane flying off into the night from his post, although it was just a flicker," Lee Rose explained. "It is strange. I have heard his plane is usually invisible... perhaps the Vastuta Tower is affecting his own technology, as well."

  "The knights looked everywhere for you, Estevan. We all did," Camilla chimed in, patting him upon the shoulder as if to make sure he was really there.

  "Finally, we asked Tarquin to stop time and investigate if you were indeed kidnapped and exactly where you were being held in Ytilaer," Lee Rose continued. "That way, Fleet and his men could know where to go."

  Espen suddenly remember the quill pen he had passed on the way out of his uncle's lounge, and his face brightened, as he now had the luxury of time to put the pieces together.

  "Come, Rosalind is preparing some refreshments in your suite."

  After the juice and a long nap to recuperate from his traumatizing excursion, Espen met with all of the knights in the meeting hall that afternoon to consult with them about the theft of the powerful purple jewel. Rosalind was there, as well. Since she arrived in the kingdom, she had been avidly training as a page, hoping for a future of becoming a knight of Noitcif. Although she contacted her mom occasionally through messages to let her know she was all right, her family's betrayal made her determined to learn how to defend herself. At first, her mentors only worked with her in archery and self-defense, as they weren't sure how much they could trust the daughter of Engres, but gradually, they realized she harbored no loyalty for the enemy kingdom and were bringing her up to speed on other weapons and allowing her to participate in some political Noitcif business; such as this knight's meeting.

  "It is called the Stone of Potenza," Skander – the former messenger of Noitcif (now working as a knight) - stood up and announced after Espen had called the meeting to order.