Legacies, Destinies, and Betrayals.

Chapter #2 The Plan

   All to soon I found myself leaving my parent's house. I had been given a ragged dress to wear by Alar and it was honestly in no better condition than that of Prince Ezekiel's clothes. I had to hold in tears as I told my parents goodbye and knew that I wouldn't get the chance to stay it to my siblings. My mother gave me a bow with a quiver full of arrows and my father gave me a sword that had the same pattern as the locket on its handle. Alar had told my that the locket was now mine to keep and that I was to always wear it as it would be my gateway to our people. The only glad thing that I could think of at the moment is that now I wouldn't have to worry about marrying the son of the local Lord. Not that he was a bad guy...I just didn't find him proper husband material.

    "Liva." Ezekiel came walking up to the makeshift camp that Alar and Raphael had set up in the woods on the outskirts of town. "I want you to know why I didn't reveal my identity to everyone tonight." He sat gingerly on the log beside me.

     "I'm sure you had your reasons." I realize a little to late that I hadn't addressed him with any respect at all. Oh well, if he wants my respect he will have to earn it.

    "Well, your mother, Alar, and Raphael already knew who I was because my disguise only works on non-magical beings." He grinned. "However, the people of my father's kingdom believe that I am already working on breaking the spells that hold the powers of the four kingdoms. I am not obviously. Truth is that my father sent me months ago to begin looking for the four mages needed to break the spells and I have only found you. I think that I will not be able to find another until we manage to break the spell. I am not sure of this fact however, and we will continue looking for the other three." He paused to take a breath.

    "But, it won't be an easy task to break the spell. It will push your magic far beyond the reached that you have went so far. That is why I have brought Alar and Raphael along. I am hoping that they will be able to help you train your magic. All of the ancient artifacts of the ancient houses of Seastone must be restored before the spell can be broken. Your locket is the first artifact. My father had all four and gave them to me when I started this quest. Of course the lockets have no real family they must be restored to, but they will only open for one person." I glanced down at the locket resting on my chest. It really looked far to expensive to be on a girl wearing rags, but I was told not to remove it.

     "So, where do we find the other artifacts?" I found myself trusting him for some reason even though he had lied to a whole room of people and seemed to be a master of deceit.

     "I'm glad that you asked." He smiled as he stood and reached out his hand towards me. "Follow me, milady." He led me to one of the tents that were set up and with a pounding heart I realized that there was only three tents. "Slow your heart, Liva. Alar and Raphael share a tent. They have trained together most of their lives and a mouse doesn't take up that much space. You have your own tent." He laughed and I wondered at how he knew what I was thinking.

    When he opened the flap of the tent I noticed that it had been magically enlarged on the inside. So much so that there was room for a large table that was covered in maps, a number of chairs scattered around, and a large bed in the back. "All by magic. When we need to leave it will take up the space of a sleeping bag." Again I had to wonder how he knew what I was thinking.

    "The first artifact to be found is The Sword of Grayson. It belonged to a lower noble's family during the golden age, now it belongs to a snobby little family of the King's and Queen's court because it has been handed down over the generations." He seemed to get angrier as he talked. "To get it we need a distraction. Luckily for us the first mage we found was a girl."

     His face went completely serious. "I don't want you to feel as though you have to do anything that I ask. Actually I have no power to tell you to do anything. You wear the locket not me. However, it would be beneficial if you would pose as a Noble daughter from the far away island of New Sunrise. It just so happens that they are good friends with my father and this is okay with them." His eyes never left mine.

    " In the two weeks it will take us to travel there, Raphael will explain the customs of both kingdoms so that you'll have that knowledge. Alar and Raphael will pose as your personal guards and I as your brother so that we all have entrance into the manor. Again you don't have to agree to any of this. You will then attempt to learn as much as you can about the politics here while I try to deduce the location of the sword. When the sword is secure, you will receive a fake letter from the King of New Sunrise saying that you are to return home immediately and we will leave." His dark brown eyes bore into mine, "What do you say? Will you become Princess Paige for a few weeks in order to fulfill your destiny?"

    "Tell me this, Oh Prince. Is it my destiny or yours that I will be fulfilling?" My voice was snappy as I thought about how suddenly I was being thrown into all of this.

    "Technically, it is both of ours." He glared at me from across the table. "More so, it is for the good of all of our people!"

     "So you want me to lead on a noble's son, so that you can get your hands on an ancient artifact? You want me to be that cruel?!" I feel like screaming. How could I ever lead on someone like that?

      "Trust me, once you meet him you'll believe that he deserves it!" I see anger flash in his eyes.

      "Sounds like you have a personal problem with this noble." I snide as I take a seat causally on one of the chairs like I'm not arguing with the person who might become my future king.

      "I do. But even more so I have a problem with the fact that you would think that I am okay with sending you into his house! He is a freaking monster and I am only doing this because without that artifact we can't restore Seastone!" He was raging with fury now.

     "My Lord, You need to calm down." Raphael appeared in the doorway of the tent. "Milady, please leave." I didn't even hesitate I bolted from the tent.

      I was sitting causally in my tent after having changed into my night dress, brushing my hair when I heard someone outside. "Liva, may I come in."

    "Sure." I let the word fall out dry and without emotion. When Ezekiel walked in he wasn't the same as when I left. He was clean and was wearing clothes that fit his royal status. I had been told that I would only have to wear the ragged dress when we were traveling, but for some reason I wasn't expecting him to actually have clothes that weren't rags. His hair was still visibly wet so he must have bathed. The scent of soap met my nose as he quietly walked across the room and sat in a chair near me.

     "I'm sorry. I should have been a little more gentle and cautious about how I told you about that. " He looked down at his feet. "I just get pretty angry when I have to talk about Neville. That is the noble's son's name."

     "Why?" My curiosity was peaked.

    "That's not important right now." He stood and walked over to me. "Again I have no control over whether or not you decide to go through with this, but I hope you will. I will need an answer in the morning so that we can properly devise a schedule." He bowed stiffly and then walked out of the tent.

     "Alar." I call out the tent's door to the person I have become the closest too in the five hours since we all met. 

     Late into the night after I had finished my conversation with Alar, I laid in the bed that was prepared for me in the tent. My dark brown hair was pulled back into a loose braid keeping it out of my face and I was writing in my journal. I had kept some form of a journal since I turned 13. I feel as though being able to write will be my only sanity by the time this mission is over.

                                                                                ~~~'''~~~

       Ezekiel had been well pleased to hear that Liva's answer was yes when she had awoken this morning. There was something about this girl that unnerved him in an unexpected way. It didn't make him feel in the least bit uneasy or worried, but it actually had him feeling rather happy and cheerful. He wasn't a fan of these feelings and he decided he would do his best to hide them.

        "First we need to go to Metaltree. It is a dwarf town where we can be sure to get good weapons and hopefully some information on the movements of the two princess's troupes." Ezekiel was addressing the group as he saddled up Liva's horse.

      "Good, My brother lives in Metaltree and it has been a while since I saw him." Raphael was probably one of Ezekiel's closest friends which was sad since he was a mouse and his other closest friend was their faun companion.