The Damned

VI The Trick

Hours had gone by and the Chikir still protested the freeing of their heir. Where was she?

Zed knew her friend was lingering around the dungeons. He knew that the king wouldn't come to the castle to beg for the freeing of his daughter; he knew that the king had a plan to get his daughter back whether it was with her captor's consent or not. So, he made a plan of his own.

He advised the guards to let the two Chikir escape easily from the dungeons to make their way here unscratched. They would race up the stairs and come across a massive battle between their kind and Zed's men. When his mother or he would spot them, he would cease the fighting and put Darra on the spot. He knew exactly what to do and although the two races were not fighting, the arguing would have to do.

He did not expect Darra and her little sidekick to take this long. He had left them almost three hours ago and they still had not found their way to the foyer. There was no other way to leave the dungeon but to go up the stairs leading to the hallway of the foyer, Zed would have seen them from his throne.

As the bickering continued, Zed kept staring down the hall to see if the Heir to the Chikir Throne and her friend were on their way. Finally, two figures appeared at the end of the hallway. They were undoubtedly the two Chikir. Zed got up from his throne and said, "At last."

With open arms, Zed sashayed across the now silent room. He wanted to make sure that everybody in the room would finally realize that they were all a pawn in Zed's game.

When he made his way to the young Chikir, he bent down to Darra's ear and said, "Now it's my turn to play." He flashed a big smile to her and then Elliott and lowered into a short bow.

Whether she liked it or not, Darra's face betrayed worry and regret while Elliott's showed nothing but plain disgust. He had definitely not heard what the prince had said.

Zed turned to the crowd and announced, "Well, well, well, would you look at that! It seems like they have arrived just in time!" Zed then grabbed Darra's hand and said, "Now would be a perfect time to ask your daughter for her opinion!"

Zed allowed himself a glance back at the king before continuing his show. Jason Whitelaw kept his calm stature, but his eyes were anything but. Rage had swallowed him and he was on the brink of giving in. Perfect.

"My dearest Darra Whitelaw, I have quite the proposition for you. In return for the freedom of your people, you will stay here and consent to live in my palace for the next year. If you do not accept my offer, I will let you return with your people, however, my prisoners remain here and I am free to do whatever pleases me with them. It is your choice and yours alone. I will not permit any communication with any acquaintances whether friend or foe. I will cut the use of your power for as long as it will take for you to make your decision. In the meantime..." Zed raised his arms into the air and spoke in a hushed tone. "Sleep." And with that, all fell asleep save Darra and him.

"You have no escape. Not only are my guards stationed at every exit of the palace, but a spell has been cast on the castle to which no Chikir may enter or exit until further notice. You are trapped and everyone else in the room will remain asleep until you make your decision. I will be near, however, I do not have time to sit here and wait for you to make up your mind. How much of a bore it would be if I sat here and waited for you! No, I have greater things to attend to," he added and finally started making his way out of the foyer.

"Oh, and do try to speed up the process, would you? If I get under the impression that you are stalling or I get tired of waiting, I kill every Chikir in the room and keep you and the prisoners. Although that would be the simplest thing to do, I do not believe that that is the fun way of doing things, now is it?" And then he was gone.