The Curse of Windsor Castle

Chapter Twenty-five

The next day, Rose, Tamara, and Amy discussed the prophecy. "Where do you think "The Place of the Mind" is?" Amy asked.

"It's obviously Athens," Tamara sighed. "Honestly Amy, don't you read? Athens was named after Athena, the Greek goddess of Wisdom. In other words, the mind."

"But Athens is huge," Rose said. "We'll never find the chair here."

"And I do read!" Amy insisted. "It's just that all the unimportant information enters one ear and flies out the other."

"Amy, this is important," Rose said.

"Shh!" Amy pressed her finger to her lips. "You're interrupting Tara's."

Tamara closed her eyes and tried to remember Rose's first question and how to respond. "I think we should go to Omonia Square. It's at the center of Athens, as well as one of the oldest squares in the city. It's very likely that the chair would be there."

    "How do you know that?" Amy asked.

    "Because I actually do my research, Hawthorne."

"Like I said, all the useless information is forgotten."

    The girls took the train to Omonia Square. When they got there, Rose was just about to give up hope that they'd ever find the chair. Unlike yesterday, where the Parthenon was completely empty, the square was packed with citizens and tourists. The girls had to look where they were going to avoid trampling someone or being trampled. "Amy, can you sense the chair?" Rose asked hopefully.

    Amy shook her head. "It could be because the chair is too far away. Or because of the million people here I'm sure I'll be able to sense it once we get closer."

"For once Amy isn't exaggerating," Tamara muttered. "There might actually be a million people here."

"Can we come back tomorrow?" Rose asked. "Or maybe later today, when the crowd has lessened.

"No," Tamara said firmly. "We're not wasting another day."

    Back in the Tower of London, Nuntius Mortis and Vesterka were having a heated argument.

    "Master, you should have just let me kill the fools," Vesterka roared. "We could have saved the blood of the girls."

    "Vesterka, you forget your place," Nuntius Mortis said. "I am the master. It is your job to obey me. Nothing more. You forget that I still need the brats to bring the last two chairs."

    Vesterka grit her teeth angrily. She was the queen of Maagiline. She had been living a life of luxury and wealth. Peasants lived to serve her. How had she been reduced to this? Serving the very same peasant who should be serving her. But life was not fair. Vesterka learned that when she was banished. Vesterka would have to bide her time carefully if she wanted to get what was due to her. As she slowly calmed down, a question arose, one that had been eating away at her for months. "Master, why were you banished to Adivin?"

Nuntius Mortis took a deep breath. Even after all the years that had passed, the memory was fresh in his mind. "It was during the reign of King Francis, Rosemary's grandfather. Francis had a daughter. Viola."

Vesterka shook her head. "No, he had two daughters, Viola and Chellia."

Nuntius Mortis furrowed his eyebrows. "Chellia's name has been removed from history. How do you know her name?"

Vesterka said nothing.

"But yes. Francis's older daughter, Chellia was to become queen. However, Viola was a favorite of Maagiline, as well as a favorite of Francis. For no reason at all. Chellia was just like Viola, kind, simple, and intelligent. But she was less charming and beautiful than her younger sister. The citizens of Maagiline didn't admire or romanticize her like they did to Viola. The king knew that if Chellia succeeded him, there would be chaos. So he hired me to kill her."

Nuntius Mortis took a deep breath. The murder still haunted him. The bloodcurdling scream. The dilated eyes. Chellia's betrayed expression after her life faded. He still couldn't describe that night without reliving it. "After I killed Chellia, I went to Francis to collect my reward. But instead of giving me the riches I had been promised, the imbecile arrested me. For doing what he had ordered me to do. I was forced to sit on the chair that would banish me to Greece. He told Maagiline that Chellia had died of heatstroke. And he designed it so well. The day she died was a day of unprecedented heat and humidity."

Vesterka finally spoke. "Master, you said that you gifted the chairs after not being invited to a petty ball."

Nuntius Mortis scoffed. "This was long before I was assigned to kill Chellia. Wouldn't you be upset too if someone forgot about you?"

"Kalaad has long forgotten the woman I used to be," Vesterka said cooly. "Why should I care?"

"This isn't about you, Vesterka. This was never about you, and it will never be about you. It's time for your arrogance to end.

No Master, Vesterka thought. It's time for your tyranny to end.

"I give up. Can we go home?" Amy whined.. "Who cares about Thomas and Rebecca, anyway?

"She has a point, Tara," Rose said. "We've been searching for too long. It's getting dark, and..." she glanced around uneasily. "There's something about this place that I just don't like."

Tamara agreed. "I don't think the chair is in Omonia Square, anyway. What do you think, Amy?"

"I completely agree. Now, can we get out of here? I think that guy over there is drunk."

After deciding to take a taxi back to the hotel instead of the metro, Rose was on her laptop searching for potential locations of the chair. Amy and Tamara were looking over her shoulder, one reading, the other attempting to read, what was on the screen.

"I found it," Rose said. She showed it to Amy and Tamara. "Syntagma Square. It's one of the two central squares of Athens. The other one being Omonia Square."

"If it's just as big as Omonia Square, I don't think Thomas is ever going to come home," Tamara sighed.

"Amy, your chair senses better not fail us this time," Rose said and continued to read.

"Well, you better be right this time, Rose," Amy shot back.

Tamara squeezed her eyes shut, opened them, and continued her attempt to read.

The following day, Tamara, Rose, and Amy came out of the Syntagma metro station. After making sure they still had all their belongings, the trio pushed and shoved their way to the exit.

Syntagma square was just as crowded as the internet had promised. "How are we supposed to find the chair now?" Rose cried.

"Amy?" Tamara looked to the girl for an answer.

Amy shrugged. "There are so many people here, I can't sense anything. It's like hearing static on the radio or TV. Maybe we should come back in the evening when it's less crowded.

"I guess we should go get lunch now. Why does it feel like it's been ages since we ate?" Tamara said.

"I for one, never say no to food. Rose?" Amy said.

Rose smiled. "Hello spanakopita. I can practically taste it."

What do you guys think of Vesterka and Nuntius Mortis now? And why do you think Tamara has such a hard time reading? Remember to vote and comment your thoughts.