Chapter 13

Meanwhile back in Etheria Warrick wasn’t known to be a patient being.

“Guard, get me my head of detail now that my most trusted head has become a traitor! Now!” Warrick shouted.

The guard took off in a hurry. Warrick was alone for a brief moment before the tall, thick and heavy doors swung open with a surprise guest. Warrick, who had been sitting in his chair, rose to his feet swiftly.

“Farrah! Who do you think you are? I could have you put away just like that,” Warrick shouted as he snapped his fingers.

She stormed over to him and stopped just inches from his face. “All this time, how could you just lie to me and do the malicious things you have done to the beings in our realm? It wasn’t enough that you cast out someone I cared for very deeply and you killed Pramlee’s mother. Now, you just have to have Arianna and Meridian!”

Farrah moved away from Warrick who remained casual, “Farrah, I don’t know where you get your information, but you have been lied to; that is clear. I may have cast beings out or put them in the hall of souls, but I would hardly call that wrong.”

“Slaten and Pramlee told me,” Farrah said.

“That is impossible. They aren’t even here right now, and they have no knowledge of anything to do with Pramlee’s mother.”

They were interrupted by one of the guards. “Sire, you sent for me?”

“Not now. I will send for you again later.” Warrick shooed him away. The guard quickly backed out of the chambers and closed the door.

“Farrah, you need to calm down. Who has told you these things?” Warrick’s face was no longer suspicious and he lightened his tone.

“I told you who told me. That is the truth, and I expect some truth from you right now. No more games and lies.” Farrah calmed down despite her fair skinned face remained flushed.

Warrick walked away and his mind stumbled on his thoughts, while he struggled to figure out how his children could have known this information. He stared at his feet while Farrah took a seat to get her wits about her.

After a short pause between them, it dawned on him that Caius had spilled everything. He turned to Farrah and swiftly walked toward her.

“Where are my children?”

He grabbed her and shook her as he demanded information. Farrah pushed Warrick away and stumbled onto her feet. The struggle continued, and Warrick was trying to hold Farrah down. “I will never tell you anything!”

The doors swung open once more.

“Sire, is everything all right?”

“Yes, take her in. Like the others, we will find she has committed treason against the realm.”

Warrick’s anger was in full swing.

“Sire?” The guard questioned.

Farrah stood up and screamed at Warrick.

“You can’t do this. I have committed no such crimes. It is true then, all of it?”

Farrah cried as the guards carried her out.

“She isn’t to come out, and no one is to speak to her.”

Warrick motioned for the guards to continue. “Get a search party together. I want Slaten and Pramlee found and brought to me now! I want three of you to get away into the fairy realm.”

“Sire, there is not a way into the fairy realm. They will never let us in.”

“I don’t care. You will go and get the others back here by any means. Caius has a trial coming, and it will happen,” Warrick demanded.

“I don’t think so; the fairies would never let you step foot in their realm.”

Warrick froze solid in his tracks, and he whispered, “Chance.”

***

Meanwhile Warrick’s children were at Pramlee’s home not far away.

“Pramlee, we really need to get to Ridge’s place, so we are all together. We told my mother all we could. She said she would do everything she could to help us, and I know she will.” Slaten’s voice was strained and he rushed his speech.

“Slaten, calm down, I just needed to come to my place and get a few things before we go. I won’t be long at all.”

Pramlee calmed Slaten for a few moments and then disappeared into the house where she grew up. Slaten who was uneasy, and his head was so full of confusion and hurt from all he had learned about his father remained agitated as he paced around.

Ridge’s place wasn’t very far from Pramlee’s, but under the circumstances, it felt days away. It was quiet around the realm, which was unusual, and Slaten could hear his mother’s last statements within his mind before they left and was worried about her.

Slaten’s stream of thoughts was interrupted when Pramlee opened her window and yelled out at Slaten: “Stop obsessing. I can hear your mind from here, and if I can know it, then who knows who else does!”

Pramlee took their closer relationship to a new level of bossiness of her older brother. Slaten snapped out of his stream of thought and shook his head.

“Hurry up!” he yelled out.

In a few moments, Pramlee came out, and the pair headed for Ridge’s bar anticipating additional information. As they walked down the road, the realm looked barren.

“I just don’t understand father doing this. I mean, to keep all guides here and not looking after their humans is insane. They need us down there now more than ever.” Slaten looked around the barren realm with his arms up in question.

“Well, at least you are figuring out that Caius wasn’t lying,” Pramlee said.

Slaten stopped. “Shhh! Can’t you hear that?”

Pramlee looked around and shook her head. “Hear what?”

“Guards! Father has sent out a search party, and they are close. We have to get out of here and warn the others.”

They picked up their pace and soon Ridge’s place was within sight. As they inched closer, they saw guards at the door.

“Oh no! They beat us there. Slaten put his arm in front of his sister. We can’t go now, or we will be taken.”

“Slaten, we can’t just leave them there, but with Luna there, they should be fine. Come on, let’s hide and watch. Surely, we will be able to figure something out.” Pramlee grabbed her brother’s hand and pulled him back into the surrounding forest until they were out of sight.

“We can stay here, but you have to block your thoughts! No one will look here for us, at least, I don’t think they would.”

Pramlee was unusually doubtful of herself as Slaten squatted down next to her and pushed some limbs away to create a small hole to peer through.

“Yes, we will be okay. It looks like the guards have gone inside. If they bring them out, we will have to follow them back.”

Slaten had a distressed look on his face as he watched.

The guards busted into Ridge’s place. The four men were dressed in uniforms that told everyone else in the realm that they were Warrick’s guards and keepers of the huge castle on the hill that overlooked the main part of the town.

They tore through each room of Ridge’s bar and home. All that could be seen was a bar without anyone attending it. The stage where all their instruments lay looked as though someone would be right back to begin playing again. Upstairs in Ridge’s private quarters, no one was to be seen, just a few chairs and instruments that Ridge had collected from Earth over the years. One guard spoke out.

“There is no one here! It looks like they just left. We need to continue to go through town to find them. Surely, someone has seen them, and they will tell us. We can’t go back to Warrick empty-handed. He has really lost his mind putting Farrah in prison and is having a trial over Caius. If we aren’t careful, he will throw us in there right along with her.”

The other three guards agreed and quickly left.

Pramlee pointed. “Look, they are leaving! Where is Ridge, Cora and Janus? What if something else has happened.” Slaten stood up and paced.

“Oh, will you please calm down? Have you no faith in Luna? Come on; let’s go check it out,” Pramlee insisted.

She tugged her brother along out of the forest. They quickly made their way in and found the same empty place the guards had.

“It’s about time you two got here!” Ridge scolded.

They stood with a puzzled look on their faces. They could hear Ridge but just couldn’t see him.

Suddenly, another familiar voice spoke out.

“Ridge, you are still invisible. They can’t see you.”

Cora was always quick to point things out. Before much time passed, Ridge, Janus, Cora and Luna could all be seen standing right behind the bar.

Pramlee shouted out, “See, I told you, Slaten; have some faith!”

Pramlee ran over to Ridge and the others and left her brother standing with his mouth open. Ridge didn’t take any time to share what he had heard the guards discussing.

“We were lucky with Luna here to use her spell to make us invisible to the guards. She also still has a block on our minds. I overheard the guards speaking. Did you know that they have taken Farrah to the prison?”

Slaten’s face turned white.

“What? No! When we last saw her, she was going to talk to my father and then talk to the council to try to put a stop to all this.”

“Well, apparently that didn’t happen. It just made things worse. She lost her temper. If Chance has made it by now, there is no telling what your father will do to him; he may not get the time to deliver Caius’s terms.”

The tension was noticeable in Slaten’s voice, and the fear was in his eyes.

“We have to go get her; we can’t leave her down there.”

Slaten was already headed toward the door. Ridge stepped in to stop Slaten.

“No! That is what Warrick will want. He probably knows you told her everything and that you will come looking. We have to wait here like we planned with Caius and waited to hear from him, and hopefully, Chance. We don’t leave.”