Fear struck the queen's heart as she saw heard this. She held one of her maids hands tightly. The maid looked back at her queen with tear running down her cheek, she leaned in, "Don't worry queen Seline." The maid let go of the queen and ran towards the window at full speed.
"Stop her!" Rowlan screamed.
Heindal blasted a fire ball at her, which just about missed the young woman. She held an amulet around her neck and whispered a short spell then threw herself out the window. Light sparked from the emerald inside the amulet. Beams of light sprawled from it passing in and out of her. Causing her body to change shape. In seconds she had transformed into a little bird. And headed for the east wing. The king's quarters.
"She's off to inform the king," one of Rowlan's knights said as he watched her through the window.
Rowlan who everyone had expected to lose his mind, was oddly calm. He had a menacing grin on his face. He looked happy, like a maid didn't just fly off to alert the king. He turned to queen Seline slowly, his fingertips glowed with magic.
"I understand now," Rowlan said in a low and somber tone. "Tell me, Seline. How long have you lived?" He asked her.
Her eyes burst open, her heart beating like a rabbits. She didn't care too much for her life but the life of her child was all that she could think of. Her first instinct was to lie, but every fiber in her being told her not to. The look in his eyes was that of a monster. And she was his prey. A tear ran slowly down her reddened cheek, she held her baby tightly, and gulped. "I'm a hundred and thirty two."
"Impossible! She doesn't look a day over 20," one of Rowlan's knights uttered.
Rowlan walked towards her, taking his time with every step. Relishing the moment. "Oh…It's not impossible," He replied his guard. "You see our dearest queen is one, of the rarest races of elves. The oldest recorded age for one of these creatures is a 1020." Gasps filled the room. Only the doctors were not surprised they, were educated on matters like this.
"But what does this mean?" Heindal asked the prince.
Rowlan, staring at his fingers which glowed light from the tips, smiled from his side. "It means, my brother King Aldric, in an attempt to keep me from the throne has found a woman that would birth him an immortal heir." He grabbed her by the neck immediately.
The queen's screams could be heard from all corners of the castle. But no one came to her aid. All the knights and guards of the castle, thought she was still in labor.
But her screams reached the ears of her maid who had flown to the king's room. She flapped her little wings with haste, the cold rain throwing her off balance, but the life of the queen and her son meant more to her than her own.
She arrived at the kings windows, the moon casting her shadow down at the room. She changed back to her human form, collapsing on the floor. It was a form that took a lot out of her. She picked herself up drenched and shivering, she crawled towards the king's bed. A lone candle lit the room, it sat on a table beside his bed. It wasn't enough to lighten up the room talk less of keeping it warm. The king's hand laid on the edge of the bed, lit by the dim orange light of the candle.
Maybe it was the pain she felt from flying or how much mana her transformation had taken from her, but the maid couldn't help but resent king Aldric. "How could you be sleeping while your wife was in labor?"
Taking a deep breath she shouted his name. "King Aldric!" grabbing his hand tightly she pulled herself up. To her surprise he was staring back at her. His whole body was in shadow but his eyes glowed like lightning.
"Who are you?" He said to her with a breathy voice that was deep, low and raspy.
"My lord, prince Rowlan has attacked the queen, I fear he plans to kill your baby." She said franticly ignoring his question. He slowly sat up, his full body was now lit by the moon light. She stepped back in fear. His skin was pale and sickly. His bones could be seen clearly. And his hair almost gray. This was not the king she knew, but his voice was the same. "What sort of illusion is this?" She muttered under her breadth. King Aldric had always been sickly from birth, but the people of Mastorea were unaware. Only a few knights and maids knew that the king the general public saw was an illusion.
"The child, is it a boy?" Aldric asked her. She nodded, too scared to speak.
He let out a joys laugh which soon transformed into a cough. "Bless the Gods!" He said, pulling himself out of the bed. "My lord, we need to hurry. Your brother is…"
"Move!" King Aldric commanded.
She was confused by his words, riddled at his nonchalant behavior towards the news she had delivered. But just as she was about to speak. A bright white light glowed from behind her. She turned to see a long wizard's staff launching towards her, it moved to the right, dodging her as if it were alive.
The king caught it with his right hand and stamped it on the floor, slowly picking himself up. At a height of 210 centimeters, he stood over her like a giant. He grabbed the glowing white crystal at the top of his staff. Smoke fizzled from his hand. It was burning him but he didn't seem to care, he was used to it.
Under his breath, he casted spells. Then letting go of the crystal, his wounds began to heal. He started to gain muscle mass and his skin reddened with life. His hair regained its youth. Changing from grey to dark brown. "Don't worry, I'll take care of Rowlan." The king said with a look of disappointment, and pain in his eyes. His tone was that of resentment. He didn't sound angry at his brother, but mad at himself.
The maid sighed with relief because this was the king she knew. "What is your name?" He asked her.
"Gleya," She answered bowing on her knees.
"Rise Gleya, I will need you to take the child to safety." He said placing his hands on her shoulder. "Don't alert anyone, I'm afraid majority of the castle guards and knights are quite fond of my brother. A civil war could break out, if they had to choose between me and him."
She nodded her head in compliance. He wrapped his hands around her, has they headed for the window. "Hold on tight," He said to her as they jumped out the window. Waving his staff, blocks of cinder from the castle walls were pulled off and made into a board that carried them all the way to the queen's chamber. The pair jumped through, and were greeted by the grim scene. The queen had been stabbed, she was barely breathing. Her maids crying her side. And the doctors doing their best to save her.
Seline raising her head saw Aldric a faint smile flickered on her face, "My love…he took our son."
Aldric, sighed in annoyance. "Move!" He said to the doctors. Pointed his staff at her and casted a spell, whispering the words with his eyes closed. In an instant her wound began to heal. The spell took a lot of mana from her, causing her to faint. Aldric turned to the doctor, furious. "Where is the prince?"
"He said he'll be at the highest point on the castle."
"The auditorium!" Aldric said dashing for the window. He grabbed Gleya has he jumped through.
At the auditorium, the torches had all been lit. The wet roof glistened under the moon light. Cold rain wisped passed the duo from all angles, it seemed to whistle a somber tone. Aldric felt a strong sense of nostalgia. The last time he and his brother were both at the auditorium it was a night like this. Their father was still alive and had given the crown to Aldric. His stomach churned, something bad was going to happen. He could feel it in the air.
The Auditorium had a circular shape although the roof was more triangular, it was held my six pillars and the middle was empty. On the ground below a faded mural of their great grandmother lay.
Has the duo landed, the make shift board of castle blocks they rode on, dismantled. Gleya stumbled away from the king, dizzied by the ride. Greeting them was Rowlan who stood at the farthest end of the room with his back turned and Heindal stood by his left and his other knights by his right.
"Rowlan!" Aldric shouted, as he marched toward his younger brother. "Where is my son?" He demanded to know, raising his staff in the air in protest of his brother's action. Rowlan, barely seemed to care, he turned his head slowly. Glaring at his brother with his side eye.
"Where is my son Rowlan?" Aldric asked in a low tone, his eyes burning with anger. Heindal noticing his blood lust, grabbed his blade out of pure instinct. It was more of a reflex action than one of reason, He could feel the threat to his life just from the king's words and stance.
Rowlan turned revealing the child in his arms. "Calm down brother, its right here. I even put it to sleep."
Aldric smiled, stretching his hand out. "Bring him to me."
"No!"
"What?" Aldric's smile faded.
"Well, you have something of mine, brother..." Rowlan replied, twiddling the newborns hair. "…And I don't plan on giving you this child till I have what is mine."
"And what would that be?" Aldric asked clenching his staff in anger.
"The throne."