3

Malani watched as Leon stormed from the room. Her fathers' bodyguard went after him.

The woman coughed, diverting Malani's attention to her. She pushed herself to her feet and glared over at the king.

"Now, do you understand why he must be destroyed? He almost killed me!"

Malani's father stared at her. "This discussion is over. Guards, lead them out."

Malani watched as the Druids were led from the room. She looked over at her parents and saw her mother slump back against her chair.

"Malani, I want you to go and check on your brother." her father said, not taking his eyes off the door. "Your mother and I need to talk."

Malani scowled. "But I want-"

"Go, Malani, now."

Malani got to her feet and stormed out of the room. In the hall, guards were swarming everywhere. The head of the guards approached her. "Princess Malanli, I was asked to escort you to your brother's room."

"What's going on, Qin?"

Qin sighs. "We're searching for the boy and his father. King Augustus wants them to be brought back here for questioning."

"But why? Do you really think the boy is dangerous?" Malani asked, trailing behind him as they walked toward the staircase.

"Looking back on the event of tonight I don't doubt it. The king doesn't want you venturing outside of the palace gardens in the foreseeable future."

Malani gaped at him. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Qin didn't say anything more. When they reached her brother's room he opened the door and gave her a pitying look.

"I'm sorry, but it's what your father requested." Edward ran his finger through his hair. "I must go."

Malani watched Qin walk away. She sighed and walked into the dimly lit room. Her brother was laying in bed, looking up at the ceiling with a blank expression.

For the past week, he'd been suffering from a sickness that no doctor could name. He wasn't able to do much without becoming dizzy or faint. To comfort him, Malani gave him a dog for his birthday.

He named the german Shepard, Maximus.

"Hey, Foster. You doing alright?"

Foster turned toward her. His skin looked ghostly white, and his grey eyes were missing their usual mischievous glint. "I've been better." he blinked slowly. "I heard a lot of screams downstairs, did something happen?"

Malani took her time responding. She sat on the edge of his bed and fumbled with the lace on her dress. "The Druids came to visit today. It was about the boy."

"Ah. So there was a fight?"

"Not exactly." Malani shook her head. "The Druids told us the boy was dangerous and must be killed. It turns out that our father's bodyguard was raising the boy all along."

Foster stared at her encouraging her to continue.

"So the boy was able to disguise himself and sneak into the meeting room. There was a woman who had put a knife to Lester's throat. The boy revealed himself and threw all the druid's against the wall with his air magic. But..."

"But what?"

"He was trying to kill the woman. She claimed to have been there the day his mother died. But Lester called her a liar and said she killed her." Malani shook her head.

Foster reached over and scratched Maximus behind the ear. "Well, it sounds like I missed a lot of drama. How-"

Malani covered her face with her hands and started sobbing.

"Malani!" Foster exclaimed, "Whatever is the matter!"

"I hate seeing you like this. I miss you." Malani sniffled.

Foster started coughing. Malani gasped when she noticed a trail of red leaking from the corner of his mouth.

"Foster!"

"It's fine, sis." Foster pulled out a handkerchief, already stained with blood, and dabbed it at the corner of his mouth. "I'm..I'm dying, Malani."

Malani shook her head. "No, you're not, don't say that!" she bit her bottom lip. "I hate feeling so...so helpless."

"Don't brood." Foster reached over and squeezed her hand. "Could you perhaps get a book from the library for me?"

"Sure thing."

"I think it's called Roman History. It's written by Vernon Sparks." Foster tapped his chin. "He wrote it when he was 13. I find his writing very interesting."

Malani laughed. "My twelve-year-old brother, reading?"

Foster hardly touches books unless his tutors tell him to, and sometimes not even then.

Malani kissed her brother's forehead. "Alright, I'll bring you your book."

"Thanks, sis."

He turned back toward the ceiling, acting as though Malani didn't exist. Malani got to her feet and opened the door, glancing back at Foster one last time before she left, closing the door behind her.

After leaving Foster's room, she headed up to her own room.

She opened her door and sat down on her bed. The events from the meeting ran through her head.

Malani reached under her bed and pulled out a leather-bound book with gold words on the front. She found this during one of her nightly explorations, it talked about the magical orbs that Ward was after.

She knew that he didn't want to destroy them. In fact, she believed that he was well aware of the legend, and he only came here in hopes of capturing the boy.

Malani tucked the book into a brown bag and snatched her cloak from her closet. She knew what she was about to do was forbidden and frowned upon by her father, but she felt that she had no other choice.

Malani decided to help Lester and his son find the orbs.