Jhudora's Revenge: Part Five

     The two royal Krawks turned to their attendant.

     “You are sure? Is it a Darigan Grarrl?”

     “Yes, why?”

     King Edel and Queen Mist shared an understanding look.

     King Edel motioned the attendant forward and whispered so that no other could hear.

     “Do not approach them. Avoid them at all costs. Instruct my men to do the same.”

     “But your majesties, I fear that the Aisha is in grave danger!”

     Queen Mist raised an eyebrow and hissed to the attendant. “If you do not trust us, you should not serve us. You are too good an individual to leave in disgrace. You know how we are often willing to compromise, but on this matter we are resolute. Nobody is to go anywhere near those two!”

     The attendant nodded shamefully and hastened away to tell all those in the proximity to keep their distance and to avoid the two.

     Once they had retreated deep into the bowels of their castle, King Edel and Queen Mist started speaking in hushed tones.

     “It’s just like what happened to Addieana. Just like Glitzern told us...”

     “But what if there really is an Aisha in danger?”

     The queen scoffed. “Yes, right in front of the palace to be seen by all. No creature is that unintelligent. It was a ploy to kidnap us. I hope this doesn’t mean that Jhudora’s fury has been renewed.”

     “Her fury never subsides.”

     “True enough, but what will she do now? She has our daughter, and she wants our kingdom.”

     “We will do what we have always done. We will be cautious and we will avoid her.”

     “But she has Addieana!”

     “I love my daughter, but who is more important? Our entire kingdom or our daughter? I hate to say it, but we must leave her to Jhudora. She will understand.”

     “Jhudora will still try to take over our kingdom.”

     “Which is why we must not let her, regardless of the price we pay.”

     “Why are you always the wise one?”

     “Because you are always the strong one.”

     ~*~*~*~*~*~

     “You mean they just let you?!”

     Jhudora was far beyond fury. Her plan had failed miserably. She had underestimated the king and queen. They knew what to look for as signs of Jhudora.

     The Darigan Grarrl cringed before Jhudora’s wrath. “They all avoided us until we left.”

     Jhudora’s voice had mutated from fury to the coldest ice known to Neopia. “You left?”

     The Grarrl, now too afraid to speak, motioned to the Aisha.

     “Miss, we had no other option. They would come nowhere near us, and if we approached by even a single step, they backed away.”

     “You always have a choice. You could have attacked them or made them back away to the point that you had access to the palace. Did you even give them my message?”

     “Just the two of us defeat all those guards and take the castle? Perhaps if you had been with us, we could have done it. With just the two of us, it simply wasn’t an option. As for your message, they would not listen to us any more than they would approach us. However, I suspect that they already know.”

     “I repeat myself. You always have a choice. Which do you fear more now? Me or them? They show mercy. I do not, as you well know. You will go back and you will find the king and queen. You will bring them to me. Our princess needs a little history lesson anyway.”

     Jhudora snapped her fingers and the two pets were engulfed in purple smoke that had lime green swirls accenting the edges. She then walked away to her private dungeon.

     Like most castles, hers had a dungeon. However, hers was the only one run solely by the owner of the dungeon. Most dungeons were run by guards, servants, and many others. Jhudora controlled her own dungeon, regardless of the number of occupants.

     When she arrived, Addieana looked up, uncertainty clear in her eyes as well as her actions. She unsteadily sat up on the floor and watched Jhudora’s movements.

     “What do you want with me now, Jhudora?”

     “While you would do well to speak to me with more respect, I will still answer your question. What do I want? Well, I’m sure you can figure out that much. What do I want with you? Now that’s a complicated question. In fact, it’s the reason that I came to see you know. You could use a little history lesson.”

     “Why would you tell me anything? Isn’t knowledge equivalent to power... or something like that?”

     “Yes, that’s true. However, real power has nothing to do with knowledge. It has everything to do with fear. So I’m not concerned. Besides that, knowledge can also be misery. You need to know about your life before this one.”

     “What do you mean?”

     “You weren’t hidden from me when you were a baby. In fact, you were about as old as you are now. Glitzern knew that I had almost found you, so with your consent, you were turned into a baby. However, you were not painted with any ordinary baby paint brush. The one with which you were painted erased your memory. You didn’t just look like a baby- you were a baby. Also unique to your paint brush- you started growing up like any baby would. You didn’t stay a baby like those pets painted to become one.”

     “Then why waste the time for a paint brush? Surely it could have been done without one.”

     “Yes, but ease and all that. Most of Glitzern’s work was already done. There were just a few specifications that had to change. Now, you know the story after that, but you’re missing many years of your life. You were such a happy child. Your parents didn’t tell you about me until it was time to really hide you. It was the only way you’d agree to be painted. You liked being an Aisha. You loved your people and in turn they loved you. However, I always wanted you. Through you I can control your parents.”

     “No, you can’t.”

     “Why? Some silly escape attempt that won’t work?”

     “No. Something far worse.”

     “Enlighten me.”

     “My parents would never exchange me for our entire kingdom.”

     “Why? Not selfish like me? Or do they just not love you?”

     “They are good rulers. They are just and they care for my people. They would not turn over an entire kingdom just to get me away from you.”

     “And you’re still holding out hope for your brother, aren’t you? Don’t count on it. He and Edna are coming now, but they’re hardly what I’d consider a threat.”

     “Edna is coming too?”

     “Probably wants revenge for getting her to tell me about Glitzern. Not that she had a choice, but things like that can make her mad. Your brother will be too busy dealing with my personal servants, not to mention one of my pets. I just don’t know who would be more trouble for him. Daisy or Sarah. You’ve already met Daisy, and she didn’t take much of a liking to you. However, Sarah is following your brother and Edna now. My plan truly is going along perfectly. I’ve captured you, I’ll take control of your kingdom, and I’ll get revenge on your brother for his miserable scar.”

     “Whatever became of your scar anyway?”

     “My choker is my scar. I cannot remove it. It was a bit more visually appealing than that jagged, fluorescent blue line.”

     “Don’t worry. He’ll gladly give you another one to admire.”

     “He won’t have that opportunity. He’ll be too busy. Now, I really must be going. This entire conversation has been... interesting. Now, I really should be off.”

     “Aren’t you ever going to feed me anything more than stale bread that you either stole from the Meridell food shop or took from the dump?”

     “No. Why? Expecting something more upscale?”

     “I guess not.”

     “Then your expectations have been met. Good day.”

     Jhudora walked away as Daisy returned to her post and simply stared at Addieana.

     ~*~*~*~*~*~

     “C’mon now, boy! You need to work for me some more. You shouldn’t be having this much trouble just walking!”

     Edna was leading Vendette across some rocky terrain as they approached Neopia Central. Despite being in good shape, Vendette was not prepared for the difficult hiking paths that they followed when not traipsing around in the bushes as Edna watched for familiar signs.

     “If it were just walking, this would be easy. This is a mixture of hiking and running. You’ve never walked this quickly before.”

     “I never needed to.”

     “Think Jhudora knows that I’m coming?”

     “Of course she knows you’re coming. She probably knows that I’m coming too.”

     “Why do you say that?”

     “Vendette, we need to have talk a bit about Jhudora.”

     “What about her?”

     “She’s not like all the other faeries. Her power is concentrated, thus making it seem stronger. Some faeries try to multitask, greatly weakening them to anything specific. Jhudora is far more focused, therefore her power seems amazingly strong. She probably knows exactly where we are. Knowing her, we’ve even got a follower.”

     “What kind of follower?”

     “The subtle kind.”

To be continued...