The Hidden Princess

Pieces of the Puzzle

Adden and Emmaline retired for a nap after being up all night.  Cladd left to go train with Bardford and his children. Marta and Angela sat in the living room and began discussing what her powers are from her vampire side.  She did not have a conscious being from her vampire lineage so she would have to learn form others and listening to herself.

“Generally speaking, vampires can persuade people to think things and do things that they normal would not do.  They can also tell them to forget things they want them to forget. I know that your uncle Thomas can shape shift into shadows and fog.  This is rare but you may be able to do it.  Vampires also have great strength and movement speed; this compliments your werewolf strengths as well.” Marta paused for a moment. “You do not desire blood so it is unclear how much vampire you actually are so we will just go through the mediation and see what happens.  Have an open mind.”

They sat cross-legged on the floor and Angela closed her eyes and cleared her mind.  She was getting good at that.  With her mind blank Marta encouraged her to see herself floating, weightless and bending and swirling like fog could do.  Angela floated off the floor and shifted into fog with ease and she moved herself over to the edge of the room and changed easily into the shadow that was near by and crawled along the walls.  Looking out was a different, things were foggy on the edges and only the round center was clear.  She came into the light and noticed it burned the shadow she was, and she shifted back into herself. Standing there with a big smile on her face.  Both Lilith and Bella were impressed with her.

“Very good!” Marta said with a smile, this was going to be easier than she thought. “Now imagine yourself weightless and see if you can float around.” Angela was able to do that as well.

“Marta, do you think I could mind link to all the werewolves?” Angela had been thinking of that since Lilith did that with the dragons. 

“I think Bella would be able to answer that question. I think you should be careful however, not all beings are against Thomas for whatever reason.  Some people do benefit from his rule and stand to lose a lot.  So being aware of who you are mind linking with.” Marta left the room to go make them some tea.

“Bella?” Angela said into her mind.

“Yes, Angela?” She said back.

“Do you want to go see your people?  We could stay in our human form and walk amongst them.  Get a feel for what is happening with them.  Maybe Bradford is an exception, not a rule?”

“I think that is a good idea, we should go with Cladd and Bradford.” Bella said back.

That evening around the dinner table they discussed the pros and cons of going to the werewolf realm, or what was left of it. Angela had mind linked Bradford and he was willing to take them. Marta suited them up with cloaks, so they do not stand out too much. Angela wanted to see it for herself, she wanted to know what she was fighting for.  Just because she was BORN to be queen does not mean she needs to be queen.  Everyone agreed that they would travel tomorrow.

That morning they met Bradford in the clearing where they were doing most of their training.  They all shifted into their wolves and made it to the border in little time.  They shifted back and got dressed and put their cloaks on to obscure their faces. Cladd reached for Angela’s hand as a show of support and he noticed that her eyes were bright ice blue, he knew that Bella was at the surface, so he let Laddy come to the surface as well. 

Bradford gave a few instructions before they went in “Don’t look anyone in the eye, it means a challenge unless they know you.  With everyone being on edge it is best to just keep your head down and listen with your ears. Also, if a guard addresses you do not look at them either.”

With a deep breath Angela put on the hood of her cloak to cover her white hair and they ran out on to the road that leads into the werewolf village as if they were traveling from somewhere. As they traveled into the center of town Angela could hear cries from mother’s who lost their babies.  She heard men growling under the weight of their collars.  Everything was dirty and muddy and unkept, very much unlike a werewolf likes to live. 

She saw people begging for food.  She was looking at child holding out his hand to her and their eyes met, and he immediately bowed, she nodded to him and quickly asked him to keep quiet. She was not looking and ran right into a guard who swung around and back handed her in the face.  Bella wanted to charge out, but Angela held her back and kept her hood on.  It took everything in Cladd not to run to her rescue. ‘She can handle this.’ Laddy reassured him.

Angela stood back up and he pulled on her arm almost dislodging her hood.  This could not happen no matter what. When they stopped, she looked at him, in his eyes and she used her powers of persuasion against him. “You do not want to hurt me.” She looked deep in his eyes, pulling at his mind. He let go of her arm. “You will forget this happened; you will forget you saw me.” He turned and walked away forgetting why he had stopped in the first place. “Very good” Bella said. “Yes, very impressive.” Lilith added. A small smile crossed her lips, and she began walking again with Bradfor and Cladd in tow.

The small boy followed her; he was compelled.  He could not stop himself; he wanted to touch her and talk with her.  Angela felt like she was being watched and decided that she had seen enough of this dirty place.  So many things were going to change when she took over the throne.  She was deep in thought as they entered the wood just off the roads. They she heard little feet following behind her.  She turned to look but saw nothing.  They began walking again and she could here it again and turned to look. “Bella, is there someone there?” Angela asked.

“I can sense someone, but all the different smells I can make it out.” Bella continued to look around.

She used her mind link that she had used with the boy, she had a hunch.  “Come out from your hiding spot.  I will not hurt you.” With that he stepped out from a tree not too far away. Cladd and Bradford when to take him into custody but she stopped them putting her hand up.

“What is your name boy?” She asked him aloud.

“James, Your Majesty.” He went to his knees looking at the ground.

“How do you know who I am?” Angela asked.

“I have had dreams of you.  I was told to be your eyes and ears.” He continued to look at the ground.

“Please rise.” They looked at each other and he was clearly uncomfortable looking at her in the eye.

After some discussion amongst the three of them felt that this boy would be useful as an informant type.  What was the best way to use him was yet to be decided?

“James, please return to your post.  I will be in contact with you.” James turned to run back toward the village. In her mind link Angela added “I love you.  Thank you.” He smiled to himself feeling something new in himself.  Something some of us call Hope and Love.

Angela, Cladd and Bradford walked a bit into the woods and then shifted, returning home by dusk.

Angela was feeling more and more that the time was coming close.  She could feel it in her soul, her people needed her and the longer she put it off, the longer they suffered.  The starvation and desperation that she observed among the dragons and the werewolves was more than enough.  It was time to make a plan.

“James.” Angela said into the mind link.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” James returned.

“I want a list of names of people you think I can trust so that I mind link with them.  We are going to start training.”

“It shall me done, Your Majesty.” James began on his quest for his queen. Being only 8 years old he was small, and people often did not see him as anything more than in the way.  He listened to conversations and he knew who he needed to talk with first.

At dinner, the four of them sat around talking about their next move.  How could they join forces that are not ready and that you barely can trust?

“What if we did not use them, but had them be a distraction.” Suddenly it was all in her minds eye and all the pieces were falling together. “We could have the werewolves and the dragons pretend to go to war with each other while we take over the vampire palace from the inside, using that secret tunnel between the palaces. We are ready to fight Thomas, it is time for him pay the price for his actions.” Angela’s eyes were switching from lavender to blue to ice blue as she spoke with one voice.

The rest all watched her and listened to her and they agreed with her plan.  Now it was time to start putting it into action.

“Your Majesty, I have the list.” James came through on their mind link.

“Excellent fast work.  Your loyalty will be rewarded.” Angela said back and took in the information he was sending her. It was time to start this war rolling.