Bowing into a curtsy, Norok waved his hand annoyedly and pointed at a seat at the end of the table.
“Please sit, Ornella. I need you to go over a few things for me.”
He lifted the map up and then placed it in front of me. It was very detailed, even down to the smaller ports dotted around
the islands within our world. I forgot how large Galled was. Although Mother would have had us believe The Crystal
Kingdom was the most powerful, I wondered how powerful the Empire of Nadrolan was or how the Kingdom of Awyen was
fairing. All in their own way they were powerful allies, but could also be strong enemies.
“What is it you’d like to know?” I asked, eyeing Norok.
“Who are the king’s allies? We know Nadrolan will come to his aid as the empress there is a cousin. But what of Myren?”
“I didn’t know he had a cousin,” I answered. I truly didn’t have a clue, I’d ignored most of my studies with April. I just
wanted to explore the castle and enjoy my newfound freedom. If I escaped from here and returned back to Nic, I’d make sure to
learn everything I could.
“As for Myren, possibly, but again I do not know.”
Norok snatched the map from out of my hands, causing two small paper cuts to appear between my thumbs and index
fingers. He stormed off back to the end where Lewis stood, both of them shooting me looks of disgust.
“Is that all you wanted?”
“I told you, my king, she is no use. She is under his spell and will not be able to say anything.”
Lewis placed a hand on Norok’s shoulder as if to comfort him for his outburst. They both shared a look with each other, as
if they knew this would happen.
“I think we should bring in Karim and Panya. They will be able to remove whatever spell he has her under and we should
hopefully have the princess we know return to us.”
“I am under no spell” I said standing from the table, only to be shoved back down by two large hands. Norok’s guards were
under orders to keep me here it seemed.
“I’m afraid you are. The Shadow King has powers of the mind and he’s been controlling you since the day he took you.
Possibly even before that.”
Norok looked weary, tired as he jaw clenched. He was anxious about something, and I didn’t think it was something to do
with me. Lewis turned to one of the guards and ordered for them to bring the two called Karim and Panya before excusing
himself for a moment, leaving us.
“Norok, I can assure you I have and never have been under a spell. Nicholas would never do anything to hurt me.”
“That’s just the spell talking.”
Sighing and rolling my eyes out of frustration, I could feel the tension in my shoulders rising. Norok always had a tendency
