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“I was already out of the Cavern—I’m looking for my two guys. For Captain Seldarin and for the Royal Historian—Krynn,” I added.
“Yes, my dear—I know how attached you are to them.” She squeezed my hands. “But I have reason to fear that they have fallen into the hands of the Lord Regent.”
I felt my blood run cold—despite the dream with Alira I’d been hoping against hope that my guys were safe. But Lady Nolana’s words confirmed my worst fears.
“He hasn’t…hasn’t killed them, has he?” I asked, my voice coming out tight with anxiety.
“Oh, I don’t think he means to kill them,” Lady Nolana said. “I believe he’s holding them captive so they can’t help you ascend to the Throne this evening—and it’s almost time for the Coronation Ceremony.”
“What? But I just woke up!” I protested.
Then I remembered my dream again and how Elgiana had talked about drugging everyone. Maybe the sleep magic had worked on me, even though the evil flute hadn’t. I must have slept all night and then slept the day away—which meant that Mordren had had Krynn and Sel in his power for hours and hours!
“Please, Lady Nolana,” I begged her. “Take me to where you think they might be. I have to find them!”
“If I had to guess, I would bet that Mordren is keeping them near him,” she said. “But you must get dressed for your coronation before you do anything else.”
“No, I have to find my guys!” I protested.
“Now, listen to me, young lady!” There was suddenly steel in Lady Nolana’s voice and her face, in the dim tunnel, had grown grim. “I know you care greatly for Krynn and Seldarin, but they are only two of your subjects. Right now you need to focus on saving your entire kingdom from Lord Mordren. You must think about the many—not the few.”
“Saving the kingdom?” I asked blankly. “How is it in danger? I mean, it would be terrible if Mordren gets another hundred years added to his Regency but I’m pretty much the only one who would be affected.”
“Do you really think that?” She frowned sternly at me. “I suppose you don’t know because you weren’t raised among us, but the Dark Fae have been in decline for the last half century—ever since your mother, the old Queen died.”
“They have?” I asked, shaking my head. “But…why?”
“Because we do not have a true descendant of Lolth with Royal Purple blood in her veins on the Silver Throne!” she exclaimed. “Because of that lack, our life spans are getting shorter and our people are growing weaker. Why, if the trend is allowed to continue for another hundred years, the Dark Fae may die out altogether!”
“Does Mordren know that?” I demanded.
She made a face, as though she’d tasted something bitter.
“Of course he does! He doesn’t care if our people die out as long as he gets to rule. All he cares about is power and wealth—his soul is corrupted with greed. I have known that since the moment I saw him conspire with Elgiana to poison your mother in the birthing bed!”
“He what?” I exclaimed, staring at her.
Grimly, she nodded.
“Oh yes, you heard me. You see, Mordren had hoped you would be a boy—male descendants of Lolth don’t carry her Power the way females do. He was hoping to get rid of your Royal Mother and then rule thorough her son, once your Royal Father was out of the way. But all his plans went sour when you came out a healthy baby girl.”
“So he poisoned my mother?” I asked, shaking my head. “Everyone here told me she died in childbirth.”
“She did lose a lot of blood,” Lady Nolana said, nodding. “But she was healthy enough—she would have lived if not for the poison Lord Mordren had Lady Elgiana pour into the water she was given to drink.”
“That bitch!” I exclaimed, balling my hands into fists. “I should have known she would be involved somehow.”
“You hate her because of what she’s done to Krynn but your own loss was even greater,” Lady Nolala said. “It was because your Royal Mother was killed that I had to smuggle you away to the Mortal Realm and leave you for the humans to find.”
“What?” I stared at her, wide-eyed. “You were the one who stole me away when I was just an infant?”
“I had no choice, my Princess!” she cried. “Your Royal Father was grieving so deeply for your Royal Mother that he didn’t see what was going on beneath his very nose. And I heard Mordren telling Lady Elgiana to slip some spelled nightshade into your milk. He was going to have you killed before you were two weeks old. So I stole you away and put you the only place I knew you’d be safe—unfortunately, Mordren found out about it.”
“He did? I’m surprised he didn’t come kill me then,” I remarked.
“Oh, he would have liked to, but I put the strongest Don’t-See-Me spell on you I could,” Lady Nolana told me. “That’s part of my magic, you know—going unnoticed has its uses and it’s saved my life more than once. Anyway, my plan was to let you live with the humans for just a few decades and then come get you when you were strong enough to fend for yourself.”
“Why didn’t you?” I asked. I couldn’t help thinking that it would have saved me years of grief with my terrible marriage if only she had brought me back to the Midnight Court when I was in my early twenties, before I’d met Christopher.
