Telltale the Darigan Dancer: Part Two

      Outside a dull blue Zafara cloaked in dull coloured clothing stared at them. When the gypsy Aisha looked into the Zafara's eyes she shuddered. The eyes were empty.

      "Let's go," one of the Eyrie Guards snapped, harshly tugging at her arm. Chantel shot a dirty look at both the guards, then began the voyage.

      On the way, Chantel began studying the Zafara. This was an agent loyal to Kass; a trickster Double Agent with no name. Kass always returned mock favor every time she came back with the news.

      The dancer took a deep breath and brought up a topic. "Is Meridell a peaceful place?"

      "Not always," was the short reply. Chantel continued jabbering, hoping for some answers.

      "I've always dreamed of seeing Meridell, but you know my mother Morguss. I'm nervous. I'm gonna be dancing in front of the King of Meridell. What if I trip or fall while dancing?"

      "You shouldn't be afraid. King Skarl can sense fear, even as much as you hide it."

      Great, thought Chantel grimly. Sometimes reality stinks like a Pile of Dung.

      Unnoticed by the two maidens, the circlet glowed. A name filled Chantel's head. "Does the name, Zephyrne, sound familiar to you?" she said.

      Double Agent was deep in pondering. And Chantel knew she was right. The Zafara just didn't know.

      * * * * * * * *

     When Chantel stepped in the courtroom, she felt as if she was in heaven. Beautiful stained glass from Brightvale surrounded the halls, where beams of light shot past and made rainbows on the ground. Some mirrors hung and Meridellians winked at her. She blushed.

     Then she held her breath. King Skarl sat at his throne. This was it. She could run away and be mocked forever, or she would try and succeed and feel guilty to the core. She stepped forward, her feet feeling like daggers.

      "I am at your service, your Majesty," she said as sweet as she could, but her voice cracked at the last two words. She cursed under her breath for her bad fortune.

      "A dancer, eh?" the King replied. "State your name, young Aisha."

      The dancer panicked. Should I give him a fake name? "Chantel," she said bluntly.

      "Alright the, Chantel, let's see what you can do. Music!"

      Chantel began by tapping her foot. The rhythm went one beat slow, then two beats fast. A flute played beautiful tunes as she shook her tambourine, adding some jingle to the music. She spread her arms and twirled, occasionally tapping the tambourine. She leaped. What a wonderful time she was having! Laughter and applause filled the air, followed by some whistling.

      Suddenly pain winced in her head. Nobody noticed the Circlet's strange patterns glowing sharply. She faltered and began hopping on one foot, sensing the Meridellians raising eyebrows and exchanging chances. A few snickers rose from the crowd, and King Skarl slumped into his chair.

      Suddenly her mind was ablur. Chantel grinned and continued, this time a smirk on her face. She saw an Acara who extended his arm towards Chantel. The brown Aisha strutted over, a soft green glow coiling around his arm that swirled into his mind. His eyes went into swirling orange and green circles and grinned goofy.

      She smiled at a blue Shoyru, who too was watching closely. Everybody was watching. She seized the magic that flowed from her grasps that hypnotized the Shoyru. She did this to a yellow Zafara, a starry Lupe and a red Kau. Getting bored, her eyes glanced the Draik guards flying at her with their spears. Chantel giggled like a naughty child and swirled her arms, the energy flowing everywhere in the room. The Draiks dropped their spears and stared at the Court Dancer.

      Then her gaze extended to King Skarl, being halfway up the steps. Her mind returned to normal and she nearly fell back, but the Orb was taunting her. Slowly the black magic from it controlled her mind, making her extend her paw of strong energy that was targeted at Skarl...

      "Incredible! You MUST dance for me EVERYDAY!" were the words that escaped his mouth without thinking, his eyes in swirls.

      Chantel, who was still under the influence of the Orb, gave a sly smile to the King. "As you wish, your Majesty," she said soothingly, and winked, slipping her paw away from his chin.

      She turned at the court, which was booming with a wonderful ovation. She continued to slip past them, knowing she had it all: beauty, grace, and attention.

      "You're staying here, got it?" the Eyrie Guards told her before they left.

      "Don't worry," she whispered, and touched the guards. Their eyes went into swirls before the Court Dancer removed the spell. "I'll be very happy here."

      When she reached the enormous room, the Orb stopped controlling her. Chantel returned back. She saw everything. She wished to know who was controlling her like some puppet! She reached for the circlet, but instead of lifting the pretty piece the thing seemed to bond with her, as though it was whispering, "No."

      Once again the Aisha let go. She slipped into a simple nightgown, plopped down in the canopy bed and fell fast asleep.

      * * * * * * * *

     Meanwhile Lord Kass was deep in thinking to himself. The Three were still not pleased.

      "Kass," Morsus the ghost Gelert of the Three had reminded him, "you're the ruler of the Citadel, and if you want to stay that way, then you have to come up with better plans that would please us."

      The Eyrie wasn't that dumb. He was very careful of picking Spellcasters and spies. He realized they were all female. He had selected them for a certain reason, for one, they seemed to be more agile and good thinkers. They also seemed very attractive, such as Chantel who was under the spell of beauty and the Orb.

      He remembered Chantel being the favorite of Lord Darigan, and he treated her like a daughter, even though it was Kass who slain Chantel's father.

      Jared was a very skilled knight, an expert on Uniback. He was good with lances and spears, and had great speed. He was friends with Darrell, a Darigan Zafara swordsman. They were both attacked and doomed by Kass when he was still a former general. Only Double Agent knew of what had happened to her mother and father. Of course she never knew, Kass chuckled, recalling how he used the tactic.

      He wondered just when the Spell of the Orb would break; the Orb's power wasn't going to control her for long, but it would be enough the launch an attack on pitiful Meridell...

 * * * * * * * *

     Several days passed. Dancing for the King and his court seemed delighting for the Court Dancer Chantel in her new dazzling look, and every time the Orb ordered a command, the Aisha would accept the circlet's power becoming part of her. She enjoyed dancing, and she enjoyed hanging around Meridell, talking sweetly to everyone around.

      Wouldn't Lord Kass be pleased? she thought one day as she winked at a group of Meridellian warriors.

      Then her mind snapped to reality. "Lord Kass?!" she muttered. "More like Lord Stupid! That name is wrong! I'd walk back all the way from here to Kreludor before I'd call him...LORD Kass! Gahh!"

      She kicked open the door of her room, threw open the closet and carefully chose a new dress. She was too tired of the normal dresses Morguss assigned her to wear, so she grabbed a beautiful Meridell dress, fit for a princess. Besides, she needed to eavesdrop a bit.

      She quickly removed one gold hoop and placed that on her left ear, just as any Meridellian Mistress would. Fitting on the white ruffled undergarment first, she found it rather itchy. She threw on the red dress, and realized the skirt would poof out, along with puffy red sleeves that stopped and the paw and tightened with more white ruffles. A gold ribbon belt with a buckle representing Meridell's shield tightened the waist, and somewhere the gold turned blue, therefore making it into a blue bow at the rear. There was also a gold choker with the shield decoration. Chantel grimaced and longed to throw off the dress before she'd itch to death.

      She arranged her hair in a stylish flip and threw bangs over the circlet, which somehow she could not take off! Applying powder to her face and changing eyeshadow, she forced herself to step outside.

      "I just hate these Meridell dresses," she muttered, walking out the door. She saw Zephyrne staring at her, and gave a wan smile. "How do I look?"

      "Quite pretty," Zephyrne said simply. These days Chantel would continuously call Double Agent Zephyrne, and as much as the Zafara Double Agent denied it, her name was Zephyrne. Chantel had seen a strange vision; the Orb caused it, and saw that her parents were destroyed in a strange blue fire, caused by a powerful mage. Magi could only cause different coloured flames; the Court Dancer successfully tried turning a torch light purple. There was another figure in the background, but she couldn't see it. She did see that the figure attacked both of them. That got Chantel thinking about her father.

      Morguss had told a few details and bits in spare time. "Your father was a Brown Aisha, one of Lord Darigan's most trusted fighters. He was taken by part of the curse," -Morguss snarled at the word- "and became different."

      "Did the curse take over his mind?" Chantel had asked. It was a trick question; she predicted when the curse struck, it stuck with her mother for eternity.

      Morguss glared at her. "You're too nosy for your own good," she sternly advised, and stormed out of her daughter's room.

      Chantel shook the thought out of her mind. She hardly believed Meridell slain her father, and pranced past Zephyrne and down the hall who gaped at many a picture.

- TO BE CONTINUED... -