Free Kara by Scott J. Kramer Page B

the
head physiker decreed.
    La’ard covered his face in his hands
recalling those first few weeks. By her side every minute, wanting
something other than ‘not dead.’ They summoned spooks, strange
medicine men from the east consulted, even the priests of the high
church, yet no one had an answer for the king.
    Then one evening, a guttural sound came from
his daughters lips. Hello, the voice said.
    La’ard raised his head, hope gleaming in his
eyes. But he soon found out about the creature that inhabited
Euphoria. He also learned to hate the thing.
    Twelve days ago, the creature made a
suspicious offer. Hope for her yet, my dear king. Make the
mirror whole and set Euphoria free.
    When La’ard tried to learn more, the creature
only taunted him and laughed. Desperation set in and La’ard
commanded his servants to reassemble the mirror.
    Thrown out when the servants cleaned the room
after the incident, the pieces slowly resurfaced. Bit by bit, the
mirror became whole. Some pieces appeared quickly, while others
required more time to track. Eventually, all were found except a
large shard. None of the servants remembered seeing it when they
were tending to the princess’s room.
    An off-hand comment from a passing cook made
a castle guard bring up the name of Cehwalie. Interviewed
earlier—on the night after the incident—but promptly forgotten.
    Kreitan came down hard on the cook. La’ard
sat in on the interview, his pulse quickening, knowing his
daughter’s freedom might be close at hand. That had been two days
ago, and the mirror was still incomplete.
    Argh! It made him feel incompetent. A
king with all this power, this rule, and he could not save his only
daughter. If his father, Longshanks, had still been around, this
nightmare would have been even worse.
    “Not much of king…one that would let his own
daughter…under his own roof….” La’ard banged his fist against the
throne to drive out the imagined words of his dearly departed
father.
    He rested his forehead in his hands, his
elbows on his knees. His father would disapprove of his posture. Not a proper pose for any king to be seen in . But he cared
not. Who would see him? Nobles did not come to visit much anymore.
His temper proved to be too swift and harsh these days. Many went
away stripped of their titles and few just went away, never to be
seen again.
    The land did not consider him a benevolent
king, even before the mirror came to the palace. Sure, he had
conquered Ustonia, which then brought the rich ore into the city.
Nobles cheered that day, even though many of the Ustonians found
themselves put to death, slaughtered by sword or axe. La’ard’s army
pillaged on orders from the king and they had taken full advantage
of that order.
    Now La’ard sat alone, his daughter possessed
because of his greed. He strived no longer to be a great ruler,
just one who had a living daughter.

Chapter Seven

     
    “Shouldn’t they be here by now, Grace?”
Hambone surveyed the passing crowd. Worry was obvious in his
voice.
    The green sprite flew higher for a moment.
She quickly descended and chirped a resounding no.
    Then an idea struck Hambone. His face became
grim. “He didn’t go where I think he went, did he?”
    Grace twittered, even flashed a brief red
color.
    “You’ll be mad? How about me? I was the one
who brought Kara into this mess.” Hambone pushed out into the sea
of market goers. “Come on.” With each hurried step, a mixture of
emotions pounded together inside the dwarc. There were slave
traders lurking here. Hambone heard terrible tales about them. If
Dante had put Kara in danger, he’d be sorry.
    In minutes, they navigated the labyrinth of
booths and stalls and approached the Nymphs Beauty booth. Sure
enough, Dante ventured out of the booth, smiling broadly.
    “Thank you, Lyllianna,” he said
    “Dante!”
    Hambone’s roar broke the magical aura round
Dante. His face flushed a bright red. “Wha— Hambone!”
    “How could you? Where