Chapter List

essica Hoshi was just about to disembark from the ship when she saw them. Three men emerged from the fog. She shrank back, looking from side to side for her friends. Alanna and Shannon watched the men approaching. Cici looked around for the other girls, still holding the Lantern.

The men wore rather unfriendly expressions. Alanna was relieved to notice they seemed unarmed, at least for the moment. Cici noticed her Lantern was now cycling between a purplish glow and its normal color.

They reached the edge of the dock. One of the men was short and heavy. The other two were taller and thinner.

Alanna tried to put on a serious expression, even though she was so nervous she could scarcely breathe. She clutched the jewelry box with both hands, trying to think of a way to hide it.

One of the men muttered something under his breath and produced a small dull black stone. All of the girls backed up a few steps and Cici pushed her way to the front. At the age of nine, Cici’s bravery was much surer than her words, so she just frowned at them.

The lenses of her Lantern were no longer cycling colors. Now they were all glowing a deep purple color.

Another man emerged from the fog. He looked considerably more confident than the first three. He carried a heavy club in one hand.

“Noret!” Clenick exclaimed.

“We’ll take possession of the Chronicler’s Lantern now,” Noret said with a crooked grin.

“Jessie…” Cici started. Nobody answered. Cici looked around quickly and noticed Jessica and all of the other girls had vanished!

“If I were you, I’d concern myself with survival over what scraps you might pilfer from a band of runaways.” It was a woman’s voice, and the shocked, surprised look on one of the men’s faces gave Cici a chill. He looked positively terrified.

“Impossible,” Noret whispered.

“Patience is my most formidable weapon, betrayer.” The woman began to advance very slowly towards the men, picking each few steps by planting the end of her ancient-looking staff on the dock. The black bird on her shoulder glared with dark eyes at Noret. “And what I pursue, I catch.”

“Who is this… this vagabond?” the fat man gestured towards the robed woman with an incredulous expression.

“Gentlemen, may I present her Excellency, the Vicereine of Kulnas,” Noret made a rude sweep of his hand that exacerbated the sarcastic tone of his voice. Reina simply stood and waited, not reacting at all to Noret’s disrespectful address.

“You can’t harm me, Excellency.” Noret said. “There are certain people who would be most displeased if I am deprived of what is mine.”

“Save your boasts. I’ve had plenty of time to prepare for your return, and if you’re referring to your mysterious ‘contact’ in Escator, you’ll be interested to know the Topaz Sparrow has a price on your head. In fact, they offered to double it if I saw to the matter personally.”

The other men glanced at each other with increasingly nervous expressions.

Continue to Chapter Twelve