Chapter 18:

"WHERE IS SHE!?" Rath's temper was flaring, more so than usual, and the entire castle seemed to be in an uproar.

"I do not know milord! We have been searching for her for almost an hour." Some servants passed and walked around as things were being carried and calls were being made. Vilandra suddenly came in from her chamber, her eyes still groggy from sleep, her heart empty at waking up without Alakiah. She missed him the way she missed sleep and it was strange to feel like she needed him around her in order to wake up or sleep soundly. She walked into the chaos, her mind spinning in confusion, and she saw Rath throwing out orders.

"Everything alright?"

"They're gone." His distraught eyes betrayed his calm and demanding stance. Something serious was up, and Rath was beginning to lose it. She stepped up closer to him and put her arm on his shoulder.

"Who's gone?"

"Alakiah, Mayala, and Elena. They all disappeared sometime this morning. No one has seen or heard from them." Vilandra's eyebrows furrowed in deep thought and she looked at Rath with an interested face.

"Perhaps they just went to spend the day together elsewhere." Vilandra felt she was trying to convince herself she was right. But something was wrong, and she knew it.

"What is going on?" Zan stepped into the room, his eyes looking troubled, matching Vilandra's sudden worry.

"Something is wrong... very wrong."

"What do you mean?" Zan looked at Rath's expression and felt his heart drop into his chest. This couldn't be good. He felt the sudden urge to be with Elena, to be comforted by her eyes.

"Do you remember what we spoke about yesterday? What Mayala had come to you for?" Rath's eyes were burning into Zan's and Vilandra watched in confused interest.

"Gentlemen, what are we talking about? And don't I get any say in what's going on? I have someone I care about missing too, remember?" She was beginning to get frustrated. They seemed to be keeping secrets and she hated feeling left out.

"Where is Elena?" Rath looked at Vilandra and then they looked back at Zan. How were they supposed to tell him that his new wife was now missing? Rath opened his mouth to speak when suddenly an unfamiliar voice broke in.

"Your Highness Zan, Rath, and milady Vilandra." They turned to see a small blonde, her curly hair bouncing as she curtsied and then got back up to meet them with big blue eyes.

"Ava?" Zan was now confused, not exactly sure how he lost control so quickly in the morning.

"I am here with news." She had on a bright smile, but it was a smile that made Vilandra uncomfortable. It seemed to be holding secrets. She smiled at her as if she knew something she shouldn't. And at this point, feeling vulnerable was not on her to do list.

"Speak."

"The law that you requested was turned down by the court of high priests and judges. Overall, all of our planets agreed that it would not work and that the idea is too rebellious." Zan felt his blood begin to boil. They would NOT turn him down. They couldn't! He was married to the woman he loved. So what if she was not royalty? He felt everyone deserved the love of their life regardless of position.

"How do you know this?" Zan stepped up close to Ava and she looked up at him with her strong eyes.

"I have a distant uncle on the committee who told me the idea was shut out even before it was considered. They said your ideas were too... youthful. That you did not have the best interest of the planet at heart, but perhaps your own." She could see his jaw tighten and his eyes were beginning to cloud over in anger.

"Your Highness... if I may say so, I believe your idea was a genius idea. Imagine what we could accomplish, the peace we could have were the whole planet treated as equals! It would change the universe! Your name would go down in history..."

"I am not in it for those reasons."

"Oh?"

"It is my heart that tells me that all people have been created equal. The gods are not merciless. They grant wishes to even those most undeserving. Any person that can breathe and feel as the King does, is equal to the King." Zan saw a hint of an emotion he couldn't recognize in her eyes. It looked like anger, but he could not be sure. Had he offended her?

"Thank you Ava, for your information. It is appreciated more than I could say." She curled her lips in a wider smile and her eyes seemed to be smiling at him as well.

"As a thank you..."

"Your Highness!" Zan turned to see one of his servants handing him a cloth. It was a shimmering white cloth, no bigger than his hand, but it was obviously ripped off with great force. He closed his fingers against it and suddenly felt a flash of images in his mind. He saw Elena struggling against someone and then saw her fall to the floor with the force of a blue light. Two strong male hands picked her up brutely and as she was dragged along, her wedding dress ripped. His eyes shot open wide and he looked back at Rath and Vilandra. He looked back at Ava and his eyes seemed suddenly panicked.

"I am sorry Miss Ava, I must excuse myself. I seem to have a serious conflict in the castle this morning, and you seem to have caught me at a bad moment. Please, keep in touch, I would like to continue conversation on the hearings." He turned quickly around and with Rath and Vilandra they quickly and mysteriously walked away to the hallway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~

"So what you are saying is you saw what happened to them?"

"Yes."

"They were taken? By who? Who would want to do that?" Vilandra was visibly panicked, more so than they had to be, and Zan was worrying about her sanity.

"I do not know. We must split up, and spend the day doing our own research. Whatever is necessary to find them, must be done. Do not let anyone find out why you are there or asking questions, simply find your way around it. Be careful, we don't know if they took them, trying to get to us. And Rath, please don't lose your head. If you think you are on to something or someone, find a way to contact me." Zan looked over at Rath who was shaking his head.

"Rath, I am serious."

"I know! Let's just get on with this!" They decided on a meeting time, about four hours later and then they split up. Vilandra made her way to her bed chamber to see if Alakiah left any belongings behind. She walked in and closed the door and suddenly felt a strong hand pull her to a shadowy figure. She gasped and was suddenly being crushed with a kiss. When she pulled away, she was met with bright green eyes that made her nervous.

"Oh my... what... what are you doing here? You aren't supposed to be here? How did you manage to get in to the city gate?"

"I have love's cloak to hide me from their eyes."

"Shakespeare."

"Vilandra... I have not been able to sleep since I last saw you." She felt his hands all over her, on her back, in her hair, on her face. His eyes were fiery and passionate and his kisses were distracting any thought that made sense.

"What are you doing here?"

"I need you to help me."

"No... no I can't."

"I know where they are." Suddenly, Vilandra's brown eyes looked up in a panic. The bad feeling she had before was now confirmed. But it was worse than she expected.

"No... please tell me you didn't."

"Oh Vilandra... you should know better than that. When I need something, I work any means I have to, to get it. And no one would listen to me. No one takes me seriously. Is it because I just escaped from prison? Do they think I'm crazy Lonnie? I don't want to have to kill them. I know how broken your brother would be if I killed the small brunette. I know everything Lonnie. Everything." By now, he was grabbing her strongly by the shoulders and her breathing was completely broken and ragged in fear.

"You can join me. You can give up on this ridiculous lifestyle and become my wife. And together, we can rule Antar the way we want. But we'd have to get rid of your brother."

"YOU CANNOT MAKE ME KILL MY BROTHER!" Her whole body was shaking, memories of her father's death surfacing, the guilt and nightmares she dealt with suddenly flowing back.

"I knew you would be difficult. But I know you Lonnie. I know your heart belongs to no one but me. I know how your brother has never expressed any kind of care for you. He's always too involved in himself. But this is your chance to shine. To be the woman the gods intended. The strong leader who will lead this planet to a revolution." He put his hands on her face and wiped away her tears.

"Please leave me alone."

"Close your eyes Lonnie." She was shaking so violently, her eyes were already closed. Suddenly, Ava stepped out from the dark depths and closed her eyes. Vilandra began to scream and the strong male hand covered her mouth tightly. Finally her eyes rolled back and she opened them to reveal large black depths.

"You will help us."

"Yes."

"Why Lonnie?"

"Because I love you."

"And Miss Ava here will be your new best friend. She will be your guardian and protector. But what must you do?"

"Keep the abduction a secret. I do not know who did it."

"And what else?"

"Kill Zan."

"Perfect." Kivar stepped up to Vilandra and kissed her long and hard.

"Kill him?" Ava felt her heart stop.

"It is the only way."

"NO! No... I will marry him! I will make him change his ways!"

"How do you intend to do that?"

"I'll threaten him! I'll tell him that I know where they are! That it's all my fault! That my jealousy got away with me! They will be left unharmed as long as he gives himself completely to me! But DO NOT kill him Kivar!" He walked up to Ava and placed his arms comfortingly around her.

"Shhh... it will all work out. If you can get him to listen to you, then good. But if not, then he is not a risk I am willing to take." He leaned down and kissed Ava, as Vilandra stood straight in the room in a trance. Kivar snapped and Vilandra awoke from her trance as he was walking towards her.

"Hey baby."

"Lonnie?"

"Oh God, I missed you." She threw herself on him and their kisses were passionate and full of desire. Ava watched amazed as the normally in control Vilandra turned into a completely different person.

"It sure is nice to have my Lonnie back."

"Yea, well it sure is nice to be back." She pulled his neck in for a hard kiss and felt the rush of evil in her veins. Finally, Vilandra was back.