"Cry me a river and build me a bridge." Dorothea spun on the weeping Prince that knelt on the floor at her feet. "Jolouque says the Priestess fled to Kaeleer, and more importantly to Bania; your territory. So find her!"
Throwing up her hands, with nails sharpened into claws, she slashed the man's face basking in the howl he made. This was a stupid Prince, defying the hand that feeds him; which makes it a good thing he is so dispensable. He squirmed like a worm and clung to her skirts in mercy.
"My Lady I beg you, the Priestess isn't there. Your man must be mistaken…"
"Silence! Get out of here at once. You are the one mistaken." Hekatah was becoming suspicious so no more mistakes could be afforded. But, as the man stumbled out the door, Dorothea was not quite sure how honest her little pet, Jolouque, was. Before her thoughts could drift on it further she remembered her other duties; those she had to attend to immediately. Today she'd have an unexpected meeting with dear Zalean.
(Break)
Zalean rose early, her ninth day at Dorothea's estate had proven to break her into the habit of early rising. Her biological clock was telling her that if she slept the day away she would loose too much time, and miss out on opportunities. Climbing to her feet, she rinsed her face and dressed quickly in a salmon colored outfit. No sooner had she dressed then came the knocking on her door.
A surprising fluttery feeling climbed into her stomach, only to dissipate as she opened the door.
"Zalean, how glad I am to have caught you awake this early." Dorothea held out her hands in greeting. Zalean, having had enough practice, slipped her hands beneath to graze, only slightly, the hands held out to her.
"Lady. How can I be of service this morning?"
"Oh I didn't come here for your service, I came so that you could take advantage of some of mine." A little wink came from the friendly face, but Zalean knew better than to trust much of Dorothea. "Is everything to your likings, are you having troubles with anyone?"
"No everything is fine. I'm getting along well with the others." Not caring to mention just how well she was getting along with Jolouque, she changed the subject. "How has you're mission to reopen the portal been going?"
At this Dorothea's mood changed, and she slunk past Zalean willing her to close the door. "Not so well I'm afraid."
"That's too bad." Zalean understood now why Dorothea had come, so to skip the senseless small talk she got to the point. "How can I help?"
Dorothea looked up at the girl, and realized that she would have been quite useful, if only she were a witch. Zalean was not merely quick witted, lacking prudish pride as well as phony confidence of in no way being used; the girl also had a way with the men. At first Dorothea hadn't understood the attention her new "friend" had received, seemingly an ordinary Landen teen, but now Dorothea herself was intrigued.
"Well you were there when the Gates closed, were you not?"
"Yes but technically you were there too." From the instant frown Zalean assumed that wasn't the correct answer. "Well you see, I myself was in a befuddled state that I too can not remember it clearly. I had gone through the Gate to find you and the Priestess. After seeing me she left and you woke up. There isn't much more information I can give you."
The word liar spun about Dorothea's mind, and she relished in the simplicity of just going into the girls mind and wrenching what she needed out. On the other hand, Zalean was too important of a piece and Dorothea wanted her undamaged.
"Very well. I can't say that helped much but maybe you can help in other ways." The girl was a book of information pertaining to Earth, which would be very helpful when Dorothea went to destroy it. "Tell me about Earth and your- South America."
"Alright, although I fear it isn't as interesting as things are here. You see we don't have Courts and Queens the way you do. We have a government, and Presidents, and courts only made up of juries and judges…"
Zalean went through the whole government system. Pouring out as much knowledge as she knew, which Dorothea then gobbled up greedily.
"So how do you kill someone who has plotted against you?" The wayward Dorothea asked after hearing about the death sentence.
"You don't you simply tell the police and let them handle it."
"Don't those convicted simply become demon dead?" Zalean classified Dorothea's expression, as the one's she would get struggling over a math problem back home. Home, in all this talking she hadn't thought of it as her home. Now though, as she stopped to think a small tear welled in her eye; quickly not wanting Dorothea to notice she brushed it away.
"There are no demon dead on Earth."
"Oh goody." Dorothea's eyes grew large as calculation spun in her head.
Zalean took little notice and continued on. "So like I said, the police men are basically the justice of the people. They're the ones you turn to for help, and turn away from if you've done something wrong."
"Yes, yes this is all very good dear. Loads of help, honestly." The smile that spread from ear to ear was quite genuine. "But it's nearing noon and you have yet to eat, and I- on the other hand- am a busy woman. We must postpone this for another day."
With that the older lady got to her feet and headed toward the door, but a sudden pull on her physic required her to hesitate. Searching the room quickly, Dorothea realized it came from between the mattress. Before she could investigate further she was caught up in another's distaff thread, Lady, we have news from Kaeleer. The messenger requests your presence immediately. Just perfect timing Dorothea's anger boiled as she stalked into the hall; the suspicious power source would have to wait.
(Break)
Zalean's knees felt like jelly, as she wobbled forward to her secret hiding spot. Dorothea had realized something, she could tell by her matron's expression, but what and why didn't she say anything were the questions. Now on her hands and knees Zalean felt beneath the mattress and withdrew the bracelet.
As she focused on the jewel in her hand the beats of her heart reeled forward, then settled back. The jewel was a vivid yellow like that of a baby chick, only this chick had a throb of energy rolling from it. Her hand fluttered above the sunny hue, her eyes glued to it fearing that it would change before her eyes. Could this be true, Zalean gulped, could she really change the color of her jewel.
Remembering last night she put two and two together, realizing the color seemed to change every time she- or rather it did craft; so she concentrated. Concentrated on all the things she'd ever read in books, and the scrapes of information she had acquired from others. A warm sensation ran through the veins of her arm, like when you get a shot and the medicine disperses through the blood. It sent tremors across her palm and out her fingers where, for the briefest second, it swelled as a flame.
Disappointingly, even though Zalean did concentrate, that was all she got and the jewel remained the same. In all her busyness though, she hadn't heard the footsteps that sounded behind her. It wasn't until she heard, "What are you doing?" that she even thought to turn around.
A/N: I've made some time changes to make her time in court longer.