Chapter Fifteen

Plans and Ideas

Since Iris now knew about my pregnancy, I decided to not wear all those layers and pads that I normally wore publicly to cover up the belly bump. It was in a way pretty comfortable. Once Iris had set up the sleeping bags and blankets carefully and we had eaten some more fruits (Iris ate a lot for someone as skinny as her), it was all well-settled in the cave.

It was almost midnight according to the watch Iris had packed, but the cave was lit up with Iris's torch and mirror arrangement, and it looked pretty beautiful. Almost safe at the moment, since we knew that the light wouldn't be able to make its way through the crooked corridor outside the cave, and no one would even suspect that we both were hiding here at the moment.

Both of us had slept throughout the day, so none of us were sleeping now. I wondered if at this moment, Sara was in my queeny bedroom, examining my tiara. Iris was busy with her Sudoku, and me – not wanting to sleep either – started reading the library book I had taken about healers. I purposely chose the part on Vittra healers, and started reading.

The Vittra are trolls that are blessed with physical abilities, so they have a rarer chance to possess such healing abilities. In fact, since Vittra don't possess any sorts of telekinetic or psychic abilities, it is only those half-blood Vittra who can be capable of such abilities that can heal other people and organisms. Skojare-Vittra trolls are available in very rare quantities, but they have pretty unique (though rare) healer qualities, that allow them to manipulate the water in which they live, in such a way that it inhabits healing qualities. This contaminated water is now a healer, that can do things as far as to cure wounds, fractures or major physical injuries.

Diseases or injuries that would normally result into coma or death are not possible to be healed by this type of Skojare-Vittra troll magicized water. Also bringing back from death or coma are also some things that cannot be done by the Skojare and Vittra mixed breeds.

Trylle – the most ability-vise rich trolls – are however capable of the best healer talents, and Trylle-Vittra are capable of quite intricate healing abilities than any half-blood Vittra would be capable of. these types of trolls would be capable of minor and major injuries, fractures, sprains, cancer, virally-infected diseases, internal damage, etc. with almost easy efforts.

Retrieval from coma is also possible, though it drains out a lot from the troll doing so, for a couple of days, after which the Trylle-Vittra (due to the Vittra self-healing capacity inside it) again gets back to its normal form. Retrieval from death is also possible, but at the cost of the healer Vittra-Trylle's life. This would mean that when a dead person is brought back, the healer is sent back to the death – if a half Vittra and half Trylle. This kind of healing is rarely done since healers are not known to sacrifice their lives for someone else's survival.

I shut the book in the shock and excitement of my new discovery. This would only mean that Sara very well could heal Loki; she could heal anyone. But that would be at the cost of her life, and since she wanted to stay alive and reunite the Trylle and Vittra, she knowingly did not give up her life. I suddenly fell too angry at Sara, and wanted to actually hit her.

"What's it?" said Iris. "Somehow your face just turned the color of a tomato."

"Sara; you were right she's evil. She could have saved Loki, but she didn't do it, because she also knew that to bring back someone from the dead, you would have to sacrifice your own life."

"Of course she wouldn't do so, because she would've definitely not wanted to give away her life for someone like Loki. I mean, I don't know how close Loki and Sara exactly were, but surely no one who didn't have a mother-child relationship would've ever given up their lives for each other."

"You have a point, but when I had actually asked Sara to save him, she had said that she just wasn't capable of this. When actually at the cost of her life, she could actually do this."

"Duh, not all people in the world are born to serve the lord of abnegation." Said Iris. "Plus, doesn't that give you another idea? the fact that Sara is capable of bringing back people from dead. I mean, Wendy, there is more to whatever Sara is capable of than just the fact that she lied to you purposely and didn't help you."

I suddenly got what she was getting it. "You mean . . . but how will I make Sara agree to this?"

"Someone told me you possessed persuasion. Perhaps the word 'persuasion' is supposed to work exactly like its international definition in the world."

"God, how much did Loki not tell you about me?"

"Actually it was Finn who told me this one. You know, during the time when he maintained this inseparable tracker relationship with me. I had just asked what were your great abilities that had made you defeat the Vittra king for god's sake. And his reply was a pretty long list, but I had just remembered the fact that you could manipulate anyone telekinetically. Well, that kind of scared the shit out of me since I didn't know what all things you can have in your way if you just go around manipulating people to your comforts."

My face kind of darkened at hearing Finn's name, and I tried to not let it show that easily. "So, you're saying that I go back to the palace and use persuasion on Sara to make her bring Loki back from the death?"

"Yes, afterall she was trying to kill or banish the Trylle rulers. It does make perfect sense for you to just kill her off that perfect way –"

"But, what if she was trying to reunite the Trylle and the Vittra? Doing the jobs that I never could do? people would never accept me back as their queen if I cause a crack between the Trylle and Vittra again and do not cooperate in the reunion."

"Our relationship with the Vittra is perfect at the moment. However the fact that the Vittra queen has been trying to tamper with the Trylle rulers, would have definitely caused some uproars and protests from the Trylle common folks, who would want back their original kings and queens. You can be the perfect symbol and model for such people."

I didn't want to do all this, but throughout the night, we planned (actually Iris did most of the planning while I just uninterestedly stared around) a lot about what would be the plans for the day after. It was only at the break of dawn, that Iris finally suggested some rest for both of us.

A late breakfast was of cottage cheese cubes with tomatoes and some canned cranberry juice (which none of us liked due to its processed effects). I kept reading more of the healer books, and some of it actually went into whatever plans we had made last night.

We both couldn't have an actual shower or bath, so Iris just sponge-cleaned the dirt out of herself. I followed suit. We both changed out of our clothes, and today I decided on the sleeveless shirt and pants, while Iris was in a similar short skirt and ruffled blouse. I charged my entire self with the drug bracelet (it really had nothing left out of it), and this was when we walked out of the cave.

Descending the mountains was in a way easier than ascending the same slopes. In the end, Iris came down sliding on her ass down the smooth rock. Knowing the fact that I was pregnant, Iris was even more hospitable towards me, and bore in an extra effort for me to get down.

We walked through the forest, and this time the exciting fear, the nervousness and the energy-conservation mode took us more time than when we had ran through it the previous day. Iris in between our journey, switched to her ghost mode, where she could see and hear and communicate with all ghosts visible to her.

"We're to take another way around here." She said briefly to me, and then began muttering further to her ghosts, and taking my hand in hers, began leading me around in a completely different area than the one from where we had arrived from. In a way it was relieving since I was pretty sure that I couldn't climb the wall to the Secret Garden again.

The end of the forests brought us to a very familiar area. I immediately recognized where this was. It was the very path between Elora's mansion and the bluffs and forested areas that me and Finn had been to together, in order to take into a spectacular view of the entire kingdom.

Following the same route, we went back to the main gate of the mansion. I immediately went to my persuasion mode, and began weaving a spherical persuasion over both me and Iris, to everyone. In my mind, I whispered at a loud range and with extreme brain power, so that the persuasion would work on everyone over a 100 feet radius. You will not stop us. You will let us go. We are not of any importance to you.

And as per our expected success, the Vittra trackers who had been guarding the mansion did not even glance twice at us, as we slid past. I noticed just like Elora's painting had specified, over the gates and the walls of the mansion, there were missing posters all around with my name and my picture everywhere. It was almost scary.

With me yielding the constant waves of persuasion, Iris and I went inside the mansion. Without wasting much time, we simply hurried over to the room shared by me and Tove. It was empty, and the bed made much neater than I would've done and than Tove would've cared for.

"Where next?" I whispered.

"I'm not very sure, but preferably let's try your chambers, your old room, the Weaponry, the library or the Throne Room."

The closest were my chambers, so we rushed to there, just to find it empty. The Weapon's Room was occupied with many people, though not Sara. Finally the Throne Room revealed what we had been searching for. Sara was there, admiring the red-cushioned throne meant for the rulers, with the tips of her fingers.

I immediately switched off my persuasion, slipped off the bracelet, and revealed my true self (and Iris) to Sara. For a moment, she just stared with astonishment, and then her face curved in a small smile, as she came towards us – though not very close.

"Nice to see you again, Wendy."

"I don't feel the same about it, though." I said.

"How very interesting, isn't it? You escaped all those Vittra guards I had set outside for you. How is that possible?"

"You underestimated me Sara. I killed Oren, the last pure-blooded Vittra king. Surely I could just escape some of your guards too."

She laughed. "That is very interesting. So, now that you've come here specifically to meet my honors, pray what be the reason for that?"

"To seek the reasons behind your actions." I said.