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The Belfry of Thundera at Night

The day passed and when evening came, Brigid found herself unable to sleep. In the room she had been given, she could hear that turbulent cleric that had been assassinated so many centuries ago battering away at the tower. Sighing in annoyance, she rolled over and covered her head with her pillow, but still, she could hear the battering.

Removing the pillow, Brigid sat up and got out of the bed and looked out the window of her room. She might not have been able to see that turbulent cleric, but she could hear him. He was hard at work and she could only wonder if he still was in her native time.

How did Lieu and Sinha sleep with that sound? Were they awake now? Perhaps she could go and ask.

Going forth from her chamber, Brigid found the hallway of the Belfry to be dark and sinister. The candles had either gone out or were in the process of doing so.

Now where was the room of the princes?

Spying a cloaked individual down the hall, Brigid approached them. Who was this? The head guard? Was he feeling a little bit on the cold side? If so, then that must have accounted for the cloak.

Tugging on the cloak of the cat, Brigid's red eyes grew wide as the cloak fell from his shoulders. Looking up, the Evabon girl could see that the cat had no head.

Shaking uncontrollably, Brigid would have screamed except she found her voice stuck in her throat. This adventure the Red Star had taken her on was beginning to turn into a nightmare that she wanted to wake up from!

Running away, Brigid tried to find Lieu and Sinha's room. They were used to this sort of thing, what in the world was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to react to encountering a headless ghost?

Arriving at what she believed to be the room of the two princes, Brigid found the door wide open, the covers and pillows tossed aside and no sign of Lieu and Sinha. What had happened? Where were Lieu and Sinha? They had to be somewhere, but where? The Belfry covered eighty acres; they could have been anywhere.

But were they safe?

Looking back and forth, Brigid beheld something strange. The Belfry of Thundera was becoming a thing of ruins, like it must have looked in Brigid's own time.

Taking a small step back, Brigid felt herself standing in something wet… Feeling her blood run cold, she looked down and discovered to be… rainwater… Just rainwater. Sighing in relief, Brigid fidgeted with one of her bracelets. It was just rainwater, it wasn't blood.

Still… Where were Lieu and Sinha?

The Belfry once more as it had been before the Fall of Thundera became light and sunny… No, that was impossible! It had been night just a moment ago!

Looking back and forth once more, Brigid found the room much changed. It did not seem like a room a child would live in... And by the window sat a man, a cat, a caracal like Caracalla specifically. Taking notice of her, the caracal asked: "Here now, what's this? Who are you, girl?"

"Who are you?" asked Brigid in turn. "Where are the princes Lieu and Sinha?"

"What do you say?" asked the caracal in confusion. "Speak again!"

"Where are the princes Lieu and Sinha?"

"Are you mad, girl? Lieu and Sinha vanished thirty years ago during the reign of Aslan. Who are you anyway?"

"Brigid. Who are you, sir?"

"Lucius. Publicly I have said that Aslan had his nephews murdered, but in private I have suggested our 'worthy' king Starlion had them executed when he usurped the throne. Sadly, Starlion has eyes and ears everywhere, thus, here I am in the Belfry. But what of you, Brigid? Why are you here? An Evabon child such as yourself, a chieftain's daughter no doubt… To my thinking you were taken captive by Starlion so your clan could supply him with resources for some campaigns he is planning."

Lieu and Sinha murdered? No, that couldn't be it! It could not have been true! They could not have been murdered, they had to be alive, the Red Star could not have moved her forward thirty years, this had to be… But what else could it have been?

What was the truth of the matter? Had Aslan actually murdered his nephews or had Starlion, grandfather to Lion-O, had the two princes executed in secret?

Lucius vanished and once more Brigid found herself in the room as it had been when Lieu and Sinha had resided in it. Falling to her knees, Brigid looked around… Was it Aslan who was responsible for the disappearance of the two princes of Thundera? It had to have been, he was the one who ruled, was he not?

Unless…

What if they had been moved elsewhere for their own protection? Could that have been it?

Would that she knew… Would that anyone knew.

Rising to her feet, Brigid paused. Everything looked the same, perhaps it really was the night where Brigid had seen that headless specter.

Quietly, Brigid called the names of the two princes. Perhaps they had not vanished, perhaps they were just playing hide-and-seek… In the dark of night?

Then calling out a bit louder, Brigid hoped she would hear a response.

Alas, there was none.

Tears starting to flow from her eyes, Brigid went forth from the chamber and looked back and forth. Alas, as much as she wished it, neither Lieu or Sinha could be seen coming down the dark hallways of the Belfry… There was not even a phantasm to be seen… Not a soul, as if she was the only one in the wide world.

She did not like that. To feel so lonely must have been the most frightening feeling and Brigid found herself wishing for a spirit be it that headless specter or the unknown victim to appear. Even the battering of that turbulent cleric could not be heard.

And just like that, everything grew dark.

Placing a hand on the wall of the hallway, Brigid made her way down. What was going on? Why had the Red Star brought her to this nightmare?

There had to be an answer, didn't there? These things did not happen for no reason! There had to be an answer, why was this happening?

She wanted to wake up! She wanted this nightmare to end! She wanted to be home in Wilusa amongst family and friends! She wanted this to be over, she wanted this to stop…

Where were Lieu and Sinha?