a Loneka puppet on the throne. No one would dare question him and I will continue to rule through him. Problem solved.”
“A nice plan on parchment, but what happens if it doesn’t work? What if the Loneka heir is headstrong?”
“I can always threaten him with the fact that he married nothing but thin air.”
“That is a dagger that cuts both ways. He could easily threaten you with the same.”
“I would make sure that he knows that he could try, but that he would never live to see me fall.”
“Fear and power. Good tools for controlling a person. What if he develops morals? Such people have been known to die fighting for what they believe is right.”
“If the lad is anything like his father, he will not be having any qualms. His father is a double faced liar who will always eat from the hand that feeds him best. He knows that if this farce of a marriage is carried out, then his son will sit the throne. He also knows that the same action will burn all other available options. He has no choice except to play the part or he will lose everything. As long as Estavo lives, I will have no problems with his son.”
“I see you have placed much thought into this plan.”
“Of course I have. Having that girl kidnapped was a setback, but I am dealing with it.” Reigns snapped as he detected a hint of skepticism in Alban’s voice.
“Be that as it is, I should tell you that I sensed power in the Outlands. Only a few of our agents are out there so it must be the Princess’ doing. I believe that it is several people rather than just one.”
“Humph. What makes you think it has to be the Princess’ doing?”
“She is Gifted. I touched her once in the gardens when she was younger. It was like a bolt of lightning. She probably didn’t even know that she was Gifted at that point.”
“That would have been good to know. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“How was I supposed to? I couldn’t just walk up and tell you that the Princess was Gifted and that I knew because I was also Gifted. I could have saved myself some trouble and just thrown myself off the castle walls.”
“Fair point; however, concealing information from me is what got Crein killed. I knew that using a scanner to find the Asgare was dangerous. He already killed my scanner from half the Braebach away.”
“So the Asgare is Gifted. That would explain how he escaped from us so many times. That and killed so many of our people. That must have been the time you sent half the army into the Draeld. We lost several good people in there.”
“Don’t tell me that you believe in malevolent spirits of the dead.”
“Revenants is what the locals call them. No I don’t, but there is something in the swamps with detectable power. It has killed everyone that we sent in to find it.”
“Interesting… You mentioned that Em’risi is Gifted. Have you any idea what her Gift is?”
“No. I couldn’t sense her beyond that one time. If I hadn’t felt the intensity of her energy, I would almost say that her gift is very weak. The Asgare though is problematic. I have never sensed him either so I would guess that he isn’t terribly powerful.”
“You have admitted that it is possible that you might not sense some people.”
“True, but it is rare. The Princess is the only one that I have ever met that had no trace of energy unless you were touching her.”
“But there could be more?”
“Naturally, but like I said, it is rare. I have come into contact with a lot of people and it was only that one time with the Princess.”
“Hmm. Well, if what you say is true about Em’risi using Gifted soldiers, then I will need as many Shadow Order agents as possible to counter her.”
“There are already a couple dozen on their way as we speak.”
“A couple dozen at a moment’s notice?”
“There are hundreds of us. Most of the ones that I sent are elementalist or mind warpers. There is a glimmer and erin valker in there as well.”
“So what else can you tell me?” Reigns leaned back in his chair and clasp his fingers behind his head.
“There is a couple things. Crein confided that the Asgare calls himself the last son of Safrym.”
“Does this trouble you?” Reigns could see from the irritation that flashed across Alban’s face that