Chapter 10

At my insistence we used Alladin's young friends to get past the regular guards around Senshi; somehow I was uncomfortable using Morgan. The King agreed to give us a brief audience in his sitting room. Actually, he was sitting; Blaster, Alladin and I were standing. We had brought with us an agreeable Priest, who seemed to be enjoying the Royal audience quite a bit.

"Thank you for agreeing to see us, Your Majesty," I began, bowing. "We hope this will not be a waste of your time. It is certainly the only thing we have not tried."

"If it can help to bring my dear, sweet Lasahn back to me..." King Senshi said quietly, coughed and turned quite pale with just a touch of green. The old Monarch was very sick.

I explained what I hoped to do, and asked if Lasahn had left any personal belonging--hopefully a ring—that the priest could try to focus a link onto.

After a short wait, Lasahn's maid brought us some items, including a comb and a royal signet ring.

"Does the Princess often go out without her royal ring, Your Majesty?" I asked. The King looked puzzled, so I didn't push the point. "Let's try that."

I directed the priest to hold the ring and King's hand as he invoked the link. Because Lasahn wasn't present, I didn't really expect it to work well, but perhaps it would be enough to get past a block. The priest nodded at me.

"Try to whisper your daughter now, Your Majesty," I directed him.

"Lasahn?" the old man spoke aloud, not necessary for a whisper spell but convenient for us. "Lasahn! Thank the Gods! I can hear her!"

Alladin cheered, and I quickly hushed him.

"Ask her where she is," I suggested. The King seemed sluggish and tired, but he picked up on the idea.

"Where are you, my Little Punkin?" the King seemed close to tears.

"Little Punkin?" Blaster whispered to me. I hushed him, too

"I'm sorry," the King announced. "She does not know her location. She says it is dark and smells like death.

"Is she in a pit or a cell? Is she chained?" Blaster wanted to know, and the King tried to ask questions that would elicit more information.

I stepped aside for a moment and cast my own whisper, "Pteri? Are you busy?"

"Just finishing a class, Dear," the words appeared in my mind with my wife's voice.

"I need you here; we are out of ideas," I replied. "Can you use your love ring? I am certain we don't have much time."

A clap of displaced air signaled the arrival of my wife, a tall slender woman who always cropped her black hair at the ears, which was so unlike mine. I kept mine in a warriors braid, but even so, it dragged on the ground more often than not and was more grey than black.

I explained our problem to Pteri. She seems undaunted. It was just another puzzle in magic to her. Someday I will introduce her to the Hermit; perhaps even he would be impressed.

"So, the problem is basically, can we locate her by whisper?" Pteri said. "Sounds like a math problem, not magic, but I have an idea. Your Highness, can we try a little experiment?"

"Anything that might get my Little Punkin back safely," he replied. "She says she is located in a dark room, with nothing to eat or drink."

For two weeks? I thought to myself. How had she survived?

"Count to her, Your Majesty," Pteri said. Pulling out a piece of parchment, she quickly sketched a map of Buya on it. "Tell her to count with you, matching what you say."

The King looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"Just try it, Your Majesty," I implored. "After all, Pteri is employed by the University. She must know something us lesser intellects don't."

The King's eyes got a faraway look in them for a few seconds, then they refocused on the room.

"She can't. When we try to count together, she is always a number or two behind me."

Pteri sketched a rough circle on the map and labeled it "Palace". She wrote "one or two" on the circle.

"Let's go, Your Majesty." She smiled and took the old man's hand. "Can you still muster a few Gateway spells? I want to try this again at all four Buyan Gates."