//Wow, Ted, nice job on that last post. Loved it.\
"I stood there, waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting and waiting. Waiting.
But noooo, he decided to run off without me.
Idiot.
Well, then, looks like I'm going to have to find him, doesn't it? Why, why can't I have any servants here, even if they were depressingly incompetent? Sometime I'll need my eggheads in Kandarin to invent me some device to carry servants with me anywhere I go. Hmph.
In any case, I looked around a little, following the trail of the guards leading Akran into that other building. I sneaked a peek at the dwarf, fighting back an urge to make that hand of his slap him in the face.
There were several guards outside the tent, but there was no way I could sneak past them. Well, like this, at least... Ah, I ought to count my Lich blessings sometime.
I carefully took off the amulet, and put it into a fold in my robe. Thence, I jolted my physical being further out of sync with this dimension, throwing me deeper into phase-shift. My transparency increased to the point of being near-invisible. I snuck around the back of the tent, swiftly avoiding the guards. Now, for the actual idea I had in mind... To test my theory, I slowly reached toward the tent.
The theory worked - once I touched the fabric, it didn't stop my hand. I pushed myself through the wall, then, and found myself inside the pavilion. Akran was standing in the middle, next to some wench seated at a circular table.
-"And there he is... I'm glad I didn't have to send my scouts to look for you, Kronos."
I flinched. What the hell? How can she see me with me at her back, making no sound and being almost completely see-through? And how dare she utter my name?!
-"Listen, miss," I said, returning to my normal state. "I don't know who you are or what sort of magic art you're playing at me with, but believe me when I say that is not wise to anger me."
-"You don't know who I am? Have you looked close enough?"
Utilizing a recently learned air magic skill, I zapped from my current position to the chair opposite of her. Mwe he he he...
What? She didn't even flinch? That's not fair!
-"I know every move you pull before you do yourself, Sovereign. Now, look at me. Look into my eyes. Do you not remember me?"
I stared, and squinted, and blinked...
-"Sorry. Memory's completely blank. Your face doesn't ring even the vaguest bell."
-"That's unfortunate. My memory is quite clear. Don't you remember the black chalice?"
I felt my eyes widen, and my jaw drop. How......?
-"That's right," she continued. "The black chalice. That was his favourite wine cup, wasn't it?"
-"Shut up. Who are you."
-"...and the Jangerberry root extract..."
-"Shut up."
-"...the argument over the crown... and finally, the jade dagger..."
-"SILENCE!"
Unbelievable, simply unbelievable. No one knew of these details... No one was around his throne when he and I argued over who was to take the crown... unless...
-"No."
My voice was simple and final, somehow reassuring.
-"No. It's impossible. You are not her."
-"I can see that the transformation into a Lich - the walking corpse that you are now - has changed you much. So much, it seems, that you can't even remember your own sister, Kronos."
My body simply sank. I lost control over my voice, unable to make a sound. In fact, I don't think I could move any part of my body at that point.
-"I was only five years old, but that's old enough to understand when your parents are being poisoned by your brother. Old enough to comprehend that when your dear brother sits you into a little dinghy and pushes you off into a violent storm, he doesn't want to show his sister the brittlefish, like he promised - rather, he commits her to the sea, never wanting to see her again.
"And then, the brother blissfully buries the - bitter, I'm sure - memory, thinking that he got rid of the last witness who may challenge his right to the throne of Kandarin. It was me that the crown was meant for, wasn't it, Kronos?
"As I grew older, I understood the difficult position you were in. Hormones raging, father's hatred... The feathered headband just didn't sit right on your father's head, did it? It was meant for your head. Not your pathetic sister, as charismatically gifted as she was... Kandarin needed a masculine leader, someone with a vision, you told yourself. Well, I'm happy to say that if your vision was to put together a power-hungry, blood-thirsty bully of a nation, you have more than reached your goal."
-"You are not pathetic."
Yes, those were the best words I could come up with in response to that..."
