If Indigo doesn't post soon, I will continue the conversation between Anura and Callidus myself. Probably sometime tomorrow (Which is Wednesday, at the time I wrote this).

Yes, it's a conversation between Callidus and the queen, who is already having a conversation, but this post is taking place at a different time.

Callidus~

(Continuing directly from my last post). 

Anura's eyes drift to a painting on the wall. It's a portrait of the royal family, with the king and queen to the right of the frame, Timothy and Shaelle to the left, and Estella in the center.

"He... almost never took it off," the queen murmers.

"What are you speaking of?" I ask gently.

Anura looks at me. "A locket. Do you see it in the painting?"

I take a closer look at Timothy in the picture. Sure enough, an emerald-colored hexagonal locket is strung around his neck. "You think the bandits would've wanted that?" I ask.

"I know they would've wanted it. Tmothy has had that since his birth. He was born on a very special day, you see. On the eve of the Kingdom Festival."

"The Kingdom Festival.. that's in three days, is it not? So sad to lose your son so close to his birthday."

Anura nods. "Yes... anyway, he received many gifts from the Kingdom, many of which we had to reject, due to the sheer amount of them. But one peasant, a very old woman, presented Timothy with the locket. She said it would lead him to do incredible things one day. Then she, well, disappeared into the crowd. We haven't seen her since."

The queen looks at the floor, and we both sit in silence for a few moments. Finally I stand up. "I will retrieve that locket. And I will avenge your son. Before the sun rises on the day of the Festival."

"Alright," she sighs. "Leave me, now. I need to be alone."

I nod and exit the room, and walk back to my study.

"You forgot to ask her for the princess's hand in marriage." Ethelinda's voice suddenly drifts from the corner of the room. She sounds strangely angry, angrier than she ever sounded before.

"I-I don't need to," I reply nervously. "She'll offer it to me as thanks for retrieving the locket."

"Well don't lose sight of what's important. You promised..." the witch fades away again.

Three days. I have three days to track down these these thieves. I have to get moving.

So I was thinking that the "fair" Estella is being sent to could be part of a series of celebrations leading up to the Kingdom Festival. Anyone like the idea?

Shaelle ~

(And the very next day) We all walk out the castle doors. Estella and I are dressed in the plainest outfits we could find. Quill is wearing his email everyday clothes,  but has his sword hidden underneath., just for safety measures.  

When we get there, the fair is as lively as I remember it. There are shops everywhere. Plus some games and activities.  We walk into the fair,  and get swallowed into the crowd.  

Silva-

The princesses and knight left recently. There isn't much for me to do now, other than cleaning. I don't usually lie however I felt to protect myself I have needed to. I have to protect my position. The queen might not hold with her handmaiden working with another in her spare time. Ever since everyone left (recently) it hasen't been the same. I make my way to the Queen's room to speak to her.

"Your majesty, I was wondering if I could leave to the market to get some things"

"Yes you may, however I'd it if you brought me some more yarn." I look at my sandals, I really don't like lying.

"Absolutely your majesty." I curtsy then walk out. 

Callidus~

What happened back there? It seemed for a moment that I cared more about helping the queen find her son's locket than I did about claiming my rightful place on the throne. I hadn't even mentioned the princess as a prize for retrieving the locket. I didn't mention a prize at all! Not only that, but I had given myself only three days to do it!

"You were right," I sigh to myself. "I am losing sight of what matters."

Well, sitting in my study and moping wasn't going to get me anywhere. I have to assemble a team, and fast.

When I burst into the mage training facility, the mages are joking around, the older ones actually practicing their magic. They fall into line when they catch sight of me.

"As I'm sure you're all aware of by now," I say, "the prince has been murdered by a band of extraordinary thieves. What you don't know, however, is that he has also been robbed. Robbed of a locket. I have promised the queen that I would return her son's locket to her to remember him better by, and that I would retrieve it from the thieves no later than the eve of the Kingdom Festival."

Murmers travel through the ranks at my last words. They've obviously realized, as I had, that three days was not nearly enough time to track down thieves that could be halfway to the sea by now.

"HOWEVER," I  bellow, silencing the uneasy mages, "I cannot do this task by myself. I know none of you have been beyond the borders of the Kingdom, but venturing into the unknown is both necessary to this task and essential to your training. So, who will help me?"

The ranks are deathly silent. I look to the senior mages, whose authority is surpassed only by mine, but even they say nothing.

Finally, a timid scout speaks up. "I've heard tales, general. Bad things have happened to those who venture beyond the mountains."

"I am well aware of the stories," I fume. "But is there not a single one of you so terrified of this notion that you cannot help your MASTER?" 

"I'll do it," a deep voice suddenly speaks up from the back of the crowd. It was an earth mage known only as Grass, because he was so easily mistaken for a patch of it. He was garbed in a grass cloak that covered his entire body, save his gnarled hands, and a green mask that exposed only his eyes. He had wandered into the castle not long after I became general, claiming that he had been cursed and could never show any more of his skin than he did. I didn't like him from the start, but it was my duty as general to accept any mage who applied for training. He triggered my flashbacks when he looked directly into my eyes, as all earth mages did, but there was something about him that I found especially unnerving.

As soon as Grass volunteered, the other mages immediately begin to support his decision. "Grass does know his way around the Kingdom, and he's a great tracker," someone points out. 

I sigh. Grass actually is a great tracker, a very rare skill in mages nowadays."Well, if there is no one else, I suppose I have no choice but to appoint... Grass... as my assistant in this mission. But although no more of you will offer help, I still need another person. Two is not enough for this this task."

Truthfully, two is more than enough to find a band of thieves, especially if one of them is a tracker. But I can not spend three days alone with an earth mage, it would drive me mad.

"You could ask a guard to help you," someone suggested.

"No. The guards are cowards. We need someone who could relate to the thieves... a fellow bandit, perhaps. There are more than a few running around the village. You all stay here, I'm going to catch one."

I begin to walk away, when one mage who had obviously not been paying attention speaks. "Catch what?"

I look over my shoulder. "A thief!"

Wow, that was a long post. Anyway, this is a way to work Mich into the storyline. Also, as you may have guessed, Grass is actually Folium, Callidus' brother, who cannot show his skin because it is burned from the forest fire. 

OK, change. Grass is a silly and unfitting name for Callidus' brother, even if it is not his real name, so I'm changing it to... "Mauris". Loosely means " tracker" in Latin. And I am going to change something else. He is only going to wear a green cloak and mask, not ones literally made of grass. 

And while I'm in a creative mood, I would like to provide some basic background information on the mages. Basically, the mages used to be at war and lived in different isolated location throughout the Kingdom. To prevent war and strengthen the Kingdom, the Queen executed the Great Merge movement, joining all the mages to live in one place called the Mage Valley. Shortly after the Great Merge, an academy opened to teach magic to young mages. Mages left the valley at a certain age and went to live at the academy. There are several teachers who specialize in the different types of magic. Callidus is not a teacher, he kind of just oversees everything. When the students come of age, they join a guild, and all the guilds make up the mage army, which Callidus controls. After a certain number of years in a guild they can choose to leave and do whatever they wish with their life. They can also stay in the army, but when they get too old to fight, they must retire back to the valley. Not all mages have to go to the academy, of course, but at least one from every family must become a warrior. 

Callidus~

"Wulfric," I adress my second in command. "You are to act as overseer of the academy and general while I am away, and be certain to alert the queen of my departure. I haven't the time to do so myself."

"Yes, my lord." Wulfric bows. With a satisfied nod, I exit the training grounds with Mauris and Mich. A few half-hearted 'farewells' and 'good lucks' drift to my ears before the doors to the academy  shut behind me.

"Now listen, both of you," I say as we hurry to the stables. "This is not a friendly voyage. You are not to speak to me unless it concerns our safety or the task. You," I turn in the general direction of Mauris. "You are to look for signs of the thieves. Footprints, rags of clothing, one of the strange daggers we found..."

Mauris gives an eerie grin, confirming he understands the task. I now turn to the thief. "You are to think as a burglar would. Where would you flee if you had stolen something precious to the royal family?"

"I'd get the blazes out out of here, that's where I'd go," Mich responds with a grin."

I frown. This girl is not taking the task ahead seriously. Does she not know I made a promise? Does she not know I made a deal with a witch? Does she not know I must become king?

No. Of course she couldn't know any of that. She is a girl of the streets. I frown once more, this time at my own stupidity. No matter. We've reached the stables. 

"I need three fit horses," I tell the nearby stable master. He almost does a double take when he sees me.

"G-general Zoroto! What brings you here?" he stutters.

"The situation is too urgent to tell you. Now get what I asked for."

The stable master scrambles into the stables, and ermerges a few moments later with three assistants, each one leading a strong looking horse, saddle and all. I immediately mount one, and Mauris does the same thing. We mages are trained to ride horses, of course. Mich, on the other hand, stands staring at the remaining animal. The stable master walks over to her. "Can you ride, miss?"

"Not exactly."

"Well, you'll learn fast." Unexpectedly, the man hoists Mich up onto the horses.

"Hey, what are you..." she protests.

"GIDDYUP!" at the stables master's command, all three horses gallop forward at full speed.