Book 1: Gemaris Island

Chapter 10: The Gem Shop

It still wasn't that dark. Amien and Ora had some time before the theater performance at the Opera House, and they still hadn't arrived there yet. Mainly because something caught Ora's eye and made her scurry off the path, causing Amien to chase after her.

"Ora. What now?" he asked, panting as he stopped beside her.

"Well, just look, Amien. It's right in front of you!" Ora threw her hand out to point at the small, cozy building in front of her.

Amien hadn't seen it from the street. It was way off the path, covered mostly by the purple and green trees drooping onto the building's reddish-brown rooftop. Amien noticed on top of the roof sat a giant blue diamond-shaped gem that failed to sparkle in the sunlight since it was shaded by leafy branches.

Above the door to the shop read a sign of silver gold letters: THE GEM SHOP.

"How did you see this from the street?" Amien asked in disbelief, turning around and seeing how far away they were from the path. He couldn't even see the stone path anymore. It was obscured by seafoam green bushes with tiny pearl white flowers.

"I don't know! I just love gems so much, I guess!" Ora exclaimed, bursting into the small building.

Amien shook his head and stepped into the sparkling shop. There were gems everywhere. On the walls, on every shelf of course, and even stuck in the ground. They were walking on gems of all different shapes, colors and textures. Actually, a lot of them were opaque stones with either a smooth or rough texture. All the colors hurt Amien's eyes, but Ora was looking closely at every single gem there was to look at.

"Ora," he said in a low voice, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "I don't mean to pull you away from this...house of rainbow rocks, but we need to get going. We should at least be looking for, you know. The person who can actually help us with...our..."

"Our theater story," Ora said to him, holding up a finger. "Yes Amien. But it can wait. We have time until the theater performance tonight."

"Right. I'm saying we should use that time to find..."

Amien stopped himself as he pointed something out to Ora in a red velvet box. It was a clear, colorless diamond.

"Her," he said, smiling at Ora.

"Right. I know," she replied, looking away. "I just really like gems. And stones. They're so pretty!"

"I think that's the point of them," Amien mentioned, arching one of his eyebrows. He wasn't frustrated, however. "I think the diamond is my favorite gem."

"Really? Why?" Ora asked.

"Because at first glance, it appears boring and empty, void of all color and character," Amien said in a quiet voice.

Suddenly, he moved all around the gem, peering at it from different angles.

"Aha!" he exclaimed, suddenly grabbing Ora's shoulders and pulling her beside him.

There was a window on the far wall behind the diamond. The little light that was left outside hit the gem perfectly, allowing it to light up with a hundred sparkles of different colors.

"But when you approach it from a different perspective," Amien continued, grinning, "it has an ocean of hidden colors to show."

Ora gasped, smiling as she examined the web of colors within the triangular diamond, resting in its open box. Suddenly, her smile grew wider as she turned to Amien and said one word:

"Creative."

When she had read the list of virtues at Wayward Fountain, she hadn't understood why creativity was a virtue. Yes, it was a good characteristic to have, but wasn't it possible for someone to misuse creativity? Virtues, by definition, could not be misused. Virtues were good. But an immoral person could use creativity to his advantage. Of course, creativity could be used to help others. Amien had used his creativity and imagination to show Ora the hidden, profound beauty in a simple jewel.

When Amien didn't say anything, Ora turned back to examine the shimmering gem before her. She reached out to pick it up, so that she could rotate it. But a stern voice from the back of the shop called out to her.

"Please don't touch!"

An old, but fit man with a light grey beard sauntered over to his two customers.

"Of course, you may touch it if you buy it," he smiled, crossing his large arms.

"How much is it?" Ora asked, ignoring Amien's disapproving look.

Is she really going to waste money on gems? He thought.

"More than you could probably afford," he replied, shrugging.

This irked even Amien. Why couldn't he just answer Ora instead of being rude and assuming she was a poor peasant?

"How much?" the pirate repeated the question, glaring at the old man.

"850 gold," he finally replied, nodding.

"I have that much," Ora told him, grinning a little. "But I don't know if I want to buy it anymore. I'm going to keep looking around."

The man gaped at her, and then at Amien, as Ora walked away to window shop some more.

Ora ignored the two men who seemed to be whispering about something. She was too intrigued by the different kinds of gems on the walls and the shelves. She had never imagined such vivid colors and weird textures. One stone was a dark green-blue color, so intense that it hurt to stare at it. But it had a black spiral winding around the center of it. It looked like someone had dropped ink into a cup of green liquid and it was slowly dissolving like a cloud.

She moved to the next gem. It was a cute pink color, and round and smooth like marble. Ora thought it would look lovely as a ring on her finger, especially with the outfit she was wearing just then.

And then she came across a watery blue jewel that was flat and see-through like a little lake. It was a perfectly round glass-like stone and Ora could see her faint reflection in it. It looked fragile, but it confidently shone up at her. She loved it very much, but she still didn't want to buy it. Although, Ora did note that every gem seemed to have a personality, and she wanted to find one that matched hers.

"Do you have any magic gems?" Ora called to the shopkeeper, curiously.

He and Amien finally stopped bickering. Ora had no idea what they could possibly have been arguing about, but she turned around impatiently when the man didn't answer her right away.

"Yes, but they don't do anything special," the man replied, looking down. "Sometimes, wizards from other islands buy them and use them as ingredients for potions."

Ora gasped.

"Amien! You're a wizard! You could use them as ingredients!"

"I'm not wasting the little money I have on gems, Ora," Amien shouted back to her. "They're nothing more than expensive paperweights."

Ora shot him an insulted look from across the shop.

"I don't know about that," the old man said slowly, with an odd twinkle in his eye. "Some wizards have made some pretty incredible potions with my gems."

"Is that so?" Ora said, remembering Amien's Mirror Gates. She glanced over at Amien with mischief playing all over her face. "Well, Amien made a potion that-"

"ORA!"

She immediately stopped, a bit startled by his outburst. He was shaking her head at her, looking...angry. Ora knew that Amien was always annoyed and frustrated by almost everything she did, but she had never seen him this angry at her. So, she kept her mouth shut and turned around to look at a fiery magic gem, flickering like a campfire in a dark forest.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Sir Grenton? Any news on your search? Anything at all?"

King Reignald paced furiously, rubbing his gloved hands together and fidgeting like a child in school. He was on Gemaris Island, in the island's palace which was now named Gemaris Palace. His eyes were puffy, either from crying or lack of sleep. Sir Grenton had just arrived from a theater story at Gemaris Cathedral to find a panicked, anxious king wearing down the floor as he paced back and forth, over and over again, staring down at the ground as if it was going to swallow him up any second now.

"Well, Your Majesty. I have good news-"

Before Sir Grenton could finish, the king turned to him, rushing towards him with wild eyes.

"You found her! You caught her! Where is she? Where is she, Sir Grenton? Where?"

Reignald shook his open hands in front of him, either in frustration or fear.

"Well, Your Majesty, you didn't let me finish," Sir Grenton mumbled, furrowing his brows. "The good news unfortunately has nothing to do with Diamond the Willow Wanderer."

"What?!" the king exclaimed, clenching his fists as he seemed to recoil at Sir Grenton's words. "Then it's not good news!"

"Please, hear me out, Your Majesty," Sir Grenton calmly requested. "You have been stressed and anxious for so long, perhaps something completely irrelevant to the Willow Wanderer will help ease your mind for a while."

"Forget easing my mind!" the king growled, slowly down in pace as he began stumbling to his throne. "You have one task, Sir Grenton. Find the Willow Wanderer. Find her and bring her to me. Why can't you do it?"

"It's difficult to find someone who could be hiding in the clouds. Your Majesty," Sir Grenton tried his best not to sound frustrated. He even bore one of his charming smiles, managing to reassure the king a little.

"Well, then. Tell me your 'good' news," King Reignald finally droned, plopping down on his cushioned throne and resting his cheek in his hand. His purple cape had fanned out all around him.

"Someone is coming to see you. Someone I have observed to be quite talented and rather pleasant. You like theater stories, don't you my king?" Sir Grenton said, standing up taller with his hands calmly folded behind his back.

"Yes. But I haven't seen a good one in a while," the king mumbled. "They're all the same now. Either there's a hero and a villain, and the hero unsurprisingly beats the villain, or it's just all about pirates exploring and finding new islands, blah blah blah!"

King Reignald looked bored as ever with his glasses slowly sliding off his slouching face.

"I want something original, Sir Grenton. A story where maybe, the hero doesn't win. Or a story that's not all about pirates exploring places that don't exist! Or maybe a story with just a villain! And there's no hero to begin with! Why can't people come up with something original?"

"Well, Your Majesty, I believe that's why your theater story was so admired! It was original!" Sir Grenton beamed, nodding at his king.

"Yes, yes, yes," King Reignald waved away his flattery. "Anyways, what do theater stories have to do with this 'talented and pleasant person' who is coming to see me?"

"To be precise, Your Majesty, she writes and directs theater stories. I've only seen one of them, just before I came here."

"Why were you wasting your time watching theater stories instead of looking for the Gift Wielder?!" King Reignald exploded.

"I was killing two birds with one stone, Your Majesty. I was looking out for any sign of the Willow Wanderer in Gemaris Cathedral," Sir Grenton replied.

The King let out a grunt.

"Please, Your Majesty, you must hear this. You see, I asked around, and nobody has ever heard of this writer or seen her before. She is either new to this island, or new to story-writing. But her theater story was amazing. Every person in Gemaris Cathedral loved it. It's the talk of the city."

Sir Grenton's tone remained neutral as he spoke.

"You say this person is a girl? How old is she?" the king asked, lifting his head up from his palm.

"She looks quite young, Your Majesty, but she is mature for her age. And her theater stories-"

"You've only seen one of them, haven't you?" the king snapped at his head knight. "Although it must have been incredible if you are so confident in her talent."

"I talked to her myself, Your Majesty, and she said that she wishes to perform a theater story for you. The king himself. She was planning to journey all the way to the Twelfth Island to perform the story for you, but seeing as you're already on the same island as her, why not just invite her to Gemaris Palace now?" Sir Grenton asked, lighting up with a proud grin on his face.

"No. I hate this palace. I'll just take the Mirror Gate to the Twelfth Island and she can come there," the king said, waving his hand.

"But...Your Majesty..." Sir Grenton slowly said.

"What is it now, Sir Grenton?" King Reignald sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"You ordered that Mirror Gate to be destroyed. You can only get to the Second Island from here," Sir Grenton said, peering at his terrified king.

Reignald was staring in horror at his knight.

"Cancel that order immediately," he quickly murmured.

"It's too late, Your Majesty. The liquid from each Mirror Gate has been poured into the ocean. You can only get to the Second Island. And from there you can only get to the Third or First Island. Those were your orders," Sir Grenton said, trying not to sound too troubled.

"Have them restored at once, Sir Grenton!" King Reignald hissed, jabbing his finger into the armrest of his throne.

"It will take some time, Your Majesty," Sir Grenton quietly said.

"WHY?!" the king raged.

"Because we will need to get to every island now, which won't exactly be that easy, since traveling has been made very inconvenient."

"Are you criticizing my decision to remove the Mirror Gates, Sir Grenton?" the king's voice was deep and enraged, like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey.

"No, Your Majesty. I'm just saying, it will take time. You came here with my knights to have this island inspected and searched, right before we destroyed the Mirror Gates. It will be difficult to replace them now that we can only get to one island at a time, but it is possible," Sir Grenton was exhausted, and failed to hide it.

The king gripped his armrests, glaring at the ground again.

"So, about the new theater story director..." Sir Grenton started to say again.

"Forget her. I need to get back to my island. Have my things packed. Be ready to leave by dawn. No! On second thought, let's leave right away. If I have to travel through every island to get back to the Twelfth, I need to leave immediately," the king commanded.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Sir Grenton sighed, bowed, and sauntered out of the room.

Crestfallen, the knight in black tried not to think about her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ora had stumbled across a display of twelve gems, set up like a clock. At the top of the round pattern was a purple amethyst. The wooden case which the jewels sat in, had a dark, wavy pattern, like a stormy sea. A round bright rainbow on a dark ocean.

"What's this, sir?" Ora asked, turning to the shopkeeper with slanted eyebrows.

He and Amien took a break from their arguing and hurried over to the girl.

"Those represent the Twelve Islands," the old man said to her.

"But they're not shaped like that," Ora said. "They're in a zig-zag shape, not a circle."

Amien gave Ora a curious look as the shopkeeper cleared this throat.

"I know. I just think the display looks nice as a circle," the man stammered.

"Oh, I see," Ora smiled, peering at the different gems.

"So which gem represents which island? And why?" Ora asked, her hands folded behind her back.

"I can't tell you why," the man replied. "My family has owned this shop for years and these specific gems have always represented a certain island. No one knows why, though."

The man pointed first to a pearly round stone next to the amethyst at the top. The pearl had a tint of sky blue on its shiny surface.

"The pearl is Gemaris," the man said.

Next to it, going clockwise, was an orange triangular gem.

"The orange topaz is the Second Island."

The Third Island was an aquamarine gem shaped like a teardrop. The Fourth was a bright cherry red ruby, shaped like an upside-down teardrop. The Fifth was a dark green emerald. The Sixth was a circular sapphire. It was difficult for Ora to see why each gem had been matched with its island, especially since Ora didn't really know the islands that well at all.

Amien rubbed his bearded chin in thought as the man continued. The Seventh Island was a lime green peridot gem, shaped like a pyramid. The Eighth Island was a pink diamond. The Ninth Island was an oval dark red garnet.

Wait, Amien thought, staring at the pink diamond and dark red gem next to each other. Those two colors. Where had he just seen them?

"That dark turquoise stone is the Tenth Island. The yellow opal is the Eleventh Island, and the amethyst is the Twelfth Island, where the king lives," the shopkeeper finished, sighing.

Ora noticed that the yellow opal was a dark oval stone speckled with many different colors, mostly yellow. But then, if it was made up of so many different colors, did it make sense to call in the yellow opal?

"I always assumed the amethyst was the Twelfth Island because purple is usually worn by royalty, and the Twelfth Island is for the royal people," the old man explained.

"Interesting," Ora said, before suddenly strolling away from the display to browse some more.

"Well, let me know if you have any other questions," the man told her, before turning back to Amien. "Now where were we? Ah yes, you said you're from the other side of the river? Well, that explains a lot."

"What? What does that mean?" Amien scowled. But then he shook his head and hurried away from the man, not wanting to continue his argument with him.

"Ora," he whispered, hurrying over to her. "Two of those gems were right next to each other and they were pink and dark red, the colors that made your color in Wayward Fountain."

"Oh, really? What a coincidence," she responded, more interested in the gems than in Amien.

Annoyed, he whispered her name again.

"Amien. Are you really still on the fountain?" she asked, giving him a surprised look. "Look. The fountain doesn't get to decide what my strongest virtue is. I do. Just stop worrying about it."

"I don't care about what your strongest virtue is!" Amien suddenly hissed at her. He ignored the shocked look Ora gave him and added, "What if the gems also represent different virtues? Maybe that's why each island is associated with a gem. Perhaps each island excels at a certain virtue. For example, Gemaris' virtue is innocence, or humility. And at Wayward Fountain, white symbolizes innocence. And now, the gem of Gemaris Island happens to be a pearl, which is white."

Ora nodded, shrugging a bit.

"SO!" Amien continued, sounding frustrated. "Maybe the color of each gem will tell us the virtue that each island excels at."

His sapphire eyes were wide with excitement, but his mouth was clenched tightly.

"I...suppose that's useful information," Ora mumbled, looking back at a bright red and gold stone.

For once, Amien didn't scoff or groan. However, he did throw his hands in the air, and in the process, knocked over a precious seafoam green gem which began somersaulting to the ground. The clumsy wizard almost swore, but he didn't get the chance. Ora had nimbly whipped around and caught in her hand, before replacing it back in its white silk display box. Luckily, the shopkeeper hadn't noticed anything, but Ora quickly shot him a threatening glare. And Amien awkwardly hurried away from her, pretending to look at a ruby, the red hue of which did not compare to Amien's warm face in that moment.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Your Majesty, all your things are packed and ready to go. The carriage is waiting by the Mirror Gate," after a few moments alone, Sir Grenton was back to his cheerful self.

The king was not.

He was almost falling off his throne as he slouched like a ragdoll. He was silent like one, too. And his dead brown eyes were staring straight ahead of him, picturing the worst.

"Your Majesty?"

Sir Grenton grew worried. More so than usual.

King Reignald slowly lifted his head off his hand.

"I never thought that taking away so many Mirror Gates would make travel so horrible for me," he said, with the most thoughtful tone.

Sir Grenton just bit his tongue.

"Bring me Lindo Que at once," the king suddenly ordered. "I need to speak with him before we leave."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The black knight bowed and left the room. After just a few moments, he returned with Lindo Que at his side. The head advisor had his long hair tumbling around his face, and he wasn't wearing as much jewelry as he usually did. In fact, he was only wearing a simple white shirt and pants without accessories of any kind.

"You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?" Lindo Que asked, bowing.

"What happened to you?" the king laughed. "You look like a peasant compared to how you usually dress."

"I was getting dressed when you called for me. I didn't want to keep you waiting," Lindo calmly replied, bowing his head slightly.

"Well, anyways. There's been a change of plans. I want the Mirror Gates reinstalled immediately. You were in charge of making them last time, weren't you? I want you to start preparing the potion at once," the king rapidly said.

Lindo Que clenched his fists behind himself in frustration. Sir Grenton noticed, but said nothing.

"Your Majesty," Lindo said through gritted teeth. "Perhaps you recall that when you ordered the Mirror Gates destroyed, you also ordered the recipe destroyed as well."

"Yes! So? You can recreate it! You remember, don't you? I ordered the recipe burned because I assumed you knew how to make your own creation! Don't you?" the king's voice grew angry and worried.

The head advisor silently exhaled through his nose, as he thought of a possible solution to the problem. But Lindo remained stubborn.

"I'll have to take a sample from this island's Mirror Gate, study it again, and then I'll be able to recreate it. It won't be too difficult, but it will take me some time," Lindo said.

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME! WHY DON'T YOU IDIOTS UNDERSTAND THAT? WE NEED TO FIND HER NOW! WE NEED THOSE MIRROR GATES BACK NOW!" the king leaped up from his royal seat and began screaming his head off.

Now Lindo realized he had no other choice.

"The truth is, Your Majesty, I am not the original creator of the Mirror Gate formula. I installed the gates myself, but I did not discover how to create the potion."

There. He had said it. The truth was finally out.

King Reignald panted heavily, glaring at his advisor with wild eyes.

"Who is the original creator? Where is he?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Amien was still in the Gem Shop, staring at gems and avoiding Ora. Why was she so annoying? For such a talented writer and skilled teacher, and generally friendly person, why did he find her so unbearable?

Maybe I'm the unbearable one, Amien thought, disheartened.

He then noticed his reflection in a flat rock that was much like a mirror. It reminded Amien of the Mirror Gates. His Mirror Gates. His wonderful creation. His only good creation, unlike his pathetic theater story that probably didn't get any votes at all.

Amien pushed away the wave of troublesome thoughts he was about to have. He rubbed his eyebrow and suddenly noticed the old shopkeeper glaring at him from his desk.

"Yes?" Amien said, turning his head towards the man in one swift movement.

"You are from the other side of the river, aren't you?" the man asked, but it sounded more like a statement rather than a question.

"Yes," Amien nodded, turning back to a row of tiny colorful rocks.

"I could tell," the man said curtly. "You people over there are so exclusive. Always keeping to yourselves and getting all defensive when something new happens that you're not used to."

Now Ora finally stopped pretending to browse and actually perked up her ears.

"What?" Amien asked, narrowing his eyes at the man. "What is happening right now that is so new and unfamiliar to me?"

"All I did was tell you that these gems are worth more than you can afford and you got all defensive. You're not used to people being honest. You people over there are so afraid of the truth, because you know it sometimes hurts. So you cower behind ignorance and call yourselves innocent and modest! Am I wrong?"

Ora always assumed that old people were so wise and kind, but this man was reminding her of that one young, grouchy know-it-all who was always too proud to ask anyone out. Although, maybe there was some wisdom in him. After all, what he said was not entirely wrong.

"Well, I'm not like those people," Amien objected, facing the man.

"Sure you aren't," the man said sarcastically.

"No. I'm really not."

"He's really not," Ora shouted from across the store.

"I hate ignorance," Amien added after casting a grateful look towards Ora. "In fact, if you had been at Gemaris Cathedral at three o'clock today, you would have seen-"

"Ah yes, of course! Gemaris Cathedral!" the man laughed, mockingly. "Where they literally worship innocence!"

"Look, I agree that innocence isn't everything, but it does not equal ignorance. That's what everyone learned today at the cathedral," Amien quickly said.

This made the man stop and think.

"Really?" he said, leaning against his desk.

"Yes. Everyone loved Ora's theater story," Amien pointed to Ora across the shop. "That's Ora. She taught them about hope, and how it doesn't require gullibility or ignorance. She showed that ignorance and innocence are different things. Her story really touched everyone who was there. And thank goodness, because I absolutely hated going to Gemaris Cathedral myself. But what is it with you and this 'you people over there' talk?"

The man's expression had changed slightly. He took a breath and replied, "People usually stay on their side of the island. It's like there's this great divide between the two halves of the island. The river and the bridge across it are both named for Unity, but this island isn't united. People rarely cross the bridge. They sometimes take rowboats down the river, but when people from different sides of the island meet on the river, they avoid eye contact."

"Why is that?" Ora suddenly asked. She had been watching the conversation through the shelves, but now she had made her way over to the men.

"I don't know. I suspect it's because the bridge is inconveniently placed on one far side of the island. It's not really close to where anyone lives. I also suspect it's because people are so attached to comfort and familiarity on this island," the man mumbled.

"I can't argue there," Ora said, glancing at the ground.

"Wait. So you're saying that you have a problem with...inconvenient travel?" Amien suddenly asked, holding up a hand.

"Of course. Who doesn't?" the shopkeeper asked.

Amien glanced at Ora, a slight smile on his face.

"How often do you leave Gemaris Island?" Amien asked the man suddenly.

"Often. I have to go and collect more gems for my shop, and I get them from many different islands," the man replied.

"So you're probably not too happy about the king's latest decision to remove all but one of the Mirror Gates on Gemaris!" Amien rambled, getting excited.

"Don't remind me," the man grumbled. He gave his back to them as fiddled with a gem on his desk, pretending to polish it.

Amien nodded at Ora, his finger bouncing up and down as he pointed to the man. But Ora only grimaced and shook her head. She didn't like the keeper of the Gem Shop. He was the complete opposite of his charming, beautiful, welcoming shop. But Amien ignored her, as he had suddenly grown very fond of the man who seemed to hate the king and love the Mirror Gates.

"You don't like the king, do you?" Amien murmured, holding back a smirk.

Ora's eyes widened in horror. She recalled what had happened when she had tried to get Amien to admit his hatred for the king. He had just grown suspicious and anxious. It wasn't something that a normal citizen was just going to admit to a random stranger. Cosmos had done the right thing by sending his coded message out to a large audience through his songs. Only someone who had rebellion on their mind would see it in a song about the playful moon making a surprise appearance during the daytime. But Amien was taking a huge risk with the shopkeeper whom he clearly didn't get along with.

"What? Of course I like the king! He's charming and happy!" the old man objected, rubbing a lavender gem with a white cloth.

Both Ora and Amien could tell that he was being sincere. Ignorant, Amien thought, seething.

"Well...S-same here!" Amien stammered, managing a large smile.

Without letting another tense moment pass, Amien grabbed Ora and dragged her out of the Gem Shop, grabbing her suitcase on the way out and nearly knocking over twenty more gems.

Once they were out, Ora yanked her arm out of Amien's grasp and began scolding him.

"Could you have been any more suspicious! And don't grab my arm anymore!"

"I don't want to hear it, Ora. We need to gain followers somehow, and so we need to take some risks," he fired back in a hushed voice.

"That was way too risky! You can't just go around asking any random stranger if they like the king or not?" Ora whispered angrily.

"Don't tell me what to do," Amien suddenly murmured, turning away.

"I'm only telling you what you can't do!" Ora replied, crossing her arms as her face started burning.

"Let's just go to the Opera House."

Amien shook his head and started heading back to the road without another word.

Ora reluctantly followed him. She glanced back at the Gem Shop one last time. She thought about the grouchy, old man, all the horrible looks Amien gave her, the arguments, Amien knocking over a precious jewel, and Amien roughly dragging her out of the shop. In Ora's eyes, the Gem Shop had quickly gone from a welcoming, charming little store to a place she wanted to forget.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I want this 'Master Amien' brought here at once! You said he's from this island?" the king eagerly asked Lindo Que.

"Yes..." the advisor mumbled, dragging out his 's'.

"Sir Grenton! Bring him here at once!" King Reignald pointed to his head guard.

"Your Majesty. If you're thinking of having him recreate the Mirror Gates, I strongly advise you to rethink your decision," Lindo calmly peered up at the fidgety man on the throne.

"Why should I trust anything you say? You liar!" the king spat. "All this time, you've been taking credit for someone else's work, you thief!"

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, I never took any credit for inventing the Mirror Gates. Only installing them," Lindo calmly responded.

"No difference!" the king held up his finger to silence Lindo.

"Your Majesty. Would you like to know why I'm dressed like a peasant?" the dark-haired noble suddenly changed his tone completely.

After tightening his lips together, the king raised his palm to indicate his consent.

Lindo slowly continued.

"I myself have been looking for the Willow Wanderer. Sir Grenton and his men have been going about it all wrong."

"Excuse me?" Sir Grenton interrupted.

"Silence, Sir Grenton," King Reignald calmly quieted him.

"Or shall we say, I have been searching for the Willow Wanderer in a more covert way," Lindo masked his pleasure with a serious face. "I ran into two travelers at Wayward Fountain, and one of them had this in his pocket."

Lindo pulled out a wanted poster of Diamond the Willow Wanderer and showed it to the king, who widened his eyes.

"Now I don't know who this person was, and I wasn't about to have him arrested right away. After all, he and the girl he was with could have taken the poster because they want to help find and capture Diamond. But it's unlikely. Anyways, I believe they're going to the theater performance at the Opera House tonight. Everyone on this side of the river is. You can arrest them there. Master Amien can wait. This is a priority," Lindo said all this with ease and confidence.

"The king will decide what's a priority," Sir Grenton argued.

"Of course it's a priority, Sir Grenton! The people are either plotting against me or trying to find the Willow Wanderer! Either way, I wish to speak with them! Especially since they are most likely plotting against me! We can't take any chances! Bring them to me!" The king seemed confused, his eyes shifting from side to side nervously.

"You said there was a girl with this man?" Sir Grenton asked Lindo.

"Yes," Lindo replied flatly.

"You're sure she knew anything about the wanted poster in his pocket? We wouldn't want to interrogate an innocent person," Sir Grenton said, swallowing.

"I just said we can't take any chances!" the king shouted, groaning. "Just have them arrested and brought here for questioning! After the theater performance, so as not to cause a commotion. IS. THAT. UNDERSTOOD?"

Sir Grenton tried hard not to hesitate, or glare. "Yes...Your Majesty. Lindo? Can you give me a thorough description of these two people?"

"They won't be difficult to find. The man was dressed like a pirate, and the girl has curly blonde hair and a giant, expensive scarf. Good taste in clothes, I must say," Lindo smiled at himself.

But Sir Grenton's dark eyes widened in horror.

"What is it?" both Reignald and Lindo asked, leaning towards the knight.

He turned to the king, and then back to Lindo.

"The pirate is Master Amien."