Rogue Powers by Phil Stern

around her neck. During all this the groom passively stood by, waiting.
    “Help me!” Aprina croaked, the hand cutting off her air. In a moment she would pass out.
    The groom didn’t move. “He will not, my Lady.” Perno smiled, only now looking directly into her eyes. “Unlike you, this man is loyal to his King.”
    So this was the powerful Network chief, able to transmute his own bodily structure at will. She’d heard rumors, of course, but obviously Perno was most effective working in the shadows, revealing himself only when absolutely necessary.
    But Perno’s intelligence on this latest quarry was clearly incomplete. Staring now into her eyes, the head Demon became subject to Aprina’s secret ability. Within several seconds Perno’s expression softened, his gaze becoming slack and unfocused.
    “Let me go!” she snapped. Perno’s hand fell away. The groom gaped, clearly uncertain what to do.
    Shoving Perno into a stall, she then leapt back onto the Stallion, charging from the stable. With satisfaction, she noticed the groom was knocked aside as they passed.
    Crossing the courtyard in a flash, they raced through the main gates into the town beyond. Soon Aprina and her Stallion were tearing across open fields, Brenlaw and the royal castle fading quickly behind.
     
    ***
     
    That evening Lydia was led into the King’s private chambers, the heavy doors closing behind her with a foreboding thud.
    Lounging in his customary chair, the elderly monarch studied his young relative. Such a pretty girl, yet possessing the same stubborn defiance as her mother. Then again, the King had never much liked his far younger half-sibling, even before Aprina’s active plotting had been brought to his attention.
    “Your mother is a traitor,” he gravely announced, wearily wiggling his stockinged toes. “Were you aware of her designs on my life?”
    “That’s absurd!” Lydia exploded. “My mother would never...”
    “Silence!” the monarch bellowed. A vase mentally whipped across the room, crashing against the wall. “You will show respect, young lady! As it stands, you’re lucky not to be in my dungeon this very instant!”
    Choking back her rage, Lydia forced herself to relax. “I meant no disrespect, my liege.”
    “Good.” Eyeing her for several moments, he then continued. “I ask you again. Were you aware of Aprina’s seditious, murderous intentions?”
    “No, my liege.” Calmly, she matched the monarch’s gaze. “And I tell you plainly, I believe those are all lies.”
    “Then how do you explain the three Royal Guards she capriciously attacked and viciously murdered?” the King persisted.
    This, the King well knew, was a gross distortion of events. Two of the “guards” in question had actually been the sleep-Demon and the stone crushing-Demon, who had died from a broken neck following his tumble down the stairs. The other guard had indeed been slain by Aprina’s throwing knife.
    More difficult to explain, however, was the wild attack of the second guard on reinforcements dispatched once things went haywire. An hour later, seemingly normal, the man could only say Aprina had told him to do so.
    His own spymaster had a disturbingly similar story. Perno had no explanation for what had occurred in the stables, other than Aprina had somehow compelled his cooperation.
    It was all very unsettling, to say the least.
    Might Aprina have some secondary power they’d known nothing about? As if her time-shifting ability wasn’t potent enough, could Lydia’s mother also command obedience in others, albeit for a short while? It was a frightening thought.
    For several minutes the monarch listened to Lydia’s impassioned denials of her mother’s wrongdoing, finally waving her into silence.
    “Enough!” he commanded. “Your mother is a traitor. You, I’m not so sure about.”
    Taking a deep breath, Lydia drew herself up. “And what might that mean, my Lord?”
    “Prince Tenen has asked for permission to take