before moving away from the sister’s stalls. As he and the ebony ladies moved away, the inquisitive ebony midget leapt onto Themisia’s shoulders making the girl jump. He then proceeded to inspect and sniff her, causing Lameath to look at it with interest but without comment.
When the Emperor’s entourage was out of earshot Edala and Justina returned to their sisters.
“Did you see the Emperor bought one of my necklaces?!” Amelia said with an excited grin.
“Yes, tell us, what did you think of the two ebony girls?” Justina asked.
“Beautiful, both of them and so full of happiness.” Amelia replied.
“Did you not see that the redheaded girl was in rags and ankle chains?” Edala asked incredulously.
“No, what do you mean?” Amelia replied, with Maria and Umaia listening in, confusion also showing on their faces.
“There was also a little ebony midget inspecting you three very closely and you didn’t see a thing!” Justina added.
Edala bit her lip deep in thought before adding “I believe that the midget is definitely from the Daemon realm and probably the girls as well, Lloyd did mention seeing dead bodies very similar in the throne room at Kalana, when he went there to close the Daemon Portal.”
Maria also thought for a moment before responding, “So it seems these creatures have some kind of influence over our sight and maybe our minds, but why not you two? How can you see them for what they are?” she asked Justina and Edala.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it Eadie, we both have magical portals and I bet we are the only people in the empire who do. If only magic users can see you, the empire is a very good place to hide!” she concluded.
Further along the moat, two heavily cloaked figures also watched the Emperor and his strange entourage. The male Ebony Being turned to the female one “I was not aware that they were here!”
“No, but we best not get involved. It is nearly time for us to commence with our main purpose. You keep tracking the sisters while I go and watch the stones on Arrenloft.” The female being moved out of the crowd while the male turned his attention to the sisters and their stalls.
At the stalls the daughters of Ingemar still huddled together in conversation; “If the Emperor is under some kind of influence from those creatures, it will explain about the recent tax rises.” Justina said.
“But for what purpose?” Maria added.
“Who knows how the minds of Daemen work?” Umaia pondered.
Edala remembered back to her previous encounters with Daemen; “All I can tell you, is that compared to Lord Hozjoh and the possessor Daemon Mordja and their kind, these seem far more subtle in their approach. I don’t think that the Emperor was possessed in anyway...damn…I didn’t even look at them with my soul vision, did you Justy?”
Justina blushed slightly, something she did not very often do!
“No sorry Eadie, I’m a bit out of practice when it comes to Daemen!”
Maria pondered for a moment before speaking, “I think we need to try and find out what’s going on, just in case we need to prepare to leave the city in a hurry. It would not be good for us to be here if what happened at Seadawn starts to happen here!”
“I think the Urchin needs to pay them a visit and listen to what is said behind closed doors!” Edala said with a wry smile.
“Are you sure child, if you get caught it may be beyond our means to rescue you?” Maria said with a mixture of concern and affection on her face.
“What could possibly go wrong?” Edala concluded with a cheeky grin.
Her sisters all rolled their eyes in unison.
Chapter Eight - Old Friends and Shopping
It had only been twenty four hours since Bethany had been strong enough to stand on her feet again and since that time she had lived through a torrent of sensory overload in Lloyd’s world; cars, planes, trains and people, more people than she had seen in her whole life up to this
Maggie Brendan
Barbara O'Connor
Jan Washburn
Terri Blackstock
Norah Simone
Barry Kemp
G.P. Taylor
Alan Cumyn
Linda Barnes
Lisa Jackson