“Now,” said Catherine to Vivian, “There may be new monsters emerging from the portal any moment. But there are also several monsters who have escaped into the forest.”
“I know,” said Vivian. “Midor’s very worried about all the animals that they might be eating at the moment.”
“Yes, I know. Poor Midor. Always so concerned about the animals. But if he were really concerned about helping them, then he wouldn’t be opposed to you learning magic, would he?”
“No, I suppose he wouldn’t,” said Vivian.
“You’ll have to learn not to trust everything Midor says,” said Catherine. “He’s not always the most trustworthy person. Now, you and I will take care of those remaining monsters together. You’ll do all the spells, but I’ll teach you everything that you’ll need.”
“Okay,” said Vivian.
“The first thing we need to do is to find the monsters. Now, we can do a simple locating spell, but we need some identifying information. It could be a footprint of theirs, or some hair of theirs. But I don’t think you got any of their hair, and I’m not sure any footprints are left after a few days. So the easiest thing to do would be to just use their names. If we know their names, we can work the spell..”
“Their names?” said Vivian. “How would we know their names?”
“I bet Midor would know them. He learned a lot of their names when he was in their realm. Bring Midor here, and let’s see what we can get from him.”
**************************************************************************
“Alright,” Midor said. “I’ll help you, but I want to make a trade. Once you set Henry free from the enchantment, I’ll give you their names.”
“Midor,” said Catherine, “Is this how we are going to work together? I have no intention of making a trade every time I ask you for a favor.”
“Catherine, I only ask what is fair,” said Midor.
“We’ve been over this before, Midor. I only keep for myself what is fair. You know as well as anyone else I have my reasons for wanting protection.”
“If it’s protection you want, we can work out another arrangement. Let the boy go.”
“Midor, I will not negotiate. Will you give us the names of the monsters or not?”
Midor paused. He looked briefly at Vivian, then back at Catherine. “No. Not until you free Henry.”
“Ah, Midor. You really are terrible at this, you know. Don’t you realize you have no leverage over me? I mean, if it was something that only I wanted, then maybe you could negotiate a trade with me. But in this case, you want those monsters stopped even more than I do. You’re the one who’s worried about all the harm they are doing to the animals in the forest. Not me. I mean...,” Catherine raised her hands in a dramatic gesture, as she sat down on her throne, “I am concerned about it in the sense that I am a Queen of Castle Tauna, and so it is my sworn duty to protect the forest from the monsters. And I intend to honor that sworn duty. But, as far as I know, there’s no sworn duty to rush things. I might stop the monsters today, or I might wait until next week, and let them rampage the forest and eat up more animals in the meantime. As long as I stop these monsters eventually, when I do it, or how long it takes me, is entirely unimportant to me. And that, dear Midor, is why you cannot negotiate with me. If you want to withhold the information, you can, and you can go and see how long it takes before either you or I give in. But it won’t be me who gives in first.”
“Fine,” said Midor bitterly. “You’re right, you’re right, I want those monsters stopped as much as you do. I want those monsters stopped more than you do. I’ll give you whatever you need to help.”
“The names are all I require. That’s all we need to make the locating spell.”
“I don’t know all of their names. But I’ll give you the names I know. Of the ones that I know escaped into the forest over the past couple weeks, I know the names Rakthar, Larza, Trata, and Clozar.”
“Not so fast. We need to write them down for the locating spell. Vivian, are you ready? Make sure you write the sounds down exactly as you hear them from Midor. Midor, you are confident of your pronunciation?”
“I am. I can write it down for you if it will help.”
“As you wish. There is ink and paper on my desk.”
Midor walked to the desk, and sat down at the desk. He wrote down the names, and then handed them to Catherine.
Catherine did not grab them. “Vivian can take them,” Catherine said. “She will be doing the spell.”
“Of course,” said Midor. “Of course. You’re trying to corrupt her with magic as much as possible, aren’t you?”
“I don’t understand, Midor,” said Catherine. “Do you object to the use of magic to defend the forest? My dear Midor, all you have to do is say so, if that is the case, and I will give you my solemn word that neither I nor Vivian will use any sort of magic whatsoever to aid you in the fight against the monsters.”
“You know that’s not my objection,” said Midor.
“Let us be clear with one another, then,” said Catherine. “Do you think it’s a bad thing to use magic to stop the monsters?”
“You know I don’t,” said Midor in an exasperated tone.
“Then you agree that it’s a good thing.”
“I don’t know if I would go that far.”
“My dear Midor, let us not obfuscate. If it’s not a bad thing, then clearly it’s--”
“It’s a necessary thing,” said Midor.
“Ah,” said Catherine. “I see we are having a semantic debate now. Okay, very well. It is a necessary thing, and not a bad thing, but in your opinion, it stops just short of being a good thing. Is that correct?”
“What do you want from me, Catherine?” Midor said irritatedly.
“What I want from you most of all, Midor, is for you to hold your tongue on all things magic. You’ve become very tiresome recently. And you’ve also been needlessly worrying my protege Vivian on the dangers of magic.”
“Catherine, if I am being difficult, then you yourself are being equally difficult. You know full well that magic comes with a price. You know it because you’ve paid that price. You know how the magic has changed you. And you know what the black magic has done to you. Why not just say it? Why pretend that Vivian can have all these powers and not pay a price for it?”
“Midor, if I truly believed that the price was not worth paying, then do you think I would still be using magic now?”
Midor bowed his head to acknowledge that a point had been made. But then he returned his gaze. “But, there is, nevertheless, a price. Is there not?”
“What a ridiculously childish thing to say. Everything has a price. You of all people should know that, Midor. What price did you pay to keep your role as a forest ranger? You had to leave Vivian in the castle. Your boy grew up without his mother.”
“It was complicated,” said Midor.
“I know, I know, of course it was partly Carlyle’s fault. It always is. He’s the one who forced you to choose. But nonetheless, you chose. You’re very proud of all the work you’ve done--you’re the man who brought peace to the forest, after all. But it cost you. Well, now Vivian and I are going to bring peace to the forest again. And then, after I’m dead, Vivian will reign as Queen of the Castle Tauna, and she will be the most powerful Queen this castle has ever had, and she will maintain peace and tranquility in the forest. And yes, she will pay a price for that. But it is well worth it.”
Midor remained silent, so Catherine stepped down from her throne. “It is not, Midor, my intention to corrupt Vivian, as you seem to believe. It is my intention to make her as strong as I can, so that she can restore the tradition of the magical Queens of this castle.”
“You tried that once already, Catherine. The forest didn’t want magical queens.”
“Forest? You mean Carlyle!”
“He was acting on behalf of the forest.”
“If he was acting on behalf of the forest, then where is their outcry now? Why is the whole forest not united to try to overthrow me?”
“Perhaps they’re giving you another chance.”
“Perhaps. But we’ve wasted enough time talking, Midor. I want to know my efforts with you are not being wasted. Will you continue to object to my training Vivian, or do you agree that magic is necessary?”
“I understand what you’re saying, Catherine, and I agree that magic is necessary. But I’ll continue to express concern as long as I believe Vivian’s well-being is in danger.”
“You really are tiresome, Midor. Why can’t you accept that this is what she wants?”
“Because she hasn’t told me yet, Catherine. You’ve done all the talking.”
“Fine. You talk to her yourself.”
“I want to talk to her alone,” Midor said.
“Go. Take any room in the castle you want,” said Catherine.
Midor gestured to Vivian, and she followed him out of the throne room and into the adjoining hallway.
“Vivian, are you sure about this,” said Midor.
“Yes, I’m sure. I’ve never been surer of anything in my life. I’ve let fear of my father suppress my abilities all these years, but now it’s time to unlock my true potential.”
“You know what the magic did to Catherine.”
“Catherine’s right, Midor. We all have to make sacrifices. If I am to be the heir of this throne, then I want to be as powerful as I can be, just like our magical ancestors once ruled from this throne.”
“You know, I never thought I’d say this,” said Midor, “but I wish Talon were still alive. He could act as a second opinion, tell you which kind of magic is dangerous, and which kind of magic to stay away from. I worry about Catherine being your only guide. She’s not going to be honest with you. She wants you to end up exactly as she did.”
“I can take care of myself, Midor. And Catherine’s right, we need you to join us on this. We can’t have you constantly undermining us, or trying to sow doubts in my mind.”
“But the magic is dangerous.”
“I know that Midor. But you need to trust me that I can handle it.”
“You can’t ask me not to worry about you.”
“But I am. I need you not to worry so much. Trust me and don’t worry. This is the path I’ve chosen. I need you to support me.”
Midor put his head down. “Very well,” he said. “If that’s what you wish. I’ll support you.”
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