Leeta was rocked from a deep sleep by a banging at her chamber door. The Princess wearily rolled off of her satin sheets and went to see who it was. As she opened the door, an out of breath Carla burst into the room. "Carla!? What's the matter?"
The mage quickly gulped down a goblet of wine on a nearby table and collapsed into a red velvet chair before speaking. "I've got some good news and some bad news."
"Well what's the good news," asked the Princess. She sat down in another chair while Carla spoke of her research in the library. When she finished, Leeta jumped to her feet. "We'll leave immediately for the West coast. I know exactly where Angellis used to be."
Carla, too weary to get up, only raised her hand. "Don't you want to hear the bad news?"
"Uh huh," replied Leeta absently as she scurried back and forth across the room collecting items for the journey.
"I was attacked as I tried to leave the library."
Leeta stopped and put down several shirts in her arms. "What?" she said with an astonished tone. "I mean, how could anyone get past the increased security around the palace?"
The Premier leveled a serious gaze at the Princess. "It means that they were already inside the palace before you increased security."
Leeta's jaw fell open. "Then that could only mean..."
"Treason," finished Carla. "We've got a spy on our hands. And whoever sent that spy, doesn't want us stopping this plague. Now the big question is, who is it?"
Leeta placed a hand on the dresser to keep from falling over. How could this happen? All of the officials within the palace had served her faithfully for years, as had their families for generations. When she had first formed the kingdom of Lucitania after her mother died, all of the major families had sworn an oath of fealty, by their own free will, to Leeta. An oath which she never truly enforced, but which was always gladly followed by the families. The thought of someone betraying her and the rest of the kingdom to such a horror like the plague made Leeta go cold all over. "How could this possibly happen?" she whispered.
Carla rose from her chair and walked over to the shaken Princess. The small Premier grabbed the sides of both her arms and looked her in the eyes. "Don't you fall apart on me now," she ordered. "I need you to pull yourself together and think clearly. We need to figure out who the spy is. Now think. Who has been giving you the most trouble about the plague?"
The truth of Carla's words tore through the shock that had held Leeta momentarily paralyzed. The Princess blinked several times and shook her head. "You're right. I have to concentrate and not let my emotions get the better of me." She moved from Carla's hold and began to pace. Then it hit her. "Garanna!" she said with a gasp.
"Who?"
"Minister Garanna," repeated Leeta. "He's been causing all sorts of trouble for months now. First, he's been fighting me on all decisions concerning the war. And second, just earlier, he withheld the information about the first few plague cases in the city." She turned at looked at Carla. "It's got to be him."
Carla crossed her arms. "Okay, now that our spy has a face, what we do with him? How can we go after the Kiss without him finding out?"
A devious smile spread across Leeta's face. "Leave that to me," was all she said.
"Y...y...you can't be serious!" sputtered Garanna. "I am a minister! Not a soldier!"
Leeta, Carla, and the rest of the ministers were seated around the oval table in the Council chamber. The Princess rose from her chair and calmly walked over to the outraged Garanna. She stopped in front of him and looked him dead in the eyes. "Oh, but you are coming with us. According to article eighty five of military procedures handbook, there must always be an officer of the Minister's bureau on hand in any field operations associated directly with the government. And since I am the leader of this government, I choose you to accompany the expedition, led by myself, to the West coast." She smiled and started back to her seat. "After all, you are over qualified for the job, and therefore the most suited."
Garanna began to protest again, but Leeta adjourned the meeting and had the guards escort the Minister back to his room, so that he could be ready to leave by the evening. "Very nicely done," said Carla as she rose from her seat. "Of course you know that we'll have to watch him like hawks."
Leeta nodded and walked over to the Premier. "I know, but I think we can handle it. Right now, however, we have some other things to take care of."
"Cancel them," ordered Ruby as she entered the room with the Dragon triplets in tow. "We have to talk."
Leeta motioned for the guards to close the doors. "What's the matter, Aunt Ruby?"
The Red Dragon of Althena looked to her left shoulder at Vaul. "Tell Leeta what you just told me," she said in a calm but stern voice.
The baby Gold was silent for a moment, but Ruby narrowed her eyes, and he burst in his story. "Wellyouseewewereplayinginthehalls..."
Leeta silenced the child with her hand. Then she tenderly took him in her hands and softly stroked his catlike head. "Now start again and say it more slowly."
"Okay," he said. "Sometime yesterday, me, Narin, and Alleia were playing hide and seek in the halls on the third floor." He looked over his shoulder at his mother, who had a displeased look on her face. "We knew that we weren't supposed to, but since more soldiers have been walking around the Palace, we haven't been allowed outside as much. Well, we were playing when we heard footsteps coming our way. We hid behind a curtain until the person went by. By then, we were bored with tag, and so we decided to follow the figure who had just come through the hall."
"Well, we flew after him until we heard voices," continued Alleia. "We peeked around the corner of the hallway and saw two figures talking."
"One was surrounded in shadows so we couldn't see exactly what he looked like," added Narin. "But the other was standing right in plain sight. He spoke in a low hissing voice and was dressed all in rags. And as he walked, he made a clicking sound."
Leeta suddenly went cold as a brief memory of her flight through the halls went through her mind. "So, what's the big deal about a man in rags?" asked Carla.
Ruby strode over to Carla and looked down at her. "Don't you read history, Spud?"
Carla was about to respond, but Leeta laid a restraining hand on the Premier's shoulder. "Let her finish, Carla."
Narin and Alleia flew from their mother's shoulder as she began to pace. "Back long before Zophar ever came to the Blue Star, there were of course other malcontents bent on the destruction of Althena's creation. There was one being, whose name has been lost over the ages, that was more powerful than the rest, maybe even stronger than all the gods. Well, this being had minions to rival those of Althena's. They were called the Demon Dragons of Darkness. There were four: Blood, Shadow, Pestilence, and Chaos. It isn't too clear how Althena was able to defeat the Dragons and their master, but I do know that the Dragons were not destroyed, only banished for a time."
She raised her right hand and heavy leather bound book appeared in it. She quickly opened it and started flipping through the pages until she was half way through the thick tome. She turned it around and held it out to the Princess. "A priest from that time period made a short entry about the Demon Dragons in this book. By order of the Goddess, he wrote down the many different forms these Dragons preferred to take on in case they ever returned."
Leeta followed Ruby's finger to a particular passage and began to read aloud. "The Pestilence Dragon, known as Scorn, liked to take on the forms of small creatures known for carrying diseases. When he chose to take on a human shape, however, he was usually donned in an assortment of tattered rags and covered in sores of all kinds. Beware, his touch is deadly and can cause sickness instantly."
Leeta felt her knees begin to shake. Leeta slowly lifted her eyes and looked at Ruby. The Red Dragon closed the tome and nodded. "That's right, my dear. We have a Pestilence Dragon on the loose."