The Story:
The Secret Door

Kauria didn't know what was happening, only that she had to get free. The cart was being pulled slowly through the streets of Crowns, with several of the Captain's guards walking along the side. It only took her a few moments to free her hand with the knife, and she began to think of how to get away from the Captain's men.

Rhillan had said something about loose wheels. Her ears registered a high-pitched squeak below, off to the side. Cautiously, she glanced over the side of the cart. She could see the cart wheel, where one of the bolt holding it in place was loose and squeaking.

Kauria watched it a few moments. It was loose, but not loose enough to fall out. Glancing around nervously, she carefully repositioned her legs under her, leaning to the side of the cart.

She focused on the bolt carefully, willing it to come loose, using her Magic. The hair on the back of her neck prickled at the effort; most of her practice was in healing, not moving, yet she could feel the bolt coming loose...

Within moments the whole cart jolted at the sudden impact with the ground. It tilted to its side, tossing her to the ground, but Kauria was prepared. She rolled on impact and was up before the guard knew what had happened. She bolted into the crowds, ignoring the angry shouts and the men following her.

"She just ran off!" the driver explained to Rhillan. "These streets are crowded; I couldn't see her for more than a few moments."

"What direction did she go in?"

"South. Back to the gate."

"You did a good job, Rhubba," the trader patted the driver on the back and hastily departed south. Kauria was probably heading for the South gate, where they entered the city.... he had to find her and make some plan. Rhillan wasn't sure what to do next; what was important was that right now, the Emperor Torrel didn't have her. Or the Star Pendant.

There was no one following her now, or at least Kauria hoped. She continually scanned the crowds, paranoid. It was amazing how many people where residing in Crowns; every few moments she bumped into an elbow. It was too confusing for her; Belin had been a small village... she saw more people in one glance than she had her whole life.

And she was getting a headache. Her senses were in a flurry; she was unable to screen out the sense of so many people and the thick feeling of Dark Magic in the air was suffocating her. If she didn't find a away out of Crowns, she'd collapse from the pain.

As she gradually approached the city gates, Kauria knew that she would not be able to slip by as she had planned. The large doors of the city were closed, and guards stood nearby. Several tradesmen were arguing with the gatekeeper.

"What do you mean, you can't risk it? We're not criminals!" The trader's voice clearly wrung out. "I don't care if some pilfering girl is missing, we're late to deliver! Our food is spoiling!"

Kauria hastily backed away from the gates, defeated. How was she to leave if not through the gates? There must be at least another gate to the city. Maybe it would be open, as they'd expect her to travel to the gate she entered. Which she had, Kauria grudgingly admitted.

She was about to thrust herself back into the thick flow of people on the street when she realized she'd have no way of telling where she was without the outer wall of the city to guide her. Kauria had no doubt she wouldn't be able to find her way across the city without help. And she had noticed in her escape that the closer one was to Ajir Palace, the more numerous Torrel's guards were and less numerous the protective anonymity of the crowd.

She elected to stay within a reasonable range of site of the wall. She was about as safe following the wall as she was wandering lost through the streets. As she walked, she occasionally glanced to the Palace. It was magnificent, even in it present decay. In Kauria's mind, she could see the Ajir Palace of old, with streamers and banners flying high above the towers, like she had seen in her dream...

In her dream. The vision of banners vanished and Kauria shook her head. She felt drowsy and light-headed. It was probably the high concentration of Dark Magic in the air, she told herself, yet there was something vaguely familiar about the configuration of towers at that angle.... it was an annoying stray thought she couldn't identify.

She stopped walking and gazed at the towers. There was something different about those towers in comparison to the ones she remembered. They were older... no, that wasn't it. She craned her neck upward and took a step backward.

Yes, that was it! The towers were moving away from her, slowly, like she was walking backwards...

Or being moved backwards.

Kauria took a few more steps back. That was it... a jerky kind of movement, but it wasn't walking. She had have been laying down, in a cart of some sort. She had positive reference to what traveling in the back of a cart was like. She continued walking toward the wall, one eye looking for guard and the other trained on the towers.

When she hit the wall, only fear of discovery prevented her from crying out from start. She was standing adjacent to the outside wall of Crowns and she could see the petrified tips of the Frozen Forest over the top.

"So, now what?" she muttered to herself. She glanced right and left down the wall, but there was no one watching her. Indeed, there was a noticeable lack of the usual pitch tents that were sported throughout the dismal city.

She glanced back up the wall. Could she climb it? She ran her hands against the wall, looking for hand holds in the stone. A few moments later she discovered an odd indentation about the size of her fist, curved inward in the stone. This isn't natural, she thought and pressed her hand against it.

The wall began to move. She stepped back quickly, surprised. The hidden exit was now readily apparent, the hinges cleverly hidden in natural-looking cracks between stones. Overcoming her fear, she continued to push against the wall until it opened far enough for her to slip through.

She had done it! She was out of Crowns. She pushed the stone wall closed, noticing the was no way to open the door from outside- not that she every wanted back in. She glanced to the towers of Ajir Palace, still visible over the wall. A strange sense of deja vu assaulted her; she shook her head. She was outside Crowns, somewhere in the Frozen Forest. She was still a long way from Carul, and Gedry.

Rhillan wasn't sure what to think. When he arrived at the Southern gate, there was no sign of Kauria. In fact, the Southern gate was heavily guarded. He was forced to realize that Kauria would have left at the sight of Torrel's guards. But where to?

I'm just going have to think like her, he told himself. If I wanted to leave Crowns, where would I go? Not back toward the Palace, and Torrel. I'd consider trying other gates first. But which direction to go?

He sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. Crowns was a large place. The sun was already beginning its descent; he had to find her soon. Which direction would she have gone?

Would she go to the Pendant? The sudden insight gave him hope. Yes, Aralia had lost the Pendant just outside Crowns... which side? The side nearest the enemy camp! His began jogging westward down the wall. All of Ajir's neighbors had been conquered first, and Carul had been the last of the four. Therefore, the enemy would be on the western side of Crowns. That's where Aralia would have been taken. And Kauria would head for Carul and that Gedry she was suppose to meet, Rhillan recalled.

As he ran, he noticed the crowds where thinner near the outside wall than near the palace. He could see quite far ahead, and his heart lifted when he caught site of a dark-haired girl staring at a section of wall. He was still a way's off, but he was positive it was Kauria. She glanced around quickly, and toward the palace, then he noticed her leaning into the wall. What could she be doing? He looked to the palace towers for a hint, but when he looked again, she was gone.

There was no way for her to disappear so suddenly. Quickly, he ran to the spot where he had seen her. The wall was void of anything unusual, yet she had clearly vanished. He ran his hand over its surface, noticing a large area of stone was slightly off- set. Hadn't Kauria leaned against the wall?

He pushed and the secret door slowly opened. Found it, he smiled. Moments later, he, too vanished beyond the wall.

And just like Kauria, he, too, was being watching from afar.