"Hurry, hurry, hurry.
Something about the way they said her name makes my hair stand on end."
"Here it is, but are you sure she is the one? The ancient texts say nothing about a girl."
"They say nothing about a guy either, but I am sure of it. Who else could've done what happened last night?"
"I'm not denying that this Ruby truly did save them, I'm just saying we need to find out more, before we come to a combined conclusion."
"Agreed, but they also said something about a battle?"
"Their have been lots of battles, your Majesty. Who knows which one they were referring to?"
"I can only think of one that has happened close enough to these borders."
"......But 'that' Battle started over a Vicennial ago."
"Yeah, and ended a Decade ago."
"So, who would still be alive to confirm? Dropfarra is out of the picture, Tai's wife died more than four years ago, and...."
"Tai?
King Tai?
He still lives?"
"Yes.
...….We could ask him if he knew Ruby."
"No."
"No?"
"If we come out and ask, they'll know we are onto them.
The Group said it themselves. They didn't even know we existed. If we come right out and say it, Tai will ask how we know, and find out that we were in the background the whole time.
No. We need someone young. Someone small enough to blend in with the Kids. Someone who could easily disguise and pull off a...….."
*Crunch...crunch...crunch.*
"What?"
"Sometimes, to pull off a Kid, you need a Kid to do it.
Son, come over here for a sec."
"Yes, Father?"
"Now that we have a decoy, how do we send him in?
Where is the Group now?"
"Out to lunch, your Majesty. I requested it of them to do so.
As far as how we get the Prince to blend in, I think I know a way.
Their are still two Kids that the Group has failed to find.
Your son....can be one of them.
Our inside man."
"But once they know he can't transform, they'll be onto us."
"Not exactly.
The Kids got their powers taken from them when they were but little.
I know where they have been staying, and as of recent...I've seen it blown up.
We could just say…..his vile got lost in the fire. That is what renders him useless."
"Useless to them maybe....but to us...…he's still perfect.
Son."
"Yes, Father?"
"...How would you like to rule a Kingdom?"
"Is their a death I don't know about?"
"Not my Kingdom, boy. Another."
"You promise?"
"Do this for me, and I'll make it happen."
".....You won't regret this, Father."
Where do they dine?"
"One more please?"
"Kids, that's not how it works."
"What? You can't just go up for seconds?"
"Unless you ordered the buffet…..….like I did."
"Might be a while, Mom. I don't see anything up there."
"What could they be disrupting now?"
"Move along. Move along. Reckless children coming through."
"Reckless? We're not reckless. On the contrary. I'd say we're….."
"Gifted."
"Imaginative."
"Well, it doesn't look like any salad I've ever had before."
"Just try it. I know people love it."
*Gulp*
"Please don't get me fired."
"To the top maybe."
"...Then out the roof."
"No.
That's...…why Restaurants have menu's that don't change; so that people each time they come in know exactly what they're getting and what to expect for specials and sides."
"But that's boring."
"Rules, rules, rules."
"Wait, wait….I...I'll see how it goes, but if people don't like it, then we'll have to change it back."
"But what if they do like it? Will you keep it on?"
"That choice is not up to me. Come on. We don't want to keep these hungry people waiting forever."
(Now it is night-time which means chapters S-Z will only be two pages. Trying to write as many during the day as possible so you can have the longest ones, but no one can make more hours in a day, sadly.)