And just like that, the first month flew by. It was the second month of the new year that Erick finally got word from his men as to the whereabouts of Zander.
Mira was sitting in the kitchen area making dumplings with Nonna Pearla when he burst in.
"Mira, sweetheart!"
She dropped the dough ball into a bowl and stood up. "Hi Erick!"
"We found something on Zander! It's just a trail, but it's more than what we've gotten for the last four months!" He announced without any preamble.
Nonna Pearla gasped. "Oh my!"
Mira gripped her chair to keep from fainting. "Is he…"
"There's nothing definitive. Don't panic sweetheart. Don't worry about a thing. I'm going to leave at daybreak to go sniff around and see what I can find."
"I want to come with you."
"Mira, it's dangerous territory."
"Where?" Mira gripped Erick's robe sleeves.
"We found traces of his magik signature in and around the jungles of Jasper."
"Jungles of Jasper," Mira breathed as she scanned her memory of its location. "It's south of Aquamarine Lake, isn't it?" Slowly she let go of his sleeve, leaving behind white finger marks on his royal robes.
Nonna Pearla glanced at the mess Mira left behind on the Crown Prince's purple robes. Had it been anyone else…
Erick didn't even seem to notice.
"Yes. It is a large stretch of jungle occupying the area between Jasper and Topaz. Mira darling, it is a very dangerous area."
"I don't care. I want to go."
Erick gripped Mira's hands disregarding the sticky dough on her fingers.
"Listen to me Mira. Until we get more concrete evidence, all we know is that he passed by that area. It's such a huge geographic expanse that I don't even know how long it will be before I can find anything concrete enough to send for you."
His eyes grew serious. "I promise you. Once we find out something more concrete, I'll port you there myself."
"But you need me Erick. If you can find the general location where he might be, I can narrow it down even more."
"How?"
"With this!" I pointed to my Keys to the Kingdom choker necklet.
For the first time, Erick looked at the necklet closely. Mira was normally bejeweled with all sorts of glittery jewelry that this modest choker necklet was something that was mostly hidden between the sparklier pieces.
"Whew!" He whistled. "That's a fancy piece of jewelry. I can't believe he actually spirit-bonded with you!"
"What does that mean? I thought it was just so I could use portals and travel where I needed."
"Yeah." Erick agreed with a strangled voice. "You think you can just waltz through a portal without expending any magik energies?"
"What do you mean?"
"Sweetheart. Every time you hopped a portal, you were drawing on his magik to make the jump. Now, I know Zander well and I have an idea how much of an energy store he has inside his body, but if there ever came a time when he's almost completely drained, even the relatively small amount that's needed to jump a portal could actually drain him down to flatline."
Mira's face blanched. "Flatline like his father?"
Erick nodded.
"Why didn't he tell me? I would have never gone through portals on my own if I'd known that!"
"Well, that's probably because he wanted you to be able to move about even if he wasn't there."
At Mira's pained expression, Erick shook his head. "It's not normally a huge deal, Mira. When we take you through a portal, we expend enough energy to take us and cover you as well since you don't have any inner energy of your own, so don't think too much about this."
"You can travel through portals too?"
Erick gave Mira a strange look. "I am also a wizard Mira. You may not have seen me do anything that looks very magikal but when the time comes, I will definitely lend you my strength."
"I know Zander is an Aeromancer. What is your magik?"
"I'm a Necromancer."
"What is that?"
Erick grinned. "I call up demons and control them. Want a demonstration?"
"No!"
Erick looked slightly crestfallen. "I never get to show anybody what I can do. Nobody wants to see a demon."
"And you're surprised?"
Erick pouted. "But it's not fair. I never get a chance to impress anyone with my skills. Everybody goes gaga over Zander's ability to bend air and manipulate pressure to make storms and electricity, but nobody cares that I can control demons. How fair is that?"
"Eric, you're a Crown Prince of the Ashryan Empire. How fair is that?"
Erick gave a sheepish grin. "Well, when you put it that way…"
"Erick, take me with you."
"It's too dangerous Mira. I refuse to bring you into the danger zone without a clear direction as to where we can go."
"What if she goes with some very competent people?" Nonna Pearla spoke up, interrupting Erick's protest.
Erick glanced at Nonna Pearla. "Who are you talking about?"
Nonna Pearla began kneading another batch of dough. "Since you are here and this looks like it's going to be a long conversation, go wash your hands Prince Erick, and help us with the dumplings."
Erick's eyes lit up. He gave a wolfish grin and ran over to the kitchen sink. As he scrubbed his fingers, he chuckled.
"Wow...you're actually going to let me do this? Nobody ever lets me do anything cool like this!"
As Nonna Pearla set up Erick's work space, she began discussions.
"I understand that you don't want to expose our Queen to dangers that may hurt her physically, but you have to remember that Queen Mira is a Glockomancer of the highest order."
Erick nodded with sincerity as he grappled with the vagaries of rolling dough within his large hands.
Mira laughed but said nothing.
"But doesn't she need to remain here to take care of the daily Princess Court Sessions?"
"She can temporarily transfer her duties to Tinsel Pomfrey. You know he is more than up to the job."
"He is the best Advisor, that is the truth. Still, who are you thinking that could join her and protect her?"
"There are a few people who would be well-suited to join her on this quest to find the King. My husband would be the first that I would recommend."
"You're not afraid he will go into danger?"
Nonna Pearla laughed. "That old man has been complaining to me for weeks that he needs something less boring to do than to stand inside a courtroom every day to protect the Queen from a bunch of dried up crows."
She threw a finished dumpling with a flourish into the bowl. "Besides, what is more important than finding the King of Diamond? And anyway, Alfric is a Conjurer First Class who hasn't conjured anything in ages. He needs the practice."
Erick grimaced at the lopsided dumpling in his hand before dropping it into the bowl holding all the rolled dumplings.
"OK, so we have Alfric Hobart. He cannot be the only person."
"There's also Daran." Nonna Pearla mused.
Mira pursed her lips. "Isn't he in a bit of a pickle at the moment…"
"All the more reason to get him out of this situation at this time. There is nothing like a healthy distance to clarify in people's minds exactly what is most important to them." Nonna Pearla smiled as her hands continued rolling out ball after perfectly shaped ball of dumplings.
"I can probably persuade Carol to let him go with me…" Mira mused.
"She is not speaking to him at this moment. I don't think she will protest if he joins you on an important mission." Nonna Pearla chuckled.
"Is that it? Two dwarves to join Mira?" Erick gave a sidelong glance at Nonna Pearla.
"There is also Jana and Theo."
"The panthera and the bogwarg…" Erick narrowed his aquamarine eyes. "I don't even know anything about them. Would they protect Mira or would they tear her apart as soon as we are out of Diamond?"
"Jana is the youngest Princess of Queen Molly of Marble Savanna. She is one of the best fighters you will ever see. I have great faith in her abilities, plus in this environment, we need another female to be with Mira."
Erick nodded, throwing another misshapen dumpling into the bowl. "And what about the bogwarg?"
"Theo is a gentleman. He's also Felix's uncle, so he would be the one I trust to protect Mira the most. She is after all, his nephew's mother."
Erick harrumphed and paused for a moment to look at the warped lump of dough in his hands. "I don't think anyone is going to eat any of the dumplings I made."
Mira giggled. "They all taste the same, Erick."
"But they don't look the same," Erick looked mournful. "Mine looks like a piece of turd."
"Oh stop feeling sorry for yourself," Nonna Pearla huffed. "We can give them to Felix. He won't care what they look like."
Erick laughed. "Sounds like a plan."
"So…" Mira smiled. "Alfric, Daran, Theo, and Jana? Will that be all the people coming along with me?"
Erick turned to her with sparkling blue eyes. "Have you forgotten about me?"