Jana turned back to face Mira.
"I can now describe to you exactly what a soul bond feels like." She licked her lips. "You can feel the other person because you actually take a tiny portion of your mate's soul and patch it onto your own soul."
Mira frowned. "I'm not sure I understand."
Jana pointed to Theo. "He has a tiny portion of my soul patched onto his."
Theo grinned at Mira. "And she has a chunk of my soul wedged into hers."
"At the moment of joining, everything feels normal. That is because the tiny piece of your soul is still connected to you." Jana explained.
However," she raised a finger, "when the soul-bands are uncoupled, you will feel bereft as if a small part of yourself had taken flight and is no longer with you."
She turned back to Mira. "Taking its place however, will be a warm distinct male aura filling up the tiny void that a piece of yourself had left behind. Once you receive that male aura, you are once again whole."
Theo smiled. "For me, that tiny void has been filled undoubtedly, with a female presence. She fills that void in my soul."
Jana looked up at him. "I can feel your presence!"
"And I, yours," he confirmed.
Gerald Pomfrey cleared his throat. "That sounds as if they are experiencing the same thing I feel with my soul band. Only...it is not a male or female presence. It is simply Tinsel that I feel."
Mira sighed. "In that case, I don't think I've been soul-bonded with Zander. I do not feel as if a tiny piece of my soul has been taken away, and I certainly do not feel as if a piece of his soul has somehow been grafted onto mine."
"But how is it then that you are able to feel his presence?"
"I don't know."
Mira turned back to Gerald Pomfrey. "Can I see that firefly captured visual again?"
"Most certainly, Your Majesty."
Once again, he focused his fingers on the large glowing green crystal until the dark areas grew into a dark orb.
Mira could once again see the tiny light like a firefly twisting and turning, swooping and hovering in the darkness. Behind it was that same starry night sky.
"Wait. Stop the image there." She put a hand out.
Gerald Pomfrey paused the moving visual.
"Is it possible to back up for two seconds?"
In answer, Gerald Pomfrey slipped the time backwards a couple of seconds.
"Right there. Can you see the stars behind the firefly?"
"That's the southern skies," Erick peered into the sphere. "You can see those constellations standing anywhere in the south."
"But we know the time that this firefly was set loose," she glanced at Gerald Pomfrey who nodded. "So tonight, we can go observe the direction that firefly flew if the background stars look like this."
Alfric cleared his throat. "We don't even need to do that, Your Majesty. I am an astrologer. I can tell you exactly where that firefly was at the point where this visual stopped."
He waved both arms out into mid-air and spoke a single command.
"Guangweichuanbo"
Immediate, a 3-D image appeared in front of him. It was a representation of a landscape with the stars shining behind it. Alfric zapped a point into one location and a dot of light appeared.
"Here is where our little firefly was, at the moment that is paused in the scry-visual globe. And here," he extended the view out to include the areas around it, "is the ground of that view."
"Wow!" Ziggy gasped.
"That looks like Topaz, doesn't it?" Daran whistled.
"Yes it does. See where that mountain juts out into the ocean? I'm very familiar with it because I went to that school. That's the Topaz Academy of Magikal Arts!" Ziggy pointed.
Mira smiled. They were finally getting somewhere.
"Can we see a bit more of the scry-visual?"
Gerald Pomfrey nodded and moved his fingers.
The firefly moved from its stand-still position. It flitted and fluttered about through a darkened desert until it reached the foothills of a craigy hillside.
"Stop there again." Mira pointed. "Alfric, you can still see the direction where it flew, right?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Can you show me where its position is relative to the star chart?"
Alfric moved the geography a bit more. It was definitely going towards Topaz.
"This is the desert area north of Topaz Mountain."
Mira nodded. "Can we move the firefly a bit more? I want to see exactly where the castle is located."
Gerald moved his fingers over the crystal scrying orb. The firefly continued its meandering path through the desert until it reached the area where the first of the low squat buildings began dotting the scenery.
"Please pause. Do you see those short squat buildings?"
"Those would be the outlying areas of Topaz." Alfric spun his fingers until he reached the area that the firefly had visited.
"Please continue," Mira prompted Gerald Pomfrey.
The scene moved again within the scry-visual. Immediately ahead of the firefly was a large dark castle with a multitude of towers, reaching up into the night sky.
"Pause again, please."
This time, without prompting, Alfric had zeroed in on the castle itself. It was a very clear representation, as if he had seen this place before.
"You know this castle."
Alfric nodded. "Yes I do. This is House Imara."
"Please explain what that is."
"House Imara is one of the Seven Great Houses of Topaz. It is the one that the great Healers of Topaz come from."
Erick frowned. "Why would Harrington Imara be holding Zander? House Imara has no quarrels with anyone and in fact has sent many healers all over Ashrya to assist any time there were health crises."
"Could it be that Zander is in need of health care and that is why he is in one of their towers?"
"That makes no sense. Everyone knows who King Zander is." Daran punched his fist into his palm. "If King Zander is ailing, the first thing they would do is contact the Queen. This looks like he's being held against his will."
"Can we see exactly which tower the firefly is going to?"
Gerald Pomfrey nodded. The firefly moved again and made a beeline for the tallest tower. It slipped in through one of the slits of the tall pointed lancet windows.
At first, everything was dark. Eventually there was enough light to be able to see Zander lying on the bed, unmoving.
She could see his arm move up with one swift deadly motion. It was a reflexive motion, with barely any thought.
A tiny arc of blue light flew at the firefly. The scry-visual blanked out.
"Do you see that?" Gerald Pomfrey moved the visual back to the moment the blue arc of energy exploded from Zander's fingertip.
"That is the classic Zander signature."
Mira's eyes widened. "You can actually tell it's his signature?"
"Yes, My Queen. Each mage has a signature energy pattern. It is just as unique as your retina or your thumb print. I have analyzed this wizard's energy arc and it is indeed our King Zander's magik signature."
Mira pressed her hands to her temples. Calm down. Calm down. Think this through.
"So now we know where he is. How do we get him out?"
"Please calm down, Your Majesty." Gerald Pomfrey released his hand from the scry-crystal. "This scry-visual was taken a few weeks ago. He may no longer be there."
"Why was nothing done between then and now?"
"We were not sure exactly where the castle was located. Now that we know this is the Imara Castle, I will send a few more scouts to that location and check it out."
"When?"
"We can do that now. I can have a small group port to the general vicinity of House Imara and see if we can get someone to break into the castle."
Jana raised her hand. "Let me go. I can scale those walls quickly and without sound. I can also see well in the dark without having to bring external lights."
Theo placed a hand on her shoulder. "You go nowhere without a backup woman. I will come with you. I can smell out enemies if they are anywhere near you. Plus, you will need a wizard to port you and King Zander out if we find him."
Mira nodded. It sounded like a good plan.
"I will also come with you." Erick stated baldly. "Two wizards are better than one. I also command imps and demons to go up against demonic attacks if we should happen to be overrun by the enemies."
Theo turned to Erick. "Do you have a plan of attack?"
"Plan is simple. We port to a nearby area, make our way there on foot and then while I keep the grounds cleared, you and Jana climb up to the tower and see if you can wedge yourself in through that tall skinny window."
Jana snickered. "I think I will most likely be the only one who could make it through there without breaking the stonework apart."
"You might have to break the stonework apart to get in, Theo. Jana will need your help to port. Use magik to transmute the stones so you don't make too much noise."
Erick looked at Jana. "As soon as you can, port yourselves out with Zander. I will support you from the ground until I see the all-clear signal. Then I will port away myself. Everyone clear on what to do?"
Jana and Theo nodded.
Erick exhaled. "I just got word from Raphael Summer, my Personal Advisor. He will be porting to Celadonia in a few hours. Have him wait for my return."
"Yes, Your Royal Highness." Alfric, Daran and Ziggy said in unison.
He turned to Mira and reached out for her hands. "Pray with everything you have that Zander is still there."
Mira nodded. "Best of luck. Come back safely, all of you."