When I got inside, I found the house exactly like I found it every other morning, except with one addition-the tall, muscled, dark-skinned guy who looked like a Hunter-the non-elf kind, since his ears weren't pointy.
"You're late," Layla said.
"I know," I replied. "I'm sorry. I met the princess."
"Did you speak to her?" she demanded, sounding worried.
"Yes. What was I supposed to do?"
"Things are going on that shouldn't be."
"I thought so. Who are you?" I shot at the newcomer.
"That's my brother, Cancala," Layla cut in. He nodded, smiling slightly. There was little family resemblance, except for the high cheekbones. Layla's skin was lighter, and her tightly curling hair was very spazzy. I guess Cancala's hair would be spazzy if it wasn't so shaved so close to his head. His skin was way darker than Layla's, though. That often happened when two siblings were different breeds.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded.
"Indigo, he's harmless, seriously," Layla said. "By the way, Cancala, I recall you said that you'd come to explain fifteen years ago, but this is the first visit since then."
"I know," Cancala told her. His voice was deep and rumbling. "Ungora's tightened security, so I couldn't get a day off."
"So why are you here now?" I asked. "If you couldn't get a day off to come? And why did you come in the first place? Like, fifteen years ago?"
"You should sit down," Cancala said. "It's a very long story."
"But-"
"I'll explain about my job later. But it's all inter-connected, so please just sit and listen."
Chapter 4- Cancala
I guess it all started when Ungora was four, and Theran was six. That was when Ungora realized that he hadn't actually gotten anything brand-new in a while. He started noticing the patches on his new teddy bear, too. When Theran turned seven a few months later, all the nobles and royals from all over came with amazingly cool and unique presents. When Ungora turned five a few weeks later, however, only the nobles from the court came, and the presents were nowhere near as cool and practically everyone had something similar already. When Ungora started studying, one of the most common phrases he heard was, "why can't you be more like Theran?" He wasn't a troublemaker, he just wasn't as close to perfect as Theran was.
At first, he was somewhat like Theran. They were friends, and Theran shared his awesome toys sometimes. They walked the same, talked the same, acted the same. But once the days of sharing toys ended, Ungora's resentment began.
Ungora had always been very observant, and he noticed the tutors loved Theran. People in general loved Theran. Even horses seemed to like Theran more. People didn't exactly hate Ungora, but they definitely liked Theran more. The court people paid more attention to Theran, fawned on him. He was kind, politely honest, generous, smart, and all the girls thought he was good-looking. Ungora was clever, in his own way, and he had his own darks sort of style, and he used to be eager to please anyone in order to maybe possible gain some favor. In their own way, each brother was jealous of the other- Ungora of Theran's power and possessions, Theran of Ungora's freedom.
Then Theran became King, and Ungora could not have been more jealous. he wasn't allowed to get a job outside the castle, because his father, the old king, thought it would be disgraceful. He wasn't the oldest, so he wasn't allowed to become king. He was not the kind of person to be confined, but confined he was.
Soon after his coronation, Theran got married. His wife, Ranga, was beautiful, the perfect queen. A few months later, she was obviously pregnant. That, for Ungora, was the last straw. He spent the next few months plotting his revenge, and then, on the night he carried out his plan, two baby girls were born within minutes of each other, mere hours before the King and Queen were to die. There was an inside contact who knew what was going to happen, and encouraged the rulers several weeks before, to plant a decoy in case Ungora decided to kill the baby. The kingdom needed a rightful heir, after all. A female mage was unwillingly pregnant, and she volunteered her child, who was due on the same day.
The alloted night came. Both births went smoothly, and the mage's daughter was moved up to the nursery where the princess was. Then Ungora arrived. Theran was called downstairs, and he died right there in the entrance hall. Ranga heard Theran's cry and went down to investigate with two ladies-in-waiting. Ungora said some nasty things about Theran, and Ranga said some nasty things about Ungora. Eventually Ungora stabbed her, too, just to get it over with. The two ladies-in-waiting ran off into the woods, screaming their heads off. They haven't been seen since.
Then I came in and told Ungora about the princess. I knew about the decoy, but it was essential to the plan to say only one was born. He told me to take her out to kill her, put her in a place where the elements or a griffin or something would eventually kill her. Then a medic came in and said there were twins. He was part of the plan, too. Ungora learned the decoy was a hunter and warrior elf, and the princess was a rare hybrid of everything on two legs with a brain larger than a walnut. This freaked out Ungora, even though he pretended he as cool. He carried out the original plan with one small variation-he kept the decoy. He's a very aggressive man, Ungora. He's a hunter, but he's got a small bit of ogre, I think. He likes aggressive people, and people who are supposed to be aggressive.
When I carried the princess out of the castle, I owed it to the old regime to not actually kill her. I took her here, to my sister.
When I returned to the palace, Ungora was writing out laws banning art in any form and restricting glass and metal workers to practical things. He banished anyone who wasn't 100% human to the Wastra, the dangerous wasteland beyond the borders of no-man's-land. There were only a few exceptions to the rule-the decoy princess and any female nymph who caught his fancy. But any creature who had some specific name, like warrior elf, had to go. Everyone except those designed to do magic-wizards, witches, sorcerers, and mages had to go.
And that's all for now.
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