Milo was the first one down the ladder. Sure enough, sitting at the table in the middle of the room was an older lady. She had gray hair and was dressed in a blue dress. She smiled and put down her teacup when she saw him.
“Son of Vex, how nice to see you.”
“I am no longer Vex’s son.”
“Ah, but you are,” Ida replied. “And you always will be. No matter your feelings for your father, he still is your father.”
“I know you didn’t come back just for a nice chat,” Milo said, crossing his arms. Ida narrowed her eyes, anger flickering though them. He knew that it was supposed to intimidate him, but he wasn’t afraid of her. Those days were over.
Cara and George soon joined them below the loft. They were cautious as they approached the table.
“Lady Ida,” Cara said respectfully, bowing slightly. Milo rolled his eyes. “Welcome back to our humble home.”
Ida nodded and took another sip of her tea. “At least some people still have respect for me. Thank you, daughter of Andrew; take a seat. You too, son of Charles. My dear,” she said, turning to face Jeff. “Bring us some more of your delicious eggs. And do add some pepper to them this time.” Jeff nodded enthusiastically as he hurried away.
Ida used to be a high member of society. She was the first woman not of the royal family to become part of the king and queen’s court. The king especially was very fond of her. He found her to be an integral part of his reign.
She gained much respect throughout the kingdom. The people accepted her as a ruler even though her lineage did not prove that she was. She always was for the people.
Over time, she became more popular than the king himself. People came to her even before going to the king. And he was starting to get jealous.
One day it became too much for him. He couldn’t stand having someone so close to him that was more powerful than him. So he ordered a witch from a neighboring kingdom to curse her.
But instead of becoming an ugly old hag that everyone hates, she was cursed with the ability to prophesize the future. She remained in power for months after that with no change. Yet after her first prophecy, her popularity dwindled. She prophesized that the king would die and the queen would have to remarry in order to keep the throne. Her new husband would be from the kingdom of Luvre, a rival kingdom.
Even though the prophesy came true, people were less than impressed. They didn’t approve of the events that she had predicted. So she fled to the outskirts of the town and made a new life for herself in the countryside. Only those still loyal to her saw her as a lady of power.
Milo had never believed in Ida. She was just an old woman who wanted respect for being able to see the future. There was nothing about that that was worthy of respect.
“Why have you visited us, my lady?” Cara asked. Ida smiled sadly.
“Alas my darling, I have come bearing bad news. Vex has been informed of the names of those involved with the Myriad. He has set more guards at the gate separating the town and the farming sector. You will not be able to make it into town anymore. I am sad to say that the Myriad has died.”
Rage built up inside Milo. “We won’t let a silly thing like guards stop us. The people deserve to have whatever Vex has taken from them. We will not stop until Esterwynn has been restored to its prime.”
“But, Milo,” Cara started.
“But nothing!” Milo was trying to hold his anger back, but he couldn’t. He had to clench his hands into fists to keep them from shaking. “We are the Myriad. Someone needs to fight back against Vex, knock him down by taking what’s close to him—his kingdom. We can’t stop raiding the warehouses just because there are more guards!
“We can’t stop, ever! We need to fight until there is nothing left for Vex to hold on to. He’ll have no choice but to surrender the throne. I’m not giving up. And you better not either.”
He turned and stormed off to the loft. He didn’t even turn around to see their reactions. They wouldn’t be good, he was sure. Cara and George would be stunned by how he had talked to Ida and Ida would be trying to hold back a smile and chuckling to herself. There wasn’t any reason to turn back to watch that.
He plopped down on the floor and leaned against a barrel of hay. The stray pieces poked him through his shirt, but he didn’t care. The physical pain couldn’t match the emotional pain that was taking over. He couldn’t stand it any longer.
Maybe he should just leave; start a new life on his own. He could continue going after Vex without anyone else holding him back. Yes, that’s what he’d do. The rest of the Myriad seemed to prefer George over him anyway. George could take over. He could sink the ship for all Milo cared. He didn’t need them; he didn’t need anyone.
It was at that moment that he looked out the window into the morning air. The sun had risen in the sky and was shining brightly on him. The fog that had hung in the air earlier that morning had disappeared. The farms looked like they always did. Everything was the same.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light near the gates leading out of the kingdom. When the light faded, Milo could see a small figure staggering through tall grass. They took one last step before falling and disappearing from view. Milo’s heart raced as he watched to see if they’d stand again. But there was no movement, no sign of them.
He jumped up and pulled on his sneakers before hurrying down the ladder to the main floor. He sprinted past Ida and the others who were still at the table, not caring what they thought. He had to get out to the gates.
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