Chapter 2

"Where is the Princess?" Her majesty Queen Cindy asked Cobra, Revina's bodyguard when, he walked into her chambers without Revina.

Standing at attention, "I thought she was home already my lady. Maybe she is in her quarters." Cobra answered worriedly. Revina had evaded all her security and disappeared from the party. Cobra, the head of her security details had conducted a search with other soldiers to no avail. It was as if Revina had melted into the thin air. Cobra had then decided to take the risk of going home to confirm whether she had sneaked back.

"What do you mean?" Cindy asked, alarmed by Cobra's response. "Are you trying to tell me you don't know the whereabouts of the princess?" She rose to her feet and took a few steps towards Cobra who stood at attention by the door.

"I'm sorry, My Lady, for worrying you but that's the truth. The princess disappeared from the party without anyone of us noticing. We have been looking for her for hours your majesty, but our searches have been futile so far." Bowing his head from the Queen's piercing gaze he added, somewhat tensely, "I thought maybe she had returned to the palace already but should that not be the case, I'll just go back to the party and continue with the search. Once again, my apologies for worrying you my queen." He turned and made for the door before Cindy grabbed and dragged him by the neck back into house.

"What are you trying to say Cobra, huh? Did you get so absorbed with the party you forgot about the princess? How can a young girl like Revina disappear without any of the Royal soldiers noticing anything?" The Queen's tone was getting heavy and angrier and Cobra knew more than anyone else what she was capable of in an angry state, he had experienced it in several occasions.

"Forgive me my queen, it won't happen again," he said, his head still bowed in front of her. "The man at the reception mentioned seeing the princess in the company of an unidentified man seemingly in a romantic atmosphere but he didn't see them leave the precincts of the party. Sorry for saying this mum but I think the princess wanted some privacy." Cobra murmured and almost immediately wished he didn't say what he just said for in that very moment the queen struck his left jaw with her right fist so hard he fell flat on the floor, seeing galaxies and hearing crickets in his ears.

"You think she wanted privacy with a man? A man you don't know anything about? How incompetent Cobra, you of all people! Your job is to protect my daughter even from herself yet you come here and tell me she disappeared?" Cindy shouted furiously and worriedly. "When did this happen?" She asked Cobra who had stumbled to his feet but still clutching at his jaw as of trying to fix it.

"We have been looking for her for the last two hours my lady," he replied as he struggled to keep his composure.

"Two hours! My daughter has been missing for two hours! And you have the audacity to walk into the palace without her?" She swung on her feet before jumping and striking Cobra'a face with a powerful round kick. Cobra fell backwards on to the hard floor as blood came out of his nose in spurts. She raised him up, hit him on the chest with her left fist as Cobra groaned in pain and fell on the floor with a thud, unconscious. She called for the soldiers standing outside the door to come and take Cobra out and ordered for the head of her security, Michael Ondiek.

Bowing and standing at attention, "Your Majesty, you called for me, how may I be of service to you," Michael asked the already irate queen, her anger palpable.

"The princess is missing and I want you to do everything you can to find her. Those incompetent bastards lost her in that godforsaken party she insisted on attending. Find her and bring her to me."

"Yes mum, I'll start the search right away my queen."

"Don't come back without her because if you do, your wife is going to mourn. Use anybody you want to use, even if it will require the entire royal army, ask anybody you want to ask. The only thing I want is my daughter. If you find her with a man bring him to me alive. You are dismissed," she ordered as she waved Michael away.

"Your command shall be carried out my queen, I promise to return the princess back to the palace as soon as possible." Bowing before the queen, "with your permission I'll take my leave," he turned and left the Queen's Chambers.

Her heart racing, Cindy paced the room up and down trying to make sense of what was going on. Revina was a well-mannered and decent girl and the possibility of her avoiding the security at will was improbable. Someone must have forced her or lured her into doing it or maybe she got carried away. But it still made no sense. Two hours was a long time, Revina couldn't do that. At least she could have let her security know. Something wasn't right. She could feel it, smell it. She just needed to put a name to it.

She racked her brain to remember anybody who could want to harm the princess but she couldn't place a finger on any one. The residents of Palawa kingdom loved the princess, she was their idol. Besides, the people revered and adored her, the queen. For the few that hated her, if there were any, none could dare conceive such an atrocious idea, leave alone attempt to harm any member of the Royal family. She was feared and loved by both her subjects and the neighboring kingdoms. By all except for one Nicholas Ocholla, the only person who had refused to regard her as the queen. Her lifetime enemy.

The queen and Nicholas controlled Palawa like their personal property. While the queen had the control of the Royal army and the Royal police, Nicholas built his own army to rival the queen. He had tried countlessly to overthrow the queen and he once succeeded but his stint at the helm as the king was short-lived as Cindy overthrew him barely three months later using her own army which she had formed outside the Royal guards. From there on the fights had ceased for a while and then resumed again but Nicholas only succeeded in causing mayhem but not in overthrowing her. Cindy then took matters into her own hands and confronted Nicholas. Their fight was witnessed in awe by the residents at night, up in the skies of Vitalala, the capital of Palawa, like two giant stars spitting fire at each other. Cindy wounded Nicholas so badly it took him seven years to recover.

Her spy in Nicholas' army had informed her of Nicholas full recovery barely six months ago. She knew Nicholas was planning a revenge and she was prepared for him. But she wasn't prepared if Revina was to be put between their lines of fire. She hoped she was wrong. That Revina was just having too much fun, that Nicholas didn't have her.

She slumped into a chair by the corner of her Chambers, facing her secret mirror that no one else but her could see. Her mind was trying to calm her but her heart kept warning her of an eminent danger. Her mind told her to take it easy and wait for Revina but one more hour had gone without any sign of Revina or Ondiek. Then she smelt it, felt it and even touched it. The smell of Nicadeaus, the kind of smell that only the residents of Dalawa could smell. Nicholas had transformed into Nicadeaus, a transformation that only occurred when they fought. But why would he do that? Did someone from Dalawa empire emerge from the portal and attacked him? No. For over three hundred years no one but Nicholas and her had managed to cross the portal. No one in their dimension knew of this upper dimension. Had Revina become unbeatable? No. Revina was from this dimension, she couldn't transform, couldn't challenge Nicadeaus. So why would he transform himself into that monster?

The envelope covering the mirror smoldered, uncovering the portal mirror. Cindy's heart skipped a beat. That was strange. It never happened. Then the broken part of the portal mirror began to heal and Cindy shrieked in fright. "What is happening? How can the mirror heal?" She asked herself, horrified. The magic that broke the mirror and opened the portal was destroyed with the broken piece so just how on Earth could the mirror heal! A flash of lightening appeared on the mirror, almost blinding Cindy forcing her to shut her eyes so tightly. When she opened her eyes, the healing had stopped. Cindy looked at the mirror like a bomb that's about to explode, confused and terrified. "What just happened?" she asked.

She dragged herself up to the mirror, pressing the healed part with the middle finger of her right hand, hoping it was just an illusion, but it wasn't. The healed part was as hard as the rest of the portal mirror, glowing with radiant light bright enough to illuminate the chamber. She shuddered. Standing in the mirror were two people, a man from whose chest the light radiated and a woman who was carrying a piece of the mirror, the same piece of the portal mirror that was broken and destroyed so many years ago, back in Dalawa empire in the lower dimension.

"Oh my God! It's true. The Oracle was right," she murmured to herself, her voice trembling with fear. If what the Oracle had said were entirely true then she was doomed. She had to head back to Dalawa empire as soon as possible, before it was too late. But there was a catch. If she returned to Dalawa it was possible she may not return to the upper dimension. She couldn't leave her daughter behind but she couldn't go with her either. The only people capable of crossing through the portal were Nicholas and her. At least for now. She has to find Revina and make sure she is safe, make her the queen before she departed for Dalawa. But where was Revina!

"I'm sorry for bugging in without permission my queen, I've been knocking on the door for a moment without a response. I..." Ondiek said as he stood at attention merely seven feet from Cindy, interrupting Cindy's thoughts.

"Don't worry about it," Cindy interrupted him, diverting her attention from the mirror to him, "have you found the princess,where is she?" She asked impatiently. Standing in front of Ondiek, her hand on her waist, her tall dark hair pulled back behind her ears, her cheeks and eyes radiant with the effects of the light from the mirror. She was slightly shorter than Ondiek, maybe by an inch or two. Her breasts stood straight on her chest like the breasts of an adolescent girl, untouched. Her tight jeans revealing a glamorous figure. Queen Cindy was ravishing. Ondiek always felt the desire to possess her, to make her his. He fantasized alot about a life he could have beside her, about how it could feel to touch her, to put his body on to hers, to kiss those tender lips. Sometimes his fantasies took too long to die and in so many occasions he had had orgasms just imagining being with the princess, especially when she stood in front of him like she did right this moment.

"Where is Revina!" She asked again, her impatience stemming into anger, interrupting Ondiek from his wanderlust fantasies. She knew the effects she had on him, she had seen the lust in his eyes and had used his massive lust for her to her advantage, getting him to do anything she wanted. But this was not the time for those moments. She wanted Revina, NOW.

Jerking his gaze from the queen, embarrassed, Ondiek said apologetically, "I'm sorry my lady, forgive my actions. I was distracted by..."

"I won't ask you again Michael, where is Revina?" She bellowed, drawing out a weapon from the left side of her jeans, she always had one or two weapons on her, always.

"One of my men identified the man she was seen with as Jeremy Mum, and from the description we were given, he fits one of Nicholas' soldiers my lady. I have sent out two spies to Oyengwe to investigate whether they are holding her over there but they are yet to return, my queen." Ondiek spoke so fast one could think he was in a talking competition, trying to give out as much information as possible before the queen pronounced herself on his fate. You don't fail on a promise to the queen. That's either a death warrant or a lifetime imprisonment.

The queen leaned back on the wall, softening her gaze on Michael Ondiek but strengthening her grip on the sword. It was true. Nicholas had Revina. She felt the pain she only felt once, several years ago. When she lost the love of her life, killed by his jealous brother, Nicadeaus, the same man holding Revina, or maybe he had killed her already. Ondiek stood still, swallowing hot saliva as droplets of sweat formed on his forehead. From the look on the Queen's face, any minute could be his last.

Cindy could still smell Nicadeaus. He didn't seem to be far away. Maybe he had sneaked into Vitalala without her noticing. If he was holding Revina then it was in Vitalala, not Oyengwe. But it still didn't make sense. Why transform into Nicadeaus for a simple girl from the upper dimension? Time was running out and for whatever it was, she wasn't going to wait and see. She was going to follow the trail of the smell. This time she was going to wound him so badly it will take him centuries to recover.

"You did a good job Michael, despite the fact that you didn't fulfill your promise. But this is not your war. Ask your soldiers to stand down. I'll handle things by myself from here," she turned towards the mirror, "you may leave."

Michael breathed a huge sigh of relief. He couldn't believe he just survived. "The queen must be interested in me too to spare my life," he told himself. With a relieved voice, "thank you My Lady, I'll tell the soldiers to stand down immediately as you commanded." Trying to impress the queen, "may I know what the queen intends to do, I am more than willing to help the queen in any possible way?"

"No thank you, I'll handle this myself. I'll inform you in case I need your help," she answered flatly. "For now I don't need your help."

"Are you sure you don't..."

"I don't need your help Michael,"she shouted, getting irritated by his insistence. "Get out and do as I ordered."

"Yes my lady, my apologies. With your permission." He bowed and hurried out, almost breaking into a run. Cindy called for one of the soldiers manning the door to her Chambers.

"No one should come to my Chambers unless I authorize it or call for them, is that clear soldier?" The order was stern and straight forward.

"Yes your highness, the order is crystal clear," replied the soldier and with that he bowed his leave.