The Four Kings (35 page)

Millions of Mortals scratched their heads at the statement, and then waited for more.

Almost singing with glee, she said, “AJI first, then AFRI, then EURO. They all have concurred. They all have voted unanimously. They’ve completed the rituals as commanded by our ever-great god.”

Millions of Twitter messages banded about. Wizard ‘experts’ formulated possible theories of what Indie was taking about, making themselves one hundred and forty-character fools.

The universe now revolved around Indie, and she knew it. She lavishly treasured her pivotal moment in world history. Elsedor was doubtlessly watching from above with bated breath, proud of her for her flawless execution of his thousand-year dream.

“We’re now the last council that has to approve the motion. Once we do so, we set out an irrevocable course for the greatness and majesty of the wizard kingdom.”

Millions of outraged Mortals expressed commentary, all across North America, and reaching out in vast swaths to the other continents; South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Not that it mattered. Nothing the Mortals could do – short of Amanda herself, sitting peacefully in her usual spot – could do anything about it.

Indie gazed at the heavens above, feeling like the star of an opera. “For exactly one thousand years ago today, the famed wizard Elsedor made the transition from wizard to god. His magic lives on, something no other wizard has ever duplicated. He set out a prophecy that reveals the path of the wizards in today’s universe. He said when the time was right, we wizards were to rule the world for one thousand years.” Indie, breathless, her eyes glazed over, gazed at each of her companions, avoiding Amanda. She pressed a finger ahead on her desk. “And the time is
now
.”

There were rude, loud, and irate messages crossing by the millions into cyber zone. Thousands of websites collapsed due to the overwhelming traffic. For once in its history, Twitter simply shut down, buried by the tsunami of demand. Women chatted scandalously in hair salons. Men switched to the topic of politics in bars all across the nations.

“I, Indie, on behalf of the NAM council, introduce the motion to fulfill the mighty Elsedor’s Prophecy, starting today, fulfilling a destiny for the wizards for the next thousand years. And I vote
yes
.” Her eyes lifted upwards; a gold six-pointed crown appeared on her head.

Amanda calmly stood up. “Just a minute.” She was afraid she was going to faint; her breathing was jagged. Yet to millions of Mortals observing her every nuance, her confidence was unmistakeable.

Indie, with crown still intact, was simply horrified to see this –
Mortal
– stand up out of turn. “Excuse me?”

“Point of procedure,” Amanda said. “If the process is flawed, the vote is invalid, correct?”

All four wizards expressed confusion, and started to exclaim over one another. Demus stood up, roaring, and flamed up. He shot out explosions of fire, inadvertently presenting a compelling spectacle for television. The other wizards tensed in their seats, knowing that to become aflame meant that Demus had lost control over his emotions. It was very rare to see a wizard so angry that he spontaneously—yet, harmlessly—combusted.

The aura of fire suddenly vanished from Demus’ exterior as he regained composure and snapped his fingers. Trembling with fury, he repeatedly jabbed his finger in the air at Amanda. “You bitch! You bitch!”

“Calm down, Demus!” Indie stood up, barking out her command. The effect on Demus was immediate. He sat down, glaring at Amanda, but didn’t make any further move.

“For what it’s worth,” he pointedly addressed Amanda personally, “I accept the mantle conferred by our supreme being, Elsedor.” He pointed to his head, and zapped up a six-pointed gold crown.

Indie smiled malevolently. “Justica?”

Justica hesitated for a second. Indie caught her nervous tic and resolutely prompted her once again. “Is there a problem, Justica?”

Appearing haughty, Justica frowned and held both hands up near her face. A third crown, hers, popped above her head.

Amanda felt a rush of sickening dread, tying her stomach into knots and shredding her intestines. Her carefully laid plans were about to be derailed, totally and forever. She frantically stood up. “I said I was making a point of reference. This process is flawed and is of no force or effect.” She was practically screaming now.

“Shut up, Amanda!” Indie fiercely commanded. With a twitch of her hand, she forced Amanda to sit down. Feeling an unstoppable force pulling her back down, Amanda had no choice but to step out of the way. She started hyperventilating.

“Excellent,” Demus said, grinning. He shot a glance of contempt toward Amanda, and then looked at Regi. “Regi, you’re the lucky one. The very last wizard to honor The Prophecy so coveted by our majesty Elsedor. Your name will go down in history.”

Regi, emotionless, glared ahead to no one in particular. He moved up his arm.

Amanda yelled, “Don’t do it, Regi!” She started at the space above Regi’s head, mesmerized with dread.

Demus’ crown was zapped away!

A look of total incredulity and humiliation crossed Demus’ face. Shocked, he stood up and staggered backward, while Indie and Justica gasped.

“You dare!” screamed Demus, “You dare!” Surrounding himself in a ball of fire once again, he raged on.

“Demus, shut up!” Indie yelled.

Demus quickly flamed out, panting. Indie zapped at the giant television screens to turn them off, thus cutting off any connection to the millions of Mortals on the ground.

Just as quickly, Justica pointed to the screens, turning them back on, startling hundreds of millions who suddenly saw the enraged faces of the wizards once again.

Indie opened her mouth wide in shock. “Justica?” Angrily pointing her finger once again, she snuffed out all the images, as if they disappeared into a block hole.

In a case of tit-for-tat, Justica restored the connection to the millions of Mortals on the ground. Indie’s raging visage dominated the screens.

“Why did you do that?” Indie yelled.

“It’s always the policy of the Liberators to have all our proceedings live,” Justica calmly retorted.

Amanda, amazed, had never seen Justica so defiant before.

“Fine,” Indie clenched her teeth. “So the Mortals will see us argue.” She coolly looked off in the distance, plotting her next step. “Fine. I’m surprised at you, Justica. You’ve always been a team player.”

“I am. But when the rules are not respected, then I stand up for what’s right.”

Demus shouted at Regi. “What’s the meaning of this?” He pointed at his own head, the crown still missing. “Huh? Huh?”

Regi sat back quietly. He spoke slowly and deliberately. “Amanda had a point of procedure. If we don’t do this right, then future generations will argue that we do not have a proper mandate. Let’s hear what Amanda has to say.” He gestured toward her, without looking at her.

“He’s sabotaging The Prophecy!” Demus thundered on, pointing at Regi. “He –”

Indie closed her eyes tightly as she lost her cool. “Shut up, Demus!” In the next instance, she walked away about three yards from her spot and put on a fake smile, lips flattened. “Fine. Let’s hear what Amanda has to say. I know we’re doing this by the book. All the councils have to approve the motion, which is then sealed by the presence of Elsedor’s crown on each of our heads. I can’t imagine what Amanda would have that would show anything otherwise.” She sat down again and glared at Amanda. “So, let’s see what she has to say, and then we can move on.”

Demus sullenly plopped down on his chair, not caring about how unprofessional he seemed. He crossed his arms, ready to spontaneously combust at any time.

Amanda felt all the eyes of the world were upon her. Perhaps they were. Strangely enough, she felt confident. She was no longer trembling. This was now her moment. She knew exactly what to say.

She stood up, now the center of attention. Demus was exhibiting hostility toward her. Indie, Justica, and Regi were all attentively focused, listening.

“Let me start at the beginning. It may sound obvious at first, but bear with me.”

Not a breath could be heard during the pauses.

“The Prophecy’s supposed to be affirmed by five, fully constituted wizards councils called the Five Continents. So far, AJI, AFRI, EURO, and SUDA have confirmed The Prophecy and complied with the rules as laid down by the authority of the wizards, namely Elsedor.”

Amanda saw Justica and Indie nodding.

“I don’t profess to have first-hand knowledge if any of these four councils were properly constituted, or if they followed the proper procedure. Nonetheless, I’ll assume that everything is in order with these four councils.”

She saw Regi nod in her direction.

“The problem is that the NAM council, namely this one, the one I serve, is not properly constituted.”

Gasps all around.

“Therefore, this council has no authority to approve The Prophecy, and as such, the Prophecy cannot be fulfilled.”

The four wizards looked at each other, furious and mistrusting.

Indie calmly stood up. “On what grounds do you claim our council’s not properly constituted?” She smiled, certain she’d trapped Amanda.

“This.” Amanda held up a piece of paper. “This is a copy of the birth record of Angus Benjamin Tucker, of Detroit, Michigan, who is the wizard otherwise known as Demus.”

All four wizards stood up, stunned. Demus threw a fireball at Amanda, but Indie anticipated the move and snuffed it out halfway before it was to hit her. “That’s enough, Demus,” Indie snapped at him, scolding. “I don’t know what’s on that paper or what connection this has to our legitimacy.”

A little shaken, Amanda glanced at the document in her hand. None of the wizards had sat down yet, which was a sign that they were increasingly growing nervous, and by now, were hanging on to every word.

“It states here, that this is the hospital birth record of Angus Tucker, who was born twenty-eight years ago today. Thus, when he was appointed to the wizards’ council, he was twenty-six, not twenty-seven. And thus he couldn’t possibly have been among the four wizards from North America most likely to be closest to the age of twenty-seven at the time of The Transition, which is a rule laid down by none other than the supreme being, Elsedor.”

“Lies! All lies!” Demus screamed out, appearing ready for a fist fight. “You betrayed me, Amanda!”

Justica spoke up. “This is a very serious allegation, Amanda. If true, I’m not sure what our consequence will be. It’s quite one thing to say that we wizards can’t set out our own process. At the same time, Elsedor was very clear. He did lay out the principles upon which our foundation stands.”

Indie took control, appearing agitated. Upset, she materialized, then strolled over to Amanda, talking to herself. “How did Amanda know so much about us wizards?” She glanced at the others. “She knew the four wizards most close to Elsedor’s magic age composed the council. She obviously knew about The Prophecy ahead of everyone else. Which one of you told her?” She glared at Amanda. “How did you know Demus’ Mortal name? Why did you suspect his age?” She stood directly behind Amanda, making her cringe in fear. “Someone’s hiding something,” she intoned nastily, “She obviously planned this long ago. She has not only betrayed our utmost trust in her, and disrespected the millions of Mortals she purports to represent, but she also stands to undermine even the great Elsedor.”

Amanda’s face grew red over the impending doom about to greet her.

Indie glared at Justica. “Did you tell her?”

Miffed, Justica said sharply, “You know I do not reveal secrets, Indie.”

Indie turned to Regi. “Regi?”

Regi retorted, “I didn’t inform her of anything.”

Demus raged on. “How did she find my name? What does she –” he pointed at her again, raising fists into the air, “– what does she want? She’s trying to kill me!”

Indie crossed her arms, walked over to a commanding position, and calmly spoke to the council. “We must do the Crystal Truth.”

“Yes!” Demus vehemently agreed.

“This is well-advised,” Justica said.

All eyes switched to Regi. He shifted his stance uncomfortably. “I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Demus closed in onto Regi. “
Et tu, Brute?
”

Justica halted Demus with one outstretched hand. “Stop it. Nothing has been proven yet.”

“The Crystal Truth it is then,” Indie decided.

The Crystal Truth? What was that?
Amanda panicked.

Would it reveal her relationship with Regi? And what would happen to him once the wizards found out? “Wait,” Amanda spoke out, pleading. “I don’t know what it is, but you don’t have consensus. Regi did not agree.”

“We don’t need Regi’s approval,” Indie said with an unnerving smile.

“But you’ve always swore by unanimity!” Amanda urged.

“The Crystal Truth is different. It only requires three of the four wizards on council to agree.”

Justica nodded. “Indie’s right. That’s to guard against a guilty wizard blocking the truth about himself.”

Regi appeared resigned – and afraid. “Very well, then,” he said. “Let’s get it done over with.”

Indie sighed, rolled her eyes at the embarrassment caused by the events of the last five minutes, and faced the cameras. “I am speaking to you, the delegates of the Five Continents; I ask your great patience while we sort out an unexpected administrative glitch. When we return within the hour, we’ll resume our march to make The Prophecy whole.” She paused. “Mortals, we sincerely apologize for the disruption. I can assure you it’s all caused by a grave error of judgment caused by our Supreme Liaison, and we’ll take great care to replace her once this is over, and you can be assured we’ll be applying rigorous standards to the next round of interviews.”

Amanda’s blood grew cold.
That bitch!
Either way, it appeared her days as Supreme Liaison were now numbered in the minutes. She had now lost control over her destiny. She’d have to wait one minute at a time to have fate determine her path.

Indie glanced at Justica. “It’s time.”