General Osmond

"Do you know who I am?" Lillian asked the child who was playing in front of her.

Adeline never had any personal interaction with Queen Lillian so she shook her head innocently, "No."

Lillian fixed her eyes on the child and said with an unfading grin, "Perfect! We can get to know each other. Come." Lillian offered her hand to the Princess and she held the hand after some hesitance.

"You are really beautiful. If only you were not the daughter of Auvera, I would have raised you like my own." Lillian said this and closed her eyes. Then she started to wave her hand in the air while murmuring something.

People of Frostford were gifted in the art of magic. Witchcraft was the pride of that Kingdom. Of course, performance of black magic was prohibited and punishable, not only in Frostford but in other Kingdoms as well. But performing witchcraft for a good cause was allowed. It was a defense that humans could use against the demons and evil spirits that lurked in the dark.

Being the Princess of Frostford, Lillian was highly skilled in the art of magic. Lillian chanted some mantra and cast an invisibility spell on Adeline. Then she started to lead the Princess towards her quarter. No one saw the little Princess walking along with the Queen. Lillian was the only one who could see her right now.

After reaching her private chamber, Lillian asked the Princess, "Would you like to eat something?"

Adeline nodded her head and said, "I like apples."

Lillian led the Princess towards another room which was inside the chamber. There was a table where a food basket was kept on display. Then she picked up Adeline and made her sit on the chair that was in front of the table. "Choose any apple from here. I'll be right back."

Adeline did what Lillian asked her to do. She chose a big red apple which seemed very juicy. The apple was too big for her little hand so she held the apple with both of her hands. Then she started to munch on the juicy apple, unaware of everything else.

Lillian called one of her faithful soldier, General Osmond. He was very skilled in combat and had led many wars on behalf of the King. He was capable of taking down a 100 men by himself, which was why he was known as the devil incarnate by the soldiers.

The reason why he was faithful to Queen Lillian was because his daughter Eleanor was really sick once and was on the verge of death. But the Queen had saved his daughter's life with the help of some magic. And he felt indebted to the Queen since then.

General Osmond entered the Queen's chamber and fell on his one knee to greet the Queen, "Your Majesty, you called for me?"

The Queen said with a wicked smile on her face, "Yes. I have a very important task for you. You know where the infamous Devil's cave is?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. It is in one of the hills of our Northern Border. But we cannot afford to offend the Devil in any way and face its wrath." Osmond warned the Queen thinking she was trying to provoke the Devil in some way.

The Queen chuckled and explained, "I don't want to offend the Devil, but rather it is the opposite. I want to offer something to the Devil."

Osmond bowed his head and asked, "How may I be of your help, Your Majesty?"

Lillian sat down on her chair with elaborate design and said, "I want you to take Princess Adeline and leave her outside the Devil's cave. I have heard many stories saying the Devil likes human flesh. I want to check if it's true."

Osmond's eyes were wide open when he heard the Queen's request. How can a Queen who was kind enough to save his daughter be so cruel, he thought. He lowered his gaze and dared to speak against the Queen, "Your Majesty, she is one of the Princess of this Kingdom. I'll be a traitor of Wyverndale if I do that."

"Would you like it to be your daughter instead then?" Lillian said in a very stern voice that sounded very threatening. She was a Queen after all; she could easily do that if she wished to.

General Osmond was speechless. He loved his daughter very dearly. And he was very loyal to the Kingdom; if he did this task, he knew he would not be able to forgive himself.

After getting no answer from the General, Lillian said, "I thought so. You would not want that to be your daughter now, would you? Come closer, I'll perform an invisibility spell on you. No one will be able to see both of you. You don't have to worry about being thrown out of the army."

Osmond clenched his hand and went closer like a helpless puppy. Lillian closed her eyes and waved her hand in several directions while chanting the mantra. After finishing the spell she said, "Come to me after returning from there. I'm the only one who can break this spell."

She got up from her chair and went to the room where Adeline was happily munching on the apple. With her small mouth, she had not even finished a quarter of that apple by now.

Lillian asked the Princess, "Little Princess, would you like to go outside the palace and play?"

"Father says I should not go outside the palace", Adeline said this and kept on munching the apple.

"Your father is waiting for you outside the palace. He said he wants to play with you." Lillian said in a very soft voice. Anyone who heard her talk in this voice would have believed whatever she said.

Adeline's sapphire blue eyes twinkled when she heard this. She smiled and raised her both hands for Lillian to carry her and said, "I want to go and play." But even if she had said no, the outcome would not have been any different. Lillian would have sent her forcefully.

She carried Adeline and went towards Osmond, "This nice man will take you to your father. And you can play with him as much as you want." Then she handed the Princess to the General.

With a heavy heart, General Osmond carried the Princess and set off for the journey to the Devil's cave.