Chapter 198 (2/2)
”You can do magic . The prophecy never mentioned that . ”
”And I don't imagine you have had any form of diplomacy training, as a royal child should . Who are you really?”
She paused in shock, then hung her head . Reaching up, she pulled a comb from her hair, and her entire form changed .
”My name is really Zaaka, but I've been pretending to be the late princess Gnorma, so if you would please use that name, so that no one finds out…”
”Where did you come from? You're not even a gnome,” Joseph said, looking over her dark brown skin .
”I'm not a gnome, I'm a brownie . I come from a tribe that was known as the Wabafetnation . I got trapped down here when the city was sunk . I can't leave the royal grounds without getting attacked by the main barrier around the city . ”
”How long has the royal family been dead?” he asked .
”It's been almost a hundred years . I pretend to be some of them, moving around where the normal gnomes can see me, so they don't know, but only because they would stop sending food through the barrier . I can't do any of the tinkering that they can do, it just doesn't make any sense to me . ”
”Did they know about you?” asked Joseph .
She nodded . ”I was given this comb by the king, so I could pretend to be one of the royal family when they started getting sick, so no one would panic . Gnorma was the last to die, making me promise to keep pretending to be her . We were best friends before she…”
The brownie looked miserable, but Joseph didn't care . She was playing her part, for sympathy . Turning to leave, he used magic to enlarge the door and hall, so he didn't have to squirm back through . He had been hesitant before, not knowing what he might be damaging . She was quick to follow him, when she realized he didn't care about her theatrics .
”Where are you going?” she asked, panting as she ran to keep up . Her legs were still just as short as a gnome, despite her appearance changing to that of a brownie .
”I'm going to raise the city to the surface . I want the reward the G.o.d of the gnomes promised me . ”
She paused only long enough to replace the comb and make herself look like a gnome again, before rus.h.i.+ng to catch up to him .
”Do you know what reward you're going to get?”
”Nope, but it better be good, for the c.r.a.p I had to put up with from you,” he said, without looking back . He half expected her to say something nasty in return, but she seemed content with his harsh words, and managed to keep pace with him as he arrived at the center of the city .
Rubbing his hands together, Joseph looked at the barrier over their head and prepared to move a lot of rock and dirt .
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