Beneath the boulder, it sat quietly. The boulder was surrounded by thick dense vegetation. Poisonous tendrils and wild creepers had clasped it from all the sides. This place had been burnt and razed to the ground a few months back when there was a battle with Ziu going on. The Shadow lurked there beneath the rock and watched it all.

He was once a ruler of the Wizard Kingdom. His wand was his favorite lion that he had found abandoned on the seashore. Before dying he had released him from the spell of being a wand forever. If he ever had a chance to go back, he would call his favorite pet, his lion.

​​

He had been sucked into the Land of Gaira and had tried his best to come out. After all those years only, only a piece of soul could escape but that piece demanded a lot of food. The Shadow was thirsty. His throat was dry and his eyeballs had shrunk. He looked at the tiny vials that had various colored smokes in them. A sardonic smile appeared on his deformed face. He picked one up that was red and drank its smoke.

That smoke was nothing but cries and pain and sufferings—emotions of those who were wounded in the war. He had carefully gone near all the dying ones and drained their emotions in his vials. He had a lot of supply to last long. He wiped his mouth and tossed the vial out, which mingled in the sand slowly. When he sat back to relax, his eyes were the same as before. He tried to put them in their sockets but they rolled out. He waited for the night to fall.

---

After getting ready, Adrianna had boarded her carriage to go to the noble court, when suddenly she found herself in the nursery again. Dmitri wasn't there but she found that the nannies were having a hard time with Ileus. He was hungry. She shook her head and took him from his nanny. The old nanny was the only one who Ileus ever allowed to be with. She took him to her bedroom, fed him and when he was again sleeping, she made him sleep in his cradle. She went to the noble court, satisfied that he wouldn't trouble for the next three hours.

As soon as she sat on the throne, the Crown appeared from its case behind and floated in the air only to settle on her head. Immediately Adrianna was sucked in and when she opened her eyes, she could see aura around everyone.

"Proceed," she ordered.

The Minister of Relations stood from his place. "My Queen, as we had discussed earlier, we must look into my proposal of sending the young wizards and witches to the Human Realm. This is going to widen their perspective in life."

The Crown inside Adrianna's head whispered, "I don't think it is needed."

Adrianna took in a deep breath. She had to take a just decision. "Why do you even feel the need to mingle with humans? The human won't like this. Who would like magic in their normal lives? I am sure the wizards would be attracted to use their magic at one point of time, and if that happens it could lead to chaos."

"We are going to make them sign strict contracts," replied the Minister.

"Are you going to make them sign a contract in which they will have to forego their magic? Then what is a wizard without magic?" she questioned.

The Minister gulped. How could he make them sign that kind of contract? "But that kind of contract is not right," he said. "The idea is to control their magic amongst humans and also be with them."

"And who will take the responsibility if they are not able to control it?" Adrianna narrowed her eyes as she sat back and tilted her head.

The Minister lowered his head. That was one aspect he couldn't answer. "If they will go to the human realm with such a rigid contract, they won't be able to use their magic at all."

"Yes, that's what I am saying," she scoffed. "The Head Council will never approve of this plan. I am not going to present this plan to them unless you come up with a solid draft for it. I don't want the humans to freak out. There has been a treaty signed by people from various realms that clearly states that we will never use our magic in the human realm unless there is a danger." She looked away from the Minister remembering how she had used her magic when she hadn't discovered she was a witch and how much a problem it was. She didn't want that to be repeated. "So find a solution to this problem and then come back to me."

The Minister bowed, "Yes, my Queen." He went back to sit in his place.

Several other Ministers who were backing him up were extremely disappointed. But they didn't have the guts to go against the Queen. No one was powerful to stand up against her. Also, what she said was right because they really didn't know how the children would control their magic. She was intelligent and was wise. Sometimes challenging her in arguments was also difficult. She always had something up her sleeve. Other than that ever since Kenai's case, all of them had to lower their mental shields around her. No one wanted to end up like him and Lenny. Those two were made examples of what would happen if you betrayed the rulers.

"What is the next case?" Adrianna demanded.

There was silence in the court. All of them knew who was to come next. A guard opened the doors of the court and walked in along with Yanga. He left Yanga in the middle of the court and walked out.

Yanga bowed and then looked at Adrianna. The Queen was staring at her unblinkingly ever since she had entered. The moment she entered the court, she could feel the pressure on her mind to lower her mental shields. The pressure was so much that it was agonizing. Her mind was numb with pain when she didn't lower her shields. Although she was staring back at Adrianna, inside she was suffering.

"Lower your mental shields or else you may get out," Adrianna scowled.

Every other person present in the court was shocked at Yanga. Their skin had goose bumps even thinking about what she must be going through. How could she bear so much pain? How could she stand against Adrianna?

Yanga closed her eyes and lowered her shields. Adrianna entered her cell immediately. For the next five minutes, no one spoke a word. They knew that the Queen was inside Yanga's cell. The throne was covered with white mist to protect the ruler during that time. No one could see her. Even Isidorus who was sitting in the wheelchair right next to the throne's podium moved away from there. Everyone waited with bated breaths.

When Adrianna came out, the mist cleared. She crossed her leg. The slit of her red velvet gown grew wider and exposed her legs. She relaxed back in the throne and snickered, "Permission denied."

"But you can't do this Adrianna. My children have suffered a lot. Kenai has suffered a lot. Both of them are on the verge of insanity. Please release them," she pleaded.