It had been only a few days since she had seen Yanga in the noble court. What was she doing here and that too in such a ragged form? “How did you gain entry to the Northern Mountains?”

Yanga stared at Adrianna as if she had grown two heads. “You?” she shouted. “I am going to destroy your family the way you have destroyed mine!” Saying that Yanga forced a spell and threw a crackling beam of light at her. Adrianna dodged the beam by tilting her body to the right immediately. Had she not done that the beam was potent enough to burn her skin. The light went and hit the wall behind her. Some small rocks broke away and fell to the ground. 

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Irate at her sudden outburst and unwarranted reaction, Adrianna produced electricity that crackled around her hands and propelled it towards her. The white electric threads of light that crackled and sparkled as they traveled through the air trapped Yanga from all sides. They were like barbed wire, only with small bolts that could kill a human easily.

Yanga laughed as she didn’t even struggle to release herself. When she became quiet she said, “I was a Minister in your rule and before that in your mother’s rule, my husband was the Minister. All Ministers are given special passes to enter this place. I had come to the Council Headquarters two years back when your Grandfather Ed had appealed a case for you.” Yanga started laughing again. When she settled, she continued, “I wish— I wish I had known about you way back then. Then I would have killed you. I wish I could go back in time and kill you. You were so vulnerable that time. But that old bastard, Isidorus, kept you hidden so well that even Cy couldn’t find you. All of us were surprised, including Mihr, you see!” She closed her eyes and chanted, “Intermissium!” The light she was surrounded with disappeared. 

In defense, Adrianna took her wand out and pointed at her. While on the outside her expressions were stone cold, on the inside there was fire in her belly and heaviness in the chest. 

“You gave so much leniency to Mihr’s daughter and his family. Nefaski was your rival at the Wizard Academy yet you made her your personal bodyguard. And what did you do with my daughter?” Yanga was furious as she spoke. Her face became red with anger. He voice raised and she growled, “You imprisoned Lenny for a small mistake? Couldn’t you leave her with a warning? You have tortured my kids so much. Why didn’t you take my life also? You chose to leave me because you wanted to see how miserable I would become.” Yanga was panting by the time she finished. With whatever little strength she was left with in her throat, she croaked, “I am going to show you exactly what it is to mess with a woman like me. I am going to destroy each and every member of your family and leave you to wither away.” She cocked her head and with an evil grin that exposed her yellow teeth, she said, “I have heard werewolves wither away if their mates die.” Saying that she started laughing like crazy. 

Adrianna shuddered. Did she mean that an attack was imminent on her husband and kid? The balls of fire she threw were not of much intensity. Unless there were a large number of similar attacks, the mountain on which the inn was built was safe. So what did she plan? She tried to delve into her mind, but Yanga was clever, she had raised her shields. Adrianna started thinking of ways to divert her. She said, “Your daughter was a first rate termagant. A harlot! And Kerai is a son of a bitch! Together they tried to topple me and get Vikra. And that too with the help of my husband? I am going to kill the moment I reach the Wizard Kingdom.” 

“Adriannaaa!” Yanga yelled. 

Adrianna created a mirage. 

Yanga looked around her with confusion as five Adriannas surrounded her one by one. This kind of wizardry was either gifted or only Masters could perform. 

All of them spoke one after the other. 

“Tell us what you did by sending that fire.”

“You daughter is a tramp.”

“Your son is a traitor.”

“Tell us your plan.”

This was the moment when out of anger and confusion her mental shields lowered and Adrianna pushed her way in. She didn’t have much time, because if Yanga would pull her mental shields up, she would get trapped in her cell. She looked around frantically to search for clues. There was nothing except a dark cave and memories of her children and husband. Disappointed, Adrianna was about to come out when she heard a hiss. Out of the darkness, a forked tongue came out lashing at her. Adrianna stumbled back. She fell down. The figure came out and slithered its way out as if to trap her, but Adrianna closed her eyes and came out of the cell. 

Her shock was beyond the roof. Yanga had taken the support of the King of Serpents. He was out there with her to avenge his son and their defeat. He had been hiding for a long time. She had heard that Rhys was also hiding since his betrayal had come to be known by his people. 

Yanga was baffled at the number of Adriannas she was seeing. She turned around in order to make out which one was the real one. Her hands were surrounded with an orange beam of crepitating light. In a state of rage, she threw that light at all of them. However, all of them waved it away with a simple flick of their hands. Agitated, she said, “Adrianna you will never be able to win. Those balls of fire were no ordinary ones.”

“What do you mean?” they all asked together. They closed in on her to intimidate her. 

Yanga turned around sharply. Her filthy hair spread as beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. “Stay away from me!” she shouted. “You dirty blood. You are not even a pureblood yet you were made the Queen. You don’t deserve the throne. You will be killed. I will make sure of that.” 

“Tell us!” Adrianna’s voice rose. All her mirror images had leaping flames around them. Her eyes had glints of golden fire. “Tell us!” she pushed. 

When they all were five feet away from her, Yanga shrieked, “Those balls of fire had serpents hidden in them.” 

“What?” Adrianna’s body jerked with terror. All her images coalesced. 

Yanga got up from the floor and she ran to the corner of the cave near a pile of bones. “You see I created that spell. It was very hard. I had to sacrifice a serpent to create the spell. This is where I did it.” She broke into a fit of laughter. “You see the King of Serpent approached me. He offered me the much needed vengeance I was looking for. From the past two days we have been working on it.” 

Adrianna could feel her chest tightening. 

“We were waiting for you to come to the inn. So when we saw a flurry of activity over there, we knew it was time.” Yanga paused and looked at the cave’s ceiling. “Each of those two balls of fire contained a serpent hidden inside. I have blasted them off here and they are now eating the slope inside through the hole that was created by the blast.”