"Constantine married Diane, a princess of the kingdom Mizuki. They were happily married for many years but never had children. But one day they were blessed with a pair of twins, Serahuva and Brendancorona. No one knows how they were born but they were truly a blessing to Constantine and Diane. The family lived happily for fourteen years, until one day Diana announced that she was pregnant. Constantine and Serahuva were overjoyed, but Brendancorona was out raged."

"Why would he be so mad about something like that?" I asked sounding like a little kid when they wanted to hear more of a wonderful story.

"Be patient, Kalysta I'm coming to that part. Brendancorona was upset with that because Constantine was growing old and Brendancorona, as his name means, was the crown prince. So when his father became to old to rule he would become king, and if this child was a boy then his throne was threatened. Do you understand now?" I nodded my head.

"Good. Well nine months later Brendancorona's worst fears came true. Diana and Constantine had a baby boy whom the named Ara. This caused a rift to form between this once happy family. Ara's childhood was full of turmoil and uncertainty, partly because four years after his birth his father passed away and Brandancrowna became king. Brendancrowna was a great ruler, during his reign no problems other than minor conflicts between provinces occurred. But Brendancrowna would do all in his power to eliminate his brother, because once Ara became of age he would be able to stake claim on the throne. His mother was the only reason that he was kept safe. But when Diana, fell ill she sent Ara away to live in Windsor with his Aunt. Brendancrowna thought Ara had just died. Soon after Queen Diana died. When Ara reached the age of eighteen, he attacked the castle, killed his brother, and became king. His sister, Serahuva ruled with him as co-regent. She gladly left the throne when Ara married Jeanette."

She toke a sip of her tea, placed it down on the table, and picked up the tea pot and powered herself some more, then dumped half the sugar jar into the cup. Ok I kinda see why there where rumors going around.

"Would you like anymore tea?" She asked looking up at me with her chocolate brown eyes. What was with this woman and tea. That tea pot should have been emptied a long time ago.

"No thank you. I have had enough tea for one day." Oh Lord would she ever let up on the tea. I hope she didn't see the irritated look in my eyes. Normally this wouldn't have bugged be, but I was on some what of a short fuse today.

"Ok then. Now where was I. Oh Yes. You see, Ara proved to be a very weak leader once he became the king. That is one of the reason's his sister stayed as a co-regent, until he married Jeanette. Jeanette was a very strong willed and wise woman. She was a childhood friend of Serahuva and that is the only reason Serahuva left the throne because she trusted Jeanette to run things smoothly. There was no turmoil during their reign what so ever. They had a one son Kurt and two daughters Annalise and Milena. Annalise and Milena had a friend named Brenna, who fell in love with Kurt, and had a passionate love affair. At the age of sixteen, she gave birth to a son by Kurt, Aknon. Normally the kingdom would have rejoiced at the birth of a healthy baby, but the only problem was that Brenna and Kurt had Aknon out of wedlock, which eternally doomed the child. And to top it off, Aknon was born under and evil star. When Aknon was six, his parents finally wed. Ara and Jeanette mysteriously died two months later. Most thought it was old age but some thought that the young prince Aknon had something to do with it, but that was never proven. When asked about the possibility that Aknon might have done something like that, his mother simply replied with that he was an angel and would never do anything wrong. But deep after that Brenna was cautious around her son."

"So you mean, she suspected her son was evil or something, but she wouldn't let anyone know?," Wow, Brenna didn't seem very bright to me.

"Brenna was actually very wise for not telling anyone what she really thought about Aknon."

"How the hell was she wise, her son was a possible psychopath and she didn't tell anyone." My temper was flaring. When people said I had a short fuse, they weren't lying.

"Kalysta, calm down. You really should get some help for that temper of yours." Wow. She could see things really fast. I toke a deep breath and calmed down. Why was I being so short tempered. I was so lost.

"Are you calm now?," she asked me. I nodded. "Good. Brenna didn't tell anyone because she feared that if she confirmed it then someone would take him away and kill him. Even though Aknon was…." She paused. "different. He was still her son and she still loved him."

"Where was Kurt during all of this?" I asked.

"Kurt would regularly visit the provinces in the empire. He would slowly set each one of them free from the empire. He set all the kingdoms free except Brenton, Windsor, Tierra, and Zephyr. Those he kept together, only because they were so close together. He was a very involved ruler."

"Oh, so he never knew about the suspicions about Aknon?"

"No, the rumors had died down by the time he was done with his constant trips, Brenna never mentioned it to him, and even when he was home when there was suspicions he wasn't home long enough to hear them. As Aknon grew older he began to associate with crowds that weren't the best in their nature. His father just thought his son was being a rebellious teenager. One night, the Vladamirs were found dead, well only Brenna and Kurt were found. Aknon was never seen or heard from again. The castle was abounded. And over the next eight hundred years the four kingdoms separated and became four separate kingdoms again. And the once grand Vladamir castle became abandoned. But no one goes up there and returns. And ever since the murders, people have seen lights up in the tallest tower, where the bodies of Kurt and Brenna were found. And that is the history of the Vladamirs."

She smiled warmly as she finished the last sentence. "Oh thank you for telling me." I stood up and walked over to the entrance of the room that connected it to the main entrance, but I turned back to face her. She nodded to me.

"Your welcome darling, and is there anything else you want to know," she asked my with a questioning look. It was if she could read my mind.

"Well, ummm……" I paused, wondering whether or not I should ask her. "What is the Iker exactly?,"

The smile faded from her face, and was replaced with a dark look. The rumors of Rosalind MacBain came back to my mind, along with the fear. Crud, what had I just done. Rosalind rose from her seat and stalked toward me.

Damn it why the hell had I asked. And I think I was about to find out why people feared Rosalind MacBain.