Vika panicked instantly and rushed to inform Zhanna.
"What do they want?" Shura asked Kazmir.
"They are soldiers from Koldunova. They seek a runaway princess and maid" Kazmir said. For some reason, Shura immediately thought of Zayne and his sister but he brushed it off as there were many reasons to counter that.
Once Zhanna heard the news she assured Vika that as long as they kept their act up, they wouldn't blow their cover and all would be fine but inwardly she panicked. Vika tried not to show hear uneasiness and fear as she went about her cleaning duties but, oh no... Kazmir just had to notice. He was the same man who had earlier shun her when she first came to the tent to spend the night. "You look shaken up Zayne's sister" Kazmir said, he loved teasing Zayne's sister till she lost it. "There's nothing wrong with me Kazmir and I've got a name. It's Vee" Vika said and hoped he would just leave her alone. "Ok VEE. I think you must have heard about the soldiers. It wouldn't kill for you to learn a few fighting tricks" Kazmir suggested. "I'm already learning from my brother and even if the soldiers come, it has nothing to do with me" Vika said. "I never said that it had something to do with you. You look like you are hiding something, a big secret. Is it about your brother?" Kazmir said and saw the panicked look on Vee's face when he finished talking. He just said it casually but vee seemed really tensed up maybe she was actually hiding something. "How I am has nothing to do with my brother and I am not hiding anything" Vika said with a shaking voice,oh how bad she was at lying. "The soldiers said they were looking for a princess and her maid. You and your brother must have been in the woods long enough, did you see them or perhaps know where they went" Kazmir continued and he could feel Vika vibrating. "No! No! We've neither seen a princess nor her maid" Vika continued and proceeded to leave but Kazmir blocked her path. "I know you saw them, where are they now? Do you know them?" Kazmir asked seriously. Vika's heart was pounding so hard and she hated keeping secrets so she let it all out. "I don't know them.... you know what! My brother is not really my brother he's a girl and..." Vika held her hand over her mouth after saying that and ran crying. Her and her big mouth!
In Koldunova, Boris and Ulyana got married. Boris didn't see his wife's face until he got married and was very disappointed to see a different face. He had wanted to marry his original wife, the one with blue eyes, because he was told by the black magician that he would be able to access the throne of he married her. Now he was married to a different woman, he had to know his fate...so he decided to visit the black magician.
Back in the forest, Kazmir watched as Shura talked with Zayne while laughing. He still found it hard to believe he was a female, Zayne had good fighting skills and even if his voice sounded quite feminine it was how most of the men's voices were. He needed to check Zayne physically to really know the truth. Kazmir walked over to Zayne and gave him a handshake and boy was his hand soft. It was the exact confirmation Kazmir needed to confirm what he had heard. Shura cleared his throat to remind Kazmir to let go, he had been giving Zayne a handshake for a while now. Kazmir let go and wanted to ask if Shura was jealous but held back as a brilliant idea struck him. Everyone wanted Shura to get married but he refused to get close with any female unknown to him that Zayne was a female too. Seeing the way Shura and Zayne discussed, Kazmir came up with an idea...he had to inform the king first.
********
Ulyana sighed silently all through the ride to heavens knows where, she hoped in her heart that Zhanna would be found. It was not up to 1 hour in the marriage and she was already fed up with it. The wedding was very short and lasted for only two hours and no one from Boris family came to witness it. It felt more like a sale transaction than a wedding. They arrived at a magician's place after a while. Ulyana stared in shock at the Shack. It looked more wretched than where the poorest of the poorest in koldunova would stay. To make matters worse, the inside was much more worse than the outside.
"Aye, aye. What brings you here" The magician asked the guests that came in.
"Aren't you supposed to know why we are here? You are a magician" Ulyana said, visibly annoyed and irritated.
"That's not how magic works" The magician said to Ulyana.
"I want to know my fate" Boris said. The magician brought out two glowing rocks and handed it to them. "I didn't..." Ulyana started to protest, she wanted nothing to do with him.
"With these stones you will get all the answers you deserve and desire. Just close your eyes and let the stone take you on a journey to understand your inner self" The magician said. Boris immediately nodded and closed his eyes. Ulyana huffed and wanted to drop the stone but she was tempted to close her eyes and see what would happen.
[Ulyana's vision]