'Pay us some respect, will you?' Nume said with faked authority.

'No.' the man replied. 'You're both just toddlers to me and no sash nor title will change that.'

'So!' Kran said cheerfully. 'What are we going to do next?'

'Spread the news?' Nume suggested.

'Zurem should do that for us.' Kran replied.

'Only among Phraio.' Raf threw in. 'If you want others to join you as well, you'll have to tell them.'

He was right, of course he was, Kran thought to himself. How could he forget about that?

'But how? We could go back to the Frago but I doubt any of them would want to join us. And anyway, what would join even mean? I mean, we can't take many people with us and travel around all of K'haren!' Nume said.

'Fools...' Raf muttered. 'Don't forget the prophecy, it has to be the first thing on your minds at all times! You can start that little project of your own but I'd recommend you to use it as a tool to help the prophecy.'

'That's exactly what I had in mind.' Kran said, earning an eyebrow raised in disbelief from Raf.

'Then you have to travel on. You should tell people to join you on your quest, spread the news and tell them that, if they help you, they can be the first to start a peaceful time in K'haren once it has been cured.'

'You're saying that as if Phraio were some kind of a disease...' Nume pointed out.

'They aren't, but they are poisonous to their surroundings.' Raf spat.

Kran swallowed the angry reply that tried to leave his mouth and instead said: 'And this is exactly why we have to make them join us on our cause. I don't want to start a tribe so we can settle down and give up on the prophecy, I want it as a symbol of unison.'

'You want people to choose what side they are on?' Nume said with worries in her voice.

'No, but I want to give hope to those who have already given it up, believing that all Phraio were ignorant and wouldn't even care to talk to others. And I want to give hope to those Phraio who feel that there is need for change but no way to achieve it. Look at Zurem, he has managed to gain some freedom in his life, but it came at a high cost, had his father not died in battle, he'd not have been married and crowned at the same time so he wouldn't have had the power to get the freedom he wanted. He was just lucky, others never have such power over their own lives. We had to run away for our freedom and I'm sure there are others like us out there somewhere.'

'Then let's go and find them.' Nume said. 'I suggest we find Tarlequin again. We have to tell him so he, too, can spread the news. Also, I think he'd be a great fourth member of our high council, don't you think?'

Kran made a face, he still didn't like the storyteller. But he knew she was right, he'd be useful to them. And after all, he'd never really done anything wrong. He just happened to be a bit too nice for Kran's liking. But then it struck him.

'Isn't he technically responsible for Sethara's death?' he said in a whisper.

'He couldn't have known!' Nume insisted.

'Yes, he could. But it wasn't the first time he visited her.' Raf said. 'And he didn't realise the dragon king would be after her. Nor did he understand we were taking him into the heart of the Dragon Mountains. If he had, he'd probably not have come.'

'He doesn't even know...' Nume said in shock. Now it also came to Kran, Tarlequin had not been around when Sethara had died, he probably had no idea she was dead.

'Then I think we should tell him.' Raf said. 'He knew her better than he wanted us to think... After all, he's very old himself... Maybe even old enough to have known her before the prophecy started... Oh, no! No, no, no, I'm stupid, how did I not see that?!' Raf suddenly shouted and jumped up.

'See what?' Kran asked.

'Tarlequin, the storyteller, he's one of the eldest, he must have been there when the prophecy was made. But the tavern was the wizard's territory, so, if Tarlequin was there, he must have known the wizard wasn't.'

'It was him who told us the wizard was dead, but why does it matter?' Nume wanted to know.

'Because it means that the wizard knew he was going to die and contacted Tarlequin. And that means that he might have told him the big secret.'

'What big secret?'

'The curse. Most people don't even know the prophecy's cursed, I myself had not known, that's why I told you and made the curse strike us. But the question is: Who spoke the curse? It must have been spoken right after the prophecy by somebody who wanted K'haren to belong to the Phraio, but I've never heard of a Phraio magician with such power. Who if not a Phraio would have wanted the prophecy to fail?'

'The dragons.' Nume said. 'They told us it was not needed.'

'But dragons aren't wizards.' Kran explained.

'We have to find Tarlequin. He might be able to tell us.'

'But why does it matter? Alright, it's strange, I get that, but how does it change anything?' Nume inquired.

'A curse may only be lifted by the one who spoke it. So if that person is still alive, we all might have a chance to live to the end of this.'

'But wouldn't Sethara have told us about that?' Nume looked at Raf with a frown.

'She might not have known. The wizard would have known because he was the one who limited the curse as far as possible. Originally, it would have stroke anybody who'd ever have mentioned the prophecy, but he managed to reduce it to just the first person who was to do so. And he also managed to save his own little ass, making it possible for anybody who was old enough to remember the prophecy's origins to speak freely of it.'

'Who came up with the prophecy in the first place?' Kran suddenly wondered.

'Nobody knows.'

'And why doesn't that matter?'

'Because it's not going to get anybody killed.' Raf said. 'I should have asked the barmaid how the wizard died. If he was murdered, that would mean that there is somebody out there going after the eldest.'

Nume interrupted him, asking: 'How many eldest are there anyway?'

'Not many now, it's been a long time and a lot of them have died. I knew of the wizard and when I met the Siren I could tell she was one, too. I myself don't seem to count, which means that the prophecy must have been spoken before the war between Dretho and Phraio even started. And so must the curse. I'm not sure whether Tarlequin might be old enough, though I wouldn't say he's older than me. The dragon king is old enough. I knew him when I was still young and he was already a few centuries old back then. But he wasn't yet king at the time.'

'He's one of the eldest and yet he is against the prophecy?' Nume said. 'But that doesn't make any sense.'

'It's not as if everybody would have wanted peace back in the day, and he was an admiral at the time.' Raf explained.

'If he's responsible for Sethara's death, might he also be responsible for that of the wizard?' Kran asked, feeling sorrow raise in him like every time he said or heard the name.

'I don't see why, he seemed to dislike the Siren out of personal reasons. And he has learned his lesson, the dragons have been fought by the Phraio for centuries and they have suffered many losses. In their current state, they couldn't win a war against them. Even if they were against the prophecy originally, being chased out of their home up into the mountains should have changed their minds. I assume they have plans of their own, after all, they didn't kill us, they solemly sold us for their own profit. Thus I wouldn't say they're against the prophecy, they just don't care whether it succeeds or not.' Raf slowly explained.

'So you think the dragons also sold the information of Sethara's whereabouts to somebody else who was looking for her anyway?' Nume concluded.

Raf nodded and Kran didn't know what to think about that. There were too many unanswered questions and it all just wouldn't make sense to him.

'I think we should go to sleep.' Nume said after a while. 'Tomorrow, we shall try to find Tarlequin, alright?' The two man nodded and Kran yawned, suddenly realising how tired he was. The day had been long and eventful. He quickly drifted into a land of dreams and nightmares, waking up several times before sunrise.

// Why is it so much harder to come up with these side notes than with the story? I'm really trying to find a witty way to ask you for votes and comments, but I'm running out of ideas. Please, tell me if you have any! Also, it would be really nice if you could add this story to one of your reading lists!