"Listen to me!" Venna shouted.
But nobody was listening to her. The guards dragged the prisoners away.
Zann started to rush forward, but Darb held him back.
"Let them go," he whispered. "Otherwise the guards might grab you too."
Zann sighed. He knew Darb was right.
The guards had already taken his family away.
There was nothing he could do right now.
Laddno strode to the middle of the room.
He whistled for attention, making the sound even louder with a Swelling spell.
Everyone stopped talking and turned to stare at him.
"Don't panic!" he shouted. "I'll get to the bottom of what's happening here, believe me."
"Why should we believe you?" Venna snapped.
"This is probably your fault. Everyone knows you're anti-Red."
"That's not true." Laddno puffed out his chest.
"I care about all of Magica's citizens. That's why I want to lead Magica."
Laddno snapped his fingers and zapped out of sight.
As soon as the businessman was gone, Zann broke free of Darb's grasp. He rushed toward Venna.
"What's going on?" he cried. "Why did those guards take away my parents, Boz, and Teplo?"
"Zann? What are you doing here?" Venna sounded surprised, and a little shaken.
"Where did you kids come from? Never mind—it doesn't matter." She sighed.
"Your parents and Boz were accused of stealing several important items from their lab.
They're being held in the dungeon while the guards search their homes.
Teplo tried to stop the arrest, so he's being held too."
Zann gulped, immediately thinking about the guidelink.
"Why are my parents being accused of stealing?" he blurted out.
"I mean, it could have been anyone."
Perda shot him a worried look. Zann guessed that all of his friends were thinking the same thing he was.
This was all their fault! They had taken the guidelink, but Zann's family was in trouble for it.
And the kids couldn't even give it back now, since Morb had taken it!
"Yeah, who accused Zann's parents and Boz?" Perda put in.
"There's no way to prove they took that thing."
"What thing?" Venna looked confused.
"The guidelink!" Gliss cried. "Zann's parents didn't steal it!"
"What's a guidelink?" Venna shook her head. "Never mind, I don't care.
Whatever it might be, the other items that are missing are much more important."
"Huh?" Now Zann was confused. "What items are you talking about? What's missing from the lab?"
"Several of the relics." Venna sounded grim. "Including the Mask of Zanta."
Perda gasped. "Really? That's the most powerful relic there is!"
"Yeah. But why would anyone think my parents would want to steal it?" Zann stared at Venna.
"Now that I think about it, you were the one who didn't want the relics destroyed. Why didn't they accuse you?"
Venna frowned at him, looking angry for a second. Then she sighed again.
"Because I have an alibi," she said. "I was in a meeting at the palace when the relics disappeared.
Otherwise, I'd probably be in the dungeon right now too."
"Venna!" a woman called from across the room. "We need you!"
"Coming!" Venna called back. She looked at the kids.
"You four should lie low for the moment," she said quietly.
"I'll get in touch when I figure out how to help the prisoners." She rushed away.
Gliss looked around nervously before pulling the others into the hallway.
"Venna's right," she whispered. "We should get out of here."
Perda didn't seem to hear her. "Who would steal the Mask of Zanta?" she asked.
"And why?" Zann added. "It's such a dangerous relic—the most ancient and powerful one in Magica."
Perda nodded. "At least since the Horn of the Otherworld has been destroyed."
Zann thought back to their last adventure and shuddered.
Morb had stolen the Horn of the Otherworld and used it to give himself an incredible amount of power.
Gliss seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"What if Morb stole the mask?" she said, her eyes widening.
"He might have made it back here to Magica before us."
"He probably did," Perda agreed. "It took us a while, because he stole the guidelink from us."
Zann glanced back into the throne room.
Venna was huddled with Gliss' uncle and several other people. They all looked very serious.
"We should have asked exactly when the relics went missing," he said.
"Maybe we should ask Venna right now."
Darb spoke up. "You heard what she said. She wants us to lie low."
"But we should warn her," Zann said.
"I mean, if Morb really is back, she should know, right?"
"We don't know for sure that Morb is back," Gliss argued. "Maybe he—"
Suddenly a Red popped into view from a nearby doorway.
"Hey!" The man grabbed Gliss by the arm. "What did you kids just say?"
"What?" Gliss tried to yank her arm away, but the man's grip was strong.
"Let go of her!" Zann shouted. "Otherwise we'll call for help!"
Zann was angry, but he was also confused. He had seen this man before. But where?
"Hey, I know you," Darb blurted out. "We saw you at Zann's parents' lab." Darb glanced at his friends. "Remember?"
Now Zann did remember.
The man had been with Venna and the king and queen when they'd whisked his parents away to that important meeting on his birthday.
Zann had thought the man looked familiar back then too.
The man ignored Darb. "I heard you say my brother's name," he said, glaring at Gliss in an accusing way. "Why?"
"Huh?" Gliss blinked in surprise. "What are you talking about?"
"Yeah," Zann added. "Who's your brother?"
The man turned and stared at him. "My brother . . . is Morb."