Aurora woke to the familiar sound of a knock from her wall. She popped out of bed like a spring and ran to release the latch to the wall, only pausing a second to grab her robe.

"Happy birthday Aurora!" Devrim greeted in his baritone voice as he exited the passage. The Empress's first few months as ruler had gone relatively smoothly. And today Devrim was ready to celebrate her success. "I brought you a gift."

Aurora didn't care that it was the early hours of the morning; she greedily reached for the package. In the first rays of sunlight through her windows, the Empress pulled out a simple green dress from the paper. "Thank you…" she told him, confused by her friend's huge grin.

"The dress isn't the gift. It's what we are going to do with it."

"Wear it?….burn it?"

Devrim crinkled his nose. "Hey! I had to be very creative to get a hold of that without arousing suspicion. What have you been saying you wanted to do since I met you?"

"Learn to sword fight?"

"Yes, but no."

"Beat you at chess?"

"Guess again."

"Find a baby dragon and raise it as a pet?"

"Aurora! Seriously?" Devrim was growing frustrated. Sometimes his friend was dense. "You say at least once a day how you want to get out of the palace."

"Yes…" Aurora had never been outside the walls. She had no idea about the world outside.

"Soooooo… Let's go!"

"Where?" Aurora wasn't sure what she was hearing.

"Into Valiant! I'll show you around the market."

Aurora's dark eyes grew to nearly the size of her head. "REALLY?! Does the Council know about this?"

"Sh!" Devrim struggled to quiet her. "Of course they don't know. We will go in disguise." The boy motioned to the green dress. While the Council could not actually stop them from exploring Valiant, they could find ways to make it very difficult. The kids wanted fun, not frustration. "We'll go this afternoon. Make some excuse that you need to rest after lunch, and I will come to get you. What do you say?" Aurora was overcome with excitement, but Devrim took her silence for hesitation. "We don't have to go…" he offered.

"Of course we are going! Thank you, Devrim. This will be the best birthday ever!" Aurora threw her arms around Devrim, causing his cheeks to redden.

"Happy to be of service," he mumbled, quite pleased. He pulled away. "It's almost breakfast time. Hide the dress, and we will meet after lunch."

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"Ok!" Aurora agreed. The boy ducked into the hidden passage just as the sisters opened Aurora's bedchamber. Panicking, the Empress flung the green dress into the corner of the room.

"You are awake!" Anna said, surprised. "We had hoped to decorate for your birthday without disturbing you."

Aurora shrugged, "You aren't disturbing me. Decorate away."

The ladies curtsied and went to work. It wasn't long before Bella discovered the discarded clothing. "Candela," she said, "Isn't this one of your old dresses? I thought you sent it to the incinerator. How did it get here?"

Candela walked over to examine the garment. "I don't know. How strange! Give it to me. I will make sure it's destroyed this time."

"No!" Aurora stopped them. She snatched the dress as it was being passed between the girls. "It was taken out of the discard pile for me." The ladies-in-waiting stared at their mistress, unable to ask the obvious question, 'why?' Aurora looked at them sheepishly, "It's for a project." Aurora was relieved when the ladies went back to work. "What is the schedule for today's events?" The Empress happily changed the subject.

"This morning you have breakfast with the Emperor Consort—and your children if you desire—, a session of receiving and opening gifts from your loyal nobility, and then lunch with the Council."

"Sounds exhausting," Aurora said breathlessly. "I shall take the afternoon to rest before the ball this evening." The ladies did not see the smile that touched the girl's face. She could easily suffer the morning, if a trip outside the palace was her eventual reward.

"Of course, Your Majesty," Anna nodded.

———————

Aurora enjoyed her birthday breakfast with Devrim. The twins, now nearly three months, were brought in two prams to enjoy the morning festivities accompanied by Nanny. The Empress was able to convince Nanny to stay, and for once on her birthday, Aurora was surrounded by people who loved her. The twins were quick to smile at their adoptive mother, their first hints of laughter as good as any gift. Aurora was utterly content.

The receiving of gifts went by uneventfully. The only novelty among the treasures sent from all parts of the globe was from Lord Turpilius. He had gifted the Empress a small painted portrait of himself. "Lord Turpilius thinks very highly of himself. What am I supposed to do with this?" She asked of no one in particular.

Chief Zan, who was looking on the event with interest, smirked, "I suggest Emperor Devrim use it for target practice."

"Great idea!" Devrim agreed. He sat on a throne next to the Empress testing out a jeweled scabbard that was among the gifts.

"That is fine by me," the Empress handed the picture to a servant. "Place this with the other targets."

As the morning wore on, Aurora could hardly wait for lunch to be finished. The Council all congratulated the Empress on her success as ruler. Even Cafer seemed in good spirits. When the meal finally concluded, both Devrim and Aurora were eager to excuse themselves. Zan noticed their secret excitement, but decided not to comment.

The Empress ran to her room and changed clothes. Before Devrim could come, she had opened the passage and entered. "Couldn't wait, could you?" Devrim called as he came into view.

"I've been waiting for this moment for eleven years. Let's go!"

"Hold on just a moment longer. We need to set some ground rules."

Aurora eyed him critically. "You would give me rules?"

Devrim did not flinch, "Yes, Your Majesty. And the first rule is: no names. You can't call me Devrim, and I certainly can't call you Aurora. This afternoon you are 'sister' and I am 'brother'. The less people know about us, the better."

"Got it."

"I've got our money. If you like something, let me haggle for it. An older brother should look after his younger sister," he winked conspiratorially. "Don't talk too loud or do anything that might draw attention…"

"Okay okay, just act natural-I got it!"

"Most important of all, let's have fun!" Devrim took her hand and darted down the hall before Aurora could react. They wound through the corridors and down below the ground level. "I found a way out, but it's a little damp. I think it goes under Valiant's river." A river ran through the middle of the city, providing most residents with their source of fresh water. The pair walked along the long, dark, slimy tunnel. There was no glow stone here, and Aurora could not see. About the time she was going to panic, she caught sight of a slit of light. "The tunnel splits here," Devrim said quietly. "This one goes inside the city wall. The other goes on further to outside the wall. Both exits are latched from the inside."

"You've really been exploring!" Aurora marveled. Her friend could not handle a mystery. He needed to know everything.

"Yes. Now follow me. We are going up!" Devrim took control and released the hatch. They came up behind a bush in an alley way. Leaving the hatch open ever so slightly, the pair disappeared into the crowded street. Valiant was vast, with people and buildings farther than Aurora could see from her palace. The Empress followed her friend closely, afraid she might lose him if she was not vigilant.

They made it to the market after a short walk, and Aurora was happy to slow the pace. While none of the things she saw were nearly as fine as things in the palace, she enjoyed the process of looking through the shops' wares. She found a bright purple scarf that she liked, and Devrim, as promised, negotiated a fair price.

"Wrap it around your hair," he encouraged. "It suits you." They stopped at another stall and bought some candied nuts. "What do you think?"

"Of Valiant or the nuts? Either way, the answer is wonderful!" The Empress was truly impressed.

The pair turned down another street, and the joy on Devrim's face quickly turned to dread. Before him stood a group of boys led by a tall muscular loud-mouth named Ledford. Devrim tried to retreat, but it was too late. His body froze as he heard Ledford speak, "Jumper? Is that you?"