"It was a piece of chocolate cake." Zephyra's words echoed through the room.

"I was poisoned by a piece of cake? But I haven't eaten any cake." Elias asserted. He intentionally did not look at Aurora, knowing the look of horror that must be on her face.

The Empress brushed his comment aside, "Everyone knows you occasionally fancy a late night snack. I refuse to let you lie to me about such things."

"Very well," Elias agreed easily, "I have a sweet tooth. That's not a valid reason to poison a man."

"You ate two pieces of cake, husband?" There was a threat in Zephyra's question, but Elias seemed not to hear it.

Instead he laughed, "You caught me, my dear. Perhaps it isn't poison after all; I simply overindulged in cake. It was delicious!"

"And deadly," the Empress added flatly. She let the matter drop.

Clearing his throat, the doctor approached slowly. "Your Majesty, did you discover what poison was used?"

Zephyra nodded. "I did. The cook used elysium." Everyone in the room froze. Their faces grew pale.

"No wonder he seems so happy," one of the nurses muttered. Elysium was a drug used in small amounts to relieve the extreme pain of dying soldiers. It was a hallucinogen and gave people a false sense of euphoria. Even in small doses, it was deadly, which is why only the dying could receive this treatment. Most interestingly of all, it was expensive and extremely rare.

"How could the cook get her hands on elysium?" The Emperor voiced everyone's question.

Zephyra pressed her lips together tightly. "That remains to be seen," she responded vaguely. "Obviously she had some help. But do not concern yourself. I have dealt with it." Aurora knew what that meant: the cook was dead or dying, and she would not be offered elysium to ease her departure.

"Well then I suppose I will not be able to attend you in your official business today," Elias said with too much cheer in his voice.

The Empress scowled, "I will not go either. Not when I should attend your bedside." There was a hint of guilt in her mother's voice, but Aurora failed to notice. This was the longest she had been in her parents' presence for as long as she could remember, and she was not about say anything that might cause them to notice her. She stood at the edge of the bed still as a stone, her eyes flicking around as the conversation continued.

Elias smiled warmly at his wife, "You must meet with the ambassadors. To miss this opportunity would be a sign of weakness. And you, my dear, are not weak. I promise not to die until you return." The Empress appeared torn, but she nodded.

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"Let me know immediately if he deteriorates," she ordered. Everyone in the bedchamber fell to the floor in a deep bow, something they were too shocked to do when Zephyra entered. After the oppressive presence of the Empress departed, there was a collective sigh of relief.

"She sure scared me to death," Elias joked. "I nearly wet myself!"

Aurora scrunched up her face. "That's too much information, father," she told him. "Perhaps you should rest."

"I'll rest when I'm dead, which is not too far off. Until then, I'll treasure the company of my lovely daughter."

"Me? Lovely?" Aurora was stunned. She had been called clumsy, foolish, lazy and a myriad of other words, but lovely was not one of them. Her cheeks flushed. It was likely only the poison making him say such things, but she would take the compliment just the same.

The doctor nudged the girl gently aside and grabbed the emperor's wrist. He frowned. Elias jerked his arm away. "Yes, yes…I know my heart is weak. I'm dying of incurable poison, for Fate's sake!" He waved his arms in the air wildly, "All of you… GET OUT! Except you, Aurora. Your presence is calming, unlike these clowns. I think they mean to finish me off quicker."

"I would never, Your Highness. I mean…" the doctor was cut off.

"Then leave me in peace for an hour. You may come back then."

The doctor opened and shut his mouth several times, but finally he motioned for all the staff and servants to leave. The physician and Nanny were the last to go before the door was shut. Elias pointed for his daughter to pull up a chair to the bedside. She obliged by dragging an ornate golden armchair and sitting prettily atop its red velvet cushion.

"I had hoped you would have a better birthday than this." Elias told her. The joviality in his voice was gone, and it seemed for the moment that he was lucid.

"It was not how imagined it either," Aurora admitted.

"We haven't much time…" the Emperor looked around warily to make sure they were indeed alone.

"I do not understand…" the girl started, but her father held his hand to his lips.

"We have been discovered. Or at least I have. I cannot prove it, but I believe the Empress ordered the poison for the cake. It wasn't meant for me; it was meant for you." Aurora gasped. Her mother had meant to kill her? Elias continued, "To be fair, your mother has long accused me of having a mistress. She is exceptionally jealous. My protestations have done no good, and Zephyra has become increasingly paranoid. When I would not give her a name of with whom I am having an affair (which, dear daughter, is no one), she nearly lost her mind completely. I guess the cook alerted my wife to my odd request for midnight cake, and the Empress saw her chance for revenge. I thought it was strange when the cook told me which piece was for me and which was for my 'special guest'. I guess I got the pieces mixed up…lucky for both of us." The emperor smiled weakly, his eyes filling with tears. "I would never have forgiven myself if you had been the one to die."

Aurora listened quietly to her father's words, unable to comprehend the depth of her mother's selfishness. His final thought hit her like a stone. "You can't die! You are all I have," She cried among uncontrollable sobs.

"Mistress Death does not fall under our dominion," he echoed his previous thought. "She does exactly as she pleases," he chuckled. The mirth was back in his voice as the merry delirium returned.

"Promise me you'll try to live," Aurora pleaded.

"I promise," he agreed readily. Elias died two days later.