Weeks passed, and the intruder at the ball was never caught. Although Aurora was sure of what she experienced, as no further occurrences of magic appeared, she let herself move on. As promised, she returned the book to the vault after memorizing as much as she could. Security tightened around the royals. The biggest change in the palace was with Devrim. After the incident, he trained harder, studied harder and carved out time each day to spend with Aurora.

The boy had difficulty with how close he had come to losing the girl he loved. Unknown to the Empress, he had sworn to protect her at all cost. Until he died or someone took his place at her side, he would not let any harm come to her. Aurora enjoyed the attention. Their lives had never been separate, but now she could not imagine a day going by without seeing Devrim's smile. Now that Aurora had told him that she would not marry anyone until the twins were grown, he also spent more time around the royal heirs. If they were to have no other father, he would do his best to raise them.

Devrim walked into the Empress's private office. "Good afternoon, Your Majesty." Aurora looked up at him from her pile of papers. Not everything about being in charge was glamorous. Most of it was tedious and the older she got, the more responsibilities she shouldered. She rolled her eyes to heaven. "None of that Your Majesty nonsense, Devrim. I have had quite enough begging and scraping from everyone else today."

"Of course, Aurora," he smiled at her. "I am sorry." Devrim took the seat at the desk beside her. The extra chair had been placed at the desk after the Empress had grown tired of her fake husband's hovering. "Anything interesting going on?" Devrim asked casually.

Aurora pushed away the papers. "Nothing that cannot wait until tomorrow." She smiled at him in the way that always made his heart stop beating. Devrim struggled to remember why he came.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." He tried to focus.

"Anything." She said. He was the one person who had no off-limits subject with her.

"It's about Cafer…"

——————-

At that very moment, Cafer was in one of the Castle's many courtyards with Alaron. While the councilman spent almost no time with the princess, he was always advising the young prince on one thing or another. Just now, it was an archery lesson.

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Mairwen was an excellent archer because she was observant and patient. With her shortened bow, the princess could hit most targets with great accuracy. Her mother and tutors often praised her efforts. She was content with her skills and looked on the scene while writing down thoughts in her diary.

Alaron, on the other hand was, was a boy of action. He was a good swordsman, but lacked the attention to the wind and other conditions that archery required. Cafer watched carefully as Alaron drew back and released. His technique was smooth, but he had not accounted for the arrow's drop and missed the target completely.

"Do not worry, young prince. You have much time to learn. Where I am from there is no need for archery."

Alaron's sullen mood vanished as he heard Cafer's words. "Tell me more, Uncle Cafer. Please!" The two moved to a shaded spot and sat down. Alaron called to his twin. "Do you want to hear a story, Mairwen?"

The blue-eyed girl smiled at him. "Not just now, brother. I am working on a poem about that song bird over there." Alaron shrugged. It was her loss.

Cafer opened his hands wide to begin his tale. "When I was young, my kin were a powerful group. We controlled the earth and were prosperous. Then people came and destroyed what we loved. We were forced underground, toiling away just to survive."

"That is terrible!" Alaron said on cue.

"Do not worry, my boy. Someday we will rise and be prosperous. Even now, my kin are poised to improve their fortune."

Alaron clapped his hands. "When I am in charge I will make sure your family gets what is due to them."

"I will hold you to that, my prince. If your mother would treat you more as a son and less like a brother, you would be much further on your kingly training. But that is to be expected, I suppose…"

"What do you mean?" Alaron was confused.

Cafer smiled knowingly. "Do not mind an old man and his prattle. It is time to get back to practicing."

———————

"What is it this time?" Aurora asked impatiently. Every time Cafer was brought up, her nerves were instantly on edge.

"I think he spends too much time with young Alaron. He has gotten into the boy's head."

"Do you think Alaron is in danger?" The Empress wanted to know.

"Not physical danger, but he regards every word Cafer says as law."

Aurora sighed, "I know. But I do not know what to do. He is good to Alaron. He seems to have genuine affection for him. I never was able to know my grandfather, and I did not know my father well. I would think it is important for a boy to have men willing to invest in helping them learn and grow."

"What about me?" Devrim was a little sad.

"I am not taking anything away from your efforts. The children love you! It does not have to be you OR Cafer. You can both be in his life. I do not like Cafer, but I cannot in good conscience remove him from Alaron's life without a good reason."

"He is poisoning Alaron against you." Devrim was certain on this point. The more time Alaron spent with Cafer, the more he distanced himself from everyone including Aurora.

"Do you have proof?"

"No…"

Aurora's brow creased. She believed Devrim but was not sure what she could do without causing new problems. "How about we give each of the twins a personal servant and a bodyguard? They are about the age where they need more attention anyway. We will have the servants and guards report everything Cafer says to Alaron. If or when we find proof of treachery, then I can act."

Devrim would have preferred swifter action. "If that is the best we can do…"

"It is. I will let you select the people who will attend the children. Although I have final approval." Aurora winked. Devrim knew the guards far better than Aurora because he had trained with many of them. He also had more interaction with the servants. There was no way she would reject his selections.

Devrim's face softened. He took the Empress's hand and kissed it. "If it pleases Your Majesty, I would like to stay a little longer before I complete this task."

Aurora unconsciously blushed. "That would please me very much."