The group of four grew quiet as they exited the darkened tunnel. Ithel held up his hand as he peeked out of the passage. Seeing no one, the he-elf motioned them forward.

The place where they found themselves was a long clean hall with windows cut to look like flickering flames. 'We are inside the elven palace,' Aurora observed. While she was expecting it to be so, the realization was still eye-opening.

Ithel pulled them into the nearest empty room. Uniforms hung along one wall. "Do you want us to look like servants?" The Empress asked.

The elven prince nodded. "Although we released the…indentured servants…from their obligations, some have still stayed. The uniforms can help you blend in. Plus if anyone sees you around here looking strangely dressed and covered in dirt, you will be stopped before you go another step. You know how far reaching my parents' informants can be."

Aurora looked at her clothing. She did look very out of place, and exceptionally dirty. "Very well," she agreed. Gandr and Aurora quickly changed into the servants' garments. The males created a safe space for the ruler to don the uniform. The woman thanked them for their chivalry. She knew not everyone was so gracious.

Zan, however, refused to alter his wardrobe. "Can you not just, take us through the ground like you did with Emperor Devrim?" he asked Gandr.

"You want me to take all three of you? That is a big request for the distance we need to go. Anyway, I have only done that trick a few times. I do not know this terrain and we could end up in an unexpected location."

Ithel chimed in, "I would happily let you go without me, but you need an elf to let you out of the barrier. I am afraid you are stuck with me for now."

"Hurry up and change, Chief Zan! We haven't much time," Aurora urged.

The Guardian refused again. "I will ghost behind you three. I can hide much better in my Guardian's cloak than those lovely green tunics." Zan's silver eyes flashed beneath his hood, but otherwise nothing was seen in the void where his face should be. Now that they looked, the cloak seemed very clean compared to the clothing they had discarded. There was not a sign of dirt on the cape.

'How odd!' Aurora thought.

"Suit yourself," Ithel shrugged at Zan's insistence. If the man wanted to look like a shadow, so be it. The prince wondered if the Guardian did not trust him. The elf would not blame him one bit of this were true.

"What is your plan for getting us out of here?" Gandr asked.

As the group had no time to plan before actually meeting, the he-elf was ready for the question. "If we can get down the hall and to the left, there is a window that faces the outer courtyard. We can move casually across the courtyard. I know exactly what to say to the guards to get them to let us through without question." Ithel puffed out his chest.

The elf had always been told how brilliant he was. This was his chance to prove to the Empress that he had ruling potential. If all went well, perhaps they could forge a political alliance someday between their two Empires. But first he had to get them out of the elves' territory without his parents finding out. The elven royals were still displeased by the Empress's escape a decade earlier. Who knows what they would do if the King and Queen discovered her return? Ithel did not want to find out.

Peeking out the door, the crown prince surveyed their path. The hall seemed empty. "Time to go," he whispered.

Ithel took the lead walking confidently down the hall. Aurora and Gandr followed behind with their heads lowered, trying to maintain a servant-like posture. Zan shadowed them from some distance behind.

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When the prince rounded the corner to the left, Ithel called out in surprise. "Oh, hello Lord Alvar! What are you doing in the palace today?"

The Empress gasped. Alvar was Brinn's fiancé. But last time they had to escape, Brinn had to knock out her love so that he would not get in trouble for letting them leave. Aurora could not let the same thing happen twice. Pulling on Gandr's sleeve, the pair slipped into an unlocked door to their right. Aurora only hoped that Zan had found a place to hide as well.

"What are you doing?" someone asked from behind the woman and halfling. They froze. In their haste to seek a place to hide, they did not look to see if the room was unoccupied. It turned out that it was not. "Have you come to tend to my feet?" the voice continued.

They turned around to find a petit elf sitting in a rocking chair by the window. She was likely never as tall as other elves, but her hunched position gave her a shrunken look.

"No!" The Empress responded quickly to the lady's question. Then she realized that she had been impertinent. "Forgive me," Aurora added with a bow. "I have not come to tend your feet. He has." She indicated Gandr, who nearly fell over in astonishment.

'Way to throw me to the lions,' he thought bitterly, but gave a warm smile to the lady instead. "I am at your service," he said smoothly.

"Then why are you here?" the old lady queried Aurora. She cocked her head to one side suspiciously.

"I am here to make sure he does a good job. He is up for a promotion, and you know protocol says he must get a strict evaluation." The Empress remembered the elves love for protocol and hoped that mentioning it would allay the old elf's suspicions.

It worked. "Protocol, ha! I would like to take that protocol and show them where to put it," the senile elf spat. Then her face seemed confused. "Why are you here again?"

Feeling a strange compassion for the old lady, Gandr grabbed the water basin and file from the table. "I am here to tend to your feet, my lady." He bent down and began his work.

Aurora's heart was touched. She had never spent much time around the aged. Her relatives always died young. She picked up a brush from the table. "Allow me to fix your hair, my lady," the Empress ran the bristles through the long silvery hair. She braided it and pinned it in place.

"Hm," the old elf said as she examined Gandr's face. "You are quite handsome. You have eyes just like my niece."

Gandr's ears pricked up. Perhaps this woman knew his mother. "What is her name?"

"Whose name?" The poor lady scrunched her face.

"Your niece," Gandr prodded, hoping to jog her memory.

"Which one?" The silvery grey head cocked to one side.

"The one who has my eyes." Gandr held onto the last thread of hope.

The lady laughed. "Don't my silly. None of my nieces would ever take your eyes. They are right there in your head!"

Just then the door began to open. Aurora assumed it was the servants who were actually called to serve this woman, and she began to make up a story quickly. To her great relief, Ithel came into the room instead.

"There you are!" he sighed with relief. "I sent Alvar away on an errand." The prince saw what the other two had done, and he smiled wide. Ithel knelt down next to the frail old elf. "My! You look beautiful Great-Aunt Teija. It looks like they took excellent care of you."

He kissed his aunt on the cheek, but she made no response. She seemed so sedate compared to the creature who had just carried on a confusing conversation with them just a moment ago.

"I will find your attendant, Great-Aunt. These servants must come with me." He led the woman and halfling to the door. "Thank you for doing that for her. You do not have to worry about her telling anyone you were here. Teija never speaks."

Aurora and Gandr exchanged a glance. Teija had spoken to them, but there was no time to discuss it. They needed to be on their way. Gandr finished what he was doing and kissed the old lady's hand. She gave him a smile, which shocked the crown prince.

Ithel blinked away his confusion and changed the subject. "I do not know where your cloaked friend is. But I can get you both out and come back for him if I need to." The prince was becoming nervous. His senses were on edge. "Goodbye, Great-Aunt." He bowed and left the room.

Aurora and Gandr waited to the count of five and followed his lead. This time the way was clear and the trio ducked out of the window and onto the lawn without a problem. The Empress caught a moving shadow out of the corner of her eye and knew that Zan was not far behind.

With all the confidence of a royal, Ithel marched toward the guards at the northern gate. "Greetings to Crown Prince Ithel. We are honored by your presence," the guards bowed.

"These servants and I must retrieve my mother's birthday present. Queen Lanassa deserves nothing but the best from her doting son." Ithel often made conversation with the soldiers. It would have been strange for him to do any less just now. His charm was his greatest asset.

The captain saluted. "Before you leave, the Queen wanted to speak with you."

"I have already spoken with her," Ithel said easily. It was not exactly false. He spoke with his mother all the time.

The soldier looked concerned. "Are you sure? There was an urgent matter..."

Ithel brushed aside his comment, "You have relayed the message, and I will tend to it shortly. Now, if you will step aside, I can be on my way."

The elven soldiers saw no other recourse but to move and let him through. Aurora could swear they had been warning the prince, but he had ignored them. She opened her mouth to voice her opinion when suddenly the trio was surrounded by a slew of guards. They were pinned against the outer wall of the palace.

"My son, why is it that every time you disobey me, it involves this woman here?" an icy voice uttered. Queen Lanassa strode forward in a purple gown looking with disdain on the Empress. King Zoltan, equally scornful, stood at her side.

Ithel looked stupefied. He had been so careful. As far as he knew, only he, Brinn, and Aurora knew the plan. Even Devrim only knew the plan halfway to prevent spies from overhearing. "Who betrayed me?!" The prince looked around and his eyes fell on a beautiful elf in a golden sheath dress. "You?" he whimpered. "Why?"

"It was for your own good, Ithel," she said softly. Her gaze was unapologetic.

"Who is that?" Aurora asked in spite of herself.

The prince's shoulders slumped. "Empress Aurora, may I present Crown Princess Calla. My wife."