Brinn's eyes still felt heavy even as she felt the light streaming through the window and warming her golden skin. What time was it? It had to be late morning. Elves did not need much sleep, but it had been many hours since she laid down her head. Her mind drifted back to the night before. A servant had given her something to drink before bed. It must have been a sleeping draught and not her usual tea.

'Why would someone want me to sleep?' Brinn wondered. Her eyes shot open, and she jumped out of bed, running to her closet to search for clothes.

"May I help you?" a servant asked as she brought in a tray of food. Brinn grabbed an apple off the tray after she slipped a cerulean silk gown over her thin frame.

"Help me tie this in the back," Brinn ordered as she munched on the fruit. "I need to find my parents. Are they in the throne room or their quarters?"

The servant hesitated to respond. "I am afraid, Princess Brinn, that you must remain in your room for now. Queen Lanassa will visit you this afternoon."

"Am I under house arrest?" Brinn had been confined to her room before, but always after she had done something that her parents considered heinous. Usually it was really just a breach of protocol.

The she-elf servant would not look the Princess in the eye. "You are not under house arrest, but it is best that you remain here."

Brinn ignored her words and pushed past her. She threw open the double doors which opened into the palace corridors only to be met with the back of two palace guards. "Let me pass," she ordered.

The guards also looked uncomfortable. No one wanted to be in the middle of a family squabble. The taller of the two guards spoke, "Your Highness, I cannot…"

"I remember when you were still a babe crawling the earth on your hands and knees, Mikk, so don't you dare try to 'your highness' me to get your way. You know what happens if I get angry." Brinn's face darkened. Mikk, knowing his own limit, stepped aside to let her pass. "Thank you," she said briefly.

Most other servants and guards in the halls pretended not to see her. It was much easier to hide their guilt from the king and queen than to confront the princess. Brinn burst into her mother's chambers with a lone frantic servant on her heels. Lanassa and Zoltan were seated on pillows at a low table, seemingly unconcerned with her dramatic entrance. "Protocol!" Zoltan called to his daughter without looking her way.

Brinn pushed down her anger and announced her own presence, "Your Majesties, Princess Brinn is here to see you…"

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"Tsk tsk, don't forget to curtsy, dear." Lanassa wagged her finger.

Brinn reluctantly complied. "Why did you drug me and confine me to my room?!" she demanded to know.

"Because we thought it would be easier than having this conversation," her father said honestly. "Yet here we are," he sighed.

"Where are Aurora and Devrim?" Brinn was trying to stay calm.

"Do not worry, the Empress and her friends are safe. We were hoping to have news of your brother's engagement to tell you, but it seems that may have to wait until morning." Lanassa smiled knowingly, and Brinn could take it no longer.

"What have you done?!? Ithel himself rejected the match." Brinn screamed.

"Do you not want the young Empress as a sister-in-law? You seem to like her very much. Perhaps her being here might keep you closer to home," the queen reasoned.

The king nodded approvingly, "Like killing two birds with one stone."

"With what did you threaten with Empress to force her to comply?" Brinn held her breath.

"The death of her friends at daybreak if she does not agree to marry Ithel." Zoltan said easily.

"You wouldn't!" Brinn was scandalized.

"Of course not," Lanassa asserted, "We are not barbaric, but the Empress does not know that."

"See? You have nothing to worry about, my dear. Go back to your room. I am sure the Empress will come to her senses soon, and we can all gather together for an engagement feast this evening," Zoltan beamed.

"It is not the fate of the elves that drives you in this madness; it is your pride. You cannot stand that your favorite child and some lowly human dare to defy you." Brinn could see through their plot. Were not their dignity on the line, they would have given up this plot the second Ithel changed his mind.

The Queen arched her brow. "What will you do about it, my dear? Throw a tantrum? Storm off and refuse to speak to us? Your tactics will do you no good." Lanassa chuckled.

Brinn was torn. Of course her mother was right; no amount of righteous anger would fix this. Action was needed. She had played by the rules and lost. Now her friends were in danger. Despite their differences, Brinn had always been loyal to her parents. But now there was only one recourse.

Break the rules. Rescue the Empress. Become a traitor.

Without another word, Brinn used her wind magic to disappear. Zoltan held the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Find her," the king ordered to the nearest guard, "before she does something foolish."

———————————-

"You mean you are not married?!" Nurlan's world was shaken. He had observed the Empress and Emperor Consort's lack of physical contact and general cordiality toward one another, but he assumed it was just the way royals behaved. Even when Junayd had aired his suspicions early on with the bulky guard, Nurlan had not so kindly told him where he could place such nonsense.

"Technically, no." Devrim confirmed.

"I knew it!" Junayd chirped again. "You told me I was crazy, but I was right. How do ya like that?"

"What about your children?" Nurlan was growing more suspicious by the minute.

"They are my biological siblings." Aurora admitted. "Zephyra died in childbirth, and I could not bear to have them killed in my name. And while we are getting out the truth, you should know I am only sixteen years old." When the two soldiers remained stoically silent, Aurora hung her head. "So you see, this is all my fault after all. A more experienced ruler would never had made such choices. You probably would not be here if I had been honest with you from the beginning."

"You took over ruling the entire world, all of Valiant, at ten years old?" Nurlan's jaw hung open.

Aurora mistook his expression for disapproval. "That is correct," she agreed.

"This affirms what I have known since I met you. You are the most incredible woman I have ever met." Nurlan smiled at her genuinely.

"Here, here!" Junayd cheered.

"I try to tell her that all the time," Devrim added. "Maybe at last she will believe it."

Aurora blushed heavily. She was not sure what to do with their praise. She looked around to see if anyone else was nearby, but saw no one. There was only silence and darkness outside the bars of their cell. Aurora lowered her voice to a whisper. "Thank you, but maybe you can focus your attention off flattery and onto something more useful. How do we get out of here?"

"Did someone order a rescue?" a voice called from the darkness. A beautiful red-haired elf stepped out of the shadows with a key in hand.

"Brinn!"