"I just don't know if I can take it anymore!" Fiona exclaimed, falling backwards into the greenery of the walled garden. Kiana hummed and plucked some blades of grass, letting it fall onto Fiona's chest.

Fiona raised her hands up towards the dying light. "I mean every time I turn around there's a new horror. Another reminder of what an idiot I am for leaving with her."

Kiana patted her arm, her response well-scripted, "You had come back for your father. He needed you."

"I know, I know."

Fiona turned towards Kiana, crushing the small flowers Kiana'd been slipping into her hair. "I mean even this garden is a lie."

Kaina cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

Fiona sat up and pointed. "That bush, the one with the purple flowers, its berries make terrible poison. As does the bark of that tree and the roots of those flowers. Even botany, the one good thing I used to connect with her, was just a ruse for her poisons."

"Well I certainly hope those flowers aren't going to poison you." Kiana pointed at the small blue buds as they fell from Fiona's tresses. The princess picked one up and twirled it.

"Not like this but with the right treatment, it could stop someone's heart," Fiona said with a flat voice, already too used to talking about death.

Kiana looked at her carefully, there was something serious bothering Fiona.

"What happened?" she asked with a calm voice, inside squirming between genuine concern and her job to spy on her friend.

The princess sniffed and rubbed her eye, her pale face quickly growing red and blotchy. "I just found out another lie. Another terrible thing she did."

Kiana had seen Fiona cry enough times now to know, once she started, it was like opening a sluice gate. She pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Fiona. The princess took it, pressing it to her mouth to quiet her sobs. Kiana patiently waited before, after an invisible hesitation, reaching out and rubbing Fiona's back.

"What happened?" she asked again softly.

"H-his eyes. She's the one...she did it, not some assassin," Fiona managed to choke out and Kiana's heart sank.

She'd suspected the king's blindness had been done by his wife's hand, but the man was so used to silent suffering that it'd been hard to be sure. Fiona loved her father, wanted nothing more than to make him feel loved. Such a betrayal from one parent to the other...well it was no wonder Fiona was heartbroken.

"I'm so sorry," Kiana said, her own eyes pricking with tears.

Fiona took a shaky breath and wiped her eyes with the unsoiled corner of the handkerchief. As she lowered it, her eyes and voice grew steely. "I can't do it anymore. I have to do something to stop her from hurting people."

Kiana's nervousness at that was both scripted and genuine. "She's got all of the empire tied down, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know but I'm going to snap if I keep playing her game. I'll snap and she'll kill me and my father."

Kiana bit her lip, death would be the least the queen would met out. Kiana had heard enough to know the queen was not only capable of torture, but even fond of it. However, Fiona didn't need that weighing on her as well so instead Kiana said, "Maybe you can try to do some good with your father. Counteract the effects of the war on the people."

That had been the king's uphill battle since the war started and at first it seemed Fiona would take the bait. "I could try..."

Her fists curled in the grass. "But that's just treating a symptom. It won't stop the problem from spreading."

“Uh oh.” Kiana saw an idea forming in Fiona's head and as much as she hated it, she prepared the words the queen had asked of her.

Fiona turned to Kiana, her eyes alight. "I have to get out and take my father with me. We can go back to my uncle and then maybe we can get an army of our own."

"How would we even get you out, let alone your father too?"

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

As expected, her use of 'we' made Fiona wrap her arms around Kiana. Kaina's heart pounded with both pleasure and pain. She wished this hadn't been exactly what Lyra wanted.

"If by some failure, she decides to escape, make sure you go with her. Help her if you have to, but I expect you to ensure she gets back where she belongs. You are my backup plan and I expect you to play your part."

Kiana tried to push the orders back, pretend she was speaking truly as Fiona's friend, "Aren't both of you under constant watch?"

Fiona pulled back from the hug and winked. "Not quite. I mean no one's watching me right now."

“I am,” Kiana thought with dread.

Fiona poked a finger at herself. "I'm generally left alone during sword training but Father will be the hard part. One of the first things I noticed was how often guards hang around him."

"So then we need something to break routine to get him out," Kiana prompted.

"Exactly!"

“And once we’ve got him out, do you know where to go?”

Fiona reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded paper, smoothing on the grass. The sunset was just bright enough to show the carefully traced map. Fiona pressed a finger on Stadrhym. “Well the only two options are either to take a boat or run north.”

Kiana frowned. “I don’t think going over land would be possible, we’d have to cross through most of Valhym, including the Giantfells.” She tapped the mountain range.

“That’s true but most of Valhym is wilderness, we’d be hard to find.”

Pursing her lips, Kiana considered the many variables weighing in her mind. There was only the slimmest chance Fiona would be able to escape at all, and there was no way her and her father would be able to make it through her mother’s home territory.

“What about the ship, do you have one in mind? Most ships in the dock are military, I think. Zeke never mentions trading by sea from this coast,” Kiana prompted.

Fiona scooted a bit closer to Kiana, her hair brushing her shoulder as she leaned over. “If we could stow away on a military ship, it’d probably take us to Southport. That’s how I got here anyway so that could be a way to get out.”

A ship would be a possible escape, although it’d be laughable easy for Kiana to tell the captain and have the ship turned around. Both plans were hopeless and Kiana struggled with both relief and disappointment.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Fiona’s finger wavered hesitantly on the map. She was hiding something.

That was more dangerous than anything so Kiana sat back and gave an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know, Fiona, those both sound pretty risky, especially on top of getting the king out.”

That did it and Fiona bit her lip before slowly saying, “I did have another idea but...well it would take more research.”

Good. Kiana learned forward eagerly, “What do you mean?”

Fiona raised a hand, her finger twirling her hair nervously, “Well I thought maybe we could go south to Snaerheim instead. No one would expect that.”

Kiana blinked down at the map, finding the city in question. It was all the way south, practically the bottom of En, not to mention the opposite direction of Fiona’s valley. “Why would you go there?”

Still twisting her hair, Fiona answered, “That’s where the Valhym mage’s guild is apparently. I thought maybe I could find a mage to send a message for help.”

“A mage? Wouldn’t they all be loyal to the queen?”

“Maybe not.” Fiona leaned forward again, her voice conspiratorial. “Like I said, I’d have to do some more digging but I think there’s something different about the mages in Snaerheim. Corvin came from Snaerheim and used to be head mage when I was a kid. I found out from my father that the queen practically fired him when she found some mage from Dyve a few years ago. Why would she replace a Valhym mage with a Dyve one unless she didn’t trust the mage’s guild?”

“Or maybe the Dyve mage was just better at magic,” Kiana pointed out.

“Maybe, but if I can trick or bribe someone in Snaerheim to send a message to Matius then he can come on the wind to save us.”

Kiana’s stomach went cold. That was a name that made her nervous—Matius the Third Apprentice. Matius was a Wind mage and an Arch Mage apprentice, there was a very good chance he could do Sound magic which would mean an end to Kiana regardless of whether he already knew who’d killed his queen already.

Hizar’s warnings about the advanced spells of Sound magic had been Kiana’s biggest fear in Aziron. The ability to hear the thoughts and intentions of people was not only a terrifying notion, but the obvious downfall for an assassin. It had taken a lot of careful planning to make sure Kiana didn’t come into contact with any mages attuned or trained enough to perform such magic. Matius’s general absence from Aziron had been a key factor in her success.

“I don’t think trusting some random mage is a good idea. If they can send a message to Matius, they could also send one to the queen just as quickly. I can’t imagine your mother would let something as valuable as magic sit unused in Valhym.”

Fiona crumpled the map up and shoved it in her pocket before pulling her knees to her chest.

“You’re right,” she said frustrated, “but if I could just get in contact with Matius or my uncle, I just know they’d be able to help.”

Kiana patted her arm, resisting the urge to tuck the hair that had fallen into Fiona’s face behind her ear. “We just need to wait. Bide our time until something happens that gives you an opening. Look I’ll keep my ears out and do some poking around at the dock, find out if there are any merchant ships or not.”

The princess leans her head over to rest on Kiana’s shoulder. “Thanks. I’ll see if I can think of a way to get my father away from his guards.” She paused. “I’m glad I have you, Kiana, I don’t think I’d be able to keep going without you.”

Kiana thanked every deity she had ever heard of that Fiona could not see the pained look on her face.