"Princess Lumina and Archmage Astromelicus!"

Dawn's heart was pounding as the herald announced them and the guards opened the doors. She was standing in for Lumina and had to keep a composed face but it was too hard. Not even taking in the sight of the gardens and Claire's sympathetic and concerned frown through Aidan's sight was doing them any good. Astromelicus nudged her elbow and she took a step forward, minding to keep the Archmage by her side. As she adjusted to the dim light of the room she saw the King sitting on a wide couch, with two comfortable armchairs across a small marble table. There were no guards or any other people in the room. After they reached the table end, the door shut close behind them. Dawn picked up her skirt and curtsied.

"Please take your seats," The King commanded.

Helios seemed annoyed and concerned. The fact that heavy curtains were covering most of the natural light that should be entering the posh room only added to the somber mood. It was heartwrenching for Dawn. The King could force her to give up her secrets, send her to the stockades, or even have her executed. They could fight back and probably win, but the prospect of becoming traitors in their own homeland was as dreary. If Dawn died, Aidan would probably become a vegetable and any hope of restoring Lumina would be lost.

She took the seat at the left and Astromelicus the other one. Pulling on her skirt so it wouldn't crumple on the armchair she sat and rested both hands on her lap. The Regalia Ring was in plain sight. Dawn caught the King's eyes flicking down for a moment and focusing on the now blood-filled ring. According to the protocol, the King should initiate conversation so she waited with bated breath.

"Show me the ring, please," Came the order disguised as a request. The King read her mood and was probably trying to be stern but friendly.

Dawn stood up and took a step forward, kneeling before Helios. She reached forward with her hand. Helios took her fingers and leaned forward to inspect the ring. He muttered something and pulled the ring off of her hand. Nice one, Astro. Forgetting to tell that the King could remove the ring.

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King Helios was having a hard time. Ever since the assassination attempt, Heath was pressuring them into celebrating the marriage between Brody and Lumina earlier than agreed. He hated himself for letting them weasel that condition into their trade agreement, but he was cornered at the time. A trade blockade would mean the loss of several import goods that while not causing the people to die from starvation, were important to the welfare and development of the country.

The princesses' tunnel project was a godsend. If they could instead trade through Gohar, there would be a price shift but the trade with the eastern portion of the continent would remain solid even with Heath enacting the embargo. The western goods would be impossible to obtain but at least they wouldn't become isolated.

With news of Lumina's return, Crown Prince Brody decided to come himself to see her with his own eyes and probably force the marriage. He had to move Claire as the first princess and call Lucien back home because of that. If Lumina was the second in line for the crown, Heath could try to assassinate Lucien, making Brody King eventually. He was sure they would attempt to assassinate himself too, but Helios was too concerned about his three children to worry about himself. Even though he didn't desire death, rejoining Alina in the afterlife would be a blessing. That was an outcome that had to be avoided at any cost. Brody was a despicable man even if only a tenth of the rumors regarding him were true.

But instead of Lumina, the person that returned was this girl. At first he believed she was just a split personality because he could see her Regalia, but now there was none. He could see she somehow lost the Regalia - something impossible - but there was no doubt now that she had his blood now. He inspected the ring, and it shone with the girl's mana signature, a different one from Lumina's. What was this girl? She looked exactly like Lumina but wasn't Lumina. And she had the Regalia before. What changed?

It made him suspicious. What if the girl ate the raisins on purpose to deceive them, or even faked the allergic reaction? Who was backing her? Worse, where was Lumina? He'd take the answers out of her if she was not supported by both Astromelicus and Aidan. His most trusted advisor and the son of their closest friends, the next generation God-Slayer. One that already proved his mettle against an otherworlder. A boy Alina loved like a son. It was impossible to think that these people would turn against him. And if they did, he had little hope to endure. Even if he was the victor, it would be a pyrrhic victory.

He returned from his musings to see the girl kneeling before him, looking at the floor. She would tremble every now and then. She was probably in a very uncomfortable position.

"Return to your seat, Dawn."

"As you wish, your Majesty."

She lowered her head even more before moving backward still on her knees, a feat that was probably accomplished with magic. Did she cast a spell? He didn't notice. Soon the girl was back on her seat, He played with the ring for a while.

"Who are you, Dawn? Tell me why do you look exactly like Lumina?"

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Dawn thought the King found the thousand-gold question. Who was she? What was she? A puppet? A person? A monster? Aidan? Lumina? She didn't know. Probably nobody knew. She knew she wanted to live and be with the people she loved. That had to be enough. Fortunately, the second question was one she could answer without telling too much.

"Lumina... " She spoke and stuttered, sparking too much attention from the man that could decide her fate on a whim. "Lumina should not have survived the attack. I don't know if you saw the state her body was after those beasts trampled us. Aidan could have saved only himself, but he tried and saved Lumina as well. The damage she suffered was not only on her body.

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Dawn's mind was mush at this point. She wanted to scream, run away, cry her eyes out. Her speech lost some cohesion, "As a price for her life, she was forced to slumber. I was the one that kept her body alive. For Lumina to live, Dawn came to be. I am the key to her return. I will honor our previous agreement. Once Lumina is back, I'll tell you the whole truth as we agreed," She reminded him.

The King's sight went far away, beyond the wall. He was thinking hard and probably suppressing his own emotional turmoil.

"You are not Lumina," He asserted after a while. His voice was neutral, a practiced voice that had no emotion behind it, something that only master gamblers or politicians mastered. It didn't last long. "That much is clear. Are you even human?"

Helios' mask dropped near the end of his line, emotion slowly seeping in. She couldn't feel disgust in his speech. It felt more as if he were disbelieving a dream or a mirage. And a hint of despair.

"Yes, I can assure you I am human in both body and soul," She aimed for a reassuring tone but in her agitated state, Dawn wasn't sure how well it sounded. "I am not a construct, a magic creature, a ghost or anything else."

The King turned to the Archmage next. "Astro, what did you do?" This time his tone had a hint of accusation. "Don't think I was unaware that you were cloning prisoners. Tell me, old friend. What are you doing to my daughter?"

Astromellicus didn't stir in his armchair or even bothered to straighten his back as he answered.

"The best I can," the Archmage stated with a sigh, "I'm working hard with the students to bring back Lumina, Helios. If only politics didn't hinder us... we are treading unknown waters. I vouch for this girl."

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Helios hung his head, removing the two people out of his gaze and staring at his hands and knees. Why did they speak in such vague tones? He understood too little of magic, having only Light for an Element. As much as their words inspired confidence, he could not believe. If only the girl had failed the Regalia's trial, he'd... what would he do? Would he destroy that girl for being a fake? For deceiving him? Would he dare hurt the one with his daughter's face?

Helios remembered the hugs he received when she barged into his audience chamber that day, converting a man condemned to execution into an excellent supporter. The warmth. He wanted his piece of Sky back. His daughter. He saw her, mangled and broken. One year of suffering, waiting for some advisor to barge in and tell him Lumina was dead. But that didn't happen. Every report told that Lumina was healing, even though at a snail's pace. It was like her body refused the healing magic. But she endured. And one day she woke up. Screaming. In pain.

One question floated in his mind and he let part of it out as he lifted his head to meet her eyes, "At the hospital, was it you all the time?" Dawn shuddered and clenched her hands into fists gripping the fabric of her skirt. It was confirmation enough.

"Yes. It was me. All me. I am Lumina's kidnapper. I fled the hospital and took Claire and the others with me. But we already addressed this subject and I'd rather not remember either the pain or the cold."

This girl suffered Lumina's pain in her stead was the answer to his the question. And another popped up as he ran his finger over the ring's insignia, feeling no fault between the gold and the crystallized blood.

"Are you my daughter?"

Dawn blinked, doubt on her face. Helios couldn't believe the girl was a spy or was faking her emotions. All of them were perfectly spontaneous.

"I don't know," She answered breaking eye contact, bashful. "I don't think there is an easy answer to that question. I'm no Princess, that is sure."

Helios, the man, wanted his daughter back. He felt that King Helios of Yutis would get in the way of that fatherly wish. Maybe that was the reason he wasn't getting all the truth. They were afraid of what the King would do. He tapped the ring on his hand as he let his mind sink. He missed his daughter.

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Dawn didn't know what to do as she watched the King's facade crumble and a weary and hurt father took his place. Ever since they let Dusk take over Aidan's body and unlocked several of Lumina's memories, she could remember Helios doting on his daughter as if she were her. When he departed with Astromelicus and Aidan's parents to seek a cure for the Queen's illness, promising a crying girl he would bring it back and heal mommy. How Lumina was devastated when they didn't, prompting that bout of rage that broke Skippy's sibling egg. How Lumina snuck into the Royal bedchambers and watched in terror her mother utter her last words.

She wanted to cross the distance between them and hug that man. Reassure him. Call him father as she irresponsibly did more than once. She felt Claire's hand squeezing Aidan's, Lumina's sister smiling sympathetically. She couldn't move. Fear chained her to that armchair. Her eyes locked on the King, dreading what might happen.

She noticed a single tear hit the Regalia Ring.

The chains broke and she knew what he needed to hear. Dawn stood up and moved, crouching in front of him. She touched his knee and spoke the words from her stolen memory, cutting a few parts.

"I'm afraid you'll just lock yourself inside your heart (after I'm gone), Helios. There are good people that will never betray you. People that bled for you. Laughed with you. Cried your tears. (I want you to) Trust them. Share your burden as King with them. They all love you and won't fail you."

Helios stirred as if a wraith had just crossed his spine. He looked at the bittersweet smile and face of the girl in front of him in the dim light and he felt like he was sent back three decades.

"Alina?"

Dawn shook her head. "No. Just Dawn," She stood up and walked back. "Funny thing, the Vault Keeper also called me by her name." She stifled a chuckle.

Mentioning the elder fairy caused a faint reaction in Helios, but apparently it was secondary to his shock at hearing his deceased wife's last words again. "How?" He asked in a daze. "How can you know those words?"

She sat again. "Sharing a body with Lumina granted me some of her memories. She was hidden in the bedroom when the Queen expired. But what Her Majesty said is true. We are your allies, King Helios. Trust us, please," Dawn implored.

Both were almost breaking down. The Archmage was the one to break the stalemate.

"You heard the girl, brat." Astromelicus' scolded the King. "Stop being a fool and let us do our job. Call out when you need help. I'll lend you my power, just as I did to your father and his father and all others before them. We'll bring Lumina back tomorrow if we could. However, she'll be weak for weeks after her return and we need someone to stand in to entertain our soon-to-arrive guests."

Dawn waved a hand, "That would be me. I'll be the one to have the honor of escorting Brody during his visit." She said 'honor' sardonically. "After he is gone, we'll bring Lumina back."

After yet another pregnant pause, Helios spoke again.

"Our deal is still standing, I presume," He asked, to which Dawn nodded. It was probably about their deal of revealing the whole truth after Lumina was restored. "Then if you are to pass for Lumina and fool Heath, you'll need this back."

Dawn took the ring back and slid it back on her finger expecting to be cut, but nothing happened. She smiled and met his gaze.

"Thank you, your Majesty. I'll not fail your trust. Or Lumina."