King Helios took Dawn by the hand through a series of corridors and up a couple of flights of stairs. If you asked her how to return, she'd be lost. Servants and guards snapped to attention as they passed.
They reached a double door with a knight on each side. They opened the door for them and Dawn was led into a lavish but cozy solar. A painting of King Helios and the late queen Alina decorated the space above the fireplace. Dawn couldn't help but notice the resemblance between Lumina and her mother.
"Take a seat and be at ease, my daughter." The king pointed at a set of fluffy couches with pillows.
"Yes, your Majesty. I will. First, let me remove this." She unbuckled her belt. Wrapping the leather around the rapier's scabbard, she left it on a side table near the door and away from the sitting area.
"You didn't need to remove your weapon. I trust you, my daughter."
She curtsied. "I am honored by your Majesty's words." And slowly walked to a couch across where the King was standing. Minding Pearl's words, she tried to walk gracefully.
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On another room in the castle, Aidan was shaking.
"Taking off your weapon was a good move." Noted Pearl. "Now sit down, look at his eyes, smile and let him talk first."
Aidan focused himself.
"Right."
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Dawn did as Pearl told Aidan. Helios sat, leaned forward and smiled at his daughter.
"Lumina, tell me. Why did you run away?"
"It was essential for my survival. I'm sorry for leaving without notice, but I'd be dead if I didn't."
"You were at the hospital and recovering. I'm sorry for making you come to the castle but prince..." Dawn cut off the King.
"Please don't mention that person. Please, your Majesty! I beg you!" She asked with no small amount of desperation in her voice. Her eyes even moistened a bit.
Aidan could feel the urge to throw up, the mess that Lumina was threatening to do.
"Fair enough. I won't mention them. Lumina, why you would die if you stayed at the hospital?"
"No living thing but trolls should be able to survive that amount of damage, your Highness. It was this body's fate to perish on that day."
"But you survived. And so did Aidan. I've seen your mangled bodies, Lumina. It is a sight that will haunt me forever. By the gods, the amount of blood you two lost... I've seen battlefields less drenched than that pavement." The King shuddered.
"Yes. The boy had no small part in that achievement. But not even this very moment are Lumina and Aidan out of danger. We were dying back then, your Majesty. We are still dying now, although slower."
"I don't understand. What do you mean?" Helios shook his head.
"It was not only our bodies that were wounded. Our souls were ripped to shreds as the price to remain alive. Even now we are studying a way to revert the damage. Archmage Astromelicus promised to help us."
King Helios paused to think. He cupped his lowered his head between his hands, looked at Dawn, grimaced, his pained expression was one of a grieving father that treasured her daughter more than his crown.
"Girl. Please tell me. Who are you? Where is my daughter?"
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Pearl heard what Aidan told her of the situation in the King's private solar. "Lie. If you tell him the truth, we are all going to be killed. That man loves his daughter!"
"I'm sorry, Pearl. I can't lie. You know that very well." Aidan tried to smile.
"As much as I love your honesty, I love my neck undamaged even more. Aidan..."
"I got it, Pearl. I doubt the King will ask for our lives. If he does, he loses Lumina. And we got the headmaster's backing."
"I'll trust you, my friend."
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Silence. Dawn did not answer. The king got a little angry.
"Are you Lumina? Answer me!"
Dawn touched her chest. "This is your daughter's body, yes. Unblemished and pure. But I am not Lumina. Sorry. As I told you, we are working on healing her."
He stood up. Looking down on Dawn, he scowled. "Then who are you? Tell me." Step by step, the king crossed the distance between the two couches.
The girl looked up at the man towering in front of her. His eyes were narrowed, anger stamped on his face.
"I swear by the gods that all I said in this room is the truth."
Dawn stood up. Everyone knew that such an oath is not one took lightly unless one was a total heathen. She curtsied centimeters away from the King.
"Pleased to meet you, your Majesty. My name is Dawn and I am an adventurer." She spoke with the sweetest and most harmless voice she could muster.
King Helios raised his hands.
The gravitas of the situation made Dawn flinch.
His hands approached the girl, threatening to crush her from the sides. She looked at him like a trapped rabbit awaiting death.
"Repeat what you said." He was barely holding his emotions in.
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Dawn was almost bolting for the door. But she steeled herself, curtsied again and spoke.
"I am taking care of your daughter until she gets well enough to take over her body again. My name is Dawn, and I am an adventurer."
The King's hands wrapped around the girl, threatening to crush the air out of her.
Helios hugged his daughter.
"Oh, Lumina. Lumina." He was crying. "Ever since you were little you had this dream. I'm sorry for not letting you live it. I remember as if it were yesterday."
Dawn patted the man's back, hugging him back. It was not what she expected.
"What happened, your Majesty. Please tell me."
"When you were five years old, you pestered everyone in the castle. That boy used to come over to play with you and he told you stories of his parent's achievements. You used to play pretend adventurer."
"Is that boy Aidan?" Dawn forced their collective memory. Aidan had no recollection of ever coming to the castle to play.
"Yes. Aidan's parents, Astro, Alina, and I were in the same adventuring party decades ago. You had a wooden toy sword and you would spar with Aidan through the entire castle. You used to call yourself 'Dawn the Adventurer'. Because it was unfitting for a princess to fight with swords, you said."
"What happened? Why did Lumina stop using a sword?"
"You grew up. Soon you abandoned that childish dream and went on to become a splendid lady. You refused to train any weapons because of that. You rejected your dream. But now look at you!"
This was a huge turnaround. Aidan could not recall why he decided to call this female persona he created 'Dawn'. The name floated naturally in his mind.
It felt right to call the adventuring girl Dawn.
"I understand, my daughter. Live your dream. Be free. Be this brave Dawn girl you always wanted to be. Be happy. It is fine to be an adventurer and not a princess if you want. So long you do it smiling."
The king kept crying and squeezing Dawn. She felt like and ended up crying too.
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"Good news, we are not going to be killed or arrested," Aidan told the group in the lounge.
"And what are the bad news?" Asked Sora.
"Where do I begin? From the start, it seems." He sighed.
"C'mon, don't keep us waiting, you are going to give me wrinkles! For crying out loud, find another way to make a princess' heart beat this fast." Pearl was on her wits' end.
"First things first, My parents, the late Queen, the King, and the headmaster were an adventurer party in their youth."
Cythrel ate a few more pastries and spoke with her mouth full. "This much we could figure out by talking to the archmage. What else?"
"Lumina was my childhood friend. Back when the Queen was still alive. We used to play adventurers..."
Sora punched him in the shoulder. "Say it all at once. Stop making suspense!"
"Back then, child Lumina's adventuring alias was 'Dawn the adventurer'. After Dawn presented myself to the King he just hugged me and so far is not letting go. There is no way we are going to convince him Dawn is not Lumina."
Pearl crashed on the couch. She threw her arms up and sighed.
"That is the King of all misunderstandings. However, Lord Aidan, telling that Dawn is not Lumina is not entirely true. Help me here, Lady Sora."
Sora turned around to look at Pearl. "What do you want?"
"We know that Dawn behaves differently from Aidan even though he claims they are the same person. We know that Lumina is influencing some of his decisions. How can we say that Dawn is not Lumina?"
"She is right, Aidan. That is a huge identity crisis."
"Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims like a duck..." Cythrel sang the nursery rhyme.
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After a long hug, King Helios let go of Dawn. He sat next to her. "Tell me, Dawn. Could you pretend to be Lumina for the dinner party tonight?"
He pretended to be playing along with his daughter's delusions. Given the general confusion by all parties involved, Dawn decided to pay no mind to figure out what or who she was. Playing by ear would be easier. She told not a single lie to the King. But she didn't tell him the entire truth either. However, the headmaster asked them not to.
She pinched her temples. It was too confusing.
"Not if I have to throw a tantrum or behave like a bitch." She berated the owner of her body.
"I'd rather you didn't. As you always do. Porcelain is very expensive, so I am told. Also, mind your language, young lady."
Both laughed, dispelling some of the tension.
"Then I will attend with no tantrums. But don't chastise me if I forget my ladylike behavior a little."
"It is a deal, daughter."
"As you wish, your Majesty."
He hugged Dawn again. "Call me father."
"I'm sorry. A King's daughters are princesses and I'm afraid this one is too uncouth to be one. I can only pretend badly."
"Then it is settled. Attend the dinner party, be yourself, 'Dawn the Adventurer'. I held you from your adventuring party for too long. You can go now. I'll assign a handmaid to assist you and show you around. You don't know your way around, do you?"
"I'm afraid I don't remember ever setting foot in this place, your Majesty."
...
'HOLD A SECOND!' Aidan screamed inside.
"A handmaid for me? What happened to Lumina's handmaid, Claire?" Dawn asked. - 'I can't believe I forgot about her!!!!'