Of course I will! Adon replied instantly.

Rosslyn gave a little sigh that the butterfly interpreted as being one of relief.

“Thank you,” she said.

How should we do this? he asked.

“Why, yes, you can perch on me,” Rosslyn said aloud, apparently still talking for the benefit of potential hidden observers.

The idea that my father and I had was that your Telepathy would be the key, she thought. If you place yourself in my hair and transform your form slightly—perhaps stiffen your body and make it slightly shinier, to look like a decorative hair pin—I suspect no one will notice that you are present. Though no one outside the Royal Family should know your abilities, the best method to avoid suspicion is to make it seem as if you are not even there. You can send me a message or pull on my hair if someone thinks something suspicious, and simply remain still when all is well. That should keep the demands on your powers to what is absolutely necessary for the task, I think.

Adon considered the fact that he could become invisible as easily as he could use Transformation in the way that Rosslyn suggested, but he decided that they should go with her idea. That way, he would not have to devote any attention to flying around and keeping up with her. Maintaining invisibility would probably also be slightly harder than pretending to be a butterfly hair clip, especially since any mistakes he made would be partially hidden by Rosslyn’s hair.

He quickly agreed and then fluttered over to the back of her head. She lifted her hair and quickly made it into a ponytail that he could grasp hold of with his legs.

Your hair smells very nice, he sent as soon as he drew close. He resisted his reflexive instinct to feel awkward about complimenting a girl’s fragrance. This was no ordinary odor, and his sense of smell was far more sensitive than it had been in his last life. It wasn’t that weird that he was commenting on it. Right? The aroma was reminiscent of lilac. He clenched his legs around her ponytail and began subtly altering his body to make himself a hair pin. The rich odor intensified slightly with his proximity.

This could get distracting, he thought quietly.

“Thank you,” she said. The back of her neck turned slightly pink for a moment.

Do we need to move Goldie and Samson, or are they all right out here? Rosslyn thought.

Adon’s mind snapped instantly back to attention. His friends were out here exposed to any possible predators.

I wonder if there’s any danger to moving them while they’re in the magical void, Adon thought. He imagined that there was not. As long as it did not cause them to stumble into anything dangerous in that space, it should be fine.

To Rosslyn, he sent, I think we should move them back inside. It might be important to pick them up carefully, since they’re doing something sensitive. Considering the problem we’re investigating, I would place them in a disused room, maybe. I’m guessing that someone who decided to poison your father might also want to go after us?

That is correct, she thought. It would make sense for them to pursue our apparent allies as well.

She walked over to the bush on which Samson and Goldie had perched, and she carefully broke the bases of the twigs on which they stood, gently picking the arachnids up. Neither spider moved an inch in response to the Princess’s actions. They did not seem to notice that they were being moved, which Adon considered a clear marker of Rosslyn’s success.

The two of them are extraordinarily focused, Rosslyn thought.

They’re using the method of gaining magical powers that I discussed with you before, Adon explained. I realized that I could send them a vision of my memories, showing exactly how I gained the magical affinities I can use.

Rosslyn paused and stood stock-still for a moment.

That was something you could do? She sounded very impressed.

I discovered I could do it just today, really, Adon transmitted. It was mentally tiring. But yes. I was able to send them audio-visual directions on acquiring healing magic.

Adon, if you knew how long it takes to train most magic-users, you would understand how insane all of this sounds to me, Rosslyn thought. I told you that your method is now considered difficult and risky. But ancient sources considered it the best way to learn magic. It sounds as if your use of highly developed Telepathy will have cut the risks drastically for the spiders. Suffice to say, the Demon Empire would be wiser to kidnap you and use you to train their mages, rather than killing you, if they learned that you could do this.

Well, I guess we should make sure that they know what I have to offer, Adon sent jokingly.

Rosslyn swallowed, and her posture seemed to stiffen slightly as she walked forward.

Adon could not read her thoughts for a few seconds, indicating that she was trying hard not to let him read her reaction. He wondered if what he had said had been too far beyond the pale for Rosslyn—making a joke about the hated enemy that had been responsible for blinding her—or if something else had made her uncomfortable.

Sorry, I wasn’t thinking, he began.

Then her train of thought interrupted him.

I was just thinking that if the Empire learned that you could do this, and they actually had the opportunity to capture you, it might become my duty to kill you, Rosslyn thought. She sounded upset. The non-proliferation of magical abilities is the highest national security priority for every country I am familiar with. These powers are jealously guarded and passed down within families. If they could be easily taught to anyone, it could destroy the international balance of power…

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Oh. That was all Adon could think to respond with.

Of course, Rosslyn added, there is no reason to assume the information will ever get out—please tell Goldie and Samson that they cannot inform anyone about this. You should continue training them with your new method and hone them to the highest level of battle-readiness possible.

Should you tell your father about this? Adon sent. A twinge of fear radiated through his body as he thought about becoming the target of royal and aristocratic families across the continent—whether for kidnapping or assassination was almost equally disturbing. He liked being where he was. Maybe the King needed to be informed so that he could increase security.

Rosslyn paused for another few seconds.

I think we have to keep it to ourselves, she thought. The more people who know, the more danger you will be in. Your position is already as safe as we can make it, within the palace. We know that the palace was already infiltrated by at least one spy and one assassin.

In a very small voice that Adon felt certain Rosslyn was trying to suppress, he heard her think, If my father knew what Adon could do, he might decide that he should kill Adon himself. It would be the wrong decision, and he probably would not make that mistake—but I cannot take that risk.

So, I’m as safe as I can be within the palace—except from the King, maybe, Adon thought, carefully keeping that idea to himself. Rosslyn thinks I’m in so much danger that she’s willing to deceive her father over it. That was a surprise in its own right. She hadn’t been willing to hide Adon’s enhanced Telepathy from the King. Apparently this was much more consequential.

I appreciate you looking out for me, Rosslyn, Adon sent carefully, trying to give no indication that he had heard what she’d said about her father. That seemed like a minefield of a topic, and he had not intended to hear something she had almost certainly meant to keep private.

“You spend a lot of energy thinking about your friends and us,” she replied aloud.

I do not want something terrible to happen to you, Rosslyn thought.

You either, Rosslyn, Adon replied.

They walked through the hall until they reached a room near the mystic beasts’ room but not quite next to it, where a thin layer of dust on the mantle suggested the palace staff had not given the room attention over the last week or so.

This room is seldom used, Rosslyn thought.

I just wish that I could leave Goldie and Samson a note or something, Adon sent. “Gone to find an assassin. Please stay here where it’s safe.”

Who says you cannot? Rosslyn thought back.

Can they read? Adon asked skeptically. I don’t even know if I can read or write.

We will need to move Goldie’s other little ones here, too, Rosslyn pointed out. You can tell them what has happened with Telepathy. Then they can tell Goldie or Samson when they come out of their trances. It is as good as a note.

You would have done well as one of us, Adon sent back instantly. Um, not that I could see you as a bug, but you’re good at thinking on your feet.

He noticed the way her neck muscles moved slightly as she smiled.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

They left the safe room and returned to the mystic beasts’ room, where Adon coaxed Goldie’s children down from the corner they had been spinning their web in. Rosslyn turned her back to the spiders so that Adon’s body faced them, and he explained the situation to them as best he could.

There’s a dangerous human walking around the palace. We are moving you to another room until we catch the dangerous human. Please stay there, and tell Goldie and Samson.

Adon repeated this message several times before the other spiders could reliably repeat it back to him.

Then Rosslyn placed a pillow down on the floor beside the spiderlings, they climbed on, and they placed the arachnids in the room with their mother and brother.

Goldie and Samson remained dead to the world, so Rosslyn and Adon simply left the room and closed the door behind them. The little spiders were already scaling the walls, heading up to another corner where they would no doubt continue practicing their web-crafting techniques.

Where do we go first, then? Adon sent.

I want my stepmother to know before anyone else, Rosslyn replied. I am certain of her innocence, but my father asked that we test everyone’s loyalty, so please listen carefully for her reaction to what I tell her.

That seems very careful of your father, Adon replied, recalling what Rosslyn had feared earlier regarding the King’s reaction to Adon’s newly discovered ability to teach magic more efficiently.

He has been betrayed before, Rosslyn thought. That incident almost lost him his Queen and his daughter. Once bitten, twice wary.

That was fair enough, Adon supposed. But he counted himself as unsurprised as Rosslyn when he observed the Queen’s actual reaction to the news.

“Oh Goddess, what does this mean? Is your father all right? Is the war begun already?”

The Queen’s silent thought process was even more panicked than her verbal response.

How could this have happened? What do I do? If the taster died, does it mean Alistair will die too? Do I go to him or stay here and protect the children? How many enemies are there? Is the city surrounded?

Rosslyn stepped in close and held her stepmother.

Adon sensed that there were genuine warm feelings between the two, so he waited a moment before saying anything to Rosslyn, not wanting to interrupt a tender moment.

“It will be all right,” the Princess whispered. “Father is even stronger than we know. He is in good condition for the moment. He remains conscious and coherent. He has elected to delay healing until we catch the assassin.”

“How can I help?” the Queen asked.

She is completely innocent, in case you had any doubts, Adon transmitted to Rosslyn quickly.

“I would ask that you and the children remain in the royal-exclusive section of the palace and that you not tell anyone else what I have told you just now,” Rosslyn replied. “Keeping the young ones safe is the best thing you can do right now. Father should be safe—even weakened, he is a match for any lone assassin—but the children are vulnerable. If the assassin catches wind that we are on their trail, they will try to come after the princes and princesses. I will go and find loyal knights to station here and others to accompany me as I continue the search. If I have found the assassin by the end of the night, I will come and let you know. If not, please just keep my little brothers and sisters close.”

“Of course,” the Queen said. She kissed Rosslyn on the cheek and pulled back. Adon smelled the salt of tears that must have been running down the Queen’s cheeks. “I know you will catch the person responsible, though I do not know how.”

Rosslyn nodded. “I will, stepmother. By any means necessary—and quickly.”

The Princess and the butterfly left the lavish royal chambers and moved toward an area of the palace Adon had never visited before—which Rosslyn explained was near the knights’ barracks.