Rosaliy

"Are you planning to elaborate on how Drake managed to break into a castle inhabited by pirates?" asked Rosaliy on the long walk out of the sea caves.

"Huh, what?" replied Cliff, distracted by his new monkey friend. Quita had refused to leave him—his back, more accurately. Attempted removal by Senira Luza led to louder squalling than seemed possible for such a small animal. After having a heated argument with the monkey in Old Baysellian, the Senira finally threw up her hands, told Cliff what Quita liked to eat, and gave him her favorite blanket. Right now, Quita was attempting to pickpocket Cliff to get at a handful of chestnuts the Senira had gifted him.

"Stop it, crazy monkey," whined Cliff, batting her away from his pockets.

Quita scrambled up to his shoulder to yell in his ear.

He finally dug out a chestnut and handed it over. She nibbled away, eventually nestling herself into a tiny ball on his shoulder and falling asleep. She really was adorable when she was quiet.

"Who's Esmona?" Rosaliy tried again.

"Drake's...I don't know what I'd call her," Cliff replied, finally able to pay attention. "They never seemed to be particularly together or not together. I never could figure them out. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's completely gorgeous in a 'just might slit your throat for looking at her wrong' kind of way."

Rosaliy felt a twinge of what she refused to acknowledge as jealousy and decided to label curiosity instead.

"You think she helped Drake steal from the pirates?"

Cliff chuckled softly, trying not to wake the monkey entrenched on his shoulder. "Not directly. But she was a handy open invitation to the palace."

Oh.

"We should definitely avoid her," Cliff elaborated. "I got the distinct impression she could and would snap me in half if her mood soured."

"Fine by me," Rosaliy agreed. "So how do we get into the palace?" How did they even find the location of the healing draught inside the palace, let alone get back out with it? One thing at a time, she supposed.

Cliff started a bit, having his own realization. "You're not seriously thinking about stealing from the pirates?"

"What other option do we have?"

He gaped at her. "Something that doesn't involve double crossing pirates?"

"The only other option is double crossing an old lady who helps people," Rosaliy pointed out. "One who was friends with Drake's grandmama."

Cliff winced. "I see your point. But we could just tell the Crocs no."

"That ends badly for Senira Luza. What if they try to attack her for her healing potion?"

Rosaliy was exaggerating. The Senira was not defenseless, but Cliff seemed like someone who would respond more favorably to protecting an old lady than himself. It was much more likely the Crocs would torture Cliff until Drake showed up to rescue him.

"But getting into the palace..." Cliff objected. "Unless you know any pirates or ex-royalty, there's just no way."

"So you don't think Esmona would help us?"

Cliff dissolved into laughter.

Rosaliy hopped over a tide pool filled with colorful little spiny creatures. Bayselle was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen. No wonder everyone was fighting over it. "What did you say? Ex-royalty?"

"Sure." Cliff tried to shrug, but that proved difficult with a monkey on his shoulder. "Who knows the castle better?"

"I do know some ex-royalty," Rosaliy admitted, "the former princess, Gabrielle. Or, more accurately, her daughter, Jadelynn." And only them. No need to mention anyone else in that family.

"They live in their own borough on the north end of town." Again, Cliff tried to point, but he realized the sleeping monkey was something of an obstacle to free arm movement. "It's not far."

Cliff did not underestimate. The borough was close enough that Rosaliy had not formulated anything close to a plan by the time they had arrived at the fringes of the sleepy little coastal town nestled up to Seavale. Time for snap decisions.

Jadelynn was young and best described as prickly, but she was trustworthy and a fellow Sorceress. But how useful could she be, really?

"I thought the pirates ousted the royalty," Rosaliy said.

"And then some," Cliff explained, "but as a concession to the people and a show of the pirates' power, the Ingobernables set up the surviving princess as a mostly powerless leader of her own section of town. She's kind of, well, their pet. They keep her, and she shows up to parties."

"That's awful!" Rosaliy exclaimed.

"I could probably be less crass about it," he admitted. "Lady Gabrielle's presence helps keep the peace, and she has a lot of freedom. They could have just tossed her and her family over a cliff, but they decided they wanted to foster some sort of 'gentleman pirate' reputation, whatever that means. Some way to pretend the pirates are the rightful rulers, I suppose."

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The stone manor Cliff led them to was gorgeous and massive. It was not a palace, but it had sweeping views of the ocean and furlongs of land dotted with clusters of orchards and grazing animals. Rosaliy felt slightly less sorry for the ex-royal family's situation.

As soon as they rounded a low wall that opened up into a lemon tree-lined entryway set with cobblestones, Rosaliy heard shrieking. She and Cliff took off at a run, bumping Quita awake. The little monkey made her displeasure known in Cliff's ear and vaulted off his head into one of the lemon trees to screech at him.

They ignored her and sped toward the screams.

"You're dead," yelled a voice. "Worse than dead. When I find you, there won't be a hole deep enough to hide in. You will wish for death."

The ominous threatener was standing out front of a silo, waving her arms emphatically, hollering into the rafters above. A pile of purple slime coated her head and was working its way down her body.

"Jadelynn," Rosaliy exclaimed, half worried the Flifary had been here. "What happened?"

Jadelynn spun, droplets of purple goo spraying from her body. She took in Rosaliy at a glance. "Brothers," Jadelynn seethed, running a hand through her slimy hair and flinging purple goo to the ground with disgust. "Brothers happened." She yelled back at the silo. "Luckily, I have six, so they're replaceable."

"Maybe we've come at a bad time," suggested Cliff.

"Who are you?" Jadelynn snapped.

"I'm Cliff from the Lansilia—"

Jadelynn waved him off. "If you're here about politics, you'll want to talk to my mother."

With that, she stomped off for the manor.

"Mom," she hollered at the door, "Sorceress Rose and some merchant something are here."

Jadelynn continued up the wide stairs, oozing slime as she went. Her mother, the former Princess Gabrielle, passed her on the stairs. Gabrielle was well-dressed in the breezy Baysellian style, wrapped in thin layers and decorative scarves. Her scarves were embroidered with gold and silver threads. Cliff was right. The pirates were at least making a show of treating her well.

"What happened to you?" Gabrielle asked her daughter.

"Nothing," Jadelynn sing-songed. "Nothing at all. So glad to be home."

Gabrielle paused, but Jadelynn continued marching up the stairs. Lady Gabrielle blinked down at Rosaliy in the entryway. Rosaliy gave her an awkward wave, so Gabrielle shifted from confusion to the gracefulness of an experienced hostess, putting on a smile and gliding down the stairs. She grasped Rosaliy by the arm and kissed her on the cheek. "Greetings, Sorceress. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"That's a rather complicated question, Lady Gabrielle," Rosaliy admitted. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your day."

"Not a problem," Gabrielle replied with excessive calm. "Honestly, interrupt away. And Elle is fine." Her eyes drifted over to Cliff. She held out an arm. "Cliffinzo? Of the local coalition?"

"Yes, Lady," he agreed, grasping her arm in greeting.

"Nice work on the trade agreement," she praised with a smile. "Are you here on Bayselle business or from Crystal Palace?"

"Well," said Rosaliy, "if there's a private place where we could talk, I'll try to answer that question. I could use Jadelynn's help, I think." Daniella would definitely not seek assistance from a headstrong half-trained teenage Sorceress. This fit the order to do the unexpected nicely.

"She looks like she'll be a while," Elle mused. "I'll have some lunch delivered to the library. The likelihood of one the boys trying to read a book today is minimal. Plenty of privacy."

"Oh?" Rosaliy asked as she bustled them through a double set of carved doors. "Are they all at home?"

But Elle had already gone to muster up some food.

Rosaliy found a cushioned bench to perch on while Cliff went straight to poke around the books. Their collection was impressive, although several of the volumes looked either singed or splotched and misshapen from water damage.

Elle returned with a colorful lunch of fishy bites wrapped in a salty, dried substance and tall glasses of plain, clear water.

"You must have a deep well to keep your water so cold," said Cliff to Elle, thoroughly impressed.

It must have been some sort of strange, Baysellian compliment because a pleased Elle chattered for quite a while about the underground well and the root cellar. Methods of staying cool and fresh water were valuable commodities here.

Jadelynn arrived soon after the food, damp hair tightly braided and sodden clothes replaced with an airy sea foam green wrap laced with threads that sparkled in the sun beaming through the colorful glass windows above the tall shelves of books.

After some pleasantries, everyone was clearly waiting for Rosaliy to come out with the reason for her unannounced visit. She might as well throw the whole debacle out there, she decided. "A few days ago, the royal children disappeared from Crystal Palace." There was really no way to soften the lead to her story.

Both Cliff and Elle gave a little gasp.

"Lil?" asked Jadelynn, her hard, sour face softening with genuine concern.

Rosaliy nodded.

"I knew something was wrong," Jadelynn groused. "I should have stayed."

"There was nothing you could have done," Rosaliy assured her. "I probably shouldn't be too specific, but there is a group of rogue Flifary who have taken over the temple. They need to be stopped."

Elle put a hand to her heart. "This is truly shocking. What can we do?"

"I'm not sure," Rosaliy admitted. "I was hoping you knew some way to travel to the island."

"Oh," said Elle, sinking back into her wide, driftwood chair. "Well, my father did love to hoard things, including ancient magical objects from past Baysellian Sorceresses. If there was a way onto Flifary island, you might find evidence of it in a ledger here." She gestured around her to the thousands of books lining the library walls. Hopefully she could be a bit more specific. "We were able to convince the pirates to let us have the King's books, but the object itself would be in the palace."

Finally, the weak beginnings of a plan. "We would very much appreciate it if you would let us search," said Rosaliy.

"We can even get you into the palace tomorrow," Jadelynn volunteered enthusiastically.

"Is it time for the Siren Festival already?" Elle complained. "I believe I told the pirates I was not going to humor any more of their fake attempts to trot me out like a prize camel."

"So they'll be extra thrilled when I show up," Jadelynn prodded, grabbing her mother's arm to plead. "I can take...this guy. Driff?"

"It's—" he started.

"Close enough," Jadelynn interrupted. "Matias can go with Rose."

Elle was not appreciating Jadelynn's growing plan or her manic, teenage intensity. "Jadelynn, darling, this is insanity. You're talking about pirates. They regularly threaten to feed people who cross them to sharks."

Rosaliy was less thrilled with the mention of Matias, but she liked Jadelynn's basic plan. "I would never ask your family to put yourselves in danger," Rosaliy assured Elle, "but if Jadelynn could get me inside the palace, surely I could do the rest."

"We," volunteered Cliff with a friendly smile.

Rosaliy would have preferred Jadelynn and a pile of magical supplies, but Cliff was a useful source of information and he meant well.

"Of course, Sorceress," Elle agreed. "It's the least I can do."

Things were looking up. "Jade, what do you have in the way of magical equipment."

Jadelynn's blue eyes sparkled, while Elle responded with a reluctant sigh and a little shake of her head.

"The pirates are thrilled to have their own resident Sorceress," Elle said, "I'm sure we can procure whatever you need."