Caeden tentatively entered Ava’s bedroom. Beast lay at the foot of her bed. The saber cat looked calm but for the agitated swishing of his tail. He had caused quite a stir in the castle, from what he had heard. How the animal had slipped into the interior was anyone’s guess. He would need to remember to check the walls for possible breaches.

He had expected Ava to be asleep, but she shifted on the bed to watch his approach. Her brows were creased in pain, her breathing deeper than normal and her eyes held such despair. He averted his eyes as his guilt clawed back up to the surface.

She had heard everything said in the adjoining room.

“First of Her Kind,” he said, recalling the day they met on the doomed dwarven ship. “Who gave you that title?”

Her eyes widened and she reeled as if struck by the sudden question.

“Minervin. But I thought he meant…”

She raised a bandaged arm, pensively touching the purple and white dusting on her forehead. The colouring was darker from the bruised cut along her hairline.

“It doesn’t matter now. He’s dead and took all his secrets with him,” she said bitterly.

Caeden placed the cup on the bedside table and Ava grunted, grimacing as she attempted to inch slowly into a seated position. He perched on the edge of the bed next to her, slipping his arm around her shoulder to assist. She pulled away and Caeden stilled, uncertain as to why she was suddenly fighting against him.

She sighed, overcome with exhaustion and pain, and gave up, allowing him to manoeuvre her into position. Her body trembled and her skin was chilly.

He pulled at the bedding, swathing her in them before he fed the drink to her.

“Do you recall anything of note during the attack? Names? Places? Anything?” Kael asked, pacing impatiently.

She shook her head, then stopped, staring unseeingly at the wall.

“No names, but they received their orders from a woman. They referred to her as a crazy harpy. She was after the Frost Spirit and knew it would be inactive,” she grunted.

“Was it?” Caeden asked. Ava had said it was weak and hibernating, but he thought it would awaken when she was in danger, or an obstacle presented itself. He could not understand the whims of these spirits.

“Yes. I think I confused them and made them uncertain about their information. They would not risk taking the satchel.” Her eyes dropped to her injured arms.

“So, you were the one wielding those Frost spells. How can that be?” Kael asked, curiosity overriding his impatience for answers.

Ava clutched her chest tightly. She was trying not to unravel into tears and was so close to breaking. He shot a look at Kael to ease up.

“I don’t know. My heart felt cold, and I needed to release it.”

She burst into tears, covering her face in her hands to hide the shame of it. He pulled her to his chest, but she recoiled, pushing him away with an elbow.

“Don’t comfort me,” she wailed. “I’m a walking curse, regardless of what Adept Graeyson says! It’s my fault. Ser Derric didn’t deserve to die for a nothing – a nobody.”

“That was not what you were in Ser Derric’s eyes. You were his charge, his duty, his cause. He chose to protect you, and he deemed you worthy of dying for. This guilt you carry, rid yourself of it. Ser Derric would not want his sacrifice to burden your heart,” Caeden consoled her.

She cried into his chest. Her despair shed with every tear until she fell into a fitful sleep. Caeden laid her down to rest.

“Blessed are you, Ser Derric. She will keep you in her memories for as long as she lives,” he whispered.

“There is no greater honour for a Knight,” Kael finished.

They exited the room, and Caeden closed the door softly. His eyes landed on a drawing and recognised the figure immediately. Feathered wings, horns and a malicious face with darkened scales arrowing down its forehead. This demonkin seemed to have a strong lower jaw reminiscent of an orc but without the tusks. He could not decide which fate was worse; a cursed existence or one without ancestry. Would she have preferred the former? It is no wonder she despairs.

Oswin entered the room. He seemed utterly addled and confounded, scratching his head as he looked back out the door. So much so that he failed to recognize the two princes' presence in the room.

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“Care to explain what that was about, Oswin?” Caeden asked, shocking the mage out of his troubled thoughts.

“Your Grace! Prince Kael,” Oswin bowed stiffly and shook his head. “They were questioning me about a murder.”

“Does it concern Ava’s attackers?” Caeden asked perplexed.

“They are uncertain. Michael’s body was found in his practice a fair distance away from the market…”

“Oswin! Were you still in contact with that man?” Elise gasped.

“Of course not!” he snapped quickly. He turned to the confused princes, explaining, “Michael was a former friend. Generally friendly, with a thirst for knowledge that tended to become… obsessive. He was qualified to specialise beyond Adept but chose not to.

“Unfortunately, he was expelled from the guild because not only did his curative methods break the rules of ethics and morality, but he also simply could not comprehend why they were there in the first place. I was unaware of his comings and goings after he left the guild, let alone that he had opened an illegal practice until today.”

“Then why come to you for information?” Caeden asked.

“Apparently, he was in the midst of penning a missive addressed to me before he was cut down. ‘Oswin, there is something of great import…’ was the sum. His practice was ransacked, and records and reports were tossed or stolen. Based on the type of clientele such a healer attracts, they were hoping I would help narrow down the list of potential suspects.”

“Would he be capable of engineering Ava's poison?” Caeden asked, rubbing his chin in contemplation.

“It is possible. He is knowledgeable about disease and poison while being is proficient in magic. But this does not seem like something he would do. He would probably sicken a healthy patient solely to see if he could find a curative for them, yes. But murder without study would be wasteful.”

“Perhaps the Knights should look into it. There could be a connection or a potential antidote,” Caeden pondered.

“The imperial scrutiny could drive any potential suspects to ground,” Kael countered. “This could be nothing more than an act of a disgruntled patient. Let the guard do their jobs, if they find a connection to Ava, then the Knights can take over.”

----------------------------------------

Caeden’s hand went to his sword before he was fully alert. He blinked and unfurled his long limbs as he frowned at Kael’s amused face. Clearly, Kael had never learned how to wake someone gently from a slumber.

The dark of night still filled the room. The castle was silent and asleep. He stretched his stiff joints. The chair he had been sitting in and watching over Ava was comfortable but not something to sleep in.

“You need proper rest,” Kael muttered with a small measure of annoyance. “You do no good by pushing yourself past the point of exhaustion. Things slip your notice.”

Kael pointed at Ava’s ruffled but empty bed and her saber cat was gone.

Caeden shot up from the chair, heart hammering. He scanned the room for evidence of their passing.

“Relax, my guards know where she is. Follow,” Kael ordered, taking him to one of his guards.

The assassin led them down the passage and to the grand staircase.

“I had them watch her from a distance. They reported that she was weak and behaving strangely. Her beast following along.”

They stopped on the floor to Kael's private dinner hall and waiting room. Another guard stood at the foot of the stairs and pointed to the grandiose door left ajar at the end of the hall.

Curses! Why there of all places?

“How curious!” Kael laughed. “She has entered two forbidden places now. Not one to follow rules, I see. I wonder how she managed to get in?”

Caeden grimaced. An interesting question. The doors were charmed, allowing only a very select few to enter.

They passed through the doors and made their way down the stairs. The reflection of water danced off the walls. Ava’s weak voice drifted up.

She was covered in her bedding and sitting on the edge of the smooth rock with the lower half of her legs in the pool. The ancient script carved into them had been filed off in eras past. She hummed a broken tune, watching her feet swish back and forth in the clear water.

Beast sat beside her with a stiff edge to his posture, far too alert compared to his master. He relaxed when he heard their approach, loping behind him and pushing him toward her faster with his massive head. There was something wrong with her.

“Miss Ava? How did you get in?” Caeden whispered tentatively.

Ava looked up at the sound of his voice and smiled.

“Oh, Prince Caeden. It let me in. I didn’t know there was a Panacean Fountain here in the castle,” she said breathlessly. “But why aren’t the waters blue?”

Caeden sat beside her. He turned her gaze from the waters to face him. There was a distance in her stare, and she seemed to be listening to something beyond his hearing and comprehension. It was like she was not fully present. Her skin was damp and overly warm.

He pushed the bedding from her shoulders but stopped when she started to wriggle and complain.

Dipping his hand in the water, he touched it to her cheeks and neck to cool her down. Her body melted into his shoulder, and he cradled her to keep her upright.

“They have not been anything other than clear in my lifetime. It had already lost much of its colour in my father’s time, along with its healing properties. The Casimir Empire’s most guarded secret. We have lost the ability to heal our people with it. Our Panacean Fountain only holds pure water now,” he responded between his ministrations.

“Oh,” she groaned with disappointment. “The fountain in Spectermere still had some of its colour. It sang a different song too. This one mourns the loss of your adventurers together and seeing your dreams of the Empire. It misses watching you two play.”

Caeden shot Kael a worried look. His brother’s brow creased, perturbed, but he seemed curious about what she had to say.

“You have been chatty,” he grumbled.

Possibly, but I never told Ava that this was their secret place. What is happening here?

Ava shifted painfully, pulling on his mantle to help move into a comfortable position. Her eyes drooped.

“Caeden.” Kael’s voice was deep and concerned. He tapped on his shoulder.

Caeden looked down at his mantle. Ava’s bloody handprint was smeared across the white fabric. He shifted Ava and pulled the bedding away.

Dark and wet blood stained her shirt as he pulled it up to view her wound.

“Curses!” he exclaimed, lifting her carefully in his arms and moving to the exit. “Your stitches have come undone.”

“Wait!” she blurted, reaching for Kael and pulling him closer. “I must tell you something.”