After Princess Evelyn sent Zach and Bethany out, she turned to the other maid who had been waiting by the bathroom. The young brunette stood at attention, awaiting her orders. She'd been fighting valiantly against her energetic nature so she could stay still and quiet during the long meeting.

"You're excused, Beebee," the Princess said. "I have something else to talk about with just Alexia."

Beebee bowed deeply and said, "Of course. Please call on me if you need anything." Then she scampered out the door and closed it behind herself as softly as possible. Beebee was just a nickname, short for Phoebe Beasley, but it matched the girl's bubbly personality perfectly.

Only two people remained in the room yet the atmosphere was tense and stifling. Alexia stewed in the corner, her mood still foul, and the Princess was silent while she decided what to say. The silence grew longer and longer, until Alexia was tempted to say something, anything, to move things along.

Finally, Princess Evelyn took a deep breath and said, "Alexia, I am sorry."

Alexia twitched in surprise, but she said nothing. It seemed Princess Evelyn had more to say and Alexia didn't dare interrupt her again.

Evelyn continued, "I apologize for how rudely I treated you, especially because your interruptions came from a good place. You couldn't have known the full picture, because I never explained it to you."

Alexia took three small steps closer, her hands clasped at her waist. "Your apology is accepted, Princess Evelyn, but I don't fully understand. I'm the one investigating Zach, so what was there to explain that I didn't know?"

Alexia had been the person researching the strange man, tailing him and cross-referencing his stories with all the information she could get her hands on. She'd interviewed mages and scholars, and even soldiers who had traveled the world and come face to face with an elf and lived to tell the tale. None of them had the slightest bit of information that could validate a single one of Zach's wild lies.

Evelyn gestured for Alexia to take a seat at the small table. Once Alexia was sitting down, Evelyn said, "It isn't about Zach. It's about me." She paused, building up her courage, then said, "I never told you where I was… when I was missing for all those years."

Alexia nodded slowly, unsure what that had to do with Zach. She chose her words carefully and said, "Correct. I know more than most people, and I only know that you had been magically transported far away, unable to return."

Alexia had always suspected that the elves had been at fault for that, but it had occurred before her time in the guard and every trail had gone cold long ago. There was nothing to be done about it now.

Evelyn leaned forward and beckoned for Alexia to do the same. Once Evelyn's perfect lips were tantalizingly close to Alexia's ear, she whispered, "The place I was taken to… it was the very same place Zach has described. It was the one from his wild story about a world with technology instead of magic."

Alexia went still. That alone was too much to process, but the information just kept coming.

Evelyn sat back in her chair. "I've been to Denver, Colorado. I lived there, for a time. I may even have crossed paths with Zach there, but if so, neither of us noticed."

Alexia could do nothing but nod, still unable to fathom it all. Her basic understanding of the way things were supposed to work had been shattered. She was now faced with a painful dilemma: could she believe the Princess, continue to trust her wholly and completely, at the cost of believing Zach's impossible stories?

Evelyn continued, "I want to find out how he got here, because I want to understand how I got stuck over there in the first place. I need to know why that happened to me."

Alexia agreed with that. It had only been a few months since the Princess suddenly returned home, and the fear that she could be taken away again was always looming in Alexia's mind. Information and understanding was crucial. The kingdom needed the Princess, and it needed knowledge to help keep her safe.

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Finally, Alexia found her voice. She said, "Assuming he was telling the truth, then he doesn't know how he got here. He said he just woke up here one day."

Evelyn sighed. "I know, but I hope that we can find out more if we observe him. I suspect he's been returning to that other world every alternate day."

That sounded impossible at first, but as Alexia recalled her own observations, the pieces started to fit together. Zach had been conspicuously absent on some days, and the theory would explain his strange habit of paying the Hard Fought Rest for two nights at a time. Alexia said, "That could certainly be true. But how did you come to suspect it?"

Evelyn slumped in her chair, looking young and afraid as she explained, "Because that happened to me too, before your time in the castle." The Princess had hired Alexia less than two weeks after her return, and Alexia in turn helped to hire the Princess's other maids, except for Bethany, who predated her.

"When I first returned to New Albion after ten years, Father instantly knew it was really me, and I was beyond happy to be home again. But when I went to sleep in my old bed, I awoke back in that other world, in the clothes I'd been wearing before."

"Father was terrified to lose me again. He hadn't yet announced my return to the public, so he suspected foul play from within the castle. I'm told his questioning of the staff was very intense. Thankfully, I returned again the next day and he calmed down. Then it happened again that night. Against my will, I awoke back in that other world, in my tiny dorm room."

Alexia didn't know the word 'dorm', but she ignored it. She asked, "So what made it stop?"

"Father assigned guardswomen to stay in contact with me all day and night. Our hands were literally tied together. He just wanted to keep me from running or being stolen away, but it somehow stopped the flipping when I went to sleep."

"Flipping? You're referring to going to the other world?" Alexia asked. The term did seem to fit, like turning the page of a book, or flipping a coin with a different world on each side.

Evelyn nodded, then went quiet. After a long pause, she said, "Thinking about all this wore me out. I think I need to be alone with my thoughts, if that's alright."

Alexia hesitated. "What about the flipping?"

The Princess shook her head. "That's only when I sleep at night, and I promise I won't even take a nap. I'm too stressed out anyway."

"Very well. I'll leave you be," Alexia said as she rose from her chair and smoothed her fancy dress. "I will be available if you ever need me, Princess." She bowed and made for the door. She moved slowly, but her mind was running a mile a minute with all the new information.

Alexia felt much calmer than when she had lashed out earlier, but she was still suspicious of Zach. The relief of knowing that he wasn't a spy was dwarfed by the new information that he was from another world entirely. And he seemed to still have access to that other world and its strange knowledge. At least it seemed that objects couldn't be brought along when flipping.

Alexia descended the long staircase, her nerves still wound tight. Her mind continued to race as she crossed the plush carpets of the royal halls and slipped through a recessed staff door. Was trusting Zach the correct decision? Could she convince the Princess otherwise if she tried?

In the lower staff hallways, she came across another maid, one who had green eyes and straight red hair that reached the middle of her back. She was carrying an empty platter, but she didn't seem to be in any hurry.

"Hello there, Alexia," the woman said in a sweet tone as she approached. She wore a subtle smile with one corner lifted, like she was up to something. She usually was.

"Hello, Riley," Alexia answered without stopping. She didn't have patience to deal with Riley's schemes just then.

Unfazed, Riley matched Alexia's pace. "You look tense," she said as she put a hand on Alexia's shoulder and gave it an intimate squeeze, laced with a touch of magical warmth. "Oh, you're very tense. I can help you with that, you know…" She leaned closer and whispered, "Shall we bathe together?"

Alexia kept her eyes forward, ignoring the touch as best she could. "Stop trying to get in my skirts, Riley. It's not going to happen."

"Aww, you're no fun," Riley pouted. "And I was so hoping to finally see that fit figure of yours." Her smile returned and she added, "I've heard you kept to your exercise routine since you left the guard…"

Then she skipped away down the hallway, calling back, "The offer stands, if you ever change your mind. I'll be in the baths!"

Riley was an unabashed flirt with nearly everyone in the castle, but when it came to Alexia, she had never made any real progress.

Alexia continued her quick pace toward the maid quarters. The King had ordered for the Princess to be attended at all times, and now Alexia finally understood why. And despite Princess Evelyn's promise that she wouldn't take a nap, Alexia didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone.

Any maid could watch over the Princess, but Alexia was hoping to find Beebee. It hurt Alexia's heart to admit it, but Beebee was what Princess Evelyn needed just then. Beebee was somehow closer to Evelyn than any of the other maids, almost like a little sister, and her eternal optimism always managed to lift Evelyn's spirits.

While Alexia's serious attitude only seemed to bring them down…