***

  “When will we get news from Father?” Ari asked Zander for the hundredth time.

  “Soon,” Zander said back for the hundredth time, annoyed a little at Ari’s repeated question. He was sorting through a mountainous stack of documents on his desk, cursing fate for placing his mother in the king’s kitchen, thereby placing Zander on an inevitable collision course with Danyais, leading to their friendship. Zander swore the king was the bane of his existence now, some cruel repayment for some evil deed he must have done in his previous life.

  “Soon is not now, Uncle,” Ari complained, stomping over to Zander’s bed, jumping in the air and flopping on her back. Her bright red bangs falling in front of her face. Sucking in a deep breath, Ari blew a long-frustrated breath out, forcing the loose strands of hair away from her face. The hair dangled in the air under her forceful breath before falling back onto her face. “I think I should cut my hair. What do you think, Uncle Zander?”

  “Oh, no you don’t. If I say yes, you will take it for permission to go chop it off. Then you would then tell a certain maid that I said it was okay and then I think Cina would turn me into the whipping boy for your claim of my endorsement for your decision to cut your hair. Don’t you have someone to beat up on today?” Zander asked, looking at her.

  “It is raining, and the practice yard is wet. Too much mud. Cina won’t let me out,” Ari said, kicking her legs on the bed in frustration. The practice yard was, in truth, the courtyard behind the kitchen entrance.

  “What? She will not let you run out in a torrential downpour so you can get muddy and catch a cold? How positively evil of her? I will complain to your father on your behalf the moment he returns,” Zander said, his voice filled with sarcasm.

  “Would you, Uncle? I am not afraid of getting wet or muddy and I need space to grow like you and father in your stories. I want an adventure,” Ari said, still too naive to pick up on Zander’s sarcasm in his words. Zander smiled inwardly at her innocence.

  “Muddy, huh? That reminds me of this one time. You should have seen how your father and I got so muddy,” Zander said, causing Ari to perk up. She always loved to hear stories about her parents when they were young. “I think we were….” A knock on Zander’s door interrupted him. “Who is it?” laying the feathered plum in his hand down and looking at the door.

  “Correspondence, Lord Zander,” the voice said through the door.

  “Ari, do you mind?” Zander asked, turning back to work at his desk. Ari puffed another heated breath, perturbed that the story was interrupted, and stomped over to the door. Opening the door, she stunned the servant holding the letter. Clearly, he did not expect to find the Crown Princess in Zander’s quarters. She held out her hand and snapped her fingers, breaking the servant away from his stupor.

  “S-Sorry, Princess Arinah,” he said, bowing and handing her the letter meant for Zander.

  “It’s okay,” she said, trying to be gentle with him because she was frustrated. Cina always told her that the ‘power of life and death lived in the tongue.’ She closed the door. “Uncle, where do you want this?”

  “Who is it from?” Zander asked.

  Turning the letter over in hand, she did not recognize the seal pressed into the black wax. “I do not know. I haven’t ever seen this seal before.”

  “Must not be important; throw it in that pile over on the stand,” Zander said.

  Ari walked over to the stand Zander motioned at, studying the seal of the letter. She knew every seal of all the houses in Loudas and the major ones from the surrounding kingdoms. She had to memorize hundreds of them, and there was still more for her to learn. The black wax seal was that of a glaive, and Ari instantly thought of the magus. Clyden was the only person she knew who used such a weapon, and curiously she cracked the seal and read the letter.

  “No!” Ari screamed. A rush of emotion overcame her, and she started to cry.

  “Ari!” Zander responded with a jolt, knocking the ink font over, marring important documents with black ink. He stood up quickly, looking for Ari. The princess was on her knees crying, and the letter she was holding was shaking in her hand. “What is it, sweetheart?” Zander asked, crossing the distance between them quickly, dropping to his knees next to her.

  Ari’s hand trembled as she handed him the letter. Zander read the message’s contents, his face sinking into a rage, followed quickly by the onset of grief, completely nullifying his anger.

  “Father, this can’t be real!” Ari sobbed as she stood and exited Zander’s room into the hall, running as fast as her little legs could carry her.

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  “Ari?” Zander asked after recovering from the horrendous words in the letter. He didn’t even notice when Ari left his quarters, but he was sure of her destination. Zander left his quarters and ran just as urgently.

  ***

  Cina knelt with her legs tucked under her. A small giggling boy was held in her arms, wrapped in a soft towel. She alternated tickling and drying Ryghton off from his bath, enjoying this precious time with with him. Suddenly Ari all but kicked open the door and rushed into Ryghton’s nursery, startling both her and Ryghton. Ari was crying uncontrollably. Ari rushed towards her little brother, knocking Cina over in the process.

  “It can’t be true!” Ari sobbed, engulfing her brother in a desperate hug.

  A few moments later, Zander followed closely behind Ari, his face flush with exertion. His lips were pushed together tightly in a grimace, and his eyes betrayed the anguish he was feeling. Zander stepped into Ryghton’s room. Leaning against the door, he closed it. Cina saw the letter he was holding and recognized Clyden’s broken seal on it.

  “What is it, Ari?” Cina asked.

  “Why are you crying?” Ryghton asked his sister in his sweet voice. He was trying to use the towel to dry Ari’s face. “Mama Cina, why is sis crying?”

  “Cina, let them be. You have to read this,” Zander said, walking to a chair and sitting down, dropping the letter to the floor while burying his worried face into his hands.

  “Look after your sister, Tonton,” Cina told Ryghton, using the nickname she gave him.

  “Sister, it’s okay. Tell me where it hurts. I will kiss it like Mama Cina does for me. It always makes me feel better,” Ryghton said, affectionately patting his sister’s head. Ari’s tears and sobs increased at hearing her brother’s tender words.

  Cina walked over to Zander nervously, looking at the two children. Both Ryghton and Ari were like her own children. They were her children, as far as she was concerned. Her heart was anxious, and she had no idea why. “What is it, Lord Zander? Did we lose the war?” Cina asked, pleading for Zander to just tell her.

  “No, we did not lose. But we lost.” Zander said, nodding his head no, pointing at the letter Clyden sent lying on the floor.

  Cina looked at the letter like it was the most abhorrent creature in the world with dread and fear. Afraid of what it would say to elicit such a reaction from two people she cared for deeply. A horrible thought flashed in her head. Unimaginable, soul-wrenching fear strangled Cina; her heart rate and breathing became erratic. No, Danyais! He can’t be dead!

  “I-Is the K-King dead?” Cina asked in a quivering whisper, too afraid of it becoming an awful truth if she voiced her inquiry any louder.

  “No, but I fear the news is just as bad,” Zander said solemnly, looking at all three of them. Cina picked up the letter and read it. Her eyes widened when Cina saw the King’s seal pressed into red wax, the dragon clutching a rose. The rose at this moment should have been her heart, with the dragon breathing on it to turn it to ash. The contents of the letter were not even written by Danyais’ on hand. The king did not even have the willpower to write the letter himself, leaving the unsavory task for Clyden instead. Ryghton was to be given to Sukkan as a hostage for the guarantee of peace. In two weeks, Ryghton would be sent to Sukkan, and it would end the war between their two kingdoms. Cina looked at the two children of Queen Sarinah. She rushed to them, pulling both of them into her arms. She cried along with Ari with the bitter tears of two mothers since her best friend, Queen Sarinah, could not.

  “Mama Cina, why are you crying now?” Ryghton asked, starting to tear up himself at seeing two people he loved very much cry uncontrollably. Ryghton made eye contact with Zander, “Uncle?” he asked.

  “It is okay,” Zander said, trying to sound as if nothing was wrong, not wanting to cause Ryghton any more stress. He flashed a fake smile before the pain in his heart forced the facade of his face to crumble. Tears dripped down his cheeks, and Zander buried his face in his right forearm, the letter held in his left hand at his side and added his own sobs to the anguish in the room.

  ***

  The noise of Rose Claw’s warning bells in the north tower sounding late in the night woke Ari up. She was not in her room; Ari slept in her brother’s room along with Cina after receiving the devastating news of Ryghton’s imminent fate. They both wanted to spend as much time as they could with him. The only time either of them left the room was to go to the bathroom or when Cina left to make them some tea. Ari was so upset she couldn’t even drink the tea.

  “Cina, what is it?” Ari asked groggily, looking at the empty bed she was sharing with them. The empty bed startled Ari, making her alert to her surroundings and dragging her mind from sleepy grogginess. “Cina? Tonton?” she said, sitting up. Ryghton’s door to his room was already open. Outside of Ryghton’s door, lying on the cold floor, was a King’s Guard, unresponsive. Another guard was trying to wake him by moving him back and forth. Did Cina already move Ryghton to a safe location?

  Ari could hear loud shouts in the hall now; guards were yelling, “The Blood has been taken!”

  The guard, trying to wake his comrade, paused momentarily, looking at Ari before shouting, “The Dragon’s Egg is safe!” After his declaration, the shout was echoed by others throughout the castle.

  Zander nearly tripped over the guards outside of Ryghton’s room trying to get in. He put both hands on his knees, sucking in deep breaths of air. “C-C-ina…t-taken Ryghton…f-fled,” Zander said between gulps of air.

  “Cina took Ryghton and left the castle?” Ari asked, reconstructing what she thought her uncle was trying to tell her.

  “Yes! She isn’t even in Dragon Crest anymore. The King’s guard has already dispatched men in pursuit. They will find him,” Zander was able to say after recovering his breath.

  Ari was worried about her brother, but she knew Cina did not pose a danger to him. Her immense concern was for Cina.

  “The guards will kill her to secure Ryghton! They won’t hesitate at all, Uncle!” Ari yelled at Zander as she hopped out of Ryghton’s bed. It was a good thing she was still dressed in her clothes. Changing last night would have just robbed moments she could have spent with her brother. Ari rushed out of her brother’s room, shouting, “Fetch me a horse!”

  ***