Mornings had become a familiar routine in the otherwise foreign state of affairs regarding Lily's stay. Princess Kiethia, Valdor's younger sister, had seen to it that she maintained a structured life that acquainted her with elvin customs.

Every morning a different hand maiden of Princess Kiethia would wake her, help her wash and dress according to elvin fashions. Today she wore a loosely fitted copper gown of muslin with sheer sleeves. The hand maid Ybieth wove her hair in thin looping braids that cascaded past her shoulders.

When she was deemed ready, she was escorted to the small mess hall used by the healers. Lily attempted to engage Ybieth in conversation, but given that this was only their third encounter, there weren't many topics that came to mind.

Instead, Ybieth sat beside her, offering Lily her sight. No matter how many times Lily asked for them to share the meal together, each of the hand maidens always refused her claiming to have already eaten. She'd become aware that there was a silent although visible hierarchy that was strictly adhered.

A couple of the more welcoming healers had begun greeting her in and out of the hall, though none had managed the courage to sit and eat with her. Some days she was thankful she could not see the wayward stares in her direction as an object of curiosity and gossip; although, it did not mean she felt them any less.

Resigned to awkward silence, other conversations throughout the hall floated to her from healers whose voices she had begun to match with names.

They did not know what to make of her. She was a human, after all. And a close friend of Prince Valdor while an exclusive patient of Prince Landros. But most curious of all, she was afflicted with an aliment that the great healer prince could not cure. As such, not only was she a puzzle, but a challenge amongst them to solve the mystery of her condition and gain their prince's attention.

There was a knot deep in the pit of her stomach that grew each day. After being kidnapped, taken to another world, and tormented by a pair of elves, she now had a glimmer of what Aurora must have experienced in the past several years. Like her, she had a power she did not understand or know how she had gotten it. With every polite glance, she felt stripped bare and dissected. Her future was clouded with uncertainty and fear.

She pushed the plate away, leaving most of her food untouched, "Ybieth, I'm ready to go to the gardens now."

"Certainly, lady."

Lily allowed for Ybieth to dispose of the plate and waited patiently for her return. A brush against her hand that rested on the table, notified her of Ybieth's return. Before she used her Sight, she asked, "May I?" The hand maiden accepted.

It was possible for her to use her Sight without their knowledge with just a sustained touch; however, given the generosity shown by Valdor and Kiethia, it felt as a betrayal to their kindness.

The gardens found in the Healers' Quarter were different than those throughout the castle grounds, as Lily had discovered. These plants served for medicinal purposes and training by the healers. Assorted plants she was familiar with and others she could attribute solely to this world, rounded in contoured rows, and walkways were lined with vined pergolas. Two glass vaulted conservatories flanked the space in the distance, though the glass panes in one were tinted lime green.

Healers tended to various plants and walked in and out of the conservatories carrying small bushels or seed pouches. She never knew where the healers headed with their bounties, though she suspected there were other sections of the Healers' Quarter she had not been privy to.

Ybieth guided her to a wooden bench beneath a pergola that looked out to a gurgling pool. It spread out in eight thin ribbons of water which acted like natural irrigation. When the sun was high, the pool reflected it so brightly, that it appeared as if the sun had melted into the ground and the streams were turned to liquified sunlight.

She loved this place; it's beauty and serenity. The sounds of chirping birds, the warbling of the pool, and the gentle breeze that skited across her face gave her comfort. Every morning she sat there in peace for hours until Valdor appeared and share his noon meal and a ridiculous tale with her.

But noon arrived and Valdor did not. Nor had he yesterday. Or the day before that. There had been no trace of him in the evenings either. She supposed there were plenty of things that would keep a prince busy, and although she knew she wasn't his sole focus, something felt odd in the pit of her stomach. A nagging worry, that refused to subside.

Lily was dragged out of her musings by a musical voice shouting, "There you are!"

The smile that spread across Lily's face was inevitable as was the charisma that emanated from its source: Princess Kiethia. Her sleeveless dress draped down her lithe body like blooming petals with colors bleeding out in cream, then buttery, and finally burnt orange at the lower trimmings. A thin, wisp of fabric in three looms across her back floated like leaves caught in the wind. She wore no jewelry other that a simple circlet woven in and out of her ginger hair.

Lily stood and bowed with the help of Ybieth, "Princess Thia."

The princess dismissed Ybieth then replaced the hand maid's hand with hers, "Use your Sight. You call my brother by his given name, not prince, why can you not do the same for me?" Her face turned into a small pout.

It was as impossible to refuse her as to stop the break of day. "I will try...Thia."

"Good." Thia looped her arm around Lily's and led her away. "I suppose you have not seen that elusive brother of mine, have you? He is scheduled to take over several meetings for my cousin, now that he is returned. At least for a few days. But from the grumblings I heard today, he was either late or left too early. He is a moody male."

"No. It's been days since last I saw him." Lily allowed herself to be guided around the pool, but the worry that laced her voice could not be helped. "Do you have any idea where he would be?"

"None that I would say in front of my mother." Thia grumbled before she covered her mouth to cover her indiscretion. "What I meant to say is that there are plenty of places in the city for him to become distracted." Her brow furrowed with honest anxiety, "Please do not repeat anything that I have said and do not think ill of him."

"Far from it."

Relief dripped from Thia's shoulders like a passing shadow. "Good. It is actually because of him that I am here."

Lily smiled at Thia's quick defense of her brother.

"He left word that I should visit and keep you company, but I'm afraid I did not receive the news until late evening yesterday and mother had me busy all morning or I would have been here sooner."

"Thank you. I am grateful for your company, but don't feel an obligation to stay if you cannot. I understand you may have other responsibilities being a princess."

"True, but what kind of friend would I be?" Thia had guided them to a gazebo, further into the gardens than Lily had ventured, where the noon meal waited for them.

Conversation through the meal did not lack or fluster. The princess had a natural ability to provide ease and comfort; no doubt a skill acquired from years at court. Not to mention a plethora of questions that coming from anyone else would have seemed like prying, but she had a way of conveying genuine interest that was endearing.

"While you were with Nim, did you happen to meet Jarvis?" Servants began to clear the table as the princess pressed on.

Just like that, her heart began to race. Her skin turned to gooseflesh, though the sun's heat was evident in the beaded droplets of perspiration crowning the foreheads of the servants as the last of the plates were removed.

Lily allowed air to enter her lungs in an attempt to stave off the memories of imprisonment. A pound of sand felt like it had invaded her mouth and chased away any moisture. She remembered that feeling of endless thirst from the cell. But she had not been alone. Nim was there. She tried hard to steady her breathing and focused solely on remembering the soothing timbre of Nim's voice.

Jarvis? She tried to remember. Yes, one of his children. He'd spoken of him. The words struggled to come out. "No, I've not met him." The princess missed the crack in her voice. Whatever physical reaction the question had triggered went unnoticed. Her response was what elicited a reaction from Thia.

It was only a moment, but the brightness that shone on the princess's face flickered briefly. Voices wafted nearby and their attention turned to the royal guards approaching.

Of the elves flanked by the guards Lily recognized Elithin, a close advisor to Prince Landros. His mouth seemed not to move when he spoke and his dark eyes appeared to capture every nuance and store it for later use. No expression lined his features other than a long nose on an angular face.

The elderly elf he wheeled before him had silver thinning hair and his skin drooped like a melting candle. Arms, that reminded Lily of twigs, stuck out of burgundy robes. He rubbed a cane across his knees with brown spotted bony hands. His ears, that had no doubt stood tall and proud in youth, now were shriveled like withered leaves. All this Lily observed with her Sight.

Elithin fell silent as they entered the shade of the gazebo and Thia took Lily by the hand and stood. The princess let go of Lily and parted her hands before her in greeting.

When Thia clasped her hand again, Lily felt the slight squeeze and as the princess bowed so did she.

"It's good to see you enjoying this beautiful day, grandsire. Landros' healings seem to have done you well. How I've prayed to have his gift." Thia leaned down and kissed his pale cheek.

Grandsire? Lily pondered. But if he was her grandfather, then that meant... he was the king! King Prathios of Kai'lym.

The king reached out a hand which Thia took. "You have the biggest heart of them all, my dear. That is more than enough." His beady eyes shifted to Lily as he asked in a raspy voice than resembled a crackling fire, "Who is she?"

All of a sudden, Lily did not know what to do with herself.

"This is, er, was Nim's charge, Lily. She is my friend and Valdor has promised to watch over her in his stead." Thia let go of his hand and offered her a comforting smile.

"I see." At that moment, a strong breeze kicked up and rattled leaves of the trees. "Autumn is nearly upon us and these bones are no match for the chill in the air. My dear will you retrieve my blanket from my chambers? The blue patterned one seems to be the only one not to get caught in these wheels." He motioned to the chair.

"Certainly, grandsire." Thia gave an apologetic grin to Lily before she released her and took off on the king's errand.

Lily stood unsure of what to do as Prathios gaze fell on her once again. He raised a bony hand and a guard stepped forward at once. "Leave her here and be gone."

"But your Majesty, our orders? Prince Landros -" the guard did not finish.

"Is not king. Not yet anyway. Now go." His attention turned from the backs of the guards promptly leaving to his attendant, "What are you still doing here?"

Elithin flustered a response, "Your Eminence, what if someone wished you harm?"

Prathios waved a wrinkled hand in the air as if squatting an insect. "I pity the fool that hired an assassin when time has already claimed me and will soon collect its debt."

Trying to pacify the king, Elithin circled the chair to face him, "I just thought-"

"You just thought you'd eavesdrop, for my own good of course, on this withered ancient elf and report back to your prince. Is that it?" The speed with which he hooked his cane around the neck of his attendant was remarkable.

One tug and Elithin was on his knees. "I am king, and I decide what is best for me." Another tug. "Now leave, and report to my nephew if you must." The elvin king released Elithin's neck then sharply gave him a final shove on the shoulder with his cane.

Without recourse, Elithin stood and left, not daring to look back.

When his attendant was well and truly gone, the cane was placed calmly against his chair. Then Prathios' body began to shake and quake with a rumble deep within his chest until a loud burst erupted from him.

The laughter that emanated from the elderly king startled Lily. His gnarled hand took hold of hers bringing their surroundings into focus once more. Moisture glistened from the corner of his eye as he rubbed it away with the back of his hand.

A broad smile stretched his wrinkles across his face in such a manner that his eyes were swallowed by his overgrown white brows. "Was that not a good turn?" His shoulders continued to bounce in mirth. "Ha, ha! That's the best fun I've had in a long while. Woo!" He placed a hand against his chest and slowly recovered his breathing.

"I always did enjoy sparring. Come girl, you can laugh." Prathios shook Lily's hand in the air. "It was just a bit of fun. All is well!"

Earlier he had appeared to be a fragile yet doting grandfather to Thia, but with her departure a brusque and shrewd persona had appeared that demand unquestionable obedience. His voice became harsher and colder than anything it had been in front of his granddaughter.

Yet now, when they were alone, he resembled more a youth getting his wicked ways through cunning and manipulation. Two personalities, king and elf, resided within him. Ever at odds with each other, yet the same.

"Sir, you...I, I don't know what to say."

"Good. Now use your Sight girl, and sit down." He waited for her to sit before he continued. "Yes, I know all about you, human. I know of what you can do. These fools around me speak loudly and have even more loose tongues when they think me unaware." The king with the clever wit and keen eye, stared her down.

"I hear you are from Summershome, in the human nation to the east?"
Lily did not remember the identity that Valdor had crafted for her and simply nodded.

His thumb glided against her knuckles. "You do not have the hand of a farmer. What then was your livelihood before your blindness?"

It was impossible to predict the king's reaction to her response, and to avoid any missteps she opted for the truth. "I studied banking, your Majesty."

"Interesting. I was not aware, that Summershome provided such apprenticeships to women. How long had you been an apprentice?" His left brow cocked in question.

"Two years."

He was silent until the grip of his hand tightened. "My eyes are ancient, but they can see passed the lies you and my nephew have spun."

Any trace of the curious patriarch disappeared. "You have no sense of geography or history of this world. You do not speak with the accent of the people of Hardin. Summershome is the land of the Hoelhs. It is to the south not east. And it no more has an apprenticeship in banking, than I am young."

His words carried the weight of authority and power. "Tell me where it is you come from. Speak the truth, and you need not fear me. Lie and the consequences will be grave."

She was trapped. His words were law in this land. There was no way out. Whatever she answered, the likely result would be imprisonment. Valdor could not help her now. Dread rose like bile in her throat.

Tears spilled from her eyes as she knelt before him. "You are right. I have lied, but it was not done out of malice, your Majesty. Please, I just wanted to be safe and I needed help. That is what Valdor offered me. I am not of this world." What more could she say that he'd be willing to hear. All that remained now was to see if he was true to his word.

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