She risked his wrath by disobeying his command. But she must do this now before her will failed her again. 

She could not remain here, not when Theodan was in Azura. Fighting in her name. It had never been in her nature to rely on anyone to rescue her and it would do no good to start now. No. She must go to him. With Dacian's army behind her. She would accept Dacian's proposal, and his army, and then she would free Elyon. Her feelings for both males would have to be secondary to all else. This decision would be made for the good of Azura, for good of her people, for the good of the child that grew inside her. It is what a ruler would do. What a queen would do. And a queen was what Theodan believed her to be.

Due to the presence of the guard Valdr had ordered to remain outside the door, she could not get a message to Dacian, not now at least, and so she could only hope he was planning according to the information from Azura.

As quietly but as hurriedly as she could, she pulled jewels and coin from her chests and stuffed them into a large travelling bag. She had taken nothing when she'd fled Prissia with Galyn, but this time she would take anything of value that she could empty into Azura's purse. Zybar and Leoth, aided by Valdr's scheming, had ensured she was stripped of every treasure she possessed. It seemed fair that Valdr's fortune help replace what had been stolen. Zybar too would return what it had taken, she would make sure of it. Leoth's council would be approached more diplomatically, but she would ensure reparations were paid by Theodan's realm too.

She threw a simple gown into the bag, as well as a pair of riding boots and the cloak Theodan had given her, and laced it closed. Then she slid it under the bed out of view. She lamented the loss of Theodan's mother's gown - when she'd requested it returned to her before they left Alathy, she had been told it was burned, thankfully the cloak he had gifted her was unharmed, and she pulled it from the standing chest and stared at it a long moment. Recalling the look in Theodan's dark eyes when he had settled it on her shoulders the night at Teredia. The weight and warmth of his fingers as he brushed the skin of her neck as he fastened its cord. Longing rose up inside her. A yearning so intense she felt it steal her breath. To see him. To be held by him. Safe. Strong. Powerful. He felt exactly as Azura felt to her then, like home. Like it was where she belonged. 

I would not have cared had he commanded I leave you in the dirt for the Zybarians, Fara - for still, I would have taken you. Because you are mine. You have always been mine. 

She squeezed her eyes closed and sucked in a breath, tears rushing at her eyes. And now she would give herself to another. For a reason that was again nothing to do with love.

She hung the cloak back inside the standing chest, near the front so she could retrieve it easily. She pressed her ear to the door. The corridor outside was silent as the grave and so she hurried toward the passageway that led to Valdr's rooms, hidden from view behind a large decorative tapestry that hung across the whole wall. The scene depicted a noble Calate on his knees, his father touching a hand to his head in absolution.

She pushed open the door to Valdr's chamber and slipped around the heavy woven fabric on the other side. A gasp caught in her throat at the lone figure sitting at the fireside.

Dura of Zybar looked small in the large stuffed armchair that seemed to enfold her inside it. Her little doll-like hands were pale and knotted over her lap, shoulders stiff and body tense. She startled with shock at the sight of Fara, blinking large owlish eyes at her. 

Fara's mind whirred and her breathing quickened as she moved into the room. How to explain her presence? How to explain that her husband had a secret corridor that led directly from his bedchamber to his sister's. 

There was a part of her that no longer wanted to keep Valdr's sins and secrets inside her, sins and secrets that were also her own, so weighed down by them she felt suddenly. Could Dura handle such truths? Fara had no desire to hurt her, she had done enough harm to this girl already. They had built a burgeoning friendship, one that Fara valued and cherished. It was a small frail thing. It would not survive the horror of this truth.

Dura spoke first. "It does not look as though a door exists there. Her furrowed brow smoothed as Fara moved to take the chair opposite, sitting down slowly.

Fara decided to stay as close to the truth as possible. "We used it as children," she explained. "Valdr could not bear to sleep alone most nights, nightmares and terrors plagued him for many years. He fought sleep like an enemy he had been trained to destroy. When he lost he would often awake terrified and in need of comfort." It was true. For many years it had been Fara who tended to Valdr's screams in the night. Panos had since gone to train at the military Fort at Virheim, and Cassi was on the opposite side of the palace close to her nursemaid.

"He still has nightmares?"Dura asked, looking troubled by the information. Fara shook her head. "Then it is habit that keeps you close to him now? In case he awakes in the night? You are there to comfort him." Dura smiled such a sad smile that Fara felt like she may cry.

"Habit, I suppose, yes." Fara's voice was a whisper weighted with the guilt of a thousand memories. "Though I suspect I no longer offer him much comfort."

Dura frowned at this. "Oh, I have no doubt that you still bring him comfort. His joy that you are alive and have returned to him must be immeasurable. He loves you beyond all measure and reason. He told me that when we first met." The torment in Dura's voice caused those unshed tears to push against Fara's eyes once more. Sadness permeated Dura's entire frame, like a shroud, her cheeks

blotched and dappled, as though she had been crying before Fara arrived. "Gods, I should not be here," Dura said in a gasp.

"In Prissia?" Fara asked, hope sprouting through her.

"In his chamber."

Fara smiled a bleak smile. On a low table between them, a jug of wine sat on a polished golden tray, jewelled goblets downturned next to it. She poured them both a cup and reached across to hand one to Dura. She called little for Valdr's wrath then. Let him find her chamber empty and her sitting here soothing his neglected wife instead.

"I find the wine here too complex for my palate," Dura said even though she lifted a shaking hand to her mouth and drank. "But I have been trying to acquire a taste for it." She took a large gulp and then another.

"What is Zybarian wine like?" Fara asked though she was sure she had tried some once.

Dura smiled. "It is lighter in colour, like water but with the faintest touch of green. It has a bitter taste where this is sweet. Too sweet I find." She gave Fara an almost apologetic look. "Will he be angry to find me here?"

With me, yes. "He does not like surprises."

Dura stared at her a long moment, and something like calculation moved over her gaze. "And what does he like?" She asked Fara. Did she know...? Suspect...? Or was it something else entirely that made her eyes look sharp and clever now where they were guileless and innocent before.

"My brother is..." she glanced down, into her wine, and shook her head. "Hard to understand." She expected Dura to ask her to explain, instead, she said.

"I met his mistress this eve... Delphine of Hirath."

"She is no longer his mistress." Then, because she knew what may be implied, she added. "There has been none since he and you wed."

Dura did not appear comforted by that. "She was unkind. Beautiful and unkind."

"Delphine is known for her unkindness."

"And her beauty?"

Fara shrugged. "She is nothing now. If she was cruel to you then it was because she feels threatened by you, that is all. She envies your position."

"She did not seem threatened by me," Dura pondered. "Or envious. Merely cruel."

"She was no less cruel when she warmed Valdr's bed, I assure you. It is her nature."

"She was cruel to you?"

"She would not have dared," Fara said, realising too late what that meant. That she dared to be cruel to Dura.

"Then she thinks I am unimportant. To this court. To Calate. To Valdr."

"Merely to her, perhaps." Fara reached across the space between them and gripped Dura's free hand. Her fingers were stone cold. "You are extremely important to Valdr, Dura. Delphine does not see that because she is blinded by her own unimportance now."

Dura stared at her for some moments. Then, in a small voice, said. "I was left on that dais, forgotten, while everyone else Valdr deemed important was brought to his solar. I think it is my father's army that is important. And now that he has it, there is little need for me."

Fara saw an opportunity, and so took it. Perhaps she would regret it, but she had to try. She sat back in her seat and fixed Dura with a serious look. "Zybar has lost control of the Golden City," she said and Dura's eyes widened. "A group of Leoth warriors, led by the commander Theodan of Teredia, joined forces with Azura's mountain tribes. It seems together they have taken the Golden Palace and most of the city."

Dura's shock turned to a frown. "Leoth warriors? Theodan of Teredia? I do not understand... Leoth now fights for Azura?"

"This group of Leoth warriors do. There are reports that the High Visier of Leoth is dead and no successor has been announced. The realm is under the rule of an Isdar. These... warriors have defected." There was no time to tread carefully now. She would be gone from Prissia soon enough and whatever knowledge Dura had of her brother's intentions could be crucial to the success of this. "If your brother succeeds in taking your father's throne, think you he will send an army back to Azura? Or will he stand with my brother in a war with Leoth? He cannot fight both fronts surely."

Dura considered this, eyes glazed and distant. "My father, and in turn my brother, have long coveted Azura's riches for themselves. Her land is generous and abundant, her treasury overflowing with gold. It was no doubt the reason for my betrothal all those years ago."

Fara decided to take another leap of faith. "It was. Your father planned to kill Galyn the night you wed. To kill King Sylvan and Queen Arielle, and take Azura's throne for himself." Dura frowned, confused and horrified, but Fara went on. "While in Leoth the High Visier of Leoth granted me a vision." Fara held a breath, feeling cruel as the words left her mouth. "I saw it all, Dura. Your betrothal was your father's chance to take Azura without war. When Galyn and I married he saw that chance destroyed. So he made a pact with Valdr; in return for his neutrality and taking you as his wife, Zybar would aid Calate's - Valdr's - war against Leoth." Dura still looked confounded, but now pain twisted her delicate features. More pain that Fara had caused this girl. She loathed it, for Dura surely deserved it less than anyone, but if there was a chance to win Dura to her side she had to take it. "War with Leoth is about Valdr's desire for power, not vengeance for his sister. He sought Azura's destruction for his own ends too - just as your father did. We have both been used as the excuse for the violence and destruction of men, and I do not intend to allow it for a moment more."

Dura was still. Frozen somewhere between horror and grief. "I have long since made my peace with being used for the whims of men." She gave Fara a look. "I would have thought you would have done the same."

"I will not make my peace with that. I cannot."

Dura gave her a look that bordered on pity. "Fara, you know we are nothing in this world but the daughters, sisters, and wives of men."

"But what if we could be more than that?" Fara ventured. Dura's eyes widened, before narrowing very slightly.

"Why are you here?" She asked, before clarifying. "In Valdr's chamber. You knew he was not sleeping, for he was with his lords. As you were."

It was now or not at all. She did not know if she could trust Dura, but neither could she leave this girl here to suffer Valdr's wrath without trying to convince her.

Fara sucked in a deep breath. "I intended to take everything of value in those chests behind you."

"You planned to... rob him? Why?"

"Because Azura needs every single coin and item of value she can get if I am to help her rebuild."

Dura's mind worked quicker than even Fara could have predicted. "You plan to go to Azura and join Theodan of Teredia's rebellion."

"It is where I belong." She steeled her nerves and sat straighter, placing a hand over her stomach. "It is where my child belongs. Azura's throne belongs to Galyn's heir, no one else."

Dura blinked in shock. "You are...carrying Galyn's child?"

Fara nodded, tried to gauge Dura's feelings about the fact but her face was a mask. Pale and still and utterly frozen. Perhaps alerting her to this fact was foolish, perhaps Dura still felt she was the one who should be carrying Galyn's child. She had been his betrothed after all. She held her breath.

"Valdr does not know."

"No."

Suddenly, that pale mask of Dura's face cracked, bleeding out a hurricane of emotion. Fara could not hold on to either one long enough to give a clue to what she was thinking.

"Then... you knew what Theodan of Teredia planned in Azura and you did not warn Valdr?"

Fara shook her head."No. I knew nothing of his plans in Azura."

Did she believe her? Fara was not sure. "I wonder how many Zybar soldiers he killed in reclaiming the city," she said.

"Not close to the number of Azurians Zybar killed in their taking of it." Fara held Dura's eye. "I saw the unimaginable atrocities they committed upon innocent men, women and children who did not deserve it. Who did not ask for war."

"Leoth were no better," Dura hissed. "That monster you wish to stand beside killed Galyn."

Fara swallowed. This was a truth she herself had faced many times. A truth she had long ago accepted. "Galyn died in battle. An honourable death protecting his realm and his people."

"But yet again you say nothing of the atrocities committed by Leoth? They killed many of your precious Azurians too.. how is it you can you forgive them so easily?"

"I do not forgive them easily. But they have shown me kindness too. Elyon of Lethane saved my life in the forests of Virheim. Theodan of Teredia fights for Azura now to make amends, I know he does."

"Elyon of Lethane killed my father before my eyes."

"A father who by your own admission was cruel to you and cared nought for your happiness."

Dura's eyes widened in disbelief. "And you do, I suppose?"

"I do, Dura," Fara edged forward in her chair. "The first time I met you, you reminded me so much of my sister." Cassi who she had not been able to protect or save from the illness which had eaten her alive. She wished to protect Dura from a different poison, but it was one that would eat her alive too. " I know this sounds like madness to you now, but I beg you to trust me, come with me when I leave this place. Ravol, Valdr, this place - it is not safe. Please. Return to your chambers, pack all that you need, and wait for me to send someone for you."

Dura looked surprisingly calm despite all that Fara had said, asked, begged of her. "You wish me to abandon my husband and my home and follow you to the side of Theodan of Teredia?" Dura let out a small incredulous laugh. "You are right, Fara, it sounds very much like madness. A madness I will not be part of." She rose to stand. "You risked much by telling me this, but if your mind is set upon leaving then I shall not stand in your way. I will not tell Valdr what you have told me, but neither will I lie to him. So unless he asks me of it directly, I shall not speak of it."

"Dura please, consider this." Fara felt a rush of panic move through her as she moved toward her. Panic that she would have to leave this girl behind here to face Valdr's wrath. Which this time would be unfathomable. "You are not like your father or your brother, I see the kindness in your eyes. Kindness which will be smothered if you remain here. If you do not wish to come with me, then go somewhere else - leave this place. It is not safe for you here... Valdr is not..." she hesitated. Gods, if she could just speak of it. If only she had been able to speak of it before Theodan. All would have been different. If she could speak of it now maybe she could save this girl who for all the world needed to be saved.

"Valdr is not what?"

Fara opened her mouth to speak, closed it. Looked down at her hands. "He will not be the husband you want him to be. He is... he cannot be."

Dura shook her head and moved to pull open the chamber door. The sound in the hallway was unmistakable. Valdr. He spoke harshly to someone as he got closer. Dura froze and pushed the door closed, turning to blink at Fara. There was only one way to convince her. Horror leeched up her spine at the thought, but it must be done. Since Fara could not speak of it, this was how it had to be.

Wordlessly, Fara took hold of Dura's hand and tugged her toward the passageway. Slipping behind the tapestry and into the narrow walkway, Fara pulled the door closed behind them.

"He shall come to my chamber, not his own," Fara said as they stood outside the door to her chamber. "He stationed a guard outside so I could not leave." Dura opened her mouth to ask why but Fara placed a gentle finger to her lips.  Then she turned and slid open the small oblong latch on the wooden door, causing a small shard of orange light to pierce through the dark corridor. "It has never been my desire for you to learn the truth this way. But now I see it is the only way. He will dismiss the guard as he arrives. When you have heard enough go back through Valdr's chamber. Then I urge you to do as I say and leave this place." 

Dura looked frightened. Desperately so. Fara gave her a regretful look before pulling open the door to her chamber and slipping inside.