Two days came and went of unpacking as much as you could before going to your work and delving into books, notes, experiments, and taking care of patients. In the chaos of everything, there was no time for you to sit down and relax. You woke, ate quickly, unpacked as much as you could before Amara and Liriel came to get you ready for the day, and went about your duties in the healing facilities.

In that time, not much progress was made in your research or Daeron's. The two of you had hit a wall, which seemed impossible to overcome. It became a topic of tension between you two. Each knew that it was not the other's fault and did not blame them, but the feeling of hopelessness began to wear down on you two.

You were finally granted a moment of reprieve.

The cool breeze of the morning chill flowed through your open windows. Scents of blooming plants filled the space as you broke your fast. You had spent the morning reading the last filled-in pages of your father's journal. It may not have been the best decision, as you struggled to maintain your composure at parts. He would write about his days however a large focus was on you. He went on of how proud he was of you and of the young lady you were becoming. His written words gave you both a sense of comfort and a deep sharp pain in your chest.

Your hand turned to the last entry and you took in the date. It was the day before he left on a trip, the one he vanished on. You sucked in a breath and looked outside, tears brimming your eyes. While your father's disappearance was devastating, you managed to get used to the pain over the years. Reading his journal seemed to open those cuts you long thought were healed.

Your eyes scanned the delicate ink stains of his writing. His writing had always been a topic of jealousy for you, for it was always neat. He spoke of his upcoming journey. While he originally told you he was heading north, his writing revealed it was not the case. Your brows furrowed as you scanned the writing, certain excerpts reaching out to you.

The southern lake of Rosemagne... is the topic of contention among my fellow researchers because of the... I believe it is a good place to gather samples to...

You scanned the words with a rushed fervour. You did not recognize the lake's name and found yourself leaving the table and moving toward your bookshelf. The chair scraped against the floor. Once you grabbed the book you were looking for, you dashed back and sat down. You flipped to a map of the known lands and scanned the various bodies of water. Your finger dragged across the parchment as you scanned, but you could not find it in your kingdom. A tiny feeling settled in your stomach; a queasy sickness that churned the food you had eaten.

"Please tell me you were not so foolish..." Your voice barely came out, a whisper so imperceptible even you did not know if you actually spoke it.

You began to go over the known lands of the elf kingdom. Far larger than your own, you spent longer scanning the land. To your horror, but also correct assumption, the image of Lake Rosemagne sat just under your fingertip.

Oh, gods...

Your father entered elf territory without permission. His disappearance could only mean a single thing; he was caught and properly dealt with. The cup on your table was hurled at the wall quickly and you began to lose control of your breathing, chest heaving with sobs that threatened to spill. This whole time you held to the belief he was still out there.

Your mind conjured up scenarios where he decided to stay in a place he thought promising to his research. While naive, it was how you coped. There was no way you wished to admit the truth that had been clawing down your throat for years. The thought of him dead, of you being parentless and thus alone and without grounding in this world, was not an option for you.

Your suspicion then turned to Aemond. Surely, he would have known about your father. As king, he would have been notified of any trespassers. There was the very possibility that he may have executed your father himself.

No.

Your brain refused to admit it. He would have told you or perhaps Helaena may have known. You shook your head at that, if Helaena knew she would have informed you immediately after piecing it together. She would never hide a thing like that from you, but Aemond...

Was Aemond's agreement to Helaena's proposal of you coming here nothing but a way to lure you in? To finish the job and get rid of all possible people who would have known?

The two of you had just begun to bridge the cavern that separated one another. Assumptions would get you nowhere. Whether or not he had a hand in your father's likely death, this had to be handled with care. There was no proof he had done what your brain jumped to and you would not condemn him until there was evidence. You would play the field as necessary. Not reveal that you know and pretend to be unaware of it all.

The room felt stifling. The walls closed in on you and you needed to get out. You composed yourself and splashed water on your face from the wash basin to get rid of the redness on your skin. You placed your father's journal under the pillows on your bed to hide it. While not a good spot, you were in no headspace to think of someplace better.

All you cared about was leaving the suffocating room. 

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The door to the library by your laboratory was a welcoming sight. You believed it was time to shuffle through the shelves again in hopes that you could find something new for your research. A title you may have brushed off in previous visits could stand out and be worth the read.

You pushed open the wood and are greeted with a sight you wished to avoid. Aemond stood beside one of the tables, casually flipping through the pages of a book that had been likely left behind by some visitor. He looked bored as if he had been waiting for something. Alerted by your presence, he turned his head to see you.

"Good morrow, your grace." You bowed respectfully, but truthfully you wished to run as fast and far as you could. Images of your father flashed across your vision when looking at the king. The speculation of your father's death conjured up just moments ago pressed down on your chest.

Aemond spoke your name. It was incredible how shamefully you relished in the way it rolled off his tongue. While you stated that you did not hate him, you also did not like him. At the very least, you had begun to think of him positively, but with your discovery that trust was thrown away.

"I was informed of your curiousness regarding dark magic," Aemond continued. You got nervous as such information could likely have you in dire straits. He picked up another book that was on the table and walked over to you, "This was something I read a few centuries ago. I completely forgot about it until I was browsing my shelves and thought you would need it."

The way in which he casually threw out that he had read it a few centuries ago came across like a person reminiscing on an event from just a month or two ago. Your heart quickened at the notion that, while he was browsing his personal collection, he stumbled across a book and thought of you. It was a dangerous mode of thinking for you, to go down such a speculative path.

Aemond held out the book and you went to grab it. The tips of your fingers brushed against his and a flurry of heat coursed up through your arm. You almost reflexively dropped the book by the shock you felt.

"Thank you," You responded once it was in your arms. You held it to your chest, like some kind of shield between you two.

"I was thinking that I could also peruse the shelves here with you. I can translate the ones in other languages." It was yet another olive branch extended from him, except this time you did not want to meet it. The thought of your whole presence being here as a trap set by him threw you off.

The most dangerous creatures are often beautiful.

You had not remembered where exactly such a phrase was ingrained into you. You had heard it from someone, but their words rang true. It was best for you to put up a wall before it was too late. There was nothing wrong with you and Aemond's relationship just a few short days ago – barely acknowledging one another.

"I do not need any help, your grace," You interjected, "Daeron has translators if I need them."

It may have been a trick of the light or perhaps a misinterpreted thought, but you could have sword a gleam of disappointment flashed across Aemond's eye. He shuffled almost awkwardly on his feet and moved his hands to be clasped behind him.

He gave you a curt nod, "I shall leave you to it, then." He moved past you to leave and his scent lingered. Burning wood and parchment undercut by a medley of spices. It was entirely too intoxicating. 

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The familiar sight of Lyra lying in her bed greeted you as you walked into the sick hall. She had been fiddling with a doll in her lap, stuck in the childlike wonder of imagination. As you approached, she spotted you and a smile made its way on her face.

Lyra spoke your name, "You're here!"

"I'm here. And how have you been, sweet girl?" You sat on the edge of the bed and made a trained scan of her body, checking the progression of the taint as the purple-black darkness spread on her skin.

"I am fine, other than the fact that I wish to know what is going on outside this hall," Lyra answered. It was no surprise she wanted to leave. Most patients expressed the same sentiment. Their bedbound lifestyle was suffocating. While they were not contagious, their frail conditions would make any instance of walking painful and could worsen their condition.

"I'm sorry, but you know you cannot leave this bed." You reasoned.

Lyra nodded and held out the doll. It was small - only slightly bigger than your hand and sizeable enough to fit in a pocket. The doll shared a remarkable resemblance to Lyra. Gold embroidery string replicated her hair and a small sewn outfit adorned the doll.

"Could you take Lady with you? It does not matter what adventure she goes on, I just want her to see outside this hall." Lyra asked you. Your hands reached out to take the doll and made sure to handle it with extra care.

"I will take her on many adventures." You promised. While you gave her a wide smile, your inner self was in turmoil. It ached at the sadness of her situation, something that many others were suffering through. You looked around the room and saw Daeron walking in from one of the balconies.

You leaned over to tuck Lyra in, "I have something I need to discuss with Daeron. Get some rest, sweet girl." Lyra nodded at your words and closed her eyes to go to sleep. You tucked the doll gently in one of your dress pockets and got up to stop Daeron as he moved down the centre aisle.

Daeron greeted you before his face went still, "How serious is it?"

"Pardon?" You responded.

"You get this look on your face when you are going to talk about something serious." Daeron raised one eyebrow, "Am I correct?"

You grabbed his arm and started to pull him in the direction of the laboratory. You proposed many days ago the option of using dark magic against the taint off of the basis of your poison hypothesis. He promised he would think about it and you gave him space to do so, but now you were more anxious than ever for a response. However, you could not bring it up in a space full of other witnesses.

Once in the safety of the laboratory, you moved to the book you had used for this discovery and pulled out the mortua terra flower samples as well. You had already gathered all of the other ingredients that made up your old formula – the one with the most success.

Daeron looked back and forth between you and the table, "And this is?"

"My proposal," You told him, "I gathered the flowers in this book. I am ready, but are you?"

He kept his gaze on the jar of flowers in front of him and rested his hands on his waist, "Dark magic is something that marks your soul. I cannot, with consciousness, allow you to do this alone."

You moved your mouth to speak, but Daeron held his hand out to stop you, "You do not need to pretend you wouldn't have gone and done it yourself regardless of my decision." There was something almost comical in the way he could easily read you and you wondered if the other elves could do that as well.

Daeron went about organizing the ingredients and prepping everything to work. You followed in his steps, cutting and juicing the ingredients while he spoke, "There are things such as light and dark plants. They are incompatible in mixtures together, but each serves well on their own. Light plants are easy to manipulate. Those flowers you collected are dark, so working with them requires extra preparation steps."

"And I am guessing those steps are difficult," You interjected. Daeron picked up a single mortua terra flower and inspected it.

"Yes," He answered, "We need blood to leech out its magical properties."

You paused your movements and the metal stirrer halted but the liquid inside the pot continued to swirl, "Blood?"

"The blood is just a grounding force." He lit a small fire under two potting zones and poured the liquid from your pot into them. "I am curious to see the difference between human blood and elf blood."

"But if we just need blood to activate it, what makes it dark magic?" You questioned him. Daeron turned and dragged two comfy chairs across the stone floor to be placed near the table. He adjusted the pillows.

"The blood is a connection to you and your soul. The more potent it is, the more energy it takes from you. That is the risk with dark magic, it sucks your energy and your soul the more you do it. However, the more you do it, you eventually cannot stop. It becomes addicting." Daeron then unsheathed a dagger that was strapped to his waist. The metal glimmered in the candlelight.

He picked up one of the flowers and dropped it into one of the pots. Once it sank into the simmering mixture, he held his hand out and slowly cut a line on his palm. Beads of blood pooled to the surface and dripped into the pot. His brows furrowed as he winced. Daeron cleaned the blade in a washpot that was on the table. He then held it out to you.

"Your skin must make contact with the flower. Drop it in, wait a few seconds, and then cut." You took the blade from him and a small wave of reluctance came over you. This is what you wanted, but it was still terrifying.

You followed the steps carefully. Afterwards, Daeron gestured to the chairs, "Sit down. The longer it brews, the more energy will be drained. We will be here all night."

The two of you sat in the chairs that were placed next to one another and listened to the bubbling of the liquid. Silence enveloped the two of you. As predicted, drowsiness settled over you. It was not intense, but began to creep up on you. Daeron did not look as affected and you assumed that largely had to do with your races; elves were stronger than humans.

To occupy yourself, you decided to speak, "Why is your brother the way he is?"

"I do not even know where to begin with Aegon. He-"

"Not Aegon," You interrupted, "King Aemond. Why is he..." You trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. One moment, Aemond is holding a sword to your throat and the next he is offering you a book and help. It was incredibly dizzying. It made you feel mad. Aemond's attitude threw you off, but the shreds of kindness that extended your way erupted a flurry in your stomach and burning in your veins.

Daeron sighed, "He is guarded. Some of the things he has gone through made him-"

"Cruel?" You finished his sentence.

He shook his head in denial and adjusted his posture in the chair, "As I said before, everything my brother did was to protect his people."

You waited a few moments before responding, "I've met your family, all of you are incredibly kind. I've heard the stories of what he did during the Great War. Why is he so different?"

"Most of the stories about him you humans tell are exaggerated." Daeron stretched his legs out, some drowsiness already starting to come over him.

"So he does not drink the blood of his enemies?" You asked.

"No." Was Daeron's quick response.

You decided to go through all of the stories you could remember, "Hangs men up by their balls? Feeds dead children to their parents? Leaves field of impaled men as a warning?"

"No."

"He doesn't set fields and towns on fire? Raid strongholds that had already surrendered, killing all the men inside?" Your tone moved to a more teasing manner.

Instead of answering, Daeron got quiet. His silence was a confirmation and you sunk further into your chair. You could, if you tried hard enough, picture it in your head. Aemond, standing in a blazing field, bodies littered around, and the screams of humans being all that could be heard. You cringed at that and felt an overpowering feeling of guilt for ever allowing yourself to be entranced by him.

In your state of exhaustion, you leaned your head on Daeron's shoulder. He rested his cheek against the top of your head and the two of you stared at the brewing pots. There was one last question that burned at you, one you had asked Aemond but received no response.

"What does rūklon mean?" Your pronunciation had not gotten better, but the point was still made.

You could feel Daeron adjust his head slightly, "Why?"

"I just..." You paused and wondered if you should tell him that Aemond referred to you by that word to Helaena, but decided against it for fear it might be bad, "I heard it in passing and wondered."

"Well, it could refer to a blooming plant, but more often it just means flower," Daeron answered. Helaena's voice – mimicking Aemond's words – echoed through your head.

That stupid little rūklon risking her life...

Little flower...

Was it a connection to the fact that you wore the azure perfume that reminded him of his childhood? That may have charged extra anger towards you. You highly doubted, out of all possible reasons behind it, that Aemond meant it as some kind of nickname. Daeron's confirmation of Aemond's cruelty just moments ago came back to you.

Some weird part of you felt the need to justify his actions. They were at war and he was their king. He had pressure over his shoulders like no other to keep his people safe. Aemond had to make decisions, hard ones, for the continuation of his kingdom. Quickly after that thought came more guilt. You felt cruel yourself for trying to find a likely reason behind his actions – to somehow justify the wholesale slaughter of your own kind.

Perhaps, if you were lucky one day, you could hear Aemond's side.

Daeron was the one to break the silence instead of you, "I love my siblings, I truly do. Helaena is my closest friend and I am grateful to have her as a sister. But... I've always wanted a little sister. I know it hasn't been a while since we've met, but I think of you as one."

You did not know if he was just sharing this with you because he wanted to or if the gradual exhaustion had something to do with his confession. Regardless of the reasoning, his thoughts matched something you had always had.

"I've always wanted an older brother." It was a simple response, but gave Daeron the comforting answer he wanted. He went back to resting his head against yours. In your shared state of comfort, the both of you eased into a dreamless sleep. 

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You were caught in that haze of sleep and awake. There were no dreams, just an abyss of darkness that wrapped you in warmth. In the distance, a part of your consciousness was creeping forward. It spun into action upon hearing your name being whispered. You felt a light press on your shoulder and came to. Your eyes opened to see Daeron crouched in front of you. He shook your shoulder with care.

Your energy had been regained and you saw the table with the brewing pots to be on a low simmer. It likely had burned through the energy needed and made it so you and Daeron could wake. It was only when you adjusted in your seat that you saw Aemond standing next to the table and watching you with his arms crossed.

"Your grace," You shot out of the chair, but in doing so made your head spin. You would have tumbled if Daeron did not catch you. One of his hands gripped your right forearm and the other wrapped around your waist with care. You blushed deeply with embarrassment as the flush moved across your cheeks and down your chest.

Aemond observed with a careful eye. You could see his one eye drift down to where Daeron's arms held you and he pursed his lips. He had likely seen you and Daeron asleep together and wondered what was going on.

"Burning a candle at both ends?" Aemond spoke. It was a weird question coming from him; to tease you about working late. Daeron released you and walked to the table where his brother was.

Daeron gestured to the two simmering pots, "We are starting a new experiment that may likely be promising." Aemond peered over to look into the pots and hummed. You approached warily and moved to the other side of the table to create distance between you and the two elves.

"They should be ready for testing on samples, your grace." You spoke. Aemond continued to look at the mixture brewing.

"The flowers she brought back was a stroke of genius," Daeron praised.

Aemond then looked up at you, his expression unreadable, "The same ones collected from the forest?" His tone bordered on scolding. Any words you could think of got caught in your throat and you nodded.

Daeron sensed a bit of tension and clapped his hands together once, "Well, you should tell him about your hypothesis," You sent him a look of challenge and he reciprocated with a nervous smile. You did not know why Aemond was being combative. While he was quick to attitude, there was something that must have soured his mood.

You cleared your throat, "Well, some poisons can be used to counteract others. I thought the same could be done to the taint but it only worked temporarily. I thought, perhaps, the taint was not poison but some kind of dark magic. That is why we needed those flowers,"

Aemond opened his crossed arms and clasped his hands behind his back, "Smart." That seemed to ease the king's annoyance and you were able to breathe.

"I must get going to tend to patients," Daeron announced. He addressed you and spoke, "Keep watch on the brew." The prince said his goodbyes and left. You wanted to reach out and tug at the collar of his shirt, drag him from the door, and place him right next to the table. There was an overwhelming urge to curse him out that overcame you. He left you alone with Aemond, knowingly and seemingly acted as though it was funny.

You decided to distract yourself from the tension and moved to start organizing ingredients and other items on the table. The piercing gaze of Aemond's eye fell like lead on your skin.

"The two of you have gotten close," Aemond uttered. You continued with your task, though you could still see him in the corner of your vision. The table between you two did not feel like enough room, yet at the same time, a part of you wished it was not there.

"Well, the prince has been incredibly helpful in teaching me-"

"I would advise against engaging in anything further." He interrupted, "You best understand that elves and humans do not mix."

Your brows furrowed and you ceased your movements. His words took a few thrumming beats of your heart to register. Aemond's insinuation finally hit you. He believed, upon seeing you and Daeron asleep against one another, that feelings were beginning to bloom. You understood why he was suddenly so sour.

You were a human and the slightest notion of you so much as coupling with an elf must have been what angered him. He expressed his reservations about you being less because of your race in the past. It had angered him even further that he thought you were not just trying to go after an elf, but a member of the royal family no less. He barely thought you were good enough to consider a friend.

"Oh, no-" You tried to interject and clarify, but Aemond interrupted again.

"Best get back to work." He gave you an uncomfortable smile as if hiding a tinge of pain and quickly exited the room. You were left alone in the laboratory. The bubbling of the pots became a background noise as the thrumming of your heart took over. You did not know why it was beating so quickly. At no point in that exchange did you feel scared or hunted, yet your heartbeat betrayed you. A heat had returned to your face and you shook your heat in an attempt to ground yourself.

You moved to stir the two pots all while trying to ease the unknown feelings budding in your chest.