With half the kitchen staff suffering from a hangover, breakfast consisted of whatever we could make or find. I did my best not to appear completely lost as I poked through the cupboards and boiled water for the oats I discovered. It wasn't the most convincing act, but since most of my audience had glazed eyes and pounding heads, I assumed they weren't really paying attention. Which was good because I spit my first bite back into the bowl and tried to scrape the taste from my tongue.

I glared at the offensive bowl as if it might attack. It shouldn't have been possible to make oats taste that foul but somehow I had succeeded. Not only that, but if the taste didn't put you off, the texture would. Half overcooked and half crunchy, the congealing mess jiggled as I pushed it away, opting to eat a withered blue apple instead. Sweet juice rushed over my tongue, doing its best to vanquish the lingering bitterness.

Chewing slowly, I took the opportunity to survey the grand dining hall. Twenty-foot ceilings with rafters crafted from a silvery gray wood that could only come from a Star Ash. No other wood sparkled like it did.

Three chandeliers hung low across the room, casting warm light across the three long wooden tables occupying the room. All made from Silver Ash with black candles seated at the end of each of its arms, and on the bottom of each chandelier, a six-pointed star finial dangled. The northern wall was nearly all glass, perfect for observing the Solstice lights. Elves from all over the continent had once come to Estrellum just to see them.

This space didn't exist in my memories, but neither did this strange animosity that I had experienced since coming home. It shouldn't have surprised me to find that someone didn't want me here. That had been a hard earned lesson when we first entered Estrellum, but I had hoped not to experience amongst my own family. Even worse, someone thought I was a traitor, and that infuriated me. How could they blame me for going to Edresh? I was a child without a choice.

A chunk of apple lodged in my throat, and I took a sip of my iced kef to push it down. Tears sprang to my eyes as the smooth, velvety liquid coated my tongue and reminded me of mornings with my mother. When the sun's rays turned the sky pink, she would sneak into my room with iced kef and scones. We would eat them beneath the covers and talk about all the personal things we didn't get a chance to talk about during the day. Those hours belonged to Estrellum, but not the dawn. That was solely for us.

The corners of my lips turned up in a soft smile as I recalled Morana's sleepy incredulity the first time I slipped into her room with Edresh's pitiful excuse for iced kef and scones. I'd half expected her to throw me out, but she must have seen something in my eyes that made her change her mind. Yawning, she sat up, pulled back the covers, and patted the space beside her. It was a tradition we kept up throughout the last cycles of our childhood.

"Please tell me what the bloody hell there is to smile about," Dante said with a groan as he sat down across from me.

"Don't eat that," I replied, pointing at the lumpy porridge on his plate.

"That's all I could find unless I wanted to cook, and I shouldn't be permitted in a kitchen even when my head isn't pounding from too much drink."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. It wasn't as if I could judge him when I'd chosen the oats for almost the same reason. Learning to cook wasn't a priority in our daily lessons as children of nobility. Though, after the hand life had dealt us, I decided then and there it would change with my daughter.

"Here." I fished an extra apple out of the pocket of my tunic. "Trust me. If you haven't already vomited, that porridge will certainly make you do so."

Dante stared at the apple as if it was his salvation. His teeth sank into the tender blue flesh with a crunch, and juice slid down his chin as he chewed. A moan rumbled in his throat as he swallowed, and his hazel eyes glazed over as he took the second bite.

"I forgot how good these tasted."

"Try this." I pushed the iced kef to him.

He tipped back the cup and took a deep drink. "Starlight. That's excellent. I wouldn't touch the miserable excuse for kef back in Yorkton. Tasted like piss."

"Right? The queen locked me in my room for a week after I told her if they were going to steal one of Estrellum's most famous drinks, they ought to make it right."

"You really said that?"

I snatched my drink back before he could finish it off. "I'd only been there a moon cycle. They hadn't quite beaten the rebel out of me at that point."

It wasn't for lack of trying. Queen Thera hadn't just ordered me to be locked in the tower for a moon cycle. She had also arranged a nightly whipping. Dinner was always served right after, and even though it was the only meal provided during that time, I could hardly eat it because of the pain. The soldier who beat me watched as I tried to force the food down between tears, and whatever I didn't finish within a single bell, he took with him.

"Hey." Dante reached over the table and covered my hand with his. His hazel eyes were bright as he searched my face. "You're not there anymore. You escaped."

"I know. It's just..."

"It's just sometimes you have to remind yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Me too."

"Thank you. For everything. If Yoko–" My voiced cracked over her name. "If we had to come to Estrellum alone, we wouldn't have made it this far. I'm glad you're here with me."

"Always."

He turned my hand over and threaded his fingers through mine. With any other man, I might have pulled away, thinking he was making a move, but even though I knew Dante wanted me in that way, there was nothing about his touch that asked for something I couldn't give. It was pure comfort.

"Good." I cleared my throat. "It's especially good because I need someone here that I can trust. I'm getting less than cooperative feelings from my aunt, my cousin seems to loathe me, and someone left a note in my room that called me a traitor."

"What?" he blurted out, leaning back in his chair.

I explained what happened last night after we were separated and concluded with the events of the morning. With every word, his expression grew darker, and I half expected him to leap from his seat with his sword drawn.

"It's fine. I knew being queen wasn't going to be easy, but it's a little overwhelming. Not to mention, I didn't expect to be blamed for being kidnapped."

He swallowed and looked down at his plate. "I don't think that's why they're calling you a traitor."

"What do you mean? Why else would they call me a traitor?" I watched him poke at the porridge and refuse to meet my eyes. "Dante!"

"Okay, fine." He scanned the room and leaned over the table to whisper. "Estrellum should never have fallen to Edresh. Most of the country is surrounded by mountains no army could cross, and the one place they could, they would have to go through Araphel to reach the pass. Yorkton was the only place the Edreshian army could try to enter, but it was an easily defendable place. For years, they attacked and were rebuffed."

"I remember that. The first attack happened the day of my fourth birthday, but I still don't see how any of this makes me a traitor."

"The ruling theory is that someone from the outside helped the General."

"And that someone was me," I quipped, rolling my eyes at the absurdity of the idea. Dante didn't smile. "Wait. They really believe that?"

He nodded. "If it helps, most believe that you were tortured for information."

"That doesn't help!"

"I'm sorry. I'm only telling you what I heard from others."

"Did you think I was responsible?"

"Maybe for a moment. Especially when I was looking for someone to blame for my family's death, but after a few moon cycles in captivity, I knew it couldn't be true. You loved your country and your people. No amount of torture could have made you betray them. Also, I never heard the General mention your name regarding the victory, and he most definitely would have bragged about breaking the princess."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" I dropped my head in my hands and struggled to calm myself.

"Because I didn't think of it. Like I told you, I never believed you did it, and it didn't seem like something to bring up while we were fleeing through the countryside."

"It didn't seem..." My voice trailed away and I raised my head, looking at him with barely concealed anger and fear. "Dante."

"As, it's fine. No one will think you're a traitor after you relight Vyta and take the throne."

"I don't give a damn about that. It's the fact that the real traitor is probably still out there, and I am the last person they wanted to ever see again."