Eramire stood alone on the balcony of the villa. It was getting late, but sleep evaded her. Her mind raced with the earlier happenings of the day. Faleon had not returned from the errand she had sent him on, not that she had expected anything less. Results would surely come, but it would take time.

Eramire sighed, leaning on the balcony. She was exhausted. Exhausted from being here and trying to fight a losing battle. Exhausted from fighting with every member of the company, from Amara to Thorindir to her own sister. Exhausted from worrying about Earwen and wondering if she would come back. Eramire knew she wasn't the greatest sister to Earwen. She knew she had pushed Earwen hard. But Eramire had only wanted to be sure the people would have a leader should anything happen to her. Why couldn't Earwen understand that? And then there was Thorindir. How could he hide such an important thing from them?

"It's a little late to be up, isn't it?"

Eramire started at the familiar, resonating voice not far from her ear. She looked up to see Faleon casually sitting on the balcony railing.

"Where did you come from?" she asked, bewildered by his sudden appearance.

"Amara didn't learn to climb from just anyone," the silver-eyed man said with a smirk.

Eramire's eyes widened in realization, and she looked down over the balcony at the heart-pounding height the man had just scaled.

"You are mad," she stated, and Faleon chuckled.

"Perhaps," he replied. "But you looked so downtrodden I thought perhaps you could use some company."

Eramire frowned and looked out over the city with its twinkling lights and the fluttering sounds of the birds' ceaseless work.

"This whole journey has been a disaster," she said.

"No, not quite. Besides, it isn't over yet."

Eramire shook her head. "It feels like it is. Alistair will brush me off until I finally give up and leave. He won't open the library. I am convinced of that, whether you discover the man threatening him or not."

"Then we will have to acquire what we need by other means. We will have to break in," Faleon suggested, as if it were the most natural idea in the world.

Eramire stared at him.

"What?" Faleon asked.

"As if the Taimanian people needed another reason not to trust us in the future."

Faleon shrugged. "They don't have to know what we did."

Eramire was incredulous. "And just how would we manage that?"

"Leave that to me and Amara."

Just then General Gideon and Thorindir appeared in the balcony doorway. Eramire wondered how much they had heard.

"Faleon is right, my lady," said the Taimanian man. "Alistair will never grant you entrance to the library. You will have to do it yourselves."

Eramire blushed furiously. "General Gideon, I am sorry. We have not made any plans to—"

Gideon held up his hand, silencing her flow of words. "The man we seek is in the city, but whether he is hiding in the shadows or in plain sight, we will not be able to prove anything unless Alistair admits to it. The time it would take to convince His Majesty to swallow his pride and admit his fear is more than you are willing to take, I am sure. So we must work as the blackmailer does and go outside the king's authority."

Eramire and Thorindir both gaped at Gideon.

Faleon, however, looked unsurprised, if not smug. "Such a traitorous act for such an upstanding man," the silver-eyed man said.

Gideon glared at him and turned back to Eramire. "I will help you do this, but only if you promise me you can accomplish this task without alerting Alistair. We must preserve the small amount of peace between our people."

Eramire considered this request for a long moment. "How could we possibly ensure such a thing? I would make the promise you want if I knew I could keep it."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty," Faleon said, smiling. He looked over his shoulder from where he stood at the balcony. Eramire noticed Amara had joined them from inside the villa. "Amara and I will ensure no one suspects a thing."

Gideon studied them both as Amara came to stand beside Faleon.

"So, plan B it is," the lost princess said, as if she'd known this moment would come.

Faleon chuckled and held up what Eramire realized must be a stolen key. "Did any of us really think plan A would work anyway?"

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