"Lord Roran, welcome to Bellerophon!" King Aaron exclaimed. "I hope your journey did not trouble you." He sat back in his seat and the rest of us followed suit.

"It was satisfactory," replied Lord Roran. Lord Roran was a tall man, with skin darker than mine. He was handsome even though he was forty five years of age, and still retained the muscle he had put on. He was a sharp contrast to Lord Aaron.

His face was angular and his chin flecked with a slight beard. His brown hair was shot with grey and his blue eyes were electric. The right half of his face was covered with an ornate mask that covered even his eye.

"Might I introduced my wife, the lovely Lady Sasha and our son, Prince Leonardo," Lord Roran gestured with a flourish of his hand.

The woman standing next to him curtseyed and the green-eyed man bowed.

The Lady Sasha was in her mid-twenties, but no one questioned how their son could be nineteen years old.  She was beautiful, with long red hair and sea-green eyes. She wore a fluffy blue gown.

Their son, Lord Leonardo, was slightly taller than his mother. His hair was unruly, but that gave him all the more charm. His face was carved with all the right angles: high cheekbones and a sharp nose. I noticed some of the ladies of the court eyeing him like predators and I vowed to kill them.

"Your son has grown well," commented Lord Aaron.

Lord Leonardo smiled. "You are kind, your Majesty."

I wondered what he must have felt, uttering those words. As the kings conversed, I let my eyes roam over all the others that had arrived. 

Lord Roran had been accompanied by a group of over twenty people. I knew each and every one of them personally. Their ages ranged from twenty and upwards, with only two children. All of them cast me glances filled with hurt, confusion, sorrow and even rage. I must have really broken their hearts when I left.

I turned back to Lord Roran, meeting the piercing gaze of Lord Leonardo as I went. His face was expressionless, just as mine was, and for some reason that made me feel terrible.

Ignoring him, I tried to concentrate on what Lord Roran was saying. Aaron and Lord Roran conversed about political issues in both Bellerophon and the kingdom that was Lord Roran's: Lamia. The subject of politics did not interest me in the slightest, but I didn't want to leave my eyes to roam. I could feel twenty pairs of eyes burn a hole on my neck, and turning my eyes to them would cause more damage.

Finally, Lord Aaron decided it was time our guests rested. "If there is anything you desire, then Lady Arya," he gestured to me, "will be more than happy to help you." I clenched my jaw but smiled. Of all the honors he could have bestowed upon me, it had to be this one.

"Do not let her age fool you," Aaron continued, "for she is smarter than anyone I have ever known. If I do not beware, she might just take my throne from me." He laughed loudly and the others followed suit, though many were half-hearted. I smiled widely. He could not have hit closer to the truth.

Lord Roran and his entourage were led away by a few servants and I managed to avoid all the last minute glances thrown my way. I would be meeting them soon, I was sure.

Once they were gone, the king turned to me. "What do you think about that family?"

"They seem honourable, my Lord," I said, shifting into my role as advisor. "I suggest we accept their proposal. We cannot be too sure of our friends these days."

The king nodded thoughtfully. Then he turned to his son, Lord Lyon. "What is your opinion?"

"I agree with what Lady Arya says," he said. "We must sign the peace treaty. It would be helpful for us in the future."

The king posed the same question to the rest of the courtiers and was met with acceptance. Lord Roran had travelled this far from the Kingdom of Lamia to propose a peace treaty between the two kingdoms. These were dangerous times and it would be wise to accept the help of another kingdom that was so willing to give it.

"Very well," declared the king. "As a fortnight passes, both kingdoms will sign the treaty. For tonight, however, in celebration of the union of the kingdoms of Lamia and Bellerophon, we shall feast!"

I hid my disgust. Aaron did not need a reason to feast. He ate enough food to feed an army, anyway. Nonetheless, the courtiers cheered, though neither I, nor Lyon, joined in.

...

The rest of the day took its usual course, though I spent a lot of it looking over my back to see if anyone I knew was around.

The king spent the day at the court, giving disgraceful verdicts to the poor. I could not concentrate and so excused myself in the pretence of an upset stomach. I made sure Ella was one of the servants in waiting so that she could remember who all sought the king's help.

I escaped to the comfort of the library, shaded from the world outside those doors. The library was an impressive structure that rose to all three floors. The shelves were tall as they were broad and seemed to disappear into the higher floors. There were eleven rows of shelves, all stacked with books that could not be found anywhere else in the world. Sliding ladders were placed at convenient intervals so that more than one person could access the higher shelves at a given time. Spiral staircases led from this floor to the next, and from the next floor to the last. 

I had spent a good week here, going through all the books and making a mental map of where each book was kept when I had first arrived.

The walls were lined with long windows every few feet, with cushions below them so that a person may recline against the window and read. The front of the library held a large fireplace and two sofas on either side of a short glass table.

No one found me there, for not many people came into the library. Most of the things the king might have wanted retrieved were in the archives section, which was the next room.

I tried to read, but couldn't concentrate. My mind kept wandering to the faces of the people that had known me and I shut the book, frustrated. Lunch had long since passed, but anxiety filled my stomach. I hadn't attended because I knew for sure I would not be able to take more than a bite, and also that the family of Roran would be there. I was not ready to face them, yet.

I placed the book back on its shelf and pondered on what to do. Finally, I decided I would go for a run. I had found out that the easiest way to take my mind off things was through physical exercise. 

I changed into loose pants and an off-white shirt that I tied around the waist with a blue cloth belt. Brown leather boots adorned my legs and around my waist was a belt with my dagger on it.

The palace gardens were the perfect place for a run. They were wide and the path was well-worn with no stone to trip over. They circled around in a maze and then opened up to the nearby hills.

All sorts of flowers grew in meticulously made beds, splashes of colour invading my vision. The smells combined and twisted into a cacophony of aromas that were rather pleasant. I revelled in the smells as I ran around the garden, picking up speed as I reached the exit.

I ignored the path to the palace and instead chose the one up the hill. My feet pounded on the ground, muscles relaxing and tensing. It felt good to be out for a run. The evening was setting upon us and the hot afternoon air shifted into a cool breeze. I closed my eyes briefly, feeling the cool wind rush against my face.

I ran for the better part of an hour before coming to rest in front of a waterfall. I undid my boots and climbed over the craggy rocks to get as close to the waterfall as I could. I submerged my feet in the cold water and heaved a content sigh. I watched the sky shift into an array of colours and could still count the stars in the sky when I felt more than heard the person behind me.

I spun around, pulling out the dagger and pointing it at the person's chest.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Lord Leonardo. "I'm not here to kill you, I swear."

I blinked before hastily stuffing my dagger back into it's sheath. "I'm so sorry," I said. "You should have said something!"

"I did not wish to alarm you," he said, sitting beside me, but not too close. "Obviously, that did not go too well."

"What are you doing here?" I asked. 

"Here as in here at the waterfall or here in -"

"No," I interrupted, "here at the waterfall."

"Ah, I thought I would go out for a walk. Lord Aaron said there was a good waterfall here, so I thought I would come find it."

I nodded, unsure of what to say next.

"How was the trip?" I asked.

"Good, good. It was not as uncomfortable as I thought." 

Of course it was not. I wonder if the real king of Lamia knows what is going on.

He cleared his throat. "Might I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What are you doing?"

I raised a eyebrow. "What am I doing?" I repeated, not understanding.

"Yes," said Leonardo. "You know who we are, and yet you do not inform the king."

Ah. I knew this moment would come sooner or later. I put on a sly expression and said, "Yes, well, it is my little game. I get bored here easily, and though there are many around me, I have been lacking the element of fun. I want to see how long you all will run until you are found out."

Leonardo sat taller. "So this is all a joke to you."

My gut wrenched. I drawled a lazy smile. "Oh, yes."

His face seemed to be carved in stone and that made the knot that was my stomach squeeze tighter. "I see. So all of that, all the time you spent with us, with . . .," he broke off, but I knew what he wanted to say. With him. "All that time, you were only pretending?" He let out a short laugh. "Forgive me if I do not believe it."

"Oh, Kirin," I said, using his real name, "you were always so naive. Looking for the good in people doesn't make them good. It only makes you stupid." The cold water had rendered my feet numb, but I didn't lift them out of the water.

"I remember a time when you were the same," he said, "Thalia."

The name shot through me like fire. I had used the name 'Arya' for so long I had forgotten what my actual name sounded like. It was the first time I had heard it in months and it made my heart pound  with something  foul.

"No," I said, watching the water catch fire with the last rays of the sun. The sky was almost indigo, the colour of the night. "I was never that way. You were simply stupid enough to believe it."

"What are you saying? That you suddenly decided to jump to the other side?"

I scrapped the rock with a nail. "I was never on your side to begin with."

I could imagine him frowning. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, the reason I was there was because I was sent by the king."

A shocked silence followed my declaration. Finally, Kirin said, "You were five."

"Seven," I corrected him. "I needed a convincing back story. Did you really think a five year old child could survive on her own in the woods for two years?" I laughed.

"Do you know how many people you've killed?" he asked in a soft voice.

"Yes," I said, looking at him. "None."

He shook his head, a pitying smile on his face. "Perhaps none in body, but definitely in mind. All those rebels you rooted out had families. You destroyed the only possessions they had, drove them out of their homes. How many of them were old? How many of them were children and women? You do not know what damage you have caused. You broke them like nobody else could. Do you not remember them and all they did for you?"

I stood up, tapping my legs against the stone to get their feeling back. I was suddenly feeling ill and a weight pressed against my chest to an extent that I almost stumbled. My face felt hot and I kept swallowing. I tied my boots on with mechanical movements. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. That lace goes through there and out there. Repeat the same step once more.

I managed to keep a straight face as I turned to face the road. "I suggest that in the future we do not meet again unless absolutely necessary." My voice was the same I used in court: formal and crisp. Good. I could not let him see how I felt.

"Thalia?" he called as I started down the hill. I stopped, but did not look back.

"Larkin would like to see you at the arena two hours past dawn tomorrow."

I gave no indication as to whether I had heard or agreed with what he just said. I kept moving, swallowing hard and clenching my teeth shut because if I had opened my mouth, I would have surely given voice to the tears that fell unhindered.