She remembered how Ambrose had leant in towards her, his golden eyes gleaming with such ferocity she had the feeling he had the urge to tear her apart. He was the heir to the throne, he was the one right after King Archmander, what would she feel is she was Ambrose himself?

She tossed around in bed for the hundredth time. It was already one in the morning and she hadn't gotten to sleep yet. She had been thinking about Ambrose, about herself, and mostly, about the mirror.

How did it work?

She glared at it for the fiftieth time in the night. Jake's snores closed into the room. Wren lunged for the mirror and examined it again. Maybe she was supposed to step inside the mirror ... maybe it was a portal ...

She tried, yet again, to put her entire hand inside the mirror, but there was an invisible force stopping her. Apparently, only the tip of her finger was allowed in the mirror. Was the Soulstone in the mirror? And if it was, how was she going to take it out?

The mirror was as large as her chest. She turned it around a few times.

Now let's not play games any more, Princess, Ambrose's voice rang in her head. Clearly, you're here for a reason.

She tossed around in bed again. She wondered if Ambrose knew the Veil of Whispers lay in his Palace, his soon-to-be kingdom.

The moon was a radiant beam of light through the dark, velevty midnight. The light shone in through the window, creating a flicker of shadow on the floor everytime Wren moved. Carefully, Wren set the mirror back against her bed and stared up at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to own her.

Right before she dropped off to sleep, a sudden thought occurred to her but she was asleep before she could grab the string of balloon of thoughts to keep it floating away.

⋆‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙⋆

'So what d'you think we'd have for breakfast?' Jake said, coming out of the bathroom fully dressed. 'Probably catch with Rafe or something... ah, this button's stuck -'

Wren was still examining the mirror. Suddenly, the familiar balloon of thoughts floated towards her again and at the right moment, exact timing, she grabbed the string.

'Hey,' she said quietly. 'Nicaea's erasing a memory, right? Well, what if the memory's in here? In the mirror?'

Jake's button fell off and Ladislaya gaped at her. She raised an eyebrow quizzically.

'Don't be silly Carrots, a memory can't be in a mirror,' Ladislaya said anxiously.

Wren trailed her finger down the watery waves of the surface. 'You never know,' she said in a voice unlike her own. 'I just -'

'You're trying to make sense of everything, make them all fit, yeah,' Jake said, sitting down on his mattress. 'But Carrots; don't you think these different things could be parts of two different puzzles, not one?'

'They're not, they're not,' Wren said, trying not to sound frustrated. 'There's got to be a link -'

'There doesn't have to be,' Ladislaya said gently. 'There isn't just one puzzle in the game, you know. There's just one game, but there are loads of puzzles in the game.'

'And a whole lot of people are playing it,' Jake said, shrugging. 'Come on Carrots. Think of it. I mean, a memory in a mirror?'

Wren said nothing. Jake bounced off his bed, saying, 'I feel like it's a donut mornin. Let's hop to that donut store down the street.'

'There's a donut store down the street?' Ladislaya said questioningly.

'I know things,' said Jake vaguely.

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Wren swirled her iced chocolate with extra whipped cream, a shot of nutty almond milk and ripe strawberries with her straw. Meanwhile, Jake was feasting on his chocolate coated donuts and Ladislaya had her nose buried in a book as usual. 'So what d'you think we'd have for breakfast?' Jake said, coming out of the bathroom fully dressed. 'Probably catch with Rafe or something... ah, this button's stuck -'

'D'you think the mirror's safe in the hotel?' Wren kept asking. 'I don't feel secure, really - I mean, Ambrose might be after it -'

'Why would he be after it?' Jake demanded.

'Wren widened her eyes, signaling him. 'Uh, I don't know, maybe because I just stole this from his Palace in his kingdom?'

'Soon-to-be kingdom,' Ladislaya clarified. 'It's not his ... yet.'

'Soon-to-be kingdom,' Wren said. 'But still.'

'Look, he didn't try to drag you out of the room when he found you in there, did he?' Jake pointed out. 'If he was desperate to get you out and not see anything, he'd have you dragged out by one foot and banished you from Iridia.'

'Yes, but he's the prince, Jake,' Wren said exasperatedly. 'Princes don't do that.'

'What, he just flounced out of the door and left you there?' Jake trilled dramatically. 'And he expects you to leave!'

'Exactly, he expected me to leave,' said Wren tartly.

'Would've been easier if he dragged you out,' Jake said, shaking his head, 'so it's kind of not your fault.'

Definitely not,' Wren agreed, taking a sip from her iced chocolate. 'Ladislaya, don't you ever stop reading?'

'I'm trying to find out anything about the mirror, anything at all,' Ladislaya answered determinedly. Jake sighed.

'We've gone through the whole stack before comig here already -'

'We've skimmed through the pages, we haven't actually read them,' snapped Ladislaya, tuning the page. Jake gaped at her.

'So you're going to read that word by word?' he said in disbelief.

'Exactly, word by word!' cried Ladislaya defiantly. 'It's the only way to actually find out something ... and considering we've got nothing to do ...'

She lapsed into silence, returning back to her book. Jake turned to Wren.

'So I've been thinking,' he begun.

'Should I ask what you've been thinking of?'

'No, I'm going to tell you anyway,' Jake said. Darting his eyes around the little cafe, he lowered her voice and whispered, 'the mirror's a portal.'

Wren choked on her drink, spilling some froth over Ladislaya's book. She frowned but she didn't notice. 'What?' she whisper-shouted. 'What in the devil do you mean?'

'Shhh!' hissed Jake. 'You know what I mean. The swallowing cupboard at the back of Haldes's classroom. A portal. This mirror? A portal.'

'You're saying Haldes's swallowing cupboard and the Veil is linked together?' Jake cried.

'No, I was just saying,' Jake said crossly. 'They're not linked; at least I don't think so. I just hope you don't get wet when you try to walk inside the mirror.'

'Oh, you won't get wet,' Wren said casually. 'You won't get anything. Because you can't walk into it, that's the thing!'

Jake frowned. 'What?'

'That's sort of the whole point,' Wren said, gulping down her drink. 'I couldn't even put my whole hand into it.'

Jake lay back in his chair with a clenched jaw. 'I thought we were going somewhere,' he said through gritted teeth. 'I didn't think this would be a dead end.'

'No dead ends,' Wren said forcefully. 'We're going to keep going; we're not stopping, not anything. The mirror is everything but a dead end, that's one thing I'm sure of.'

'How?' hissed Jake.

'I can feel it,' Wren said forcefully. 'It just - it just can't be a dead end, Jake. The mirror exists for a reason. And it exists because the Soulstone is inside it. And you and I know that Nicaea's desire is the Soulstone.'

'And you,' Jake added helpfully.

'And me,' Wren said. 'And I vow before I die, I'm not letting Nicaea get her hands on the Soulstone.'

'Don't be stupid, you aren't gonna die,' Jake said, taking a bite out of his donut.

Wren swirled her iced drink back and forth. 'I just wish there was another way we could start,' she said.

'What do you mean?' Jake questioned testily.

'Rafe hardly knows anything, so he won't be able to help us,' Wren said slowly. 'He's helped us get into the castle and out, but that's all he can do.'

'Rafe is just a commoner you bumped into the streets because neither of you were looking,' Jake said carefully. 'Apparently, he's friends with the youngest prince of the palace and the High King of Iridia is not pleased with it. What d'you think he can help us with?'

'Not much?' Wren said, not meaning it to be a question but phrasing it like one.

'Exactly. He's really good at sponsoring us donuts and burgers though,' Jake added on an afterthought. 'But honestly Carrots. Rafe can't help us much.'

'He can't,' Wren said moodily, resting her chin in the palms of her hand. After a minute or two's silence, she fumbled in her bag and extracted a map of Iridia.

'Ugh, this is getting nowhere,' she said. 'Just the palace, a few villages, a well, a grand hall or two and a clock tower. Not anywhere we can really start.'

She folded up the piece of parchment and suddenly Jake exclaimed out loud.

'Hold it!' he ordered. 'Hold it right there - don't move. Put the map back down.'

Wren froze, staring at Jake in bemusement.

'Put the map down,' Jake ordered. 'Now.'

Slowly, Wren lowered the piece of parchment down on the table. Jake snatched it up, unfolded it, and flipped the map over so he facing the blank page of the map.

'Uh... you're looking the wrong way,' Wren said to him uncertainly.

Jake took no notice; he leaned towards the table further and placed the map down so the sunlight shone through the window, landing on the blank page of the map. 'No I'm not,' he said, pulling his chair over to Wren's side so it made scratchy sounds against the tiled floor. 'In fact, I'm looking at the right side of the map.'

'What are you talking abou -' Wren begun but Jake shoved the map towards her.

'Just look!'

'What, at this?' Wren said, motioning towards the blank spot of the paper. 'There's nothing on here - oh is that words?'

She'd seen a couple of word tracings at the back of the map; they were hardly visible.

'Heck yeah, those are words,' Jake breathed. He pulled the map closer to them. 'Look at this. Invisible ink. Visible to the eyes only in the sunlight.'

'The window,' Wren nodded, staring at the ray of light coming in from the window. 'Thank you, window.'

'Just read it!' cried Jake.

COURT OF ETERNAL arcana

'Court of Eternal Arcana,' Wren read aloud. 'What's "Arcana" mean?'

'Ask Ladislaya,' Jake said. 'Hey - look! There's more stuff written down here ... oh no, it's a drawing ...'

Wren squinted, peering at the map closer. Shuffling the back of the map to capture more sunlight, she saw a drawn arrow pointing to the bottom corner of the map.

'It's ... pointing to the bottom of the map,' Wren said, hardly able to believe it. 'What is this madness; did a kid draw these, tryna fool us or something?'

'Dumb kid,' Jake growled. 'Messin' around. How does a kid even come up with a name with such pizazz like "Court of Eternal Arcana"?'

'Because it's not a kid who drew these,' Wren, who'd just discovered a slip of thin paper in between the map, said. 'Look at this. The dog-eared part of the map? It was there on purpose. Because it was hiding this.'

Wren unfolded the hidden, dog-eared part of the map to reveal a small island. Scanning the entire map, she saw the whole of Iridia.

'Look at this,' she said, pointing. 'A hidden part of the map.'

'A dog-eared part.'

'This,' Wren said, excitement rising up in her chest, 'this is the Court of Eternal Arcana. Or at least, the Court of Eternal Arcana here.'

'What is the place?' Jake said. 'Is it a royal term or something?'

'It could be,' Wren said, snatching up the map suddenly and holding it close to her face. 'The Royal Court of Eternal Arcana. Ladislaya, do you know what "arcana" means?'

'Mm?' Ladislaya said, looking up from her book.

'What does "arcana" mean?' Jake asked.

''Professor Haldes used this term in loads of our classes,' Ladislaya said vaguely. Both Wren and Jake groaned. 'It means secrets, or mysteries. The arcana of the ancient brewing toad pot.'

Wren squinted. 'What's that?'

'That is something we've been doing in all of Haldes's lessons,' Ladislaya said in a I-told-you-you-should-have-paid-more-attention voice. 'Honestly, you two aren't going to keep up with the exams if you continue being like this!'

'And what makes you think we might even have exams?' Jake said, returning to his donut. 'We'd probably never make it out of here to the exams! That's one thing I look forward to,' he added, munching on his donut.

Ladislaya sighed. 'Anyway, what were you two up to?'

'Court of Eternal Arcana,' Jake said automatically.

Wren held up the back of the map impulsively.

'Secret invisible ink.' Jake tapped the back of the map. 'Includes a hidden piece of the map.'

Wren unfolded the dog-eared part of the map impetously.

'Might be a royal term,' Jake said thoughtfully.

Ladislaya flinched, then tilted her head, wrinkles appearing on her forehead. 'And what exactly is this Court of Eternal Arcana?'

'It might be a royal term,' Jake said again.

Ladislaya stood up and squinted. 'I don't see anything.'

Wren put down the map so the sunlight shone upon it and she beckoned Ladislaya to come closer.

'See? Invisible ink. Clearly, someone knew about the Court, and he wrote it down so he wouldn't forget.'

'Or he could be meaning to give it to someone else,' Jake said wistfully.

'Where did you get this map from?' Ladislaya implored.

'I dunno. Think I got it from one of the libraries in the Palace of Argonian.'

Ladislaya took the map from Wren. 'The Court of Eternal Arcana,' she repeated. She unfolded the dog-eared part of the map and stared at it for a few seconds.

Wren and Jake waited, watching her with bated breath.

'This - this is a map of Iridia, isn't it?' she said shakily.

'Y-yeah,' said Wren. 'But you already know that.'

Ladislaya sat down, looking white. Jake frowned.

'What's the matter?'

'Iridia has a Court.'

Jake and Wren exchanged glances. 'So?' Wren said. 'Is it that surprising?'

'What's wrong with having a Court, whatever that is?'

Ladislaya took a deep breath. 'Look, a Court is not just a court. There's only one Court in the whole of Elryzian. And a Court has a history of delving into the dark arts. Or so, it's known. The High King lives there.'

'The who and what now?' Wren said, befuddled.

'The High King. King of all kings. He has the power over every ruler in Elryzian.'

'Even Odyssey?' Wren said.

'Even Odyssey. Every kingdom has a ruler, and that High King rules above all.'

'So which kingdom does he rule in? The Court of Eternal Arcana?' Jake asked imploringly.

'He doesn't rule in any kingdom,' Ladislaya said scornfully. 'At least, I don't think so. He lives in the Court of Eternal Arcana - it's sort of a palace, but bigger, fancier.'

'And his name?' Wren said.

'The High King Nathaniel,' Ladislaya told her. Wren swallowed.

'If there's a chance the Court is connected to the Soulstone,' she said, speaking rather forcefully, 'we have to go there.'

'Wren, no.'

Wren glared at Ladislaya.

'The Court is dangerous. The Court has dark, forbidden magic and you know it ensnares those who seek it. We're already treading on dangerous ground. We can't go to the Court. Please, Wren.'

'What do you mean, it's dangerous?' Wren said. 'The High King is there, what is he, dangerous? As you said, he's the ruler, he can -'

'Wren, the High King can't protect you. Even though he lives there, he can't stop the Court's powers -'

'So you're saying the Court has a mind of its own?'

'Yes, and the High King has put protective spells around it, but -'

'So if the Court is that dangerous,' Wren said, 'why's the High King of Elryzian doing there, sitting on a throne and ruling? Wouldn't he be in danger?'

'The Court lives with him,' Ladislaya said patiently. 'He's the Court's master and the Court knows who's in control. But it's still dangerous.'

'Wait, wait, wait,' Jake interrupted. 'First of all, how do you know all of this? I might not pay attention in classes but I can swera to you that no professor actually talked about a Court of Eternal Arcana.'

'Because this is general knowledge, Jake,' Ladislaya said. 'I knew all his since I was six.'

'Since you were the what and the what now?' Wren and Jake wheezed.

'I was assigned a tutor,' Ladislaya sighed. 'She taught me everything I was supposed to know of the world, of Elryzian, everything.'

'God, when I was six, I was playing with my toy horse and pretending to be in the finals of a horse race,' Jake said. 'What was I doing with my life?'

'Back to the point,' Wren said. 'Ladislaya, if we stay here, we're not making any progress. Reminder; we came to Iridia not just to get one artifact and go home. We don't even know what the Veil does, for goodness' sake!'

'Well, it has the Soulstone, doesn't it?' Ladislaya said helplessly.

Wren stared at her for a few seconds.

'Where's the Court?'

Ladislaya exhaled. 'If I say one more time we're not going, you're still gonna go, aren't you?'

'Yes, I am.'

Ladislaya rolled her eyes and extracted the map. 'See, it's right here. Pretty close to this village that's right beside the Palace.'

'Good thing we don't have to sail a boat there,' Wren said. 'So this Court's in Iridia, right?'

'Exactly.'

'I don't see why anyone would want to dog-ear it up and hide it,' Jake said, shrugging. 'I mean, the High King. New word added into my vocabulary.'

'I'm glad,' Ladislaya said. 'You do need some of that.'