I'd been unable to sleep, too conflicted with Prince Teodric's arrival, Hendry's death, Jack's disappearance into another realm. Most of the night, I lay in bed staring up at the solid stone ceiling, envisioning shadows morphing into silhouettes that I couldn't identify. Phantoms of past experiences I didn't fully remember haunted me, whispering into my ear. They filled me with insecurities that a mage of my caliber shouldn't feel.

When I grew too dizzy and drained from those shapes, I'd meandered over to my crystal, eager to see what it'd report, what it would show. I hadn't checked it in hours, and I presumed things had happened.

Overnight, everyone slept. Ysac snored soundly in his guest bed in Diamond Castle, a flicker of a smile over his lips as he mouthed in his sleep. Teodric was restless, waking often, groaning, tossing pillows around to get comfortable. Astrida paced in her luxurious room, speaking to one of her exhausted maids. I couldn't hear her completely, but I picked up on something about Teodric and how he'd captivated her, fascinated her.

I worried about that. Astrida was known for getting roped up in affection towards men, especially towards those who didn't reciprocate her emotions. She loved to crave whatever she couldn't have; and as the second oldest daughter of Hendry, there wasn't much she couldn't have to begin with. Anyone that resisted her was a target. I knew from Teodric's body language when he met her that he'd most likely resist her.

He might not mean to, but I didn't doubt he'd reject her if she came on to him. No, his feelings, his attraction leaned towards Ysac; that much was evident from the stolen glances and quickly turning away when the other was looking. I caught it all from my peeks into the crystal—their complicity, while still bubbling, was imminent. And from how Ysac responded to Teodric's timidity with winks and smirks, I deduced the jester might have been spiraling down the same hole.

That was bad. If they fell for each other during this trip...they wouldn't convince the princesses. We needed them to be firm, to concentrate on bringing the daughters home for the vote; not flirting with one another and ending up in a guest bed together. They hadn't hinted at anything of the sort yet, thankfully. But the more I stared at Ysac's lips moving in his slumber, the more I was almost positive he was saying Teodric.

And why did Teodric struggle to sleep?

Because he's thinking of Ysac.

My crystal was only able to show me those I was picturing in my mind; it wouldn't let me speak to them. I couldn't communicate with Ysac to set him straight, remind him of his priorities. Nor inform him that Teodric was a distraction, but he was supposed to be there to distract the princesses. To coerce them somehow into obedience, to confuse them.

The only one confused here...was Teodric. While Ysac was at peace with his emotions, Teodric wasn't. If he found himself sleepless, restless, it meant he was overthinking, worried, wasn't he? About...what? Being in a foreign world? Or developing unfamiliar feelings for a jester he probably shouldn't have?

In the early hours of morning, as I woke from a brief slumber half-slumped in front of my crystal, I immediately connected with Astrida, having been thinking of her as I yawned. The crystal revealed her pacing, again. She spoke to one of her ladies.

"He's delicious," she said, her voice garbled—the crystal didn't always pick up on sound properly. "I must have him, but if I don't follow them to the castle...I won't get him, will I?" She waved her arms about, and the lady watched her, not adding anything. Astrida's sheer, near see-through nightgown swished about her beautiful figure as she stomped. "But I don't want to go to the castle...I don't want to give in..."

Against my will, I smiled. So it was working; Teodric's presence had served a purpose, in this case. Without meaning to, he'd seduced Astrida, prompting her into thinking about her initial refusal. I'd seen that, too, last night. I'd witnessed how many times she'd vowed to never return to Acewood, that she'd rather die than be reunited with the sisters who didn't believe in her.

With Teodric being in the picture, she'd almost forgotten about her sisters.

"There's only one way ahead, isn't there?" She addressed her lady, who shrugged. "Compromise. I'll have to make it difficult for them to drag me home. But if they can convince my sisters, and if they promise me I'm the one they're supporting as the true heir, the true queen..." She rubbed her hands, then snapped at her lady. "Come, let's get me dressed to impress. I want them both drooling by the time they decide to leave...if they can."

Unsure of her ominous tone, I got up, stretched, and peered toward my locked door. A note had been slipped underneath, now gathering dust on the floor.

I walked over, picked up the note; it was from Ossenna, to warn me of treacherous, stormy weather in the Diamond Valley area. "Keep an eye on them," she'd scribbled, indicating that Ysac and Teodric might be in danger.

I returned to the crystal to find Teodric and Ysac gathered with Astrida in the throne-room. She'd gotten dressed in record time, and was speaking to the jester and the prince, but I received no sound this time. I read her lips: she was issuing her ultimatum. She'd only come home if her sisters did, too.

Would they? I thought of Luned in her sea-foam world, and briefly the crystal showed her lounging on her seashell shaped bed, licking her lips at something I wasn't able to see. She trailed a finger down between her breasts, which I realized were bare—

"No," I tore my gaze away from the crystal, "I don't need to see that."

I refocused my thoughts on a different princess; Tilda. The crystal shifted to show the youngest princess still sound asleep. Makeup smeared over her face, and her head drowned in her pillow. She was the wild one, the partying one; she must have been up late hosting another celebration to entertain special guests. I noticed no one in bed beside her, but still opted not to linger there too long. Watching individuals as they slept was...invasive. Though I didn't do it for pleasure, it never sat right with me.

I returned to Teodric and Ysac, now struggling through Diamond Valley as a snow and wind storm whipped at them. Their clubbers were resilient, carrying them forward, albeit slower than normal. Ysac was fine; Teodric grimaced and leaned in close to his clubber, using its mane as extra protection.

I pulled away from the crystal, knowing I had one more place to check, one more person to look in on. I hesitated; I never knew what I'd find when I zeroed in on her, and always wondered if she could somehow sense me watching her. She had no magic, nor would she ever want it if it came to her, and yet...so much about her was magical. Her icy gaze, the dark energy enveloping her lovely figure, the graceful flick of her wrist when she was dismissing someone.

After a deep breath, and cracking my knuckles, I swerved back to the crystal. I held it between my hands, to better focus. Thinking of her was hard, intense. Her image came with...consequences. I never knew why.

It didn't take long for the image to fizzle into darkness. Then it sharpened to show an obscure room, with cracks in the walls and along the tiles on the marbled floor. I saw a black, bone-like throne that resembled gloomy branches thrown haphazardly into the shape of a chair, with a thin black cushion to sit on. Two sconces hung from the wall behind it, barely illuminating the space, dripping wax onto the floor.

There she was, coming into view as she stood before her throne, glaring at something out of the crystal's range. Her obsidian hair framed her perfect porcelain face, and her ice-blue eyes were like stone, unmovable. Her raven-hued gown cloaked every inch of her, shimmering with flecks of white; a surprisingly light touch for a garment made for such a dreary, depressing person. The front of her neck was bare, and the silver pendant dangling there blinded me as I zoomed in on it. Her lips moved, but I wasn't tuned into her voice and couldn't hear her words. Instead, I read them:

"No, I won't allow it."

She then ripped off the pendant and shoved it into her pocket before storming off, out of view.

I shuddered, pulling backwards from the crystal. "What was that about?" Under my sleeves, my arms covered with goosebumps, and my veins pumped hot blood through me. Heat raced up my neck and coated my cheeks.

I massaged my temples, shaking my head. How? I'd felt a flare of her anger swarm me, sneak into me through the crystal's waves. That wasn't supposed to happen—nothing was supposed to come through the magical glass surface to affect me.

I brushed myself off and wandered over to my desk littered in papers and books. How could a non-magical human's emotions translate through my crystal and impact me?

I turned page after page, but so little was documented about the crystal that I figured my best way to get answers was to study the crystal itself. To see if she was a fluke, or if the crystal actually could receive potent feelings and transmit them to me physically.

Returning to the crystal, I kneeled, concentrating. I thought of Teodric, whose emotions I imagined were high and conflicting. He wouldn't be angry, but he'd be afraid, and fear was a powerful sentiment.

I zoned in on him, on his features as he and Ysac fought the elements to reach the swaying bridge over the Diamond Drops river. He still used his clubber as a shield, still gritting his teeth as his scarf flapped about his face, his dark hair whizzing over his forehead. He was pale, his eyes reddened, tears freezing as they left his tear-ducts.

"Give me his emotions," I breathed into the crystal, wondering if it'd heed my commands. I hadn't asked it to give me her feelings, but what if the crystal thought that was what I wanted? Maybe I had to be more literal with other people.

I sensed nothing. None of the nauseous trembling that fear would provoke in me. None of the lung-tightening, breaths squeezing out sensations that I'd have attributed to fright. Either Teodric wasn't scared as I thought, or the crystal only responded to her.

It didn't make any sense.

Teodric was afraid, I'd detected that from him when he left the castle yesterday. So was that real, and it simply didn't translate through the crystal? Or...had he lied? Played me? Played us?

"Impossible," I grumbled as I retreated from the crystal again. "No one can fool me. I can read minds, dammit!"

Something about Teodric still hadn't settled well within me. And now she was putting me off with her vehement emotions that I shouldn't have been able to feel from so far away.

Either my crystal was broken, or I was. Or they were.

Something was up, and I wouldn't rest until I found out what.

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