“You didn’t happen to catch what the three of them were talking about yesterday, did you?” Anna asked. Hannah shook her head.

  “Of all the times to run off!” Andrew hissed through his teeth.

  “Maybe the three of them went to try and interrogate Sheil on their own,” Hanna suggested.

  “Is that better?” Andrew asked.

  “It might be,” Anna said. “You go check to see if Peter at least is with Jarnvaror. I’ll help Hannah and Queen Emily look for the others.”

  Andrew took a breath, then nodded. “Right. Yeah, I’ll do that. How much time before we’re supposed to go to the meeting?” he asked.

  “A few hours,” Hannah said. “Lady Thalia, Sol, and Daniel I think were still sleeping. I don’t know about our other guests.

  Andrew nodded. “Hopefully it won’t take long to find them,” he said. He slipped past Hannah and began walking quickly out of the pavilion toward the great statue Jarnvaror had continued to use as a perch.

  Anna turned to Hannah. “Did you tell anyone else?” she asked.

  Hannah shook her head. “Emily came to ask me if Henry was with us, and that’s when I discovered Jeremy was missing. If we’re lucky they just went to see the dragon. It sounds like Henry is fascinated by Jarn.”

  “He is,” Anna said, hopping that was correct. “I wonder if that’s what they decided while we were talking about interrogating Sheil.”

  Hannah nodded. “Jeremy can be a bit unfocused,” she agreed. “And it seems like Peter can be, too.”

  “Yes… yes he can,” Anna said. “If they weren’t with Peter, where would the two of them go?”

  Hannah shrugged. “Jeremy tends to do whatever Henry asks. He looks at him as if he’s our younger brother.”

  Anna nodded, waiting for Hannah to continue. When she didn’t, Anna prompted, “And what would King Henry do, then?”

  “I’m not sure,” Hannah said.

  “Alright then,” Anna said. She thought for a moment. “You know him better than I do, but does it sound like him to try and follow the plan on his own?”

  “He might think it’s fun,” Hannah replied.

  Anna nodded. “Then we should go get Queen Emily and see if he and the others went to the dungeon.”

  Hannah nodded, and the two made their way back to the palace. The guards at the door nodded to the two young women as they passed inside. They hardly passed anyone else as they made their way through the halls. They found Emily waiting in the Thornwoods suite of rooms. The queen looked at them, then into the empty hall behind them, and her face fell. “Peter and Andrew, too?” she asked.

  “Just Peter, you Highness,” Anna said, with a quick curtsey. The queen waved the formality aside, and Anna continued. “Andrew’s gone to see if they went for a morning walk to see the dragon. I thought we would check and see if they decided to go to the dungeons and carry out the plan without us, unless you have some other idea where they might have gone.”

  Queen Emily sighed in frustration. “To the arena, more than likely,” she said. “All three of them were disappointed not to see—or I suppose participate—in the martial tournament. And my brother has been very interested in seeing the magical one as well.”

  “That would mean skipping out on the summit,” Anna said.

  “Henry doesn’t think we need to be there,” the queen said. “Daniel and Sol did all the talking. And that was true for Queen Talitha as well. But we aren’t there to talk. Mother says it’s a symbol. A sign of good faith to the other parties. And it lends authority to those who speak on our behalf.”

  Anna nodded. She doubted the meeting could start unless they found the king first. “I’m sure Anderew will search for them in the arena if he doesn’t find them with Jarnvaror,” she said. “Would you like us to go after him?”

  The queen shook her head. “Henry wouldn’t listen to you. I’d have to go with you, unless we want to tell Mother or Daniel to send someone,” she said. She set her jaw. “No. If he’s really decided he’d rather abandon our plan, then I’ll have to do this myself. And, when it works, I can rub it in his face, later.”

  Anna thought it might be better to try going to get the others anyway, but the queen rose from her seat and swept out of the room. Anna only just caught the gesture for her and Hannah to follow. “I suppose there’s no convincing her to wait till we have the others at this point,” Anna asked Hannah in an undertone.

  “Our whole family is pretty stubborn,” Hannah replied. “But I’ve never seen anyone change her mind once she’s finally decided.”

  Anna nodded. She placed her hand on her bracelet as they walked, asking the Wisps for their guidance. She felt Halcyon’s influence rise to calm her. She looked at the little queen’s back. Immediately, Halcyon supplied Anna with Emily’s emotions. She felt the stubborn determination she’d expected, but there was also a knot of worry mixed inside it. She couldn’t tell if that was about the king or about what they were doing. She wasn’t sure she should ask. Still, she realized she should tell the others about the Wisps new ability.

  “They can do that?” the queen asked in response, her voice rising a little louder than Anna would have liked in the quiet hall.

  Anna nodded. “I only found out the other day. They’re trying to learn about us as much as we are about them, I think.”

  “I see,” Queen Emily said, nodding. “For now, though, we can use that. Do you think they could confirm if Lady Sheil is lying to us?”

  Anna shook her head, but said, “I don’t know. I haven’t asked them to try that.”

  “What if I told you I was fifty meters tall and glowing white?” Hannah asked.

  “Halcyon senses your amusement,” Anna replied. “I don’t think that’s the same thing.”

  “It’s something,” Emily said. “I still wasn’t sure how we’d get Sheil to answer honestly, especially with the boys missing. Now, though,” she looked at Anna, and through the Wisps, Anna could feel her determination growing stronger, “it may not matter how she answers.”

  Anna found herself nodding, though she doubted it would be so easy. The three girls made their way to the dungeon. “What are we going to do about the guards?” Hannah asked.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The young queen pursed her lips but didn’t slow down. “I’m not sure we’ll need to do anything,” Emily said. “They’ll let me in if I ask.”

  “Isn’t this supposed to be secret?” Hannah whispered. Queen Emily paused again.

  “I could swear them to secrecy,” she said.

  “Your Highness, I don’t think that will work,” Anna said. “Even if they’re honest, this situation isn’t normal for them. I think they would discuss it among themselves, and who knows if they’d be overheard.”

  “Do you have any suggestions?” the queen asked, frowning at the two over her shoulder.

  Anna thought for a minute. Coming up with ideas like this seemed more Andrew’s area of expertise. She shook her head, and touched her bracelet, allowing Halcyon to calm her down. “You could try playing dumb,” she said. “They’ll know you visited the prisoner, but not that it was any sort of interrogation. You just wanted to see her before she was brought before the summit.” It wasn’t too far off from the truth, she thought, though she decided not to say that.

  “Right. And you brought me along as a companion, and Anna because she’s the mage who defeated her in the first place,” Hannah added.

  “That was the dragon,” Anna said.

  “Well, you were there,” Hannah insisted. “You know her tricks.”

  Queen Emily nodded. “We’ll go with that, then. We’re almost there.”

  When they arrived at the dungeon, that’s exactly what she told the mages guarding the entrance. Anna was sure that from the queen’s expression of excitement and anxiety the guards would realize they were up to something. But either they didn’t notice or didn’t believe it was their problem, because all they said was that Sheil’s cell was a few doors down, and the only one currently occupied. The girls thanked him and went inside.

  The dungeon seemed little more than a hallway that stretched off to their left. The wall in front of them was lined with cells big enough for one or two people each. Three of each cell’s walls were stone, but the ones facing the hall were bars of iron. Each cell had a tiny slit for a window where the ceiling met the back wall. It wasn’t too dark, with morning light streaming through these, but it was still a dreary place.

  The queen paused the other two with a gesture as the door closed. She looked down the hall and Anna followed her gaze. The angle of the bars and walls cut off their view of the far cells. Emily placed a hand on Anna’s shoulder and leaned in. She whispered so low that even right next to her, Anna had a hard time making out what she was saying. “Can you sense her from here?”

  Anna took a moment, asking Halcyon to help her with this. A moment later, she felt… Was that just boredom? A sense of waiting of some sort, she realized. Expectation. Anna didn’t like that those were her emotions while she sat in a cell, but she didn’t say that. She only nodded to the queen’s question.

  “Alright. Then I want you to try staying out of sight, so she doesn’t realize all three of us are here or what you’re doing,” Queen Emily whispered.

  Anna nodded again. She pointed to a spot a little closer to the end, but cut off from the view of the other cells.

  Once she’d moved into position, Emily and Hannah made their way to Sheil’s cell. Anna listened to their footsteps, and felt Sheil’s curiosity through Halcyon. Another of the Wisps joined in, then another, each telling her a different part of what Sheil was feeling. The boredom, tempered by curiosity at her visitors. A low level annoyance, as if her current position was a minor but necessary inconvenience. Underneath it all was something like the determination she felt from the Wisps. But it wasn’t quite the same.

  The difference fascinated her. Halycon’s own feelings were still there, a part of the influence, and she could experience the two feelings at the same time. Halcyon’s feeling was pure, almost desperate. The Elven mage seemed more certain. And more passionate. Like a core of rage, hope, and fear had bound up one of her desires at her core. She wished she knew what the mage was thinking, what the source of this feeling was. If she knew both her thoughts and feelings, perhaps it would be possible to change her mind rather than use all of this subterfuge. Of course, if she could read minds, there would be no need for subterfuge anyway.

  Anna was so focused on the feeling that she hardly noticed one of the Wisps sharing Sheil’s amusement with her as the young queen and her cousin stepped into view, and she completely missed the first few words of greeting. She shuffled a few steps closer to hear the exchange better.

  “That’s awfully familiar of you, Lady Sheil,” Queen Emily was saying.

  “If you say so, your Highness,” the Elf replied with so much distain Anna didn’t even need the Wisps help to know how much she hated the girl in front of her.

  Anna could only see Emily and Hannah. Hanna was standing back, letting the queen be the speaker. Queen Emily hesitated before opening her mouth again. She nodded as if coming to a decision, then said, “I suppose don’t mean to be so concerned with courtesy. And this obviously isn’t the place for it.”

  Through the Wisps, Anna felt both Sheil’s amusement and her derision grow stronger. “Oh, no. Wouldn’t expect that here, would we, little cousin,” Sheil said. “Well, no matter. I was under the impression I would be left here until you and the other high lords of the continent saw fit to bring me up and have Sol poke and prod me till you knew how to control the Wisps. So my question still stands.”

  “We are here to talk to you,” Emily said. “The others wish to speak with you later, but I wanted to come and ask you first. Why are you helping Zech and the other Wisp Steelers?”

  Anna expected Sheil’s amusement to spike, so it didn’t surprise her. Instead she focused on the Wisps to see if any new emotions showed up. All that happened was that core in her center seemed to light up as she replied. “You want to know what we’re up to?”

  “Of course, but I doubt you’d come out and say it just for being asked,” the queen said. “Will you?” Sheil laughed. “No,” Emily went on. “I want to know why you decided to work with them.”

  Again, the core of determination seemed to glow in Sheil as she answered. “Oh? How is that not the same question?”

  “Because you were an excellent mage of the Crimson Wood!” Emily said. “I know we were never close, but like you said, we’re cousins! So why are you so interested in destroying the realm? Are they making you? Did we do something to offend you? Please, it’s not too late to change your mind and help us make things right!”

  With each word, Anna felt Sheil grow angrier and angrier. “Make things right?” Sheil asked, the rage in her core glowing hot and bright. The Wisps seemed to grow shy of her. Several of them withdrew from the Elf’s emotions altogether. “What can a child know about any of this? You were born with so much, you can’t even see what’s going on! You expect me to tell you? If you don’t see it, then there’s no point in talking! Just get out! Go back to the others, and wait for Sol to rescue you, his precious little queen.”

  “Sheil, that’s not fair,” Hannah said. “How could we ever understand if you don’t tell us anything?”

  “I don’t even know you, Hannah Thornwood,” Sheil spat. Anna felt her head real as Sheil’s emotions snapped focus from the queen to Hannah. They seemed to grow stronger. “We’ve met only once, but I could tell that despite everything, you’re just the same as our little queen here. You don’t know anything.”

  “Then tell us!” Hannah said.

  Indignation rolled through the mage. “How often do you think I’ve tried? No one ever listens.”

  “You haven’t told us!” the queen said, and Anna could tell she was trembling.

  “We have over and over!” the mage roared. “And nothing ever happens. So I won’t bother with talking anymore.” Anna heard a shuffling noise. She assumed Sheil had moved, maybe gotten up and moved away from the bars. When she spoke again, it sounded like her back was to her visitors. “There’s just no point.”

  Emily tried pleading with her to get her to talk again. After several minutes without any other response, they turned and walked toward the exit. Anna joined the pair on the way out. They nodded to the guards as they passed, then continued down the hall. It was still early, but a few more servants were out. None of them said a word till they were back in the queen’s quarters. Even then there were a few moments of silence before Hannah turned to Anna.

  “Well?” Hannah asked. “Did you get anything out of that?”

  Anna shrugged. “She didn’t say anything useful,” she began.

  “I’d noticed,” the queen said bitterly. She looked up, her eyes were red from holding back tears.

  “I didn’t realize she was your cousin,” Anna managed.

  Emily shook her head. “We aren’t close. Not in blood, and apparently not in any other way.”

  “Was she just trying to hurt us?” Hannah asked. She didn’t seem nearly as affected as the young queen did. Anna guessed Sheil was probably from the other side of the family. Hannah was a human cousin, after all. Sheil an Elf. With the royals in the middle of the two.

  Anna shook her head, trying to focus on Hannah’s questions. “I don’t think so. She was angry, very angry. And… well, I don’t think she bothered to lie at all.”

  “So we didn’t learn anything,” Emily said. Slumping her shoulders.

  Anna shook her head. “No. We learned one thing. Sheil really believes in something. So much that it makes her angry you don’t just see it. And she thinks you’ve been told about it and ignored it enough times that there’s no point in talking.”

  “But what is that?” Emily asked.

  To that, Anna could only shrug.