"Wait, say that again." Ross paced back and forth in the room, running a hand over the rough stubbles of his hair.
"Eloy is my cousin." Naylin giggled when Ross stopped, shook his head, and started pacing again.
"A princess of Ardorn . . . you . . . why didn't you say anything?" Ross stopped pacing, touching a hand to his chest. His eyes widened. "Oh Goddess, he's going to chop off my head and feed it to the camels! His cousin was one of my entertainers. Oh Goddess. No. No. No."
Naylin poured a glass of red wine, handing it to Ross. He downed the entire glass in a single gulp, spilling much of it on his shirt. She filled it again and Ross started pacing, his hand trembling as he took another big swig. Naylin chuckled, sitting on the wide red chair beside a massive desk. Elias stood beside the lattice framed window, admiring how Ross didn't care how many stains he was adding to his dust covered clothes. The impeccable, blemish free demeanor of Rosie was truly gone. Ross was a disheveled mess of grime, wine stains, and perspiration.
"I didn't know," Naylin said. "And technically I'm not a princess. Not really sure what I am."
"How could you not know! Oh Goddess." Ross swallowed the wine. "I'll be lucky if they don't torture me before they lop of my head."
Naylin covered her mouth, Elias assumed to mask her smile. "Ardorn hasn't chopped off people's heads since the Dark Years."
Ross sighed.
"They hang them instead." This time Naylin showed her smile with pride, dimples gracing her soft cheeks.
Elias snorted and shook his head. "Ross stop pacing before you wear a hole in the rug."
"You don't understand, Elias! A member of the royal bloodline of Ardorn was in my possession! Thank the Goddess I didn't take bidding on her flower . . ." Ross stopped pacing and looked to Naylin. "You do still have your flower, right? Oh please don't tell me I missed someone taking you without permission."
Naylin brushed a finger against her square jaw, looking up to the golden rugs draped down from the wide support beams. She winked to Elias and said, "Still intact."
"Oh thank the Goddess."
"So how is it that you are a Princess of Ardorn and came to be in the service of Rosie?" Elias asked.
Naylin shrugged. "I told you, I'm not a princess. In the lowlands, I guess I'd be considered the daughter of a lord, but here they're Chiefs and there's only three of them. The western islands, eastern islands, and the Krell chief. My father over see's the western islands, but they'd have to go through the entire eastern islands family bloodline before getting to our family for the right to rule all of Ardorn. According to Rufus Prime, I was kidnapped by Pirates and sold off to Rosie. The man who claimed to be my father when Rosie bought me was my kidnapper. They put a strong hex on me that erased my memories of Ardorn and made me a different person." She closed her eyes and huffed. "You two are the first familiar faces I've seen since I arrived. It's like being a stranger in my own body."
Her shoulders slumped as she leaned forward. One hand played with the fabric of her dress. She stared at the red and gold carpet. Naylin was royalty by blood, but Elias suspected that's where it ended with her. In one fell swoop, she became someone she didn't recognize. Elias had seen it before with Siobhan and how she transformed from Draygon heir, to the street hardened woman who feared little. At least Siobhan knew it was happening and invited it. Naylin clearly had no idea she became someone else.
"How did the High Mages find out if you didn't even know?" Elias asked.
"When Rosie and I arrived at Raiven they took us to meet with Rufus Prime."
"They wanted to assure us that we'd have protection in Raiven," Ross added.
"Rufus Prime has this little glass globe sitting on his desk that started glowing."
Ross gasped. "I remember! It glowed red as soon as you entered."
Naylin nodded. "Apparently it was magically made with Ardornian sands fused with the blood of my father. As soon as the High Mages learned of my abduction by the pirates, they crafted it in effort to find me. Obviously, they were unsuccessful until I entered his office. At the same time Wren's fiancé was going through her ceremony, I was going through my own to get the hex taken off me."
"Why didn't they tell us?" Ross frowned. "They made it seem like they were sending you to negotiate for aid."
"In a way, they were." The ends of her lips twitched, but Elias sensed more than a smile attempting to fight its way to the surface. "Who better to talk to the future king then his long lost cousin?"
"But you don't agree, do you?" Elias asked.
"I don't. I mean I have all these sudden memories from when I was a child, running through Terra Gale chasing Eloy with a palm branch, playing dress up with Emilia. But they don't feel real. Even Eloy isn't completely convinced I am who I say I am. He says he is, but I can tell from how he looks at me that he's skeptical. They sent for my father in the western islands, but it'll be another week or two before he arrives. In the meantime, Eloy treats me as if I was his cousin, but the eyes are always watching me." She sighed. "And from what I gather, my disappearance created a rift between the islands. It happened on the kings watch while I was visiting and—"
"Now the east and the west want to rule themselves." Eloy released the thin cloth separating the room from the main chamber as he entered. He brushed a finger over his chin, his near-black eyes bounced from face to face before he sauntered to the chair behind the desk.
Ross dropped to his knees, bowing his head, drawing a snicker from Eloy.
"You don't have to kneel to royalty here. A simple bow is respect enough." Eloy rest his elbows on the sloping back of the chair, tilting his head to the right as he stared at Elias. "It's good to see you again, Master Elias."
Elias bowed his head. "And you, Prince Eloy. I am sorry to hear of your father's health. He is a good man and a great leader."
Eloy's lips twitched. "He is a stubborn fool, but his loss will be felt among the people. Mother has taken it the hardest. She has hardly left his side since he fell into the deep sleep. I suspect as long as he still draws breath, she won't lose hope he'll open his eyes again." He shook his head. "In truth, if I wasn't the one to take the rule I'm not sure I'd be doing things differently. However, the people need me so I must act as though I have already been crowned and take my father's place."
"And how is Emilia taking it? She was close to your father if I recall," Elias said.
Eloy narrowed his eyes for a second before stilling them. "We're not here to discuss my family are we? I closed the council with my people early to meet with you. Get on with it, Master Elias."
Elias tried not to flinch at the sudden coldness in Eloy's tone. The future king continued to lean back in his chair, arms braced by the dips in the back. Bright yellow diamonds decorating the sides of his loose black and yellow shirt contrasted against his dark skin. Gone were the wide eyes of the youthful prince he remembered. The stone façade of a man learning his place as king replaced them. Until his father passed, Eloy would be king in appearance only, but it was an appearance Elias saw Eloy held true to.
Light glinted off the brass crown resting on his head. Hair on the sides of his head wove in tight braids to the low rising Mohawk running down the center. Elias had always marveled at the young prince's willingness to shun the traditional trends of his royal bloodline. Where most kept their hair short or neatly coiled in tight braids, Eloy embraced the wildness of it. He and Siobhan had a lot in common that way. They shunned tradition and embraced what made them unique.
Elias cleared his throat and said, "I have come to seek aid from Ardorn. Siobhan is readying to challenge for her right to the throne and will need allies."
"Ah Siobhan. The blood thirsty daughter who slaughtered her father and fled like a coward."
"Siobhan didn't kill her father." Elias forced back a growl. "You know her and how she adored her father."
"Do I?" Eloy snorted. "I thought I knew a lot of things about Draygon, but they stabbed me and my family in the back anyway."
He stood up and walked to a serving cart in the corner of the room. His hand waived over the various bottles gathered on the glass surface before he settled on the same red wine Naylin had served to Ross. Eloy sipped on his wine as he returned to his chair, sitting with one leg kicked over the side. One elbow propped him up on the armrest, his eyes trained on Elias as if he were waiting for a response. It was a response Elias didn't know how to make. What could he say? The disdain in Eloy's voice was clear as day, but it wasn't one Elias understood.
Finally Elias said, "Have tensions risen between Draygon and Ardorn? The two realms were always cordial whenever I witnessed the exchanges between Marcus and your father. Had Siobhan and you not been in line for your own rule, I thought a union between you and her would be practical."
Eloy twirled one hand decorated in rings against the thin lip of his crystal goblet, studying Elias. The right end of his lips twisted upward. "That isn't the only reason a union between Siobhan and I wouldn't have worked. It would've been a union in appearances only and Siobhan is not the kind of woman who would settle for someone who could never grow to love her. No, a better union for me would've been with Cion, but Cion's bitch mother wouldn't allow it." Eloy sipped on his wine and pressed his free hand to his chest. "'It's unnatural,' she said. 'Disgusting,' she whined. 'What about producing an heir?' Oh yes, she came up with many excuses to talk Marcus out of that union until they settled on my sister Emilia uniting with Cion."
"Wouldn't Cion have a say in it?" Ross broke his silence and immediately clamped a hand over his mouth.
"We're royalty. Until we have our own rule, we don't get any say in the union our parents decide for us, not even Siobhan would've had a say in it had her father announced a union for her. If they see a match as favorable to our realms, then that is the match they create. Besides . . ." Eloy grinned. "Cion wouldn't know what he wanted unless his mommy Kaylis told him. It's remarkable he's related to Siobhan. She was feisty, powerful, and stood up for herself to anyone who dared tell her how to be. Cion is . . . was . . . a mouse. Timid. I don't think he had a free thought in his head that his mother didn't put there."
"I'm sure Siobhan being framed for murder crushed him. He idolized his sister." Elias sighed.
"It did more than crush him, it destroyed him. I only saw him once after Marcus' death when father and I went to finalize arrangements for the marriage between Cion and Emilia. He was a shell of the child I knew. Hallow, lifeless, silent. His mother did all of the talking on his behalf and that is what destroyed relations between our realms." Eloy clenched a hand against his goblet, both ends of his lips twitching. "Emilia had already been there for months so we thought everything was a formality at that point."
"What did Cion do?"
"It wasn't Cion. As I said, that boy did nothing his mother didn't order him to do. They have my sister, Elias, and won't return her. I don't even know if she is alive or dead! All of our people stationed in Draygon were expelled along with us and we have struggled to gain eyes within their walls ever since."
"Why would Kaylis do that?"
"Because she's lowlander scum and they treat Ardornians like we're slaves to be harvested. My own cousin was bought and paid for by your companion here. Naylin was used as a sex object for horny men to do with as they please."
"Now wait just a minute!" Ross stomped his foot, resting his hands on his hips. "None of my entertainers are ever forced to lay with a customer!"
"But they are forced to work off the debt incurred by you buying them, are they not?"
Ross gritted his teeth. Naylin remained silent, her eyes downcast to the floor. Elias wasn't sure how much she had shared with Eloy, but it was clearly enough. The young future king didn't appear angry, but he was taking pleasure in Ross' plight.
"Perhaps I should feed you to the camels."
"Eloy!" Naylin snapped. "I told you Rosie treated me with nothing but respect, as did Siobhan when we first met. Nobody ever forced themselves on me."
Eloy took another sip, neither his lips nor his eyes gave any suggestion of his mood. He twisted himself to sit right in his chair, leaning forward to set the near empty goblet on the desk. Both arms folded in front of him as he straightened his back. Broad shoulders widened, his neck lengthening to hold his head high. Both eyes focused on Elias.
"I know Siobhan didn't kill her father. I've always known. Had I been there, I'd have gladly had father sweep her away until she could prove her innocence. However, my loyalty to Siobhan does not exceed the loyalty to my blood. So if you wish my help, Master Elias, you're going to have to give me something in return."
Elias sighed and nodded. "If it's in my power, I'll give it gladly."
"Return what Draygon has stolen from me." Eloy tilted his head forward, eyes narrowing. "Find my sister."