“Excuse me,” a voice said from the entrance to Rhea’s office in Master Caro Barca’s home where she lived in Albion. His fingers wrapped softly on the wooden door.

Her head snapped up. “High Order Eren!”

“Hello, Rhea.”

“How can I help you?” she asked, standing quickly.

“King Edric has requested your presence at court. We should have a report in from Aurum,” Eren said.

“Wonderful. We should go swiftly then.” She grabbed her bag and hurried with him out of her home.

Ever since Cyrene had left, Rhea’s life had been turned upside down. In truth, the kingdom had been turned upside down.

High Order Eren had been in charge of the investigation regarding the deaths of the Affiliates and High Order when they traveled on procession to Albion. It had turned out that the deaths were linked to Cyrene. After discovering that she had magic, she had confided in Rhea and told her that she was fleeing the country to discover how to use her abilities.

While that was great news for Cyrene, it’d left Rhea in a terrible place. She was the only one who knew the truth, and as much as she hated lying, she had promised to hold Cyrene’s secret.

“Do you think they’ve located Cyrene?” Rhea asked.

High Order Eren sighed and let his guard down. He didn’t do it often. “I’m not sure. King Edric sent the remaining Affiliates back to Byern this morning. I fear he is losing hope on her rescue.”

“It has been weeks since she disappeared without a sign.” Rhea wished the King would call the entire thing off, but she couldn’t sound too eager about it either. “I just hope she’s okay.”

“I’m sure she will be,” High Order Eren said, dropping his hand down on hers.

She stared at their hands between them. Their eyes met, and then he quickly pulled away.

“She’s a fighter, and as far as we know, she has Affiliate Maelia with her. Born with two Captains as her parents, I’m sure Maelia will defend Cyrene. I can’t think she was involved,” he said.

“Oh, yes…Affiliate Maelia.” Rhea heard the bitterness in her own tone but couldn’t seem to stamp it out.

Maelia and Eren had had some kind of relationship while on procession together, and every time Maelia’s name was brought up, Rhea would feel guilty, for she could not stop the growing feelings she felt for Eren.

Their trip to the palace was thankfully a short one. Albion had been built up around Krisana, the great white castle, which gleamed like a whitewashed pearl at all times. Surrounding the castle were the various neighborhoods called Vedas. Her master lived in the wealthiest of all the Vedas, and his estate spanned an entire city block.

The Royal Guard posted at the gate bowed to High Order Eren as he walked through the door. She knew their respect ran deeper than just the fact that he was High Order. He’d frequently train with the guards in his spare time and consult their strategists for the best way to initiate his plans and even change them based on their suggestions.

Krisana’s mother-of-pearl doors stood open, and they walked across the beautiful foyer to the doors of the throne room. The new Royal Guards Edric had created after Cyrene’s disappearance—the first such group in two hundred years—were posted at every corner. It was an elite small group that had been handpicked by Captain Merrick, Edric’s personal Royal Captain of the Guard.

Eren lightly placed his hand on her back to usher her forward. Butterflies hit her stomach at his touch, and she immediately felt foolish.

“It’s going to be winter soon, Edric. There is so much to do to prepare for the Eos holiday. You know it’s the biggest holiday of the year, and we host the entire country in Byern. Why must we continue to be away from our home?” Queen Kaliana nagged.

Rhea ducked her head and pretended not to hear. Since day one, Queen Kaliana had been arguing with King Edric about his plans, but she hadn’t yet convinced him to give up.

“This way,” High Order Eren said.

Rhea followed him to the side of the room to observe the court and wait for the messenger from Aurum to arrive.

“Kaliana,” King Edric said sharply, “enough.”

Consort Daufina whispered something in his ear that Rhea couldn’t hear, and he smiled up at his Consort. Queen Kaliana fumed even more at the display, but the King wasn’t paying attention. He was playing a dangerous game, one only he could get away with. For who would challenge the King?

“You could always return to Byern to begin your festival preparations alone,” Prince Kael suggested to the Queen.

Kaliana openly scowled at him.

A mischievous glint was in his eye.

Rhea was certain he was only around to badger everyone. He never offered any real insight and infuriated the whole lot of them.

Queen Kaliana opened her mouth to respond, but King Edric stood and sliced his hand through the air.

“I’m tired of hearing both of you speak. Do not say another word until we have news! Do not forget that Affiliate Jardana was recently found dead. The threat is not past us yet, and this is the most pressing matter to the country.”

Everyone fell silent at that proclamation.

King Edric wasn’t easily angered, but weeks without news had him on edge. Not to mention, there was the gruesome death of Affiliate Jardana. That had even shaken Her Majesty, who had been close to the Affiliate. Rhea hadn’t liked Jardana much. She had thought Jardana was a simpering idiot, either trailing the Queen or Prince Kael at all times. Prince Kael was the only one who didn’t seem too terribly upset by her death. He clearly took everything in stride.

The silence chilled Rhea, and she turned to High Order Eren. Words stuck in her throat as she took in his handsome dark features. She spat out the first thing she could think of, “What do you think of this weather, High Order Eren?”

“The weather?” Eren asked, looking down at her. “And, please, Rhea, no official titles.”

Her face burned, and she pulled away from his warm brown eyes. “Of course, Eren. I simply mean that, in the last couple of weeks, we’ve gone without rain. It’s so dry.”

“And it’s the rainy season,” Eren finished.

“A rainy season with no rain.”

“Odd indeed.”

Just then, a messenger ran in through the double doors. The woman was small, only just over five feet tall, with a wiry frame that probably suited her well for a long day on horseback. Her clothes were travel-worn, but Rhea was too excited to hear the news to pay attention to much else.

The woman bowed at the waist and crossed her arm over her chest in a formal military greeting. “Your Highness,” she said stiffly, “I bring news.”

“Speak freely,” King Edric commanded.

“As I was about to leave, two of the kidnapped were apprehended in the Aurumian Hidden Forest and brought into river town of Strat.”

“Two?” King Edric asked curiously.

Thus far, they had only discovered that Maelia was missing. Rhea knew that Ahlvie and Orden were going to be the likely suspects of the kidnapping, but she didn’t know how to stop their arrests.

“Affiliate Maelia and High Order Ahlvie. Before I left, neither had confessed to participating in the kidnapping, Your Highness.”

“And the kidnapper and Cyrene…Affiliate Cyrene?” he asked.

“We have men tracking the kidnapper who had abandoned them in the midst of a wolf attack. The target eluded capture and was not found after the attack had ended. We lost Affiliate Cyrene, Your Majesty.”

The room was silent.

Then, King Edric erupted. “You mean, you finally tracked her down, and neither apprehended the kidnapper nor located Cyrene!”

The messenger’s eyes dropped to the floor and then met the King once more. “Yes, Your Highness. We have High Order Ahlvie and Affiliate Maelia in custody. The guards are waiting for your decision before returning them to Byern for questioning.”

Rhea felt light-headed with the news. She was equal parts relieved that Cyrene had not been caught, worried about the wolf attack, and terrified that Ahlvie and Maelia might give away the entire thing that Rhea had been protecting all along.

“No,” King Edric said. “I’ll go to Strat myself!”

“What?” Queen Kaliana shrieked.

“Edric!” Consort Daufina chided.

Prince Kael just looked smug.

“Nothing seems to get done around here unless I do it myself. I’m on my way to Strat now to sort this whole thing out!” King Edric said.

“You can’t go into Aurum, Edric,” the Consort said. Her voice was shaking, and she tried to regain control.

“I am the King of Byern. I can do as I please.”

“Your Highness,” a man said off to his left.

The King whirled on who had spoken. “Yes, Merrick?”

Rhea shivered. She detested the King’s new Captain of the Royal Guard. King Edric had chosen him because he was the very best at what he did, but something was off about him. He never smiled, and his features were so severe. It was like he cast a shadow over the court.

“If you entered Aurum, it would not only look like a direct proclamation of war that we could not get your sister, Queen Jesalyn, to fix. It would also look like a dire situation for the country. You are needed here, Your Highness.” Merrick slapped his hand to his chest and bowed after giving his advice.

Consort Daufina glared at him. She didn’t like that Captain Merrick was overstepping his bounds into her advisement territory. And he had done it without blinking an eye in her direction.

“I could go in your stead,” Prince Kael said nonchalantly. He raised an eyebrow at the King, as if awaiting his outburst.

Tension rose in the room, and Rhea felt like she needed to do something to defuse the situation. She couldn’t have the King or the Prince gallivanting through Aurum and bringing war onto her homeland.

By the Creator, Cyrene! Look at what you have done!

“Your Highness,” Rhea said, boldly stepping forward. She curtsied low and waited for him to acknowledge her.

“Ah, yes, Rhea. What is it?” King Edric said.

“I thought I would provide some insight into Cyrene, as you would still need to find her.”

“Go on.”

“If I know anything about Cyrene—and I do since I’ve known her my entire life—she would go after her friends at all cost. I doubt she would cooperate with her kidnapper if her friends had been taken away, and she can be quite convincing under any conditions.”

Rhea looked up into King Edric’s blue-gray eyes and then quickly dropped his gaze. She hoped he hadn’t read too much into her words.

“I am not a military strategist, but there is nowhere else other than Strat to safely cross the Huyek River. I would concentrate your guards at the crossing with the acquired Affiliate and High Order. She will turn up. I would count on it.”