AQUA

It had been two days since the coronation ball, and Aqua still hadn’t found a minute alone with her brother. Instead, she’d been trapped into sessions with the palace seamstress, who was measuring her for her fall wardrobe, afternoon tea with the nobility who’d stayed on at the palace for a few days after the ball before returning to their distant cities, and long discussions with the palace steward about managing the things usually delegated to the queen.

She didn’t know which was worse—the nonstop burden of princess expectations that were (almost) ruining her appetite or the bright flare of panic that stole her breath and sent her pulse thundering in her ears when she thought about Ali being indebted to the strange man who’d crashed the ball.

Instead, on the morning of the third day after the ball, she found herself seated beside Ali on the royal platform in the palace’s Assembly hall, surrounded by a crowd of royally appointed nobles whose job was to bring their city’s needs to the king.

Judging by the lengthy list of discussion topics the Assembly had submitted to Ali, there was a lot that needed his attention.

Aqua could think of something that needed his attention too, and since this was the first time her brother had slowed down long enough to be in the same room with her for more than a few seconds, she was going to make the most of it.

As pages drew the sea-gold curtains to let the morning sun in, and members of the Assembly broke away from their clustered conversational groups and headed toward their assigned seats at the enormous U-shaped table that lined the room, she leaned towards him.

“Put me on your schedule.”

A frown puckered his brow, and he looked up from the list of discussion topics. “What for?”

Oh please. As if he didn’t know.

“For the talk we need to have.” She gave him a look that dared him to pretend ignorance.

He pretended anyway.

“What talk?"

“In the half a second I took to look at the thing my brother is trying to use to distract me from the discussion we need to have? No.” She glared at him.

He took a deep breath as if reaching for patience and said quietly, “All right. We’ll have that talk. Soon. But right now I need you to see that our kingdom has bigger problems it needs us to deal with.” He pointed to an item on the list. “The western cities are being raided by bands of what they assume are refugees fleeing the unrest in Beligni. They need extra protection.”

She followed his finger as he tapped another item. “Export sales of food remain strong, but our own people are buying less of everything our merchants offer. That means either their coin is going to something else, or they lack confidence in me as a leader and feel the need to save their coin in case I send our economy into ruin.”

“Or the nobility who distrust how the royal family died and who don’t think you’re old enough to make a good king are fabricating these reports in order to spread rumors of instability that doesn’t exist,” Ari said.

He gave her an approving nod. “Right. So our job today is to listen carefully, to take action where we’re sure it’s needed, and to send reliable people to research the reports we can’t verify. And we have to do it all without giving anyone in the Assembly more cause to worry about our leadership.”

She drew back as the last of the crowd found their seats and whispered, “Your leadership. I’m just a reluctantly official princess who’d rather be baking.”

The head of the Assembly stood and called for the room to come to order as Thad leaned close and said, “They need to see you as capable of ruling too. Just in case. We’re in this together, right?”

She nodded, though the slash of panic in her chest was stealing her breath.

Just in case.

Just in case Ali got on Zane Regalus' bad side.

Just in case he didn’t survive.

Aqua turned and surveyed the room as it slowly emptied. If Ali wouldn’t give her information, then she’d just have to find someone who would.

She scanned the representatives who still lingered until she caught sight of a tall woman with a sturdy build, graying black hair, and dimples in her cheeks.

Lady Moran was one of two representatives from the city of Netero, which had the port closest to the fae isle of Amorphirea. If anyone in the crowd knew how to keep a dangerous faerie from entering the palace grounds, she would.

“Lady Moran,” she called as she stood and made her way off the platform.

“Yes, Your Highness?” Lady Moran’s voice was soft and soothing, and for a bittersweet moment it reminded Aqua of her mother’s.

Quickly swallowing against the sudden ache in her throat, Aqua approached the noblewoman. “I wondered if you might eat lunch with me today.”

Lady Moran covered the quick flash of surprise on her face with a formal curtsy. “Of course, Your Highness. Shall I get us both a plate of food? The buffet room is a bit crowded, and I’m afraid some of the Assembly members are more interested in questioning you on recent events than in letting you have the time to eat.”

She gave the buffet room a side glance and conceded the point. She’d never work her way through that crowd in time to question Lady Moran about the faeries. “Thank you. I’ll wait for you on the platform. You can use Alistair’s chair.”

If Lady Moran thought it was strange to be offered the king’s seat at the royal table, she gave no indication. Instead, she went off to get some food.

Aqua smiled as Lady Moran set the plates down and sat. “It looks delicious. Thank you.”

“May I ask why you honored me with this invitation?” The noblewoman raised a bit of braised beef to her lips.

Aqua searched her face, but there was no animosity. No calculation. Just curiosity, a trait Ari could appreciate.

Deciding honesty would be the quickest way to the answers she sought, she said, “I invited you to lunch with me because I have questions about the faeries, and I figured since you live close to them, you might have answers.”

“Our concern is the faerie who can do dangerous magic. Not little magic, like the stories of the faeries who can grow flowers or change the weather, but powerful faerie. The creatures in children’s myths, such as the Whisperer or the Viking of the Winter Court.”

“All of them can do magic.” Lady Moran reached for her glass of cherry cider. “But of course the older ones or those born with special abilities have much more power.”

How much power did Zane have? Could every faerie shut a door with the snap of its fingers?

“Well, then how do we keep the palace safe in case a member of the faerie courts decides to use magic against us?” she leaned forward, eager for the answer, but when Lady Moran gave her a quizzical look, the princess grabbed a skewer of honey-roasted peaches as if that had been her goal all along.

“For safety measures, we put iron fences around our estates and keep iron weapons handy, and we keep some bloodflower poison handy.” Lady Moran nodded a greeting at a passing nobleman while Aqua’s mind latched onto these new pieces of information.

She couldn’t put up an iron fence without attracting attention, both from Zane and from the citizens of Nakdasha, and she didn’t want to advertise the fact that they were trying to keep out a member of the faerie. Iron weapons and bloodflower poison, however, she could manage.

Once Ali had a new weapons master in charge of maintaining the armory, she could gather some iron scraps from the smithy and commission some weapons. And she could make some sort of excuse for going to the merchant district in Nakdasha without Mama Edith— Razi's mother, questioning her.

As Lady Moran and the other representatives returned to their seats and Ali entered the room to finish the last nine items on the docket, she turned to a fresh sheet of parchment and began making a short list of things she needed.

Iron.

Bloodflower poison.

An excuse that Mama Edith would accept.

Maybe a book or two on the faeries so that she could learn more about how they worked and how to deal with them.

And, of course, a new weapons master capable of turning her iron into dangerous weapons.

Aqua stared at her list, thoughts racing, and let the rest of the discussion slip past her. She had a starting point now.

A/N: Now Princess Aquaria Granhiert has a way to retaliate. Subtle haha

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