Princess Elizabeth was not pleased. Partly she was upset at the inquisitor, a little upset at the court wizard, but she was mostly annoyed at herself. After an hour to cool down in her room, she had realized that she’d been played for a fool. It hadn’t occurred to her that the inquisitor would just flat out lie to her, but examining the possibilities, that seemed the most likely.

She knew she’d never claimed responsibility for her father’s condition, and that she lacked the skill to alter her own memories, much less the memories of a fully trained wizard. So either Reginald had altered his own memories, altered hers, or the inquisitor had tricked her.

Her mother had shown up a while later to smother her with sympathy and vent her own fury. But Elizabeth prided herself on being smarter and more rational than her mother, more ruthless than her father, while still being motivated by a desire to serve the greater good. The greater good being whatever was best for the people of her kingdom. She wondered; what was the greater good in this situation?

It was not an easy question, but after some thought, she decided that the most important thing was simply to do what was best for her and her allies. It was obvious that her middle brother, a meek self-indulgent person who just wanted to maintain the status quo and avoid conflict, was not suited to be the kingdom’s next ruler. It was not in the greater good that he rise to take the throne. Therefore any action she took to prevent that, within reason, was serving the greater good.

After calming her mother down, Elizabeth called her eldest brother on the communicator paired to one he carried at all times. She felt relieved when her brother’s voice came through the device, “Hello?”

“Brother! The inquisitors are plotting against us. They accused us publicly of being behind our father’s condition! They said Reginald confessed to overhearing us!”

“I’ve already heard,” her brother sounded angry, “I’m taking steps.”

“What will you do?” She asked, worried.

“Are you safe? What’s the code phrase?” He asked.

Elizabeth and her brother had memorized various codes in case one of them might be captive or under duress, but until now, Elizabeth had never expected to use them. “Butterflies,” she replied.

“Spiders,” her bother responded, completing the code pair correctly. He then continued, “I’m rallying as much of the army to me as I can. I’m estimating I can take between half and two thirds before my brother knows what’s going on and counteracts me. They know me better than they know him, and they don’t have any reason to believe the inquisitor’s lies. I’m going to flee to the untamed lands, we’ll set up a resistance camp. Hopefully when our father wakes up, we can talk this out. But if this is all a Mage Guild plot, that may not happen. I won’t go to the hangman’s noose and let the Mage Guild turn our kingdom into a puppet state with a weak figurehead king like my brother.”

“That’s treason,” queen Eleanor pointed out, deeply concerned. She loved all her children, and though she agreed her middle son was weak, she knew he wasn’t a bad person. He was probably just a pawn in all of this.

“I’m sorry mother, but I can’t just let myself be captured. I’ll have to leave you two behind, they’ll know I don’t plan to make the first move if you two are hostages towards my good behavior. You two will be my ambassadors. I doubt even my brother would let them do anything to you.”

“Aren’t you moving too fast?” Elizabeth asked, “we don’t know for sure what’s going on…”

“Better safe than sorry. I’ll apologize to father when, and if, he wakes up. He’ll understand my precautions. Is there anyone you can trust, Elizabeth? Someone there you think will protect you?” Her brother asked.

Elizabeth thought about it. She thought of the court wizard’s naive face and willingness to place himself in legal peril to try to help her. At the time she’d been too mad to understand, but in retrospect, it did feel like Jason had tried. He didn’t seem to be on the same side as the inquisitor at the very least, and he seemed interested in restoring her father’s soul. “I think the new court wizard might be trustworthy,” she said finally.

“That incompetent?” Eleanor scoffed, “He’s partly to blame for all of this isn’t he?”

“Maybe,” Elizabeth conceded, “But if he is, it was an honest mistake on his part, not a deliberate choice. I feel he’s sincere about trying to help the kingdom.”

“I’ll trust your judgement on that,” The eldest prince said, “Your instincts are usually right. One more thing… I’m pretty sure Alexander is a traitor or dead. His communicator isn’t working, and I fear for the worst. Be wary of him if you do hear from him, he might be compromised in some way... He’s been acting strange since he escaped from the dungeon…”

Elizabeth remembered what she'd heard when Jason talked to the inquisitor. "Brother! Jason says that our father's soul was stolen! The necklace Alexander brought from the dungeon is to blame! He said that he and Conrad are trying to get it back!"

"I knew it! That turncoat, Alexander, is working for the Inquisitors! Be on your toes, sis, I don't want them to come for your soul next. If all else fails, run away to that place we played as children, I'll send someone to wait for you there and bring you to the resistance if you show up."