The sun crept over the horizon and bathed the towers along the walls of Luna’sindranar in golden light. Even though Lalana was devoted to her goddess like all Moon Elves, she could deny the beauty of the sun in the morning.

She and Captain Gihana had traveled the whole way from Taldira in a record time of two weeks. They had to switch their horses three times to keep up their speed, but it was an important mission for Lalana.

The war had lasted only for a short time and had ended weeks ago in a crushing defeat for the Moon Elves, which shocked not only Lalana but most of the populace. Duke Turandir had send couriers to all the cities under his rule declaring Avandir a semi-independent nation under the jurisdiction of the human emperor. It had shocked Lalana at first, but she understood enough about politics to understand that he was most likely forced to agree to such things.

Since Taldira was a county of the duchy of Avandir and would be part of the secession, Lalana had quickly realized that there was a realistic chance for Luna’sindra to pull back all Void Hunters. This would have disastrous consequences for Taldira. Her mission was now to secure Luna’sindra’s support in those matters and her new king sanctioned it. At least until Avandir had the means to train Void Hunters themselves.

The two women were greeted friendly at the city gates and invited to the palace.

“All right, Gihana,” Lalana said as she and her trusty guard waited for an audience with the newly appointed regent Tovandir. “I need you to show your best behavior. Under no circumstances I can have you to insult him. Or even better, don’t talk at all.”

“No problem, M’lady,” Gihana replied in her thick dialect. “I’m gonna be on my best, ya’ll see!”

To reinforce her statement, Gihana patted Lalana’s back rather forcefully.

“That’s what I feared,” Lalana mumbled.

However, Lalana got no more chances to educate Gihana, because a servant asked them to follow him to Tovandir.

“Ah, Lady Lalana,” Tovandir greeted her in the throne room. A lot of nobles stood around and watched her intently. The king regent sat on the throne and motioned her to come closer. “I was told of your arrival, though I’m unclear about your intentions. As far as I was informed, Turandir has broken off from our country. What can I do for one of his countesses?”

“I came to discuss important matters regarding the Void Hunters, Your Royal Highness,” Lalana explained and bowed. “But first, let me express my condolence. Your parents and sisters will be sorely missed, especially Princess Linea who I owe a huge debt.”

“I thank you,” Tovandir said. “But the rumors are rather exaggerated. Senia and Linea are still alive. Unfortunately, they are being held captive by the empire to enforce its demands on us.”

Lalana eyes widened.

“What?” she asked. Multiple questions ran through her head in rapid succession, but she came up with the most pressing one. “What is the plan to free them?”

Tovandir furrowed his eyebrows.

“Plan?” he asked. “There is no plan. I will not risk my country’s security or my sisters’ lives. The negotiations with the emperor were successful and their lives are secure for now. I have direct orders from our goddess to not intervene and risk our people!”

Lalana tried not showing her anger. The notion of Linea, the savior of her city, as prisoner of the humans disgusted her.

“What negotiations?” she asked.

“That’s none of your concerns.”

Lalana took a deep breath.

“I understand,” she said and switched the topic to her original request.

Despite her successful talks with Tovandir about the cooperation of the Void Hunter’s Guild with the newly formed kingdom, Lalana felt hollow. It was clear to her that it was because of Linea’s situation. She had realized back in Taldira that the young princess would have a place in her heart forever, and she would do anything to pay her debt to her, but there was something more. Linea’s fighting and courage had entranced her as Linea had fought on the front lines and selflessly protected the people. Because of all that she admired the princess. The only person Lalana had ever held in high regards like that had been her mother. She had to admit the princess enticed her, and the thought of her as prisoner of the empire enraged her.

Her contemplation made it difficult for her to sleep, and after a day of insomnia she decided to do something about Linea. She couldn’t let this injustice stand, and she knew exactly who to ask for help.

She knocked on a door.

“Come in,” came from the inside.

Lalana entered the room and found an atelier littered with paintings. Some were only halfway done, others were already complete. Most of the paintings depicted landscapes while a few were portraits.

“I like this one,” Lalana said as she stopped in front of a painting of the royal family.

“Lady Lalana!” Nora said and laid down her painting utensils. “How are you doing?”

“As well as I can in regard of what happened.”

“Yes,” Nora said, and her slight smile dropped. “I can’t even concentrate enough to paint. My new painting is… bad.”

“Call me Lalana,” she answered and looked at Nora’s newest painting. “It looks good to me.”

Nora just shrugged and went over to a bowl with water to wash her hands.

“How can I help you?” she asked Lalana. “Even though it would be a nice gesture from you to visit me, but I guess you have more important things to do.”

“I need your help,” Lalana said and nodded. “I need to convince Prince Tovandir to order a rescue mission for Princess Linea. And Princess Senia, of course.”

“I’m not opposed to the idea of helping Linea, but I don’t think he will listen to me…”

“We need to try at least,” Lalana said. “Without all those nobles hanging around, perhaps he’s not as opposed as he seemed.”

Nora didn’t answer at first, but instead she cleaned her paintbrushes.

“I could get in trouble, you know?” she said as she put away the painting she had working on. “Theoretically my family and house aren’t a part of Luna’sindra anymore. My sister is a baroness under you, and after Linea’s disappearance my services here aren’t needed anymore. I’m only allowed to stay here as a curtesy of the prince. Getting on his bad side could get me kicked out…”

“I understand…” Lalana said and her shoulders dropped.

“But…” Nora continued and smiled, “If there is anything I could do to help Linea, you can count me in.”

Lalana sat in the palace garden the next evening and marveled at the flowers. Some of them closed because of the sunset while other just started their nightly activity. Nora had told her she had been unable to get a hold of Tovandir the last night but promised to try this evening. Lalana herself wasn’t able to sleep properly again, and it irritated her to no end. She was used to being unfazed by pressure and stress, but this situation somehow grated at her nerves.

She waited until the sun disappeared behind the horizon and the last color vanished from the sky, but finally Nora showed up. The girl looked over her shoulders multiple times and she had her arms wrapped around her chest. She hurried through the garden until she reached Lalana.

“What’s wrong, Nora?” Lalana preemptively asked.

“Not here!” Nora hissed and gazed over the bushes surrounding them. “The garden has ears…”

Concerned about Nora’s strange behavior Lalana followed her back to the palace into her room. The room was rather small, but it was spacious enough for a couch near the window. She motioned Lalana to sit down while she locked the door and searched for something in her closet and behind her paravent.

“Nora?” Lalana asked again and tilted her head.

Nora sighed as she didn’t find what she was looking for. She walked over to the couch and sat down beside Lalana.

“I… I overheard something… something terrible!” she explained, and tears gathered in her eyes.

“What is it?” Lalana asked and put a hand on Nora’s shoulder. “What did you hear?”

The things Nora then told her, let her blood freeze. It took Nora several minutes to describe how she went to Tovandir’s private chambers. As she knew most of the servants and guards rather well, no one questioned her. Only the guards directly before his rooms asked her what she wanted, but a simple lie was enough to quell their curiosity. They told her that the prince didn’t want to be disturbed and that he had even sent away all his servants. Nora then used the opportunity to sneak into the chambers through the adjacent and now unoccupied servant’s room.

Once inside she had found the prince in front of a communication mirror talking to someone Lalana knew rather well, her great-uncle King Turandir.

“Wait,” Lalana said. “Why would those two use this method for communication? It’s only for emergencies, because of the high mana consumption. How many mages did he have with him?”

“That’s the strangest thing about it,” Nora said. “No mages at all. He used mana crystals!”

“What?” Lalana exclaimed. “But that’s utterly ineffective. Those crystals lose most of their power if used for continuous spells.”

“That’s true,” Nora said and nodded. “And the only reason, why anyone would do that…”

“… would be if he wanted no one to witness the talk,” Lalana concluded Nora’s thought.

“Exactly,” Nora agreed. “At that point I was too afraid to talk to him. He would be angry if he found out I saw that. But I was too curious to just leave.”

“You spied on him?”, Lalana asked not to accuse her but to clarify things.

“Yes.”

“What did you learn?”

“They were behind it all!” Nora cried out and tears flowed down her face. She pulled her knees to her chin and wrapped her arms around them. “The dark mage in Taldira, the invasion of the humans, the ambush on the Royal Army, the defeat at Avandir… Turandir, Tovandir and the human emperor staged all of it!”

“No…” Lalana said and starred at Nora with wide eyes. “But… How? And why?”

Nora quickly explained the how. The former Duke had played the role of the cornered general in distress while Tovandir had betrayed the Royal army by feeding false information to his mother.

“Their plan worked even better as they had expected,” Nora said. “With Linea and Senia out of the capital it was easier to capture them.”

“They planned to capture them?”

“That was the deal with the emperor, as far as I understood,” Nora explained. “Their new alliance was… unstable. Both sides didn’t trust each other. And Tovandir didn’t want to kill his sisters. He even blamed Turandir for Tarina’s death as their plan had been to capture her as well.”

“Oh, so not killing them is a good thing then?” Lalana huffed. “I can’t believe he would sell his sisters out.”

Nora agreed with a nod.

“The emperor now has a leverage against Tovandir, as he could just release Linea or Senia,” she said. “His claim on the throne currently relies on the fact that none of his sisters is available at the moment.”

“But this leverage only works for two years,” Lalana noted and her gaze wandered to the ceiling as she thought about Nora’s revelations. “The law states that the regent can claim the crown if he’s part of the line of succession and the successor is unable to receive the crown within two years beginning with her sixteenth birthday. Since Senia is already sixteen, Tovandir must wait only two years before he can claim the crown. After that he doesn’t need to care if Senia or Linea get free. The question is, what does the emperor want to do with Luna’sindra in the meantime?”

“I don’t know,” Nora admitted. “They didn’t talk about that. But Turandir asked Tovandir about his brother. Apparently, Shandir witnessed Turandir's betrayal in some way and escaped. Tovandir said he had already messaged his brother to keep silent about it because Tovandir wants to keep the country from making dangerous decisions.”

“That can’t work in the long run,” Lalana noted.

“Turandir said the same,” Nora agreed. “That’s why Tovandir promised to silence all witnesses if necessary.”

“He wants to kill his own brother?” Lana asked. “On the other hand, from what you told me, I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“We need to warn him,” Nora said am stood up. “And I know someone who might help us.”

It was a small group of four women who had headed out to warn Shandir. Nora and Lalana were obviously part of this group and Gihana and Evira accompanied them. They had stripped the captain of her duty and her rank after Princess Senia had been abducted right under her nose. Nora had found the woman in a tavern drinking some rather hard booze, but fortunately Evira wasn’t that drunk as she had just started.

When she had heard from Nora what Tovandir had done, she was furious and had tried to confront the prince, but Nora, Lalana and especially Gihana were able to prevent that with arguments and force.

Their travel to Alandis took only a few days and to their luck, Shandir and his remaining soldiers still prepared to move out. Nora’s connection to the Royal Court made it easy to get access to Shandir. He even greeted them in his private chambers, which Countess Thudila had provided him with, even though Evira and Gihana had to wait outside.

“Nora,” he said with a small smile. “How long has it been? A year now? You have become even more beautiful than I remember you.”

“It has been too long, you charmer,” Nora answered and boxed him lightly against his chest. “I’m glad you’re well. When I heard about the battle I feared all of you were dead.”

“It was close enough,” Shandir admitted, “and I’m certainly not proud of what happened.”

He motioned his guests to take seats and sat down on a couch himself.

“I see you brought someone with you,” he said and looked around. “Care to introduce me?”

Nora pointed at Lalana and said, “This is Countess Lalana of Taldira and…”

Shandir jumped up from the couch with a hateful look on his face, and he pulled a knife from his belt.

“What are you doing?” Nora asked while Lalana backed off.

“She belongs to Turandir, the traitor!” he stated and appeared confused about Nora’s behavior. “I told Tovandir what he has done, and now you bring one of his vassals to me?”

“I think there might be misunderstandings and misinformation going on here,” Nora said and positioned herself between Shandir and Lalana. “We heard of Turandir’s betrayal, but not from Tovandir. Well, we know it from him to be fair, but not because he told us.”

Shandir looked Nora in the eyes for a long time, but finally he put away his knife.

“Explain, please.”

The following discussion was tedious for all three. Nora had to explain everything she overheard from Tovandir all over again, and Lalana had to convince Shandir why she was so invested in this matter. But it was the worst for Shandir, who couldn’t believe his brother would betray his family.

He stood up from his place and walked over to the window. Absent-mindedly he watched over the city beneath him.

“I find it difficult to believe you, because I’ve known my brother my whole life,” he said after a while, “but I have to admit that he has always been… ambitious. Perhaps I don’t want to believe it, but the facts add up. The ambush, his mysterious escape from the humans and his unwillingness to tell everyone of Turandir’s betrayal.”

He looked back at Lalana.

“What do you plan to do?” he asked. “You are not a vassal of the crown of Luna’sindra. You’re Turandir’s vassal. I can’t imagine why you would risk everything just for an imaginary debt towards my sister. I need to know if I can trust you.”

“My mother died to the dark mage who was sent by this unholy alliance,” she stated. “My city and I wouldn’t have survived, if it weren’t for Linea. This is no imaginary debt. I owe her everything I have left, and I will risk all that to save her.”

“If you trust me, you can trust her,” Nora said as she came closer to him. She stood beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Fine,” he said. “But what is your plan? I will take my army… or what is left of it and start a resistance. The times will get difficult. Are you in?”

“No.”

Nora and Shandir looked at her.

“What do you mean by ‘No’?” Nora asked.

“I won’t follow you into a battle for the crown,” she explained. “Your dedication is commendable, but Linea is my highest priority. I already thought about it on our way here. I will tell Turandir that I intend to follow the old rituals to honor the death of my mother.”

“You want to make a pilgrimage to the old temple in the Nava’sinkuna mountains?” Nora asked bewildered. “How does this…”

“Of course, I will not go on a pilgrimage,” Lalana said and rolled her eyes. “But it will give me the opportunity to leave the country. Cali should be able to stand her ground against Turandir without giving in to his demands if he has any. She is stubborn as an oak.”

“And you want to free Linea?” Nora concluded with a nod.

“Yes. Senia too, if possible.”

“Are you sure, you can pull it off?” Shandir asked. “It doesn’t help, if you get caught yourself.”

“I’ll do everything I can to save her,” Lalana said and looked at Shandir with determination. “I’ll take Gihana and Evira with me. Together we should be able to find her.”

“I want to come with you,” Nora said.

“No!” Shandir said. “You’re not a fighter. This is too risky.”

“I agree with him,” Lalana said. “If things go downhill, you would be too much at risk. And I don’t think Linea would like that if she found out.”

“But I can’t go back,” Nora said with tears in her eyes. “I don’t want to go back, I want to help!”

“Then stay with Shandir,” Lalana proposed and motioned at the prince. “You can trust him, and perhaps you can find something to help him.”

“I… I would like that better as well,” Shandir agreed and pulled Nora in a small hug. “I’m sure Linea would like me to keep an eye on you.”

“Ha!”, Nora said and boxed Shandir again. “I’m sure she would expect me to watch over you instead.”

Lalana stood up and walked over to them. She reached out her hand to Shandir.

“I swear by the name of our goddess, I will free Linea and Senia even if it costs my life!”

Shandir took her hand and smiled.

“I swear by the name of our goddess, I will vanquish the betrayer and his accomplices!”