Rosaliy

The next morning, the castle was emptying out the remainder of its Baysellian guests and Sorceress trainees. Rosaliy tried not to seem too eager to get them out the door, but she was relieved for the respite. After one more day of this chaos, Rosiliy should be off to visit her own family. She had not seen her brother in six moons. He would probably be a full length taller now.

Despite her eagerness, she felt torn. Maybe she should stay until Sorceress Issabeth was found. She would be of little use here, though. Talyrin, Dmitri, Athena, and Cedric were sure to come back with solid information concerning Issabeth today. Alexander was about to go mad waiting for news and pretending like he was not going mad from waiting for news.

Seeing the girls off had been tough. After the disastrous trip the older Sorceress trainees had endured, many of the young magical hopefuls had been scared away from returning after harvest break to train at Crystal Palace. Rosaliy wished Athena had been there to smooth things over; Sorceress Athena had such a sense of calm and control. Of course, the invitation was always open and the girls might still change their minds, but this looked to be a meager year for Sorceress hopefuls. Rosaliy was sure once Sorceress Issabeth was found and the mysterious threat was identified, things would go back to normal.

Normal. Now that was a funny word.

At least all the extra activity had allowed her to brush off Matias. No, she absolutely did not have time to hear him blather about himself, she told him in between talks with the families. He wanted to tell her something about Drake, but although she wanted to hear what he had to say, she did not want to hear what he had to say from him. Drake would be gone with his friend soon, anyway, and Alexander was too distracted to care about the non-results of her investigation thusfar.

In the midst of her hurricane of thoughts, she was nearly blown over by Chandra.

"Rose!"

Rosaliy was about to get a job.

"The royal siblings weren't yet up when I checked in on them this morning, and I didn't have the heart to wake them early after everything they've been through. They would make such an adorable send-off party. Would you pop your head in and nudge them in this direction?"

It was not a real question, because Chandra was long gone before Rosaliy might have given an answer. She zipped up to the Naxturaen wing to fetch them.

"Good morning," Rosaliy said cheerily, breezing into their room. "Would you like to come downstairs and see off the Baysellians?"

The sleeping children did not stir, which was odd for them, but the last few days had been particularly trying. They would be up all night if they slept the day away, and Chandra was not to be trifled with, so Rosaliy threw open their curtains. The light of a beautiful late morning streamed in on their room. A pink plant in the corner stretched out its leaves, but the children remained in their beds, eyes closed, breathing rhythmically, hands folded on their chests like a painting in a storybook.

"Wake up, sleepyheads," she tried again, reaching down to tousle Taurin's hair.

Her hand went straight through the boy's head, and he evaporated. Rosaliy staggered backward a step, and her mouth opened in a silent scream. Her thoughts were just the beginnings of thoughts:

How could—?

Who—?

Where—?

What was—?

She squeezed her eyes shut and reopened them. One whole thought at a time.

The children were not in their room. These were reflections, hollow images. Why? Where were the real children?

Better. Those questions had answers.

She pulled back Tansy's covers and watched with a numb horror as fake, peaceful Tansy melted away. She left image Lillya where she lay, just in case evidence was required. The thought chilled Rosaliy straight through. She was jumping to conclusions. This could be a prank—a joke with very bad timing.

Legs shaking, she fled from the room. She forced herself to stop in the hallway, to try to collect her racing thoughts. She needed to do something, tell someone. Of course she needed to search for the children, but a palace search would take hours, and there were people everywhere. People everywhere. Foreign people. Suspicious people. People who might be smuggling out precious cargo while she was panicking. Her legs started moving again. She may have been overreacting, but she was going straight to the top.

She had no idea what she was going to say, and Queen Kat and Alexander were seeing off another set of guests at the wide doors. Matias and his sister Jadelynn were nearly out the door. Matias was the last thing Rosaliy needed right now. She lurked nervously while a well-dressed woman— Matias' ex-princess mother—hung back from her party to say farewell.

"...have to admit, I'm terrified to head back to Bayselle with these proposals," she was saying.

"Even though you had to make concessions, the people still look to you for leadership," Alexander soothed.

"I'm not sure that's true," she said with a sigh. "My father would be so disappointed in me."

"He tried to hold on to a kingdom so tightly, it squeezed from his grip," Alexander pointed out. "You're not to blame for the damage he did."

"We all have the capacity to learn from the mistakes of those who came before us," said Kat softly. "At least I hope we do."

"Thank you," said the former princess, gripping each arm in turn. "And thank you for talking the pirates out of banishing me. I thought I was going to live out my life on a tiny, desert island for a moment there."

Eventually she left, taking her family with her, and the wide doors were shut behind her, sealing Matias outside. Rosaliy should have interrupted then, but she had no idea what to say. She should have considered a small search before she worried Queen Kat like this.

A smile flicked across Kat's face. She shot a sideways glance to Alexander. The smile translated to his face.

"No, you can't live out your life on a tiny, desert island," he chided her.

She frowned, although her violet eyes were still smiling.

"How about a week?" he offered in compromise.

"Sounds lovely," she said, and the smile faded from both of their faces. Kat's hands slid to Alexander's neck and she kissed him. "How are you holding up, dearest?" she said, almost too quietly for Rosaliy to hear.

"You tell me," he murmured back.

She shook her head.

Rosaliy was paralyzed. They were already dealing with so much trouble.

"I'd just like to skip ahead to the part where Izz is safe and sound," he said, tight worry etched across his face. "Any word from the search party?"

Kat nodded. She had beads in her hair that caught the light when her head moved.

"Anything good?"

She shook her sparkly head. "Cedric thinks they used a Nether World portal."

"They? Shrilynda? A Malum remnant? There hasn't been a serious threat from anyone claiming to be Malum in years. Nothing half this coordinated." He narrowed his eyes, seeing something hidden in Kat's face. "What else?"

She winced. "Are you sure?"

He sighed. "I suppose the less I know while I have to pretend sanity for endless scads of Baysellians is the best option for me, but..."

Kat smiled warmly, running fingers lightly through his hair. "You always need to know."

"I always need to know," he repeated with resignation.

"The girls saw black jaguars. They walked through a fog that took them out of the Glade and moved them to Thorn Forest. Athena thinks..." She stopped, eyes just boring into his, like she was finishing the thought in his mind. That was one of the few powers she did not have, but it worked anyway.

"Flifary?"

She continued to stare back.

"That makes no sense. Does that make any sense?"

"You are the guardian of sense, dearest," she said. "I don't expect it on the best days. The facts just are."

He took her hands. "Thank you for letting me be the one to panic."

"It was your turn."

Rosaliy should not have been there watching their grief, but leaving would have been irresponsible, and her feet would take her no closer.

Kat's eyes shifted to her. "Rose? What's wrong?"

"Hopefully nothing," she said. Her hands were shaking. She hid them behind her. She barely forced words from her stubborn lips. "I don't know where—" She tried to swallow. Suddenly her throat was very dry. "Don't know where the...ch—children...are."

Kat turned her head, and her eyes grew wide almost immediately. "They're not here."

To Rosaliy, those words were like a Bellican soldier had taken a boulder and bashed it against her heart. "They're." Slam. "Not." Thud. "Here." Wham. The only way she was left standing was being in the presence of two people hit harder by the news than she was.

"I'll search the palace," volunteered Alexander. "Perhaps they've masked themselves."

Kat bobbed her head. "I'll search the Glade from the Seeing Pool."

"What do you need me to do?" Rosaliy asked.

"Bring me Daniella."

On the one hand, Daniella was the last person Rosaliy wanted to deal with, but on the other, her ice cold calm and rational thinking might numb Rosaliy's useless stabbing panic. Her feet had carried her to Daniella's room and her hand was knocking on the door before she even had a chance to hesitate.

Rosaliy tried to take some calming breaths and count to ten before she knocked again. Her count of ten was more like four and a half, but it was still plenty of time for the woman to come to the door. By no means was she trapped in her room, but Daniella was unlikely to be wandering the palace with the Baysellians everywhere. The likelihood of a pirate or three holding a vendetta against her was high.

Rosaliy pressed her ear to the door. She heard nothing.

She shook off her nerves and pushed on the door handle. The door did not budge. Daniella was not allowed to lock her door. Her door had no lock to begin with.

Rosaliy rested her hands on the handle and drew in a deep breath, focusing her magic on opening the door. She would never have been able to accomplish such a vague spell anywhere but the middle of Crystal Palace while Kat was in residence, but while she could draw on the magic around her, she could focus it this way. She felt a little gathering of magic, and she pushed it toward the door. The door pushed back.

She stumbled back a step and shook out her hands. The door was magically sealed. What game was Daniella playing here?

Rosaliy increased the force of the magic and sent it toward the door in a blast. The door crackled back, knocking her against the wall behind. She glared at the door and admitted temporary defeat. If Daniella did not want her in that door, she was just wasting her time. She could not afford to waste time.

Rosaliy hurried to find Kat, perched on a dark seeing pool, running her pale fingers through the black, still water.

"It's not working," Kat said, frustrated. "Pepper is missing. The pool is dead. What's going on?"

Rosaliy suspected she knew who the culprit was. "Daniella's door is magically locked."

Kat turned her head, as if looking at something far away. "She's gone."

"Gone?" Rosaliy echoed, because she could muster no other words.

Kat was in motion in an instant. She threw open an armoire nestled in a wall of ivy and grabbed a satchel from a drawer, flinging the bag on a chair. She began tossing things in, looking very much like she was packing.

"Where are you going?" Rosaliy asked.

"To find them," Kat replied, pulling down a thick cloak.

"Wait," Rosaliy cautioned. "Shouldn't you find out a little more before you—" She stopped. Kat was not listening. She would be out the door in minutes at this rate. "Don't leave before I get back." Rosaliy dashed out the door, not bothering to listen for an answer. When Kat was determined, nothing would stop her.

Rosaliy hurried downstairs, aiming for the servants' quarters. Alexander had probably conscripted a few of them to search, and if she missed him, she could always throw Chandra at Kat to slow her down.

She rounded a corner and was about to cross the hallway when distant voices caught her attention. She paused for a moment to listen. One was a prattling voice with a rolling Baysellian accent. That voice showed no indication of stopping, and she almost hurried on, but she could have sworn the other was—

"No," said Alexander's voice. "No thanks are necessary. It was a good proposal."

She veered in that direction.

At the other end of the hallway, Alexander was pinned on a stairway by Drake's friend, Cliff.

Cliff's back was to her, but she could see he was gesturing in a manic, excited way. Alexander wanted Cedric's power of invisibility right about now.

"It's the best thing for the people of Bayselle," Alexander brushed off, clearly wishing to be free of him.

Rosaliy was finally close enough to hear Cliff, especially because his volume was rising with his excitement. "I'm sure it will be! This is going to change so much for good, hard-working people who just want to make an honest living instead of being gouged by gangs and exorbitant taxes by city overlords."

Drake popped his head out of a doorway at Rosaliy's end of the hall and took in the scene in a glance.

"Cliff," he barked. "Are you packed?"

"Uh..." answered Cliff, turning to him.

"I'm leaving in one hour with or without you, Cliff," threatened Drake.

Cliff chuckled a little. Then a concerned look crossed his face while he wondered if Drake was serious.

"Thank you again," Cliff said to Alexander. "I'll—I have to go. To depart. I'll be departing soon."

"It's been lovely having you here," said Alexander, not tempering his annoyance at this point. Cliff did not notice. He trotted down the hallway to his room.

Drake rolled his eyes, freezing when he caught sight of Rosaliy standing behind him.

"If I don't get a chance to see you off," she said, "goodbye! It's been nice meeting you."

She meant it, but she was far too distracted to sound genuine. She rushed down the hallway to intercept Alexander before she got an answer.

"Daniella's gone, and, oh, Alexander, hurry," pleaded Rosaliy.

By the time they tracked down Kat, she was in the greenhouse, more accurately a sunroom attached to Crystal Palace, bursting with plants for every purpose imaginable. Kat was filling pouches with healing herbs and tossing them in her satchel.

"No," she declared, not even looking at Alexander. "I don't want to talk to you. You'll talk me out of going. I know you will."

He held up his hands in surrender. "How would I do such a thing?" was all he asked, and her face collapsed.

The imminent arrival of the baby was his trump card, but Kat would be upset if he played it. Someone was preying on the residents of Crystal Palace, and as powerful as Kat was, she would be vulnerable soon.

Alexander held his arms open, and the trembling Naxturaen Queen allowed herself to be enveloped in a hug. He kissed her forehead.

"I know," she whispered in frustration as if he had spoken, a tear rolling down her cheek. The satchel dropped to the ground.

"Where would you go?" he asked, tightening his arms around her.

Rosaliy was hardly sure whether to go or stay, so she continued lurking awkwardly at the entrance to the greenhouse.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead," Kat sighed, resting her head against his chest.

"I'm not opposed to a search," he said, "but without a destination..."

She took a steadying breath and retrieved the dropped satchel. "Flifary Island," she blurted out, "or Daniella's magical stockpile in Kianne. She said she could find anyone."

Kat grabbed a handful of sathnis leaves. Rosaliy doubted Kat would have any need of a plant that could enhance the magical potency of soil, no matter her destination.

"I may have to raise a conscientious objection or two to your first plan, especially if the Flifary really are involved."

"That's why I didn't discuss it with you," she grumbled, shaking pollen into a jar.

"Your second idea," he mused, "there's something to it. Dee might have gone there herself."

"Gone?" She tipped her head back and blinked surprise. "You don't think she was taken?"

"That was not my first suspicion, no," he said dryly.

Rosaliy had the same thought.

"Why would she take the children?" Kat cried. "Where is Pepper?"

"I truly do not know," he said. "But I promise I'll find something if you give me a little time."

She took two long, deep breaths. "So we start for Kianne tomorrow?"

"Hmm...I think there's a better option," he suggested gently. His eyes focused in on Rosaliy. He had remembered she was there after all.

"I can travel without all the fanfare," suggested Rosaliy, taking his cue. "I know the area, and people will talk to me who might be too scared to talk to you, especially if Daniella was spotted there, Your Highness." The use of the title was purposeful. Kat brought nothing but attention when she traveled.

"There's so much we can do from here," Alexander added. He and Kat exchanged one of those looks.

"I can travel covertly," Kat argued.

"Princess," he disagreed, "you could hardly travel covertly when no one knew who you were."

Her violet eyes narrowed. "I can't sit here and do nothing."

"You won't be doing nothing," he assured her, pulling a handful of herbs from her hands and placing them on a bench. Then he took both her hands in his own. "Please let me find something to go on first. I promise I'll find something."

"This is why I didn't want to talk to you," she said grumpily. "You can talk me into anything."

"My record on that front is less favorable than you seem to believe," he said, kissing her hands.

She pressed one of his hands to her cheek and breathed a sigh. "I'd like you to take someone with you," Katyrinna said to Rosaliy. "For protection."

Kat was a mother bear right now, trying to protect all her cubs.

"That bodyguard," inserted Alexander. "Well-traveled, shady past, eager for redemption, probably knows a lot about the seemy underside of the world—he's perfect."

Alexander must have been making half of that up. Rosaliy had spent days with Drake, and she had come up with nothing solid about his past.

"I meant someone who might be able to keep Rose safe," said Kat crossly, "not someone she needs to be kept safe from."

"It's up to her of course," said Alexander, "but I have the feeling Drake can get the right people to talk."

Rosaliy shrugged. "He doesn't seem dangerous. If you think he'd be useful..."

That was enough confirmation for Alexander. "You may have to hurry to catch him before he leaves, but it didn't look like his traveling companion was moving too quickly."

Rosaliy nodded. Whatever would make Kat and Alexander feel better right now, she was happy to comply. Besides, she would not mind having someone to travel with. The trip to Kianne was a dull one.

"I want to take a few Naxturaen soldiers to search the nearby area for signs of the children," Katyrinna insisted.

"That's a wonderful idea," said Alexander, ready to agree to any of her plans that kept her close to home. "With a little more time, I can find out if anything or anyone else is missing from the palace and when they were last seen. Goodness knows somebody must have seen something."

"The castle is still full of people," Kat exclaimed, eyes widening again.

"It is that," Alexander agreed.

"What if one of them is involved?" she said.

He silently calculated the likelihood, head bobbing back and forth with the possibility. "I'll make sure to see them out personally—have the servants sweep rooms for anything suspicious."

"Dangerous," she murmured. "You might be in danger."

He drew her hand to his lips. "Princess—" he said in a soothing, confident way, "I'm not going to—"

She cut him off abruptly. "Don't even finish that statement, dearest. Don't even think it." She squeezed his hand, newly filled with purpose. "I will go rouse the Naxturae and send them to search," she said. "Rose, don't let him out of your sight until I return."

"Wait, how can I—" Rosaliy started, but Kat had already sped past her on her own mission. "Be in two places at once?" she finished anyway.

"I'll come with you," Alexander offered.