Fiona sneezed. The hay tickled her nose as she gathered feathers from the smelly coop. She missed her home. Her own bed.

But most of all she missed her father.

They'd hadn't even been able to say a proper goodbye and his letter had been so short. She sniffed, pretending it was from the sneeze. When she emerged from the coop, bag of soft feathers in hand, there was a woman coming down the road. Fiona bolted to the house. As she burst in, Vai looked up in alarm from where he was laying out her books.

Fiona threw the bag down and peeked through the window. It took her a moment to recognize the woman, but as she got closer, Fiona realized it was Jayln. She frowned, her mother hated Jayln so she must be terrible.

"Is there something out there, Your Highness? If you're finished, you can start your studies."

Fiona turned at Vai's voice and sat at the table silently. She slowly slid a book over, eyes occasionally flicking towards the door. After a few skimmed pages there was a knock and she darted behind Vai.

The Aryi moved to the door and the princess clung onto his legs. He peeked out the window and sighed.

"We must make ourselves presentable." He pried Fiona off his leg and fussed over her for a moment before opening the door with a bow.

"Lady Jayln, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Good morning, and please, just Jayln is fine. Can I come in?"

"Don't let her in," Fiona whispered but Vai stepped aside and opened the door.

"I'm afraid this isn't your house, Your Highness, and the master did specifically include Lady Jayln as someone to allow access to."

Fiona frowned and stepped back as Jayln came in.

"Please, I must insist on just Jayln." Jayln looked over the nearly finished beds and the lain out books. Her lips pursed and then she smiled down at Fiona. "I'm sorry, it looks like I've interrupted your lessons. Why don't you finish and I'll talk while you work."

Having no intention of coming out from behind Vai, Fiona frowned. To her disappointment, Vai stepped aside and sat at his place. Sulking, Fiona sat down as well, scribbling some notes on a paper and glaring warily at Jayln.

The auburn haired woman merely smiled and began, "Well, Fiona I know we had a rough start so I wanted to start over. My name is Jayln, I'm the leader of the people in this valley. I want you to know that while you are here you are under my protection and you have nothing to fear from me. However," her face grew serious, "there are people here who might react negatively if they knew you were the queen's daughter. You seem to be a smart girl and I won't pretend that there is no danger in that."

Fiona carefully put down her pencil and crossed her arms. "You don't like my mother," she stated and Jayln sighed.

"To be honest, I don't, but I don't think that means I won't like you. And, as I said, I will not harm you. Others, however, came to this valley fleeing from dangers and painful pasts, many of which your mother had a hand in. Because of this it would be safer if your identity was kept to Matius, Fenrin, and I. Best thing would be to pretend you are someone Fenrin rescued, a minor noble's daughter. It wouldn't be fair to you to risk other's taking their frustrations about your mother on you."

The girl's face flushed and she stood up. "My mother is a good person and a great queen. I'm proud to be her daughter and I don't want to pretend!"

She ran into Fenrin's room, burying herself in the blankets and furs. Her face was hot and although she thought the queen would be proud of her words, she would definitely not have approved of running away. She wished her father was here. He always helped her figure out what to do.

Jayln accepted the tea Vai handed her with a sigh. "That could've gone better."

Vai didn't answer, he merely bowed and turned to follow his mistress. Jayln called out, "Vai, wait."

The islander paused and turned around. "Was there something you needed of me...Jayln?"

Sighing again, Jayln sipped her tea. It was delicious. "Yes. Look I know Fenrin talked to you about this and I really am trying to make things easier for her. Do you think you could convince her to play along?"

She was a bit taken about by the disgusted look Vai gave her. "It is not my place to tell Her Majesty what to do. If you'll excuse me, I am not needed here."

There was so much bitterness in his voice that Jayln didn't argue. Someone was certainly nursing a wound. She shook her head, not understanding.

She placed the empty cup on the table and once more examined the brand new beds. "Sorry, Fenrin. Looks like I wasn't much help."

Not seeing any point in staying, Jayln left quickly.

When he was sure she’d left, Vai dryly spoke to the lump of blankets. "What would your mother say if she saw you right now, I wonder?"

Fiona poked her head out, ready to argue, but one look at Vai's disappointed face and she sighed, crawling out. "I know, I know. I just don't understand what's going on. I wish my father was here. He'd know what to do."

Despite how much he hated thinking of the king, Vai suggested, "Why don't you pretend he is here, what would he say?"

Eyebrows furrowing, Fiona thought and slowly said, "He'd say...that I should've talked things out with Jayln. Used diplimicy."

"Diplomacy," Vai corrected.

"Yes, diplomacy. Tried to see from her point of view. She doesn't like Mother so she probably doesn't like me." Fiona frowned. "But then she'd want other people to be mean to me. Instead she wanted them not to be. That doesn't make any sense."

She looked to Vai for guidance but he remained expressionless. She held up her hands looking from one to the other. "So either she's tricking me and pretending I'm not the princess is a bad idea...or she meant her promise and it's to keep me safe." She lowered her hands in defeat. "But how do I know which one?"

Seeing the problem was becoming too much for his young ward, Vai added, "You forget your mother's bargain."

Fiona stared at him as that sunk in, then, like a candle being lit, she smiled.

"They have to keep their promise because Mother will make them, which means it's not a trick!" Satisfied she stood up. "I guess that's it then. I'll have to pretend I'm not a princess. I can do that, I've always been good at pretending."