"Why don't you call it a night, Fiona?" her father suggested as she stifled another yawn.

"And leave you to deal with this alone? Not a chance. We made a deal, remember? We do this together or not at all." Fiona forced herself to focus and straightened the papers in her hand.

The tight black writing blurred a bit but she said determinedly, "Where were we? Oh right, so Jarl Vorik had already made moves into Vanhelm. Scouts report that he's met no resistance so if could mean rumors that Jarl Cordin was killed in the riots are true."

King Eirik sighed and stood up. "We can finish this tomorrow. Look, if I head to bed first, will you agree to deal with this in the morning?"

Fiona considered. Her father knew that promises to take care of himself was the best antidote to her stubbornness. "Fine, but only because we'll probably get fresh news in the morning. If I'm really going to be queen and sort out this mess, I'm going to do it right and that means not letting any more innocent people die."

Heart ready to burst with pride, the king held out a hand and when his daughter took it he pulled her forward to kiss her on the forehead. "You're doing fantastic but you can't work yourself to death."

Snorting at the irony, she took her father's arm and led him down the halls before passing him off to Vetti, the kind elderly servant who helped the king and saw to it he took care of himself. She gave Fiona a wink as the king shuffled into his room. "Go get some rest yourself, Your Highness."

"I will, thanks, Vetti."

Free of obligation, Fiona stretched her arms and gave a huge yawn. Time for bed.

She almost regretted not having handmaids when she dragged herself into her room. With a sigh, she kicked off her boot and fell face first onto the soft pillows, reaching to pull the golden circlet from her hair and toss it with a clang onto the side table. To her relief, her brain was too tired to spin the millions of worries and decisions through her head and she fell asleep almost instantly.

A frantic banging on her door woke her up with a start. She spat hair out of her mouth as a voice called, "Your Highness! Your Highness!"

"What is it?" she asked, running fingers through her hair and snatching up her crown.

"Messenger! Avin messenger! Says it's urgent!"

Fiona rubbed her eyes. Avin? Word from the valley? Had something bad happened? She pulled on her boots, grimacing at putting dirty socks back into her shoes. She checked herself quickly in the mirror, moving some blonde hair to the correct side of her part and straightening her crown. "I'm coming."

She opened the door and the soldier pointed down the hall. A few more dropped into rank behind her as she took long striding steps down the corridor until two doormen opened the doors to the throne room. She shrieked as she passed through the door and the guards all moved closer to her.

"Libby!"

Fiona pushed past her guards and ran towards her friend who was giving her the widest gap-toothed grin, arms open wide.

When Fiona got close enough, Libby shifted her position and punched her hard in the arm instead.

"Ow!"

"That's for leaving without saying goodbye, you twat!"

Fiona looked at her friend, hurt, rubbing her bruised arm and failed to dodge when Libby punched her other arm just as hard. "And that's for not coming back!"

Someone laughed and Fiona, having been too distracted by Liberty and her assaults, finally noticed the Avin behind her friend. They were huge, like most Avins, and had long chestnut hair with feathers braided into it and beautiful golden brown wings.

The Avin cocked their head and gave a grin. "I honest didn't believe her when she said she had to go punch the Princess of Valhym."

Libby threw an arm around Fiona who flinched a bit. "Oi, I told you, Blake, this is my best friend."

"You have a funny way of showing it," Fiona muttered.

Libby kissed Fiona on the cheek. "Ah, you love me. Don't pretend you didn't deserve that, though I suppose savin' the world and all is an alright excuse."

Finally, Libby gave her the hug Fiona had been expecting and all her irritation melted and she couldn't help but give a small squeal of joy. Libby was here!

They had so much to catch up with. She pulled away, "Wait. Are you the messenger? Is something wrong at the valley?"

Laughing Libby shook her head of wild black hair. "Nah, I just had to come see you. When Matius said you weren't coming back, that nearly did my poor heart in." She clutched her chest dramatically and the Avin, Blake, laughed again.

Libby walked backwards and stuck her thumb out at her companion who rested their elbow on Libby's head. "This is Blake by the way. They flew me all the way here, you know. Flyin's great, you outta try it sometime!"

"I've flown before," Fiona said with mock snootiness.

Blake gave a fake gasp. "Lib, surely she's not referring to wind-walking? Such a cultured royal couldn't possibly be holding herself to that low bar."

The two bent over laughing and Fiona shifted uncomfortably. They seemed very close.

Libby eyed her friend between chuckles. "Ah, Fiona, we're only messing with you. But really, wind-walking's got nothing on real flight. Hey, why don't you show us around? You promised me you'd give me the tour if we ever got to Valhym."

Fiona smiled at the memory of all the times they'd planned their grand tour of En. "Fine, but no more punching or I'll have you executed."

Both Blake and Libby gave over the top bows and Fiona rolled her eyes. As usual, being with Libby was like a refreshing breath of air. She always seemed able to bring Fiona out of her worries and make her able to enjoy life again.

The guards were still eyeing Libby warily, but the short girl just bounded up and latched her arm around Fiona's. "How ‘bout you start by introducing me to your dad? Stars know I heard about him plenty."

"Good idea. He's probably up already."

Fiona led her friend out of the throne room, Blake towering behind them. As they passed through the door, Fiona's stomach rumbled loudly. "On second thoughts. How does breakfast sound?"

"Amazing," Libby said with a grin before whispering not-to-quietly, "though you'd better order extras. Avins can put it away like no one else."

"Hey! I heard that," Blake objected, "you fly across a continent and see how hungry you get."

Fiona, who had in fact seen the voracious Avin appetite at the tower, did order extra food as well as sent a servant to fetch her father. Libby regaled her with the stories from the battles in the Devilstone Mountains, ambushing soldiers to draw attention from Aziron. Blake occasionally piped in, the two had apparently been quite a team in the guerilla forces.

Their tales, which grew suspiciously taller as they interrupted each other with 'corrections', stopped when one of the stewards announced the king's arrival. Blake's hand paused, halfway from stealing Libby's bacon and Libby bounced out of her seat giving a little bow.

"Nice to meet you, Your Highness, my name's Libby."

"Libby?" the king turned his golden silk covered eyes towards the voice. "Now there's a name I've heard a lot about. Fiona, dear, bring your friend over."

Fiona took Libby's hand and pulled her around the table to her father. Libby shifted nervously as the king laid his hands on her shoulders. She stayed steady as the king lightly traced her face with his fingers.

"It's an honor to finally meet you," he said.

"Oh, er, the honors all mine, Your Worshipfulness, sir."

Libby gave Fiona a nervous glance as the king pulled her into a tight hug. However, her face grew serious and then warm when he whispered to her, "Thank you. Thank you for being there for my daughter when I could not. I owe you a greater debt than you could possibly imagine."

Realizing how much this meant to the king, Libby let him hold her for another moment before wiggling away. "Aw, you're making me blush. We're just friends is all, it's her uncle who did all the stand-in parenting."

Her eyes flicked from Eirik to Fiona as the king's face darkened. Fiona quickly said, "Libby was just telling me about how she helped hold the Invader's Pass."

She helped her dad to his seat and Libby slipped back into her own chair, giving Blake a scowl as she realized her plate was nearly emptied. Blake chewed innocently.

With a careful hand, the king started his own breakfast. "Was she now? That must have been quite the battle."

"It was," Fiona said, "Libby and Blake...oh Blake is the Avin that flew Libby here."

"Honor to be here," Blake piped up.

"I appreciate all the help your people gave, we couldn't have won without it," The High King responded, nodding at the new voice.

"Thank you, your actions were no mean feat either, Your Highness. You're quite the hero back home."

There was a bit of an awkward silence and Blake pushed their tongue into their cheek worried. Perhaps speaking of the queen's death hadn't been appropriate.

Fiona spotted Blake's discomfort and tactifully added, "I think the best thing to come out of this war is the appreciation the different nations now have for each other. It's amazing to have fought beside so many different people."

The tension disappeared and Libby piped up, "That's true. Fiona, you would hardly recognize the valley now. So many of Blake's people decided to stick around they liked it so much. Not to mention the fact that Fenrin's gone for good and Matius quit being Third Apprentice."

Fiona choked on the glass of milk she was drinking. After few wheezing breathes she asked, "What do you mean Uncle Fenrin's gone?"

"Oh yeah, where is the famous Wolf?" Blake asked, glancing around like he was hiding under the table. "I thought you said he'd be here, Lib."

Libby glanced at Fiona. "What? He's not here yet?"

Shaking her head, Fiona's eyes nearly popped out their sockets as she forced herself to ask calmly, "No, he's not. Is he missing?"

"I don't think so. Matius said he changed his mind and was coming to Valhym to live with you. We must've beat him here," Libby explained quickly, her friend looking a bit panicked.

Fiona breathed out.

"Really?" she asked softly, "he changed his mind?"

Seeing a chance to say something welcome, Libby continued, "Absolutely. Honest, cross my heart. Matius broke the news to the whole village the same time he told us you'd decided to go on and become queen."

"I'm not queen," Fiona said a bit quickly, "well, not yet anyway."

"That's going to take some getting used to." Libby grinned. "I mean I sort of guessed it but it's weird to be so open about it."

Fiona balked. "What do you mean? You knew?"

Shrugging, Libby waved a fork. "Sure, I knew. You've always been weird, Fiona. No offense meant and I truly love you for it, but even Fenrin couldn't rub all that high class off you. Besides you always clammed up when the queen was mentioned and the adults would walk on eggshells with war news around you."

Frowning, Fiona thought back. She'd been in blissful denial, determined not to show who she was and figuring it'd worked. Libby'd always been clever though, if anyone could figure it out, it made sense it'd been her.

"Why didn't you say anything? If you knew I was her daughter..."

Libby flicked a small piece of egg at her arm. "I told you, didn't I? The first time we met, a person's past is their own business. I didn't care who your mom was then and I still don't. You're my best friend, the fact that you've inherited a messy kingdom doesn't change that."

There was something determined about Libby’s words and Fiona had to blink back tears.

The king's chair slid back and he apologized, "If you'll excuse me, I'll leave you two to your catching up. Fiona, I'll start taking care of the matter we discussed last night. Why don't you give Libby and Blake the grand tour and you can join me later? Are you two planning on staying long?"

Blake glanced at Libby and they exchanged a look before Blake cleared their throat. "If it's not too much of an inconvenience, we'd like to stay a while. I'd rather not make that flight again right away."

King Eirik gave an amused smile. "My dear, it'd take a lot more than you two inconvenience me. I'm sure we can find a place for you somewhere." He waved a hand. "Stay as long as you'd like, you are more than welcome."

Blake thanked the king agian and after he left, they added, "He's nice and I'm not just saying that because he's the king."

Fiona glanced fondly to where her father had exited but then she sighed. Libby caught it and after gobbling the last of her eggs moved over and gave Fiona nudge. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Sometimes I just think it would have been better for both of us if I'd taken Jayln's offer and gone to the valley instead. Things are much better here than they were, but it's still tough and I get worried about my father. He's been through so much, I feel guilty putting him through even more."

"He's got you, hasn't he? Besides you gave up hanging out with me, so staying here must be awfully important."

Fiona elbowed her friend. "It is. If we hadn't come back, Valhym would have fallen into civil war for sure and the people have been suffering for too long already."

"Then I'm sure he thinks the same way. He walks like a man with purpose anyways." Libby shrugged and Fiona eyed her friend. She was almost as good at reading people as Kiana.

Kiana.

"Oh, Libby there's something else I need to tell you..."