Aurora was stunned. "How can this be true? How can Zan be the human man that left you at the altar hundreds of years ago?" Then the Empress remembered that Guardians do not age. "Was Zan already a Guardian when you knew him?"

"No!" Zoltan answered a little too forcefully. Then in a calmer voice he added, "Back then he was merely a human messing around in the affairs of the elves."

Aurora's momentary hopes were crushed. If Zan had already been a Guardian, perhaps duty had called him away. But it was not true. Then what had happened? "May I talk with my Chief? I am sure he could shed some light on this matter." Aurora asked diplomatically.

Lanassa looked ready to agree, but Zoltan shook his head. "My wife has suffered enough at the hands of that man. I will not allow him to cause the queen new problems. I require that you release him to our justice system for his crime."

"But what about diplomatic immunity?" both Lanassa and Aurora asked. The answer to the question did not come.

Calla, who was fascinated by this turn of events at the table, had completely forgotten her final attempt to humiliate her rival. The beautiful young elf did not want the drama to end. As she saw the dessert being brought in on a platter, the princess tried to covertly wave off the servant. It was too late. Ithel, who had picked up on Calla's tricks earlier, dreaded what his wife had in store.

On the plate was a rolled cake with chocolate cream covered in clear liquid. Beside the cake rested a small creature. The tiny reptile was supposed to be a fire lizard that set the liquid aflame and created a smoky taste in the cake. It was an elven specialty. Princess Calla had made one slight change. Instead of a fire lizard, she had swapped the creature for a similar one which mischievous elven boys use to trick their mothers.

The servant came up alongside the Empress, ready to place the tray between her and the Queen. However, the poor elf did not see the thorn that Aurora had swept out of her chair. He stepped squarely on it, piercing both his shoe and foot.

The he-elf screamed and flung the dessert across the table. It hit Calla in the face, covering her in chocolate, cream, and clear liquid. That was not the end, though. The small pink lizard, which had landed in the Crown Princess's lap, released his defense mechanism out of fear. In Calla's head, the smell would have been gently thrust into the Empress's face as the dessert was being served, but now the entire room was filled with the stench.

"Ah, my nose is burning!" Ithel gasped as he ran from his bride.

Mortified, Calla stood up and handed the lizard to the nearest servant. "If you will excuse me, Your Majesties," she begged as she wiped enough cake from her eyes to see.

"Serves her right," Lanassa was almost smiling as she watched the lady flee. "That girl needs to learn some humility."

Then the queen and the others were also overwhelmed by the smell. It was akin to rancid meat, rotten eggs and pungent unicorn droppings all rolled up into one. The poor lizard had given his full force to protect himself.

"We can finish this later," Zoltan stood, looking a little green. "I will see you in the morning, Empress Aurora."

The Empress held her nose daintily and nodded. Together, the rest of the royals evacuated the room to find a place to wash off the scent that permeated their hair, skin and clothing.

——————

After the second bath that day, Aurora toweled off her hair. Under different circumstances, the Empress would have asked what was in the scented soap to make it work so well. The stench was gone.

On her bed she found two options to wear: a lovely violet gown and a nightdress. Hoping that Gandr and Alvar would return soon, Aurora selected the purple garment. It sat beautifully on her frame, and the woman chuckled knowing that Calla had nothing to do with this gift.

There was a knock on the outer door. A servant peeked into the bedchamber. "The gnome Gandr is here to see you," she announced.

"Thank you," Aurora exited to the sitting room.

Gandr was waiting for her. "Your Majesty," he greeted her with a bow. Aurora dismissed the servant from the room.

"Where is Lord Alvar?" The Empress looked for the friendly elf, but he was missing.

"We thought it would be less suspicious if I came alone," Gandr answered.

Aurora could see the sense in that. "Did you talk to Zan?"

"A little. Luckily the dungeon is below ground. My particular skills came in handy." The halfling bragged. He realized that the Empress's lips were pressed firmly together with impatience.

"How is he doing? What did he say?" Aurora could take it no longer.

"He is well. The elves have him under heavy guard but have not actually hurt him. You would not believe what Zan told me…" Gandr liked the sense of drama.

The Empress took the wind from his sails when she answered, "You mean that the Queen and Zan were engaged to be married?"

"Yes, but…"

"For some reason it did not work out," Aurora finished his thought.

"How did you know?" The halfling was surprised.

"Queen Lanassa told me her side of the story. I want to speak to Zan directly on the matter. Do you think that is possible?" The Empress stood and began to pace.

"We would need to wait until later so things can settle down. I caused a bit of commotion earlier…" The halfling did not tell her that he almost got caught or that the elves now think Zan can summon ghosts. Some things were better left unsaid.

The Empress nodded slowly as she was deep in thought. "We will go an hour after dark. Do you think you can get out of your room?"

Gandr smirked. "A few walls have never stopped me before. I will see if Alvar is willing to help create a distraction."

"Very good. I will see you in a few hours."

———————-

It was much more than an hour after dark when Aurora heard the gentle rumble of her bedchamber wall opening. She had prepared her bed to look like she was in it in case the guards came to check, and the Empress had been waiting anxiously for the halfling's arrival.

"You are late. Did something happen?" Aurora whispered.

"Alvar and I had a hard time making the switch. After this evenings events, King Zoltan tightened my 'security'. The guards are no longer allowed to take their eyes off me even when I sleep. The only break we had was that the guards have no idea that I can shape-shift. They didn't think to check if I was really Alvar when I left. I am glad he could be trusted with my secret."

"Me too," Aurora agreed. They checked one last time to make sure it was clear and headed out.

—————-

Through a series of stealthy maneuvers, they arrived near the entrance to the dungeon. The Empress and halfing ducked inside a small unlocked room. It seemed to be some sort of storage closet. Aurora lit a small candle from one of the shelves since the room had no window.

Gandr whispered, "I will bring Zan here, so we can return him afterward without anyone noticing." Having memorized the path earlier, the halfling melted through the floor and out of sight.

Zan knew that Gandr would return at some point. He had only been sleeping lightly, and the slight rumble of the ground woke him instantly.

"The Empress wants to see you," the halfling muttered in Zan's ear. He could speak no louder for fear of alerting the guard.

Zan shook his head. "I won't go with you. I deserve whatever I get."

Gandr gave a silent chuckle. "That's cute. Your Empress summoned you, and you think you have a choice." Before the Guardian could argue further, Gandr pulled him through the floor and away from his cell.

The closet room was small enough that Aurora almost fell into the hole created by the two males' entrance. "Zan are you alright?" Aurora embraced the man.

"I am fine, Your Majesty." The Guardian appreciated her concern.

"He did not want to come," Gandr scoffed.

"I did not want to bring my trouble onto both of you," Zan corrected him.

The halfling shook his head. "Your trouble is our trouble whether you like it or not. We're family. I will be outside to stand watch while you tell the Empress exactly what happened." Gandr disappeared through the door.

Zan sighed and would not meet the woman's eye. "I am sorry, You Majesty. This was one of the reasons I did not want to come on this journey. I knew I could not escape my past if I came back again to the land of the elves. I was never supposed to come back." Zan sat on the ground and held his head in his hands. The confident Guardian was replaced by a broken man.

"Tell me everything," Aurora urged.

"It all started when I fell in love with an elf. Her name, as you may have gathered, was Lanassa."