King Theodric sat by his daughter’s bedside. He wished they hadn’t redecorated the room. The pink from before reminded him of his little girl. It had been her favorite color for as long as he could remember. She had run squealing with joy through the hallways of this castle, always in pink.

Now it looked like a woman’s room, all done in the royal blue of Taivalon. The long windows let in enough Aurora was dressed in a deep green that suited her. Sometimes, it seemed that at any moment she would open her eyes and smile up at him. It was a foolish hope, but one that he entertained. Most parents wished that their young child wouldn’t grow up so fast, but his heart aches as he watched his daughter, stuck in time.

More and more he felt like an old man lately. He was certainly too old to have such a young daughter. She should have been training, preparing to take on the kingdom. Maybe she would have married by now. There should have been years to prepare her for him leaving the entire kingdom behind. His heart ached for the years he had lost.

It was times like these that he missed his old friend Barinon. He had left them so suddenly and the young mage who was trying to fill his shoes did not have anywhere the skill or experience that he had. He was more than that, though. Barinon had been his friend.

He smiled at his little girl. “Your father is turning into an old man. I need you to wake soon.”

Aurora took a breath. She was a beautiful girl, who looked so much like her mother, that he was constantly reminded of how Endolynn had been all those years ago. Even a king’s son had to work to get the girl he had his eye on to pay him any attention. He smiled at that. Endolynn had certainly not made things easy for him. Maybe that’s what had attracted him to her in the first place. So many girls fawned over him when he was a young man that he had become accustomed to it. Endolynn didn’t want anything to do with him at first. He had to argue with her just to get her to spend time with him. He shook his head.

A bird flew past the window and he glanced out, looking over the forest where BB had vanished. He wondered where she had gone. There were so many things that he did not know about her. He had been such a fool. He should have made amends with her when he had the chance.

Hailey walked to the princess’s room with a book tucked under her arm. She had to find something that would work. The queen had made that very clear. She seemed angry that Hailey had left the castle to look for children who would be able to be trained, but if Hailey hadn’t gone, would they know that Isabella was the one taking the young hedge witches? It seemed to Hailey that it was a good use of her time.

The king’s guards stood at the doorway, and Hailey almost hurried past, but the king turned and beckoned her into the room. “Would you be so kind? I would like to be able to touch my daughter’s face.”

“Of course,” Hailey said, placing her books beside her on the bench where he was sitting. She took his hand. It was bony and frail, but warm. His hair, which had gone silver, was thinning at the top. He seemed so much older now than he had been even a few months ago.

He smiled and reached out a shaky hand to touch his daughter’s face.

“She is so beautiful, don’t you think?”

“I have always thought so,” Hailey said. “When I was a little girl, I thought that surely she was the most beautiful girl in the kingdom.”

The king’s face creased into a smile. “You two are of an age still, even with the spell messing up people’s ages.”

Hailey nodded. Years had passed, but she and Aurora and so many others hadn’t changed. Everything and everyone else had. The city and even the castle were very different than they had been.

“You know, I had a sister. I bet you didn’t know that.”

“I didn’t know.”

He smiled at her. “She was so much trouble and parents argued about her.” He shook his head. “Still, I have fond memories of chasing her through these halls. I was faster and stronger, but I think she was smarter than I was.”

Hailey didn’t say anything. The way he talked of his sister, it sounded like she had died and she didn’t want to pry into painful memories.

He sighed. “Those days are gone and we have new problems to deal with.” He squeezed his daughter’s hand. “You are too young to understand what a parent feels for his child. I miss her more than I’ve ever missed anyone.”

They sat in silence for a time. The king took his daughter’s hand and squeezed it. “It’s not just that she’s my daughter, it’s that she is the protection for the kingdom that I struggle to maintain. I’m sure you know about the power of the heir. Mages have all the magic in the kingdom except for one thing. The power of the heir is what protects the kingdom. I can feel the borders at the edges of the kingdom. I feel it if they start to weaken. My life is what keeps those borders intact. We cannot let the fairies overrun Taivalon.”

Hailey knew this. “Barinon told me about the contract with the fairy king.”

“It’s more than a piece of paper, though. It’s bound magically. It’s the only bit of magic that I have but it’s enough to keep my kingdom safe and she should be here so that I can tell her what she will feel, so that she will be prepared.”

“I understand.”

“It’s not just the border, though,” he told her. “An heir will be able to sense if someone is lying. If you took my hand and pledged fealty to me and didn’t mean it, I would know. It was an important part of the spell when it was created.”

They sat in silence for a moment longer and then the king said, “I fear I’m rambling. I am sure that you will do what you can for my daughter and for the kingdom and I want to thank you for what you have done so far. You have worked hard and I trust that you will be able to solve this problem for us, whether you have help or not.”