"The Empress is dead. I saw her body myself." Cafer knew that only definitive proof would work at this point, and yet he technically had none.

"Is that so?" An all-too-familiar voice said behind him. "Tell me what my body looked like, Chief Cafer?"

The crowd cheered, "Glory to the Empress!"

The Chief balled his fists and turned to look at the Empress. She looked so fierce, that he unconsciously took a step away from her. Her blue-flecked eyes exuded confidence. Cafer marveled at the transformation.

A blur of movement caused him to notice the prince and princess disappear in the arms of their rescuers. "After them!" Cafer barked under his breath to the guard closest to him. The guard and three others ran after the children.

"I asked you a question, Chief Cafer." Aurora looked down on the gnome.

"And were you the Empress, I would answer." He addressed the crowd, "What cruel joke is this? You send me an imposter Empress, and now she has abducted the Royal children!" Cafer's silver tongue had always served him well. The crowd looked around at one another, trying to seek the truth.

Aurora scoffed at his words. She motioned to the chairs. "These Councilmen will vouch for me. They know me." The men on the tiered seats nodded. They would recognize their leader anywhere. The Empress continued by pointing to three empty chairs. "Yet, you have banished Zan for his loyalty to me. Ezer is likewise hiding to avoid your wrath on my behalf. Even Birger you have hidden away, afraid he knows the truth."

Cafer shook his head. "We believe Zan planned the murder of the Empress. Ezer is welcome to return home at any point, and Birger is ill or he would have come today."

"I am not ill, Chief Cafer!" Birger emerged from his hiding spot. "You had me locked in my room, but I have escaped thanks to Her Majesty."

"And if I am welcome to come home, why did you try to have me killed?" Ezer yelled from the ground as he removed his hood.

Zan also pulled away his cowl, "I had no part in murdering the Empress, for she is alive and well and before you now!"

Aurora lifted her hands as she glared at the gnome. "You are a liar. You tried to have me killed. You had me captured and confined. You have plotted to steal my throne. You are a traitor to the Valiant Empire, Cafer."

Cafer made a slight motion with his wrist, and Aurora saw a flash of light from the ground. There was just enough time to avoid the bolt from a cross bow as it lodged into the palace wall behind her.

Aurora pulled the hidden bow from her back and released an arrow before the soldier could reload. The feathered projectile hit him in the shoulder and he cried out in pain. The Blue Guard fell to the ground without further incident.

"You have tried to murder me twice now! And all of these people are witnesses. Your time here is finished." She aimed the bow at Cafer, but he was undeterred. Hatred burned in his eyes.

"Kill her!" He yelled. "Kill her and the Council. Close the gates! No one leaves!"

Zan, who was on the ground, called to Gandr, Ezer and Anna. "Get everyone out of here!"

The Blue Guard held a tight perimeter around the crowd. They were closing in. Gandr shut his eyes and the ground under the soldiers began to shift and shake. Momentarily they broke their line.

"Go!" Ezer shouted to those around them. The people began to stampede toward the gate amid screams of panic. A little child, the one who had had the flower, sat crying on the ground as chaos ensued. Anna scooped her up and looked frantically for the child's mother. The woman was not far off. Anna held up the child so her mother could see and the two were reunited.

"Get her out of here," Anna urged the mother.

The guards regained their footing and drew their swords, some of them wielding them aimlessly at the crowd. Ezer, Zan and Gandr met three of the Blue Guards in a clash of metal. "Push against the gate before it closes!" Zan screamed. As one, the crowd moved against the outer gate, stopping its closure. Two guards still blocked the way, but as they each received an arrow in their thigh, the path became clear. Like a breaking dam, the people flooded into the street outside.

Meanwhile on the balcony Aurora was in a stalemate. Surrounded by Birger and the other councilmen, they stood ready to fight for their lives holding various knives and ceremonial swords. Other than the moment where she shot at the two gatemen, Aurora kept her bow squarely trained on Cafer.

The anger in Cafer's eyes dissipated. "Perhaps we can come to some agreement. I think I have something you want."

Aurora looked toward the door of the balcony. A limp Devrim was being carried between two of the Blue Guards with a very bloody Ledford limping behind him. While the Emperor had been rescuing the prince and princess, Ledford had found a way up the stairs and hit him from behind. The grey-eyed man was just waking when he saw the Empress's startled face. "I am sorry," he said. "I failed."

Tears pricked the woman's eyes. "No, my love, you did well."

Ledford hobbled to Cafer's side. "Can I kill him now, Chief?" the captain asked.

"No, I will let him and the rest of this sad rabble go if Aurora will surrender herself. Her life and throne for the lives of those she loves."

"Get off the balcony," Aurora told the councilmen. Birger started to object. "I said get off the balcony. Get out as fast as you can!" The men complied. The red-haired councilman threw his sword angrily, and it landed at Devrim's feet.

A few of the Blue Guard went to stop the escapees, but Cafer called them off. "They are nothing without their leader, and we have her right here."

Aurora lowered her bow in defeat and smiled sadly at her husband. He was swaying unsteadily from side to side, knocking into the guard on either side. "I am sorry to put you through all of this," the Empress said.

Devrim returned her smile. "I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Are you ready?"

"Yes," Aurora answered. Devrim winked and they both sprang into action. Aurora got off three shots at the guards stationed along the balustrade, hitting each of them with incapacitating blows in the shoulder or hip. She brought her bow back and trained it on Cafer before he could react. Devrim's swaying stopped suddenly and he did a sweep kick on the two men holding him. They fell to the ground as Devrim picked up the sword at his feet and aimed it at Ledford.

Many footsteps on the flagstone of the stairs echoed into the open air. Nurlan and Junayd appeared with a group of loyal troops. "Sorry we are late, Your Majesty," Nurlan apologized with a bow. He and the others awaited orders. Seeing they were heavily outnumbered, the remaining Blue Guard lay down their arms.

Cafer barked angrily at the men, "What are you doing?! Fight!"

"It is over," one of his human soldiers said hopelessly.

"What do we do now, Chief?" Ledford asked.

Cafer's eyes looked on fire. They glowed green. "If I cannot win, I will take you down with me, Your Majesty!"

"Get off the balcony!" Aurora shouted. The protruding structure began to shake.

Zan saw it from the ground. "Can you stop it from falling?" he begged Gandr.

"I will try." Gandr lifted his arms as is holding up an invisible shield.

The floor around Aurora, Devrim, and the remaining Blue Guards on the balcony shifted like sand and hardened around their shoes. Even Ledford's feet were held in the stone. "What is the meaning of this, Chief?!"

Cafer's eyes were glowing brighter every moment, "You failed me. You can die like the rest." The floor shook violently, but something was keeping it from giving way entirely. Cracks formed in the stone. Devrim slipped his feet from his soft soled shoes and moved to the Empress. She was wearing flat shoes and the stone had encased part of her foot.

"Get out of here," she yelled to Devrim as the balcony began to part from the palace.

"Not without you." he hit at the weakened stone, managing to release one of her feet from the stony grasp. The other, which had been bearing her weight, was deeper planted.

"It is no use. Get off! Our children need you." Aurora begged. A large fissure formed next to the Empress's foot. The structure was finally failing. Devrim leveraged the sword in the crack and widened it. Just when he had given up hope, the Empress was able to pull her foot free of her shoe.

"Come on!" Devrim yanked her toward safety. They reached the doorway and the waiting arms of Nurlan and Junayd just as the balcony detached from the palace. Ledford, whose ceremonial boots went up past his knee, was not so lucky. He cursed at Cafer as they both fell before finding his final home in the rubble below. The scheming gnome ignored him as he too was covered in stone. The battle was over.

Nearby, Gandr fell on the grass of the courtyard, exhausted. He was not nearly as strong as Cafer, but he had been strong enough. For once, instead of trying to kill the Empress, he had successfully helped save her. "You did well," Zan nodded approvingly.

Gandr wiped sweat from his brow. "Think the Emperor will forgive me now?"

——————————

In the Empress's room, the children waited with Brinn, Alvar and Nanny for news. It was excruciating. "I am going to see what's happening," Alvar announced.

"Don't you dare! You will alert them to our location. Be patient." Brinn said.

"I hate waiting…"

"You and me both," Nanny agreed. She held a long metal candlestick.

"What do you intend to do with that?" Alvar wondered.

"I will beat that blasted Blue Guard into the ground!" the large woman said with her jaw set. The elves believed her.

Just then the handle of the door shook. Brinn and Alvar raised their swords and Nanny brandished the candlestick. She moved the children towards the tunnel and put a finger on the latch. As she went to open the passage, Aurora called to them, "Don't worry! It's us!"

Mairwen and Alaron broke free from Nanny and ran to the door. "Mother! Father!" they cried. The limping, shoeless Empress and bloodied Emperor Consort hugged their children tightly.

"Thank you for protecting them," Aurora said with tears in her eyes.

Brinn saluted and gave a lopsided smile, "Of course. Anything for you, my friend." She looked at the happy scene. "Welcome home."