After a peaceful night with no more visitors, the camp was up bright and early. To make up for her deficiencies the day before, Eira made breakfast as Brinn and Devrim had a quiet discussion away from the others.

"You were supposed to protect the Empress," Devrim struggled to understand.

Brinn nodded, "Part of protecting her means protecting the ones she loves. It was my fault that the princess was able to follow you. I should never have agreed to give you that letter. She managed to sneak out of the palace and wait for you as you entered Valiant. I had no idea what she was planning." The elf was angry at herself. Something important slipped by her. It was unacceptable. She continued, "I did not realize what had happened until mid-afternoon because I was attending Her Majesty. When I knew what happened, I told Aurora."

Devrim blew out his cheeks. "I am guessing she did not take the news well."

"About as well as a cat being forced into water. It took a sedative from the doctor, and Nanny holding her down to keep the Empress from coming herself. I finally got Aurora's permission to go in her place, though I still would have come even if Her Majesty had said no." Brinn had always been a rule-breaker.

"Wait, you left mid-afternoon, and you managed to not only track us but also catch up with us before midnight?!" The Emperor was slack-jawed.

"Yes, I am an elf, after all." Brinn rolled her eyes upward.

"You know that is not an answer for everything, right?" Devrim scratched his nose as he wondered why wife's best friend couldn't have been someone more simple. He supposed that extraordinary beings must manage to find one another.

"It isn't?" Brinn feigned ignorance. "I learn something new every day." Changing the subject, the elf motioned to the Emperor's packed horses. "Do you have the message ball?"

"It is safely stowed. I appreciate you trusting me with it. I only hope that I do not need to use it," Devrim stated. On that, they were agreed.

Brinn turned her face toward the rest of the group, where Mairwen was nervously looking at them. "I suppose I should be leaving with Her Highness and Eira so that you can continue your journey."

"You are going directly home, correct?" Devrim inquired.

"We will go back to the palace, yes." The elf had a twinkle in her eye.

The Emperor placed his hands on his waist and interlaced his fingers. In the back of his mind, he got a funny feeling. "What are you not telling me?"

Brinn shrugged, "I will put it this way. If Princess Mairwen goes home directly, she will pine away for adventure. She will have nothing to do but worry about you and Alaron..."

"She can take care of Aurora. Surely that will take her mind off of things," Devrim interrupted.

"Nanny will not let anyone except the doctor with in arm's length of Her Majesty. You know how overbearing she can be. Now let me finish. If I take a slight detour, we will be helping the empire and give Mairwen a totally safe taste of adventure outside the palace. Two birds with one stone, don't you see?" Brinn smiled so broadly that all of her teeth shone.

"And Aurora approved this?" The Emperor arched his brow.

"If yes is the answer you need to hear, then I will choose yes." The elf nodded and gave a conspiratorial wink. "Don't you trust me?"

"Not one bit. Never have, never will," The grey-eyed man said emphatically.

"Well that's because you are smart," the elf nodded her approval. "However you do not have a lot of options."

"This is one of those situations where the less I know, the better, isn't it?" Seeing that the battle was already lost, Devrim conceded. "Fine."

"You are a good man, Your Majesty." Brinn gave him a genuine compliment. "That woman over there is lucky to have you looking out for her."

"Protect my daughter, Brinn," the Emperor seldom used the spymaster's real name. His tone was grave.

"I know, I know...or you will demote me to 'pie-master'. You need to come up with a new joke." In a more serious tone she added. "You can count on me."

--------

Mairwen watched the spymaster and her father have a heated discussion to decide her fate. She wanted to go to the land of magic badly. But the girl realized that if she had thought she legitimately should have a place in the group, she would have talked to her father and not snuck out like a thief. As she twiddled her thumbs nervously, Eira brought her some food. "You should eat. No matter what happens, you will need your energy, Your Highness."

Mairwen took a bite. "Thank you." The guard moved back to get her own meal, keeping a respectable distance from the princess. After the princess went out of her way to make her stay behind the day before, Eira was careful to keep a watchful eye on her mistress. Mairwen would not be able to ditch her again so easily.

At last, the elf and Emperor finished their discussion. They seemed to have come to some sort of agreement. Devrim cleared his throat as all eyes fell to him. "You will not be going with us to the land of magic," he told Mairwen. "You, Eira and the Spymaster will be heading back to the palace."

"But I know I can be helpful with Alaron. I will convince him to come home." The princess was ready to argue. Just because she knew that this was the likely outcome did not mean that she had to agree easily.

"Undoubtedly you could. But then Cafer would know how much power you have over the prince. He would undoubtedly try to capture you and use you as leverage. You are the prince's weak spot, but you are also Aurora's and mine. I cannot extract Alaron and worry about you. My attention would be divided." Devrim held his breath and waited for her rebuttal.

Mairwen thought about his words long and hard. She could be a great help, but she could also see his point. The princess was an excellent archer, but not a highly skilled fighter. Sure, she practiced often, but everyone except Brinn always went easy on her. No one dared hurt a princess. As a result, as soon as a real enemy came close range, she would be a liability. The last thing she wanted was to put others in danger.

"Very well," the girl sighed. "I will go home, but I still think you could use my help."

Devrim kissed her on her head. "Thank you for understanding. Brinn and Eira will escort you." The group packed up and prepared to leave. "Give your Mother my love," the Emperor said.

"I cannot," Mairwen said sadly. "You already left all you had with her. How can you have any more love to give?"

"That is the thing about love," Devrim told her. "It knows no end. It grows and stretches to include others in its embrace. I love you, my princess."

This was similar to the exchange that Mairwen and her father had when she was little. She would ask about the limitations of love and he would say that there are none. Satisfied, she hugged Devrim tightly. "I love you too, Father."

As the princess rode away with her escort, she looked beside her at Brinn. "You are a princess, too, Brinn. How do you cope with all the expectations?"

Brinn laughed so hard that her chest heaved. "I am the last person to ask. I ran away to the land of humans to escape my duties. But my parents are not nearly as understanding as yours."

Eira furrowed her brow. "Excuse me, Your Highness. What do you mean that the spymaster is a princess?"

The other to ladies exchanged a glance. "Brinn can tell you if she wants," Mairwen answered. "It is not my story to tell."

The horses turned toward slightly westward at Brinn's leading and both the women took notice. "We are getting off course, I think." Eira noted.

"No we are not," the elf asserted. "We are heading exactly where we need to go."

Mairwen shook her head, "The palace is due south." She looked up at the sun to confirm before pointing. "We should be going that way."

"If we were heading directly home, that would be true." Brinn tried hard not to show her smile.

The princess's eyes lit up. "We are not heading home? Do my parents know about this?"

"You are a grown woman...more or less... and you do not need your parents' approval. And no, your mother has no idea and can kill me later, but your father gave his blessing as long as I keep you safe." Brinn spoke quickly.

"Is this such a good idea?" Eira already looked guilty.

Brinn appreciated her upstanding nature, but brushed her concern aside. "It will be fine. Where we are going is one of the safest places on earth."

"Where can you take me that is safer than the palace?" Her mind racing, Mairwen thought of all the possibilities.

Brinn could stand the secret no longer. "There's a garrison not far from here. We are going to give your boyfriend a visit!"