Mairwen tensed and backed away humbly. In her heart, she hoped that her mother had forgotten to punish her. Of course, the Empress never forgot anything. The princess answered quickly, "I should have been honest with you about my intentions to follow father. I should not have gone alone. I put myself and possibly the Empire in peril by my reckless actions. I submit myself to your judgement."

"Not that you have a choice," Aurora reminded her. "But appreciate your graciousness. I know you have already suffered unspeakable horrors because of your choices. So I will make this brief. You will complete menial labor for the next month. You will assist in the building of the rest of those unique orange glasses and any other things that the scientist thinks will be useful in the defense of the Castle Valiant…"

Mairwen nodded dutifully until the words sank in. "Wait, you will let me work with Renat?!"

The Empress held up her finger. "You must always have at least THREE others there with the two of you in the workshop, and Eira must be one of them. You cannot leave the palace grounds. If I ever find you alone with the scientist, I will turn him out, you understand? In addition, you will still need to complete your regular studies, and I am assigning an extra hour of archery practice each day."

"But if I do all those things, I can work with Renat?" The princess held her breath.

"Do not look so pleased. It is supposed to be a punishment." Aurora's words were stern but her face was plastered with a smile.

"Thank you, mother!… I mean, that seems fair. I will get to work on my archery practice and lessons right away. Then I will tell Renat the news." Mairwen scurried off like a mouse being chased by a cat.

"You are very generous, Your Majesty," Zan noted.

Aurora gave a pretty smile. "I found a way to keep the princess here at the palace, keep her mind off Alaron, and set a full personal detail on her, and she still thanked me."

"You are not worried about the scientist?" Brinn asked, surprised.

Aurora shook her head. "Mairwen is cautious, and if she is anything like me, she currently has no ideas of anything beyond friendship. And Renat would be a fool to try anything in front of so many witnesses. He seems awkward, but I do not think him a fool." Aurora was sure on these points.

Zan's eyes flashed silver. "Very clever, Your Majesty. Now if you will excuse me. Glory to the Empress!" Zan had other matters to take care of. He bowed and disappeared like the mysterious Guardian that he was.

Aurora was surprisingly chipper. "Is this how you feel when you tease and mess with people?" she asked the elf.

"…maybe?" Brinn had no idea how the woman was feeling.

"Then it is not wonder that you do it so often," Aurora chuckled. "Now that I am no longer mad at you, I will tell you that I received a message ball—two actually- and one is for you. I started the message but stopped when I knew it was for you. Why did you contact Bolemir?"

Brinn's face lit up. "Let us get the ball, and I will show you!"

——————-

The message ball lit as Bolemir's voice filled the Empress's bedchamber. "It is good to hear from you, Brinn. It is Bolemir, but you probably guessed that. We are well, and Gede misses you very much. He is a full-sized fairy now and will travel with the rest of the spring fairies this year for the first time. Prem and Niko send their love. As for your question. I believe the young princess has come upon something very rare indeed. The necklace you described is called a Seeker. Think of it as a short cut. It will help you find or know something that you would have eventually discovered. It is old magic, and I have no idea how it works. I do know that it is triggered by the phrase, 'I wish'. It may or may not work in front of other humans. Above all, I would caution the princess to be careful. Sometimes the journey to finding what you need is more important than the destination. Use the Seeker wisely…It is always wonderful to hear from you, Brinn. We hope to see you soon."

The ball stoped and fell limp in Brinn's waiting hand. "Well that was enlightening!"

Aurora tapped her chin with her finger. She was deep in thought. "I have the Fate's chain; now Mairwen has a magical necklace—a Seeker. There was also that magical necklace that tried to kill me. You have that magical ring that warns us if anyone is entering the tunnels and Cafer has the Semblance Stone that is part of a bracelet."

Brinn furrowed her brow. "Your point?"

"What is it with magical jewelry? I am becoming paranoid that every trinket I put on my body may be enchanted." Aurora fiddled with her wedding ring. "Even this is from the Fates. What if it has some special power too? Maybe it can shoots sparks or summon a magical beast."

"I highly doubt that. Though I would pay for a ring that does either of those." Brinn stowed those ideas in her mind for later. "We need to tell Mairwen what she has. At least we have some answers."

"Speaking of answers. I may have discovered another one we needed." Aurora was eager to share her news. She called for the servants to bring forth the books from the royal library. Brinn studied each of them carefully. "Well?" Aurora asked when she could stand it no longer.

"You are thinking that the water from the Mystic Spires could heal Prince Alaron of the damage he has done to his body?" Brinn asked.

"Exactly!" The Empress was happy that the elf could guess her line of thought. "What do you think?"

Brinn tapped her forefinger against her temple. "It could work…"

"I think so too!" Aurora exclaimed so loudly and high-pitched that the elf blocked her ears.

"Where would we get some of that water?" Brinn was slightly afraid to ask.

"Remember when Devrim was injured by the griffon? The river helped heal his wounds and we filled our water skins with the healing water. We have some of that water left!"

"I see," the elf was not as enthusiastic.

"You aren't excited," Aurora observed.

"That water came from the ground, not the waterfall. As soon as the water touches the ground, the magic seeps into the earth as it flows. By the time it leaves the land of magic, there is no magic left in it. The water from the river is less…potent." Brinn struggled to find the right word.

"But the doctor used some on me! I healed quickly as a result."

The elf nodded in contemplation. "That was a physical injury caused by magic, not a magical injury."

"Well, the river water is all we have unless you have a better idea. No? Then we will try it first." The Empress's eyes narrowed. She hoped very much that the elf was wrong.

"What will you do if it does not work?" the red-head persisted.

"One problem at a time." Aurora could not think any more on the matter. She heaved a deep sigh. "First, my husband has to return with Alaron or all of this will remain a theory."

Brinn nodded. "Do you ever wonder where exactly they are, and what they are both doing?"

The Empress's gaze became far off. "Only every moment of every day. They invade my daydreams and haunt my nightmares. I catch myself breathing thier names." Aurora wandered over to her window and looked at the horizon. "Are they together? Are they safe? Are they dead? I picture every possible scenario. The worry will cripple me if I let it," she admitted with a wry chuckle. "But I must press on believing they will be home soon. In the back on my mind, though, the question plays on repeat."

Leaning out the window so far that her feet almost lifted off the ground, she called into the wind, "Where are you?"