Inside the small room, Aurora cried wholeheartedly. Tears seemed unending, but like anything else, they eventually ceased. She sighed, letting the calm overtake her as her queenly mask was put back in place.

After regaining her composure, the Empress allowed Devrim to fill her in with all the adventures he experienced on his trip. The boatman, the gnomes, the duel, the escape, the water nymph, the Monster, Oblivion and even the food poisoning. The Empress listened as if she were hearing the tale of an epic ancient hero. Only the mention of names grounded her in his tale. She was surprised by the mention of Ashleigh and Fedelmid, but pleased by their help. But it was the attempted murder of her son that angered her the most.

"I cannot let that stand any more than I could let the assassination attempt on Mairwen go unpunished." Aurora said through gritted teeth. It upset her deeply that someone would act so contrary to her wishes on her behalf. In her fit of emotion, Aurora did not notice the change in Devrim.

"Someone tried to kill Mairwen?! Let me get my hands on them." The fire in the Emperor's eyes scared even Aurora.

She relaxed her tense body and began stroking the man's arm to calm him. "Four 'someones' actually. And they have all been caught or dealt with. One of them fell on his own poisoned knife before we could catch him."

"It seems our family attracts poison lately." Devrim massaged his forehead. "Tell me what happened."

"First I better back up to what happened right after you last saw Mairwen. Whatever you hear, don't kill Brinn." Aurora winced. This would be a delicate operation.

Devrim raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "I make no promises."

Nodding, the Empress launched into her tale. She told all about the battle at the garrison and dealing with Ravenna.

"By the way, did the fairy I sent ever find you with my message?" She had been curious but forgot to ask.

Devrim gave a contented grin. "Yes. And those words helped me have the courage to cross the lake once more. Thank you, my love." They exchanged a passionate kiss before moving on.

The scientist, the experiments and the eventual assassination attempt all were part of Aurora's story. It was Devrim's turn to be riveted.

"No one can say we lead boring lives." The Emperor joked.

Aurora gave him a tired look. "I would prefer a little less drama myself," the woman sighed. She was relieved to have everything out in the open. She had not realized before just how much had happened.

"You mentioned this scientist repeatedly…" Devrim mused as he pulled at his chin.

The blood in Aurora's veins suddenly went cold. "I did, didn't I?" She answered carefully.

"He has been spending a lot of time around Mairwen, it seems," the grey-eyed man continued.

"Enough to save her life multiple times, please remember that." Aurora held her breath, and smiled so big that she was squinting.

"This gentleman must be quite distinguished to have accomplished so much. I am glad our girl has another paternal influence that can help her with her thirst for knowledge." Devrim could not figure out why his wife choked and started coughing. "Are you alright?"

Aurora cleared the tears in her eyes from her stifled laughter. "I am fine, my dear."

"I must meet this scientist. I am quite the scholar myself. I think we could get along well." The Emperor rather liked the idea of swapping information with a distinguished member of the scientific community. He had completely forgotten the mention of a young scientist many weeks prior, and assumed only the more mature could be so learned.

"Let us save that for another time," the Empress responded as she tucked her hair awkwardly behind her ear. She wanted to tell her husband the error of his judgement, but the words would not come. Aurora vowed that she would fix it later when they were dealing with less problems.

"Of course," Devrim agreed. "We need to get back to Brinn. She must be curious what is taking so long."

"If I know her, she is just outside the door listening to every blessed word we have said," Aurora gave a wry chuckle. "You can come in now!" She called at the door.

Junayd opened the door and admitted a smug looking Brinn. "What good is a spymaster if she cannot gather information covertly?" the elf asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"I do not believe the Emperor and I were among those who needed to observed," Aurora gave Brinn a hard look, but she was not actually mad. If the Empress had wanted to be rid of the spymaster, she would have sent her on some errand. The acute hearing of the elf meant she was eavesdropping at all times.

"You are on my list, Brinn," the Emperor scowled. He cross his arms and clenched his jaw.

The elf was unperturbed. She plopped down on the couch next to the love birds and cocked her head to one side. "Which list is that?" Brinn asked innocently.

"Both lists actually. The 'I am going to kill you' list and the 'I owe you a medal' list. I am struggling to decide which action to carry out first." Devrim relaxed a little and settled into his seat. He could decide what to do with the impish elf later.

"You told him I see." The spymaster was not mad, but Brinn wished that she had been able to tell the story herself to avoid some of the more embarrassing scenes.

"His Majesty and I have no secrets," Aurora said with a confident smirk. She laid her head gently on the man's shoulder before a whiff of air accosted her ears.

"Everything?" Brinn's wind magic asked quietly. "What about the scientist? I heard you and your little omission. He would be a lunatic right now if he knew."

"I will handle it," the Empress said softly.

"Handle what?" Devrim eyed her quizzically. He took her hands in his. "We can handle it together."

Aurora sighed. She needed to come clean. "I am not sure you are ready to hear this, but..."

Brinn cut her off, "The prince is in bad shape. Worse shape than you thought, Your Majesty."

"What?!" both Devrim and Aurora were shocked by her words.

"What do you mean?" Devrim's heart raced as he wondered if he was too late retrieving the prince.

The elf became serious. "I used my wind magic to gauge his condition. If I listen carefully, I can hear his heart and lungs amongst other indicators. His Highness's outward appearance is a display of the inward damage. I do not know how much longer he has if no intervention is taken. I can feel the magic coursing through him. It is overwhelming. If the prince keeps using magic like he has been, I do not think the prince will make it to see his next birthday."

The news came as a shock. Falling back into her seat, Aurora stared up at the ceiling contemplating the death of her son. "This cannot happen," she denied the dark thoughts.

"What can we do?" the Emperor lamented. "Even if Alaron wants to stop now, he is addicted to the magic. We have no way to cleanse him of it or heal the damage."

"Yes we do, at least we have an idea." Brinn nudged the Empress with her elbow. "Tell him!"

Aurora did not want to give false hope. She looked down at her hands laying limply in her lap. "We have some water from the land of magic. Based on my research, I believe it should heal him."

"This is wonderful news! We must try this right away," Devrim stood, ready to dive into action.

"But if this water we have...if it doesn't work, then..." the Empress did not want to finish her thought.

Pulling the woman into his arms, the grey-eyed man hugged his wife tightly. "It will work, and if it doesn't, we will take the next step." Devrim kissed his wife with all the passion that long absences bring.

"Well, do not just sit there. I am sure the doctor has done his examination by now. Let us go and hear the bad news." Brinn was tired of watching the couple's antics. It made her homesick, or rather sick for the elf boy waiting for her back home.

The couple parted and Aurora shooed her husband through the door ahead of her. The Empress raised one eyebrow at the elf. "You cut me off when I was about to tell him about Renat," she observed.

The elf nodded. "As you always say, one problem at a time. The boy scientist can wait for now."

Aurora nodded. "Yes, but for how long?"