Chapter 25

"Well, well, well. Look who found her way back," a familiar female voice says.

Pulling back from my embrace with Orm, I'm faced with the sight of two guards standing just inside the partition around my bed. They're the same two guards that were assigned to me the last time I was here-the ones who came to check for weapons in my room. Arden and Xavier.

"Still not fired I see," I can't help the crack of a smile that lights across my face, "And back on babysitting duty."

The female guard, Arden, mirrors my grin with her own, her eyes lighting with a spark of amusement, "It's good to have you back, Princess. And somehow still as impertinent as ever."

The male guard, Xavier, smothers his grin, forcing back his customary stony expression, "And we're not on babysitting duty. We're here to escort you to your new rooms."

New rooms? I guess it makes sense that the King would want me out of the way of his citizens and servants considering who I am, but my shoulders slump the tiniest bit at the prospect of being forced into solitude again after this last conversation with Healer Orm.

I try not to let my disappointment show, forcing a lightness to my voice I don't feel, and say, "That's good because compared to my last room, this one has a distinct lack of chains and locked doors. It was becoming unsettling."

Xavier rolls his eyes so far back in his head that I can see the whites, "Let's get going, Princess."

Rather than get up immediately, I turn back to Orm, "You'll come find me if you learn anything from your notes?" I ask the older male shifter, a hint of the hope I'd tried to squash earlier shining through my voice.

He smiles kindly at me, patting my hand with his wrinkled one again. The warmth in from his hand mixed with a similar warmth in his eyes, eases the worry in my chest, "Of course, I'll let you know. Come and see me if you need anything, my dear. I'm here most days and I'd be more than happy to visit with you again."

"I will," I promise.

After helping me to my feet, Arden and Xavier led me out of the infirmary and into the hallway. The last time I'd been here, I'd only left the small room they had designated me to during the earthstorm. That single time out in the halls had been so hectic-my thoughts so frenzied-that I hadn't been able to take in any details about the place.

Like the hospital wing, the hallway we step out into is constructed entirely from rough gray stone. It's as if a stone had been melted and fused into winding tunnels through a huge rock. It's what I imagine the inside of the cave would look like. There are no windows, the only available light coming from the sconces along the wall-magic-infused torches illuminating the way as Xavier and Arden guide me along.

The two shifters sandwich me in the middle of them as we walk. Between them the way that I am, makes me feel even smaller and frailer than I usually do. Though I'm not that much shorter than Arden, she's stronger. She moves along the hallway beside me with ease, vitality, and energy pulsing off her in waves. I wonder if that sort of strength is a shifter thing or a byproduct of them being soldiers.

Even amongst the other fae nobility-who aren't nearly as sturdy as these shifter soldiers-I felt flimsy and vulnerable next to them. Lucia usually described my body type as "willowy", which is just a nicer way to describe the way that I'm slowly wasting away from the fever. Never able to keep down enough food to be truly *healthy*.

I stop to catch my breath as we move down the tunnel-like hallways and while I'm used to the guards who follow me murmuring complaints under their breaths behind me or tapping their feet in their impatience for me to get moving again, the two shifters don't show a single hint of annoyance as I lean against the stone wall to catch my breath.

Arden leans against the wall beside me, as casually as if we're out for an afternoon stroll rather than a maybe prisoner being escorted to her room. I know they were made aware of my illness last time I stayed here, but I wonder if their King made them aware of the fact that I'm not the person they'd been under the impression I was. Do they know I'm not Lucia?

Have they *always* known?

The thought makes my stomach turn over uncomfortably. I need to have that conversation with their King-the one he'd assured me we'd have. A conversation where he explains everything to me. When my breathing is steady again, I push off the wall so we can continue through the tunnels, and ask, "Did your King mention anything to either of you about meeting with me later?"

They both peer down at me, curiously.

"He promised to explain some things to me once we got here" I explain.

Continuing to glance down at me from the corner of his eye, Xavier nods offhandedly. In his usual bored drawl, he says, "He did say something about that."

"The King told us to inform you that he had a few urgent meetings that couldn't be put off," Arden tells me, a curiosity burning its way through her expression, "but he said that he'll come find you when he's finished with them."

They lead me down a narrow incline, their pace unrushed as I push myself to keep up with them. It's silent for a long moment, as we turn down another side hallway. We pass a few servants, but most of them pay us no mind. When we're finally alone again, Arden breaks the silence.

"Okay, I have to ask-" she breathes out in a rush, surprising me, "Are you here because the commander abducted you again?"

Xavier shoots Arden a warning look, but he doesn't tell her off like I expect him to. He's probably just as curious as his partner is.

Arden's question brings back flashes of Damien ripping the Unseelie ambassador's head off. A grimace pulls over my face at the very graphic memory, "I guess, in a way, he sort of did." I admit.

Xavier narrows his eyes, "Interesting."

My footsteps slow to a pause so, my own eyes narrow back up at him, "Interesting, *how*? He didn't explain what happened when he was assigning you to guard me?"

Xavier shrugs, "He was in a rush. Said he'd explain later."

I snort, starting back through the tunnels, "Seems to be a common occurrence with him it would seem."

Arden snickers, "I'm only curious because no one was made aware that you'd be returning. You should have seen Leif's face when he caught sight of the Commander stalking through the castle hallway carrying an unconscious Seelie Princess in his arms. I thought he was going to keel over from shock right then and there."

Brushing over the knowledge that King Damien had carried me through the castle in his arms to ask, "Who's Leif?"

"Leif-well, I suppose we should call him Captain Alfson," Arden says, "is the Commander's second in command."

"He's the highest-ranking shifter in our court after the King," Xavier says.

I chew my lip, trying to remember, "I haven't met him, have I?"

"I don't think so," Xavier shakes his head, "he was kept busy by helping with negotiations the last time you were here."

"Though," Arden says, "now that you're here again, I wouldn't put it past him to make an appearance. He doesn't make a habit of keeping his nose out of anything around this place."

Xavier nods, "If something's happening here, Leif is guaranteed to be one of the first to know about it. That's why he was two seconds away from having a conniption when you made a reappearance."

"I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd shifted right then and there," Arden snickers.

Xavier nods his agreement, "After we returned you home, we all just sort of assumed that our business with the Seelie was all but finished."

The shifter guards finally pull me to a stop, slowing in front of a tall, wooden door painted in shades of reds and golds, "Here we are, Princess," Arden says, reaching for the knob, "Your new room."