Another week passes and Hestia refuses to speak to anyone. Correction, Hestia does speak. Saan often thinks that her speech is equal to the annoying degrading vocabulary Aaleyah longs to have. It is, ‘this subject’, ‘as you wish my prince’, ‘my apologies’. Hestia speaks to everyone with the highest respect. If she is not given an order from them then she is barely seen.

  Hammun told the physicians the day after the argument that they could speak to Hestia and that is where Hestia has been. She wakes up and heads to the medicinal rooms or the garden. Thus Hammun has been more tense than before.

  At the watchtowers Aaleyah and Saan wrote the letter for Lakia. Now all they can do is wait for a response.

  Telling Hammun about the letter will lead to many questions, and he may even feel as if they do not trust him to do it. Saan decided, ‘If he doesn’t ask, we do not need to tell him.’

  Aaleyah did not voice that this was not very different from what Hammun did with Hestia, but Saan read her face easily, telling her that they must keep the information of the watchtowers a secret.

  With each passing day the queen’s wound does not get better, and with each passing day the King’s gaze lingers on Aaleyah just a bit longer.

  Now that her punishment is over she chooses to bide her time at the watchtowers out of sight reviewing the messages in search of a sign that Lakia is out there. While Saan strategizes with Helan on ways to heighten the security.

  Hammun with his mother ill, his fiancee not speaking to him, has grappled his mind to focus on something else. Saan. Which leads to Hammun following Saan everywhere.

  A shadow that Helan and Saan have tried to ignore.

  Walking down the hall towards the baths Saan stops by the balcony overlooking the capital to turn and face Hammun with an expression of bemusement. “What is it that you wish to say, I think we are far past the age of bathing together.”

  Saan rests his back on the wall next to the window. “Ask your questions enough following.”

  Hammun steps out of the shadows. “Is there something I am unaware of?”

  Saan narrows his eyes with a grin. “There is plenty you do not know, which would you like to discuss?”

  Hammun rolls his eyes. “About Aaleyah?”

  Tilting his head, Saan’s grin grows wider. “Once again there is plenty of information about my wife that you should be unaware of.”

  Hammun groans. “That is not the information I am talking about and you know it.”

  “What is it you wish to ask?”

  “The night mother had fallen ill she told me to tell Aaleyah to follow her heart. That Aaleyah had more power than she thought.”

  Saan keeps the teasing smile on his face. Is his mother also aware of the stone? “I also believe that my wife is more powerful than she believes and should follow her heart. Instead she follows her brain and tortures herself with thoughts she should not hold. ”

  “But why would mother specifically speak of Aaleyah during those moments?”

  Saan is not sure, but he plans to find out. He will ask Aaleyah first. Glancing at Hammun he wonders if this is why during their time in the library he watched Aaleyah so closely. He had thought it was because she was the only one reading the Ancient Aidjeeken scrolls, but maybe not.

  “What answer would you like me to give you Hammun? You have known Aaleyah since we were kids, why do you think mother would make a note to mention her?” Saan asks with no intention of giving information.

  Hammun sighs. “Aaleyah, one wonders if mother believes that she has a way of saving her. She said that Aaleyah should trust her instincts and follow her heart. I am aware that Aaleayh does not always follow her heart, but her instincts have always been deadly sharp. So I ask you, does Aaleyah have a way of saving the queen? And if she does, then why is she not doing it?”

  Sometimes Hammun is too observant for his own good. Still he chuckles and pats Hammun’s shoulder. “It is no secret that the Aljehni family was powerful. You and I are aware that Aaleyah has gone through much tragedy. The Stilits have a painful connection to her. But I can assure you. Aaleyah loves the queen, she loves the Aidkjeen kingdom. If she is able, she will do all she can to keep both safe.” Dropping his hand it lands on the hilt of his xaza. “Perhaps mother wished to ensure that Aaleyah would not sacrifice herself.” For he certainly does.

  Hammun’s sharp eyes study him, and Saan keeps his stance relaxed, resting his back on the wall, and maintaining his calmness.

  Now full of questions Saan waits a beat before moving. “Speaking of Aaleyah, after our harsh punishment of staying by her side it seems awry if I do not see her often in a day. It is time I return to her.”

  He waves as he walks off.

  Hammun calls out after him. “Aaleyah always seems so busy, when you see her please tell her I would love to play a game together.”

  “I hold no secrets from Aaleyah. I will let her know.” He calls out.

  As Saan walks down the corridor Helan reports that Aaleyah is in the library, so making a left he asks a passing servant to bring tea.

  Inside the library he does not see her, but he can vaguely hear the moving of books. Looking down the aisles he finally finds Aaleyah sitting in the third aisle on the floor.

  Half of her hair is tied up with a blue hair stick, the rest of her hair falls down her back. She sits cross legged, two scrolls lay open at her side, and in her hand is a painting.

  “If you allowed me to leave Helan’s second in command with you he would be able to carry the books to the table so you would not have to sit on the floor,” he muses, aware of her stance on guards.

  Aaleyah rolls up the picture and places it back on the shelf just above her head. “This one is not sure what she is looking for. It is only after seeing it myself this one can know.”

  Squatting down Saan moves her hair that has fallen to her face and moves it back in place then glances down so he can see the scroll on the floor next to her, “You are reading up on your own family history?” He asks dumbfounded. “The books from your family’s library record more information than anything the royal palace library has.”

  Aaleyah hums her agreement. “This was not originally what was needed. This one thought it beneficial to read books on languages.”

  Saan scans the contents, a scroll about her bloodline makes her curious, or is it just seeing her family’s name that she misses?

  “The scroll is missing huge chunks of information. I read it when I was young. It has nothing on twins or anything else.” He catches her eye on the last line. There is nothing about the language only her family knows, or the stone.

  Aaleyah hums, “Is the missing information accidental or purposefully omitted?”

  Saan sits across from her and motions to the scroll on her left. “Your father was my father’s tutor, and had high status. I do not believe his actions were ever accidental. Have you finished reading this one?”

  A servant comes and places the tea on a nearby table and Saan nods his thanks.

  He watches Aaleyah pull out a different scroll this time his bloodline before handing the scroll he motioned to towards him.

  Taking the scroll Saan reads out loud. “Havil Aljehni world renowned professor, founder of Scholar’s Sky Academy, now known as the School of Ahlin. Married Aminah Medes at the age of one Red and eight Blue moons.” He whistles. “Your father found his love quite early, he spent only one Blue moon as a man in society before deciding that your mother was too amazing to leave alone in this world,” he tells her with a smile.

  Aaleyah pauses from her own reading. “My parents spent two Red and Blue moons together. Was it a blessing or a curse?”

  Aaleyah forces her expression to return neutral, but Saan catches the tearful regret. “Scholar Aljehni loved your mother. Regardless of the future he would have always chosen her.” His words do not have the effect he desires, and Aaleyah’s hand tightens on the scroll.

  The Aljehni family believed in fate, as well as love. Her father would have told her that as long as the sun shines, as long as the wind blows in the sky; then regardless of pain he shall walk the path the heavens give him.

  After a beat of silence Saan peaks at what she is reading and a chill blows across his body.

  King Saamun. The name alone reminds him of his hatred, and failures. Aaleyah once ran to him, once trusted him with her family’s life, she believed in him; and he failed. All those Blue moons ago he was to blind to see, could not fully grasp the betrayal mankind could give.

  “Saan! Saan!” Aaleyah screamed his name as she reached the palace back gate.

  The guards recognized the horse, but had to look twice to confirm the rider was in fact the youngest female Aljehni.

  They opened the palace gates and Aaleyah raced through. Her mourning dress tattered and soaked.

  Luckily Saan and Hammun were playing by the back gates, practicing their sword skills. As he heard his name Saan turned immediately, dropping his sword as he raced to her.

  Her black hair was a mess, wet with water. No, it was blood that dirtied her braids. Her arms were also covered in scrapes, the sleeves of her dress sliced open. Saan had never seen this look on a person before. But, what halted the words in his throat were Aaleyah’s eyes. She was desperate, her broken eyes sought to him like a lifeline.

  Jumping off the horse she almost collapsed into his arms, “Saan you have-you-find your father. You have to get the guards. You have to help!”

  Her body shook, her eyes quickly checking around her for danger. “You have to-” her hand gripped Saan’s arm tightly, and turned to stare at Hammun, “Hammun, Saan, please help me! Please help my family. Where is your father! We have to go back. We have to help. Zale! Please, Dharam was, Dharam was, my parents!”

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  She hiccuped choking on a sob. “There was so much blood, they came so-please get your father,” she beseeched them.

  Hearing Aaleyah’s cries, Hammun immediately set off to find their father, guards behind him.

  “Stay with her!” Hammun yelled.

  Hammun moved as fast as he could. Last he heard his father was talking to his grandfather in the King’s court. The meeting should be over now, so if he is lucky he can get his dad and his grandfather! Rounding the corner he slipped on water left on the floor. One of the servants was moving a plant, and the trail of water had not yet been cleaned up.

  “Prince Hammun, are you alright?” One of the guards moved to help Hammun up.

  Shaking the pain away Hammun forced himself to stand ignoring the pain and continued to race down the hall to see his father.

  Hammun could hear his father speaking before he could see him. “Father! Father!”

  Hammun raced into his father’s arm. “Father, you have to call the guards. The Aljehni family is under attack. Aaleyah just came and she-” his body was shaking so badly he could not get the words out.

  Calm yourself Hammun. Speak slowly, what is it? Where is Aaleyah? Tell me everything.” High Prince Hammaan, spoke in a soothing voice alieving some of Hammun’s worries.

  “Aaleyah came to the palace. She said her family is in danger and asked that I find you and get the guards to go to her estate and help. She was covered in blood, she looked like death. Everyone is in danger. You have to get the guards, we have to help them.” Behind his father Hammun could see Duke Majidi; how great! Together they would be able to save Aaleyah’s family.

  High Prince Hammaan rose to his full height and turned to Duke Majidi. “Assemble the guards, we will move out to the Aljehni manor as soon as possible.”

  He squeezed Hammun’s hand. “We will get to them.”

  Still by the gate she raced through, Aaleyah fought to get out of Saan’s arms. “We have to get the guards. We have to get to Dharam.”

  “Hammun is getting my father. Leyah, tell me what happened,” Saan pleaded. “Tell me so that I can understand.”

  Aaleyah shook her head fervently, her eyes a daze on the back gate, “We have to find the guards. We have to go back. I have to go back. They continued to attack.”

  She began to mutter to herself. “They continued to come. They are still there, I left them. I left them all. I left them alone. How could I do that?”

  She laughed bitterly at herself. “And I call myself an Aljehni? I left them all. No, they will be fine. Everything will be fine, we will save them, the high prince will save him.”

  Their attention was pulled to the commotion from the gate.

  Searn heard the footfalls and turned around. The amount of men had to be close to eight or ten, where were the palace guards? How could they just allow them to enter?

  Saan held Aaleyah’s hand tightly in his own. He positioned himself in front of her. Not that it helped, she was taller than him and was still able to scan each and every person that broke through the palace gate.

  The brown gate swung on its hinges, open. Closed. Open. Closed. Saan saw the black boots of one of the palace guards. Dead.

  Aaleyah pulled Saan to step backwards towards the entrance to the palace.

  One of the armed men sheathed his sword and took slow careful steps. “Young prince,” he spoke with mock respect. “This does not concern you. We only want the girl.”

  The group of men slowly formed a half circle around Aaleyah and Saan.

  Stepping back Saan’s foot hit his sword from earlier. Quickly he bent down to pick it up. “I am Prince Saan from the house of Dlumaeni,” he tried to speak in the same way his father spoke when he was commanding officers, “leaders of the Aidkjeen Kingdom, and I demand you drop your swords.”

  His left hand was behind his back, clutching Aaleyah’s. “Leave before you are tried for treason.”

  The guards they were training with left after Hammun. Saan was supposed to be safe, surrounded by the guards who were guarding the gate. Unfortunately they were dead.

  Saan could feel Aaleyah’s hand clutching his tightly, her nails embedding themselves into his skin. An imprint that would take time to soothe over.

  The leader of the group laughed. “Young majesty of the Dlumaeni family, you lack knowledge of worldly affairs.” He spread his arms wide to motion to the men he brought with him. “Unfortunately we lack the time to educate you. There is too much at stake. Just give us the girl, no one has to get hurt.”

  Saan prepared himself to push Aaleyah through the door. He would hold them off until Hammun and his father returned.

  One of the men thought the use of a sword would be too much of a hassle and sheathed it. To have to pull out a sword against a child was a mockery to his skills. No sooner had the hilt of his sword left his hand a dagger had hit him in the chest.

  Saan watched him sink to the floor, his hand tightened on the sword in his hand. Aaleyah had thrown the dagger, now there would definitely be a fight. He prepared himself to protect her, if they truly plan on taking her away they would have to kill him first.

  A fight ensued, all the men rushed to grab Aaleyah. Saan motioned for Aaleyah to run and he had almost pushed her through the door when one of the men spoke.

  “Very rarely do I see twins, I wonder if you will bleed the way your brother did,” he sneered, a cocky grin appearing on his face when he knew he won.

  Aaleyah’s steps faltered, her golden eyes turned, and for the first time in Saan’s life he saw an anger that he never knew she was able to have.

  Closer to the gate, one Stilit pulled out his bow and shot an arrow, it exploded a red insignia in the blue sky.

  In the hall High Prince Hammaan stood confused when Duke Majidi made no motion to heed his orders. “Must I repeat myself? Send a team to the Aljehni estate at once.”

  Hammun glanced around suddenly, aware of the guards' grim expressions.

  One fist over his heart, Duke Majidi bowed. “My apologies, High Prince Hammaan, you no longer have the power to move palace troops.” He motioned for the guards to return to their stations. “Thus we are unable to follow your orders.”

  High Prince Hammaan’s eyes widened in pained understanding.

  Hammun shook his father’s hand and cried, “Just show them the Green Leaf Token.”

  The Green Leaf Token allowed the holder to move troops in and out of the palace as if it was the king’s orders. Hammun knew that when his father was bestowed the honor, he always wore it on him when entering the king's court. Thus if they came out of court his father must have it, no?

  “Duke Majidi watched as I gave it to the king to inspect. You are aware why I do not have the token. Surely we can still send troops and I will retrieve it after.” Hammun’s father wore a grave expression, as if he was piecing something together.

  Something Hammun could not understand. “My father is the high prince, of course you have to listen to him.”

  Hammun stubbornly turned to his father’s trusted guard Izad. “My father has always been in command of guards, surely you can trust him today.”

  Izad could only look away from his hopeful face.

  High Prince Hammaan squeezed his son’s hand. “Enough, we must get to your brother.”

  It took some urging but Hammun finally gave up on the guards and led his father back to where Saan and Aaleyah were.

  On Saan’s left Aaleyah’s dagger flew, slicing the arm of the men near her. She was fast and agile, flipping through the group of Stilits retrieving her daggers from the body of the first man she killed and the floor to use again.

  Saan swung his sword, desperately recalling the tips he was taught. He calmed his breaths, and moved as he was trained. He could see Aaleyah from the corner of his eye, she moved so quickly that he almost missed her. “Run!” he ordered.

  “I will not leave you,” she grunted, as she kicked a man in the head.

  One of the Stilits chuckled. “Little Aljehni you will not be leaving at all. Your family must pay for its crimes.”

  When Aaleyah moved to help Saan who was fighting off men by himself, she was pulled back by her hair.

  The man who grabbed her was heavily built, and when he swung his arm Aaleyah flew to the ground. As he aimed his sword in the air Saan yelled with a vengeance. With no other option Saan held one of the blades in his hand, ripping it away. Finally having an opening he swung his sword at the other man before rushing to block the swing aimed at Aaleyah.

  Hammun and his father raced out the palace door just in time to see the blade slice the back of Saan’s neck and shoulder.

  Aaleyah’s arms wrapped tightly around Saan and she forced them to roll away before the blade could cut deeper. “Saan!” She pushed down on the wound to stop the bleeding. But her hand was too small to cover the entire cut.

  Lifting himself on his knees, his hand pushed down on top of hers. His vision dizzy from the hit “It alright. I will be fine.”

  Aaleyah threw her dagger with perfect aim killing the man who harmed Saan.

  Hammun watched his father pull out his blade in a paralyzing shock. “Attacking Dlumaeni blood is punishable by death. Allow me to be your executioner.”

  The leader smirked, his head twitched as he blinked frantically. “You may enact your punishment, but it is the king’s orders we followed. Even if we die, that fact remains.”

  With perfect timing more men raced through the gate.

  Hammun’s father held back his aggravation and threw his sheathe to the ground. “Then I will deal with it after you die.”

  He moved quickly, his feet racing across the ground, bare feet running on jagged rocks did not slow him down. With one swing on his blade the leader was dead.

  Hammun’s body numbed over, his brother was bleeding in Aaleyah’s arms, his father was occupied with Stilits. He thought he was getting help for Aaleyah’s family back at her estate. How did they come here?

  Behind him he could hear the footfalls of guards and he breathed a sigh of relief.

  Saan relaxed into Aaleyah’s arms as he heard the guards. Now that they were here it was all over. He watched as they pulled their blades and his heart turned cold when they aimed it at his father. “High Prince Hammaan, drop your weapon. Aaleyah Aljehni is under arrest for treason. To side with her is to commit treason as well.”

  Izad walked towards the front of the guards and called out in aggrievement. “High Prince Hammaan, this is not a battle anyone will win.”

  Duke Majidi aimed his sword. “It is the king’s orders.”

  Saan watched in shock as the palace guards fought against his father. Behind him Aaleyah began to mumble frantically.

  “He said they would protect me. He said he would get the guards. He said that the High Prince could help.” Tears fell from her eyes, the fight leaving her.

  Saan was unable to move as a guard wrapped a hand around Aaleyah’s arm, ripping her out of his hold. His vision blurred, but the last he heard was Aaleyah’s scream of desperation.

  In the library Aaleyah places a cup of tea in his hand, forcing him to come back to the present. Then she lifts the scroll on the Dlumaeni family, her finger tracing King Saamun’s name.

  She peeks a glance at Saan and he drops his head to the cup of tea. The memories of the past are still so clear. His grandfather knew nothing about the stone, and he still attacked her family. His jealousy of the Aljehni power led to the death of her entire clan.

  Every move she makes is watched. She forces herself to stay in the shadows too terrified to accidentally gain too much power. For there is nothing more terrifying than repeats of the past.

  When she returned to the palace Blue moons ago she made it her mission to ensure Saan would be the one in the spotlight. Ensure Hammun is the one the political world looks to. Saan did not like this, but he understood it, he tried to make peace with it.

  But now, the events of the past are returning and he wonders if the shadows are where she should stay. The amount of power she holds is tremendous, despite her fear she should find peace with yielding it.

  Across from him Aaleyah rolls up the scrolls around her.

  Saan rises from his spot on the floor and helps her clean up silently.

  Thanking him she hesitates when Saan reaches out his hand to her.

  Saan holds his breath and Aaleyah pats it twice before dropping it and walking away.

  Saan stares at his hand, it is often like this. Sometimes she sees him, and sometimes she sees the grandson of the tyrant. Dropping his hand he follows after her, how can he create a space where she can feel safe enough to step into her own power. Can she ever see him as an equal?