Toshie opened her eyes.

  “Hero, Hero! Are you all right?” Brot was fanning her with a handkerchief and clutching his trinket. Toshie was drenched with sweat.

  “I’ll be fine. Kind of wish I had another chance to take a bath.”

  ‘That had to have been Daedalus, right?’ Toshie thought. ‘It’s not like I’m glad he died. But, well, he died. Plus, Yrlith killed him, not me. And Yrlith and Sally only want to live together. All Daedalus wanted was to be the Hero. That asshole would have killed me at some point, probably. He was an asshole. Emphasis on was. So it had to be a dream. I’m safe. Breathe, Toshie, breathe.’

  “Master Toshie?” Brot said, continuing to fan her.

  “Oh. Yeah. Sorry for waking you all,” Toshie said, snapping out of her daze.

  “Nah, we were already up,” said Yrlith. She was staring out the tiny window in the door. “Looks like someone’s coming.”

  She backed up, and the door opened. Navarin and two Dark Elf guards walked in.

  “Time to go,” Navarin said and turned to leave as soon as she had entered. The guards shook their spears at the group.

  “No worries, we’re coming, we’re coming. No one wants to be made into pudding today,” Sally said, putting her hands up and walking out the door. Yrlith and Brot followed. Out of habit, Toshie looked under the bed to see if she had forgotten anything.

  ‘Why am I doing this?’ she thought. They woke up on the boat with nothing but the clothes on their back.

  “What are you doing? Get moving, now!” a guard yelled at her.

  “Sorry, sorry.” Toshie got up and started walking behind Brot.

  Once they left the building, they walked right past where they had met the Queen the day before.

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  “No meeting with the Queen today?” Sally asked.

  “No,” said Navarin.

  “Shame. She seemed so nice.”

  Navarin ignored Sally and led them to the elevator. The guards saluted her as they boarded and cranked them up.

  “Don’t try anything. I can activate those bracelets,” Navarin said as she turned away from them and stared out toward the town.

  “Oh? Then how will you get that Orb you’re after?” Sally broke the silence. “If it actually exists.”

  “They have it,” said Navarin. “Don’t play dumb.”

  “She’s not playing.” Yrlith grinned at Sally.

  “Enough,” said Navarin as she turned around. This was the first time Toshie got a good look at her face. She was as pale as any of the Dark Elves, but instead of black eyes, hers were bright blue. Her silver hair reminded Toshie of the streak of gray in her own. Only much shinier. Her pointy ears stuck out, and it took every ounce of strength Toshie had not to flick them.

  “Unlike my mother, I care not for idle chat.”

  “This is going to be fun.” Toshie could hear Sally whisper to Yrlith.

  “Fun is not our goal.” Navarin heard her as well.

  “Sorry, but, you know, Princess to Princess? I get it. The whole royal thing is–”

  “I am no Princess,” Navarin interrupted.

  Toshie was confused. But Navarin’s icy glare kept her from asking any question.

  “Wait,” Sally began.

  “Leave it, Sal,” whispered Yrlith.

  “What shall we refer to you as?” piped in Brot, ever the gentleman.

  “Navarin shall work in the rare case you need to address me. Keep it to a minimum.”

  The rest of the ride was silent.

  The elevator reached the top of the cliff, and several guards were waiting to let them out. Navarin nodded at the guards, and they all began the trek back through the cavern.

  Sally tried several times to get Navarin to speak, but most of her replies were “Quiet.” with the occasional sprinkling of a “Be quiet.”

  “Bet you’ll never get her to say anything about herself,” said Yrlith.

  “No fair! She’ll never say anything if she hears us make the bet!”

  “You’re no fun.”

  “That’s not what you said last night.”

  “Will you two stop your inane prattling?!” Navarin finally lost her temper. “My past is none of your concern. Be silent, or I will force you to be silent.”

  “I’ll take the bet,” Sally whispered to Yrlith.

  “The Princess can’t even get a nice ship? How much does your mother hate you?” Sally said as soon as their tiny vessel was in view.

  Navarin sighed. “We do not need anything special for the short trip to Waterlink. How many Soirvin ships have you seen sail into your land’s harbor?”

  Sally was silent.

  “Now, if we return on a standard trade ship, we will raise no suspicion.”

  “To steal an Orb that doesn’t exist.” Sally put a hand on her hip and shook her head at Navarin. “Not that I care about some Orb I never heard about, but how do you expect to steal it?”

  “I don’t,” Navarin said, tapping the butt of her spear against Sally’s back, motioning her to get on the ship. “I expect you to.”