Thankfully I did not see Renatus again for the rest of the day. He was not at dinner with Heinrich, Luciana, Guinevere, and I. Of course, that didn't make it any less uncomfortable. Politics never strayed far from the dinner table and they're not so equal policies only filled me with more anger.

Potentially even worse was when they were actually nice to me. They asked about my day, my training, and complimented me on my improvement. It was hard to swallow the bitter pill that all of these niceties were just to butter me up before I was slaughtered.

Guinevere acted surprisingly normal. I half expected her to rat me out, but the only thing I noticed was the way her eyes would linger on me a little longer than usual as if she was unsure of who or what I was. A simple glance here or there was the only indication things were amiss, but thankfully neither Heinrich or Luciana noticed and I don't even think Guinevere realized she was doing it.

I returned to my room after dinner ready to forget the stress around me. My bedroom was one of the few places I felt like I could breathe. There were far fewer prying eyes, only Leda and Soren's occasional appearance. Within my room and within my own space I could think freely, I could let my shoulders relax, and I no longer had to pretend like everything was fine.

For the most part that is, my bedroom was still a mysterious location of rebel contact as I had recently realized. The notes on my bed and the secret passage, no longer concerned me quite like they once did. I now know that the rebels and their occasional visits to my room were the least of my concerns.

I came across Fenrir on my way back to my room and a quick brush of my fingers through his chilled fur let me know that he had just been outside. Walking towards my bedroom door the guards silently opened it allowing Fenrir and I entrance.

The doors closed quickly behind me nearly masking the sound of a growl from Fenrir. It was a growl I had heard many times before when I had discovered the notes. Now I frantically looked around to see what was putting him on edge. It wasn't hard to notice the panel hiding the secret passageway slowly closing.

"Fenrir, stop them!" I shouted and Fenrir sprinted off towards the entrance. There was a man's yelp as Fenrir's head disappeared behind the wall and then an arm was being pulled back outward by the force of Fenrir's jaw.

"Princess, are you okay?" One of the guards said and knocked on my door. They must have been alerted to my shout.

My reply that I did, in fact, need help to catch the intruder fell short on my lips as the figure tumbled out from behind the wall. I knew that face anywhere. "Uh, no I'm fine. Just tripped over Fenrir!" I shouted back at them and then hurried towards the figure on the ground.

"Fenrir, that's enough," I ordered and he slunk back to the side and sat his furry haunches in front of the tunnel preventing any escape. I knelt down, to the figure in front of me. Their overcoat was that of traditional Ithican royal attire, a satin blue with gold shoulder attachments and buttons. Their face was worn with age, but it was a face I had always associated with kindness.

The familiar older face with the immaculately trimmed graying beard grimaced in pain as he clutched at his bleeding wrist. His grey hair was tousled from the struggle and his familiar eyes looked at me apologetically.

"Soren, what are you doing here?"

He closed his eyes briefly and let out a resigned sigh. "I came to give you this." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a note. A similar notecard shape with a red insignia on it, something I had seen many times before in my room.

"It was you. You were the one delivering the notes." Shock, surprise, confusion – all of it, was heavy on my words. I'm sure my face held the emotions as well. Never in a million years would I have expected the king's personal advisor to be the one delivering me rebel notes.

Another thought sprung up in my mind. If he was delivering the notes then he must know the rebels or maybe he was one? "Soren, if you're delivering the notes from the rebels, does this mean-"

"That I am a rebel." He finished my sentence for me.

With the quiet utterance, I glanced nervously around my room, afraid of any prying ears. Remembering Ulric's tip those many months ago after the ball I stood and hurried to the music box to crank it as many times as I could.

With the tune playing, I helped Soren to his feet and sat him down on one of the chairs in my room before fetching a spare drying fabric to wrap around his bleeding wrist.

A small wince twisted his features as the fabric touched the sensitive wounds, but he quickly brushed me off. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I guess this is what I get for sneaking around a room protected by Fenrir."

We both glanced at Fenrir whose menacing yellow eyes were silently telling Soren to not try and run away.

"I have so many questions." I began, and I really did. How did he become a rebel, when, why? Why was he the one delivering the notes? What has he been doing here?

"I know." He sighed. "And I wish I could have told you sooner, but I couldn't risk anyone knowing."

"So you're some rebel spy in the palace?"

"I guess, it wasn't always this way," he admitted. "At one point in my life I was nothing other than the king's advisor, but after some information came about, I knew that I could no longer support their rule, and I also knew that I would need help. The rebels would find my information invaluable and I also knew that they would want to stop the same thing I did."

"What do you mean?"

He let out another deep sigh. "I should have told you this sooner, you had a right to know. I was too selfish to keep it to myself for the sake of protecting my cover."

"Soren, just tell me." I placed a gentle hand on his knee trying to convey that it was okay and that he could trust me.

"Not long before your birth, your father told me of their plan. They wanted more power. They wanted more control, and to do that they had to take the power from something else." Soren covered my hand with his and gave it a gentle squeeze. Tears began to bead in his eyes as he spoke. "They planned to take your power by sacrificing you, after your coronation. I'm so sorry Amberleigh, I should have told you sooner."

More tears silently dripped down his rough face and fell with resounding splatters against our entwined hands. "Soren," I said gently. "It's okay, I already know."

He looked at me in surprise. "You, you already know?"

"Yes, Zora told me."

"I should have known they got to you during the ambush on the palace. I just regret not being able to ease you into this."

"Soren there was never going to be any easing into this. From the very start, I was having suspicions and discovered information that threw me in headfirst. It was surely a shock to find out this specific plan, but I trust your decision to wait to tell me. If you had and something would have happened, I never would have had an ally like you within the palace."

"You shouldn't have to comfort and old man like me, but I appreciate it very much. There is a true queen inside your heart Amberleigh. You will make a great ruler someday."

I gave him a small smile. "Thank you for your kind words, Soren."

"Now what is this information you found out? The incident with the rebels was just over a month and a half ago. You have been here far longer than that."

"Yes, well, are you aware of the magical manipulation of the Unified Nations council?"

"Somewhat. Heinrich has mentioned it briefly."

"Well it's more than that, the Elven king and queen at the time of the Great War manipulated all of the rulers at the first council meeting to make them king and queen of all of Erivale. The Elven monarchy has been corrupted and has been eroding with sights of power since then, maybe even long before then."

Soren's face pinched with confusion. "Things seem to be direr than we originally seemed. We hoped that when the resistance took down the monarchy here than the rest of the nations would join our cause. It seems now that they will fight with Ithica due to this manipulation. I will have to inform the resistance immediately."

"How often do you talk to them?"

"Every few days or so. Zora has created speaking stones, a strange name considering there is no speaking involved. I write messages on the stone and it goes to another that it is connected with magic. If there is anything urgent, I tell her immediately, such as the attack on the rebel compound."

"So that's why you were gone for so long."

"Yes, I was informing them all of the attacks and was receiving updates on their evacuation."

"So everyone made it out okay?"

"For the most part yes, there were a few injured, and as you saw prisoners were taken."

"But they made it out okay right?" The face of the Garuda with the hybrid son came to the front of my mind.

"Yes, they were safely extracted during the attack on the palace."

"Thank goodness," I sighed.

"Speaking of that. We are working on a way to get you out of here before the sacrifice ceremony."

"Really?" Ulric, Gerard, and I had yet to come up with a solid plan of escape. Frankly, we were at a loss for how it would happen. The complexities of the coronation would make it very difficult to leave. I was surely to be under heavy surveillance and I would need to stay in the public's eye for most of the night. We didn't know exactly when the sacrifice was happening either, but maybe Soren did; I realized.

"Yes, our original plan was the ambush the palace again during the festivities of your coronation and take you away, of course now that you know everything that might be subject to change. You could help us a lot in this."

"How can I help?"

"You can portal, correct?"

"Sort of yes, it's still not the best."

"After the Ceremony of the Gods you will find it much easier to produce portals and even portals for multiple people. There will be about eight rebels not including myself in disguise during your ceremony. After we reveal ourselves, we will likely engage in combat, an easy escape via your portals would be life-changing. The risk of harm would greatly decrease for all of us."

"I, well, Soren I don't want you to rely on the portals, I don't know if at the moment I can do it. They are small and weak as is, and I have little control over them."

"You have to believe in yourself Amberleigh." He squeezed my hand again. "You have been working hard on your combat and magic and you are far stronger than you realize, but it is time to realize that strength. By joining our cause you can save all of Erivale from the corrupt rule, there is no one else we would rather have for the job."

I let out a strained sigh, not really believing his words, but understanding that I didn't really have any other options. I don't even know if I ever truly said I would join the rebels, but now faced with the idea of leaving this life I had built I knew that it was what I wanted to do. It felt right to fight for a cause I stood for.

"Okay, but please, I beg of you. Have a plan in case my portals don't work that day," I said.

"Of course, we already do. We had to have a way to get you out of there before you had knowledge of the extraction."

"Can I add something to this plan?"

"What is it Amberleigh?"

"I need Ulric and Gerard to come with us. They have known of everything going on for quite some time and they have been helping me try to figure out a way to get out. I can't leave them here."

"Yes, of course. I'm sure Ulric can manage himself and we can have one of our members be sure to grab Gerard and take him with us. I think it may be beneficial to discuss the details of the plan more in-depth with them here. It will not be easy."

"It won't be easy, but it's necessary. This is what we have to do."