Author's note: The Enigma will be cleared in the next chapter.

Also, good luck!

***

The energy was palpable by the afternoon, flowing from one pensive King of the Summer Realm, to one cackling-her-neck-frequently Queen of the Autumn Realm, swirling around one lost-looking King of the Spring Realm, traveling straight to one gloomy-faced condemned Corresponder, and buzzing like an annoying fly over a helpless girl whose sister was hostage somewhere.

I looked at Doran's empty chair. He had told me an hour ago, before walking out of the palace, that Dylan had found a way to detect sorcerous traces of magic in the snow-capped mountains. Amelia's beautiful smile had flashed in my head.

When I had asked if I could go along, he had said, "It's outside the wards, I'm afraid. I have some soldiers patrolling in the north as well. How about I let you know if and when there is some progress?" I had simply nodded, assured.

Doran had leaned in to kiss some part of my face, preferably my temple, which he very well knew, made me go a bit dizzy. But then, he had cleared his throat, eyes wide, and settled with just an awkward pat on my head, his eyes flickering to Ralph and mine to his father.

I smiled, he'd handle it for me, I knew. But only if Doran would get some rest, I'd feel much better. We will get her out soon one way or the other.

Neo would – would have to – must – bring Amelia out during the Conquest tomorrow. He needed me to win the Throne, didn't he? Neo had covered his tracks well this time, and we were one step back.

Twelve guards had been stationed inside the palace, all armed and covered in plated armors, right down to their boots. The insignia on their armors suggested they were of the House of Aries, Ralph's guards. There were also a few extra Centaurs patrolling outside the palace since the morning. And the dread, instead of loosening had tightened like a thick noose around my neck.

Una had picked up from right where she had left off before I went into the dungeon – "Your skin will prickle. It might feel like an earthquake traveling up your arms, but just for the first few times. Get through it no matter what. This power move comes handy everywhere." She said, placing her now stone-hard arm on the table. "Not everyone can do it."

She had duly asked Lord Orlon's permission before teaching me her – 'Be Boulder' trick, and the kind old Lord had harrumphed but I knew by now, he wasn't as opposed to Earth magic, as he used to be before. The father-son were similar in more than one way!

But other than my fingers, no other part of my arm had turned into stone, a little green moss was all that had surfaced out. It hadn't hurt, instead tickled while shooting out of my skin. And Una, as usual, had called me an idiot!

From over Una's shoulder, my gaze kept flickering to Ralph's rigid frame, while he was seated on a High Chair, around a small round table, near a window to the far corner of the room. Some parchments were fluttering in front of him, while he was bent over them, with a quilled-pen in hand. More than a few times, my eyes caught the title of the book, he was occupied with – Ancient Warfare!

I watched him rub his eyes or lean back, crossing his arms and have a distant shadow on his face while he looked out the window. Should I offer to help? His handwriting was revolting anyways!

"What is Ralph doing?" I asked, to anyone who'd answer.

"King shit." Una said dismissively.

Serena and I glared at her. She perked up, "What? I do Queen shit, too. Just not in someone else's palace."

"The enemy Realms are in quite good hands, I clearly see." Prince Nova clicked his tongue, not looking up from his huge stack of news-articles, which he had been reading like a starved man.

He was trying to adapt to two years' worth of his lost life, and it pained us to watch him try and be casual, while we could all see, how his muscles tensed whenever a slightly off-topic would peek out about his twin. I had caught him staring at the large portrait of Doran and Milan, quite a few times and I felt like I had never known loss like his. He had no family, no true love, no home. No identity.

What would he have done if his friends had abandoned him? If they had not bothered to stand by him? To save him from his own twin brother?

"So, does Her Highness need help with the Enigma?" He asked Una with a sly smile.

"No. Not... yet," Una said, and then raised her voice, "I'll get it before he does."

"Sure." Ralph's deep voice traveled back promptly.

If Amelia hadn't been a hostage somewhere, I would've basked in the feeling of the cocooned safety. But I just couldn't. My mind was not my own. And it didn't help my cause that my cycle had decided to knock on my door, just like the punctual old loud-mouthed landlord of my house in Liberan, who'd show up every month, with frowns deeper than the previous, since Amelia answered the door every single time.

And out of nowhere, it felt as if a large snowstorm had slithered inside the palace, for we all heard a loud squealing noise. "Novaaaaaaa!"

"And here comes the avalanche!" Lord Orlon muttered under his breath, removing his reading glasses and rose up from his seat besides Prince Nova and simply started to walk towards an exit door.

A blue blur of a human rushed inside the courtroom. The air suddenly went cold. Prince Nova rose up abruptly, his chair tumbling behind with the sudden force, hitting hard to the ground. He took two steps ahead, and caught Lady – well, Queen Orella, as she flung her body to his, with a force stronger than a flood's. He held her and lifted her up the floor, while she tightened her arms around his neck.

"Orella!" Prince Nova buried his face into her shoulder, his eyes shut with relief, sadness and a myriad of emotions.

"Nova! I am so sorry." She sobbed unabashed, clinging to him, while he held her. His muscles flexed at her waist, and I saw tears flowing down her pale cheeks.

"I am so sorry, Nova! Two years..." She said punctuating her words with sniffles.

He gently put her down, "You don't have to be sorry. I am alright, and I am so glad that he... that you are alright."

I leaned ahead towards Una and whispered, "Perhaps, we should leave them alone."

Una clicked her tongue, "Naah. They are best friends. Well, it's a sad story. Not much of a secret. Orella has always loved Nova, and he has zero clues about it, or maybe he does but he always saw her as a friend – And she never had the heart to tell him, or break the laws." She lowered her gaze.

"And Milan and Nova, you know..." Una twirled her hair around a finger, "They connected like no one else. It was all forbidden and magical, both were crazy together, at least that's what Nova would tell me after returning to Terraskee, from his frequent trips to the Summer Realm, all the while juggling his training and the affairs of Spring Realm." She sighed.

Serena added, almost with a blush, "But weren't King Nova and Prince Milan breaking the laws, then?"

"Oh, Nova is just as bad as fireling when it comes to breaking the rules. I see now why they're such good friends. The laws are crazy, I know." She added in a whisper, "Now."

And suddenly I felt like leaving these two alone!

"If Ralphy wouldn't have told me, I'd have never found out," Queen Orella was sobbing aloud, her head on his chest again, embracing him, gently this time, while Prince Nova caressed her pearly hair. He had a conflicted face, but he held on to her.

Trying my best to not stare, I suddenly relaxed as I sensed my favorite presence. I turned my head to see Doran walking in through the back entrance. Curious, I watched him place a few more packaged-documents on Ralph's table – as if it was a mere cup of tea – before coming towards where I sat.

But he froze mid-step – my eyes caught Queen Orella's sudden movement, as she let Prince Nova go, as though being hit by a thunderbolt – she side-stepped from him and walked over to... Doran.

"Wow, okay!" Doran raised his hands in surrender, stepping back, with an amused smile.

"Doran! My genius, genius boy! How do I thank ya? You brought him back!" She squealed, and to my pure horror, she raised herself on her toes, placing her palms on his shoulders, and kissed him! On both cheeks!

One. Two. Two times. Two cheeks. Two kisses.

I choked on my bloody grapes.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Serena suppressing a giggle, with a hand on her mouth, and I coaxed my face to stay normal. Doran clutched her shoulders, his tuft of brown hair messy, and eyes smiling. He smirked at her, tilting his head, "Last time we met, you said you'd kill me if I won another game of archery with you. What changed, snowflake?"

"Oh, you can win all our games from now on. I am just happy ya ain't in the Conquest. Then things would have been different." She giggled through her tears, but added in a soft tone, "Great job, Doran. Like seriously. Only you could've done something like this."

Doran laughed, letting her shoulders go, his ears reddening with the compliment she showered, which he of course deserved.

Mayyyybe not the kisses.

My heart drummed in my chest, as I gawked at them. I had no right to feel whatever it was that I was feeling, for they were friends, a tight-knit circle, with all their inside jokes, and a past. And I was an intruder – I moved closer to Serena.

My gaze halted at her beautiful face, a rosy tint on her cheeks – flush with the crying, and her button-nose – red with her sniffles. Her gorgeous blue, low-cut dress shimmered with sequins – the glow of the passing afternoon, bounced off it and made patterns across the floor and the linings of the walls. And when she smiled, two small dimples appeared near her lips. Her eyelashes were long and curved, sprinkled with her tears.

She was perfect... like Doran. A grape got crushed between my fingers.

Queen Orella walked back to Prince Nova, but suddenly halted. Frozen.

"No. Way." She chewed the two words, and turned, this time her eyes landing on me – they widened until they couldn't anymore, "You... you are here! She is here, Ralph!"

I dipped my head at her, coming to my senses, "Your Majesty."

"Tone the drama down, Orella," Ralph finally looked up from his work, leaning back in his chair with a heavy sigh, his already grumpy mood giving way to... exhaustion. "I know Eleni is here! We all do."

"Wow!" She blinked, looking at me, with a slight tilt of her head, as if I had grown thorns on my head. I squirmed in my seat, when her gaze traveled from my long-hair tied with Doran's kerchief, to the hem of my silver gown, that pooled around my legs on the floor. She chewed the inside of her cheeks, as her blue eyes came to rest on my black ones. I twisted Ralph's ring on my finger.

"Orella..." Ralph simply said. Like a warning.

"My lips are shut, of course. But she doesn't look anything like you." She shrugged, and Ralph's eyes widened.

"Correct, she's prettier than Ralph," Doran smiled intensely at her.

I kept a polite smile stuck to my face, because I knew she didn't refer to my prettiness, but to my resemblance to my half-sibling. I should've seen that coming. I did not look like Ralph, like father. With his red eyes and blonde head, he looked like a Fire Elemental, while I looked like Una, an Earth Elemental, black eyes, black hair. Like my mother.

A distant memory gripped me. Amelia, with her golden hair and light blue eyes, had asked me once – 'Eleni, why do we look so different? My friends ask me, what do I say?'

People looked different, yes, but wasn't it mandatory for siblings to resemble each other? I had no answer for her. Still didn't. She didn't know.

I felt dizzy all of a sudden. What kind of sibling-mess was this? Such a horror for the world to bear!

On lieu of Queen Orella's attention-span – the size of a hairsbreadth – she whirled onto her friend again, "Oh, Nova!" she squealed, and her face suddenly turned shades of angry-excitement. "Tell me, do ya want me to freeze Neo's body to death and then throw his corpse in the deepest part of the ocean...or maybe, I'll just freeze him in ice and we take our hammers and bang it all down..."

"Calm down, will you?" Prince Nova chuckled, making her sit, "Now listen, did Neo ever say something odd to you? Anything that you felt strange?"

Coldness gripped me, gripped everyone. I watched the part of the glass table, where she sat, freezing up. Queen Orella had suddenly gone stiff. Her eyes darted away from him. My stomach lurched with a bizarre ominous feeling.

I looked at the others to see whether it was just me who had gotten a strange hunch. And to my relief I saw Ralph and Doran looking at each other – a fire of mutual understanding kindling between them. Some knowledge that others were locked out of. Even Una had her forehead furrowed, finally looking at her. And I didn't want to know.

"I am... just guilty. That I didn't..." She trailed and, wiped her tear-stricken face and looked up at him, "But I am so glad that you're fine, Nova. And here safe and sound."

Safe and sound.

I took in a shaky breath. My sister was not safe and sound. Could I wait for Neo to tell me that he'd let her go, like he had let Serena go, and then take me instead? If only there was a way to locate her, I'd go get her in a heartbeat. He had succeeded in messing up my mind. He'd given me the fear as always.

***

Ralph sidled into the chair next to mine, which Serena had vacated in a mysteriously vague fashion, after Una had.

I gave him a smile, and stopped the swirling of my fingers – the boulder move was extremely difficult, but Una had made it seem so simple. My hands didn't harden with stone, from below my palm. It hurt this time, but I needed to learn to fight. To attack and mainly – to defend – as per Una.

"Are you quite alright?" Ralph asked, his tone like the one he always used with me, ever since we met at the fountain for the first time.

The image of his angry, drunken face, his red eyes, from yesterday still gripped my head from inside like talons of a creature unknown, making me feel stupid. It shouldn't bother me so much!

"Something on your mind?"

"No. No. All good."

Ralph sighed, and put his elbows on the table, leaning forward. This time he spoke, in a somewhat official voice, "Well then, there's something else I have been meaning to talk to you about." My brows knitted.

"You know, who you are, right? You don't need to curtsy and bow and all that royal rubbish. For anyone. Not anymore." He said, voice surprisingly calm.

My words came out frail, "You all are royals."

"And so are you, Eleni," Ralph said, firmness in his voice, "Your father had been the crowned Prince two decades ago. Please tell me, that you know the history of our House. High Queen Brianna – ring any bells for you?"

My body shrank into itself. "I am not a royal." I muttered.

Ralph sighed again, annoyed probably. He hesitated for a while, as if changing his originally planned words, "Okay. Alright. If you think you are not, so be it. But please, no more formalities. You're already such a polite little angel to everyone and even that is unnecessary in my opinion. Besides," he paused to swallow, "I don't like my sister doing all that."

I sucked in a breath. My eyes widened a little. 

He tilted his head sideways, and gently tapped the tip of his index finger on my nose, "Okay?"

I blinked and almost smiled, my eyes stinging. Stop being a baby.

His next words came out shaky, "I... I know you are mad at me, as you should be. I am a horrible person."

I pursed my lips, and shook my head, with a little too much force. Why do you drink so much?

"Oh, Eleni, I... I am sorry—"

A loud commotion outside, interrupted him. It came from the front-yard of the palace. Ralph suddenly alarmed, clutched my shoulder, "Stay here, no matter what. Please."

There were voices coming from outside the palace, and I saw everyone in the room alarmed. Doran and others were allowed to go out, of course – not me. I watched Ralph flick his fingers to the guards stationed around, before walking away.

I rolled my eyes and pushed my chair back. I could still watch. Climbing the staircase closest to the courtroom, I found an arched window with a view of the enormous front yard of the Sagittarian palace. Had someone found me? My heart drummed in my chest aloud as I pushed open the pane halfway, and took a peek. I felt four guards, who had followed me up here with their spears and staffs in hand, standing at a safe distance. At least they weren't stopping me.

Lord Orlon was saying, "...they are just meeting for their discussion, what's wrong with you, Izora?"

I froze. A lady in red stood in the middle of the front-yard, arms crossed and a foot tapping on the ground, her eyes fiery. A red shimmering gown, tightly fitted to her body, and on her shoulders was a thick shawl, pure animal-fur. Her blonde hair was braided in a bun, and a crown perched atop it. She had three of her personal guards close behind her. Ralph's mother.

"Your son isn't even in the Conquest, then why are they all here? I got news about the Autumn Queen going in, Orlon. Don't think you can fool me," she said. Lord Orlon about to retaliate, got interrupted -

"Oh, hello there, Lady Izora, long time no see." The voice sounded like Serena's chirpy one, but I realized it was Queen Orella, smiling wide.

"Why is the Autumn Queen here? I know she is in there. Have you all lost your minds?" Lady Izora said, eyes affixed to the palace door.

"My house, my rules, Milady," Doran's unmistakable sardonic tone answered. But I couldn't see him, for he hadn't climbed down the steps of the foyer. I imagined him, leaning against a pillar and giving her a wide smirk, for she shot glares right where I assumed he stood.

"Orlon, I see, your son has finally crossed all the boundaries, boundaries of the Realms even," she said. Her arms crossed across her chest, she glowered. For a moment, it seemed as though she hated Doran!

"I won't have you barge in here and talk like that about my son to my face," Lord Orlon, put his hands on his hips and glowered back, standing tall in front of her. And a giddy smile left my lips.

"Mother!" Ralph's heavy voice rang out, an embarrassed laugh wheezing out of him, "What are you doing here?"

She looked as if she had been just stabbed in her head, right between her eyes. "Ralph!!!" She gasped. "Y-You are here, too?"

"Of course." I saw Ralph clasp his hands at his back, and clutch them together tighter than any sailor knot. Ready in a defensive stance.

She took three hurried, yet elegant steps towards him, and glared. If she'd take five more, she'd be zapped hard by the Eclipse ward, and I wished she would. The sky was tinted with dark clouds and in the murky sunlight of the pre-evening, her dark eyes glowed. She looked like a twig standing next to Ralph, while he had his broad shoulders squared and chin held high, legs wide. It irked me in an unexplainable way.

"Why didn't you come back to the palace, son, after getting the Enigma?"

Queen Orella piped in, "He took me out for lunch! I was starving. We had a great time. You know, there was this parade at the Gala and we just had to see it... and so should everyone. I have worked so hard with the planning committee..." she blabbered on and I saw Lady Izora's nostrils flaring.

"So, you tell me Orella," she cut her off, gritting her teeth, "Why is that earthling here?"

Not the feud again! Did these people even know why the feud had started? How could something so old still make people hate each other? It had just become a namesake tradition to be upheld, regardless of it being such a useless thorn in everyone's dishes. Dimwits!

"Who's got a stick up their arse around here now?" Una's exasperated voice, boomed.

I slapped my forehead, and so did Queen Orella. Una had entered in the ring and I prayed in my hearts of heart to the Throne of the Four Realms to not let this turn into another 'Una versus the Summer Realmers' verbal duel!

"I knew it! See... Are you all crazy? How could you possibly entertain Earth people here, in a Summer embassy?" She cackled like lightning, looking Una up and down.

"Will you relax, Lady Izora?" Doran walked in, hands in his pockets, head tilted to a side, "Next time when I call my friends over, I'll ask you, alright? In fact, father and I would have invited you to stay for some tea, but you look like you need cold beer." He shrugged, "And we are out."

I sucked in a breath at Doran's words, and a strangled chuckle escaped my lips. No wonder, she hated him!

Lady Izora looked stung, like he had cursed at her. "Friends! You traitor! This is treason." She turned to Lord Orlon and hissed, "This. Is. Treason."

"And who is going to reprimand Doran?" Una asked, taking a step forward, standing close to whom she always – by some hard and fast rule – referred to as fireling. "Your son is the King, remember?"

Had she just stood up for both Doran and Ralph? My jaw dropped and touched the depths of the fire that raged inside the earth.

Lady Izora snapped her head, eyes glowing. "Ralph, son, is she your friend too?"

There was a pregnant silence hanging in the air, and I scoffed – of course, no!

"Yes."

And as he said it, a clear sound of a hard slap echoed around.

I forgot to breathe. My heart stopped. Ralph was standing just the way he had been, hands at the back, legs wide open, back straight... only this time, his face had been flung to the left.

Slapped! Back-handed!

No. No. No.

She had slapped Ralph! In front of everyone!

She had slapped Ralph! In front of everyone!

She had slapped Ralph! In front of everyone!

I ran down the bloody stairs.