The door opened, revealing a small woman with tightly braided hair. She paused as she looked over Reshi, her eyebrows raising. Then she turned to look up at Alrick. “Sir Alrick, is this important? The healers just left and she’s resting right now.”

  “This is Sir Reshi, Lady Daniella’s father. Queen Mirabel herself asked me to bring him here to see his daughter.” Alrick said.

  Dani peeled her eyes open when she heard Reshi’s name, staring up at the false night sky. Had she heard that right? Reshi was here? She looked over to the door, and felt a flood of relief wash over her. It was Reshi! His tattoos making the lines in his face seem all the darker, his hunting knife in plain view on his belt. She started to pull herself up in the bed, the pain not quite as bad as it had been yesterday. “Let him in.”

  Yara looked back at her with a frown of disapproval, then hurried to her side, helping her sit up in the bed. “But you were resting!” Still, she helped Dani pile the pillows up to give her something to rest against, fussing like a mother hen.

  “I’ll rest more later. The healers wanted me to drink that tea anyways.” It was supposed to help the healing process and soothe away any nightmares, but if it was the same as yesterday it tasted like boiled grass. At least today they had said it was okay to put honey in it.

  Reshi moved across the room slowly, looking around at the high ceiling with it’s tiny glowstones, the thick green carpet that covered most of the polished wood floor, and the elegantly carved fireplace whose chimney looked like a tree trunk. “Can ya leave us alone fer a bit?” He looked at Yara with one of his usual frowns “I want ta talk ta ‘er.”

  “Go ahead Yara, can you bring us some food from the kitchen? I think I lost what I had eaten earlier while they were healing me.” She had thought that healing would feel relaxing, that the pain would fade away immediately. But apparently when your body had been overloaded with magic that wasn’t the case. She had lost her supper with the last round of healing, and had just gotten cleaned up before Reshi arrived.

  Yara frowned, glancing at Reshi, then back to Dani, dipping into a curtsy. “Of course M’lady. I’ll be back shortly, and the guard will be just outside if you need anything.” She stared at Reshi, the words taking on a tone of warning. Then she spun on her heel and headed out the door, her movements practically screaming reluctance.

  Dani smiled and gave her head a little shake as the door closed. “She’s protective. Reshi, is everyone okay?”

  That was what she really needed to know. If those people had gotten ahold of any of them... her stomach churned, making her doubt her decision to ask for food. But it had been the best way to get Yara out of the room for a bit, and she really was a bit hungry.

  Reshi sat down on the edge of the bed, looking over the pink flesh that marked where she had been cut again and again. The bruises and burn had mostly faded away already, although she could still feel where they had been. It was a deep ache that went down to her bones, and the healers had said it would linger for a few more days yet. But that was one of the things their tea was supposed to help with. They were hesitant to use too much magic on her until what had been pumped into it faded completely.

  She swore she still had a bit of a golden glow in the darkness.

  “Everyone’s fine.” Reshi finally spoke, reaching out to brush a lock of hair away from her face. “Ya don’t need ta worry ‘bout them. We went ta stay with Alodia soon as those men took ya.” His frown deepened, and he lowered his eyes. “I shoulda come after ya right away.”

  Dani’s eyes widened a little at the soft apology in his voice. Reshi was not a soft man, he never had been! She thought about the men that had taken her, and shook her head. “No, they would have killed you. I’m just glad everyone’s safe.”

  “I ain’t a weak ol’ man.” Reshi growled, straightening up to glare at her. “I shoulda come after ya. Or we shoulda left the city sooner. But ain’t much can be done ‘bout that now. How did ya get here of all places? Was it the nobles that took ya?”

  He glanced to the door, a hand drifting to his hunting knife, gripping it by the hilt. Dani reached over, resting a hand over his. Shit, that was just what she needed, Reshi going on a revenge spree in the palace.

  “Not these nobles. It was a nobleman, but not from the palace I think.” She frowned, staring off into space as the memory of the man formed in her head. The cruel smile, the pleasure at her pain, the dark stone room. She shook her head, her heart starting to race. “I know I’ve seen him somewhere though.”

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  “Do ya remember where? Or when? Tell me what he looked like.” Reshi leaned forward, his gaze intent, anger burning in his eyes. “Did he say anything? Why he was after ya?”

  Dani shook her head, gripping his hand a bit tighter. “He was heavier set, brown hair, tan skin, a local. I’d recognize him if I saw him again. He was definitely a noble, had that air about him, and he made me- he kept ‘urtin’ me ‘til I said I was a street rat, an’ agreed ta do what he said.” Her vision swam as tears formed, and she closed her eyes tightly. Damnit, she didn’t want to cry!

  Reshi pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her. She could count on one hand the times he had hugged her, and the simple gesture made the tears that much harder to hold back. Her shoulders shook in a sob. “I shoulda been stronger!”

  “Hush now lass, yer plenty strong.” Reshi awkwardly patted her back, his own voice gruff. “Ain’t no shame in wantin’ the ‘urting ta stop. We’re gonna find ‘im an’ make ‘im pay. Don’t ya worry.”

  Dani shook her head, pulling away to look Reshi in the eyes. “I don’t know who he was! I know I’ve seen ‘im before but I ain’t sure where, or when. An’ I don’t think I could get back ta wherever he had me taken. If he’d even be there! An’ they threatened ta hurt my family! Yer my family Reshi, you an’ Therija, Azra an’ Raycor, what if they come after ya?”

  “Well, we just won’t let ‘im get near us. Right now the others are all in the palace too. An’ Alodia ‘as her people workin’ on it, including Gull.” Reshi smirked, sitting up straight. “We’ll find ‘im, an’ keep all of ya safe. But ya gotta know the whole truth of things.” His smile faded, and he fished an old handkerchief out of his pocket, holding it out to her.

  “The whole truth of things? What do you mean?” Dani took the handkerchief, using it to wipe off her face and dry her tears. Her hands still shook, but she could at least stop crying.

  Mostly.

  Reshi glanced towards the door, listening for a moment before turning back to her. “Do ya remember when I found ya?”

  He had mentioned something about that day before she had been taken, why was he bringing it up now? Her forehead wrinkled as she thought back to that day, what little she could remember of it. “Not much. I remember the screaming, and fire. And I remember someone telling me to run and not look back. But Reshi, that was years ago, what does that have to do with anything now?”

  Reshi nodded, his frown returning in full force. “About what I expected then. Ya were so little.... Kept cryin’ fer yer momma.” He rested his elbows on his knees, staring off into the distant past. “I had ta give ya some drink ta quiet ya down, else they would ‘ave found us. I still ain’t even sure who attacked the caravan ya were in, but I know where the caravan was comin’ from.”

  Dani straightened slightly, clutching the handkerchief. He knew where it was coming from? Wait, it had been traveling the Trade Road, so there were limited places it could have come from. Either the capital, Aurum, or Hesiodos. Where it had come from beyond that was a mystery, but the Trade Road only went two ways. “Where do you think it was coming from?”

  “Hesiodos. It was travelin’ towards the capital, an’ from what I saw of it, it weren’t a normal trade caravan. They was flyin’ the colors of the Hesiodos clan. That one that wants ta unite all of the clans into one big country.” Reshi looked up at her, giving her a moment to think over the implications. Not that it did her much good, she just stared at him blankly.

  “What does that have to do with anything? So they were a Hesiodos caravan, so what?”

  Reshi sighed and wiped a hand across his face. “Yer gonna get yerself killed if ya don’t start thinkin’. It was a Hesiodos clan caravan, not just one out of Hesiodos. Ya weren’t dressed like some commoner, an’ shortly after that word came through that their High Queen an’ one of their princesses were killed. Ya startin’ to see it now?”

  What the hell was he talking about? She frowned, forgetting her nightmare experiences for now in favor of this puzzle. Why couldn’t Reshi just come out and say what he wanted to? He had to dance around it and talk about some queen and a princess!

  Wait a minute.

  A princess, and she wasn’t dressed like a commoner. She looked at him like he had lost his mind. “Reshi, tell me you aren’t thinking that I’m some kind of- of princess!”

  “There’s the brains I raised ya with. I’m sayin’ exactly that. They never found the princess's body. Wish I had kept some of the jewelry ya wore but needed that ta get ya to the city an’ raise ya. Alodia helped there, she knew who ta take the more unique stuff to ta break it down.”

  “You’ve lost your mind.” Dani said bluntly, and slumped back into the pillows. “Reshi, it’s probably just some stupid coincidence that their caravan was attacked too. I’m very much not princess material.”

  “Ain’t no difference between a princess an’ a thief ‘cept their profession. I’ll admit I could be wrong, but ain’t likely. The timing matches up, the details, an’ the way ya looked when I found ya.” Reshi jabbed a finger at her. “I believe yer their lost princess, an’ that someone high up had that caravan attacked. I just don’t know if it was Cresenvasht, Hesiodos, or some other party I don’t know about yet.”

  “Even if we pretend there was any way possible for my to be this princess, which I doubt, why does this matter now? Everyone thinks this princess is dead, there’s no reason for them to think otherwise.”

  “Except that yer prince left weeks ago ta visit Hesiodos. An’ yer conveniently married to him, which that princess was s’posed ta be years ago.” He reached over and tapped her bracelet. She looked down at it, the amber gemstone glowing faintly in the dim light of her room. “Pretty convenient, ain’t it?”

  Pretty convenient was right. Did Wulfram think that she was this lost princess? Was that why he had used the crown to trap her? Why he had invited her to stay in the palace? What was his game?