Light Eyes; DarK Eyes

She didn’t have long to wait for her father to make it apparent as to why he had called her there. Pretty much, it was placed in front of her face when she walked it. A thin parchment, still curling from its days as a scroll, was the form of the invitation. Leaning back, so that she could actually read it, Aurora discovered that it was basically an appeal to end the war, signed by the heir to the Darric throne. It said that Darria all but faced annihilation, between the faulty government and the ongoing war. It wasn’t even stamped by the king of Darria. The crown prince had sent a letter to them asking them to help him and a few others convince Darria’s leaders that it was pointless to continue to waste lives needlessly. The message practically screamed Aiden’s touch.
The scroll had contained two other messages. One was an invitation, under truce, for Aurora and her father to come to Darria to talk about a potential end to the war. The other was a sealed scroll, tiny in size, addressed to her. She slipped it in her pocket.
“What do you say to this, Aurora?” Her father asked; when she had finished reading the papers. “Is this a trap, do you think, or can we trust the heir to their throne?” Translated, that meant, ‘Did you hear about this from Aiden before he left? Is the heir likely to follow through with his promise?’ She nodded.
“I think we can trust this Prince Mathias. It’s the king we need to worry about. We should go, but remain on our guard. If all else fails, we can rely on Mathias and Aiden to warn us if the ax is about to fall.” She said, wondering what kind of position Aiden was in right now, knowing all he did about the Celestine military.
“Alright. We will leave before the week is out, with twenty men. Dismissed, Aurora.” He said with a smile, knowing how eager she was to get to her room, so that she could read the little scroll with her name on it. She flashed him a smile back, before running to her room.
She sliced of the wax seal, and let it roll open. It looked like more than one person had written it. At the top, Prince Mathias’s neat writing could be read. Further down, a hurried message had been scrawled, likely by Aiden’s hand. There was no preamble to the note—merely a warning.

Princess—you will not be able to count on Aiden’s help for your mission here, if you come. Our king; his father, he may have told you; is trying to extract information from him, about your military. It is all I can do to warn you not to even mention his name, or give any mention that you ever saw him. There is another reason I asked you to come to Darria. This is also information you must tell no one, except your king. I have made it possible for him to escape on the night of the new moon, nine days away. Would you be willing to help him leave our country? I will explain the circumstances more completely when we see you, if we see you. –Mathias

Below that, almost indecipherable, as though written in low light by someone who hadn’t had enough time to write what he wanted to say, nor the energy to hold the pen well, was:

Be careful, Aurora.

She reread the paper three times, and the bottom half another four times after that. Carefully, she removed the bottom half, tucking it in her pocket, before walking back to her father’s study with the top half.
She knocked, and received permission to enter. She handed him the note, letting him read it. He whistled through his teeth when he was done.
“They’re really taking a long shot. What if we had decided not to come?” He wondered aloud. Aurora sent a glance at him, inquiring just what he meant by that. Celadon read it again, his eyes lingering on one sentence.
“What does he mean; your Aiden was their king’s son?” The king had taken to calling Aiden hers full-time now, despite the fact that he was no longer under her custody, having recognized the obsidian for what it was and what it meant. That didn’t mean he was particularly pleased about it.
“Aiden is King Ohrir’s only child.”
Celadon raised an eyebrow. “And he’s not the heir, because…?”
“He’s an illegitimate child, Father.” He nodded in understanding. Legitimacy was very important in times of war.