Castle of Glass

It's funny, how often you find someone eavesdropping on your conversations in a castle.

I'd meant to console Eurydice, to tell her that I hadn't meant to keep it from her, that I just needed more time... But I ran into Mike, standing just outside my door, eyes wide. We stared at each other, but I had the feeling he wasn't really seeing me.

His gaze flicked away, came into focus like he could see the wall better than he could see me. He smiled, but it was strained and forced. Before I could get a word out, he turned and went back down the stairs that led to my room.

I took a shuddery breath, looked at Brad, who nodded without a word and came to stand outside the door, the silent guard. I gave him a quiet thanks and shut it, knowing I should keep talking to him about the revelation that his mother was the psychic and his father the elf in the dungeons, but I couldn't get myself to think about it.

I turned back to the empty room, hands reaching up to hold my forehead as I felt a wave of emotions run through me. I let out a slow, shaky breath and started to pace.

I always knew that our father would never give her the kingdom. It was too new, in its infancy as its own sovereign nation, a gift from Elizabeth after our father led the rebellion that won back the land. Eurydice was too rash, to quick in her judgement, more likely to get into skirmishes, wars... She was better at the head of an older nation, perhaps the oldest nation, the most respected, the least challenged...

But she'd hoped. She'd been determined to show him that she could lead, and we all knew that she could, but to lead this land would require a steadier hand than the one she ruled with. Her outburst upon hearing my discussion with Brad was proof that she was too easily ruled by emotion, and new nations cannot be ruled by whims.

My pacing didn't stop or slow. My fingers ran through my hair, twisting it, pulling it into a ponytail at the back of my neck before letting go just to do it all over again.

Chester. I cannot marry Chester for the same reason Eurydice cannot be queen. He's too rash, too ruled by his emotions. Even if... even if I weren't to marry one of the others, I wouldn't be marrying Chester.

"Lie..." I mumbled out, then froze.

It was a lie. It had to be a lie, it couldn't be anything but a lie. If Jakobi wasn't going to make Eurydice queen, he wouldn't risk making Chester king. As I pondered this, my resolve grew stronger, and I knew that Eurydice had been given false information.

Finally satisfied with having solved the riddle, my thoughts turned to Brad and his parents. I moved to the door to invite him in to continue our discussion, but he was gone. Rob stood guard opposite my door, and in front of it stood my maid, ready to knock. Her eyes went wide and she ducked her head, holding out to me a small piece of paper.

"A message, your highness. I was to give it to you straight away." I thanked her and took it. The seal was intact and careful scrawl showed my name on the top. I opened it and looked down at the six words that lay there.

Question the abilities of your guards.

My eyebrows scrunched together as I pondered the words, and I looked up slowly, to Rob who stood directly in front of me. "Everything alright Princess?" he asked. I nodded, but I couldn't help but notice the way the air around him shimmered slightly. I blinked and shook my head, and the illusion was gone.

I took a deep breath and glanced back at the note, before moving back into my room and tucking it into one of the books on my shelves. Once I was sure it didn't look out of place, I went back to Rob, debating where I should go first. To Eurydice? To Michael? To Brad?

I started down the stairs, not even aware of where my feet were going. Eurydice would likely be upset if I didn't go to her first. Brad's conversation could wait, but Michael... I paused at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing my forehead. Rob grasped my shoulder gently, comfortingly, and I took a deep breath. As impatient and harsh as Eurydice could be, she would have to wait. I've already put her first today.

"Where's Mike?" I asked Rob. "Take me to him." He nodded briefly and led me away, toward the barracks. He paused when they came into sight, then suddenly veered off the pathway. I glanced at the barracks and followed hesitantly. After a while, I heard the clamor of steel against a dummy, and Michael came into view.

He stopped when he saw Robert. "Aren't you supposed to be..." His gaze flicked to me and he fell quiet, lips closing tightly. I bit my lip briefly before stepping toward him.

"Mike..." He turned away, attacking the dummy once more. "Mike, listen to me." His movements didn't pause. Frustrated, I reached out to him, only to feel a shock when I touched him. My hand withdrew quickly and he turned toward me, eyes wide. The kind of shimmery look Robert had earlier persisted around Michael.

Maybe I hadn't slept enough.

"Are you alright?" he asked quickly, grabbing my hand. I stared at him before looking down at it.

"I'm fine," I whispered. I pulled my hand away to place it on his cheek. "Please, listen to me. It's not true. I'm not going to marry him." I laughed slightly. "I can't marry him." He scowled slightly.

"Why couldn't you? What choice do you have?" I frowned.

"Stop that, stop pouting. My father would never marry me off to Chester. It would jeopardize the nation to leave it in the hands of someone so brash." Mike looked away and I brushed his cheek with the back of my fingers. "And I have every choice," I murmured. "I'd leave this country to rot if it meant marrying Chester." I smiled softly. "We all know Eurydice is madly in love with him." Mike laughed then.

"It's not my place to get upset because of who you do or don't get married to," he said after a while, looking up into my eyes. "I swore to protect you, and who you marry doesn't change my oath." I let my hand fall, and he caught it for a second before letting it fall away. "Although, if it has to be one of us, I would much prefer it to be Robert." He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "He understands that you take charge best."

I glanced at Robert briefly, and he was dutifully not paying attention, standing as far away as he could without being unable to reach me should something occur. "Robert couldn't be king," I said after a moment. I looked at Michael then, saying deliberately, "Whether I take charge or not, a king must lead. We all know who of the knights leads best." His eyes searched mine, but I looked back at Robert. "Rob leads worst."



I brushed past Eurydice's maid and into her chambers, ignoring the sounds of protests the maid was making. I wouldn't let Eurydice's pride prevent me from saying my piece.

She glared daggers at me as I walked up to her, planting my hands on the desk at which she sat, leaning into her space. It was an aggressive stance that would normally be reversed, and it very obviously put her on edge.

"You listen here, Eurydice," I said clearly. "You're my sister, and I love you, but you can be damn foolish sometimes." She opened her mouth to protest but I went on quickly. "No, you're going to listen to me. No more emotional outbursts until I've said my piece." Her mouth closed, but she was still glaring daggers. I ignored her stare and stood back up, arms crossing over my chest. "All these years we've been together, and yet you don't think I can't read you like a book? All these years we've been sisters, all the time we spent trusting each other, and you explode at me for withholding a piece of information you didn't even need!?"

Guilt flashed in her eyes, but disappeared behind her resolve. Just like her to be stubborn, I thought. "Of course you were so enraged to find that not only am I supposed to be getting the kingdom you want so damn bad, I'd be getting the husband you want, that you didn't even think to question your source! We know that she will lie, has lied, to protect her son, and what makes you think anything would change now!?" Her face went blank. "And of course you didn't think that the reason you wouldn't be inheriting this kingdom would be the same reason Jakobi would never pair me up with Chester."

"Sayer..."

"No, I'm not done!" I nearly yelled. "You got so damn angry at me for not telling you that it was Brad that you wouldn't let me explain why!" My hand ran through my hair, grasping it at the base of my neck. "Jakobi wanted to steal him, to abuse him, because he was half elf, because he'd be stronger than the other knights! If Jakobi learned it was Brad, what do you think would happen!? He'd no longer be our guard, he'd be at the front lines of every battle, he'd be watching other elves get slaughtered, he wouldn't be Brad!

"And you think we'd get away easy? That the psychic would? If you'd told the psychic who it was, she would have disappeared with Brad in tow, regardless how he felt about the situation. Do you know how suspicious that would look, the psychic disappearing with one of the knights!? Do you doubt that she wouldn't turn us in to cover her tracks!? We're not below his wrath, Eurydice, don't you think if he was willing to steal a child from its parents to use as a weapon against others he'd be willing to hurt us to get information!? And what about the others, about Chester and Michael and Robert? They'd likely be tortured! Thrown in jail! All because you could never keep quiet on that kind of information!"

I felt deflated, but I hadn't finished, not quite yet. My voice lowered, my energy spent, and I said quietly, "Besides, I wasn't sure when I told you at first. I had to talk to him, had to see what he knew..." I fell quiet, eyes going wide. Brad hadn't known his mother, but he had known his father. He had grown up in the forest with the other elves, at least until he'd arrived in the city... With Michael and the others.

"I'm sorry," I heard Eurydice say. All the fire from earlier was gone from her voice. I looked up at her, blinking a few times. She had genuine remorse in her eyes.

I swallowed and nodded, reaching for her. She stood and hugged me tightly. Such automatic response was a habit we'd formed when we were younger, seeking comfort in each other when we could not find it in others. We were, after all, the only two survivors of the attack on her home town.

My voice was muffled against her shoulder as I said, "Honestly, how could you expect me to be okay with marrying Chester, anyhow? I'd rather run off to Ronnie's kingdom than stay and marry him." She giggled slightly, grip tightening, and I smiled slightly, not bothering to say that I'd never do that to her. She was my sister far more than Jakobi was my father.

We went down to the dining halls to eat, and my thoughts returned to Brad. Brad the Knight. Bradford, son of stars, the elven knight in the human kingdom.