"The Queen requests your audience," an elf says to me a few hours later when I'm accosted in one of the local shops. My stomach drops to my shoes.

She is one of the Queen's guard; I'm getting better at deciphering the different uniforms. The Mounted Guard have the ponytail helmets and the Queen's Guard are the ones with the pointy hats. They mark their rank with the purple accents. Purple boots are low-ranking and purple hats are the highest. This woman has a purple belt, so she's pretty far up there.

The guards don't touch me but I am flanked on both sides. All eyes turn toward me as we walk down the street. I already get stared at, but now I'm putting on a show. I can hear the spectators' barely disguised whispers but I can't understand what they're saying.

What have I done now? I'm allowed to have a few hours off.

Then the answer comes to me and I cringe from the inside out; I was mean to the Princess. What was I thinking? That's probably a capital offense. Does my diplomatic immunity work for hurting the Princess's feelings?

It doesn't matter; her Royal Stick-ness is going to punish me anyway. I wish she would just admit that she doesn't like me. I think she has something against humans, but she's nice to Kyrbast, so I don't know.

Ekecheiria makes me wait outside in the chamber that leads to the throne room. I watch elves slink in, shaking and sweating, and emerge shakier and sweatier. Others saunter in with confidence and bravado and bounce out happy and laughing.

I should be having my lesson with Kyrbast now. I'm glad to be missing it. The waiting is not giving her an advantage; I get to take that nap I wanted. I lean my head against the wall and close my eyes. The nice thing about being tired all the time is that I can sleep anywhere.

It's well past my bedtime when a guard wakes me from my nap. It's finally my turn. I'm over being nervous. I'm tired and my back hurts. I just want to get this over with so I can go to my room and get some good sleep.

I'm like a salmon fighting my way upstream as a crush of elves rush to leave the throne room just as I enter. If she's emptying the chamber this is going to be bad. When the doors slam closed it's just me, her, and Cypus Turehart, who never leaves her side.

I don't know how she can breathe fire and give me an icy stare at the same time, but Ekecheiria has perfected the look. She's definitely angry. "What did you say to Princess Elaeria?" she grinds out through clenched teeth.

"Nothing, really. She asked me about Dathid and I told her I wasn't comfortable gossiping about him."

The Queen snorts with such anger I'm surprised flames don't jump out of her nose. What little confidence I had vanishes. My feet roll to their sides and my hands clench together.

"Liar!" she snaps.

My brows furrow. I don't like that word, especially when I'm telling the truth. This conversation is so radically different than what I was expecting, it's like I've been slapped.

"Why is Princess Elaeria going to that swamp?" she hisses.

"What swamp? I never told her about a swamp." I'm mumbling, but she hears me.

"That wasteland filled with those horrid flying insects."

"Swamp? Insects? I never told her about anything like that." I need to stop talking to my feet. I'm being accused of something I didn't do. I need to defend myself.

"Manahata, you fool! You sent her alone to be murdered by those barbarians."

"Ohhh," I sigh. I've shown too much relief in my reaction because Ekecheiria jumps forward in her seat like she's going to pounce on me. "They're not going to hurt her," I say quickly. "She's Dathid's wife. They're not like that."

"You're an expert on faeries, now, is that it? Lifetimes of war, all over because the Lost Knight deems it safe. Well, as you can see, I'm much relieved. Thank you, Agatha, you have alleviated my worries," she says in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

My confidence slides down my body on rivulets of sweat. I don't know faeries well at all. I barely know Dathid. Would they kill the Princess?

My face must be betraying me because the Queen turns to Turehart and laughs. "Oh look, Cypus, she can think. And here we thought humans weren't capable of that." She stands and waits for me to look at her. When I do, she glares down her nose at me. "Your safety depends on those insects. You'd better be right."

I'm hypnotized and too frightened to turn away.

"Leave!"

With the spell broken I run out of her chambers and don't stop until I'm in the safety of my room.

Albína's not here, so I let Lenox in and change into my nightclothes.

"What did you say to Princess Elaeria?" Albína asks when she enters.

I groan. "Does everyone know about that?"

"Yes, everything here was all bugshoes and teacups,"

"'Bugshoes and teacups?'"

"...It doesn't translate well, but it's an expression meaning everyone was running around and worked up. Organized chaos, I suppose."

"Why?"

"Because she packed her bags, jumped on a unicorn, and left."

"By herself!" I exclaim. That sounds dangerous, not to mention reckless.

"Well, she had the Royal Guard with her."

"I didn't mean for her to leave. It's just that everyone was so mean to Dathid. I thought she might have an easier time in Manahata than he had here."

Albína's face hardens with a mix of anger and worry. I forgot she was an elf and that she adores the royal family. Her face softens quickly so I hope that means she's not too offended. "It is difficult seeing our little princess with that..." She stops herself and clears her throat. "I apologize. The war is over. It's peacetime. We all need to live in harmony."

She's talking to herself, so I close the curtains and hop into bed. There are certain subjects Albína and I shouldn't discuss.

"The Princess married a faerie," she says with a sigh. "It was a great sacrifice and we need to support her. You say that her husband is a fine man and I will believe you. She will be well protected. Hopefully, your advice was sound." She stares at me with a sideways glance while holding her breath.

I'm holding my breath too. "I didn't mean to start an international incident. When I said what I said to the Princess, I just wanted to eat dinner."

"Faeries are violent creatures."

Dathid's warning about how I wouldn't be safe in Manahata rings in my ears. If a human wouldn't be safe, how could an elf survive? What if they take her prisoner? Or what if she falls out of a tree? Or King Ohad's pet dragon eats her?

Thoughts of King Ohad make my breath catch. He does not like elves. I might have really put Elaeria in danger.

"I'm sorry, Albína. I honestly didn't believe she would take me so seriously."

She sighs and tucks me in. "The Queen has revoked your free time."

"That's probably for the best."