Rage

"Again?!" Envano complained, as a servant informed her of the slaughter of her men. "Why can't people just behave like I want?" She said, taking a deep breath. The servant bowed. "How is the girl?"

"She is awake, and confused as to where she is, Your Majesty."

"Good. I will come and see her." She said, regaining her composure and getting up from her throne.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The servant said as he bowed. Envano ignored him and went upstairs.

"Oh good, you are up." Envano said as she walked into the room. "I was worried that you might have gone back to sleep." She motioned for the servant that had followed her to enter the room. "My name is Envano, though you will call me Your Majesty. What is your name?" She asked the frightened little girl that stood in front of her.

"My name is Solana, Your Majesty." The girl said, trembling.

"It is nice to meet you, Solana. This is Lydia, your human maidservant. She will be the one making sure that you are okay." She said, motioning to the servant that had followed her into the room. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Do you understand why you are here?" She asked, hoping that Lady Caronia had given the little girl the grace of an explanation as to why she was here.

"No, Your Majesty." The girl replied, shaking more violently.

"That is okay, dear." She said, sitting down on the four poster bed that dominated the room. "Come sit." She patted the spot next to her on the bed. The little girl, terrified of the consequences of refusing a queen, sat down where Envano had instructed her. Envano, sensing the girl's terror, wrapped her arm around Solana, who tensed at the act. Sensing her discomfort, Envano removed her arms.

"You were brought here," She started, taking Solana's hand. "Because you are the biological daughter of one of my many siblings. And because of that, and other circumstances, you are the only one qualified to take over my throne when I am gone."

Grace wasn't sure what woke her up, the cold, the sun, or the racket that Rinomve was making as he tried to make them breakfast. Regardless of what it was, she got up and stretched, her limbs sore from the brutal beating that they had taken in last night's lesson.

"Good morning." She greeted as she got up from her sleeping spot.

"Good morning to you too." Rinomve replied. "Sleep well?"

"As well as I could, given the circumstances. Is there anything that I can help with?" She asked, motioning towards the mess that he had created.

"Could you go and get us some water?" He asked, giving her a large pot. Grace took the pot.

"Anything else you want while I am gone?"

"No, thank you." Grace left the encampment in search of a source of water. It didn't take long for her to find a stream, so clear the shallow water almost looked blue. Cautiously she knelt down, letting the pot be completely submerged before she lifted it out of the stream.

Once Grace had left his sight, he leapt over to Falael's slumbering body and shook him awake.

"Wake up, you lazy sack of potatoes!" He complained, as Falael rolled over.

"No!" Falael protested, fighting against Rinomve as he tried to steal his blanket.

"Wake up, or you aren't getting any breakfast." Rinomve said, marching off with the blanket that he had managed to wrestle out of Falael's position.

"Your mean." Falael argued, sitting up and rubbing his face. "Why did you have to wake me up at such an hour?"

"Because breakfast is almost ready, Grace has gone for water, I want to have a chat with you, and you would otherwise need to get up."

"What did you want to chat to me about?" Falael asked as he stretched.

"How long are you going to keep your secret from her?" Rinomve asked, bringing two bowls of oatmeal and wild berries over.

"How do you mean?"

"The case of your identity."

"As long as I can." He finished, taking the bowl Rinomve offered him. "She has enough going on already, I don't want to add more stress to her plate."

Grace leaned back on a tree, processing what she had just heard. What did Rinomve mean when he mentioned Falael having a secret identity? Did it have something to do with her family's death?

She couldn't think about that now, they needed to get moving as soon as possible. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the pot of water that she had collected and brought it over to the camp.

"Here you go, one pot of fresh water." She said as she set it over the campfire.

"Good. There is a bowl of breakfast for you over here." Rinomve said, handing her the other bowl of oatmeal.

"You aren't going to have any?" She asked, surprised.

"I had some earlier." He explained as Grace sat down with her breakfast.