Realization and Consternation

"Why are you doomed?" Silver wanted to know. He glanced toward Rose. "What did he do to you?" he asked fiercely.

The princess shrugged. "I assume he is referring to when he cornered me in the bedroom to..."

"You did what?!" Silver raged. The lightning within his eyes seem to shoot invisibly at the young knight, filling Ethyn with terror.

"It's not like it sounds! Are you trying to get me killed?!" Ethyn asked Rose. He stood quickly and raised his chair like he was going to have to fend off a wild beast.

The princess placed her hand on the Guardian to keep him from standing. "Please, Sean, he was only trying to get back the necklace which he assumed I took. Nothing improper happened with him this time."

"This time!?" Silver stood angrily, knocking back his chair. He took an ominous step toward the young man.

"You ARE trying to get me killed!" Ethyn lamented. "I'm sorry for calling you a thief, truly!" He looked at Silver. "I don't know what she means by this time, but I have never did anything improper to this woman! We've never even met before!"

"That's not exactly true, Sir Samberg." Rose said formally. The princess decided it was time. In truth, she felt slightly bad for the knight who was dangling on the end of a hook because of her words. However, revealing herself was not necessarily going to fix the situation.

Ethyn pulled his eyes from the man who looked ready to attack to the mysterious female. He hadn't told her that he was Sir Samberg. The only people who called him that so far were at the palace. Silver had been to the palace recently, so perhaps he had seen this woman there.

Now that he thought about it, she did have the accent of someone who was high-born. While Ethyn could fake the accent thanks to his father, it seemed natural for the lady before him.

More than that, her cadence was oddly familiar. The slight disdain towards him in her voice was something he had only experienced from one female other than Sage. His blood ran cold.

"No, no no no no no...." Ethyn stuttered. "Please, no!"

Rose ran the fingers of her right hand across the edge of her hood, revealing her long blonde locks of hair. She released the clasp of her cloak and allowed the fabric to fall on the back of the chair.

Then she pulled the scarf from her face and allowed both men to see her amused grin. Her pale cheeks were slightly flushed, and her blue eyes started at him somewhat apologetically. "I should have told you sooner, I know..."

The knight immediately recognized the porcelain face. He had committed it to memory the first time he saw her, after all.

'Idiot! How did you not see it before?' If not for the ideas placed in his head by Lily and Katherine and the strange circumstance under which he had found Rose, Ethyn would have known her right away. 'The Fates are against me!'

"Y-your sister is the princess?!" Ethyn leaned on the wall to steady himself. In all of his nightmares of seeing Rose again, this was far worse. He was too stunned to even bow or address the woman properly. He just stared blankly, like a deer who caught sight of a hunter.

Rose pursed her red lips slightly. "Adopted Princess. But yes, Sir Samberg, you are correct."

Ethyn wished he could crawl in a hole and die. Fortunately the attention was taken from him as Silver noticed something.

"Why do you have a cloth draped across your shoulder? Is that a sling?" The Guardian returned to the table even quicker than he left. Silver's chair was returned to its place though the princess had barely seen her brother move.

"Do you always notice injuries belatedly?" Rose looked down at her left arm.

The limb had come out of its binding when she fell through the front door and with everything that happened afterward, she had forgotten to place it back in the sling. While it hurt and was slightly sore, its discomfort was minimal compared to what it had been.

"I broke it last night falling off a horse." The princess explained briefly.

"You what?" Silver tenderly took her arm and examined it.

"The bone was nearly sticking out." Rose pointed to where the bulge had been. "But an old woman found me in the forest and put me back together again."

"An old woman? What did she look like?" The Guardian ran his fingers carefully along her arm, testing its sensitivity.

Silver had had more than one broken bone both from being ill treated and from different misadventures over the years. Even with his Guardian abilities, her arm should not have healed so quickly. Rose had winced under the pressure of his touch, but only slightly. Either she had exaggerated her claim or something miraculous had occurred.

Rose hummed softly. "She seemed old as the world, yet she was stronger than me. Her face had more cracks than a shattered pot, and her eyes were not a color I have ever seen. Actually I would say they were..."

"Colorless?" Silver finished her thought. "Did she happen to say her name was Hanna?"

"Yes! How did you know?" Rose was surprised.

"I will have to thank that Fate when she decides to show her face again," the Guardian chuckled. He leaned back in his chair as he watched Rose's eyes grow wide.

"Did you say a Fate?! I thought they were just a myth."

"No, they are not a myth or else I would not be here." The Guardian tapped his chin pensively as he looked at the woman's clothes. "Hm, I don't suppose Hanna gave you that dress as well. I thought it looked familiar."

Silver recalled having seen another lithe young woman running around in the same frock a few years before. It seemed like a lifetime ago and yet also only like yesterday.

"She did. You mean you know who it belongs to? Hannah said it was a friend of hers." Rose was suddenly interested.

"If I am correct, it belongs to a fellow Guardian."

"There are more Guardians than you?" Rose leaned forward, her childish innocence taking over as she looked adoringly at her elder brother. The man's heart melted.

"I know of at least one other, but we are getting sidetracked. How did you fall off your horse? And why did Hanna help you instead of your escort?" Despite wanting to let Rose ask all of her questions, Silver had far too many of his own. She was wearing a dress that was not her own and had broken her arm in the night. His curiosity was often too big for his own good.

"My escort? Well..." Rose's eyes darted away. Where should she begin?

"Please don't tell me you came alone. It's dangerous out there!" Silver balled his fists. Surely she knew not to go out by herself!

"Well...I didn't intend to go by myself, but then I slept late and then when I finally caught up to Cole and Philip, we were attacked. One of the bandits grabbed me and carried me away. I fell off Philip's horse to escape and then I was alone and afraid. The bandit tried to kill me, but I remembered the special words and was able to get away. I got lost in the forest and oh!" Rose choked on her words. "Sean...my escort, they are dead!"

Tears ran down the woman's face, and Silver could not help but lean forward to embrace her. "You are safe here," he whispered. His head turned slightly toward the wall. "Ethyn, would you give us some privacy?"

It turned out the request was unnecessary, for the man was nowhere in sight. The knight had slipped away the moment Silver's back was turned.