The girls were slightly out of breath when they got to City Hall. Thankfully, since they called Hattie and Morgan in advance, they were allowed up the staircase to the upper levels.

  They found Hattie and Morgan, standing by one of the bannisters, in deep discussion that they stopped once they saw the three girls.

  “Rowena? What’s going on? What’s so urgent?” Hattie asked.

  For a moment, Rowena felt as if she couldn’t breathe, the old spell that had once choked her wrapping around her neck and strangling the truth from her lips. Warm hands, pressed against her back, her friends, encouraging her to speak. Their touch pried away the hesitation and fear.

  “I need to tell you what I saw last night,” she said.

  Morgan blinked, smiling brightly. “Oh, excellent.”

  Hattie frowned. “Are you sure, Rowena? You don’t have to—”

  “I have to. Where are Queen Ginger and the pret—claimant?” Rowena asked.

  Morgan’s smile faded, her eyes narrowing on Rowena. “They haven’t met yet. Ginger and Jerome are getting ready, though. What’s going on?”

  “You need to stop them. I saw the Lost Princess on the night she was sold and the night the contract was signed. I found that the contract that was created was supposed to be one to take her hostage, but because Benjamin realized that Frances might be able to break it, they changed the plan,” said Rowena.

  Morgan pursed her lips. “That explains—”

  Rowena cut over her mentor, hoping she didn’t sound too harsh. “Let me finish. I’m sorry, there’s more. And… you’re not going to like it. Forgive me.”

  Hattie leaned down. “Rowena? What’s going on—”

  “Hattie, let Rowena talk. This is clearly hard enough for her as it is. Though I suspect you told Jess and Gwen already?” Morgan asked.

  Nodding, Rowena took one final breath and faced her two mentors. “Yes. I also found out the Lost Princess had magic. That she had gone blind in her left eye, and that the informant that assisted in the kidnapping of the princess had told the mages that King Martin and Ginger had named the princess Forowena, but in private they called her Rowena.”

  Her mentors had two very different reactions as they pieced it together.

  Morgan grabbed onto the bannister with both hands steady herself, her fingers digging into the wood. Whether from anger, or from shock, Rowena couldn’t tell. Her eyes were wide and sparks of violet magic popped from her hair.

  Meanwhile, Hattie covered her open mouth with one hand, whilst she squeezed Morgan’s shoulder. She was doing her best to comfort her, even as wrestled with the revelation.

  “But that means—Wait, Rowena are you saying—You…” Hattie’s voice trailed off.

  Rowena nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

  Letting go of Morgan, Hattie gently squeezed Rowena’s shoulders. “Oh Gods. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

  “We’re the ones who should be sorry. We didn’t realize,” Morgan stammered.

  Rowena blinked back tears, doing her best to clear her eyes with shaking hands. “Wait, you believe me?”

  “You’ve never lied about your visions and it makes too much sense. After all, why hasn’t anybody found you now if the contract would have had your name written out,” said Hattie.

  Morgan suddenly stiffened. “Which that means that the Forowena going to meet Ginger is—”

  “An imposter,” said Jess.

  “Rowena, are you armed? Jess? Gwen?” The girls nodded. Morgan, closed her eyes briefly, shook her head. As she straightened and stood up again, her golden eyes were hard. “Good. Follow Hattie. I’m ordering additional guards to the City Hall.”

  “There’s another thing,” said Rowena. “Benjamin is the portly man. That’s how they faked the contract. He rewrote it probably from memory.”

  Hattie’s was drained of color. “He—what?”

  Morgan’s however warped into a rictus of fury. “Shit! Follow Hattie! I’ll be right behind you. Go!”

  The half-troll took off running, the trio of girls running after her as Morgan started yelling into her hand-mirror.

  “Dad, it’s Morgan. Critical alert on city hall! Why? The princess is a fake. She’s being accompanied by one of the mages who kidnapped her! I’ll explain later. I need to save Queen Ginger!”

  Feet pounding on the tiled floors, Rowena checked her gear again, patting herself down as well as her shoulder-bag. Protective jerkin, dagger, oh—her crown. She felt the circlet underneath the leather. Before she could decide on what to do with it, however, they were at the door to the Ceremonial Hall, where one of the ladies-in-waiting and another guard stood watch.

  “Princess Morgan and Mage Hattie to see Queen Ginger immediately,” Hattie declared, slowing to a stride.

  Alaya, the lady-in-waiting, frowned. “Miss this is a crucial meeting. The queen is not to be interrupted.”

  Rowena swallowed and before the guard or Alaya could stop her. She slipped by them and opened the door a crack.

  “Jerome! It’s Rowena! We need to come in, now!”

  The guard stammered. “What are you—”

  “Alaya, let them in!” Jerome yelled.

  Rowena let herself into the room, Morgan and Hattie following after her with Gwen and Jess.

  Completed only a few years ago, Athelda-Aoun’s Ceremonial Hall was ostentatious and yet understated. A number of high-backed chairs sat on a dais at the hall’s rear. Above the chairs, a long tapestry stretched across from wall to wall, depicting the history of the city, from its original founding by the Goblin Empire, to its resurrection by the refugees led by Frances and Timur.

  The sides of the long hall featured chairs grouped in raised boxes for dignitaries or audience members. These boxes had wooden panelling, many of which were blank, but a number were engraved to commemorate stories and heroes from the city’s recent history. Behind these boxes were row upon row of weapons. Columns of pikes, muskets forming inverted V’s, daggers in semi-circles and rings of rapiers and swords, formed frighteningly beautiful displays lit by the crystal chandeliers that lit the great hall.

  Rowena had arrived in the middle of the hall, nearer to the dais. Queen Ginger was standing up from her seat, whilst Jerome was already standing. Four guards flanked the pair, whilst the party of ten merchants were standing on the embroidered carpet just in front of the dais.

  “Jerome? What is the meaning of this?” Ginger asked, walking to her son, her dark red silk dress dragging slightly on the carpet. Rowena noted that even though she was dressed elegantly, she still bore a scabbarded sword and a pistol on a belt.

  “Mom, this is important. Trust me,” said Jerome.

  Rowena couldn’t look at her mother. Instead, she watched Forlana and Benjamin, who were glancing at one another, their eyes wide, arms crossed. They were keeping quite still.

  “We’ve just received information that Miss Lania is not the Lost Princess,” said Hattie, her eyes drifting to Benjamin.

  “What? Are you accusing us of lying?” demanded one of the ‘merchants.’

  “Quiet please!” immediately the party was silent as Ginger turned to the new arrivals, her brown eyes narrowed. “Morgan, Hattie. I trust you both, but you must inform me how you came across this?”

  Hattie took a breath. “We will tell you, and we will tell you how we knew about the ambush, but first, we need to arrest the man who presented us with that contract. We know why it fit the one that would have been made for the Lost Princess.”

  Morgan stalked forward, putting one foot on the dais, she drew Lightbreaker and pointed her wand at Benjamin.

  “Benjamin, take off that ridiculous beard of yours before I tear it off myself.”

  Benjamin’s mouth fell open, his hands falling to his side.

  Yet as Rowena watched the group, she could see them tense up. They braced themselves, some members even crouching slightly.

  ‘Lania,’ or Forlana, sighed as the rest of Ginger’s Royal Guards tensed or drew their weapons. “Well, we got in close enough.”

  From her crossed arms, Forlana drew a wand. As she cried a Word of Power and fired a ruby-red fireball, Morgan moved first to throw up a shield between themselves and the imposters. The fireball smashed into the violet barrier with a puff as the ‘merchants’ drew pistols, daggers and shortswords from their clothing. The polished oak doors at the entrance of the hall slammed open as more intruders charged in with longswords and muskets.

  “Hattie!” Morgan cried out.

  “I got it! Ginger, get out of here!” Hattie screamed, adding her magic to the barrier.

  “This way!” Rowena cried out gesturing to the door she’d entered in, Tristelle in hand.

  “Jerome!” Ginger grabbed her son and the party, along with the guards, ran through the door. The crack of muskets and singing of mages filling their ears as they raced down the hall.

  “We need to get to the safe room!” the queen snapped, drawing her sword and pistol as they ran down the hall.

  “Where?” Jess asked.

  A feathery form flew up and blocked the party off. Gwen, her eyes wide, spread her wings. “Wait, Your Majesty! Why weren’t the visitors searched?”

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  Ginger opened her mouth, frowned and turned to one of the guards, an older woman bearing a sword. “Helen? Why weren’t they searched?”

  Helen frowned. “But they were! Someone told me they were—” the guard’s eyes widened. “Shit, we’ve been compromised. I don’t remember who told me. I know it was someone I trusted but I don’t remember.”

  “How could you not remember?” Jerome cried out, almost shrill.

  “I’m sorry, Your Highness. We’ve been on edge and on double-shifts since the ambush. I slipped up,” stammered Helen.

  Ginger grimaced. “The safe room might not be safe any longer. We need to go somewhere else. Somewhere protected and preferably fortified.”

  Rowena blinked. “Your Majesty, why don’t we go to the Lady Sara Wing?”

  “Rowena, you’re a genius!” Gwen exclaimed.

  “It’s perfect. It’s fortified, it’s got guards from Alavaria and Erisdale. It even has a perimeter wall,” said Helen.

  “Then let’s go,” said Ginger, nodding at Helen.

  With Helen leading the way, the queen, the children, the guards and Alaya jogged through the city hall, through the empty public space and towards the the Lady Sara Wing. As they exited the building and ran down the somehow empty street, they could hear a horn blaring throughout the city, followed by an announcement.

  “Alert, City-Wide Lockdown. Shelter in place. This is not a drill. Alert, City-Wide Lockdown, Shelter in place! Lightning Battalion to wartime readiness! Case Red!”

  “Case red?” Rowena whispered.

  “Assassination attempt in progress, locate and protect critical personnel. Someone raised the alarm, that’s good. We won’t have civilians in the way,” Ginger said, through gasping breaths. Pausing for a moment, she turned to Rowena. “My dear, can you cut my dress short, I can’t run in this thing.”

  “Of course,” raising Tristelle, Rowena uttered a spell and cut the dress short. She heard Jess and Gwen wince as the queen kicked away the fine silk, but the now knee-length dress allowed the queen to resume jogging. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ginger wore fine leather boots underneath her dress.

  The deserted streets continued even as the group jogged towards the compound, the guards eyes searching the skies and streets as they raced past every intersection. From where she was beside the queen, Rowena turned to check on Jerome, who was bringing up the rear with Alaya and two guards.

  Jerome waved at her. “I’m fine!” he wheezed.

  “I know. Thanks for getting us in,” said Rowena.

  “You’re welcome,” said Jerome.

  Rowena was about to resume her run but she’d caught something that made her eye refocus back on her brother and the lady-in-waiting behind him.

  Armed with a shortsword, Alaya wasn’t looking at their surroundings. The guards, Gwen, Jess, Queen Ginger, they were all watching for anybody trying to approach them. No, her full attention was on her brother.

  Rowena and Alaya’s eyes met.

  She brought Tristelle up to guard. “Jerome, get away from her!”

  Jerome paused for a split-second before lunging forward, but it was too late. Alaya had grabbed onto him and now put the edge of her sword against his neck.

  “Not another step!” she hissed.

  Rowena felt her magic hum in her blade as the guards they were escorting refocused back on them, eyes wide. “Same goes for you!”

  The pair stood, standing off, the guards and those around them suddenly noticing their halt and the frozen Jerome in Alaya’s grip. Nobody dared move, the blade was so close to Jerome’s neck, it reflected the young prince’s teary-eyed silent terror.

  Ginger’s hand shivered slightly as she stared at her lady-in-waiting. “Alaya, what are you doing?”

  Alaya blinked back tears. “It’s too late. I don’t have a choice.”

  “Of course you do! Whatever’s going on, you’ve been my lady-in-waiting for years ever since—” Ginger froze, her mouth opening with sudden horror. “No.”

  “Ever since the princess was lost,” Helen whispered.

  “Why?” Jerome asked, almost breathless.

  Alaya, with her free hand, pulled out a gun. Before Rowena could stop her, she raised it and fired. A brilliant green flare shot up into the sky, trailing smoke. Rowena’s heart sank as the maid dropped the gun, held onto Jerome, and backed up.

  “My son was sick. I had no funds. They offered me money and medicine and I just had to let them in, tell them the schedule for the guards, and tell them some information about the princess. They fulfilled their bargain, but I was doomed. I couldn’t tell anybody and when they came back years later demanding I help them or they tell everybody of what I’ve done, I couldn’t refuse.”

  Rowena forced herself to breathe, to stay calm. It wasn’t the fury that she needed to quench. The sight of her brother and friend in Alaya’s grip was enough.

  No, she had a plan that she’d practiced with Jerome. She just had to quash her fear and act as she’d rehearsed, but the timing would need to be perfect.

  Rowena took a breath, forced herself to smile and said, “Potatoes.”

  Alaya blinked. “Potatoes? What are you on about?”

  “Potatoes!” Rowena exclaimed, her eye fixated on Jerome, hoping that he remembered, praying that he would remember.

  The prince blinked, and suddenly, his eyes lit up in recognition. “Dalebrick!”

  Right on cue, Rowena screamed a note. Alaya hesitated, before pressing her blade against Jerome’s neck, but a pink glow had surrounded it, halting the blade. Jerome, drawing the dagger from his belt, stabbed it deep into Alaya’s thigh.

  The lady-in-waiting screamed as she let go of Jerome and her weapon to press both hands on the wound. Jerome bolted, racing back to the party while Rowena screamed a second note and slashed. Magic blasted Alaya backward, knocking her onto the ground and out cold.

  “Just as we rehearsed,” Rowena gasped as Jerome buried himself in his mother’s embrace.

  Ginger held onto Jerome for a moment, briefly closing her eyes before she looked up at Rowena, “Thank you.”

  Rowena smiled at her mother and brother but she couldn’t help but notice the flare spiralling down over them. “Your Majesty, we have to go. That flare—”

  “I know. We’ll talk later,” said Ginger.

  The party started running again. They were getting close to the compound, but as the short walls came into view, not two blocks away, Rowena heard a buzzing noise coming from the queen.

  Ginger pulled a wooden talisman out of her dress’ pocket. “Ginger speaking.”

  “Ginger! It’s Timur. Where are you?” Tiamara’s father sounded almost shrill coming from the device.

  “Almost at the Lady Sara Wing. Where is the battalion?” the queen asked.

  “Trying to look for you. When we checked the safe room we found a bomb inside instead. I’ll send troops. Be warned, there are unknown forces going to the Lady Sara Wing. I think they figured you out.”

  “Hate to break it to you, but they found us!” Jess hissed.

  A group of fourteen soldiers not in Lightning Battalion blue, but in grey coats and cloaks poured into the street from around a corner, far more than the guards with the queen and three adolescent girls. Rowena could see that none of them were mages, though, and they only sported pistols and swords.

  “Behind us!” Gwen snapped, raising her wand. Rowena stepped in beside her with Tristelle and the pair cast two large barriers of grey and pink to cover the group. Jess stood at the ready, holding onto her bracelet.

  The squad let fly with their pistols. The whine and ping of shot against the magical barriers made Rowena want to wince but she dared not. Holstering their weapons the enemy were now charging.

  “Open fire!” Helen ordered, drawing her own pistol. She and the Royal Guards fired with carbines and pistols. Two of the attackers went down, one collapsing, holding onto his leg, the other falling face-first and never getting up. Rowena and Gwen shot too, sending bolts of magic that took down two more guards. Jess even added a magic bolt that hurled one of the guards backwards.

  The remaining nine were upon them. Rowena found herself facing a man with a shortsword who lunged at her, trying to hack off her arm. She stepped back, parried his blow, her hands ringing from the impact. Screaming a note, she lit Tristelle on fire with a fuschia flame, and launched a counter-slash at his head. This caused her opponent to gasp and step back but she was already twisting her hands to whip her saber around and stepping in.

  Her blade cut under the man’s attempt at parrying and slid under his armpit, cutting him deep. He was dead even before he hit the ground, Tristelle’s flame searing through him so quickly he had no time for last words.

  Rowena thought she should shiver or do something, but blood-pumping adrenaline and long hours of training fueled her to step back into guard as she looked around for her friends. Jess was yanking her sword out of a man, her eyes bright with tears, her hands shaking. Gwen was binding Captain Helen’s opponent with a spell. The other Royal Guards were dispatching opponents.

  “Wena, my mother!” Jerome screamed.

  Rowena found Jerome by the wall of a house, saw his hand pointing and followed his finger.

  There were already two corpses dead around Queen Ginger, but she was now beset by two more assailants, a man and a woman. Holding the pistol’s barrel, the queen used it to block her attackers’ rapiers and counter-attack with her arming sword. Forceful, hacking movements led her to knock the rapier out of the hand of her female opponent, before she lunged at the man. Her attack propelled her blade into her opponent’s unarmored armpit and silenced him.

  But that left her open for the woman to tackle her to the ground and straddle her. Screaming, the queen’s assailant rained down bare-knuckle punches, desperate to put down Erisdale’s co-monarch.

  Rowena, already moving, felt her blood turn to ice as Ginger groggily defended the blows with raised arms. She was having some success, but that prompted the woman to reach for the dagger at her waist.

  Memories of a future that never came, of a limp, blank-eyed queen, and the woman she had come to know combined into a nightmarish vision in Rowena’s mind. Instinct and terror coalesced to tear a scream from Rowena’s throat as she cast a spell.

  A pink upper-slash from Tristelle slammed into the attacker and lifted her clear off the queen, the dagger going flying. As Ginger blinked, suddenly noticing the lack of weight on her, Rowena slid beside her. The assassin was tossed against a wall and slumped down, not getting up, but Rowena barely registered that.

  “Mom! Are you alright?” she stammered, grabbing the queen’s hand.

  Wiping her bloodied face, and wincing at her bleeding nose, Ginger groaned. “Rowena? What are you—” the queen blinked and stared at Rowena. She kept staring, her mouth parting with a question on her lips.

  Her throat choking up, Rowena nodded. Muttering a spell, she levitated the dazed and now shocked queen onto her feet. “Captain Helen!”

  “I got her!” Helen hissed, getting the queen’s arm over her shoulder. It didn’t appear she’d heard Rowena.

  Jerome grabbed Rowena’s wrist. “Wait, Rowena—”

  “Jerome, this has to wait. We have to get to safety first,” said Rowena.

  A hand grabbed her shoulder, Jess’s. Her friend pointed down the street. “Hate to break it to you, but we got company!”

  Rowena narrowed her eye at the two figures running down. A chill ran down her back as she recognized Benjamin and Forlana.

  The mage was already casting something and his staff shone with green magic. Swallowing down her fear, Rowena gave their group a once over, before meeting Gwen and Jess’s wide eyes.

  “Gwen, we’re the only mages,” said Rowena.

  The Alavari grimaced. “Yes.”

  “Can we take him?” she asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Then I think I know what we have to do,” said Rowena.

  “Whatever you got planned, I’m going with you,” Jess said, in a tone that meant it.

  Rowena nodded. “Alright. Queen Ginger, let’s get you to the compound with Jerome, before the enemy mage gets here.”

  Ginger nodded, helped by captain Helen, the guards and the queen ran down the last block to the compound. The small gate was open and they were soon met by several troll and ogre guards.

  “Your Majesty, this way please,” said one of the trolls, helping the Queen through the doorway.

  “Are any of you mages?” Gwen asked.

  “I’m afraid not, Miss Gwen,” said an ogre.

  Rowena took a breath and steeled herself once more.

  “In that case, we will hold them off. Shut the door and lock it behind us.”

  Jerome whirled around from where he stood, beside his mother. “What? You’ll be trapped out there!”

  Ginger had taken a second to register the sentence but now was doing her best to twist around, much to the consternation of Helen and the ogre, who were trying to help her to the main building.

  “Rowena, get in here this instant! That’s an order!”

  “Non-mages in a mage duel are a liability. You don’t know if there will be further attacks and we are the only two mages,” said Gwen.

  “I have some tools. Besides, wherever Wena goes, I go,” said Jess, tapping on her enchanted bracelets.

  Ginger broke free of Helen’s grip and managed to twist around to face Rowena. The Queen was pale, a desperate pleading look crinkled her eyes and drew tears down her daze.

  “You are all children! You are not sacrificing yourself here today!”

  “If you and Jerome die, Erisdale is lost! You have to live!” Rowena grabbed the gate and started to pull it shut.

  “No! Rowena! Don’t close that door! Don’t! You—I—I can’t lose you again!” Ginger was clawing at Helen and the ogre guard, trying to get them to release her to no avail. Jerome had fallen to his knees.

  Rowena forced herself to smile. It was surprisingly easier than she expected. “I’m sorry. Jerome, take care of our mother will you?”

  “No!”

  Rowena blinked as the prince leapt to his feet, dodged past a guard’s hand and ran to the door. He stropped short, but he was close enough to give Rowena a hug.

  Then he’d let go. His eyes brimming with tears.

  “You’re coming back. You’re explaining everything and we can finally be a family! So don’t you dare lose!”

  Chuckling, forced to blink back her own tears, Rowena nodded. “Promise.”

  With that she shut the door, and heard the guards locking it. She also could hear her mother’s wails and demands for her to open the door.

  Rowena turned her back on that and took her place between Gwen and Jess.

  “Gwen and I will take Benjamin. Jess, can you hold off Forlana as long as possible?” Rowena asked.

  “Of course.” Her best friend nudged her. “How are you?”

  Rowena took a deep breath. How was she? She’d found out so much about who she was. Saved her mother and brother from death several times now. She was facing a deadly enemy but with the best friends she could ever ask for by her side.

  “Honestly, I’m feeling pretty good about this.”

  Jess grinned. “Me too.”

  “If you say so,” said Gwen. She rolled her eyes but clearly couldn’t help but smile.

  The three girls marched forward, towards their two enemies.

  ***