Alec wrapped his hands around the bars of the cell as his heart fall to the floor.

"Sh-She was alive when I checked on her a few hours ago," said the jail warden, sweating nervously. "I swear, no one else had been in here!"

Alec gritted his teeth. "If no one has been in here, that means someone from inside the jail did this." He threw a sharp look at the warden, and the man backed away.

"My lord, I-I'll investigate and find the culprit—quickly." He gave Alec an awkward, lopsided smile of promise.

"I did say this was an investigation involving the imperial family. You had better make good on your word."

"Yes!"

The warden scurried away. Alec would have him save the corpse in case there were any clues that could be gleaned. In the cell, the woman lay on her back, her arm on her chest and another spread out beside her. Her eyes were closed. From this angle, Alec couldn't see how she died. He couldn't see any blood. He guessed she may have been poisoned, but he wasn't sure how since he had taken her bottle earlier. But there were also various forms of magic that could kill with very little evidence.

He used magic to open the cell's lock. When he was inside, he knelt by the body and examined it closely without touching anything. He regretted sending Detective Birbeck away, because now he needed someone skilled to thoroughly investigate the scene. As a prince, however, he was permitted to at least explore however he needed.

Alec noticed something about the woman's outstretched arm. Her hand clutched something, and he opened her fingers. Inside lay a small scrap of paper, crumpled from the pressure of her hand. Was she trying to hide this? Alec unfolded the paper to find something scrawled there. At first, he couldn't make out the letters, sloppy as they were, as though written in a hurry.

"Raphael Faust," Alec mumbled. He'd never heard the name before. For some reason this woman had thought it was important enough to write down. Had she done it for him, anticipating her own death at the hands of her comrades?

He carefully replaced the paper in her hand and left the jail, a dark premonition occupying his thoughts.

◃───────────▹

The following morning was warm and muggy. Alec exited a small restaurant where he'd just had a breakfast he regretted. Although he didn't mind visiting the domain of commoners, he sometimes missed certain aspects of the palace, and that was the food. The food here shouldn't bother his system too much because of his self-healing abilities, but he usually felt the initial symptoms. If it wasn't for that, he would be spending the rest of the morning on the toilet.

(( I didn't think you would eat that, )) said Niwe. (( Even I would've hesitated to eat it—and I'm not even human. ))

"Please be quiet," said Alec. He pressed a hand to his stomach. "It looked good enough on the plate."

He made his way back toward the shop where he hoped Marcus would be present by now. He had also hoped to meet with the twins before he met with Marcus, though. Once he got his book back, he wouldn't be staying at the inn and didn't know how much time he had left in Aramore. He could afford to put off his return to the imperial palace for a while longer, but not much longer than that. Duty called. And it was not yet time to let Adren know of the twins' whereabouts. Not even close.

His course took him through a small square with a wide fountain. The people of Aramore loved their squares. There were more squares here than anywhere else he knew. Monuments were everywhere, many of which were dedicated to important historical figures, mostly from the imperial family.

Arjen and Arien have probably seen most of them. It probably doesn't make them feel very good, either. The monuments were a constant reminder of their heritage, one from which they were cut off—and rejected. And it would've been the same no matter what city or town they had chosen to run to. Even small villages liked to erect something to honor the emperor in some way.

The fountain in this square, however, lacked a statue. Its design was a little more abstract. But his attention went to two people standing at the fountain's edge. The hour was early, and few people were around. Quietly, Alec walked toward them.

"Out to get some breakfast?" he asked, softly so he wouldn't startle them.

The twins turned, and he noted a basket in Arien's hand. A cloth covered its contents. Her face lit up. "Oh! Lord Farnell!"

"Hey," said Arjen.

"We sometimes like to get fresh bread from the bakery early in the morning," said Arien. She lifted the cloth to show him the bread in the basket. "It's still warm, too."

"That sounds better than what I just had," Alec mumbled, and Arien titled her head curiously, her large blue eyes questioning him. He held back a smile. "I was wondering what brought you here," he said.

"Ah..." Arien blushed a little. She showed her other hand with a copper coin. "We also like to...make a wish here."

"A wish?" Alec peered beyond her to the fountain. Several metallic objects glinted under the water in the morning sun.

"Yeah. This is a popular fountain for people to make wishes in. The artist who made this fountain made it to be like a wishing well."

When Alec looked to his younger brother, Arjen quickly hid his fist behind him. He also had a coin.

Adorable. They're just adorable. "What do you wish for?"

Arien laughed. "It won't come true if we tell you." Her smile was as bright as the clear morning light. "But I will say we make wishes for our future."

He was intensely interested in this, but couldn't say anything. He was certain they wished for happiness. What did happiness look like to them? "Don't mind me," he said. "Go make your wishes."

The two tossed their coins into the fountain. "People say," said Arien, "that the closer your coin makes it to the center, the more likely your wish will come true."

"Mine is closer than yours," said Arjen.

"It is not."

"Yes, it is. Look."

"I am looking, and it is not closer. Mine is."

"Dummy. Do I need to get in there and measure it?"

A chuckle bubbled up in Alec. These two were royalty, and yet didn't resemble royalty at all. Some would believe this a flaw, but Alec saw it as a wonder—and a gift.

Perhaps these two were born to teach us something.

Faint chatter drifted from the edge of the square. A man dressed in a uniform was nailing a poster to a notice board. Even from this distance, Alec could see the poster was notice from the imperial palace. It was a common occurrence to put up announcements from the palace. A few people went up to read it.

"I wonder what it says," said Alec, loud enough for the twins to hear.

"What what says?" Arjen said.

Alec walked to the notice board, and his siblings followed. The notice was mundane, explaining a small change in a tax law. The imperial seal was displayed in the corner.

"Oh," said Arjen. "We don't pay attention to those." He pointed at another notice. "There's a game tournament in Kalza Square next week? I should sign up."

"About a year ago there was a notice from the imperial palace that caused quite an uproar, I heard," said Alec. He would need to tread very carefully here, as he would hate to ruin their good mood.

"What was it?" asked Arien.

Did they really not know? It should've been heard all throughout the empire. It stirred up so much discontent that Adren was flooded with complaints. "The emperor declared a new law, saying illegitimate children will have all the rights of legitimate children, and that anyone caught discriminating against illegitimate children will be punished."

The twins fixed wide stares on him. The color faded from Arien's face, and Arjen's expression darkened.

Damn it. I shouldn't have said anything after all.

"He really said that?" said Arien. "Why?"

"No one is quite sure, but His Majesty has always been one for fairness. He didn't like seeing illegitimate children treated differently from everyone else." Alec glanced at the notice board again. He didn't see any other notices from the palace. "Perhaps it wasn't announced here because this is more of a problem among nobles than commoners."

Arjen laughed, the sound heavy with bitterness. His reaction would've been strange to anyone else, but Alec understood him. To the twins, the emperor had been anything but fair to them.

If they only knew what really happened. But would that change anything? The twins had spent sixteen hellish years in the clutches of Rurahel. They would never forget that, no matter if they knew the truth.

"What did the nobles say?" Arien asked in a small voice.

"Oh, many were upset. They don't like being held responsible for their bad behaviors. The law applies to His Majesty as well, and everyone else in the imperial palace."

Arjen scoffed. "You sure about that?"

"Of course."

Arien had gone quiet, her eyes downcast.

"Well, that's pretty weird," Arjen said. "The person who has the most to lose in that kind of situation is the emperor, isn't it? I thought he had an image to keep up or whatever?"

"He does, but I've heard that unlike past rulers, he doesn't seem to care as much about his image as long as he knows he's doing the right thing."

"He'd actually give inheritance and rights to his illegitimate children?" said Arjen, and then quickly added, "if he had any?"

"That's right."

The skepticism never left Arjen's face. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Could Alec blame him? No. "Well, the law is still new, so we'll see how it goes." In an effort to lighten the mood again, he said, "Anyway, enough about that. Why don't we find a new place to meet for training? If you have any good ideas, please let me know. I'm not as familiar with Aramore as you two are."

Arien spoke distantly, her thoughts from the last subject still apparent on her face. "I'm not sure..."

"Ah," said Arjen, "maybe somewhere by the beach? There's a lot of room there." He seemed to forget the subject more easily than his sister.

"That sounds suitable," said Alec. He got a strange feeling and looked across the square. Someone stood in the shadow of one of the buildings, positioned at an angle to stay inconspicuous. The person's gaze met his. "Why don't you two go on ahead?" he said to the twins. "We can meet up later."

When Arjen and Arien went on their way, Alec walked toward the man who watched him.

"Your Highness. I didn't want them to see me," Kirra whispered. "They've seen me before."

"I'm surprised you're here," said Alec. He checked to see that his siblings had gone. "Is something wrong?"

"His Majesty is planning to move the queen and princess to the imperial palace in a week."

"What? Why?"

"He wants better security after what happened the other day." Kirra gave him the details of the meeting with the queen and princess. "Eiji wanted to tell you, but he was busy interrogating the man who attacked the princess. Also... The man tried to poison himself, right in front of Eiji."

Alec's heart jumped. "Is he dead?"

"No. Eiji had his back turned, but he saw it just in time. But the prisoner drank some of it and hasn't woken up yet. Apparently it's a very potent poison." He paused. "We're afraid he might die. Can you...help us revive him?"

"I..." Alec's thoughts went to the twins—and his book. Marcus is supposed to be back today.

Kirra could see his hesitation. "This man looked like he was going to tell us something right before he poisoned himself. Please, only you can do heal him quickly. When I last saw him, his pulse was weak. If we don't get to him soon... We have few prisoners left from the anti-emperor faction."

Alec would hate to leave at a time like this. Arjen and Arien were starting to warm up to him, and he wanted to take full advantage of it as long as he was still in Aramore. "Speaking of those prisoners," he said, "have any of them said anything?"

Kirra lifted a shoulder. "They're a tough lot, tougher than what we normally deal with. They've given us bits and pieces, but never a full story."

"Have any of them mentioned names?"

"No, try as we might to get them to talk. A few of them have told us to kill them." Kirra shook his head, baffled. "They don't seem to care if they die. I've never seen it before."

Most of the recruits in the anti-emperor faction were not high-born. They did the dirty work of the nobles who controlled them. So far, no nobles had been arrested for the actions at the ball or against the princess, even though it's obvious a noble was behind them, if not several. But he couldn't think of a single person who could be exerting this much control and instilling this much loyalty.

It's almost...radical. But it was, wasn't it?

"Your Highness, we don't have much time," said Kirra.

He sighed. "Alright. Besides, the prisoner I had been questioning has also died, so I won't get much more out of that one."

"What?"

"It happened yesterday. We need to keep alive the few we have left." For quick healing, especially from strong poison, he would need Niwe, which meant the twins would be without protection for a while. He did not want to do that, but he had to. "It shouldn't take long to heal him, and I'll need to return here as soon as possible."

"Your book?"

"The shopkeeper is supposed to return today. Once I get it back, the anti-emperor faction may just give up. But I'm worried about Arjen and Arien being alone. The book is in that shop, and already the anti-emperor faction has tried to get it—and attacked the twins in the process."

"Wouldn't they be safer if we brought them to the imperial palace?"

Alec waved away the idea. "It's not the right time yet. If we act too soon, it could create problems. Also...I don't want to force them."

A group of children ran by them, screeching and laughing as they bounded along, probably on their way to school. Something about it incited a deep pain in Alec, those carefree children on their way to learn how to read, write, and do arithmetic, taught by a caring and attentive instructor. He wanted to meet with the twins again, to spend more time with them, but... He sighed. The process wasn't going fast enough for his satisfaction. And other issues kept getting in the way.

"I suppose we should get going," he said.

◃───────────▹

Arjen and Arien sat at the little dining table eating bread, cheese, and cooked eggs. Their conversation on the way home had been mundane, about the weather, about what they would have for breakfast, about the game tournament in Kalza Square, anything but the topic Lord Farnell had brought up at the notice board. But, finally, Arjen couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Do you really believe what he said?"

Arien's head snapped up, her fork still in her mouth. "Mmf?"

"How come we never heard about this law?"

She chewed her food thoughtfully and swallowed. "Well, he did say it wasn't a big issue with commoners, so... Maybe he's right, that the emperor didn't think it important enough to declare in places where commoners live?"

Arjen thumped a fist on the table. "Why would the emperor create a law like that?"

"Lord Farnell already told us."

"I don't believe it. The emperor's not the kind of person to just suddenly have compassion on illegitimate children. Just look at how he treated us!" He tossed down his knife and it clattered on his plate. "If he really cared, he wouldn't have left us to rot at Derolina Castle! He never said a word to us the whole time. He acted like we never existed!"

Arien winced at the truth of his words. "But...if he really didn't care, then why did he create the law in the first place?"

He had no answer for her.

"Lord Farnell said the law was created only a year ago. That's a year after we ran away from Derolina." A spark lit in her eyes as she said this.

Arjen had been eating an egg almost choked, and he spit out the egg. "What are you saying? Are you saying he did it for us?"

"Well, what other reason would there be?"

Again, he had no good answer. "Maybe some noble begged him to do it."

She shook her head.

"It makes no sense," Arjen mumbled.

"What if...?"

"What if what?"

She trained her gaze on her plate and took up her knife to cut a slice of bread. "Nevermind."

◃───────────▹

After they had washed the dishes, Arjen went off to take care of a few tasks in the shop while Arien put away the dishes. She listened to his footsteps fade, and she held a plate in her hands, feeling the hard rim in her palms.

She had been too afraid to say it. Arjen had already gotten worked up, so she didn't want to make it worse. When it came to the imperial family, he reacted far more vehemently than she did, sometimes to the point of tears. It hurt to watch.

But the law... It had intrigued her. Suddenly she was having thoughts, some of which scared her, because she had never considered them before.

What if...at that time, after we ran away from the castle, the emperor hadn't been trying to kill us, but trying to take us to the palace?

If that was true, then it fit with the law that the emperor had declared. If he wanted his illegitimate children to live in the imperial palace, then he wouldn't want anyone to treat them disrespectfully because of the circumstances of their birth, which was not their fault.

Still, why would the emperor suddenly create a law favoring illegitimate children if he had dumped his own in a castle to be neglected and abused?

Something doesn't add up. There's a missing piece somewhere.

Was there a way to find it?