It wasn't until that night that he'd gathered his courage to face her again. Stayne was used to people being angry with him. For some reason, Aurora being furious with him really got under his skin.

It was more than the fact that she'd be his future queen (if he was lucky).

It was more than the fact that she knew far too much and she could easily sell him out. The fact that he wasn't dead yet was a testament to her feelings…she at least liked him enough to not want him dead.

He finally found her on one of the balconies. She sat there staring off into space. It didn't escape his notice that she was looking in the direction of Marmoreal.

"Aurora."

It was so hard to say her name in that moment. There was a bit of a sting when she didn't acknowledge him. He sat down beside her.

"You're not making this easy, you know," he said accusingly.

She didn't look at him.

"Fine…maybe I don't deserve easy," he choked out awkwardly.

He took a breath and it all spilled out at once.

"I'm sorry…for everything."

It was vague, but he didn't feel like announcing every offense out loud. The list was beginning to get very long. A soft, cool breeze blew over both of them and ruffled her curls slightly. He ached to reach out and touch them, but restrained himself. He didn't want to make it worse.

"I just realized I don't know anything about you," he commented, "where you came from or why you always look so sad…why you stare off into space as if your mind is somewhere else completely…"

He couldn't help but smile a little as he said the next thing:

"Why you only speak to me when you're furious and cursing me out…"

He felt, rather than saw, her smile as well.

"Or why you wake up at least one time a night screaming as if you had the Jabberwocky after you."

Her shoulders tensed. He decided to stop there before he struck any more nerves.

"I may have been drunk last night and said things I shouldn't have," he said awkwardly, "but I meant it when I said you were the only real friend I have in this Hellish place."

He was about to get up and leave when she finally glanced in his direction. He decided not to move just yet.

"You're not the first person that knows nothing about me," she said quietly, "and you definitely won't be the last."

Her voice was different this time…he couldn't explain it. Earlier, when she had spoken, she'd had a crisp British accent very much like his. Now that she was calm, she sounded different completely. If he'd lived in the Overland, he'd have recognized the accent as American. The look of surprise hadn't quite left his face when she finally turned to face him.

"Why do you do that?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Go for days without saying a word to anyone. Doesn't that get irritating? People assuming you're…well, mad?"

Aurora shrugged.

"Perspective. After so many years, people stopped listening and they only heard what they wanted to hear from me. So I have no reason to talk most of the time."

"And you broke your silence to shout at me?"

Aurora giggled.

"Everything was fine until then."

He couldn't help but smile. She admired what it did to his features; he looked younger and less hardened by the years. He should do it more often.

"But what made you start it?"

Her gaze averted from him. Stayne could actually visualize the wall going up in his mind's eye.

"Let's just say it was self-defense. Is, actually…you can't be punished for what the world doesn't know. If the world doesn't know your weaknesses, it can't use them against you."

It was a profound statement and it seemed to wear her out to make it.

"What happened to you?"

His voice was low, quiet. He knew he was treading into dangerous territory, but the curiosity had been very strong since he'd seen the drawing of the hospital in the Oraculum.

"A lot," was all she would tell him.

He decided not to press her for now. He was afraid she'd retreat again.

"If you stick around long enough, I might tell you eventually. But that's something no one's ever done. Just do me a favor and stop trying to hold me down—it makes me a little crazy."

He nodded.

"I want to leave, Stayne. I want to get the Hell out of this place."

"Why don't you leave?" he asked.

"For the same reason you don't," she responded darkly, "because it's my new familiar. You ever read the Bible?"

He shook his head. He hadn't even heard of it.

"Well, it's our religious text…one of them…in the Overland. It's basically a bunch of stories about the past talking about God and the people he worked through to get other people out of a bunch of big messes. There's one about a place called Egypt…beautiful place…very hot, lots of monumental sculptures and pyramids dedicated to the afterlife. Well, there's a bunch of people there that believe in God and they won't worship the ruler of Egypt cause he isn't God. Those people were in slavery and subjected to really Hellish lives…they were literally worked to death. So along comes a guy named Moses. He was in a prophecy kind of like Alice and I are. The Pharoah—the leader—finds out about it and orders all the baby boys killed. To save his life, his mama puts him in a basket and sends it down the river. Of all people, the royal family find him and adopt him. They don't know who he really is. So Moses grows up and he knows something's wrong. God eventually tracks him down and tells him who he really is. He tells him about leading his people out of Egypt. When Pharoah refuses to let them go, a bunch of really serious curses come down on the Egyptians until he agrees to do it. Then, there's this big chase scene where he changes his mind and decides he wants all his slaves back. They escape into the desert and that's when things get heavy again."

Aurora paused for a moment, thinking.

"At first, they're hopeful. Okay, they got out of Egypt and they're literally no longer chained. But then things get a little hard. It's hot…it's dry…they're hungry, thirsty, tired. They start complaining. They start deciding maybe they're not so much better off and they want to go back because they knew what would happen to them in Egypt. Moses gets a little irate at them. God Himself gets irritated. He's thinking 'I got them out of Egypt, don't they trust me by now?' So they end up wandering Egypt for forty years as a consequence of their lack of faith."

The breeze had stopped and the night was still.

"Things are scary right now," she commented, "and I'm doing my best to believe we'll come out of the desert eventually…but it's a little hard sometimes. Especially with everything that happened yesterday and today. The Oraculum says I'll rule this place, but I have my doubts when Iracebeth keeps ordering people killed."

He didn't know what to say to her. She was obviously very stressed, but he wasn't well versed in comforting people.

"And Tarrant and Mally…I don't want them to die. They're only doing what the prophecy says."

That statement was made with the utmost conviction. He had never felt such a sharp pang of guilt as he did in that moment. In a very indirect way, she was asking him to help them.

"I know…" he said miserably.

The pressure built for several more seconds. Finally, she blurted it out: "Can't you do something? Like smuggle them out of here? You have enough pull over these guys!"

"I do," he answered, "but someone will eventually see it and tell Iracebeth. Then we're all in trouble."

"There has to be a way," she insisted.

"Yes…let me know when you figure that out."

She could hear the irritation in his voice. How could such a strong, powerful man be so weak? How could Iracebeth have him this scared of being killed?

"I will."

She left him there. He had the very distinct feeling that she wouldn't talk to him tomorrow.