Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, again. And again, thank you to everyone for your support.

Chapter Three: The Gallery

The former royal gallery was several hours' walk from the inn where Trini and the others were staying. Luckily, Richie seemed to have enough money at his disposal to rent a carriage for the day, and that made the trip much more comfortable, if not any shorter. The streets were so clogged with people that the few carriages were hardly able to crawl along.

Trini tried not to gawk too much as they made their way out of the visitors' section and into the city proper, but it was challenging not to stare at the city around them. She had never seen anything like it before, at least not that she could remember, and yet so much of it was familiar. There was simply more of everything. The whole place seemed a tangle of buildings, in a variety of different styles, some of them obviously new and others clearly ancient, and it positively teemed with people. They were everywhere, in all kinds of clothing, some faces bright and smiling while others were closed off and guarded. And, for once, most were people who looked like her—tending toward straight black hair and dark, almond-shaped eyes, with skin in every shade of brown.

The guards at the checkpoints waved them on with barely a glance for Richie, who they seemed to recognize, but looks of suspicion for his guests. They did not ask any questions. Trini wondered if they wanted to.

Richie didn't seem particularly bothered by any of this, so Trini tried her best not to let her jitters show. Nothing bad was going to happen today. She was, as far as anyone amid the seething crowd knew, just an ordinary young woman going out with friends for the day.

"So what do you usually do around here?" Angela was asking. Trini had begun to recognize the expression she was wearing now. That look of bored calm was defensive; she only looked like that when she was unsure of a situation. Trini shared her sentiments, and was glad she'd been willing to come along today. Especially since Zack seemed determined to stare menacingly at their host the whole time. At least Angela knew how to neatly defuse the situation without wounding either of the men too much.

Richie shrugged in response to Angela's question. "Lately? Not much. Everything's up in the air because the trade routes are open again."

"What about your family? No interest in trade?"

Another shrug, accompanied by a look Trini knew too well. "The family business has been in my father's steward's—my steward's—hands since my parents died. He does a good job of it, but that doesn't leave a lot for me to do."

Zack had protested that their run-in with Richie had been too convenient to be coincidence, but it was sounding pretty plausible to Trini. What else did he have to do when money wasn't a problem, but gaining acceptance in the noble Tayene circles was?

"I'm sorry about your parents," Trini said automatically. "You must have been lonely after they died." All alone, in a land that wasn't really home. She remembered how she'd felt when Li died, and was thankful all over again that she'd still had her friends to help her get through it. She hoped Richie had also had friends to help him with his grief.

"Thanks. It wasn't so bad, though. Quinn—my steward—was there for me, and I'd lived here for as long as I could remember. All my friends were here, and so was everything I'd ever known." Trini wondered if he knew how similar his story was to her own childhood. She knew what Zack would say: how convenient it was that they shared this experience. But she just couldn't believe Richie would lie about something like this. What could he hope to gain from befriending her, anyway? Her chances of becoming the acknowledged princess were nearly nonexistent.

She caught the warning look from Zack, tried not to sigh, and refrained from telling Richie about their similar childhoods. It irked her, a little, to know that Zack didn't trust her judgment. But she also knew he was just trying to keep her safe.

"Is there anything we should know before we get to the gallery?" Angela interceded easily.

"There's a small entrance fee, which it will be my pleasure to pay," Richie told them. If the change of topic bothered him, it didn't show. "The curators seem to think it'll deter the common riffraff, but it doesn't, really." The way he said it made it sound as if he considered himself part of the 'common riffraff'. He added, as an afterthought, "It keeps everyone away. Or maybe they're not as interested in the past as they used to be."

It amused Trini a little to hear him give voice to an idea that had often been in her thoughts lately. Perhaps no one would care that the long lost princess had returned, after all. Perhaps there would be nothing for her to do here, in the end.

Yet when they finally reached the gallery, the curator on duty could not seem to stop staring at her as he grudgingly collected their entrance fee from Richie. It was unnerving to be stared at so blatantly. The feeling made her skin crawl.

Richie was aware of her discomfort, or else he just had very good timing. He ushered them past the entry hall and into the gallery proper just when Trini thought she might be too uncomfortable to go on. In comparison, the gallery was an enormously soothing space. High ceilinged and dimly lit, it was pleasantly cool and very quiet. They were the only patrons.

In the hush, Richie led them past a number of exquisite portraits and straight to the last portrait of the lost princess. It, like most of the paintings, was quite small, only a bit bigger than Trini's outstretched hand, but the artist's skill was evident. The joyous young girl in the painting looked as if she might burst into a fit of delighted giggles at any moment.

"Oh, Trini," Angela breathed. "She looks just like you!"

Zack and Richie were watching for Trini's reaction. Too bad she didn't know what to think. Maybe if she'd had one of Kimberly's expensive glass hand mirrors to make the comparison, herself…

Angela elbowed Zack in the ribs. "Well, this won't hurt your case," he managed.

"Why don't we take a look at some of the other paintings, since we're already here?" Richie suggested. "We can come back to the princess. She's not going anywhere."

More relieved than she would like to admit, Trini nodded. "My uncle Li… that is… I was taught some of the history of Taye. I'd like to see the paintings from that history."

As Richie led them through the gallery, Trini was surprised and pleased to discover just how much she remembered from her history lessons with Li, and just how thorough those informal lessons had been. She recognized the names of nearly every person whose portrait now resided in the gallery, though if Richie had been hoping she might also recognize some of the faces, he was doomed to disappointment. Even the portraits of the last princess's three brothers failed to spark a response. The boys might as well have been strangers. Trini wasn't sure how she should feel about that.

The portrait of Taye's last king and queen, however… Trini didn't realize she was shaking until Zack reached out to steady her. There, rendered by the same talented hand that had so lovingly captured their daughter, were the parents Trini remembered. Thanks to Zordon's spell, her memories of them had been hidden and sealed away for years. When the spell at last was broken, those carefully preserved memories had come flooding back, as if she'd just seen her parents yesterday.

She staggered, tears streaming suddenly down her face. Even more than the portrait of the princess, this was proof of her past. Her parents looked back at her from the canvas, exactly as she remembered them.

With her memories and her true identity sealed away, with 'uncle' Li to love her and Lord and Lady Scott acting almost as foster parents, she had not really missed her parents. She had hardly thought of them at all, believing they were wealthy merchants making their fortune back home in Taye while their daughter grew up in Queen Kathlyn's court. Not knowing they were dead, she had never mourned for them.

The truth—that her parents were dead and had been dead for years and she would never see them again—hit her full force.

Zack held her while she cried, casting alternately bewildered and pleading looks in Angela's direction. She only smiled sympathetically and patted him on the shoulder.

-x-

Hours after the trip to the royal gallery, Trini sat alone in her room at the inn, surrounded by quiet darkness. The day's events had been so overwhelming that she had excused herself immediately after dinner, and had stayed in her room ever since. She wondered if Zack and Angela were worried about her, and hoped not.

She would be fine, she knew. She just needed time to process what had happened today.

Somehow, she had not expected a simple day trip to affect her so much. She thought she had already confronted her feelings of loss and isolation, but this was evidently not the case. The portraits in the gallery had reawakened all the feelings and memories that she thought she had dealt with, and left her feeling raw inside all over again.

She had to wonder if reclaiming her place here in Taye would turn out to be worth all the pain.

At least, she thought, I don't seem to have any tears left now. In some ways, it was a relief to have cried herself out.

She was beginning to feel like she could think clearly again without feeling overcome by grief. This was an important step, she knew. Now she could begin to map out her next steps. She had avoided doing this before, not wanting to get too far ahead of herself. There was, after all, no real point in going too far in her planning before she could find a way to confirm the things she thought she remembered. Now that she'd done that, she needed to seriously consider what she wanted to accomplish next.

She knew what the others would want her to do. Zack and Angela, and all the friends she had left behind, would merely want her to be safe and happy, to take her time exploring her heritage so as not to push too hard too quickly. And Lady Scott would most likely encourage her to pursue the opportunities presented by the gallery. The portraits there proved that she had at least a reasonable resemblance to the former royal family, and the curator's interest in her might yield more useful information, such as potential contacts at court that might be sympathetic to her cause. Trini shuddered at the memory of the curator's eyes, unable or unwilling to look away from her, and hoped it wouldn't come to speaking with him again.

In a way it was almost funny. After surviving Ivan Ooze, it had seemed like this should be easy. But none of it had been easy, not from the very start.

She wondered what Kimberly and Jason would think of all this. After all their adventures of the past two years or so, she had to wonder if they would be uncomfortable facing a situation that couldn't be resolved by killing an evil sorcerer. She thought they probably would be. Possibly even as uncomfortable as she was, having to focus on herself instead of on her friends.

Thinking about Kimberly and Jason was a mistake. She missed them both so much, even more than the family she had never really known. She thought of Jason back in Phaedos, no doubt sparring with his Council again, and of Kimberly beginning to raise her child and to rule her kingdom at last. If only she could see them again… She laughed a little, realizing she should have thought to bring someone along that knew how to teleport. How much easier that would have made everything!

How long would it take to send a message to Kimberly, or to Jason, now back in Phaedos? What information would they need to teleport someone to her?

She rose and made her way by feel to the desk. There she lit a candle and gathered paper, pen, and ink, and began to write a letter. By the time she finished, she felt much better, as if by putting pen to paper she had helped dispel the lingering sadness.

Finally, she felt as if she might be able to sleep, and greet tomorrow with fresh eyes.

-x-

"What do you think?" Zack asked.

Angela stared at her empty mug and sighed. "I don't know, Zack."

It was late. They were both tired, and both reluctant to go to bed just yet. So they were tucked into a corner of the inn's common room. They had spent much of the evening discussing the city and the art gallery, but had lapsed into comfortable silence a while ago.

"He's got to be up to something," Zack muttered.

This earned him another sigh from Angela. "But what? What in the world could he hope to gain?"

He knew she was frustrated by his suspicions—so was Trini, for that matter—but he'd meant it when he swore to keep her safe. He'd failed in that promise the first time. He was determined not to fail again. "I don't know," he admitted, "but the way he targeted her… I don't like it."

Suddenly Angela laughed. "Zack, are you worried she might be in danger or are you worried Richie will sweep her off her feet while Jason isn't looking?"

He frowned. She made it sound silly, but the two didn't seem so different to him. Once, not that long ago, this would have been the start of an argument. Now, he didn't have the patience for that sort of thing. He supposed nearly dying could do that to a man.

Angela, on the other hand, seemed ready for a fight. He looked up and saw fire flashing in her eyes, and braced for the storm.

"You're just going to push her away if you keep doubting her judgment the way you have been," she told him pointedly.

Zack opened his mouth to rejoinder, could think of no good counterargument, and shut his mouth again, steaming.

"Any woman would appreciate a steadfast friend willing to protect her at all costs," Angela pointed out, ruthlessly pushing her advantage. "But I don't think Jason meant for you to stifle her or try to keep her away from everyone here in Taye. Sooner or later she's going to start to resent you. And then she'll start sneaking around without telling you anything. How will you protect her then?"

Since there was nothing else he could do, Zack scowled. Angela had made a very good point, but he couldn't just stand aside and let Richie do whatever he wanted. He had nothing against Richie, really, but he also had no way of knowing who might betray them. Sure, their odds of surviving a betrayal were a lot better than last time, but he would still rather avoid the whole mess. And the worst part was, this was only the start. It was only going to get worse from here.

"You really think she'd sneak around behind my back?" he asked at last.

Angela shrugged. "It's what I would do."

It was what Kimberly would do, too. But Trini? He sighed. "So what can I do?"

"Aren't you supposed to be the strategist?"

Rather than stay and fight, Zack bid her a good night and headed upstairs to his room. Not for the first time, he wished that Jason or Billy had come along on this venture. Kimberly had sent along that contingent of guards, but it just wasn't the same. The guards were there if they were needed, but Isabella Scott had mostly co-opted them into running errands for her. Zack was glad they were gathering intelligence, but couldn't imagine Bulk and Skull, much less the other guardsmen, as effective spies.

Zack lit a candle, then sat down on the narrow bed with a sigh. "What am I going to do?" he muttered.

As if in answer to his question, a soft blue light began to fill the room. Slowly, the light coalesced into a human-shaped figure, standing just inside the door, effectively trapping him. Zack drew his belt knife and stood, heart pounding. A human opponent, he could probably handle. But this was clearly magic.

He was about to attack when a very familiar voice said, "Hah! I can't believe the experiment was successful!"

Zack would have recognized that voice anywhere, and nearly dropped his knife in shock. "Billy?"

"Zack! How are you?" Billy asked. The scintillating figure of blue light seemed to be grinning. "Where are you? Have you reached Taye yet?"

"Slow down, Billy," Zack protested, wanting to laugh out loud. It was so good to see his old friend again, even if it wasn't in his usual form. "What's going on? How are you here? Are you here?"

"This is an astral projection. I've been working with Dulcea… She said this would be a challenging endeavor, but less intrinsically dangerous than an attempt to rebuild the damaged scrying pool."

He wondered how Dulcea was doing now that she had chosen to fade away, and didn't dare ask about Zordon. He settled for, "Why not just teleport?"

"This method enables me to be in two locations simultaneously," Billy explained, as if this made perfect sense. "With teleportation, I must alter my physical location. And the process benefits greatly from an awareness of the location one wishes to teleport to. Astral projection, conversely, benefits from a close familiarity with the person one wishes to project to."

"So you're not really here?"

"Negative, my friend. Corporeally, I am still in Phaedos, working on a number of urgent projects."

Zack mulled this over. "Tell me what's going on in Phaedos, and I'll fill you in on what we've been up to."

Billy did just that: Phaedos was much the same as always, with Jason often at odds with his Council over the affairs of state. "He's getting a little tired of his councilors pushing him to get married and sire an heir as soon as possible."

That earned a chuckle from Zack. "They still haven't figured out how stubborn he is, have they?"

"Indeed. However, I am beginning to suspect that the Phaedans are nearly as stubborn as Jason is," Billy confessed. "Though I would appreciate it if you didn't tell him I said that."

"Your secret is safe with me," Zack promised.

"Now, tell me about your journey. How is everyone? How is Trini?"

"Haven't you tried to reach her yourself?"

"I did, but could not make the connection." He paused as if deep in thought. "At first I hypothesized that the projection technique was imperfect or had failed, but I was able to reach you without trouble. Now I suspect she may be asleep."

"It is pretty late," Zack agreed with a grin. "We're all doing well, I guess. As well as can be expected," he went on, and retold the story of their tedious trip south and their arrival in the city of Taye. He wasn't sure at first if he should tell Billy about Richie, then decided to go ahead anyway. Maybe Billy would have a brilliant idea for what they should do next. "I'm worried that he's only going after Trini because she's the princess," he concluded, trying not to sound too sour.

"Do you think he means her any harm?" Billy asked, his voice grim.

"That's the thing. I'm not sure. I don't think so. And Angela says I'm pushing Trini away by doubting her opinion of his character." He sighed. "They don't understand that I can't risk him turning out to be another Sunan Lin."

The blue figure seemed to nod. "Your concern is understandable, my friend," Billy told him. "To me, at least, if not to Trini and Angela."

"Lot of good that does me," Zack muttered. "This would be a lot easier if there were more people I could trust here."

"Perhaps that can be arranged —"

A knock at the door cut him off. The blue light abruptly began to fade. "I will consult with Jason and the others. Now that I have confirmed that astral projection is an effective technique, I will contact you again soon."

The blue figure vanished and Zack found himself suddenly alone again. The candle's light seemed dim compared to the vibrant blue glow from moments ago.

The person outside knocked again, more hesitantly this time. Zack crossed the room and opened the door, and was surprised to find himself face to face with Angela. In truth, he'd been expecting Trini.

Confused, the only word he could think to say was Angela's name.

She looked contrite, almost scared. "Zack, I'm sorry," she said. "I went too far. I shouldn't have said that."

Zack didn't know what to say. Angela seldom apologized for her bouts of temper, and he certainly never expected her to. It was part and parcel of who she was. And whenever she was angry or frustrated about something, he'd found that there was usually a good reason for it.

"If we want to help Trini, we should work together, not keep arguing with each other," Angela went on. "We need to trust Trini, but that doesn't mean we have to let our guard down." She frowned self-consciously. "Please say something."

"You're right," he said, finding words at last. "Does that make us allies again?"

The frown turned into the coy smile he liked so much. "I guess that'll do for now," she decided, stepping closer to kiss him on the cheek. "Good night, Zack."

He watched a little wistfully as she walked down the hall to her own room. "Good night, Angela."