Wow, this is notoriously fast for me. Inspiration hit and my imagination flowed from my fingers with rare speed. My muse is practically singing out the rest of the plot to me. From whence it came, I have no idea. From the looks of it, a sequel might be required. But it's too early to confirm that.

Also, I've looked at my stats for once and I see people who have this story on the favorites list and alert list, but have not reviewed. Come on! I'd like to hear from you guys!

Ella's hand trembled violently as she gulped down an entire goblet full of wine mixed with tonic. Although Mandy visibly scowled in blatant disapproval of the vile mixture of her tonic with an alcoholic drink, she made no comment. Her goddaughter was entitled to imbibe what she wished after what had happened to her. Mandy had only needed her to describe in full detail once, which was a boon since it did not appear the shaken queen was in any condition to recall her hateful memories of those disturbing images once more.

It was a very pregnant silence that fell between the woman and the fairy before Ella finally broke it in a small voice. "If Rose was beset by…things…such as what I saw, then I daresay it is far better for her to never remember. If I were to see them physically…" she trailed off into uncertainty, leaving the possibilities up for conjecture.

Mandy had no interest in pursuing uncertainties at the moment; she was extremely troubled by what her godchild had told her. She knew objects enchanted by fairies began to, in a way, take on a life of their own. They were awakened, so to speak, by the magic of the fairies. This is not to say that they became aware of themselves, or took on inherently sentient qualities, but they sometimes did things quite out of the ordinary even for magical items. If they did, it was for a very good cause. Or, in this case, a very frightening one. Ella had been shown these visions for a reason. The book did not lie, although Mandy was now wishing it was.

The one link they had to grasp on in this debacle was the girl. Rose was the center of this mystery. What had happened to her, who she really was, and where she came from were central to the issue of these grotesque monstrosities. The cackling black-haired woman in the vision had probably been hunting Rose down. And Rose was no ordinary girl. The few months of knowing her and these new revelations had proved her to be someone very important, most likely royalty. The necklace Ella had seen in the images were most indicative of Rose being of royal blood, for many royal houses had some sort of signet depicting their royal house or coat of arms on a piece of jewelry. The simple way of finding out would to be to send out messengers to the farthest lands from Kyrria where they rarely received word to discern if something drastic had occurred within the land. But now, with the possibility that Rose most likely had a hefty price on her head and was, hopefully, believed dead, Mandy was sure it was best to keep quiet about her. They could learn what they could on their own and let Rose do the rest by regaining her memories.

"What are we going to do, Mandy?" Ella asked, her voice wavering with fear and despair. "Those things might come here looking for her. But I can't turn her out! She's an innocent, I'm positive. And my children are fond of her. I'm fond of her. Tristan and Lilly would never forgive us if Char and I were to send her away. But the kingdom might be in peril. How will an army stand against such abominations? I don't even know exactly what they were…and I don't want to know."

Mandy pursed her lips as she considered all their options. What Ella said was very true, but Mandy was sure that keeping Rose around was their best course of action. She could better regain her memories in this environment where she was comfortable rather than another. Her memories were the key. But the mind is a delicate and fickle thing. So delicate and intricate were the minds of sentient beings such as humans that magic could only do more harm than good in most cases. Rose would have to find her memories on her own.

"Have you told anyone else?" Mandy inquired.

Ella shook her head. It had taken weeks for her to work up the nerve to even talk to Mandy about it. She had been so horrified by what she had seen, she scarcely kept her wits about her throughout the festival and afterwards. Her husband and elder daughter were sensitive to the change in the queen's mood, and they both had questioned her about it in concern. Her son and younger daughter eventually caught on in between helping Rose regain her physical strength to the level it had been. She had furnished them with blasé excuses to the point of sounding almost hysterical in asserting over and over again, "I'm fine!".

"You really shouldn't have waited so long to tell me. You must talk to Ellie first, but Char will eventually have to know. This may constitute exposing the truth about me to him. Tristan and Lilly ought to know what you have seen as well," Mandy said grimly.

Ella nodded wordlessly, the significance of Mandy's permission to tell her husband the truth having been temporarily overshadowed by those haunting images. She swallowed the lump in her throat and massaged her forehead. Her voice was rife with sorrow when she murmured, "What of Rose?"

Mandy sighed heavily. "If there's any chance these visions you saw might trigger a memory or two, we must take it. I, as you, am reluctant to force her to relive such terror, but—"

"We don't have a choice," Ella finished solemnly.

Tristan was amazed at how fast Rose's body was responding to the rejuvenating potions and heavy exercise. Evidently, having gone through more strenuous exercise before had made her body extremely resilient, and easily restored if one was willing to work hard enough.

He, Radon, and Lilly watched in open astonishment as Rose progressed through the simple physical training before moving onto the more intense rounds of weapon and combat training faster than anyone had before. The elfish potions she was taking were intended to speed up the process, and they were certainly doing their job. But Tristan was certain her previous training before she ended up in their care had more of a hand in it.

The body and mind are intimately connected, but the body has another system it relies upon. Instinct. If there had been any doubts about Rose having been trained in the arts of war before, they were certainly obliterated now. Only someone who had gone through the motions before could move through the conditioning so quickly. Even if her mind could not remember, her body certainly did. And it certainly yearned to return to its former strength and form.

"This is incredible," Radon remarked, watching Rose execute a flip-kick back to her feet. "How is she doing all of this? She moves like no…person I've ever seen."

"Her fighting style is very foreign. She's very attuned to using all her limbs like in unarmed combat, but even when she has a weapon in her hand. I know of few places where they teach such methods, and most of them are all far to the North," Lilly commented thoughtfully.

Tristan considered all his sister and cousin had said. His eyes grew wide when his intuition made a connection that should have been made long ago. "That's it! She's from the North! She has to be! The northern borderlands are the only lands we know of that have women trained in combat as well as men. They don't just have the occasional peasant girl foot-soldier like we do."

He wanted to kick himself for not considering that an issue. Why had no one else pointed it out? Had everyone really overlooked that incredibly important aspect? Tristan was certain someone had to have thought of it.

"Tristan, the northern borderlands aren't the only ones who have women trained in combat. There are lands to the south and west that do as well. Her style of fighting is what I believe to be a northern style, but I do not know much about the southern and western styles. It's possible she is from there as well, which I have already considered," Lilly explained. Bearing an intense interest in learning the arts of war herself, she made it a point to know which places regularly trained women and admitted them into their militaries.

"The northern borderlands are extremely far from here. I mean, we're talking month-long journeys on horseback. What the hell would a northern borderlander be doing as far south as Kyrria? Not to mention, why would a northern borderlander be fluent in our language and be familiar to your parents? They've never visited the northern borderlands," Radon added.

Tristan watched Rose somersault under a wooden staff being swung at her by the retired training master. Master Chesno had trained his father and uncles when they had been his own age. Though aged quite a bit since his glory days, he was still remarkably spry and strong. He was more than capable of handling the training of a young woman.

Tristan's mind returned to the few months back when he had dragged Rose's lifeless body from the unforgiving waters of the Lucarno. She had uttered strange words to them before promptly passing out.

"Never safe."

Someone was after you, weren't they? It wasn't just a random bandit attack. You were marked for death, I'll bet. I wonder if they suspect you are still alive.

In those precious few seconds of consciousness, Tristan knew she had fully remembered everything; she had been totally aware of who she was, where she came from, and what had happened to her. He knew she had not been Rose, but someone else…the real person behind the cover of Rose. This real person was currently lost in the void of amnesia, but, if they played their cards right, she could be recovered and finally solve this mystery for him.

Unbidden, a strange sensation clenched his heart when he thought of Rose disappearing to be replaced by a stranger. It was unpleasant, this feeling, but he dismissed it as immediately as it had manifested. His focus had to be entirely on helping Rose regain her memories and return to where she belonged.

But she can belong here as well…with you.

The unpleasant sensation from before had returned with a voice. Tristan frowned and tried to dismiss them both, but they stubbornly refused to be turned away. So, with a great amount of will power, he studiously ignored both the voice and the strange sensation.

This was greatly facilitated by the breathless real voice of a blonde youth, dressed in the traditional raiment of a Kyrrian pageboy. He hastily bowed before the princes and the princess and took that time to catch his breath.

"Do you need something?" Lilly asked kindly.

"Your Highnesses, Prince Tristan and Princess Lilliana," the boy addressed in deference, "Her Majesty, the queen, and Her Royal Highness, Princess Eleanor, request your presence in the council room immediately. They ask for Lady Rose to be there as well. They also told me to tell you to make haste, for this is urgent…they said." The boy looked very confused, but he knew better than to question orders from royalty. It was not often he was asked by the queen or the crown princess to do something for them. It had been an honor even to perform so simple a task.

Radon seemed rather disappointed his presence had not been requested. "They did not ask for me?" he asked the youth.

The pageboy shook his head apologetically. "No, Your Highness." He stood ramrod straight before them, one hand customarily held behind his back and the other hanging still at his side. He was waiting for them to dismiss him.

Remembering the protocol they usually never followed, Lilly thanked the youth and then dismissed him. She turned to her brother and cousin with a very quizzical expression upon her face. "What do you suspect they want us and Rose for?" she queried in wonder.

Tristan shrugged, but he felt strangely apprehensive about talking to his older sister in the vicinity of Rose, especially when it most likely concerned Rose. But he had his orders, so it was with reluctance he turned to call for Rose. Radon stopped him by laying a hand on his arm.

"You two go ahead. I'll escort Rose," he proposed lightly. Lilly raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. Tristan appeared far too absorbed with his own thoughts to even care.

Lilly grabbed her brother's arm with one last sidelong glace back at her conniving cousin. The twins walked back to the palace. Radon watched them leave before walking over to Rose. All the while, he kept wondering what it was their mother and sister had to say, and why he wasn't going to hear it. Perhaps a little clandestine skulking and some eavesdropping were to be in his near future.

He smirked at the thought as he approached Rose.