Lily walked briskly down the halls of the palace, holding Nibenon on her hip. She had to put him down for a nap then grab Catherine for a short reading lesson. Despite her somewhat frequent affair with Meldiron, she managed to keep her cool. He obviously loved her dearly, and had been hiding it for years. She kept coming back to him partly because she would feel bad if she left him and partly because it was the best sex she'd had in a while. Sex with Nuada had been slacking lately, with four kids they were both exhausted and worried more about the children than their own needs. She knew it wasn't his fault, and it had taken a lot of time for him to love her, but it was still nice to not be Queen Lillian taking care of four kids for a short time while she was with Meldiron.

Lily finally reached Nibenon's crib, which was in her and Nuada's room for easy access, and placed him in it.

HBHBHBHBHB

They slunk along the walls of the castle, keeping an eye out for any guards. Sneaking quietly, closer to their goal. Any guards they came across were swiftly and silently killed. They'd been waiting too long for this moment to allow it to be ruined so easily. They had trained for years, nearly half a decade, all so today would go perfectly. At the end of the day, their goal would be reached and Bethmoora would be restored back to its former glory.

There were four of them total. Each one wore colors to blend in with the shadows and the nearby foliage. They had swords strapped to their backs, and easily maneuvered from place to place. No one would realize they were there until it was too late.

They jumped through a window into the castle.

HBHBHBHBHB

Lily was sitting in the library, Catherine in her lap, reading to her daughter. Every once in a while she would stop, and let her daughter read the next sentence or two. She was determined to have smart children. They were the future of Bethmoora.

"Then the brave knight rode up to the castle-" A loud noise made Lily pause. After hearing nothing more, she continued. "-in search of the princess."

Another loud noise caused Lily to stop again. She placed the bookmark in the page and set the book on a nearby table. She lifted Catherine into her arms and stood up, looking around the library.

"Hello?" She called. There was only silence. Lily began to panic, the librarian should be there at least. She held Catherine a bit closer. "Let's go check on your brother."

She ran as quickly and as silently as she could out of the library. She rushed down the halls to her and Nuada's room. She passed a door to the gardens and Sophia burst through, a clump of lilies in hand.

"Look, Mommy! I picked flowers just for you!" She held them out in front of her.

"Oh, they're so beautiful. Come with me to my room and we'll put them in water." Lily rushed. She tried to not sound too scared; she didn't want to frighten Sophia.

"Okay." She said in her childish voice. She skipped after Lily as she continued down the hall.

A loud bang made Lily spin around, scanning the halls. She didn't want to call out this time, convinced something was happening.

"Let's hurry." Lily grabbed Sophia's hand and ran the rest of the way to her room.

Lily pushed open the doors and jumped in surprise when she found someone already in the room. She struggled to catch her breath when she found it was only Antien, swinging a practice sword around. She shut the doors once all of her children were in the room. She placed Catherine on the floor.

"What are you doing in Father and Mommy's room?" Lily asked him sternly.

"I just wanted to show Father my sword skills." He pouted, staring at the floor now.

"I'm sorry, Antien. I've been paranoid and you scared me." Lily knelt down to him. "But we can go get Father and show him. Now leave Nibenon in his crib. He needs to sleep."

Lily hoped Nuada could protect her and the children if something really was going on. Antien nodded, still pouting slightly. Lily checked to make sure that Nibenon was still sleeping while the other children waited to leave and see their father. Antien opened the door in excitement, eager to show his father his new skills, when he screamed. Lily spun around and saw an elf standing in the open doorway, his figure covered in black.

"Antien! Children! Get away from the door!" Lily shouted.

Almost too fast for her to see, the elf grabbed Antien around the neck and lifted him. Antien swung his practice sword at the elf. The elf took the wooden sword and threw it into a corner of the room. Antien pried at the hands at his throat. The elf looked at each child before his gaze rested on Lily.

"You will all come with us. Now. Bring all the children. Even the baby." He released Antien, who fell to the floor.

Lily stepped forward to comfort her oldest, when the elf rested a hand on his sword, a warning. She stepped back and grabbed Nibenon out of the crib. He was half awake now. She held him close to her and she began to usher them out of the door. They were all scared, that was evident, but they didn't show it. Lily was proud of her children in that instant. Her and Nuada had done a good job raising them so far.

The royal family was led down the hall. The elf who had been at the door led the front and another elf came around the back. The children stayed close to their mother, and Sophia held Lily's hand. They walked at a slow, even pace.

"What do you want? Life threatening situations seem to happen to me often. Don't tell me this is about the impure royal bloodline. Why can't you people get over that?" Lily almost spat at her captors. She had children to take care of, she was through with games being played by some naive activists.

"Because we are a proud race! And we do not want the royal family's line to be tainted by filthy humans! We are better than that!" The elf at the front turned and shouted at her, his sword drawn and at her throat. "Now walk."

They were led into an old servants' room. There was a tiny layer of dust on everything. The two elves closed the door behind them and blocked them. The royal family stood cowering a few feet away.

"My life has been threatened before and I have been fine. But you have brought my children into this, your future monarchs. If you think you're going to lay one finger on one hair on one of their heads, you are surely mistaken. Never threaten a lioness's cubs." Lily clenched her jaw in frustration. She carefully placed Nibenon in Sophia's hands before stepping in front of her children. "I'll take you both now if that's what needs to happen to protect my babies."

One elf stepped forward with his sword drawn and he slashed at the queen. She ducked and grabbed the wrist of the sword-holding hand. She used her other arm to elbow him in the face. The force threw him to the left and Lily managed to get the sword from him.

"I've been surrounded by elf and human hating freaks since I filled out that survey I got in my email, and you think I'm untrained? Idiots." Lily said, twirling the sword. "Now kids, back up. Mommy doesn't want you to get hurt."

The other elf drew his sword and his and Lily's swords clashed. He leaned forward on his sword and Lily swiped his sword to the side using hers. She slashed at his torso, managing to give him a shallow slice. He swiped at her again, and she stepped back to dodge. She held her sword at the ready, waiting for him to strike again. The other elf from before came up from behind her and put her in a head lock. She dropped the sword and pulled at his arms. The elf with the sword took this opportunity to slash and stab at the queen. Her children cried out in fear. Nibenon began to cry. Lily lashed back, kicking her legs at the elf. He held his sword at her neck.

"Feisty. We'll have to change that. Perhaps by slaughtering your filthy half-blood children in front of you?" He breathed into her face.

"They're your king's children too!" She shouted back.

"He's been tempted into bed by a seductress like you! Lowly human!" The elf hissed. He glanced at the children. "The youngest first?"

He stepped over to them. Lily struggled against the elf that held her captive. The elf near her children reached out to Nibenon. Sophia shied away from his touch, keeping her brother away. He still cried in his sister's arms.

"Or perhaps the crown prince?" He reached out to Antien this time.

The boy had a stern look on his face. He hardly flinched when the elf touched his cheek. The elf pulled his sword back. Lily struggled again, thrashing around.

"Don't you dare touch any of them!" She pulled and scratched at her captor.

"You don't command me, human!" The elf spat at her. He hit the handle of his sword against her temple.

"Mommy!"

Lily fell against the floor, out cold. All of the children shrieked in pure fear. Nibenon's cries became piercing screeches.

No! Not the children! Do they make it? What do you think? Will Nuada swoop in and save the day?