A/N: Ok, well the whole Jenna/Brenna thing was an accident, but if you enjoy it, well THANK GOODNESS! Now, where did I leave off…?

Elestra was in a crappy mood when she got to her room. She decided to take a long bath to get her mind off things. What had she been thinking inviting those people to ride with her! Easy. She hadn't been.

She settled into the bath, warm and with lots of bubbles. Just the way she liked it. She smiled to herself, knowing this was exactly what she needed. Elestra leaned against the wall of the tub (?) and laid her head on the surface of it. She felt relaxed already.

Without realizing it, she dozed off. A maid came in a couple hours later, asking her if she was ready to come out. Elestra realized that she was supposed to be eating with her family soon. But at the moment, she wasn't too hungry. She decided against going to dinner with them. She wouldn't be missed; it wasn't the first time she was skipping dinner. Anyway, if she got hungry later, she would just make a trip down to the kitchens.

Elestra got dressed and brushed her hair out. She had gotten used to the dull color of her hair, compared to the rest of her family's. It didn't matter as much to her. When she was done with her hair, she walked down to the library. It was time for another book. She picked up a comedy this time and grinned. This one was about a woman who decided to magically disguise herself as a man, become famous, and then reveal herself as a woman to the public to prove a point. Of course, along the way, many things go ridiculously wrong.

Elestra sat herself in a large comfy chair by the hearth, which had a few Fire Sticks in it. She was about four pages into the book when she heard the library doors open. She looked past the back of her chair to see who had come in. To her surprise, it was Alaraec. He seemed to be looking for something, or someone.

"Elestra!" he hissed. "You've got to be here! I checked your room and you weren't there. You can't skip dinner today, we have company!"

Elestra got up from her spot and walked up to Alaraec holding her book with her thumb marking the page she was on. Alaraec grabbed her hand and said urgently, "Everyone is wondering where you are! We need you at dinner today."

"Why?" she asked. Then something he said sank in. "Who are we eating with?"

"You'll see," was all he would say. With that, he escorted her to the dining area, where their parents were waiting with other people.

Sitting next to each other at the table were two people she least expected to see. They were her grandparents, for whom she and her brother were named. Elestra grinned and ran to greet both of them. "It's been so long! I didn't expect our guests to be you two!" She was truly excited. Her grandmother, the Princess, took Elestra's face and kissed both cheeks. "You've grown even more beautiful than last time we saw you."

Elestra had to admit that this was true. Last time her grandmother saw her was at her Flower Day celebration, last year. She had filled out more, actually gotten curves, even if they were somewhat small. Elestra got used to her hair and actually liked it. Her face was still a little bit of a bother to her, but she thought it suited her well, not as though she could change it even if she wanted to.

Next, her grandfather came to hug her. "There's my girl! How has the sword-play been lately?" he asked, excitedly. They got into a deep conversation about new techniques she could learn or how she's been doing with the ones she was weaker with before. Elestra promised him a demonstration later to show him how much she improved since last time she lost to him.

Elestra's father smiled and said, "Maybe we should have some food before we forget why we're here." Everybody sat down and waited as the servants put their plates in front of them.

That night, everybody chatted merrily, but for some reason, Elestra couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Her grandparents' arrival was a welcome surprise, but it only seemed like it to her and Alaraec, but even he looked less surprised than she felt. Then again, her court mask was still a little transparent. It was foggy, but people could still tell how she was feeling if they chose to look hard enough.

Her parents kept sneaking glances at each other during dinner and they seemed worried. It was as if they were waiting for something to happen. Elestra had a feeling that that something wasn't going to be a good something.

When dessert was done, her parents said good night to her and Alaraec. They needed to talk to her grandparents alone, Elestra realized. About what, though? Her parents must have called them. They must have traveled hard to get here. Why?

Elestra decided to ignore it. She was probably being paranoid. She should just enjoy the time she had with them. Elestra made her way up to her room before she realized that she left her book at the dinner table.

She made her way back down to the dining room and was about to open the door when she heard voices inside. Although Elestra knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, she quietly put her ear to the door. She made out her mother's voice replying to her father. Then she heard her grandparents trying to calm her down. What was going on in there?

"…I don't believe that those three are his 'friends' for a second…" came her mother's voice furiously. "I'd be willing to bet that they're magicians coming to help him take over the kingdom!"

Elestra's father said nothing for a couple minutes. Then, "Mel, if they were magicians, wouldn't you be able to…" The question was left unasked. Elestra knew that her mother had been studying magic ever since before Alaraec was born. Her father was wondering if Mel could sense if somebody was a magician.

"I could…unless they muffled their magical ability very well."

A new voice came in, but one that Elestra recognized immediately. "It would be hard to do so. Only a very powerful magician would be able to mask their power so that a fellow magician would not be able to recognize him for what he was," her grandfather said tiredly.

Her grandmother spoke next: "I still don't trust Flauvic, but we may b overreacting to his sudden reappearance. What if he really is only here to reclaim his land and we are sitting here making this visit into something more? What if we're making it into the conspiracy that it really isn't?"

Everybody fell silent at that. Elestra's mother couldn't help but cry, "But why would he choose now to come when he could've come any time later? Why couldn't he have stayed with his 'friends' Jenna, Galen, and Brenna if they were so close?"

When it was clear nobody could think of a good answer, Elestra's father said, "Maybe we should rest on this. Mother, Father, you've had a long and hard trip. You need your rest. So do we Mel," he added softly. Elestra could tell that by "we" he meant "you" but her mother, surprisingly, didn't argue.

Elestra panicked as she realized they were all heading toward the door she was standing outside of to leave. Quickly, she looked for a place to hide as the door opened quietly. hardly thinking, she ran down the corridor and turned the corner and tried to control her breathing. There were footsteps as they all filed out. Somebody paused. Elestra prayed they wouldn't come looking this way. Then (s)he went on quietly.

Elestra waited until she couldn't hear any more footsteps and raced back to her room without even returning for her book.

A/N: Wow…This one was looong. It took a while to write. I hope you enjoyed it!