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Infrequent attacks, really. But they’re adding up. If it’s not taken care of we could have a revolt from the local populace. And what’s more the envoy that the residents of the Ameles Forest trust most is dead.”
    “You don’t mean...”
    He nodded.
    He was referring to the dead Princess Heir, Marissa Algardis. Prince Sebastian’s aunt, who had been trying to have him removed from the inheritance rights of the Algardis throne by draining his mage core since he was five. When that tactic was thwarted by Ciardis last spring she had tried to kill Ciardis in retribution while vowing to do the same to Sebastian. Sebastian and Ciardis, together with his loyal guard, had managed to kill her instead. But only at the expense of quite a few lives, including that of Damias Lancer, Ciardis’s tutorials instructor and a man she had considered a friend.
    Ciardis swore enough to make a sailor proud. “I knew that bitch would come back to haunt us.”
    He laughed wryly. “In more ways than one.”
    “But surely there’s not someone out there deliberately attacking the kith ?”
    “My father thinks there is,” Sebastian said slowly.
    The kith were the magical races of creatures who were the original inhabitants of the Algardis Empire. Over the centuries they had grown to cohabit with humans peacefully. But the Ameles Forest held a special significance for many of the kith . As a consequence, a large portion including the mythical griffins and the cardiara called it home. If they were being attacked and murdered, it was a concern for all of the Ameles Forest kith and the surrounding communities.
    “Something must be done,” she said.
    He nodded. “And something will. My father has ordered me to travel with an official presence to the forest in the coming weeks. Lord Meres Kinsight will be going ahead in the next week with others as an advance party.”
    “Well, that’s good.”
    “But the forest deaths are just one concern among many,” he said bitterly.
    “And the other concerns are?”
    “Well, my uncle the Duke of Cinnis wants me dead, and the Western Isles are demanding a new treaty enforced by the Lord of the Windswept Isles.”
    “The first I can see as a problem. But the second?”
    “The treaty between the Western Isles and the Algardis Empire has always been negotiated by the heir to the throne directly with the representive of the Western isles. The fact that they’ve asked for the Lord of the Windswept Isles as an intermediary is an insult.”
    “Hmm, yeah, that could be a problem. What has the emperor said?”
    “My father stands by my side. He assures me that I will be present for the negotiations.”
    Ciardis took that in stride. But she knew that having a presence in the room wasn’t the same thing as being a negotiator at the table.
    But first things first. “So tell me more about this duke.”
    They spoke long into the afternoon about his uncle, Duke of Cinnis. A distant relative of Prince Sebastian’s, he seemed out for his nephew’s blood. Before Prince Sebastian had to leave, they agreed to meet at a local tavern later in the week, as traveling to the Aether Realm was magically taxing. The bracelet she wore on her ankle had limitations and, as far as Prince Sebatian could tell, could only be used once a week before it went inactive.
    When Ciardis returned to the Companions’ Archive, she decided she needed to do some snooping of her own. This Duke of Cinnis was trouble. Regardless of the fact that he was Sebastian’s family, he was clearly not feeling familial enough to avoid trying to kill him. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she slipped on a cloak and strode out into the rainy mist. Slipping through the outer gates which barred entrance to the Companions’ Guild in the mid-afternoon wasn’t hard.
    The flurries of snow had given way to a light, icy rain that made the guards less likely to venture outside of their gatehouse to interrogate individuals who were seeking to