Rhen didn't bow when he stepped into the chamber. He shut the door with his heel and stood there, armor still filmed with road dust and night dew. A shallow cut split his jaw from ear to chin. It wasn't bleeding anymore.
Xerxus dismissed the servants with a flick of his hand. The three of them bowed out, and the door clicked closed behind the last one.
"You saw her?" Xerxus asked.
"Third bell past midnight," Rhen said. "South district. Glass Street."
Xerxus moved to the side table and poured water into a clay cup. He didn't drink it. "You followed protocol?"
"We held position," Rhen said. "Two roofs away. No flight. No engagement. Like you ordered."
"But you wanted to break it?"
Rhen's eyes were hard. "She had her hand on a child."
Xerxus set the cup down without a sound. "Which child?"
"Jessa, the baker's daughter. She's seven." Rhen's bracer creaked as his fist tightened.
"Found her barefoot in the middle of the street. Eyes open. Not asleep, not awake. The purple haired girl was talking to her."
"Did you hear what she said?"
"No. Too far. Wind was wrong." Rhen's throat moved. "Jessa walked home after. On her own. Put herself in bed. Her mother found her at sunrise and said she doesn't remember leaving the house."
Xerxus stared out the window. The courtyard was chaos. Vendors shouted over each other while guards directed carts stacked with fruit, ribbons, and wooden swords for the tryouts.
Blue and gold banners cracked in the wind. The Solstia event started by midday. The whole kingdom would be watching.
"How many does that make?" Xerxus asked.
"Fourteen that we know of," Rhen said. "All under ten. All from different districts. All say the same thing when they wake up."
Xerxus closed his eyes. "Something big is coming."
Rhen nodded once. "Your Majesty, with respect, we can't keep holding position. Bijan and Jarek were stationed at the west wall for some odd reason."
"Bijan and Jarek," Xerxus cut in. "West wall?"
"Yes."
"They were watching my guests?"
Rhen didn't blink. "They were doing their jobs."
"Were they?" Xerxus turned from the window. "The boy in my robe didn't eat last night. Neither did the silver haired one. He stood outside his door until sunrise."
Rhen's expression didn't change, but his stance shifted. Weight off his back foot. Ready. "You think they're connected to the girl?"
"I didn't say that," Xerxus said. He walked to his desk. A map of the kingdom was spread across it, corners held down by polished stones. Fourteen marks in red ink. One for each child. "I don't think he's connected to her in any way."
Rhen was quiet for a long moment. "What do you want me to do?"
"Double the patrols today," Xerxus said. "Plainclothes in the crowd. I want eyes on every district captain, every archer in tryouts, and every one of my guests. Especially the boy in the robe."
"And if the girl shows herself during the event?"
"Then you break curfew," Xerxus said. "And you bring her to me. Alive."
Rhen finally bowed. Short, sharp. "Understood."
"Rhen." Xerxus waited until the man looked up. "The cut on your jaw. How'd you get it?"
Rhen touched it without thinking. "Jessa's mother. Threw a pot at me when we told her we watched and didn't intervene."
Xerxus's mouth thinned. "You did what I ordered."
"Doesn't make it feel right." Rhen moved to the door. "I'll have the captains in the yard before the first bell."
"One more thing," Xerxus said.
Rhen stopped with his hand on the latch.
"The boy," Xerxus said. "Kota. He's her son."
Rhen went very still. "You're sure?"
"I gave him her robe. He put it on like he'd worn it before." Xerxus rolled the map up slowly. "His crew calls him by name."
Rhen's voice dropped. "Your Majesty. Princess Leona had no children when she left."
"I was there when she left," Xerxus said. "I know what the records say. I know what we told the kingdom." He met Rhen's eyes. "But I see her. In his face."
The air in the room changed.
Rhen held his gaze for three heartbeats. "If you're wrong," he said, "you'll start a war claiming a dead princess had an heir."
"And if I'm right," Xerxus said, "then Solstia remembers its own." He tapped the map. "What did the girl mean?"
'Something big is coming.'
"Is he what she meant? Is he something big that's coming?"
Rhen looked at the fifteenth mark on the map. His voice was flat. "I don't know what she meant, Your Majesty. But if he is, then we're already too late."
He bowed once more and left without another word.
Xerxus stayed at the desk long after the door closed. He unrolled the map again and stared at the fourteen red marks.
He picked up a piece of charcoal and made a fifteenth mark. Right over the palace.
Kota sat on the floor of his room with his back against the bed. He hadn't slept. His skin still felt tight. Like before a storm.
A knock came at his door. Soft. Once.
Kota didn't move. "It's open."
The door cracked. Jaeger slipped in and shut it behind him. He didn't speak. He just crossed the room and sat against the opposite wall, knees up, watching the window.
"You didn't sleep either?" Kota asked.
"No," Jaeger replied.
Kota studied him. "You stayed outside my door all night."
"I know," Jaeger said.
Kota's eyes narrowed. "The girl last night. Purple hair."
"I saw her," Kota said.
"Where?" Jaeger said.
"Outside my window last night," Kota said.
Kota pushed off the floor and stood. He walked to the window and threw it open. The courtyard was packed.
Children ran with streamers. Guards in dress armor stood at every corner. Archers lined up near the tryout field, bows unstrung at their sides.
And at the far end of the courtyard, past the vendors and the banners, a girl with purple hair stood perfectly still.
No one could see her but Kota.
She raised one hand and pointed. Right at him.
Jaeger stood and moved to the window in two steps. He scanned the crowd. "What are you looking at?"
"You can't see her?" Kota asked.
"No," Jaeger said.
"She's pointing at me," Kota said.
"Have you two met before?" Jaeger asked.
Before Kota could answer, a horn blew from the courtyard. Loud. Brazen. The sound that started the Solstia event.
The purple haired girl smiled for the first time. Then she turned and walked into the crowd.
And vanished.
The horn blew again.
Below them, Xerxus stepped onto the balcony in full regalia. The crowd went silent.
"People of Solstia," Xerxus's voice carried across the stone. "Today we remember why we endure."
Kota didn't hear the rest. He was watching the place where the girl had disappeared.