The name struck a chord of memory within Elena. Of course she looked similar. Moon Night was the twin sister of the power-hungry tyrant Solara. 

The pair of them had been the twin sovereign queens of the Palace of the Morning Sun. Equal in power, beauty and in ambition. Moon Night had tried a futile attempt at pushing her older twin sister out of power to become the sole queen. Instead, she had been driven out and Solara was the only one left with a claim to the throne. To those who called Solara the Tyrant, power-hungry and cruel, they also called Moon Night a homeless power-starved delusional.

Elena had heard from her father that the lunatic queen had escaped somewhere west, having been mercifully banished from the north with nothing but her life. But she had not known it had been here.

Hand on her cheek with an index finger scratching at her forehead, Moon side-eyed Robin. Her eyes swiveled between him and the unexpected guests who had interrupted her nap, as if asking him who they were. 

Robin faced his sovereign and extended his hand toward the guests, "The beautiful Princess Elena of the recently fallen Eastern Romulus Empire and her aesthetically pleasing just-a-guard."

Moon raised her right eyebrow at his description of Greystoke. 

She looked over, possibly to gauge herself at how aesthetically pleasing Greystoke was but instead made eye contact with Elena. 

Elena could tell that they both felt it. They knew what they were the second they saw each other, as if they were predators circling the same prey. Yet still, Elena was unable to draw her eyes away from hers, her terror shifting unknowingly to something that felt more animalistic, like she was challenging the other sovereign for her right to stay in her territory.

Moon pulled her gaze first, turning her head to look back at Robin. She gave him an incredulous long and slow blink, as if saying to him, "And why did you bring them here?" 

Robin replied, "I told them I would show them the real power of the west. You." 

As Robin beamed, Moon Night rolled her eyes and placed her head in her hands. Her black hair draped her face like a closed curtain, which pulled back just as quick when she lifted her head back up. Moon stood, her dresses hem falling down to just above her ankles. Elena suddenly realized that the sovereign's feet were barefoot as she walked across the dais toward Robin and shoved a finger into his chest.

Robin raised his hands up in defense of himself, "I didn't get into any trouble this time, I swear on your beauty." He said with a wolfish smile. 

It was very clear that Moon did not believe him. 

Taking her finger from his chest, she took a step back so she could look up at his face. 

"My sovereign." A familiar woman's voice called out. The tall warrior that had driven the carriage approached and knelt in front of the dais. "I am here to report about the incident which happened during patrol."

Moon's right eyebrow shot up quizzically at her remark. 

"I already told her, Lark," Robin's chuckle puttered out of his mouth. He gritted his teeth before speaking again, "You don't have to repeat it." 

Lark paid no heed to Robin and made her report to Moon Night about the entire patrol to the capital city of Cainabel. About how during the patrol, against her advice, Robin entered the tavern and ended up starting a brawl which by the end of it had concluded with the bar half-burned down and the tavern keeper, named Sigman, having a broken arm. 

When Moon looked back at him for an explanation, Robin scoffed, "I couldn't just stand there and let him call you a heartless ugly lunatic. And he's a cheat! He puts water in the wine and sells it at full price!" 

It did not take much thought for any of them to realize that his second reason was probably the real reason he'd started the brawl. 

Lark placed the final nail in Robin's coffin, "I have arranged for some of our men to repair the tavern and build them a new bar. Sigman's only request was for Robin to kneel in front of the pup- uh Prince Molinari and apologize for the damage." 

 "What!" Robin exclaimed as he gave a pleading glance to his sovereign. "No, not to him!" 

Moon ignored his pleas and waved a hand. A pair of bulking warriors in leather armor and large axes strapped to their backs entered the hall. Each of them took one of Robin's arms and started to drag him away as he kicked and screamed. Neither of the women, nor the two warriors, seemed fazed by Robin's dramatics, even as he yelled out several profanities in between insisting he had done nothing wrong. 

Once Robin was gone, Lark stood up from her kneeling and told Moon Night, "I will bring our guests to the best room available." 

Moon Night gave her a simple nod back, sighing through her nose while kneading the apparent ache that was forming inside her head. 

 The female warrior guided them through the halls of the castle. Taking them down a more structurally sound path than what they had been shown by Robin. The stone walls were more or less intact, some even having paintings or curtains hung from them. Lark led them to a set of two rooms which were conjoined by a decent sized sitting room. It looked better than what Elena had expected. 

Pointing off to the left Lark instructed that the larger room, which had a bathing chamber, was Princess Elena's. To the right, the smaller room which was missing a door was Greystoke's. 

"I will instruct one of the others to bring you hot water so that you can bathe." 

"Thank you, Lark." Elena said. 

"It's Larkspur." Lark said, nodding her head off to the side, "Only the birdbrain calls me Lark." 

Elena refrained from laughing at Larkspur's informal use of nickname for Robin, pressing her lips together. She felt it would be rude to concur that she had thought the nickname fit Robin the troublemaker a little too well. "Then, thank you, Larkspur." 

Larkspur waved her hand, as if shaking the thanks off. As she did so, Elena noticed a small spider-shaped ink blot on the inner part of her wrist. A savant's mark. Just like the raven's wings on Greystoke's back.

"I'll make sure you both get a warm meal for both of you to share." She said as she left, closing the door behind her. 

Moon Night had so many savants. Robin, Larkspur, and probably even those two axe-wielders. Robin the troublemaker had promised to show them the true power of the west, and it had turned out to be another sovereign. Elena's innards felt murky. 

"What is it?" Greystoke asked her. 

Elena spun on her heels to face him, "Send a raven to watch Moon Night. I don't trust her." 

Greystoke nodded. Elena turned on her heels and walked into her room, shutting the door behind her. As she prepared to rest, she saw burbling shadows enveloped the door frame and heard the shattering of glass. She closed her eyes listening the cawing sound of night-winged ravens as they flew off into the moonlight to do their savants bidding. 

When the two of them had breakfast the next morning, Greystoke told her what he had observed during the night-time. He explained that the raven overheard Robin talking to Moon. She did not say a single word the entire time, Robin doing enough speaking for the two of them. 

"But it was strange," Greystoke said as he spread a purple jam onto toasted bread. "The way he was talking, it was as if she were speaking to him." He tore off a piece of the bread and fed it to the raven that sat on his shoulder. 

The raven gulped down the toast and in a squawking voice repeated phrases it had heard: "They would've gotten her killed!", "She is coming! She is coming!", "We are already spread thin as is, Moonie. Moonie!" The raven finished. Greystoke fed it another torn edge of bread. 

Elena brewed it over in her mind. Setting down her teacup, she told him, "They have a mind link. It's rare, I've only ever read about it in storybooks." A mind link was a connection between savant and sovereign, built by innate total trust for one another. It was rare enough to find a sovereign who didn't force the blood connection, but to find one that you trusted with your entire being was- unimaginable, to say the least. 

Yet there they were, Moon Night and Robin. She could not help but glance up at Greystoke. 

Elena shook the grim thoughts from her head, picking back up her cup of milky coffee she wished were tea instead, "What did he mean by 'spread thin'?" 

As Greystoke shrugged, the raven hopped of his shoulder and glided down, dissipating into the shadow beneath the savant's chair. There was a knock on the door. It opened and the same boy who had brought them dinner last night and their morning meal came gliding through. 

"Good Morning!" Tawny was all chipper as he smiled at the two of them, his eyes scrunching into crescent moon shapes. "Did you enjoy your breakfast?" 

"We did." Elena smiled. She couldn't place it, but he looked different now than when he dropped off the toast and coffee this morning. His hair seemed two shades lighter, and she could have sworn his eyes were purple like the jam he'd given them, but now they were a chocolate brown. Only the small circular black beauty spot beneath his right eye was the same as she remembered. 

"I'm glad! They have me do all the cooking since I'm the youngest, but I've never been to the east, so I did not know if it would be to your taste." Tawny said. Then he clapped his hands together as he remembered his next task. "When you're finished, Moon Night would like to invite you to play a game together."

"A game?" 

"Yes!" 

Elena was confused. "What kind of game?" 

"I have no idea!" Tawny replied cheerfully with a shrug as he lifted up the empty plates from the table, resting them on his forearm with pristine, well-practiced balance. "I was just told to inform you that she wanted to see you. Larkspur is outside the door to take you there." 

The door creaked open as Tawny approached it with his arms full of dishes, revealing Larkspur standing in the doorframe. She nodded to Tawny as he passed by her. Tawny reciprocated with a slight nod of his own. 

Larkspur led them to a small room that looked as if it had been furnished for entertaining guests. A fireplace sat with fresh wood ready to burn during the cold seasons. Walnut wooden bookshelves towered on either side filled with knowledge of the Western Kingdom. A green leather sofa wide enough to seat five people sat in the center of the room, a matching set of wingback chairs on either side. Sitting in front of a wall-length glass window, Moon Night was adorned with a gown consisting of three different shades of pale blue. All of which agreed with her complexion and made her dark hair stand out. 

When she spotted Elena, she stood up and moved to the other side of the table, pulling out the chair that was on the opposite side for the princess to sit in. 

Elena crossed the room and sat in the chair that Moon had pulled out for her. On the table was a wooden board for an eastern strategic game that was very familiar to Elena. Off to the side of the board she had set two small bowls filled with segregated black and red playing pieces. Moon returned to her seat, sweeping her skirt out from beneath her knees so it wouldn't get caught as she sat down. 

"How do you have this?" Elena asked. 

Moon gave her a small smile, before gesturing for her to begin the game. Elena looked to the bowl on her side, where black pieces waited for her. Black pieces always went first. She even knew the rules. The goal of the game was to divide off more of the game board than your opponent. Same as many things in the Eastern Romulus Empire, it was simple in concept but more complex in motion.

Complex as the game was, Moon Night had proven to be adept at it. She was masterful in her control of the board, often choosing to lose in order to win. She would give up one piece then surround three, overtaking Elena's territory. 

As they played there were muffled noises from outside the window. Moon Night, disturbed by the noise, looked outside the window. Her eyebrows scrunched together as if she'd found something she had not wanted to see. While Elena was leaning over the board, focused on her turn, Moon looked at where Larkspur stood in the corner next to Greystoke. 

With her eyes and a slight nod toward the window, she gestured toward the outside. Larkspur nodded and bowed her head to Moon Night before leaving the room. 

Greystoke watched Larkspur leave, crossing his arms while his chest rose with a deep breath. 

Moon Night continued the game with Elena as if nothing had happened. Elena became frustrated as she realized Moon was delaying the game intentionally, pushing and pulling as she bode her time. It was only when Larkspur re-entered the room and sped over to Moon that she realized there was something else amiss. 

Larkspur leaned down and whispered into her sovereign's ear. Moon's lips thinned out as she pressed them against each other. 

"What is it?" Elena asked as she held a black piece between her fingers. 

Moon Night shook her head at the princess. She could almost hear her unspoken words, "Nothing for you to be concerned about." 

It was Moon's turn. Moon took a smooth white piece from her bowl and in a swift, decisive motion, placed it on the board. Elena gasped as she looked down. With a single-placed piece, Moon had won the entire game. 

The black-haired sovereign stood and bowed her head to Elena in thanks for the game. Then she left the room, Larkspur on her heels. 

Elena huffed, still staring at the board. "It only took her one piece to destroy my entire strategy." 

She looked up at Greystoke, whose eyes were on the door that the sovereign had left through. It did not take her long to realize that he wanted to follow them. Elena tossed the black game piece back into its bowl and stood up. Nodding, she said, "Let's go." 

Greystoke leading the way, they raced after Larkspur and her sovereign. 

Chapter Word Count: 2,491
Total Word Count: 4,608