"As stated in Article 1, Section 1 of the Law of Noelle, all Persons possess inherent, God-given rights further specified in Sections II-V. However, because a Slave is not a Person, a Slave does not bear the same God-given rights bestowed upon Persons."

Three days later, on Sueño 14th, King Darren had nearly finished getting dressed in light blue and lavender when the courier delivered a message from whom Darren believed to be King Klaris. He dismissed his footman and read the script to himself. Rein had spent most of the past three weeks reading Polaris's journal at the palace while she waited for this response. Now that it had arrived at last, she watched impatiently as King Darren grew angrier and angrier the further he read through the letter. Why couldn't he read anything out loud?

Rein had managed to find the letter that Queen Ariana sent to Count Rallian. She read it in his study and confirmed that sure enough, Ariana was the mastermind of this entire charade. However, Rein was unable to find the letter that was currently in the king's quivering hands until this moment. Now curiosity grasped her by the throat as she craved to know what Rallian had the nerve to write to the king.

Rein watched as Darren's hands trembled harder until finally, he crushed the parchment in his fists.

"Send in Polaris!" he barked. The courier bowed and left hastily to do his king's bidding.

Not long after the demand, Polaris casually entered the royal bedchamber dressed in a dark purple shirt and gold vest. Prince Myrdor, the eldest of the three princes, followed curiously behind the royal advisor dressed in dark blue and gold. This seventeen-year-old heir was eager to prove his worthiness to the throne now more than ever since he would be eighteen by the end of the year. At that age, the king would have the option to hand the crown to his son, or remain king for another eighteen years. King Darren had already made it clear that should Prince Myrdor prove himself worthy, he would gladly hand the crown down to him.

Without a word, King Darren thrust the letter at Polaris, who took it calmly and scanned the contents.

"This is the same handwriting," he said.

"Read it, Polaris," Darren demanded.

Polaris sighed and, to Rein's utmost delight, read the letter out loud.

"'I understand the concerns which you've expressed and of course, they are expected. I confess I have eyed your country secretly for years, and it is flattering to know that I have been so successful in keeping my desires silent. That is all you need to know on the subject and I refuse to answer any more questions regarding it. As for your second concern, it is true that as of late I've had my scribe write all my documents due to a recent injury to my wrist after taking a nasty fall in my chamber. The miracle worker promises recovery in a matter of five weeks from the time this letter is written. Until then, you will have to tolerate the foreign handwriting and trust that this is an honest message from myself. I am still waiting for a response to my first letter and I am not a patient person when it comes to such matters. His Royal Majesty, King Klaris of Saíd.'"

Polaris heaved a heavy sigh as he folded the letter back up and attempted to flatten the crinkles that the king had created. He hardly knew what to think, let alone what to say. When he finally looked up from the document in his hands, he noticed that King Darren and Prince Myrdor were both watching him intently, expecting a response of some kind. Polaris handed the letter back to the king.

"I see."

"Well?" King Darren was not satisfied with this simple reply. "What have you to say to that?"

"In all honesty, Your Majesty," Polaris answered, "this does not offer me enough evidence to alter my previous conclusion. Still, nothing adds up. For instance, where did Klaris get word of Nadia so quickly? It's not as if it only takes a couple of hours to travel from Noelle to Saíd, and you only learned of her existence the night before. There is a vital piece missing from this puzzle, Your Majesty. I stand by my judgement and insist that you avoid a war until we receive more answers."

"Then what would you have me do, Polaris?" Darren asked.

"Continue with the search parties. If you are worried about Saíd attacking, send soldiers to the boarders. Attacking Saíd first is unnecessary and can possibly put you at a disadvantage as you will have no way to know their methods of defense. Taking the defensive yourself can oftentimes allow room for creative techniques and we will have the upper-hand since we will be expecting them."

"Yes, however, they won't expect us to attack first, so we would have the advantage of surprise," said Darren.

"You honestly believe that Klaris won't expect you to retaliate after taunting you with these words?" Polaris slowly grew more frustrated with the king's simple mind and it could be heard in his voice. Nevertheless, he fought to remain calm for Myrdor's sake.

"I thought these letters weren't written by Klaris," Darren mocked.

"I speak hypothetically, Your Majesty. Whether these are Klaris's words or not, attacking Saíd is a very unwise decision. If I am correct that this is not from Klaris, which I guarantee I am, you will destroy your peaceful relationship with Saíd and mere apologies offered with excuses of emotionally-induced ignorance will not suffice!"

"Then tell me, Polaris: how can I be sure that these messages are not from Klaris? Because it's become clear that asking him, which was your suggestion I might add, is not enough for you!"

"Send spies, Your Majesty. They will be able to learn what Klaris has planned, if anything at all."

"'Send spies.' What a horrid waste of time! During which we remain sitting ducks for Klaris to hunt down!"

"Those words sound as though they came from Her Majesty, my King," Polaris warned.

"What if they are from her? Do you have a problem with your queen?"

"She is only queen consort, Your Majesty! She has no real power over your kingdom and she makes decisions based on the cost of time, not on the cost of life! You, sire, are the true sovereign over the land. Let this decision be your own and not hers!"

"My queen, and yours mind you, is a very wise woman who shares the same concerns as myself! I have every reason to find her advice sensible as I have every reason to believe that Klaris took Nadia for ransom! And mark my words, Saíd will not see peace until Nadia is safe here with me!"

"Don't forget, Father," came Myrdor, "you hired Polaris to be your royal advisor for his human wisdom and educational experience. Mother is a venavore with an average noble's education, I wouldn't be so quick to discard his words just because she disagrees with him. Otherwise Mother might as well be your advisor."

"Just because he's human doesn't mean he's correct each time he speaks," Darren replied. "And I believe that this is an excellent example of one of those instances."

Polaris exhaled a frustrated sigh through his nostrils. "Very well, Your Majesty. Attack Saíd. But be sure that I will have no part of it. If you have any questions related to your senseless war, you may continue to receive your flawless wisdom from your queen consort."

With that, Polaris bowed to his king and left the room. Prince Myrdor remained behind for a moment and ran his fingers through his silver and white hair.

"I must stand by Polaris on this one, Father," he said. "I believe a king should exhaust all peaceful resources before resorting to war. I also vow to take no part in this."

Prince Myrdor began to exit the chamber until Darren wished to quickly remind him of his true place within the kingdom.

"Don't forget, Son, that you will be of age soon and I am your king as much as I am your father. You must prove to me, not Polaris, that you're worthy of the throne if you wish for me to abdicate on your day of birth. When the time comes that you must step up to protect this kingdom, you will be expected to not hesitate."

Prince Myrdor didn't reply to his father. He showed no reaction at all to his words, and turned to continue to leave the chamber.

As hopeless as this appeared, there was still room for Rein to work her magic. There may be a war in the making, but at least Polaris had some sense. She shot back up to Polaris's bedchamber and decided to help a little bit before he reentered. For the past three weeks, Polaris had continued his research on the Rose Tree, and the notes he copied into his journal were quite intriguing to Rein. Although he was nowhere near the truth, his theories were interesting if not clever.

It is also quite likely that the Rose Tree is responding to climate change. Rose trees originate from Atlika, which happens to be a continent that never sees Summer, Spring, or Autumn. Thus, it is understandable if rose trees fail to withstand such harsh fluctuations in weather should they grow in a climate which sees these seasonal changes every year, lasting two and a half months each.

It has been witnessed that our particular Rose Tree has experienced visual physical variations as soon as Summer begins every year, and mutations have been documented to have occurred with other plants due to climate changes in the past, so this theory should not be easily disregarded...

Well, Rein easily disregarded it.

Polaris's chamber window had the perfect view of the Rose Tree, which now leaned heavily towards the right with its branches drooped downwards. There, Rein spotted Polaris with a strange contraption, about a foot shorter than himself. It stood on three legs like an easel, but had a small platform at the top which held a collection of gadgets that included a large wheel, a wooden triangle of some sort, and a type of measuring device. He jotted down notes, looked at the contraption, and then at the sky. No doubt taking note of the weather changes. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Drake anywhere, which meant he could possibly enter Polaris's chamber at any moment, but Rein decided to risk it anyway. She retrieved a piece of paper and dipped her hand into an inkwell. She then wrote: The Rose Tree is imitating Nadia. Now she just had to wait and see what would happen next.

Rein sat on the windowsill to watch Polaris for a while longer and found Wendell the Gardener there with him. She darted over to the Royal Cemetery, perched in a nearby tree, and listened in on their conversation.

"You're telling me that this tree is producing odors?" Polaris asked.

"Yes," said the nervous gardener. "Soap and farm animals. Can't you smell it?"

Polaris took a moment to sniff the air. "Actually, there is a faint trace of it." He looked back at the frightened gardener. "Well there's no need to be spooked about this, my friend. Now, when did the tree begin to droop like this?"

"It only started drooping two... three days ago?" Wendell answered, still just as spooked as before. "It just gets worse every day. And rose trees are supposed to be the most majestic trees; strong and firm with their branches stretching towards the sky."

"Yes, I know. Trust me, I've been reading up on them religiously. You're free to go."

"Yes, sir," Wendell said, and then left.

Polaris stood there for a moment in thought, but was soon interrupted.

"Your Honor!" came a voice from the distance. Polaris looked in the direction of the voice to see a courier calling to him. "The king wishes to speak with you. He has visitors and desires your presence."

Polaris sighed heavily before replying. "Very well, I'll be there in a moment."

                                                                   ***

Later that evening, Polaris met up with Drake in the library where he found his assistant reading over a stack of volumes by candlelight. Rein followed him in and hid behind the same yellow curtain while Polaris sat beside Drake with a loud sigh. Even though her patience grew thin when it came to the note she had left for Polaris hours earlier, it was clear that she would have to wait just a little longer before he found a chance to read it. Hopefully, an intelligent discussion over the events that she and Polaris had only just returned from would follow to make up for the lost time.

"I am anxious to hear about your long day away," Drake mentioned.

"The king's two visitors took us out to the middle of nowhere to demonstrate four new inventions which they swear will guarantee us victory in this war," Polaris explained. "Which, after having witnessed their demonstration, I have no doubt."

"What were these inventions?"

"Two of them were something that the inventor called 'guns,' one was something called 'black powder,' and the other he called a 'canon.'"

Drake paused to ingrain these new terms in his mind. "What are they?"

"The first gun he showed us was what he specified to be a 'musket,'" Polaris began, "which is a long metal pole that shoots small pieces of lead into your victim, killing him from a distance like an arrow. Except this piece is loud and obnoxious. The second gun he called a 'pistol,' which is essentially a smaller version of the musket which you can use single-handedly. The canon is a larger version of both. Instead of the small piece of metal, which he called a 'bullet,' it uses a 'cannonball,' which is about the size of your head. Its purpose is to bring down walls, ships, structures, other large objects. Black powder is what fuels them all. The inventor filled a cask with it, lit it, and the cask just exploded into millions of pieces! It was incredible!"

Drake looked at Polaris, slack-jawed. "It sounds to me like these inventions will certainly guarantee us a victory in the war."

"I have no doubt about it. The king is working with the inventor as we speak to establish a factory so to begin mass-producing these weapons."

"I see."

There was a long pause where Polaris slumped in his seat and rubbed his eyes.

"You're clearly exhausted, Polaris," said Drake. "Why don't you turn in for the night?"

Polaris heaved a final heavy sigh before he pushed himself up from the chair. "I think I shall. Good night, Drake."

"Good night, Polaris."

Here, Rein shot up to Polaris's bedchamber and waited for him to arrive. She had grown mighty bored listening to Polaris explain the weapons to Drake as she had witnessed the demonstration herself. However, she was thankful that she thought to tag along with the royal caravan to the middle of nowhere where the demonstration took place. This new age of weapons was something she very much needed to be aware of when it came to this war, and watching them in action with her own eyes was far better than hearing someone explain them to her. She also agreed that these inventions would certainly spell out victory for Noelle. She just hoped that after Polaris saw her note, all existing problems would be solved in a timely manner and maybe they would even avoid a war altogether so that these weapons would turn out to be useless in the end.

Polaris was very sluggish when he did arrive to his chamber and was in no hurry to approach his desk. After all, it had been a very long day for him. He hung up his coat, rubbed his face, took a seat in a cushioned wing chair, and sharpened his dagger in some peace and quiet while he went over the day's events.

Rein could wait no longer. She tossed a pebble into the room and it landed on the desk with a racket. However, Polaris was no fool. He looked at his desk, but concluded that the object had come from outside. He cautiously approached the window and peered out, being careful to remain inside. Rein had to stand motionless on a brick above the window to remain unseen.

Once Polaris gave up searching for who or whatever had tossed the pebble into his chamber, he approached his desk to see what the object was, but instead he saw the note. Rein watched anxiously as he read it. Polaris's face showed signs of growing bewilderment. He gave the message some thought before reading over it again... and then again.

"Drake," he finally muttered. Then he flung open his door and stepped out onto the corridor. "Drake! You sir! Go fetch Drake."

He turned back into his chamber and gave the note yet another read-over as he continued to rack his brain for answers. Then he snatched up his journal to look over his own notes of the king and queen's dream and compared them to his notes on the Rose Tree. He rubbed his face in frustration. The theory worked so well, but it shouldn't!

"I'm so confused..."

Finally, Drake entered. "You summoned me, sir?" he asked.

"Observe what I found on my desk," Polaris answered as he handed Drake the note to read. "Do you know anything about this?"

"Nothing, sir," Drake answered as he handed the note back. "Who else knew of our hypothesis? And what kind of utensil did they use to compose this note?"

Polaris took a magnifying glass out of his drawer and examined the strokes of the letters on the parchment. "It appears to be a tiny hand. A small creature wrote this note."

"I don't understand, sir. But at any rate, I say this means we should pursue the hypothesis further. Clearly, this creature knows about Nadia."

"It's not so obvious, Drake," Polaris said. "Since to me, it's clear that someone overheard us and wants us to believe this. There could be any number of reasons why, and not all of them are beneficial to us."

"Such as..."

"Perhaps they wish to find Nadia for their own purposes and we're to lead them to her?"

"That doesn't sound slightly paranoid to you?" Drake asked.

"Nevertheless, we should be cautious. This creature's intentions may not be honorable."

"Very well, we can pursue carefully. But let's not waste time." Drake took a seat beside Polaris's desk. "How is the Rose Tree imitating Nadia?"

Polaris was hesitant as he still struggled to accept the theory as plausible.

"I think I might know." He took a seat at his desk to make a note of everything discussed. "Listen, living things change in accordance to their environment. Both physically and mentally. The changes that happened first on the tree mimic Nadia's image. In the dream, her skin is the color of pearl, correct?"

"But nothing is black," Drake said.

Polaris considered. "Perhaps she changed something. She dyed her irises, wears makeup, colored her hair? We can look further into that later. Moreover, the transformations which happened recently may not only mimic current physical modifications, but also changes of mood or surroundings. For instance, the tree is drooping to show that perhaps Nadia is weakening, or she's depressed, or ill. After all, what slave doesn't feel this way? The scent of soap and farm animals could mean that she's living on a farm?" He looked to Drake for input or confirmation.

Drake shrugged. "Sounds as good of a theory as any."

"Yes, it's starting to seem more plausible to me the more I think about it, and I'm not certain that's a good thing. I'm hoping that if she is affecting the Rose Tree, it means that she's nearby. The theory doesn't seem to work unless she is. After all, one can only react to what is in their vicinity. Thus, the Rose Tree must be reacting to something... or someone nearby."

"How are we going to search for her?" Drake asked. "Besides the possibility that she's living on a farm, does the tree say anything else about her whereabouts?"

"Not from what I can tell so far." Polaris sighed as he flipped through the pages of his journal and scanned over his notes.

There was a moment of silence where they both pondered their discussion.

"So, what next?" Drake finally asked. "Do we inform Their Majesties of this theory or do we investigate further?"

Polaris considered the question. "I'm not sure what more we can investigate. I have no more questions, I simply don't like the answers I've been provided. That being said, I'll inform the king about our theory, however I would like to collect more evidence to support it first."

"What will you say, exactly?" Drake inquired.

"That, I will have to take some time to design."

Drake nodded in understanding.

"And what of the creature that gave us this message?" he asked.

"Hopefully, it's no threat to us," Polaris answered. "Maybe it'll continue to help us find Nadia."

                                                                   ***

That night at Aimonbay Estate, Nadia waited for everyone to fall asleep before she quietly snuck out of her bedroom. She peeked around corners and dodged the sight of servants and guards who worked the nightshift. She even endeavored to avoid the dimmest of lights which illuminated the corridors. When she finally made it to the rear courtyard, she hurried to the construction of the pond and constantly peered over her shoulder to make sure that no one spotted her. Nadia searched among the tools that had been left behind and picked out a shovel. Then, she worked to fill up the crater with dirt. Suddenly, Rein appeared.

"Nadia, what are you doing?" Rein hissed.

"I'm stalling the construction," Nadia whispered back.

"Are you daft? He'll know it was you!" Nadia didn't answer. It was all worth it to her. "Nadia, stop. Go to your room so we can talk. We need to talk."

"It can wait until I'm done with this," she answered through clenched teeth as she violently shoveled the dirt back into the hole.

"Hide!" Rein said and Nadia ducked down while Rein flew behind a shrub.

They watched as a guard passed by to do his rounds on the rear courtyard. They both patiently waited in their spots for him to leave. It seemed to take half the night for him to finally return inside the castle. When he did, Nadia didn't hesitate to return to work. Rein just watched helplessly.

"We'll talk tomorrow, Nadia," Rein said, and then she flew off.

For the rest of the night, Nadia filled as many holes and broke as many tools as she could. All the whiel, she dodged and hid from guards as they passed by unable to see the destruction in the darkness of the moonless night.

                                                                   ***

By early morning, after the equivalent of twelve hours on Earth, the craters were nearly filled, the construction was destroyed, the tools were useless, and it was clear that the workers might as well start all over again. Before the rise of the Northern sun, Nadia had washed up and made her way downstairs to help start on breakfast. When she got to the kitchen, Garnet and Mauro approached her.

"Lila!" they cried. "Did you hear? Did you hear the news?"

"What?" Nadia asked. "No."

They glanced around nervously for a moment.

"Someone has completely destroyed the construction!" Garnet answered.

"Everyone's furious!" Mauro added.

Clearly, they both knew that Nadia was responsible, but they wished to help her to keep it secret.

"Master promises a harsh punishment to the person who did it!" Mauro continued.

"Does he know who did it?" Nadia asked.

"No one does," Garnet answered.

Nadia looked around. There were a lot of people nearby.

"Well let's hope he finds out."

"Lila," came Alik's voice. Everyone looked in the direction of the kitchen entrance. "His Lordship wishes your presence in his study."

Nadia entered Count Rallian's study and found her master seated behind his desk, writing again. She approached him and curtsied. Without a word, Rallian motioned for her to sit in front of his desk and she quietly obeyed. The aura in the room had never been this tense, even on the first day she had arrived. Then, the count leaned forward and slowly folded his hands in front of him. Did he always do this when he was gravely enraged? She had the feeling that she never wanted to see him fold his hands like that again after today. It seemed ages passed as he stared intently at his hands. Nadia could only imagine that he struggled to control his anger. Finally, his voice broke in a low growl and Nadia wished that he had remained silent.

"I know you're responsible."