Roxas woke up wondering if he was dead. The world felt very hazy and nice, although there was a nasty taste in his mouth. When he tried to open his eyes the lashes were glued together. He reached up without thinking to rub them.

"Hey, don't." Gentle hands caught his wrist and Roxas belatedly realized that his left hand felt very strange. "Use your right one." Roxas reached up again and rubbed his face, finally managing to open his eyes. At first all he could see was blood red but then it resolved into something familiar and reassuring.

"Axel?" He whispered, swallowing. The redhead nodded and offered him a glass of water. Roxas gratefully took it, gulping it down. "I'm alive?" Axel laughed and gently patted his shoulder.

"You're alive, although you had a good try at not surviving. You went into shock before Merlin could stabilize you." Roxas looked down at his left hand and saw it was heavily bandaged. Axel easily read the question in his face. "You're going to be fine. The fireball took off the tips of your fingers but Merlin and Sora managed to regenerate them." That had only been possible because the wounds had been so fresh. It had still taken an immense amount of magic.

"Thank you." Roxas whispered. He knew that in Nyamore, there would have been no way anyone would have put such magics into a slave. Particularly not one who had betrayed his master. Roxas felt a sudden spike of fear and tried to struggle up. "Xion! Is she okay?" Axel glanced to the side and Roxas followed his gaze to the bed beside his. "Xion!" She lifted her head and gave him a reassuring smile. But Roxas couldn't help but see the pain lines around her eyes and the tightness in her face.

"I'm fine Roxas." She said but he swallowed as he heard the edge of hurt to her voice. She was alive but Roxas was sure she wasn't fine. That wasn't a huge surprise though. He'd always suspected her captors were treating her badly, but there had been nothing he could do about it. Then Axel cleared his throat and Roxas looked back at him.

"The men you were reporting to were in the process of leaving when we arrived. It's a bit hard on Riku, but we're pretending what hurt you was a minor magical accident when he was showing off his skills." Axel said and Roxas blinked at him, feeling slow and stupid. Riku? Axel caught his lack of comprehension and explained patiently. "No one knows what happened and they won't."

"They won't?" Roxas echoed, his eyes suddenly prickling. "Axel…" He felt deeply, incredibly grateful for what the King had done. If everyone had known he'd tried to assassinate Axel the castle might have become a difficult place for him. "Thank you." He tried to convey all his gratitude in that phrase and he seemed to succeed. Axel smiled slowly, stroking a bit of damp hair away from his forehead.

"It's nothing." He said and Roxas relaxed as he saw the open warmth in Axel's eyes. It was as if some barrier between them had gone back down and Axel was willing to show his feelings again. Roxas reflected ruefully that the redhead must have known about his treachery for some time. "You eat, rest and get better. Speaking of which…" Roxas blinked as Axel picked up a tray from a nearby table. "Some food for you. You'll need to eat plenty, the kind of healing you've had drains your body." The food was a simple broth, only lukewarm and some toast. Invalid food but Roxas didn't mind. The spoon and pieces of toast were easy to handle one handed. Axel watched him eat for a moment, smiling. Then he stood. "I need to be going. There's plenty of things to do… but I'll come by to see you later." Roxas nodded, his mouth full, and swallowed before he spoke.

"Thank you so much Axel." He was alive, Xion was alive and his reputation was undamaged. Roxas had never expected that. Axel bent down to gently kiss him on the forehead before he left and Roxas watched him go before turning back to his food. Xion was dozing off and Roxas could see the lines of pain on her face ease as she slept. He was hopeful that Xion might stay at the palace. He was sure Axel could find some kind of place for her here.

Then they could all be together.

"So. What have you learned?" Axel asked, leaning forward and putting his hands against his desk. Zexion sat easily in the chair across from him, toying with a pretty gold locket. His Spymaster glanced up with a sly smile, opening the locket to look at the picture inside for a moment.

"All the evidence points towards the Sathari." Zexion said calmly. "The men we capture from the house didn't know too much, of course, and the wizard escaped." Axel accepted that calmly although he'd really wanted that wizard. Apparently, though, she – the survivors all said the wizard had been a woman – had prepared spells in case they were found out. The teleportation circle she had used had been defaced beyond any tracing after she was done with it. "But there were documents left behind. It wasn't easy to decipher but ultimately they all lead to the Sathari ambassador." Axel leaned back, watching Zexion thoughtfully. The other man was looking too pleased with his own cleverness.

"You look like the cat that got into the cream. You don't think that's it?" In a way Axel hoped it wasn't. He really didn't want to go to war with Sathari. They were ready for him and it would be a hard campaign.

"We found this stashed away in a desk in an unused room." Zexion answered obliquely and tossed the locket to Axel. Puzzled, the King opened it to see a delicately painted picture. It was a fine example of portrait art and painted on a piece of ivory. The girl it depicted had long blond hair, soft brown eyes and a very sweet smile. Axel examined it closely but couldn't place her.

"I'm sorry, but who is this?" He finally asked. He was sure he ought to know. Zexion's smile widened as he took back the locket.

"It's not surprising you don't remember since you only saw her for a few minutes. Fortunately, I was there and I have a good memory for faces. It's Princess Serrelaindra of Invara." Axel ignored the preposterously long name, full attention on the last part of the sentence.

"Invara? Are you certain?" Axel rubbed his chin as Zexion nodded. "But that makes no sense! What could they possibly get out of assassinating me?" Invara was in no position to invade his country. They weren't even in a position to make a territorial grab when he was locked up in contention with the Sathari. Zexion shrugged and lifted his hands as Axel thought hard.

"I'm not sure about that." The Spymaster admitted, tapping the locket. "But I fancy this piece of evidence. I'm sure it's something their ambassador brought with him and it's exactly the sort of little bauble that might be accidentally left behind." Axel nodded reflectively. That locket had probably been meant as a present if he'd accepted the betrothal. Still…

"Hn." Axel tried to think what the Invarans might gain. What if he had died in the attack? "Zexion, what would have happened if they'd succeeded in killing me?" He said slowly and Zexion frowned. "The Council of Barons would have likely gone to war with Sathari, right?"

"Yes, if we caught the evidence. If not, or if the Sathari made a good enough case that it wasn't them, your mother would be named Regent for Reno." Axel winced faintly at that and Zexion smiled. "That wouldn't have weakened the Kingdom, my King. She knows to listen to the Council and Baron Rykoff is very good." Axel nodded. The Baron was also his top General and a prominent member of the Council. The Council of Barons might not be perfect but they would have kept things together until Reno could ascend to the throne. Axel briefly entertained the thought of internal plotting. Could any of his Barons have intended to make a deal with the Invarans? Reno was only a child… but assassinating him after Axel's death would be very hard. Sora and Merlin would have laid down the wards tighter than ever before. So that didn't make a lot of sense either although it was very easy to influence his mother –

An idea suddenly occurred to Axel. It was breathtaking in it's audacity but it made a great deal of sense. He suddenly stood and Zexion blinked at him before scrambling to his feet.

"I think we need to speak to my mother about this." Axel said as he strode out. Zexion frowned but followed, curious and puzzled. "She might know much more than she thinks." That was always the way it was with his mother, he reflected ruefully. He was lucky he'd inherited his father's brains and his mother's willingness to work. If Axel had gotten his mother's brains and his father's laziness the Kingdom would have been truly screwed.

It took some time to find the Dowager Queen. When they did find her she was sitting in the gazebo, working on an absolutely beautiful piece of tapestry work. Reno was hard at play with a group of children. Some of them were the offspring of visiting nobles but most were children of the servants. The noble children tended to go home to their estates in the winter but the rest were Reno's permanent friends. Axel watched, amused, as the group of boys and a few active girls went romping past before he let himself into the gazebo.

"Hello mother." He said pleasantly, taking a seat across from her. She nodded with a smile but didn't look up, her agile fingers placing a few more delicate stitches. "How are you doing?" Axel didn't want to alarm her by going directly into questions. Zexion took a seat, pretending he was attending on Axel. It wasn't really that unusual and his mother thought nothing of it.

"Quite alright dear. Reno is having a lot of fun today. Do you like my new gown?" She said with a smile, lifting her eyes from the embroidery as she tied off a string. Axel really looked at her gown and saw it was a soft wool, cream colored and decorated with only a bit of green embroidery. It was very subdued for his mother and really quite attractive.

"It looks lovely on you." He said truthfully and she pinked at the compliment. "You should wear the pearls with it, I think." Right now she was wearing a heavy gold necklace set with an emerald and that detracted, in his opinion. Fine pearls would suit the dress much better. "Mother, I was wondering. Have you heard anything about that princess?" Her brow wrinkled and he made his question more specific. "The one from Invara? You know, that poor girl they brought in front of me?"

"Oh, her!" His mother had clearly forgotten all about her. She shook her head sadly. "Not too much, poor girl. Mind you I have been sending letters back and forth with her mother. It only seemed right to apologize for the, um, situation." Axel nodded. His mother was very good at smoothing things over. "Not that it was our fault but it seemed the decent thing to do."

"Did the Queen of Invara mention anything else mother?" Axel asked gently and she paused, thinking for a moment. It clearly took some effort.

"She mentioned the orange trees are growing well… oh, she did mention that she has a little daughter named Alexivandra. They give their royal children such bizarre names, don't they?" The Dowager Queen shook her head sadly. "At least that one shortens well into Alexi. Anyway, this daughter is about Reno's age. Of course it's too soon to be making a match for him but it's always wise to consider and the Queen says she's intelligent and charming. Of course, every mother says that about their girls, don't they?" His mother said indulgently. Axel smiled and patted her hand.

"They do indeed. Well, I should get back to work. Have a nice day mother." Axel stood and looked out the door, smiling as he saw that the boys had found the muddiest part of the garden to have a ball game in. He remembered playing like that as a child. The only real difference had been that none of the Baron's children had been there.

"So that was their plan." Axel said when they got back to his study. The silencing spells on it ensured privacy, and he didn't want anything to get around the castle. Not until he'd decided exactly what steps to take, at least. "Kill me and try to push through a betrothal of their princess to Reno." Zexion nodded, expressionless, as he considered the Council and the situation.

"They likely would have agreed. Sathari is right beside Invara. Their weak, but if we declared war on Sathari their aid could be valuable. And part of the betrothal would no doubt be trade agreements and rich gifts for them, with their soldiers being the dowry of the princess." Zexion mused. "I wonder if they approached any of the Councillors?" Axel grimaced, running a hand through his hair as he took a seat.

"Probably. Mother doesn't have the best attention span. But if one of the Councillors brought it to her, she'd remember and it wouldn't take much to get the Council behind it." Axel knew that one of the few things his Barons didn't like about him was his fixation on the same sex. Some of them found it repulsive but most were just worried about his lack of heirs. Axel had even tried to produce one, once, but the encounter had been an abysmal failure. He'd decided he wasn't going to put any woman through that again. Reno was perfectly good as an heir, after all… although he was only one small boy. The Council would have been much happier with two or three children to carry on the Royal line. "I wonder if whoever they approached knows the first step was supposed to be my assassination."

"That's something we'll have to investigate, but I really don't think it's likely. Your Barons are remarkably loyal to you. And Royal marriage speculations are quite common." Zexion remarked thoughtfully. "So what are we going to do about it?" That was the thousand gold question. Axel frowned, tapping his fingers against his desk.

"A very good question. I still don't really want to conquer them. They're worthless and the Sathari will probably take care of them in a year or two anyway." Suddenly Axel smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "You know, we could quietly give this information to the Sathari ambassador. They won't be very pleased to find out they were being used as patsies." The men in the house had genuinely had contacts to the Sathari, but Axel thought the ambassador had just been buying information as usual. All the ambassadors to his court had contacts.

"That's vicious." Zexion said admiringly. "I think we should, although we'll have to be careful how we deliver the information." Just giving the ambassador the documents wouldn't do. The Sathari didn't trust them very much. "Perhaps we should make a few threats – " Axel and Zexion bounced ideas back and forth on how best to start a war between Sathari and Invara.

It was no less than the two of them deserved.

"Xion, are you sure you're alright?" Roxas asked worriedly. His friend was picking at her food, hardly eating any of it. Now that he was awake and feeling better he could see she looked too thin, pale and weak. Nothing like the strong and brilliant girl he'd known as a child.

"I'm fine." Xion paused in her nibbling and gave him a tense, brittle smile. "Really."

"Xion, did they…" Roxas couldn't bear to say it. Xion avoided his gaze and finally took a big bite of the odd confection, almost choking on it. Then she blinked as the taste hit her.

"What is this?" She looked at the round thing in puzzlement. "An egg?" It seemed to be a hard boiled egg surrounded by sausage and breadcrumbs, then deep fried. Xion had never seen anything like it in Nyamore and certainly not in the house she'd been kept hostage. They had fed her prisoner food, mostly. Roxas hesitated then went with the change of subject. If Xion had been raped there really wasn't much he could do to help her. He wasn't sure who could, but he would have to ask Axel about it.

"It's something they make here, they call them King's Balls." Xion snorted a bit and Roxas smiled, relieved to see her laughing. "Although Axel looks a little pained at that."

"I can see why." Xion began eating her King's Ball with more enthusiasm, testing out some of the spreads they'd been given. "The mustard is nice on it." Roxas tried a bit and found she was right. "Roxas? What am I going to do here?" She finally asked and he could see the flash of fear in her eyes.

"I'm not sure yet. But I'm sure you could find work in the kitchen." He said reassuringly. The palace staff didn't really have any openings but he was sure they could find something for Xion to do. She sighed, looking at the half eaten ball in hand.

"I wish I could go home." She murmured then shook her head. "But there's nothing there for me." Roxas winced, remembering how he'd been enslaved. Xion hadn't been, but her family had been working for his. He was sure his father had had to let them go with the government seizing all his assets for back taxes.

"What happened to you after…?" He finally asked and Xion flashed him a pained smile.

"Well, my family went to Delca…" Xion began telling him the story of the trials her family had gone through and Roxas listened with a heavy heart. They had both been through so much. Could they really make a home here?

He would just have to wait and see.