Notes

The next morning, Mairwen was up bright and early to deal with the difficulties from the night before. She was at the University long before most of the scholars, knowing that Dania was often there before the crack of dawn.

"Wait here," she said to Eira and Renat when they reached the doorway.

The two had been unwilling to let the princess go unaccompanied to the hallowed halls and had rushed to be ready in time for her departure. However, they knew better than to push their luck and both stopped short of the door.

Mairwen took a deep breath, and pushed into the office. Renat waited anxiously outside, hoping that he would hear laughing soon, or at least happy crying. However all he heard was silence. Then the Princess cried out, "No!"

Renat and Eria burst into the room with their swords drawn.

The room was in a highly altered state. The water, the instruments, the piles of papers. All of it was either missing or stacked to one side along the wall. Only a few of Mairwen's items remained and a large wooden box on the laboratory table. Mairwen leaned against that table now with a piece of paper in her hand, shaking.

"What happened in here?" the tall man asked.

Unable to speak, Mairwen simply proffered the paper to her husband's hands. He read it quickly.

"Taran and I have run away together to get married. Do not worry. I will return to continue my life's work and greatest passion. I have moved my things to the side so that someone else can use the laboratory until then. Anything that belonged to the University is in the box beside this letter. I hope the University will forgive us for leaving so suddenly. There was no time to waste once Taran told me of his desire. Please tell Princess Mairwen, who is like a sister to me, of my feminine folly in the hopes that she will forgive me. I look forward to seeing her again soon. -Dania."

The princess stood dumbstruck for a moment. "She left..."

"I guess what you heard last night was really a lovers' quarrel as Taran suggested. It seems they patched things up and decided to make it official." Renat wrapped his arm around his wife. He could see the pain and confusion in her eyes.

Mairwen shook her head. "I can't believe it."

"I know it is hard..." the man wanted to help badly.

"No! I mean I cannot believe it. Something is wrong." Mairwen studied the letter again, this time with a critical eye. "Look! She says she will return to continue her life's passion."

"Yes?" Renat smiled, confused.

"The study of the water is not her passion. Mathematics is. She will not return to the University to study mathematics. So why would she write this?"

"Maybe she knows that the University leaders will see this and she wants to stay on their good side." The man suggested. He tried to gently take the letter from his wife. She tugged it away from him.

"By lying?" Her brow furrowed.

"By ingratiating herself to the powers that be. Most scholars must do this to get funding." Renat did not have to play that game because of his connection to Mairwen, but he saw many who did.

"That isn't Dania's style and you know it. And look here!" She pointed to another part of the note. "She said there was no time to waste because of Taran's 'desire'...not love. She never says that she loves him."

"So?" Renat could not see her point.

"It is very unusual for a woman, especially an independent woman such as that scientist, to leave love or affection out of a note about getting married. Scientist Dania mentioned nothing about her motives other than Taran's wishes. It does not sound like her." Eira piped into the royals' conversation. "Forgive me Your Highnesses."

"No, that is what I was going to say, but you said it better. Thank you." Mairwen gave a nod to her personal guard. "And then Dania mentions me specifically and says she looks forward to seeing me again soon. Not everyone else. Just me. And that is after she basically kicked me out yesterday. Why would she write that?"

Renat was beginning to see her point. 'That part was very strange.' "Perhaps..." he answered tentatively, "she feels bad about the way you parted and simply wants to make amends via this letter."

"Or she wants me to find her. She said I'm like a sister. A sister wouldn't just leave her sibling to run off with a man. A sister would try to do everything to be there for that blessed event, right? I mean you would not be alright if one of your sisters ran off in the dead of night, would you?" Mairwen looked pointedly at her husband.

Although he had not felt like he fit in well with his family, he still loved them dearly. "Of course not, I would track the man down and make him make an honest woman out of my sister!" There was a tinge of anger in Renat's voice that pleased the princess.

"Good. That is how I feel just now. We must find Dania." Mairwen announced with conviction.

"Wait, I didn't mean..." the man realized too late what he had done, but he also could not totally disagree. Something wasn't right. Mairwen's sharp glance quickly silenced his objection. "Let us ask around today, and then if we have no more information, we can ask your mother to open an investigation. Who knows? Maybe this was all really just a whim and Dania will return on her own later today."

Renat, of course, was wrong. The day passed, and the princess took her concerns to her mother and father. While Devrim was suspicious of the note as well, he did not see all the meaning in it that Mairwen could.

Aurora, on the other hand, called out her search team to go immediately. Even though the princess was forbidden from going on the chase, she took some comfort in knowing that her friend was being sought out.

A month passed with no news and no return of Dania. Rumors were flying throughout the University, but none of them had any credibility. One rumor said they had joined a band of entertainers and were selling science like cheap parlor tricks. Another said they had set sail to live on some far off island to live their days off coconuts and ocean views. These rumors were easily dismissed by the princess as annoying but harmless.

As for the more insidious rumors, Mairwen made sure to put them down immediately. The smallest thing could ruin a woman's reputation and the blue-eyed woman was determined to keep her friend's virtue intact until it could be proven that something else had indeed happened. It was the least she could do to protect the female scientist.

At last on one Sunny day, a letter arrived at the palace addressed to the princess. Mairwen knew the handwriting immediately when a servant delivered it to her hand.

"Where did you get this?"

The imperial servant bowed humbly, "A man claiming to be from Oblivion delivered it this just now. He insisted that it be given to you only. He insisted that you were expecting it."

"Stop him! I want to speak with him!" The princess rushed to the front gate. The man was still there, though the soldiers were in the process of turning him out. "Where did you get this?" She asked once she called off the soldiers.

The man looked at the Princess's frantic face and the angry scowl of the personal guard behind her and gulped. He fell on his face at Mairwen's feet. "A woman paid me well to deliver it."

"A woman? Describe her." Mairwen demanded. Her voice softened as she realized the man's terror. "You are not in trouble. I will pay you well for any information you can give."

The poor man relaxed slightly and lifted his head from the ground to speak. "She had brown hair and blue-green eyes that never seemed to stay the same color. A tall handsome man with a dark trim beard was with her. He was a nobleman of some kind, I think."

The description fit Dania and Taran. That coupled with the fact that the letter was clearly in Dania's handwriting was enough for the princess. "Did the woman seem to be in any trouble? Did she seem in distress?"

"Did she have a ring on her finger?" Eira added, having come to the same conclusion as Mairwen about the couple's identity.

"No. I don't think so, and I don't know. I mean she was very pretty, but I was too distracted by her sudden request that I did not pay attention to if she was married." The man grimaced. "Forgive me."

Mairwen had heard enough. She turned to the nearest servant. "Please take this man to the kitchen and get him a warm meal and, if he wants, a change of clothes and a bath. Inform the head investigator of our guest's arrival so that he can ask our visitor any additional questions. Afterward, please pay this man a handsome sum. Advisor Junayd should be able to tell you a reasonable amount."

"Yes Your Highness," the servant bowed.

"Glory to the Empress!" the commoner praised. He eagerly followed the servant while patting his empty stomach.

Left alone with Eira, Mairwen tore open the letter and devoured its contents.

'Dearest sister Mairwen,

I heard you are looking for me. I find this sentiment most touching. I hope you found my previous notes that explain the situation. I am well. Taran is most determined that we should remain where we are for the time being. You know how he can be. I hope you will forgive my extended absence. Please know how much I miss you and long to be with you. Do not seek me out. -Dania'

After reading it a half dozen times, Mairwen reluctantly turned the note over to her parents and the investigators. With it and the testimony of the messenger, the investigation was closed.