Lies and more lies.

"Why are you violating my privacy?" Argana demanded with a chill to her voice that could freeze fire.

"Princess Derya has gone missing from her room. We are simply looking for her," the male said.

"Let me explain how this castle works, Commander Hyras. You knock, I answer, you ask your question, and I provide you with the information you need while you remain respectfully outside of my chambers. Although these are no longer my chambers, they now belong to Princess Derya. She would have moved here next week, but she was feeling unwell, and I have been looking after her for the last few hours."

"That is a lie!" Safiya spat, her voice drifting closer to the open door that led from the sitting area to the main chamber.

"Then come see for yourself. Where are you going, Commander Hyras? Is it not bad enough that you have entered a lady's chambers without invitation? Do you now wish to enter her bedroom as well?" Argana asked, and Derya almost smirked.

"Let me assure myself. Is the lady decent?" he snarked.

"Of course, she is decent, Commander. This is a castle, not a house of ill-repute."

"It's fine, Lady Argana. Let them come see me in my weakest hour," Derya called out, coughing.

It was not the first time she played sick, and convincing Nineve was an art achieved by few.

Seven men entered the chamber with Safiya in the lead and Argana trailing them with a frown furrowing her brow and an expression of displeasure only tempered by unease.

"Prince Andor will not be happy about this," Argana warned as Derya carefully pulled herself upright, sweat beading on her brow and looking pale as wax. She almost smirked at herself in the mirror across from the bed.

All she had to do was allow her wolf close to the surface, and the rune did the rest.

Although the wound had already grown pink, she was careful to hide that hand below the covers.

"What is wrong with her?" Safiya asked, her anger and suspicion glittering like diamonds in her eyes.

"Must have eaten something that didn't sit well with her," Argana said, passing them and taking the cloth from her "patient" and washing it out before returning it.

"Really? There was nothing wrong with her fifteen minutes ago."

*Had only fifteen minutes passed? It felt like thirty, maybe more.*

"Princess Derya has not left my room."

"You were out in the garden with her and Prince Andor. She was half naked!" Safiya spat.

"You are mistaken, Princess."

"Argana? Bucket!" Derya said, and Argana barely managed to give it to her before she was violently ill.

Most of the men quickly exited as she continued to be sick.

"Please leave and allow the Princess some privacy," Argana demanded when only the commander and Safiya remained.

"I don't know how you got here from the garden, and this is a neat trick, but I do not believe it for a moment!"

"Your Highness, you can't fake being that ill," the commander said, sounding somewhat unsettled and close to gagging. "Please, let us leave."

Derya allowed a rather loud fart to escape as she emptied the last of her stomach contents into the bucket.

"Argana?" she said, putting her best puppy just had a booboo expression on. "I think I just..." she convincingly sounded as if she were about to sob.

"We're leaving. Sorry to have disturbed you both. It will never happen again," the commander apologized, bowing to them while inching out the door. "Princess, come."

"This is not over," Safiya hissed, and Derya farted again.

Her brother would have been proud of that one. The few times they were sick as children, their mother put them in the same room for company, and so did Nineve. He was a big baby when he wasn't feeling well, but the two of them got up to some gruesome behavior when left to their own devices.

They were also closer to each other in those moments, almost as if they could just be themselves with no pressure.

"Are you sick?" Argana asked, pulling up her nose as she stared down at the impressive amount of rancid puke in the bucket, and the scent of that fart made its way known, almost making her ill.

"I saw you had castor oil, and it isn't good for... my kind, although the effects do not last long," Argana took the bucket to the toilet, something few human castles had, but most fae ones did.

She emptied a pail of water into it to get the unsettling mess down the stone drainage pipes to wherever it emptied out. Probably over the cliff into the ocean.

"Were those nasty farts, or did you foul yourself?" Argana asked, returning with the clean bucket.

"They were farts," Derya said, smirking but relieved they got away with all of this, and Safiya failed.

"Are you sure?" Argana asked, and she chuckled.

***

"Are you decent?" Andor asked from the next room.

"No, we're just hanging around butt naked," Argana grouched, using a little pump bottle to disperse the ambient odors.

"Safiya looked like she could eat fire," he said, coming into the room with a dark cloak draped around his shoulders.

"Derya is an adequate actress. She can barf and fart on command," Argana said, and he looked momentarily taken aback before his laughter rang out across the room, and Derya was entranced, despite being more than slightly shamed by him knowing such things.

"Growing up around you must have been fun," he said, wrinkling his nose despite the fragrance Argana spritzed. "And Safiya must have been quite taken aback."

"She didn't buy any of it for a second, but the men left in a hurry, and the commander nearly gagged."

"Did she see you come here?" Derya asked.

"Yes, I passed the commander in the hall, and he told me you were unwell. I pretended not to know and hurried to enquire about your health," he said.

"Did Safiya follow you?" Argana asked.

"No, the commander had her by the arm, and he was not amused about the ruckus she caused. His accusations were rather to the point."

"There should be no other situation where she can have such power over us. I think it is time for you to leave," Argana said, and Derya's stomach complained loudly. "I believe that entire bottle of castor oil has not completely left her system yet."

"A bottle of castor oil! That would kill a human."

Strangely, he seemed even more impressed by this, but he bowed toward them and left.

"I think I just lost all credibility with him as a female," Derya said, getting out of bed and hurrying toward the toilet with no bloody door.

"Really? No door?" she asked, barely sitting down before her bowls evacuated themselves.

"Maybe an entire bottle was a bit much," she admitted a few moments later.

"The bath is in the living room, love. Did you expect a door on a toilet?" Argana teased, and she hadn't thought about that because there wasn't one in her room; they brought it in from outside every morning and took it away because it wasn't a main guest suite.

Luckily, Safiya wasn't aware of this.

She'd find it strange.

"Do you have to watch me taking a potty?" she asked, and Argana smirked as she pulled the curtain across the door that Derya had not even noticed.

"Thanks," she griped.

"Strangely, they thought us barbarians when our amenities are so much more refined than theirs, although judging by you, the quality of our princesses has gone way down," Argana said tongue-in-cheek.

"Next time, I will just let her win."

"On the contrary, Princess, you just proved you are a worthy adversary, and Safiya will up her game. Your pride and loyalty will not allow her victory, but we must be on our guard."

"Bailey's at the door," Derya said a moment before the door opened and closed.

"What is that smell?" the princess asked.

"Werewolf trauma, are you alright?"

"I had this feeling Derya's in trouble, and then I heard Safiya speak to the Commander, and I couldn't follow them here, so I had to wait until they left."

"She might live," Argana said, "but let me escort you to your room. You should not be out here in the hallways."

"Before you tuck me in, Safiya sent a letter to her father that the Commander was not too happy about. He called it childish and immature without actually using those words, and they had a heated discussion on the way back to her room.

"I guess she made her accusations before verifying the facts, and now he will look foolish, but she refused to be swayed."

***

"Where is the boy?" Argana asked after a moment.

"Somewhere in the hallway, trying to be inconspicuous. He was told to stick near Derya, and she gave him the slip."

"He's outside the door listening," Derya corrected, using the last water to flush the toilet.

"Boy? Come in here before someone sees you," Argana said, and the door opened and closed. "Escort Princess Bailey back to her chambers and keep an eye on her door while I keep an eye on Princess Derya. We have enemies in this castle."

Derya spritzed some of that scent and sneezed; it wasn't werewolf friendly.

Neither of them moved as she exited, uselessly pulling the curtain in place.

"I don't want to be alone tonight," Bailey said, and Argana sighed.

"You are not five, Bailey. Go to your room; you are arguably the most dangerous thing in this castle."

"I wasn't sent to guard her; I was sent to guard Princess Derya," the boy protested.

"Argana, the monsters are real and in this room. Let's pull out the spare mattress from under the bed, get that big pillow thing from the divan, and we're all set and safe," Derya suggested, and her stomach rumbled.

"Are we?" Argana taunted.