Lily’s rhythmic breathing was all Frederick could hear in the darkened room. In the palace, he would hear servants scuttle about, or guards barking orders at one another. There was never any silence. It had never occurred to him just how much the ambient noise comforted him in his huge room. But here, with nothing but the slightest sound of someone else breathing, his mind refused to be silent.

Without following any one particular train of thought, he considered what he had learnt about Lily that day. Magic that didn’t fall into the main elemental families were extraordinarily rare. He had met nobles who could read minds, who could make objects move with a gesture, and once a man who could hypnotise people with a touch. Magic that could let someone not only feel the emotions of others but control them was almost unheard of.

And those who did possess such a talent did their best to hide it. Other than his parents and Frederick, Liam had never told anyone of his ability. More often than not he refused to even speak of it and pretended that his only power was his element. Then again, Liam had never manipulated someone’s feelings even though he felt them keenly. Perhaps that talent was unique to Lily.

He understood feeling like he needed to hide the true extent of his power, so he could hardly criticise her. Most people believed it was impossible to learn an element outside of your bloodline, and yet he had never had a problem. Even without trying, he was able to master even the rarest element. It was necessary for everyone with the talent for magic to learn how to control it, regardless of their class. Being able to soothe a cow is one thing, but if she were to better learn how to manipulate it then she may be able to sway even the most hardened soul. Then again there was a lot of potential evil in having the ability to manipulate even how someone feels.

Liam had told him as much. Part of his father’s fury was due to Liam’s inability to sway people so that he could achieve his goals. There had been a time where Frederick himself had questioned whether or not their friendship was real, or if Liam had used that very power to manipulate him. After all, it was strange for him to take an interest in other people, especially the children of known rivals of his father. But for some reason, he had felt drawn to him, and even if it had started due to some kind of manipulation, it had long since become a true friendship. He hoped.

Mulling over such things did nothing to help soothe his frustration, so he closed his eyes and willed away his turbulent thoughts. Each time another thought tried to take route in his mind, he pushed it away. It was if his mind was incapable of enduring silence, and it constantly tried to fill it with empty chatter that served no purpose.

Lily ruffled her covers as she tossed and turned, moaning and whimpering quietly. She whispered something that Frederick couldn’t quite make out, but the shaking in her voice was unmistakable. He sat up, pushing the rough cover away from him. The bed was no different from sleeping on the floor, and the pillow was flat with use. Still, it wasn’t the worst thing. Mimi and Lily still tried to be kind even as he rejected it. Lily tried her best to be indignant at his behaviour, but so far she hadn’t managed to follow through for very long.

When she began to thrash around, he tip-toed over to her bed and placed his hands on the hardwood. Her brow was creased and damp with sweat. Her lip quivered with each small cry. Frederick fretted as he watched her, unsure of what to do. He had nightmares in the past, but nobody had ever been there to comfort him. Without direction, he simply grasped harder onto the bedding and watched over her.

“..m…sorry…Father…” she said between sobs.

He raised an eyebrow. Levin had been his caretaker for as long as he remembered, and there was nothing he had ever done that had made him sad. Perhaps it was a side he hid and Lily was afraid of him? But that couldn’t have been the case. When she first saw her parents she smiled and looked as if she wanted to throw herself at them. Yet now she panted and shivered as she dreamt of him.

“Please…stop…” She thrashed.

She gripped her shoulder and curled in on herself. Frederick considered what he should do: it might be a good idea to wake her up, but he didn’t know what would happen. But somehow he felt that it wouldn’t be a good idea to get Mimi either. Just as he made up his mind and reached out to her, the door flung open and Mimi all but shoved him out of the way.

“Lily, dear, wake up.” Mimi gentle shook her. When that didn’t work, she pushed the cold, wet flannel she had brought with her against Lily’s neck. Her eyes shot open and she gasped.

It took her a few moments to regain her senses, but when she did she took a deep breath placed her hand on her chest.

“I’m okay now.”

“They’re just dreams, dear. But it seems you worried Frederick.”

He stiffened at his name. Lily looked away as soon as their eyes met. Mimi cooed and calmed her for a little longer before kissing her on the forehead and leaving. He shuffled uncomfortably for a moment before sitting on his bed. Lily watched him from the corners of her eyes, settling herself on the edge of her bed so she was facing him. He wasn’t sure if that meant that she wanted to talk, or if she just wasn’t ready to try to sleep again.

“You have bad dreams a lot?”

She nodded. “At least once a week. Only once a week if I’m lucky.”

“And you dream about…your father doing something?” He asked, trying to make his accusation as vague as possible. He didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, but at the same time, he would ensure that she would see Levin as little as possible if he were a danger to her. Even if he couldn’t help Liam, he wouldn’t let someone else suffer in a similar way if he could possibly do something about it.

“No, Papa never did anything like that to me. Besides, even if he wanted to I see him only a few times a year anyway.”

“So you just have…nightmares of someone?”

She narrowed her eyes at him and pulled her knees into her chest. “It’s not always dreams. Sometimes I get hunger pangs for no reason, or I feel faint. I get bruises all over my body.”

She lit the candle closest to Frederick’s bed and sat beside him. When she moved her red hair and dropped the shoulder of her nightdress, he saw a deep purple bruise across her back and neck. Her body was littered with smaller bruises, swelling, and scars.

“A dream did this to you?” he asked as he touched one of the bruises.

She winced but didn’t move away from him. “Every time I have one of those dreams I get a new bruise. Sometimes ‘Father’ just locks ‘me’ away in a room with no food. Other times he uses sticks and clubs. One time he used some hot iron…”

Frederick gulped as he imagined it. He had heard of such practices amongst the common folk, and unfortunately amongst the nobles too. Once Liam had terrible burns that took even the best healer weeks to cure. He never explained what happened, but he didn’t have to.

“What does he look like? ‘Father’?”

Lily closed her eyes and played with her hair. “All I remember is how scared I feel, and how he always looks so angry…so disgusted with me. I can never remember what he looks like when I wake up.” She rubbed her hands together. “Papa never looked at me like that. It must be awful to be so scared of your own father.”

Frederick nodded. His father was someone he respected greatly. He was strict, as a father should be, and expected many things from him. Sometimes it could be overwhelming. But when he met his father’s expectations, he was praised and rewarded. Even when he fell short of expectations, he got a lecture, of course, but his father always ended them with words of encouragement.

His mother was gentle but fierce. Everyone in the courts regarded her for her beauty and determination - the things that caught his father’s eye according to the stories. On the rare occasions he would get to spend time with her, she’d whisk him away from all the lessons and expectations. He was always grateful for that.

As rare as it was to see his parents, he was lucky enough that he had other people to take care of him. He never had to be afraid because of the knights, and his caretakers would read to him often. There was not a single time he had to go hungry, or cold. The meals he had eaten here were by far the worst he had ever had - and even then they weren’t the worst thing in the world.

A thought intruded its way into his mind. “Is this something to do with your power?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I usually have to be close to someone to feel their feelings…and I never see their memories even in my dreams.”

“When did they start?”

“For as long as I can remember. I don’t know why. I asked Mama once but she wouldn’t answer.”

She shook her head and stood. It was clear that she was done with that topic of conversation for the evening. When she was back in bed and wrapped in her cover, Frederick blew out the candle and got back into bed himself. Lily tossed and turned before sighing in frustration.

“Can’t sleep?”

“I don’t want to sleep after that…”

Frederick considered what to say for a moment. “Would you like to know a little about the palace?”

She turned to face him and he could see that she leant over her bed a little. “Is that okay?”

Frederick began to tell her some things about his life in the palace. About his lessons, and his teachers. The pressure he felt under his parents’ expectations, and a little about Liam. He didn’t want to give away too much yet, but in exchange for his accidental discovery about her, he felt that much was a fair trade.