"There is one other option," Skysilver said, keeping an intrigued eye on Ariadne. "That blade your love carries was forged by Elves, surely your people are the obvious ally to turn to?"<br/><br/>"I...I can't" Ariadne said, barely containing her tears as she clenched her fists. "I will not go back there unless I have no choice."<br/><br/>"You face a magic unlike anything humans have faced since the first Dragon Wars," Skysilver said. "If now is not the time for their help, when is." As she heard the sob that escaped from Ariadne Skysilver changed into a middle-aged woman, long grey hair and the same piercing grey eyes giving away her identity. "Oh Princess, what happened?" She put one hand on Ariadne's shoulder. "If she loves you as much as I sense she will only care about helping you. As for the other two," she said, casting an intense glare at both Grim and Arva. "If they have any sense they will at least listen before judging you."<br/><br/>"My brother and I weren't born here," Ariadne said. "Our parents had migrated south to our ancestral island home by the time we were born. At first it was a happy, if...unusual family. But...something happened, my mother fell gravely ill after a party entertaining locals from other islands. She was ordered to bed but did not last the night. I was certain foul play had had a hand in what happened to her but I was the youngest child of the greatest Elven clan in the world, no-one was going to listen to me when my father and brother didn't believe me. And then...then my father vanished."<br/><br/>"How does a king vanish?" Arva asked.<br/><br/>"We never discovered," Ariadne replied. "He went to settle a dispute between two fishing communities, two days later his ship was found listing off the shore of our city, the king and his crew vanished without a trace. My brother decided they had sailed into a storm, after all the boat was damaged. But I did not consider two 'accidents' suffered by Elven royalty likely to be a coincidence. My brother refused me permission to investigate, when I said I would anyway he told me he would make sure I did not leave the palace. I...said some horrible things to him, stormed out of the throne room, and that night joined the last group of Rangers heading north. I have not heard from my brother since then, I doubt he wishes to hear from me considering what passed between us."<br/><br/>"Even if that was true," Skysilver said, brushing a tear from Ariadne's face, "it is likely we will need all the help we can get to defeat Myraz. If he will not listen to you, your brother would be a fool to ignore Stormrider."