I close the lid to my jewelry box and latch it tightly. Kennedy has the rest of my things already packed in the parlor.

But I always pack my jewelry. It's too important to trust anyone else with. Even Kennedy. Once I'm sure that the contents inside are secure, I walk out to the parlor.

"Is that everything?" I ask.

"Yes, Princess. The rest of your belongings are being loaded into the Hydro-Carriage as we speak." Kennedy responds.

"Thank you," I reply handing the box to Kennedy with care. "When do we leave?"

"In just over an hour, Princess."

"Right then," I say, as I straighten my black blazer over my chest. "You're free to go. I'm just going to say goodbye to my siblings, and I will see you once we return."

Kennedy doesn't come with me to the Conference of the Kingdoms. The people of the Court make loads of public appearances throughout the four days, so that gives aspiring makeup artists and hairdressers a fighting chance to put themselves on the map for styling a Princess.

Many fashion designers have reached out to me, they always receive disappointing replies.

I never bother to look up who will style me. Kennedy chooses them and I trust Kennedy's judgment. The stylists are always different and always good. Kennedy hasn't steered me wrong yet.

But while I'm away in Aedifex, Kennedy has no purpose in the palace. So they get a vacation. I'm glad, with all the work they do Kennedy deserves one.

Kennedy walks out with my jewelry to add it to the rest of my belongings. After a few moments, I walk out to the hall of the Children's Tower. Eight doors line the walls. My black heels click against the marble floors as I look at the white double doors shining against the grey paint.

I decide to start with Bobby. His door is to the right of mine, Sloan's is to the left.

I rap my knuckles upon the door. I could very well walk in if I wanted to. I used to be able to when Bobby was still supposed to be King. When Juliet was just an infant. But now my brother and I are strangers. So I knock.

The door opens a few moments later. I expect my brother, but his servant, Ivan, answers the door instead. "How can I help you, princess?"

"I was expecting to speak to my brother," I reply. "I'm leaving soon and I hoped to say goodbye."

"Prince Robert is currently indisposed," Ivan tells me.

"Ah," I click my tongue. I think Genie spent the night. "Well, once he's done with whatever he's doing, could you please send him?"

"Of course Princess."

"I appreciate it," I say. Then the servant turns and closes the door.

The walls are already thick, but I thank the Court that my closet is the wall that I share with Bobby's room. Instead of going to Sloan's room I turn around and walk to Juliet's bedroom. I will work my way backward.

Juliet and I have no disputes. So I enter her parlor on my own. The door to her bedroom is open. I see Juilet bend over her desk, pondering whatever is on her Study Panel. Her windows look down on the front doors. She can see past the Southern wing and has a spectacular view of the forest and lake where the stables reside on the edge of the field.

I try not to make a sound as I walk up behind Juilet. She has her math work pulled up. She's working on a multiplication problem. She looks as if she's struggled with getting the right answer serval times now. I watch her go through the problem again and the screen blinks red.

"You forgot to add the three," I say.

Juliet jumps violently and holds her chest. "You scared me, Mema."

Mema. That stupid nickname. Juliet wasn't able to pronounce my name for years when she was younger. The best she could do was Mema. Short for Emma, which was already short for Emmalyne. It didn't stick for anyone other than Juliet.

"Sorry," I say, with a smile. "I just came to say goodbye."

"You're leaving already?" She asks. "But I've barely seen you since the last Conference!"

"What are you talking about?" I question. "The last Conference was here! You were at the party, we had a great time."

"Yeah, but I never see you when the other court families come around." Juliet slumps in her seat. "You promised we would go riding."

"We will. I swear it." I drop down to my knees and put my hands on her shoulders. "Remind me when I get back. We can go riding."

"Cross your heart," Juliet says. I comply and make an x over my heart as I stand.

"I love you," I whisper, kissing her forehead.

"Love you too." She grasps my elbows in an embrace before I turn to leave and she returns to her schoolwork.

Before I close the door I hear Juliet murmur, "Add the three."

I smile to myself as I enter David's parlor. But the door to his bedroom is closed. SoI knock gently. The door is opened by David's servant. The room is dark, the curtains are drawn and I can hear the humidifier running.

"Prince David has caught a cold." The servant whispers. "He is asleep."

"I'll be quick," I say letting myself in.

The door closes behind me casting the room is a dark blue glow. I can smell chamomile oil coming from somewhere. David's sleeping figure is huddled underneath the thick blankets on his bed. I grab a piece of paper and pen from his study to scrawl a quick note.

'We're off to Aedifex, I came to say goodbye but you were sleeping. Love you!

-Emma <3'

I lay it on his bedside table and give him a fleeting kiss on the forehead, before leaving him to rest and recover.

I hear a Marcus before I see him. He must be playing another one of his video games because when I walk into his room I see the back of his television and the sound of gunfire rings throughout the room.

"No! No!" He shouts. "Dammit!"

He slaps his plastic controller and as I round the screen I see him throw it on his bed and stare at the screen angrily.

"Did you win?" I ask cheekily.

"Haha, Emma," He laughs, dryly. Grabbing a remote he turns off the screen blaring "GAME OVER' at him. "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah," I nod. "Wanted to say goodbye before the train left."

"You mean the Hydro-Carriage." Marcus corrects, with a laugh.

"It's an underwater train," I say, pulling him into a hug.

He squeezes my middle. I hear him take a deep breath as I kiss the top of his head. "Carriage."

We release from the hug and he laughs as I push him down on the giant couch at the foot of his bed.

"I'll banish you!" I scowl pointing a finger at him, trying not to laugh.

"Is that a threat or a promise?" He bites back.

I roll my eyes so hard it hards. "I'm leaving!"

"See you in four days sweetheart!" Marcus calls after me as I walk out of his room.

I blow a raspberry with my tongue as I close the door behind me.

"Excuse you."

My head snaps up and for a split second, I fear my father saw me do that. But it's just Bobby.

"Yeah sorry," I stammer, taken aback. "Marcus and I were just-"

"I know," Bobby chuckles, saving me from my gaucherie. "He brings that side out of everyone."

Giving me the second I needed to compose myself, I feel my features harden, my court face. I wish I didn't have to use my court face with Bobby.

"That he does," I reply. "I just wanted to say goodbye before I left for Aedifex."

"Yes," Bobby nods. "Genie sends her best."

"Tell her thank you for me." I smile.

"I will."

Then we stand there for a second just looking at each other. Bobby gives a small scoff. "Oh, you're hopeless. Come here."

Genie must have put him in an, especially good mood because he sweeps me up into a crushing hug. I feel my feet leave the ground for a second. We haven't hugged like that for years.

Maybe I don't need to use my court face.

He sets me down and I give a small giggle. "I still need to go say goodbye to Sloan. I'll see you when we get back."

"Yeah," he nods, and I walk to Sloan's door, "and Emma?"

I turn to look at him. "Yes?"

"I love you."

I feel my lips turn up into a true smile. "I love you too. Listen, you know you've always been David's favorite, so go visit him later. He's got a cold."

Bobby nods looks over his shoulder at David's door.

I then slip into Sloan's parlor. Her door is open and I see her painting on her bedframe.

"We have canvases, you know?" I say, sitting down on the bare mattress and heaps of blankets on the floor.

"I know," she answers, not looking up from the moon-like pattern shes painting. "I have twenty-seven in my study."

I grin and look up at her ceiling, which is covered in stars. Blacks, blues, purples, and pinks, melt into one another feigning the look of the night sky. She has a different mural on each wall. My favorite is the connected constellations. But her bathroom is the most amazing thing, Sloan painted it look like the inside of a spacecraft.

Sloans never admitted to it, but I know she would much rather be a princess of Obses. She dreams of walking on the moon and exploring our galaxy. What better place to do that than the kingdom in the sky?

"Don't you have a carriage to catch?" Sloan askes, cleaning her brush of it's black and dipping into her white.

"The carriage doesn't leave until I'm on it," I reply. Though that technically isn't true. "I don't go anywhere until I've said my goodbyes."

Sloan sets her brush down and wipes her hands, ridding them of paint. She turns around to face me. Her hair is pulled up into a messy knot at the top of her head. She's wearing an old pair of cutoff overalls that are coved in paint splotches. Her forearms have many dried pigment flakes on them.

"I'll watch the news for you." She says.

"Every time I look into the camera I'll think of you." I smile.

I get up and take her face in my hands. I lay an aggressive kiss on her forehead. She wiggles out of my grip. "I have a reputation, Emma."

"Oh pardon me!" I gasp.

Sloan laughs and shoos me with her hand. "Get out of here before father sends a guard after you."

I give a salute and pretend to march to the door. As I walk down from the tower and down into the saferooms where the Hydro-Carriage is waiting, I make a note to spend more time with my siblings.

My parents are sitting in the dining car talking quietly. I brush past them and go to my chamber, which is an entire car, complete with a bathroom. There is also a glass box attached to the side made of bulletproof glass. It's really beautiful to stand side of there when the Hydro-Carriage is racing through the Atlantic ocean.

I walk into the bathroom and wash off my face. There's no point in keeping my makeup on for the eight-hour journey. I pull off my suit and hang it up in the small closet, finding a pair of white leggings and a blue long-sleeved crop top.

I set my shoes aside and sit on the bed. The carriage lurches and we slowly start to gain speed. The windows to my train car remain dark until we reach the regular traveling speed. Sixteen-hundred kilometers per hour.

Once we hit that speed the engines quite and my room becomes bathed in a brilliant blue glow. The carriage cuts through the seas waters bringing us as deep as the engineers building it dared to go. My ears pop adjusting to the pressure, but that's the only discomfort I experience.

A television is mounted on the opposite wall so I pick a remote up from the bedside table and click it on. I don't know if it's the rocking motion of the train or the comfortable bed, but the next thing I know I'm being shaken awake by my mother.

"Emmalyne! Emmalyne! Wake up!" She whispers shaking my shoulder again.

"What?" I ask opening my eyes slightly.

The sun has gotten much brighter. That means we're closer to the surface.

"You better get dressed." My mother says. "We're arriving in thirty minutes."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We step out of the train to meet the Tilem family. Queen Josephine and King Ronald stand with their elbows linked, smiling as my parents greet them. I step up after my mother and shake their hands, thanking them for their hospitality.

Members of the court do not bow to each other. We are all equal. Bowing would make us inferior to the person we knell to. Inferior is one of the thousand things that Legibus is not.

I shake hands with Josie and Ron before seeing Travis.

Aside from my cousin Nick, Travis is one o the few people I call my friend. Along with Philip and Felicity. No, Felicity isn't one of us anymore. She's a Queen.

Travis and I fall into step behind our parents. Walking towards the front of the Aedifex palace to greet the rest of the Court. But as soon as we are out of their hearing range Travis pushes me with his arm.

"You look like shit."

I scoff and shove him back. "I look better than you."

"Not possible," Travis replies batting his eyes.

"Keep telling yourself that." I murmur patting him on the shoulder.

The walk to the front of the palace is short. Soon enough I stand between my mother and father as Travis stands between his. Which only leaves the arrivals to ensue. Along with the brief pleasantries to please the cameras.

This considerably dampens my mood. Taking away whatever joy I felt from seeing my friend quickly. It doesn't help that we stand under Aedifex's beating sun for twenty minutes.

"Are they ever going to arrive?" I whisper bitterly to my father.

The cameras don't see his lip twitch at my tone, they're focus is outwards. Some point up at the clouds and others at the horizon of the sea. The palace is on the beach, the wet sand a short walk from the front door. The capital of Aedifex stretches over two countries formerly known as Yemen and Oman.

The countries were probably split up and renamed during the Burning Period. People of power would rise in hopes to build an empire, their shaky governments would form only to crumble under the pressures of war. The records from the Burning Period aren't reliable enough to accurately portray the events of history. So we stick we the information we know to be true.

"Patience, Emmalyne." My father responds. "They will come, but not before the Faust family. We have always arrived first."

My mother finishes his sentence for him. "Always have, always will."

My father nods before cocking his head slightly. "They're arriving."

Just on the horizon of the sea, a large glass ball is spinning across the surface of the water. Drawing closer to the beach. Inside of the ball in a stationary cube. The kingdom of Amet has arrived. The giant orb only slows when the waves begin to carry it, coming to a stop only when the bottom scrapes the sand. Two doors appear. First in the cube, where a staircase uncurls itself. The from the orb, where a walkway ejects out onto the sand.

The Addams family appears. Wrapped up in their blue and green silks. Their feet hit the sand with the crashes of the waves. People of the ocean for sure.

I could care less about King Dwight and Queen Rainn, I want to see Philip. He steps out last. the sun glaring against his stupid gorgeous platinum hair.

They greet the Tilems first. Thanking them for hosting the Conference. Then they greet us, the cameras are now focused entirely on us. Monitoring our every move. As he shakes my hand Philip slips me a wink. I reply with a small grin before he moves on.

Seconds after the Addams settle, a blinding white, needle-like aircraft descends from the sky. The Arrow was always her favorite.

The ship touches down on the cleared space of sand. It's enormous. I have to crane my neck just to see the top. An oval panel glows blue before slabs of metal jut out creating a staircase. The oval rises revealing Queen Felicity and King Roman.

Air hisses from below the ship making their hair flutter as the couple descends the stairs and crosses the sand. Felicity and Roman are decked out in puffy coats and long pants. It's freezing in Obses, but they're going to sweat our of their heavy attire quickly.

Felicity was coordinated just over a year ago. She hasn't had any children, yet. She greets each of us graciously, flashing her perfect white teeth. Her dark, chocolate-colored skin glows in the afternoon light and her raven-black hair is plaited into hundreds of tiny braids that glimmer with her every movement.

Felicity is easily the prettiest member of the Court.

As soon as the cameras are shut off we all quickly shuffle inside. The cool air blasting from the vents washes over me almost instantly. The Kings and Queens are quick to disperse. Leaving Travis, Philip, and me standing in the entrance hall alone.

"What are you two thinking?" Travis askes. "Kitchens, garden, or the observatory?"

"Kitchens!" I gasp.

"I second that!" Philip agrees. "I'm starved."

"To the kitchens!" Travis shouts.

Once we're settled on one of the stray countertops with a platter of fruit between I'm finally able to get a good look at the two boys.

"So Trav," I start, sucking the juice from a strawberry off my finger. "How's the wife? What was her name? Annie? Aubrey?"

"It's Eloise." Travis corrects. "She's fine. I don't see her much. She's not allowed anywhere near the conference."

"Then whatever does she do all day without the pleasure of your company?" Philip laughs, biting into an apple.

Travis just shrugs. "She likes to dance. She might have some of her friends over. I don't know. I only ever see her at night."

"Oh really?" I exclaim, wiggling my eyebrows.

"I didn't realize you were so serious!" Philip adds.

"It's not like that and you know it!" Travis groans throwing a blueberry at Philip.

"What about you Phil?" I ask. "Find a suitor yet?"

Philip sombers quickly. "If my me you mean my mother and by suitor you mean some random officials daughter, then yes."

"Ouch," Travis groans. "When?"

"August eighth."

I give Phillip a comforting pat on the back. "If it makes you feel any better my parents invited sixty men to the palace for a suitors ball."

"You know what? That does make me feel better!" Philip smiles. "Only because I know you're going to hate every second of it."

Travis laughs loudly and gives Philip a high-five. I roll my eyes and glance at the clock. Seeing the time I lose my balance and almost fall off the counter. I swear loudly causing a few cooks to glace at my sideways.

"Sorry guys," I say, regaining my balance and hopping off the counter. "I have to go."

"Ah, no fun!" Travis pouts.

"My stylists get here in ten minutes," I explain. "I'll see you at dinner."

As I walk away I hear Philip whisper to Travis, "She's turning into Felicity."

That stings more than it should.