Xanthy spotted Cyrdel as she took the corridor Reeca pointed her to. The brownie passed her by, hefting at least three boxes full of various metallic things. She opened her mouth. "Cyrdel, hey," Xanthy said. Cyrdel froze on his tracks. Then, he blinked and set the boxes down.

"Hey, Xanthy," Cyrdel scratched his neck. "What's up?"

It was unlike him to talk in his natural Northern accent that it shocked Xanthy for a while. She shook her head clear. "I just...wanted to talk."

Cyrdel raised an eyebrow. "Okay," he glanced at his boxes. "About what?"

"Ravalee."

The name twung the awkward air between the two of them. Cyrdel looked like he had just been punched in the gut. "Oh, Ravalee...yeah. Sure," Cyrdel shoved his hand into his hair and tousled it. "What about her?"

"Are you angry at me?" Xanthy said. "I mean, I can see it since you've avoided all around the camp and you won't even look at me now..."

"I see her every time I look at you," Cyrdel whispered. His head hung lower than Xanthy thought possible. Were brownie necks that flexible? "I can't help it."

Of course, he would have. She had Ravalee's face. It would be a painful reminder every time. "I'm...sorry," Xanthy whispered. "I didn't want things to turn out this way."

Cyrdel blew a shaky breath. "I didn't want to, either," he raised his head to meet Xanthy's stare. "But I have to respect Ravalee's decision. She chose this."

Xanthy hobbled towards Cyrdel and wrapped her arms around him. She felt him tense up. "If anything, Ravalee was a dear friend to me, too," she said. "I'm so sorry, Cyr."

Cyrdel melted into her embrace. Xanthy hit something by calling him by that name. "F-for a while," he muttered against her neck. "Can I pretend that you're Ravalee?"

"Of course."

Cyrdel tightened his embrace. "Farewell, Rav," his tone was so soft it only brough fresh tears in Xanthy's eyes. "You'll always be the one for me."

Xanthy closed her eyes, letting the tears fall from her eyes and down her cheeks. Cyrdel let her go and wiped her tears with his thumb. "You look good with that hair, by the way," he said as he kissed her forehead as a mother would. "And I'm saying that to you, Xanthy."

Xanthy sniffled. "Thanks, Cyrdel. Ravalee loves you so, so much."

Cyrdel chuckled despite his tear-stricken face. "I know," he picked up his boxes before giving her one last look. "I know."

With that, they went their separate ways. Would it be for a while...or for eternity?

Xanthy walked, trying to memorize the decorations and what turns she took.

"Xanthy!" Jonadrin jogged towards her. "I heard that you're lost."

She raised her eyebrows. "Who told you that?"

The nature fairy glanced behind him as if expecting something. "Cyrdel," he tousled his hair and frowned when he found it short. "Anyway, I should probably lead you to your room."

Xanthy coughed into her fist. "Thank you. It's so tough to remember all these similar corridors and stuff. Look, there goes that bust again." True enough, the bust of a man with dead eyes and snake-like beard and hair passed Xanthy by again. She swore she passed that by five times already.

Jonadrin chuckled. Together, they walked in silence through the corridor. Xanthy watched the decorations go by without much interest in them now that she's got a guide. Why must this building be so confusing?

"So," Jonadrin cleared his throat after a while. "The war's over, huh?"

Xanthy nodded. "It is," she cocked her head at him. "Is there something you want to say?"

"Um," Jonadrin pursed his lips. "Just that I'm sorry for allying Dwanzeig to Cardovia. We could have done a lot for Penleth. Maybe you wouldn't have to do what you did if we had Dwanzeig's force, too."

Xanthy shook her head with a sigh. "Seriously, it's fine, Jona," she remembered how the nature fairy told her to call him by that name. "There's nothing we can do about it now. The most important thing is we made it."

"I wouldn't have lived the guilt down if something happened to you," Jonadrin paused to look Xanthy in the eye.

Xanthy matched his pace. "And you would have been guilty about nothing. You wanted to protect what's important to you and Cardovia didn't give you a choice. If there's anyone who should be guilty, it's me. I didn't help you when it should have been my duty to."

"You know you're not obligated to help anyone just because you're the Virtakios, right?" Jona said. "I hope somebody told you that."

"I could have helped Dwanzeig in that battle but instead I chose to run away. I'm the one who should be sorry."

"I know I have no right but you're forgiven," Jonadrin pulled a familiar seed out of his coat pocket. "I retrieved this from where Parkane dropped us when it collapsed."

Xanthy peered at the brown-coated seed no bigger than Jonadrin's smallest finger. Such a huge responsibility for such a small thing. Kind of like Xanthy, to be honest. "We'll revive it," Xanthy said as genuinely as she could. "We'll work to make the Living Throne live again."

Jonadrin closed his palm around the seed and smiled at her. "Thank you, Xanthy. I promise I will serve this island as long as I am alive and with all my heart."

"Thank you, Jona," Xanthy returned the gesture.

Together, they walked the rest of the way talking like they're old friends on a long journey to nowhere.

"There you are!" Airese called, interrupting Jonadrin's story about a krou and a paulsare. Xanthy pouted then smiled at her mother.

"Hey, Mom," Xanthy hugged Airese with one arm.

"June has been looking for you since earlier," Eldan joined in on the hug. "The poor boy's out of his mind."

Xanthy chuckled. "Where is he now?"

"We sent him to your room," Airese replied with a wink. "It's high time you two do something appropriate for your status."

Jonadrin cleared his throat and muttered his leave. Xanthy had never seen the heir scramble out of the way of something that fast. She turned back to her mother. "What does that mean?"

Airese waved a hand in the air. "You two will figure it out eventually no matter how thick you are," she elbowed her husband beside her. "Right, Eldan?"

Her father rolled his eyes at his wife's antics. "So, High Queen, huh? " He cleared his throat and steered the subject somewhere. "You haven't felt the need to tell us about it first?"

Heat rushed to Xanthy's face. "I'm...sorry," she hung her head. "But yes, it happened."

"I know we're not exactly close and all that. I don't blame anyone either except this cruel twist of events," Airese sighed and raised Xanthy's head using her chin. "But can we at least try to be your parents again?"

Xanthy knitted her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side. "But you are my parents," she said. "What is there to change?"

"For one," Eldan put a finger up. "Come to us if you need any help. You'll need more of it when you take the position. From what I heard from the Seelie Court, it seems you're planning for reform."

Oh yeah, Eldan was a trained tactician. "How does it go for you?" Xanthy said. "The reform, I mean."

Eldan scratched his chin. "Hmm. In theory, I'll say that it will work," he looked up at the ceiling. "In practice, I'm not so sure."

"You two can do it," Airese interjected, slapping her husband backhandedly on the chest. "Come to me when you need advice about anything else."

"What makes 'anything else'?" Xanthy wiggled two fingers in the air with the last two words.

"Oh, anything in this wide world," Airese spread her arms. "Boys, friends, magic, fashion. Seriously, we need to fix you up if you're going to be a High Queen. You have terrible fashion taste."

Eldan patted his wife's shoulders. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Airese."

"Shut up, Eldan," Airese glared at her husband. "Let me be a mother for once."

Eldan did shut up. Airese turned back to Xanthy and ran her hands down her hair before puffing it up. "Hair comes first," she clicked her tongue. "Whoever did this to you is a horrible person."

I'll say, Xanthy thought but decided to not say it aloud. She let Airese fuss about her for a while. For once, she didn't feel conscious about herself and this attention somehow made her feel better and...loved. Xanthy couldn't take it anymore so she threw her arms around her mother. Airese stopped talking abruptly.

"I love you, Mom," Xanthy whispered into her mother's ear. The word still felt so foreign in her tongue but she went on with it. If anything, she would have to get used to calling Airese that.

Airese returned the gesture fondly. "I love you, too, Xanthy," she kissed Xanthy's cheek. It was a feeling Xanthy had only dreamed of during her days as a Disfavored. "You make me proud, too."

Xanthy had been getting tired of crying the whole day but this time, she let her tears flow. "I'm sorry about your friends," she said as she let go of her mother. "I'll miss Marthiaq terribly. Airene too."

"I will too, darling," Airese ran her thumb under Xanthy's eye. "Get some sleep. It's an early day for you tomorrow. Who knows when the Seelie Court will come knocking."

"Will you be there tomorrow?" Xanthy asked.

Airene nodded. "We'll be with you."

"Every step of the way," Eldan took Xanthy's hand and gave it a little squeeze. More happy tears were shed from that.

Xanthy collapsed on the bed after June let her inside her room. She groaned against the sheets. "My eyes are so puffy I couldn't open them properly."

June sat on the bed wearing almost the same clothes as her. Just a simple, parchment-yellow tunic and dark trousers. His feet were bare; his hair was messy more than the countless times Xanthy had looked at him. "It was nice hearing you complain for once," June cocked his head to one side. He reached out and tucked Xanthy's hair behind her ear.

"Should I start complaining all the time to you?" Xanthy scoffed. Her eyes were starting to close as the softness of the cushion lured her in.

June stood up and wrapped a blanket on top of her, tucking her in. "You know what, forget about it," he climbed in after her. "Let's just sleep now."

Xanthy's eyes widened. "Wait, you're going to sleep here?"

"Now, you can open your eyes that wide," June chuckled. "I'll sleep on the floor for you, Highness. I just don't want to spend another night alone in that stupid room Nyxis threw me in."

Xanthy exhaled. "Are you just saying that because you missed me?"

June's small laugh bounced across the room. "That too."

"Well, whatever," Xanthy sank into the bed again and patted the space beside her. "Sleep here. There's nothing bound to happen anyway."

"Okay."

No one spoke for a long time. Then, June turned towards the ceiling. "Why did you do it?"

"Did what?"

"Sacrifice yourself to the Arbotro and basically lie to us," June stared at Xanthy from the corner of his eyes. The same dread went back in Xanthy's gut.

Xanthy tucked her hands beneath her head. "Are you angry?"

June blew a breath and shook his head. "I just want to know why."

"I don't want anyone to get hurt," Xanthy said. "You all have been hurt enough. I'm the only one who could stand against the Heiress and the Sovereign without being ripped to shreds the first five seconds. Of course, I have to do it on my own," June turned to her just as she opened her mouth to blurt, "It's all for you."

He pursed his lips. "Can you promise me one thing, Xanthy?"

The same line she used with June was being thrown back to her now. What was she supposed to feel about that? "What?"

"Don't do that to me again," June said. When he turned to her, she saw how desperate he was with his tone close to pleading. "Please."

Xanthy's heart wrenched. She didn't mean to hurt him or anyone. "I promise," she whispered, reaching out to him. Her fingers closed around his hand. "I swear in Daexis's name."

For once, she meant it. She wouldn't want to go through all of that again.

June closed his eyes and squeezed her hand. Silence reigned between them for another minute. Xanthy sidled closer to him and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. He turned to accommodate her and slid his arm underneath her neck.

Dark eyes studied her face but not enough to make her uncomfortable. June was...well, he got looks. Too much of it, really. His snow white hair was the same as it was the first time they met. His eyes... "What are you thinking about?" June's voice was nothing but a whisper in the dark room.

Xanthy braved past her beating heart and touched June's face. She caressed his cheek as slowly as she could. "Do you remember the first time we met?" She hardly knew what she was saying anymore. "You destroyed my roof."

June leaned into her touch. "Feels like a long time ago, does it?"

"Very," Xanthy bobbed her head, rustling the sheets by her hair. "I never thought we'd get this far."

"Me neither," June laid an arm atop Xanthy's waist, pulling her closer. "Look at us, all cozy. If the me from months ago saw this, he would have fainted."

Xanthy stared up at his dark eyes. She could get lost in those for whole lifetimes ahead. "You do realize that we have something valuable between us now, right?"

"You wanted it," June raised an eyebrow like it's the simplest thing to do in the world. "So I gave it."

Xanthy searched June's face for any signs that he's lying. She knew every inflection of his expressions after everything they went through. Still, she found none. "You didn't need to think twice?"

"With you? No," June tucked her closer, pressing her chest to his enough to feel his heart beat. "I don't think I could love anyone the way I love you."

Blood rushed to Xanthy's cheeks. "You...say those things at the most random of times," she muttered.

"You don't like it?"

Xanthy snorted. "No, it's alright," she exhaled. "I mean, it's you we're talking about."

"What does that mean?"

Xanthy pressed her face to his chest. "I don't know," she burst into a fit of giggles. "I don't make sense."

June's hand crept to her neck. The warmth from his palm scorched Xanthy's skin. "You should sleep. Stop talking."

Xanthy smiled and planted a quick kiss at the base of June's neck. "I don't need a second mother, June," she raised her eyes towards him again. "I thought you missed me?" she teased as her fingers played with his hair.

June exhaled shakily. "You're really asking for it."

"Am I?" Xanthy didn't protest when June swept her from the mattress and on top of him.

"Yeah, you are," June's eyes were locked on hers.

Xanthy laid her hands by his cheeks. "Good thing you want it, then," she tilted her head and pressed her lips to his. Gentle, soft, and hers. She lost herself as she kissed him. Her world was only composed of him and him alone. His arm snaked around her body as his hand got tangled in her short hair. Their kiss deepened as Xanthy's tongue explored June's mouth, tasting every bit of him.

She pulled away to catch her breath. June was breathing hard and his hair was out in tangents. Did she do that? Xanthy laughed and drowned herself in the dark pools of his eyes. Have they always been this beautiful? "That reminds me," Xanthy said after a while. "You still have your debt."

June groaned. "Must you bring that up now?" he pressed his forehead against hers. "I swear, I'll work to pay your six-hundred and fifty versallis off. Besides, shouldn't that be six-hundred and forty-eight?"

Xanthy snorted at the memory of the two versallis he earned in the Commons for floundering with his loom. She kissed him again and before he could kiss her back, she drew back up. "I don't need a house anymore. I'd feel at home as long as I'm with you," June wasn't speaking and was just staring at her with wide eyes. "So...consider it paid," she finished.

He blinked. "You...do you mean it?"

Xanthy chuckled at how flustered June became. "I love you, June," she whispered as she lowered her face to meet his once again. She let her breath tickle his lips. "Always."

June's answer was an unforgettable night outdoing the pleasure of the countless others she ever spent with him.