[MAGGIE'S PoV]

Lydia twined her fingers together in front of her dressing gown and smiled sweetly, the picture of serenity. But her eyes were still hard, and staring directly at my grip on Kindle's arm.

I dropped my arm to my side, but didn't move away from him. I needed some sort of protection from Lydia's inevitable wrath.

"Margaret, dear... I wondered if you were foolish enough to return, but I didn't think you'd be back so quickly." Her voice was level, amused.

I swallowed. "I—I um—"

Lydia waved a delicate hand. "No matter, if you're this eager to die, I'll happily oblige." She turned her gaze to Seraphim, who stared at her with foggy, love-filled blue eyes. "Darling? I'm so sorry this human disturbed you. I'll be killing her now."

Seraphim nodded, smiling. "Whatever you desire, my love."

Lydia giggled and stepped toward me, sliding a long, thin silver knife from inside her robe. Did she sleep with a dagger in her clothes?

I stepped back, expecting to press right into Kindle, but there was only open air behind me. I glanced.

Kindle had stepped aside. His hands were rigid at his side, but his eyes were locked onto the carpet. He was just going to let me die. He'd promised, and he was just going to let her kill me without a fight. My blood blazed. No.

"I would so rather poison you and do this the fun way," Lydia sighed and twisted the dagger in her hands. "But I'm not particularly interested in putting my lips on yours, so we'll have to do it like this. Could you move off the rug please? It's easier to wash blood off stone."

I looked at Kindle once more, but the coward wouldn't even meet my eyes. There was no where I could run, and no way I could convince Lydia not to kill me. My only hope was Seraphim.

I steeled myself, planted my feet, and unleashed a skill I never thought would come in handy: fangirling. "Casimir Hadrian Lousvar, crown prince of Lumina, son of Queen Amaranth Danthragnir-Lousvar and King Jareth Abadon Lousvar. Favorite activities, horseback riding and archery. Favorite color, green."

Lydia frowned. "What are you rambling about? Get off the rug so I can stab you!"

I turned my attention directly to Seraphim, who thankfully seemed to be paying attention. I continued to speak as fast as I could, listing every fact I could remember from years of playing SoL and studying the Wiki. "He lives in the palace of Lumina, located in the capitol city of Réalta. His bedroom is on the third floor, left rear tower. His horse is named Sugar-cube."

"Shut up! Move!" Lydia whined. I braced myself, expecting a dagger in my gut any second.

I stepped toward Seraphim. "The layout of Lumina's palace is as follows: Grand entrance staircase, ballroom. Left door, dining room, large glass door leading to the queen's garden. Right door, staircase leading to the second floor. First door on the second floor—"

Lydia moved towards me, teeth bared and knife at the ready, but Kindle intercepted, catching her arm and pulling her against him. "Seraphim, this is why I said she would be useful. She's a willing spy with an invitation to the palace, and she already knows a great deal about the royal family."

"I want her dead!" Lydia cried, but she didn't try to fight Kindle.

Seraphim held up a hand. "I am sorry my love, but I believe... Girl, do you have the entire layout of Lumina's palace committed to memory?"

I nodded once. Please, please let this work.

Seraphim sighed, pushing his hands into his sleek blonde hair and closing his eyes. After a long moment, he brought his icy eyes back to me. "Very well, when is the ball?"

My legs shook. Had this actually worked? Was I safe? "Four weeks from now."

Another long stretch of silence. Seraphim kept his hands on his temples. He looked almost as though he would fall asleep. Or faint.

"How do you know she won't run? How do you know she won't betray you?" Lydia snarled. She glared at me.

"I won't," I insisted, returning the glare before looking back at the king. "I want your help finding a way back to my home. I won't betray you because I have nowhere else to go."

"My love, she is lying, can't you tell?" Lydia insisted, her voice taking on the consistency of honey.

Seraphim's thoughtful expression changed to a frown. "...Perhaps."

"Lock her up, then." Kindle said with a shrug.

"What?" Lydia and I asked in unison.

Seraphim leaned back, his eyes closed. "Elaborate, Kindle. But speak quietly, I have the most horrendous headache."

"She can't run if you keep her under constant supervision for the four weeks leading up to the ball. I'll watch her myself," he offered.

Seraphim nodded. "This is a reasonable agreement."

"I do not approve of this!" Lydia cried.

Kindle looked me over with distant expression before addressing Lydia directly. "If she tries to escape, I will kill her myself."

"Terms granted, now get out." Seraphim grumbled, his teeth clenched. He was in pain.

Kindle released his hold on Lydia and moved toward me. I backed away from him. To think I'd nearly considered him a friend. To think I'd believed him, let him bring me back here.

"I'll bring you to your room," he said, his tone more distant than ever. Quietly he added, "you don't want to stay around Lydia while she's this upset."

My skin burned with rage and I nodded once before walking toward the door. Kindle stayed back momentarily to bow to Seraphim and thank him for his agreement, then he joined me and pushed the door open.

Once we were alone in the hall, he exhaled. He dared give me a conspiratorial smile. "Well, that went better than I expected."

"Oh, really?" I snapped. "I suppose you're right, since I'm not bleeding out on the throne room floor."

His smile dropped. "Hey, Blondie, I'm sorry—"

"Don't you dare apologize!" I snarled. "You promised, and then you just tossed me to the wolves and did nothing!"

Kindle glanced warily at the doors that lined the hall, "Blondie, keep your voice down—"

"Why?" I cried, spreading my arms. "It's not like I'm a secret anymore, I'm a prisoner now!"

Kindle sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His eyes flashed. "My hands were tied, alright?"

I laughed, "Oh, right, of course. There was nothing else you could have done." I could only imagine how red my face was. My blood felt like it was boiling. "If you think I'm gonna let you lock me up, you might as well just kill me now."

"I'm not going to lock you up."

One of the doors creaked open, and someone poked their head out. I didn't care to have an audience, so I turned and stormed off down the hall.

Kindle had the nerve to grab my arm. I shook him off roughly. "You'll be staying in Carlyle's old room from now on," he said, not meeting my eyes. "It's right next to mine, so I'll know if you try to run."

I hate him. I hate him. I folded my arms over my chest. "Am I not allowed to see Faye anymore?"

"I'll... let her know you're here."

I exhaled hard through my nose. "Fine. Lead the way."

He led me down the stairs, where we turned left instead of right. After a few moments of walking and a sharp right turn, we came to two doors. He opened the first one and gestured inside. The other, I assumed, was his.

I walked in and looked around. The room was about half the size of Faye's workshop, with room only for a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. There were two small windows allowing dusty moonlight to illuminate the dark room. Clearly, no one had been in here since Carlyle died. A shiver ran down my spine a the thought.

"Tomorrow, we'll start work on dance and etiquette," Kindle said. "Unless you'd like to wait a day... but we only have four weeks so—"

"I'm sorry, what?" I whirled on him. "You expect me to take dance lessons?"

He shifted and cleared his throat, still not meeting my eyes. "Do you know how to do a Luminous waltz?"

"No."

"Then you should learn. You don't want to attract any unnecessary attention at the ball. I can help, and I know some others who—"

"Oh, my God." I took a deep breath to keep from punching him. I really, really wanted to punch him. "I do not want your help, Kindle. You've done enough."

"Blondie—"

I shook my head and slammed the door. I sighed. Not quite punching him in the face, but still satisfying.

It took me several minutes of rooting through Carlyle's desk in the the dark to find a little wooden box of matches. There were three candles in the room, all mostly burned out, but the little light they provided was better than nothing.

I sat down on the bed, coughing as a cloud of dust puffed up around me. This room really had been abandoned for five years.

Carlyle materialized to my left, but I was too tightly wound to be scared by his sudden appearance. "...Hey Miss Maggie, didn't think I'd see you again so soon..."

"What," I snapped. I chewed my lip, immediately regretting my tone. I was mad at Kindle, not Carlyle. "I'm sorry."

He glanced around his room, twisting a finger through his flowing copper hair. "...You have every right to be upset with Kindle..."

"I'm furious."

"...And you deserve to be... but he has a point..."

I rolled my eyes. "And what is that?"

"...You should take him up on lessons... You wooed the prince just fine on your own, but the rest of the court may be a bit more challenging... You need to fit in if you want to be of use to the Order..."

"I don't care about being 'of use.' I'm only doing this so I can get home, and any desire I had to actually help blew up when Kindle handed me over as a prisoner."

"...You will have a hard time gaining access to the deeper parts of Lumina's palace... You have inhuman eyes, the nobles of Lumina will distrust you from minute one if you can't play your role well..."

My anger fizzled into annoyance. Carlyle, unfortunately, was right. I had begged Jack—my mom to enroll me in ballet when I was five. Abby was a beautiful ballerina, and at that time I was still in my "I need to be just like my sister" stage. I gave up after a year. I was awful and Abby teased me. I hadn't tried to dance since, and Elle often joked about my general lack of grace.

I would need all the help I could get.

At some point during my brooding, Carlyle had vanished again. I wondered where he spent most of his time, being a ghost and all.

I spent a few minutes pacing and figuring out what I wanted to say to Kindle. I was in no way forgiving him, but if he was willing to teach me to dance, as well as the other skills I would need to blend in with the court, I could play nice for now.

I pushed the door open and crossed the hall to knock on Kindle's door. Before my fist hit the wood, I froze. A familiar female voice was speaking from the other side.

"I don't like her." Lydia? What was she doing in Kindle's room? I slid a bit closer, trying to hear through the thick wood of the door.

Kindle sighed. "I know, I know, you'll just have to put up with her for now."

"But I don't want to put up with her! She's annoying, and she touched you, and now I'm not allowed to kill her!"

"Love, once she serves her purpose she'll leave and you can forget all about her."

The mattress creaked, someone sat down. My heart pounded. Love. I wasn't supposed to be hearing this. But Lydia's possessiveness over Kindle made a bit of sense now. They were... together.

"No. I want her dead," Lydia snapped. "I want you to kill her."

"And I want you to be quiet and kiss me already." Kindle growled.

Blushing violently, I stumbled away from the door and sped back to Carlyle's room.

"You don't know me," he'd said. How right he was.

~*~

Living with Faye for the past few months had turned me into a morning person— a descriptor I never thought would apply to me— so I was up the next morning by sunrise.

I spent the time pacing, considering whether I should try to talk to Kindle again. And, on top of that, if it was my place to bring up the... Lydia thing. I hadn't yet made my decision when Kindle knocked on my door a few hours later.

"...Hey." I said carefully.

He looked tired and a little nervous. He scratched his hair. "Hi."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "So. Before we do this 'princess practice' thing can I get a change of clothes?" I glanced down at the muddy green dress I'd been in for over twenty-four hours now.

Kindle nodded. "Carlyle told me you were on board with the plan, so I rounded up a... team, more or less. They're waiting in the dining room." He still hadn't met my eyes, but he held the door open for me and gestured toward the hall. "Faye has a fresh dress for you."

I followed him back up to the main hall, and through one of the doors. The room on the other side was the biggest I'd seen in the manor. It had high ceilings, several large windows, a hearth, and three long wooden tables with benches. The tables were pushed against the walls, leaving the stone floor open.

Faye sat at one of the tables, conversing with a peppy, young blonde girl. They both looked up when Kindle and I entered, and Faye beamed at me. She bounded across the large room and crushed me into a warm embrace. "Magpie, I'm so glad you're okay."

Inari— who surprisingly enough was actually wearing clothing— leaned against the table with her arm draped around the leaf-haired girl I'd seen turn into a tree. Her calm expression soured as she looked me over.

Faye handed me a clean blue frock and pulled me through a side door into a tiny wash room. "Change. Then I'll introduce you to everyone and Kindle can explain the plan."

Personally, I'd had enough of Kindle's plan, but I did as I was instructed. I was just thankful to be with Faye again. She had a way of making any situation better just by being there, like a living ray of sunshine.

I changed and rebraided my hair, then took the hand Faye offered and let her pull me back into the massive dining room. She led me to the cheerful blonde first.

"Hi, I'm Serpina! Faye's told me so much about you." She extended a tan hand to me and smiled brightly. Her eyes were almost the same shade of green as mine, and scales similar to Faye's glinted by her temples. "Can I listen to you talk?"

I blinked. "Can you what?"

She pulled a little notepad and pen out of a pocket in her frock and pushed a loose wave behind her ear, still smiling. "Something a bit longer than that."

I glanced over at Faye. "Um.. what is she doing?"

Serpina nodded and jotted down a few notes.

"Sorry, she's a bit odd when it comes to languages." Faye smiled apologetically.

Serpina smiled as well, looking excited. "Your dialect is unlike any I've ever studied. You're speaking Luminous, but the accent isn't influenced by any region I'm familiar with. You really are from a different world. Amazing."

"Uh...huh."

"We need to have a more in-depth conversation later. I'd love the opportunity to study you!" Wow. Serpina was a total nerd.

Faye tugged me further down the table. "Okay, next up, the lovebirds."

"Hello again," I waved tensely to Inari.

"Yeah, hello again, Human. Hope you don't mess this up too badly." She grunted, but then the leafy girl snuggled closer to her side and Inari's entire being softened. "How's the leg?"

"Um, fine." Well, she wasn't transforming into a fox and trying to rip my face off. Good enough!

The leafy girl smiled one of the gentlest smiles I'd ever seen, darkening her mossy freckles. "So, you're Kindle's human... I'm Emrys. I hope we can be friends."

Her voice was floaty and comforting. I found myself smiling even though her wording— Kindle's human?— confused me. "Yeah, same."

Kindle cleared his throat, bringing everyone's attention to him. "So, here's how this is going to work: We have four weeks to turn you into the perfect lady— three, considering how long the journey to Lumina will take."

He moved down the line, resting his hand on each lady's shoulder as he spoke. "Faye will make your gowns, you'll need enough for the entire length of the ball. Serpina will educate you on all current court customs, and help you memorize the important names of Luminous nobility. Inari and Emrys will instruct you on the ins and outs of useful spy techniques— the questions to ask, the places things are hidden, how to search for those things without being obvious."

"And you'll teach me how to dance?" I finished, raising an eyebrow. For some reason the idea of Kindle dancing was hilarious to me.

He nodded. "The others will help with that, Inari especially, but yes." He bowed and held out a hand. "Shall we begin?"