[MAGGIE's PoV]

The massive wall that surrounded Lumina's capital loomed ahead of us, magnificent and imposing.

"...Ooh, this is so exciting..!" Carlyle sighed. He draped himself across my lap, careful to hover a few inches above my skin. I had gotten better at controlling the memory swap thing, but it was still jarring any time it happened without preparation.

Carlyle had been right about the impossibility of sleeping while the carriage was moving, but luckily angel's required sleep too, so Rhiannon had no trouble stopping for a few hours every so often to let us rest. During the day I'd taken to riding up on the driver's bench with her. At night I stayed inside the carriage, and Carlyle and I practiced memory swapping.

As we came ever closer to the wall, Rhiannon tensed at my side. Though she was going to take me all the way to the palace, I understood why she didn't want to. The walls were high, and solid, and heavily guarded. And she was exactly what they were trying to keep out.

"Just keep your eyes closed." I squeezed her hand. With both her eyes and feathers covered, there was nothing to immediately give her away as non-human.

She nodded curtly, her teeth clenched.

The trip had passed without any trouble. She'd warned me bandits might be a problem, but luckily we never came across any. Not that I was too worried—at Faye's brithday I'd watched Rhiannon absolutely demolish basically everyone there in an arm wrestling competition. If we encountered any bandits, she'd probably take them out without a problem.

"State your business," one of the knights guarding Réalta's gate demanded when we pulled to a halt in front of them.

"I'm escorting Lady Jacintha Carlyle to the ball at the palace, sir," Rhiannon answered, jerking her head toward me.

"...I do love that you used my name. It has a very majestic ring to it..." Carlyle commented.

The knight gave me a scrutinizing look, his hand resting on his sword. "Step down, please."

I swallowed and did as I was told, doing my best to carry myself like nobility.

Two other knights opened the carriage doors, looked under the seats, under the wheels. I half expected one of them to open my luggage and start looking in there. The whole time, I was acutely aware of the vial of poison still in my pocket. Hopefully they wouldn't do a body check.

The knight who spoke was easily a head taller than me, and he stared me down with a look of pure skepticism. "Invitation?"

I frowned. "Invitation like a paper invitation? I don't have one."

"No invitation no entry," he said firmly. The curve of his lips made it seem like he found amusement in turning me away.

"But Cas—Prince Casimir invited me personally." Through the gate I could see the bustling city. So close. I was so close. Was this one stupid thing really going to be what stopped me?

"Very funny, miss Jacintha. Now head back to wherever you came from." He said, turning away from me.

"Believe, me that's the goal." I muttered, too quiet for him to hear. I crossed my arms, then said louder. "Cas will be quite disappointed if I'm not there. And you can tell him that you're the one who turned me away."

The knight turned back to me, saying something, but I completely missed whatever it was. On the other side of the gate, Casimir's knight Julian was strolling along in conversation with a tall, blonde man in glasses.

Yes! Julian could totally vouch for me. He hadn't seemed to trust me when we first met, but he was still a witness to Cas inviting me.

"Juju!" I shouted. I hurried past the knight, trying to wave through the gate. "Juju, hey! Juj—ow!"

The knight caught my arm and flung me to the ground. I landed on my hip and something crunched in my pocket. I sucked in a deep breath. If that was the poison, I was doomed. If that was the blood, things were about to become interesting very quickly.

Sure enough, I felt sticky liquid pool in my back pocket, blossoming out across the fabric of my pants. That was definitely blood. So, I did the only thing that made sense.

I screamed.

Everyone in the vicinity stopped what they were doing and looked at me, including Julian and the guy he was with.

Julian hurried through the gate, which opened for him immediately. He looked at me, then looked around. "Jacintha? What in the world is going on here?"

"...Goodness, that man is so beautiful I might die again..."

I tried my best to tune out Carlyle's commentary and jumped to my feet. "These knights have been exceedingly rude to me, all because Cas never gave me a physical invitation to the ball." I put my hands on my hips and turned my nose up at the rude knight. "Juju, please inform them of their mistake."

Behind Julian, the man in glasses made a face that suggested he didn't buy the "proper" act I was putting on. Embarrassed, I relaxed my stance slightly.

"Perhaps, if you call me by my actual name." Julians eyes glinted with humor, but then he caught sight of the blood running down my leg. Angry, he turned his gaze to the knight. "She is a friend of His Highness. Explain yourself now."

"Sir Ettore, you don't honestly mean to tell me the prince invited a fish-blood?" The knight asked, looking me over.

My eyebrows shot up. "A what?"

"Indeed he did, but who are we to question His Highness?" Julian said, ignoring me. "And who are you to make comments about the state of someone's blood? Wasn't it your sister who ran off with a Noxian?"

The knight went pale, his mouth opening and closing before he turned and bowed to me. "Very sorry, Lady. Please forgive my rudeness."

I crossed my arms. "I'll consider it."

"...I certainly won't. Fish-blood, how dare he..."

I made a mental note to ask about that later.

"Now carry on with your business," Julian said to the knight, then turned to his companion. "Lady Jacintha, this is Sir Ander Kúreki. Ander, this is Lady Jacintha..."

"Carlyle," I finished, giving a slight curtsey. "Lady Jacintha Carlyle."

"...Ah, that gets me every time..." Carlyle sighed.

"Forgive my friend here for his rudeness, he's taken a religious vow of silence."

The silent man, Ander, shot Julian a scathing look.

"What I mean to say is, he lost a bet and can't speak again until sundown." Julian chucked, but his expression quickly became somber. "Apologies, Miss. You're injured, we should get that taken care of immediately..."

"Oh, no no! This isn't mine." I answered.

Julian raised an eyebrow. Ander raised both.

"It's my friend's," I corrected nervously, "he gave it to me in a little bottle, but it broke open when I fell. It's supposed to be for the blood-ravens? I don't know why I said that as a question..."

"Ah, good. If I'd brought you to the prince injured, he'd have a fit." Julian relaxed. "Once the blood dries you can cut the fabric into strips and tie your letters with them. It will work just the same."

Julian looked past me at the carriage, where Rhiannon sat stiffly. "Ander, help me gather Jacintha's belongings." He glanced back at me. "We're headed to the palace now. You'll ride with us."

An order, not a request. Charming fellow.

"Oh, okay, thank you." I casually and gently dipped my fingers into my back pocket. The vial of poison was still in tact, thank the lord. My fingers emerged smeared with Kindle's dark blood. I shuddered and wiped them on my pants, trying not to think about it too much.

While Julian and his friend moved my trunks from the Order's carriage to their own, I said my goodbyes to Rhiannon. "Thank you so much for bringing me," I said, keeping my voice low. "I know it was risky, especially given the situation you were in a few months ago."

"Don't worry about me, I'm just glad things are on track." Rhiannon laughed and ruffled my hair. She was only three years older than me, but she was also six feet tall, covered in tattoos and muscles, and could probably snap my neck with one hand. That should have made her intimidating, but really all it did was make me feel like a little kid.

"Okay, well." I glanced back. Julian was already through the gate, one of my suitcases in tow, his friend Ander had the other, and stood not too far away, watching me with suspicious eyes. "I guess I should probably get going—oh! Can you have Isidor tell Kindle I'm sorry for ruining his pants? I'll explain in the first letter..."

Rhiannon nodded. "Sure thing, girlie. Now get to work."

I pulled my satchel containing a few personal items from the carriage seat, waved a final goodbye, then hurried after the others. Right. Work. I wasn't going to this ball just to have fun, I had to stay on my toes.

During the ride to the palace, I fought the urge to press my face to the carriage window as I marveled at the bustling streets alive all around me. Loftwood and Eirwen had been quaint, comfortable little villages that gave off homey vibes. Réalta couldn't even reasonably be called a village—it was a city, despite obviously looking nothing like the cities I was used to.

On earth, cities had giant skyscrapers of metal and glass that blocked out the sky. Buildings here were mostly brick, and didn't reach nearly that high, meaning the sky was still open and clear.

There were taverns, bakeries, inns, clothing and jewelry shops, street vendors selling every item imaginable (and some I'd never even considered imagining.) Carriages and horses and people all shared the roads. A sign labeled "No Unicorns Within Capital Limits" caught my eye and made me giggle.

"Never been to Réalta before?" Julian asked. He and Ander sat across from me. Ander had a thick book open in his lap, but he still glanced up, waiting for my answer.

"This is all completely new to me. It's silly to say, but I wasn't expecting Réalta to be so big."

"Well, it is the capital of the Realm," Julian said.

I frowned. "Capital of Lumina, you mean. Wouldn't the non-human countries each have capitals of their own?"

Ander closed his book, rested his chin on his hand, and looked at me with an expression that was somehow judgmental and amused at the same time, as if to say "oh, you uneducated child."

Which, funnily enough, was exactly what Carlyle said out loud.

Julian cleared his throat. "They did, before they rose up and started a war against us. Now Lumina is in control of the entire realm. Surely I don't have to explain this to you—you are a Luminous citizen, are you not?"

"Of course." I bit the inside of my cheek. Serpina had explained that Lumina's version of history was a bit warped. I shouldn't have said anything. Hoping to change the subject, I asked, "so what does fish-blood mean?"

"Goodness, you've lived a sheltered life, haven't you." It wasn't a question. Everything Julian said was so cold and matter-of-fact. "Fish-blood is a less than kind term for a human with Siaboran ancestry. You've got merfolk somewhere in your lineage, that's why you have green eyes."

"Yes, that's true, so what?" I turned my chin up and narrowed my eyes. Internally, I heaved a massive sigh of relief. I finally had a valid excuse for my eye color I could tell people rather than 'alien from another dimension.'

He waved a hand. "It's becoming a more common occurance, especially since some border territories have started allowing integration. But people are still rightfully wary about it."

Ander nodded.

A few moments of silence passed, which I eagerly filled by watching the colorful city pass by my window. Then I asked, "how come you're not with Cas right now, aren't you like his bodyguard?"

"His Highness has several 'bodyguards,' as you put it," Julian answered. He straightened up a bit pridefully before continuing, "though I am his Lionheart, he's perfectly safe within the walls of the palace without me."

Ander side-eyed Julian and made a pointed coughing sound, which Julian ignored.

"Two days a week, I teach combat at Lumina's knight academy, which is why I was out of the palace today." Julian leaned toward the window. "Speaking of the palace, here we are."

I swallowed, doing my best to keep my mouth from dropping open like a moron as I took in the stunning sight.

I knew what the palace of Réalta looked like, of course. I'd played through Shadows of Light numerous times, memorized the floor-plan (for speed running purposes,) and even drawn fan art of the impressive structure.

But a 3D render did not do the palace justice. Seeing it in person was... the word "wow" didn't even begin to cover it, but honestly that was all I could come up with.

"...And I thought Nox's palace was something..." Carlyle noted, letting out a low whistle. "...I think I'm gonna explore while you're at the ball tonight..."

While Julian and Ander were distracted, I nodded once. That was a good idea. Carlyle could look around and report back if he found anything interesting. And since I was the only one who could see him here in Lumina, that made him the perfect spy.

The carriage bounced to a halt and a footman opened the door. Julian and Ander got out first. Ander didn't stick around, choosing instead to head directly up the massive staircase into the palace on his own. Since no one tried to stop him, he was clearly of important enough rank to do that.

I stepped out of the carriage and tipped my head back to scan the high turrets. Flags waved from every peak, white and maroon with what looked like roses in the center. I gripped my satchel to my chest. It did nothing to muffle the heavy thud of my heart. I was here. This was happening.

"You can follow Simone to your quarters," Julian said as he handed my luggage off to a group of servants. "They'll help you get cleaned up and dressed for the ball."

A short, stocky woman with curly brown hair—Simone, I assumed—waved me toward her.

"Thank you very much for getting me here." I said with an awkward, dressless curtsey.

Julian gave a curt nod. "Well, I'd hate to disappoint His Highness."

"...I'm in love with him..." Carlyle said from where he floated next to me. "...So any time you wanna get inside his mind, I'm all for it. Maybe he's got memories of training shirtless in front of a mirror..."

I made a face and Carlyle snickered.

"...I was joking, but it was worth it for that reaction..."

"Suure you were," I breathed.

"...Mostly..."

I was very tired of saying "wow!" by the time we reached my assigned room. Every single hall and stiarcase I was led through was ornate and beautiful. But then Simone opened the doors to the cutest little room I'd ever seen, and I just had to say it again.

"Wow," I breathed, turning in a circle to take everything in. The room was round, meaning I was probably in one of the turrets. The walls were a comforting shade of cream with spiraling golden crown-molding. A delicate crystal chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, bathing the entire room in gentle light. There were roses everywhere, which seemed to be the theme of the whole palace.

And the bed—wow that bed. It was huge, bigger even than my king-sized bed back home with my parents. It had a billowy canopy and covered in fluffy pillows, and I wanted to fling myself onto it immediately. But I was still covered in blood, so that was a no-go.

Behind a divider on the other side of the room, two servants filled a claw-footed tub with warm water and floral scented bath oils. Great, this was one of those places where they were expecting to 'bathe me,' wasn't it? That would be awkward.

"Which gown are you planning to wear tonight, Miss?" Simone asked, opening the first trunk.

"The green one. It should be near the top." I tugged my hair out of its braid. Was there a polite way I could ask everyone to leave and let me wash myself?

"Very well, Miss. Please strip and we will begin."

Nope, didn't seem likely.