"What happened?" Paris pressed on, "You don't seem like the type to sleep in."

"Were you being possessed?" Juliette unhelpfully added.

Kilorn groaned as he tried to walk faster than them in a vain attempt to escape their questions. "Look, it happens. I was tired. You two weirdos drained my power by asking to sleep and—, look, it's been a day."

Juliette lifted her hands. "You could have said no!"

"Oh, that's rich," Kilorn sneered with a dramatic eye roll, "there's no way on Gyaa's green world that was ever going to happen."

"Fine..." Juliette placated as she practically ran to keep up with him. He seemed eager to return to his room. "But seriously, what happened?"

"You two are as bad as they are!" His voice was strained with annoyance. He looked back, and his shoulders slumped down. "You're not going to let it go, are you?"

"Nope." Paris popped his p when he said the singular word.

"Stars above," Kilorn complained, mostly to himself. "Fine. Real answer? Which is practically the answer I already gave you; I was tired. Believe it or not, being a mind reader takes more energy than you think. Especially with a power like mine. It's constant. You might not see the glow, but I always hear things. I can't exactly shut it off like the other powers, and that's because of my Mydra connection."

Mydra, the forbidden Maiden, Juliette recalled. Then she realized with great sadness that his connection to that Maiden landed him in the fields of the Culling Stars in the first place.

They wanted his power, even if they had outlawed the Maiden that gave it to him.

It made her sick.

"My power is multi-leveled. There are other erkain-blessed who have varying stages of their power. At my power's innate center, I can hear the thoughts of others without so much as lifting a finger. It's faint, but I can tune in whenever I want to."

Juliette shuddered with hyperawareness.

Kilorn gave her a sarcastic smile. "Yes, and that's why I don't go around telling people that."

"So the King asked you to use your power during the negotiations," Juliette said. "If you can do it naturally, why bother using his power to hide it?"

"He was already using it to mask his face," Kilorn circled his face, "he wanted to make sure I was covered if I leaned too strongly into my power. The Protector's mind isn't completely unguarded either. He has created mental blocks against me, and he wears a few hidden bones to deflect my ability. It's smart, but..." Kilorn flashed them a dangerous smile. "It's not enough to completely block me out. We were both trained by the Stars, but I have the upper hand when it comes to control."

"Why's that?" Paris questioned. "I'll ask about the bones in a second," he added quickly. "That still freaks me the hell out."

"You're just full of questions," Kilorn grumbled. He tried to run his hand through his hair, only for his fingers to tangle. He winced and dragged it out, pulling the loose strands with his hand.

"Why are you stronger than him?"

Kilorn laughed. "Wrong question," he said with a note of bitterness.

They arrived at Juliette's door, still guarded by Maeve and Jordan. Maeve wore a bandana over her face, but Juliette couldn't forget those eyes.

"Have a nice run?" Maeve asked, sickeningly sweet and light.

Kilorn yanked open the door, nearly smacking Maeve with the whiplash. He showed his teeth in the barest semblance of a smile. He was mad, and seeing Kilorn at his wits' end...

Juliette felt ashamed before her thoughts could name the feeling.

"Looks like our honored guests are here to stay," she commented as Kilorn vanished inside.

Juliette lingered by the door. She glanced up into Maeve's eyes and nodded.

Maeve placed her hand against her hip, leaning to one side. Her head angled down as if it were naturally inclined to do so. "I heard you got to meet the Protector."

She nodded again.

Paris lingered beside her, caught between the doorway. His eyes were slightly pleading as he tried to take a suggestive step forward.

"Took your soul too," she mused as her eyes glittered like an animal's in the dark. "What's that feel like?"

"It's not my soul," Juliette answered levelly.

"Isn't it?"

Paris grabbed her arm, interrupting Juliette's downward spiral. "Don't listen to her," he muttered. "She's trying to mess with you."

Maeve laughed as she drew back to her full height. "Oh, you're cute. A nice little guard dog."

Paris bristled with fury but didn't rise to take the bait.

Heat sparked from her fingers without warning. A trail of fire danced over her fingers. Juliette glared at the Shade, angrier about her insulting Paris than herself. "Don't talk to him like that."

Maeve's lips parted, and deep lines formed around her rosy cheeks, carving dark lines into her face.

Juliette shook out her hand as smoke trailed up into the air. She pressed her cool hand against Paris's lower back, causing him to stiffen. She urged him inside and turned to face the door.

She poked her head out and made eye contact with Maeve.

Her throat clenched as the word rose, but she managed to mimic the Shade's cruel smile.

"Stay," she mocked, then shut the door with a loud slam.

"She terrifies me," Juliette whispered as she exited the restroom. A cloud of steam hovered behind her from the blazing hot shower she took. She wore a fresh pair of pajamas with a towel still wrapped around her head. "I don't like her."

Juliette wore a silk set of pajamas, which were a deep umber red color. She loved the way it felt on her body and made a mental note to buy herself a pair of silky pajamas when she got a job.

She needed these in her life.

Paris nodded, still sitting at her writing desk. His hair was damp from his shower, and his cheeks flushed with color. He wore a cool gray shirt that fit against his body as if it had been wrapped. His pants were loose and puffy, cinched at his ankles.

"How do you make the beehive?"

"Huh?" Her face spelled out her confusion.

Paris quickly amended, "Oh, the..." He circled his hand around his head.

Juliette realized he meant the wrap. She swung her body down and ducked her head. She unwrapped it and unspun her hair from the inside. The towel shook out, still slightly damp.

"It wraps around, but... I guess it helps if you have hair? But if you twist it around, you should be able to replicate it." She threw it over her shoulder.

Paris stared at her for a moment as if he were entranced by the magic of the towel wrap.

Juliette absently fixed her damp hair and parted it to the side out of habit. She noticed Paris was still staring and dropped her hands. "You can try it, if you want."

His body stilled, and then he quickly looked away, deeply interested in the engravings along the desk. "I might. Later."

"What do you think Kilorn's doing?" she asked, approaching the door.

Paris was temporarily kicked out and sought refuge in her room. She pressed her face against the door, half-expecting to hear something through the wood.

According to Tage, Paris had more restrictions and was kept under close watch. That might be a result of having Fin, the notorious rule-breaker and wanderer, as a partner; there was a clear difference between their guards' personalities.

Lukas hadn't even shown up to the negotiation, despite being partnered with the King.

Tage mentioned talking to Lukas earlier and said Lukas was free to roam the base as he pleased. Lukas preferred staying in the barracks with everyone else rather than following the King around. He seemed to be adjusting well and took it all in stride.

Juliette admired his adaptability. Perhaps that's why she had the smallest interest in him during their trips.

She struggled and fought against change with all of her might. She refused to move on, and Juliette knew this. It made sense that she would be drawn to the personality she could never hope to attain. Paris, Lukas, Maya, Mal.

A cold emotion washed over her as she swore she saw the King's eyes in her mind's eye. The gentle press of his lips on her ear. The scent of his breath. The faintest scent of spice and winter's night.

"Thank you."

The mere memory of it sent a terrified thrill through her body.

Had the King really spoken into her mind? Kilorn was the one with telepathy. Could the King mimic other people's powers? He said he had illusions, but having multiple sets of powers seems to be common.

She didn't notice Paris walk over and was startled when he appeared behind her. He shushed her quietly as he leaned toward the door. He angled around her with only inches between them. Body heat radiated from him.

Juliette froze in place, unsure how to proceed.

They slept in the same bed today. How was she supposed to feel about that? When was she going to have time to process this?

Her head felt like it was going to explode as she breathed in the natural smell of Paris and the faintest trace of petrichor clinging to his clean skin.

"Hear anything?" he whispered.

Juliette shook her head stiffly.

Do I like Paris?

She did have the smallest interest in him before arriving in this world. It's why he made it into the story at all. However, she only knew him on the surface before. How had so much changed in such a short time?

The wood vanished from against Juliette's cheek, and her body fell forward, landing on the ground with a hard thud. A weight flopped on top of her, crushing her, and she wildly smacked around before realizing Paris had landed on her back.

As they scrambled, they looked up guiltily at Kilorn, towering over them with a disinterested stare.

Juliette cringed.

Of course, Kilorn knew they were trying to listen. He was a mind reader. It was difficult to change her behavior in his presence; it was impossible to wrap her head around and constantly try to hide her thoughts.

"Sorry," she apologized meekly.

Kilorn held his stare, then sighed. "It's fine."

Paris bounced to his feet with a quick recovery. "We weren't doing anything."

"Uh huh."

"We were... just..." Juliette made a face, unable to mask her regret of attempting to lie. "Um."

"It's fine, I said." Kilorn rubbed his face with one hand. "I know."

He did know.

"You seem really stressed out."

Kilorn walked away from them. His silk robe of pearly white flowed behind him. "I wonder why."

"You overslept," Paris pointed out. "We had no idea we had to go out there—"

"I'm not mad at you," Kilorn cut him off. He sat on the edge of his bed and leaned his head against the wooden post. His hand lightly curled around its base. "You couldn't have known. We should be grateful that Fin has a rather loud internal voice."

"You read their minds to talk to them?"

Kilorn paused as if to consider something. He looked at Juliette instead of answering right away.

Juliette brought up the memory of the King's voice echoing in her mind for him, assuming he could see it. She might be testing if he could actually hear it.

To her surprise, Kilorn started to nod. Juliette's stomach flipped at the implications of it. "I promised to explain the bones to you."

That wasn't what she had expected him to say.

"You told us people traded them for power sharing, but..." Paris made a face of disgust. "How does that even work?"

Juliette glanced at Paris in momentary confusion. She didn't exactly remember that conversation.

"You were there," he said in disbelief. "When we talked about powers. Marriage bonds? Blood oaths?"

She had a vague recollection of the conversation.

"I didn't go into detail," Kilorn said understandingly.

Paris shifted his weight to his other leg, then glanced at the ground in front of Kilorn. He sat down at his feet and looked up expectantly, always eager to learn more.

Juliette followed suit and rested her chin on her knees.

"Our power flows through our bodies. It's a deep part of ourselves. So closely that our bones hold some of that power within them. Imagine if you lit a candle in a room for months on end, the scent would linger there long after the candle had gone out. Our power works in that matter. The older we get, the more we train and hone our skills, the power within our bones gets stronger."

"It's why the Culling Stars didn't..." Kilorn cleared his throat as his voice threatened to crack. "The Stars didn't harvest some of our bones right away. They wanted our powers to develop, and we had to grow older. These rules apply to everyone. The bones hold power, and someone who holds that would be able to use it. If they wear it on their body, they can use the original holder's power at the level of skill the bone had when it was taken."

Juliette and Paris listened attentively. Morbid images of splattering blood and piles of dusty bones sitting upon a platter went through her head. An offering to the Culling Stars as they feasted upon the power of the innocent dead.

Dark chambers and caverns of rock built around her mind as she imagined the Culling Stars as ghosts, caressing their greedy hands over ivory-white bones. A poor servant picked the bones clean in a dark corner until their hands cramped and blood permanently stained the cracks between their fingernails.

Paris asked, "Kilorn?"

Juliette blinked and realized she had zoned out. She glanced up at Kilorn, and a deep dread sank into her stomach. She winced. "Sorry."

Kilorn stared at her, mild horror in his eyes. He took a shaky breath, deeply uncomfortable, and tried recollecting himself. "Um. Anyway, the bones can be worn or placed inside a person for safekeeping. It's a sacred practice, and there are only a few skilled enough to do it. Fin happens to know a guy, and that's why you don't see me or the King wear bones."

"Hold on, you have bones?" Paris blurted, then chuckled. "Oh, wait. That's not..."

Kilorn smiled half-heartedly. "Yes, Paris," he deadpanned, "I have bones."

"Boneless," Juliette commented with a note of humor.

"Maidenless," Paris giggled, and they shared a look.

Kilorn looked hopelessly lost, for not even his mind-reading ability could provide context for it. The two laughed together as they shared the private joke, then refocused on Kilorn.

"Whose bones do you have?"

"Fin's." Kilorn lifted his hand as a steady glow started in his eyes. Then Kilorn's body lifted off the bed as if an invisible hand had scooped him up.

"Whoa..." Juliette said in amazement.

Kilorn lowered himself down again and winced slightly when the glow faded. He must still be exhausted, but at least he's in a better mood. "He can teleport through portals, but that isn't included in his bone. That's a story for another day."

"And..." Kilorn gave a faint smile, "I can also use the king's power of illusions. Although his power was strong when he gifted it to me, his power is difficult to use since it's another mental power. Combined with my powers, it's difficult to control both at the same time."

"That's insane," Paris admired. "Is that all?"

Kilorn laughed. "Yes, that's all. Fin and the King also have my bones, though it works a bit differently for them. They can reach out to another person to communicate through telepathy, but they can't fully read minds or alter someone's emotions like I can. There are limits to the bones. Some people theorize it depends on which bone you take, but it's still unclear if there's a connection."

"We used to wear them, but Fin..." Kilorn groaned at the memory, "he lost our bones. To be fair, it was dark. And we were kind of in the trenches. And no one saw the mudslide coming so..." He still looked ticked about it. "But, at least, no one will ever find them in there."

"New lore just dropped," Juliette whispered. Then she raised her voice to ask. "You were in the trenches together?"

"Of course. We weren't always generals of Noviro. We had to rise through the ranks on our own accord, regardless of his interest in us."

She imagined the three of them crawling on their bellies through the thick mud. Air raid sirens screeched through the night as torrential rain dumped down on their faces. The suffocating flow of thick mud as it threatened to swallow their bodies whole.

A flash of red hair before the sludge nearly stole the breath from his lungs. The quick darting of a hand in the violent flashing of lightning and distant bombs as it grabbed Kilorn's pale, thin limbs from the darkness.

How difficult it must have been to wrench his body out from the mud as it suctioned him deeper. Its clamping jaws refusing to let the clever fox free.

Juliette blinked as a physical sadness sank into the pit of her stomach. It felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds, almost taking her soul to the ground.

"That freaking sucks," Paris said intelligently.

Kilorn swallowed hard as his eyes darted over Juliette's face. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah?" Juliette told herself to stop zoning out. She must be tired.

"That's how Fin lost our bones, and why when we had enough money and connections, we put them into our bodies."

"So did you give Fin more of... your bones?" Juliette still felt awkward talking about bones as if they were nothing but jewelry.

"Yes," Kilorn said reluctantly, "but he swears he won't lose them again. He hates the idea of having bones inside of him. His body is immortal, so they're not going anywhere, but he had it done for us."

"With your bones... they can talk through telepathy," Juliette summarized. The King had really spoken to her earlier. At least he wasn't a mind reader as well.

"Yes. That's why they were able to wake me up. Granted, they didn't tell me the Protector was coming tonight. No one knew until he showed up. They had a ten-minute head start; I did not." Kilorn grimaced as his body further slumped against the bedpost.

The dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced. Sleepiness cast shadows on his face, almost altering his features to be even sharper and harsher.

"We should let you sleep..." Juliette exchanged a look with Paris.

Kilorn's face scrunched in disagreement. "It's fine."

"You're clearly not fine," she pointed out hesitantly, realizing she sounded like the King of all people.

"Is Beltane tomorrow?" Paris asked. Juliette nearly forgot about the fire festival.

"That's another thing I need to talk to you about." Kilorn forced himself to sit up. His eyelids struggled not to droop. "We decided to take all of you to Beltane. It isn't worth trying to separate you, not when we are all in one place. We'll leave for Isle of Aros around noon tomorrow, and we'll stay overnight."

"Should we do anything for it?"

"Everything you need will be provided for you. I'm talking about the rituals."

Juliette gave him a wide-eyed look. "What rituals?"

Kilorn chuckled softly at her reaction. "Not the type you're thinking of. We don't slaughter animals to appease our Maidens. It's symbolic. But everything may come as a shock to you. You do not need to participate if you don't want to. The option is open for you, but no one is requiring you to take part."

"What do you do there?"

Kilorn contemplated before answering. "We light a huge fire to honor Alethia and her sovereignty over the element of fire. There's always a dance that lasts for the majority of the night. There will be food, drinks—, oh, the drinks, if you don't want to end up drunk out of your mind, you should avoid drinking anything besides water."

Juliette made a mental note of it.

"Ask if you're unsure," he added quickly. "I understand that you don't have experience with spiked drinks. Be careful."

"We will," Paris reassured.

"During the Great Burning, other events are going on. Walking over hot coals, jumping over the Great Flame, tests of courage," he listed off as if it wasn't the most absurdly dangerous thing Juliette had ever heard. "There is another side to the festival. These activities happen later in the night and, for some regions, are optional. The festival is typically open to all ages. But for us..." Kilorn shifted as his dark eyes flashed with an unreadable emotion. "Noviro celebrated it in a specific way. We're not in any position to change the tradition already in place."

"What happens?"

"After dark? There's a school of thought that fire fuels the earth. Beltane is the revival of life after ashes and smoke. It's a celebration of life after cleansing and for many people..." Kilorn sighed as he grew uncomfortable and increasingly frustrated, "It means that people sleep with each other to celebrate."

Juliette made a visceral face of panic. The very thought scared her in ways others didn't understand.

"I know, I know, but like I said, you don't have to participate if you don't want to." Then he locked eyes with them, suddenly serious. "Do not let anyone force you to."

"We'll stick together," Paris offered.

"I'm sticking with you," Kilorn corrected. "Having a festival doesn't erase the danger around Juliette. If we had any say in the matter, we would have canceled the festival altogether."

"Why didn't you?" Juliette asked confusedly. "Isn't the King... the King?"

Kilorn smiled sadly. "If only it were that simple. As you can imagine, people weren't happy when we killed Noviro."

Oh.

"Things settled, of course. We had a few leave us, but many of them stayed. However, it was so recent that it would be unwise for us to change it. Beltane was one of the few festivals Noviro hosted for his army, and we didn't want to change that."

Paris rocked around as he held his legs, still crossing them. "Makes sense." He reminded her of a roly poly.

Juliette couldn't quite imagine the festival, but she knew these types of things had to be experienced to be explained. She had to be careful, though.

"It's getting late," Kilorn said as he glanced at the window. It was completely dark. "We have a long day tomorrow."

"Somehow I'm still tired," Paris admitted. "I might need to sleep for a thousand years."

"You and me both, kid."

"Why do you call us kids?" Juliette scowled at him. "You're only seventeen."

Paris's eyes went huge. "SEVENTEEN!?"

Oops. Juliette had nearly forgotten that it was Paris's homework.

Kilorn snorted in amusement. "You'll understand when you're older."

"YOU'RE SEVENTEEN?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE TWENTY-NINE OR SOMETHING."

"Maya guessed thirty," Juliette added.

Kilorn rolled his eyes while he pressed his forehead against the post. He couldn't fight back his smile. "Fin says I've got an old soul. Coming from an immortal, that's saying something."

"WHAT?!"

"I feel like we brushed over the fact that Fin is immortal," Juliette said in shock.

"How old is Fin?"

"Oh... he became a Shatter when he was twenty-four. Actually... he's always been vague about it, but some of us do our research on outdated phrases, and I've placed him somewhere in his fifties. Possibly older."

Juliette died and nearly fell into Paris's lap as she lurched backward.

"This world is crazy!" Paris shouted, and then he let out a crazed laugh. "Oh God, how old's the King, then? Don't tell me that he's secretly eighty because of some random power he's got up his sleeve."

"He's younger than Kilorn by two months," Juliette whispered, still lying flat on the ground.

Paris yelled in outrage.

Kilorn laughed delightedly. "You two are hilarious."

"Why thank you," Juliette said as she slowly became one with the floor.

"But unfortunately, we should probably sleep."

Paris finished his dramatized shock and gave a resigned nod. "Yeah. Probably."

Juliette got up from the ground and spared the two boys a look. "This was fun, though," she said as she felt a flicker of warmth in her chest.

It grew stronger as she soaked in the moment, memorizing it for a later time.

She promised to remember this until the room was tinted with dusty rose and gold as it turned into nostalgia.

She loved this, she thought. And she wasn't sure if she wanted this to end like Maya did.

There was still so much to explore here, and she didn't want to leave Kilorn behind. There would always be a part of her that mourned this life when she returned home.

"We'll see you in the morning," Kilorn called to her. He gave her the faintest smile. "Good night, Juliette."

Juliette smiled in return, "Good night." A fluttering feeling went through her when she looked at Paris. A part of her wished they could sleep together again, but that was extremely unlikely. The moment had clearly passed.

"I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night," Paris replied, though his hazel eyes appeared saddened by something.

He watched her leave, and Juliette swore he watched her until the door shut.