"AND THEY LIVED happily ever after..."

The spine crinkled as I folded the book shut. I arched my back and stretched, setting the book to the side so I could fully extend my arms. The candle at my bedside table had burned all the way down to its brass holder some time early this morning, its soft light giving way to sunlight cutting through the thin windows high above my canopy bed.

Norcrest, Larnwick. I'd gotten my answer there. We were in the capital city of this country, but I learned that through the map at the front of the book rather than reading the story. There was very little said about Larnwick at all. I couldn't believe Claire knew exactly where we were when we woke up, but I guessed those glowing mushrooms were a dead giveaway.

It was... a little surreal.

More than surreal. More like totally unbelievable. I scoffed, but shoved out of bed anyway, pushing past the stiffness of my body from sitting in one place for so long. I did not understand how Claire could do this all the time, not have some permanent disfigurement because there was no comfortable way to lay down and read a book, and actually enjoy it.

I walked into the bathroom and studied its ceiling. The mural there held more context now. The men and the rose were the Lovers. From what I got out of the story, they were perfect mirrors of the other. Lady Heathwood and Sir Ashwell described themselves and their love being the same way, which was sentimental and corny as hell.

My eyes drifted to the other constellation. The one with the two different colored eyes. The Twin Gaze. They were like mine and Claire's world-equivalent of the North Star: two fixed points in the sky that guided travelers and watched over everyone. They were different colors because they belonged to two different people. Two Sisters that were believed to have built this place's modern world.

One was known as The Empress. A divine ruler and protector. She was the temperance of man and the protector of humanity's future. She was a sire and steward of civilization and peace. Her eyes were painted a crystalline blue to symbolize the purity in her royalty.

The second eye belonged to The Sorceress. A teacher and force of nature. She learned how to harness the chaos of nature and turn it into magic. While The Empress guided everyone toward the future, The Sorceress acted as the reminder of the wild, cruel world that had once been, and what lessons it still taught to those who listened. Her eye was depicted as a deep purple, symbolizing the knowledge and mystery contained within her and the natural world.

The ones who were in tune to this world and its magic became sorcerers and sorceresses themselves, like Lady Heathwood. Heathwood had idolized The Sorceress's power and emulated her in everything she did. She wanted to teach magic the way The Sorceress guided her. Because here, anyone could learn magic. Anyone could use it, but few pursued it. It was a dedicated practice, a sacred art. It was weird as hell.

Knock, knock, knock.

Yet another thing to this world's growing list of things I had a problem with. Here, there was no such thing as privacy. I was the product of a single mom who worked a full-time and a part-time job (before she found all her beaus, at least) to help us get by. I didn't know what to do with all this full-time attention I was getting now. "Come in."

One of the two maids who were assigned to Claire and I stuck her head in through the door. The younger one whose name I felt bad I couldn't remember. "I brought you lunch, My Lady, if that suits you."

My eyes widened. "It's lunchtime?"

The maid shrunk back, her face pinching with distress. I didn't like the way she cowered from such a simple question, either. Swords and Roses taught me a lot about this world: including how some people could be treated if they didn't hold the right social status.

"It's... a bit past that, ma'am," she said. "My apologies, ma'am, I should have come sooner, but after this morning –"

"It's okay," I said. "Really. I was just surprised at the time, that's all. I didn't realize I'd been holed up in here for so long."

Holed up in here reading, of all things.

My answer seemed to mollify her, and she pushed the door open further. She carried a wide tray across the room and set it down on the vanity. It held a small loaf of bread, a bowl filled with some kind of soup and a goblet full of... "Milk?" I asked the white drink inside, as if it would answer me.

"Almond milk, ma'am," the maid replied. "Do you prefer milk of the cow? I can fetch some if this isn't to your taste."

Almond milk? Why did she sound as casual about that as a Whole Foods employee? If almond milk was that commonplace here, it had to be in Velien, and it had to be something people drank all the time. "No, this is fine. Thanks. It's... thoughtful. Yes. I always drink it at my first meal of the day. Did Claire suggest it?"

In the world of showbusiness, there was a phrase about faking it until you could make it, and I faked a lot of things to get what I wanted. I convinced the staff at eighteen-plus venues that my band and I were of age to play when I was sixteen, lied to my mom plenty of times that I was spending the night at Claire's house when I was out late practicing at Dustin's house, and of course there was the whole fake ID thing. I could lie, and if I had the right context, I could lie well. Reading Swords and Roses had given me some of that context, but not all of it. I still had more questions, more things to make sense of, and the words slipped out of me before I could even think about what I was saying – "Is there a library here?"

The maid startled, gawked at me as if I'd grown two heads. I felt that way, too. I needed to remember this date, officially mark it on calendars. Today was the day Jo Austin asked about a library. What was worse was that I actually wanted to go. That I felt like I needed to. "Yes, ma'am," the maid said. "It's in the East Wing. Once you are done with your lunch, I can help ready you for the day and show you where it is, if you would like."

I glanced at Claire's book sitting on the nightstand. I stayed up all night reading about it and hadn't gotten any closer to figuring out how we ended up here or how we could get home. I could do more... research, especially since Claire was out gallivanting with a literal prince and keeping up our façade. "That'd be great," I finally replied.

The maid curtsied low. "I shall start a bath for you as well."

Slowly, I picked up the almond milk and brought it up to my lips even slower. I doubted it tasted anything like Silk, but I guessed it was a better alternative than mead or red wine or whatever else they drank at Medieval Times twenty-four-seven. And it was actually almond milk, I realized after taking a small sip. The texture was a little gritty, but it was straight up almond milk. Holy hell –

"Lady Joan?"

I frowned at Sir Nico's voice echoing throughout the hall, carrying into my room through its open door. Why was he here, and not doing his job – which was being the personal guard to the prince, and by extension, Claire. Sir Nico and his cape swept into the doorway at a speed that made the hair stand on the back of my neck and my whole body go tense. "Lady Joan."

His dark eyes pinned on me instantly, before they suddenly widened. "Um – I – shit –"

"Where's Claire?" I demanded.

He refused to look anywhere but me now, before dropping into an immediate deep bow. "My sincerest apologies –"

Then the maid screamed, effectively scaring the absolute crap out of me. "Dude!" I snarled before the woman shot past me at a speed I didn't know a human could be capable of, and slammed the door right on Sir Nico's darkened face. She sealed me off from him, and whatever he had to say about Claire. I moved to the door, glaring at the poor girl whose face was white as a sheet. "What is wrong with you?"

"My Lady, please, stop!" the maid cried.

"There's something wrong with Claire," I snapped.

"Nothing life-threatening, I assure you," Sir Nico said through the door. "I will wait here until you are ready."

"I'm fine now," I said, my fingers enclosing the iron doorhandle.

"Lady Joan, please!" the maid hissed, sounding horrified. "You – You're only wearing your... your underthings."

For a moment, I didn't understand her. Her words held no meaning to me whatsoever. Underwhats? I looked down at my dress – the chemise – she was pointedly staring at. It was a long white dress with sleeves and everything. But it was worn under clothes. Underwear. They considered this underwear.

"Oh my God!" I ground out. "Just put me in something easy, then! And nothing with those stupid corsets!"

#

Sir Nico refused to say anything, let alone look at me as he led me through more winding hallways and down staircases. This time, they were illuminated with warm golden light instead of shadowy moonlight. At the speed we were going, and the way my dress curled around my legs, I thought I was going to trip down a step or two. But at least I could breathe in this one, the maid following through on my order of no corsets. "It's... a little dowdy," she'd said, worrying over the mousy gray color and cream trim, but I was already barging my way out the door.

"What happened?" I finally demanded.

"There was a thief at the marketplace," Sir Nico explained. "I had control over the situation, but the Lady Claire wished to take matters into her own hands when the man erred too close to her vicinity. She struck him with her fist."

I froze at the top of yet another staircase. Sir Nico, a few steps ahead of me, had to turn around. "Lady Joan?"

"Claire punched somebody?" I said.

The knight frowned back at me. "Well... yes. And she may have sprained her hand, which is why she's in the infirmary now."

What in the parallel dimensions was happening? I was going to libraries and Claire was getting into fights. "Oh my God," I muttered, and bustled down the steps with Sir Nico trailing close behind.

"Lady Joan, I should apologize for... for what happened earlier –"

"Nico, I don't mean to sound – I don't know, whatever the opposite of being a prude is – but I literally don't care. If Claire is in trouble, no matter what, I want to know about it immediately."

"Is that the oath you swore to each other before traveling?" he asked. He turned down a hallway and stopped at one of the many doors that looked the exact same as the other.

"No, it's more like a lifetime pact kind of thing," I replied. "Is this it?"

He barely nodded before I shoved my way inside, finding Claire sitting upright on a cot with Prince Elric hovering over her with the same energy as a mother hen, clucking over her purple hand. My heart came to a slow halt in my chest, turning my entire body cold.

The world felt even colder when I noticed the glassiness in her eyes. She'd been crying. Even though it'd only been a day, Claire wasn't like me. She was honest to a detriment. I couldn't imagine the stress she must've felt from lying to all of these people, even being flexible enough to explain away all of my issues. If we were back in our world, she would've crumbled at the very first hole someone would try and poke into her story.

She wasn't alone anymore, though. I'd read the book, too, and while I wasn't in love with it the way she was, I understood the mechanics. And I'd only get better.

Especially after going to... the library. Ugh.