Phoenix didn’t like the idea of leaving Dazien alone at all, even in the inn room they had rented. While it was a nice room and so far they hadn’t had any problems, she agreed with Daze that they should get a better location. She didn’t care as much about the cost like he did, she just wanted to reduce the amount of people constantly around them that she had become much more aware of now.

  Being connected once more via Dazien’s [Noble Subjects] ability helped to reassure her, but Rayna had also offered to stay behind and wait for him, staying in the room across the way and keeping an ear out for problems. Phoenix didn’t say anything, but she was glad she wasn’t the only one slightly paranoid about Dazien getting kidnapped again.

  Their remaining group eventually found the floor full of vacant lots where visitors had set up their own temporary accommodations. There was a large vehicle that looked like some sort of hovercraft, a giant lotus flower that had slits in the petals for doors and windows, a tree house made from the branches itself with springy vines being used to climb up, a castle made of fluffy white clouds, and even a volcano that definitely gave her ‘evil lair’ vibes.

  “Chosen come! See!” Ren suddenly said to her, shifting right in front of her from the small green bird to the daekin form in order to speak and point further down the path, “Spot with name!”

  Phoenix glanced at the others but they seemed just as confused as she felt so she simply said, “Lead the way.”

  After walking much further down the line to the large corner lot that had a few empty spots between the others, they saw a floating illusion in the air that clearly stated, “Reserved for the House Wayland Delegation.”

  She glanced back at Uriel and Saiya and asked, “There isn’t another House Wayland is there? I know the world is a lot bigger than what I’ve seen, but this couldn’t possibly mean us, right?”

  “I thought you might prefer the privacy,” another voice she hadn’t been expecting replied. She turned to see Emrys casually walking up to them… wearing the exact outfit she had seen him wearing in her dream. “I’ll admit I didn’t plan for you to find it before visiting the palace, though.”

  As he came to a stop beside her, he added, “I hope I didn’t surprise you too badly.”

  When her brain started to catch up, she managed to ask, “So it wasn’t a dream?”

  His expression turned to wicked amusement as he innocently asked, “What was?”

  “Y-you! This morning! There’s no way I predicted your clothes!”

  “Perhaps you did? Do Wayfarers get visions of the future? Or maybe some divinely granted premonition?”

  As her mouth tried to form words and it felt like her eyes would fall out, he finally seemed to grant her mercy. He chuckled and softly said, “Of course it was a dream. I thought I proved that quite well by having us fall through the stars.”

  “B-but how?!” she sputtered.

  His grin widened. “You don’t expect me to reveal all my secrets do you? Privacy is also a core tenant of the Lover. There’s been discussions about adding the Confidant to our Luxury Pantheon as well. So I’m not sure I should just blurt out everything to sate your curiosity.”

  “How did you know we’d be looking for a lot to rent?” Uriel surprised her by asking as he moved to stand closer to her side.

  “I didn’t. I had planned to offer the space after you all came to the palace, but one of my… well, let’s just call them scouts—”

  “You mean spies? ‘Cause you’re definitely the spy master,” Phoenix interjected.

  “Scout sounds much less ominous, though,” Emrys replied, and made her snort a laugh when he actually pouted at her. “I’m not some nefarious villain like you seem to want to paint me as.”

  “Sounds like something a nefarious villain would say,” she pointed out.

  He chuckled and spread his hands to either side. “And what would a non-villain say to that?”

  “I don’t think non-villains have a legion of spies at their command.”

  “Says the woman with a literal daekin shape-shifter doing the same for her? You do know a lot of people won’t be happy to find out the daekin are not extinct, let alone having one in the city, right?”

  “Ren’s not a spy,” Phoenix retorted. “And they’re not a threat to anyone here. They saved my life and helped me get here.”

  Emrys paused to look at the smaller person half-hidden behind her. He frowned slightly before saying, “Thank you for saving her, Ren. I’ll make sure the city itself won’t try to chase you off, but I can’t guarantee how the other citizens and visitors may react to you.”

  He looked back to Phoenix and took another step closer to her as he softly added, “I just want you to know that while you are here in Serenydi, I will do my best to accommodate your needs and desires. I’m not the enemy you need to be afraid of right now, the DOD is somewhere in the city, and my information leads me to believe they’re interested in your party right now. My only priority at the moment is keeping my city safe and that includes the delegations visiting it.”

  Phoenix swallowed slightly at the intensity of his gaze on her and wasn’t sure how to respond at first. She wasn’t about to tell him that the DOD was likely most interested in Uriel. The only question she could formulate, though, was in how he had phrased what his actual motivation was. “Your city?”

  That little smirk appeared again at the corner of his lips. “Many people claim the city their home is in as theirs.”

  “Yes, but not everyone can actually mean that literally, can they Prince Emrys?” Dazien’s voice said, and Phoenix turned as he and Rayna strolled up behind them.

  Emrys playfully pouted at him as well. “You spoil my surprise, Heir Wayland.”

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  Dazien chuckled, looking much more like his usual self than he had seemed when Phoenix had left. “Apologies, Your Royal Highness, but knowing my sister’s tendency to panic at social surprises, I would rather see her get that out of her system here in a more casual setting rather than when kneeling before your mother.”

  The Night Elf chuckled. “You were planning to kneel to her?”

  “That is customary of a visiting noble no matter their station, correct? It’s merely a polite formality,” he replied with a shrug.

  Phoenix’s mouth finally caught up to her brain as she turned to look at Emrys and sputtered, “Y-you—you’re, like, an actual prince?”

  “Yes,” he replied with a sigh. Then he seemed to suddenly remember something and cheerfully added, “But you mentioned the others call you a princess.”

  She snorted and scoffed. “Yeah, but that's just a nickname. You could actually rule this whole island someday, right?”

  “True,” he said, looking thoughtful for a moment. He lowered his voice and asked, “Does this mean you’re going to treat me like a prince now? Do you plan to bow before me?”

  “I, um… are those the usual rules?”

  He gave a wicked grin. “I can make those the rules.”

  Her mouth dropped open at the obvious tease, and Dazien interjected, “You’ll have to forgive my sister’s lack of decorum. My plans to better educate her on your customs got interrupted by pirates, an angry sea monster, and maniacal cannibals.”

  Emrys laughed and took a step back from her as he casually placed a hand on Dazien’s shoulder. “Think nothing of it. I much prefer the lack of decorum when my life is often too full of it. It is good to see you looking much recovered already from those interruptions you mentioned. Are you feeling up to meeting my mother tonight, or shall I leave you to settle here?” he asked, gesturing to the vacant lot with their name on it.

  “I think we would appreciate more time to recover, Your Highness.”

  “Please, just call me Emrys. If I wanted that stuffy form of address, I would have introduced myself as the prince. My information leads me to believe there will soon be a shift in the maps again, and your position will be on par with my own. I would like to be treated more as your equal if that’s not too much of an inconvenience.”

  Phoenix was confused by Emrys’ statement of the maps until Dazien clarified, “While we would be honored to treat you as such, I will say that House Wayland currently has no plans of secession for the Sacred City. We are loyal to Tulim and by extension the nation of Blomsterang. Phoenix and I are merely the children of Baron Wayland.”

  “‘Merely,’ is a bit too humble of a word.”

  “In regards to noble station it’s not,” Dazien pointed out, but gave Emrys a smirk. “In regards to the clergy, that’s an entirely separate matter. I’ll admit that I don’t know your city’s protocol for a visiting Saint, especially one who belongs to your pantheon. I’d appreciate any guidance you could offer.”

  “I’m not sure we actually have one,” Emrys replied with a chuckle. “Our pantheon isn’t very large, and they haven’t chosen many Saints in the time since Serenydi was founded.”

  “Then I will assume introductions and the presentation of our gift and request,” Dazien said with an understanding nod that she definitely didn’t understand. He took a few steps toward the empty lot and added, “Thank you for the secluded location. While we are accustomed to a crowded city, recent events have left us on edge and desiring more privacy. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated… Emrys,” Dazien said, turning to give the prince a warm smile that made Phoenix relax more than anything he could have said.

  “As I told your princess here,” Emrys said, gesturing to her. “I’m simply trying to help while you are in my city. Might I ask for my own advance warning about your request you wish to present?”

  Dazien turned slightly to give her an odd look before he said, “Unfortunately, I need to discuss a few things with the rest of my party first. The gift, however, is a preserved selection of the alien flowers that have bloomed within the Sacred City.”

  “That is a priceless gift,” Emrys replied, the previous humor replaced with something akin to awe. “I’m not sure we have a match for something like that to offer at the moment.”

  “We hoped the nature of our request would not require an equivalent,” Dazien explained, “but like I said, I must speak with my sister first on that matter.”

  Emrys glanced back at her then and gave a respectfully small bow. “I shall leave you to discuss and recover then. I look forward to the formal introductions at the palace tomorrow.”

  “Thanks, Emrys,” Phoenix managed to say as he turned to leave, and he paused to look back at her. “For the lot, and help rescuing Daze, and… well, for not making me so nervous at first by saying you were a prince. Daze was right that I don’t do well with the social stuff, and… well, I’m glad you’re not gonna hold it against me.”

  He smiled. “Like I said before, I want to be your friend; if you’ll allow it.”

  She returned his smile but only muttered a small tease, “I’ll think about it.”

  Emrys chuckled but turned to look at Dazien again and asked him, “Do you mind if I inquire about what color of torc you plan to wear? White like your sister?”

  “Not white,” Dazien instantly replied, his body tensing. He relaxed a moment later as he firmly replied, “Gold, blue and purple.”

  “Not silver?” Uriel asked the question that had come to Phoenix’s own mind after her previous talk with her best friend.

  Dazien looked at Uriel for a long moment before stating quietly, “I’m trying to avoid a repeat of what happened after Martin.”

  That created more questions than answers in her mind, but Uriel simply frowned and nodded, apparently deciphering the statement that she couldn’t.

  Her brother looked back to Emrys, though, glancing toward the prince’s own torc. “Why do you ask, though? I don’t think you’re actually interested in me.”

  “Just more information to plan around,” Emrys replied before waving a goodbye as he left them to set up their new temporary home.

  Uriel moved to construct his newly renamed [Fortress of Servitude], which was bigger now, looking like a two story cabin sculpted from ice. Inside was also much more spacious too. A tightly coiled stairway to the upper floor was located just inside the entrance which led to the six small bedrooms Uriel had customized for all of them.

  The lower floor now had a larger kitchen area off to the left with an actual dining table separating it from the open meditation area to the right. Further along the back was a narrower training area for them to actually spar in as well.

  “We can do the Spirit Bonding rituals in the sparring area,” Uriel said to her, reminding her of what they had hoped to do next.

  However she turned to look at Dazien and asked, “While we do that, you want to explain half of the stuff you said to Emrys that I definitely didn’t follow? Starting with what we’re requesting that you apparently need to talk about. I thought we were just going to ask them for access to a special library?”

  Dazien grimaced but nodded. “That’s part of it. Patricia actually didn’t want me to explain to you exactly how we planned to gain that access though.”

  That confused her even more and she frowned. “Why wouldn’t she want me to know?”

  “Because she didn’t think you would go along with it, and I actually agree with her on that.”

  That just caused Phoenix even more concern. “Why not? And why tell me now then?”

  “Because I don’t like feeling like I’m lying to you, and I believe that you may react even worse if you were to find out in front of the Queen. So now I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen, but please understand, Phoenix, that I will still be going through with making the request despite your objections.”

  That made her scrunch her nose. “Why are you making this sound like some terrible thing that only I will be upset about?”

  Dazien gave a heavy sigh, glancing at Rayna and Saiya who had been silently watching with curious gazes. Saiya moved forward to take his hand in hers and quietly said, “We trust your judgment, Dazien. If you really believe this is the best route, then we can talk it through.”

  He nodded and smiled at the smaller voxen, then looked back at Phoenix and asked, “Do you remember when I explained the Blue Feathers in that jewelry shop we got Uriel’s earrings at?”

  Her brow furrowed, but she slowly nodded in return, and he finally confessed, “Paul’s letter is an offer of the Blue Feather to Queen Emilia. He’s going to request a formal Alliance of Houses through marriage.”