Dazien awoke feeling happy, safe, and warm wrapped in gentle arms and… fur? That was when memories of the previous time he was awake came rushing back and he looked down to find Saiya actually lying fully atop him as though she was the blanket. Heat flooded his cheeks as he took in her loose clothing and disheveled sleeping form, and firmly repeated to himself that she was not interested in him like that.

  Luckily, he found the small pool of drool on his chest adorable rather than sexy, but his newest challenge was that he had no idea how to escape without waking her. Carefully, he wrapped his arms around her waist again and slowly turned them until her weight was back on the bed instead of him.

  She seemed to mumble slightly in protest as he inched back away from her, but didn’t awaken fully, and he was grateful that Wally had seemed to relocate himself to Uriel’s empty bed. Once free of the bed completely, he conjured some casual clothes like he normally wore in Tulim and exited the room in search of his partner.

  Dazien found Uriel passed out in a corner of the fortress downstairs, mostly naked in just sleep shorts. He wasn’t sure if he should try waking him but decided not to once he realized he didn’t know what to say to him.

  Should he thank Uriel for abandoning him to get Saiya instead? Should he ask for another Heart Check to figure out what to make of their relationship now? The boundaries book definitely needed updated either way now if not touching him ever again was a new limitation. He knew he didn’t want to completely abolish their relationship, it meant too much to him. If touching meant Uriel would leave him, then he wouldn’t do it no matter how much he wanted it.

  That’s how their boundaries worked, a list of personal limitations and their consequences if broken. Their expectations for each other, however, would also need renegotiating it seemed. They had many agreements in place already, like keeping their relationship private unless a potential partner for either of them might enter the mix or the newly updated messy list, but now he wasn’t even sure what their relationship consisted of anymore. Too much had changed for both of them in the last year.

  The only thing he hoped wouldn’t change, was them staying together and supporting one another… but was that any different from just being friends again? What did their future together look like now?

  Phoenix coming down the spiral staircase distracted him from his thoughts as he glanced over to see her brushing her curls as she walked. She smiled and was about to greet him, when he lifted a finger to his lips in a silencing motion, and gestured toward Uriel.

  Her smile turned wicked as she whispered, “Should we draw on his face? I’m pretty sure that’s a requirement when you fall asleep in a public area. Are markers a thing in this world? I know pens exist but I’m not sure that’ll work as well.”

  He softly snorted a laugh. “We have paints. What would you write?”

  She hummed thoughtfully, and a nasty voice inside his mind whispered, heartbreaker.

  Dazien pushed that unfair word far away and suggested instead, “Sleepy Mage?”

  “That works,” she said and began to walk towards him before stopping. She turned and asked him, “Why is he even down here? Weren’t you two sharing a room?”

  He tried not to let his hurt show as he said, “I had a nightmare and he decided to get Saiya to help calm me and then came down here, I guess. I’m not sure, though, because he never told me.”

  She frowned at him then decided to forgo embarrassing Uriel to drag him over to the meditation area instead and said, “I had another dream with Emrys in it, and I need to update you on everything I learned.”

  Dazien was honestly grateful for the distraction as she recounted her nightmare that turned into a conversation with the crown prince, revealing the agendas that each had tried to hide. The knowledge was nice to have, but not exceptionally useful for them at the moment.

  “I promised that his Class name wouldn’t leave our party, and didn’t tell him exactly why we need to research in the library. I hope you’re not mad that I gave that away, though. I know they might use it against us now.”

  “No, it’s fine. We obviously needed to give them something if they were already that suspicious of us. The fact that Emrys was willing to reveal their hand first either means he’s really trying his best to prove his trust in us, or he is a master liar and everything he told you was false in an attempt to get something out of us instead.”

  “You think he’s lying about his mom and Paul?”

  “Well, there’s one way we can verify part of it, I think, that they wouldn’t likely consider,” he said thoughtfully, idly wondering if the queen would get her way or if he would need to court Princess Emina.

  “What’s that?”

  “Paul’s journals. You still have them on you, right?”

  She looked surprised but nodded. “Yeah. Patricia convinced me to take them. You think he wrote about his time here in Serenydi?”

  “Most likely. It might be a biased perspective, but it might shed a bit more light on what happened and confirm at least part of what happened. We can start going through those now while waiting to see if Emrys makes a move with the new knowledge he has. Maybe he’ll surprise us and actually try to help.”

  She scrunched her nose slightly. “You really think we can trust him?”

  “You don’t?” he asked with a chuckle. “I honestly can’t understand why you seem so distrustful of him when he really has been helpful to us so far. You’re not just put off by the clothing are you?”

  Phoenix frowned and murmured, “Maybe? I don’t know. There’s just… something that feels off to me, but I can’t really name it. You really think it just might be the culture difference?”

  He shrugged. “Only you can answer that, Phoenix. For what it’s worth, I’ve been looking forward to visiting this place for a long time. Not exactly in the way that happened, obviously, but the clothing, the pantheon, the unified purpose in growing stronger and valuing beautiful things, the respect they give for peoples’ autonomy and the torcs they wear… despite what happened to me, on the surface Serenydi had a lot of the things I craved and could never find in Tulimeir.”

  “It’s hard to believe that surface layer is real after what happened to you by their own nobles.”

  Dazien gave a sad smile. “I know. Believe me, it has definitely soured my view of this place, but I think I need to look at them the same way we looked at House Ruwena. An aberration taking advantage of what the rest try to uphold and protect. The royals came down hard on House Vanderill from what I heard at the palace yesterday when we were preparing. The current word is that Lady Valtessa is going to be executed for it, while House Finndeshin is to be exiled. I have to believe that means the surface is at least the goal for a majority of the people.”

  Phoenix watched him in an odd silence for a long moment, almost like she was trying to emulate their dad with the way Paul would try to look through them into their very souls. “You want to like it here, don’t you?”

  It was an odd question he thought, but he realized what she was asking, “Yes. Like I said, I’ve been looking forward to visiting this place. I want to find the welcome I had never felt in Tulimeir.”

  “If you do like it… and you do end up courting the princess and get along with her… do you think you’d want to stay?”

  He shrugged slightly, then clarified, “I’m going to help you finish your quest like I promised… after that, though… I’m not sure. It might be something nice for me to look forward to. For so long I’ve kept building my kingdom as a goal to pursue, to keep me moving forward through all the rough times… If a kingdom is given to me, though, and I can make it become my dream… Well, that might not be so bad, right?”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  She sighed heavily. “I guess that’s not too terrible. I know I’ve been less than great about planning for the future, but I think I still want to be your little sister then, too. Maybe not stay here in Serenydi with you, but I could go back to the World Tree, or maybe travel the world more, even after my quest… I’m still not entirely sure what I want my purpose to be, like Pati suggested I think about. What should I do when I have an eternity?”

  Dazien chuckled. “You make all of your dreams come true.”

  It was later that very night when Emrys summoned them to the palace. Phoenix wasn’t sure if it would be better to wear the same dress that showed off her Soul Mark or better to not wear the same thing twice, and eventually had Rayna pick for her. The bard went with that first dress she had found with the frilly lolita skirt and threatened to take her clothes shopping for more specially tailored things that showed off her position as a Saint more.

  When the five of them arrived, they were led by a servant to a different area of the palace than they had been to before. Walking down the long corridor, a door with a confusing symbol on it that she didn’t recognize caught her attention. She paused in front of it to ask them, “What does that symbol mean?”

  Dazien paused to look at what she was talking about and answered, “Oh, it’s just the restroom. Many Mundanes still live in the city and will need access to one, unlike Casters.”

  “They don’t separate them by gender?”

  “Why would they?”

  “Um, I don’t know. That’s just how the majority of my country did… I think it was for privacy?”

  He gave her a confused look and slowly said, “You still get privacy in these. It’s not like it’s open rows of holes in the floor. What kind of restrooms did you have?”

  “Well, I mean, my hospital room one was single-occupant so it didn’t matter, but the public ones were like rows of stalls with doors and questionable gaps I believe.”

  “It seems odd to have four separate types of restrooms based on gender,” Uriel said, also glancing between the door and Phoenix.

  “We only had two. Boys and girls.”

  “Um… what did people like Knight Thevaris use?” Rayna asked. “They’re a kosper, which some consider as both.”

  “Um… whatever the doctor said they were more of at birth?”

  “That seems silly,” Uriel replied, furrowing his brow. “Biology doesn’t always work like that. Not for animals, avals, or people. Besides, people change all the time; we’re not immutable beings.”

  “Well, a lot of people in my old world would disagree. They were even passing laws saying you couldn’t use restrooms you weren’t assigned at birth to.”

  Dazien spoke up again to ask, “How would anyone even be able to enforce something like that? It’s not like they check peoples’ genitals at the entrance do they? That seems insanely invasive and counteracts that privacy goal you mentioned earlier as being the entire point of separating in the first place.”

  “I don’t know. I just remember people complaining because androgynous and other trans people like me felt trapped and exposed. They were either in danger of being arrested for not passing enough as their gender and using the one they identified with, or in danger of getting attacked for passing too much like their gender and not breaking the law,” she tried to explain.

  “But what was the point of a law like that then? It just sounds like it would cause more confusion if all those people who looked like the other gender actually did follow that law every time.”

  “I remember some arguments saying it was for safety too, but it didn’t sound safe at all for the trans people.”

  That made Dazien’s brow furrow even more in confusion as he asked, “It’s not like people are randomly attacking the other gender just because they end up in a restroom at the same time, right? And even if that was a criminal’s plan, then a law like that wouldn’t stop them; it’s already illegal to attack someone…” His concern seemed to spike as he suddenly clarified, “Assault is illegal there, right?”

  Phoenix snorted a laugh. “Yes, we’re not that crazy, but I honestly have no idea what the goal was when you put it like that.” She didn’t really remember any logical reasoning that hadn’t sounded like crazy fearmongering.

  “Control,” Emrys answered as he appeared at the back of their group. None of them had noticed his arrival, but he moved forward to the front as he continued speaking. “It’s always about control when it comes to laws. As a future king I’m sure you can understand this, Dazien.”

  “But why a law like that?” Dazien asked, gesturing toward the restroom door. “It seems like such a minor thing. It’s just a restroom.”

  “Well, if their entire society is separated by a singular line, a law like that makes it easier to weed out the nonconformists and get rid of them… One way or another,” he explained, waving them to follow him further down the hall as he spoke.

  “From what I heard you describe, a law like that only gives those non-conformists three outcomes. Leave the country, get imprisoned, or get killed. The people in charge don’t care which one happens as long as the problem—in this case the non-conforming people—are eradicated from their domain.”

  His gaze moved from Phoenix to Dazien as he added, “You’ll find that here in Serenydi, we don’t use heavy-handed laws to unjustly discriminate against people simply because of their appearance. Everyone is considered a unique piece of art in their own way. By learning to appreciate our differences, we can enhance the quality of life for everyone. We don’t need to kick people down the mountain just so others can reach the top.”

  “Says the prince at the top,” Rayna said with a snicker.

  Emrys chuckled with her. “I like to think the sentiment counts for something. We do our best, but no nation is perfect. Not even our little paradise here.”

  “Pretty egotistical to call your own city a paradise, isn’t it?” Phoenix asked with a raised brow.

  The prince gave a slight huff of a laugh, shaking his head as though indulging her, but took her by surprise when he admitted, “It was actually your dad who told me that. He also told me not to tell anyone he said that, but I don’t think he meant keeping it from his own future children,” he added with a playful smirk.

  “Paul said that?” Dazien asked, obviously curious about what their dad thought about the city he had long admired.

  Emrys nodded. “He told me that he believed Serenydi is a small paradise compared to the rest of Pyrin. That it offered a refreshing kind of freedom he didn’t normally get to experience. It was the first time I truly felt proud of my city.”

  They fell into silence as they continued walking down the various halls filled with hung painting and tapestries, and alcoves displaying various statues.

  Eventually, Rayna asked, “Where exactly are we going?”

  Emrys glanced back to smile at her. “I’m helping my new friend by taking you all to the Royal Library of Night.”

  Phoenix actually stopped walking to stare at him incredulously before asking, “Are you serious?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” he replied. “You said this is what you needed from me.”

  “What do we owe you for it?” Dazien asked, his own brow narrowing in confusion.

  Emrys turned to him for a moment before giving a soft smile and saying, “Friends shouldn’t owe one another for being kind. I want what any friend would want in return.”

  “What’s that exactly?” Phoenix warily asked.

  He barked a laugh, “Really, you act like none of you are friends. All I’m asking for is all I’m offering. Trust and support. I hope that by happily supporting you in your hour of need, you might do the same for me should I need it in the future. That is how friendship works, right?”

  The group all glanced at one another for a long moment, not really thinking of any particular question except if they agreed with that or not. When nobody argued with it, Dazien finally said, “You’re right. I think we can accommodate another friend. Thank you for your help, Emrys.”

  The prince smiled brightly before turning and leading the way again. When he finally stopped in front of a set of large, intricate doors covered in not just runes but artistic engravings and filigree embellishments, he merely pressed a palm into a circle to cause the doors to swing open on their own.

  The sight of the library stole away whatever breath Phoenix might have unnecessarily had. It was a massive open room at least three stories high that had a glass roof looking out at the starry night sky. Floating lights hovered in the air like pale blue starlight and further illuminated the countless rows of shelves filled to the brim with books.

  “Is this the Celes that Paul once told me about?” she asked, wondering if she had actually died and gone to heaven.

  Dazien chuckled. “No, Princess. This is one of the most revered libraries in the world. I think only the Scholar’s first temple actually beats it.”

  She turned to Emrys to ask, “Why isn’t the Scholar part of the Luxury Pantheon if you have something like this?”

  The prince smiled softly and said, “Because we consider most of the books in here as precious works of art to be protected… and also believe that learning in general shouldn’t be considered a luxury, it should be an inalienable right.”

  “Well, that’s something I can definitely agree with,” Phoenix replied in complete honesty. “But why keep some of the knowledge here hidden away?”

  “Nothing in here can’t be found elsewhere, except maybe a few esoteric novels,” Emrys replied, gesturing to Dazien. “Like he said, the Scholar’s first temple has almost everything you can find in here. This is just one of the more impressive collections that’s been gathered into a single place. You don’t have to travel all over the world for as many pieces that you might be seeking.”

  He then gestured toward the books awaiting them. “So, should I leave you to browse or do you want my help by letting me know what exactly it is you’re seeking here?”

  Phoenix paused, glancing nervously at Dazien to see if he was going to trust Emrys even more with the details of her quest. He simply smiled back at her and told the prince, “Thank you again for granting us this honor. We’ll start with browsing to not consume even more of your time and generosity and let one of the servants know if we need further assistance, if that’s alright with you.”

  Emrys looked slightly saddened by that but nodded and said, “I’ll leave you to your search then. Good luck, my friends.”