NORCREST'S CASTLE WAS built from thick slabs of stone and concrete, protruding out from the base of the mountains, like a mountain all its own. It wasn't like a typical castle with spires and turrets, but had multiple rectangular tiers.

And it was real. It took everything in me not to bounce out of the saddle with excitement. I was in a world I'd dreamt about since I was ten years old, going to castles, sitting on a horse with a prince –

"Are you all right, Lady Claire?" Prince Elric asked. His voice was so close to my ear, making my heart race.

"Forgive me, Your Highness, I'm just delighted to be part of civilization again," I said.

The prince chuckled. "Please, call me Elric. There's no need for such formalities, My Lady."

"O – Okay," I stammered. "Um, so you've never left Larnwick? I can see why. It's beautiful here."

"And it'll only get more so, especially with you here." 

I was rendered speechless. He was so charming, but that was probably the point. He probably talked to all the nobles the way he spoke to me.

"I'm ashamed I haven't had the opportunity to travel like my older brother has to other kingdoms," he went on. "It's not for lack of desire, but it's more important for Crown Prince Roderick to establish a relationship with the other kingdoms, such as Velein, than it is for myself."

"Does every trip you make have to be for duty?" I asked. "Can it not be for fun?"

"Perhaps, though when I am compelled to travel, it's to further explore my lands," he admitted. "I wish to know my people better, so that I may serve them better."

"If all of Larnwick is half as as wild with adoration as Norcrest is, you must be doing something right. A woman promised you her first born! That's far more admiration than the king can get in Velein." My heart suddenly fell into my stomach. "M – My apologies. I shouldn't have said that."

Prince Elric laughed. I felt his body lean in closer around me, the side of his face brushing against mine. "It's quite all right. I won't tell," he murmured. "You're not the first person I've heard voice concerns about him. He can be... particular."

I didn't want to tell him how I really felt about that distant king. While he wasn't the biggest antagonist in Swords and Roses, his ambitions didn't befit his kingdom. A civil uprising painted the backdrop for most of the story. I almost expected to find the same in Larnwick, but the people had been so thankful and adoring, it had to be because they were ruled over by a family just as charismatic as Elric.

We crossed over a stone bridge spanning across a deep chasm, with water rushing far below. Guards stood at the other side, reaching out to steady Elric's horse before he hopped down and reached for my waist. "Larnwick's castle is no comparison to Velein's, I'm sure, but I hope you'll find it suitable."

My legs were shaking when I had to stand on my own. I didn't realize how much work it was to stay upright on a horse. Or maybe it was because of the prince, with his smile, and how nice he was, and the endless compliments. It would be easy to read into his attention and think he meant more behind the flowery praise, but that was impossible. He was just being nice. He was too handsome and too important and too perfect to regard me as anything but a guest.

"Your Highness," Sir Nicolo said, pulling Elric's attention away with a start. "We should inform the king about this. He'll be relieved to know the golem is no longer a concern for Norcrest's farmers."

I sought Jo out, who placed herself far enough away that a horse wouldn't even notice her. She looked like feral, exactly like we'd rolled out of the woods with all the leaves stuck in her hair and dirt smearing her clothes. I didn't want to imagine what I looked like. I tried to give her a reassuring smile as I wrapped my arm around hers, pulling her close to me, but she barely paid me any attention, and was stiff as a board.

Elric turned back to us. "I will alert the staff to attend to you at once –"

"Your Highness! Your Highness!" a stout man shouted as he rushed out from the castle's massive front doors toward us.

"Oh perfect," Prince Elric muttered.

"Yes, the timing is impeccable isn't it, Elric?" Sir Nicolo teased. I glanced at him at the emphasis he put Elric's given name, and he winked back at me.

The stout man dropped into a quick bow. Elric's shoulders squared back, and the easy smile that I'd grown accustomed to turned into a frown. Especially at the older man's breathless demand, "Your High... ness... Where have... you been?"

"Hunting, Master Roth," Sir Nicolo replied, his smirk morphing into a grin when Elric shot him a look.

The short man's eyes turned furious. "Hunting? The King has requested your presence, Your Highness, hours ago! Imagine our surprise when we find that you've disappeared and brought back... guests?" His gaze wandered over Jo and I, lingering on our outfits.

"Yes," Elric said, the tone as sudden and icy as a coldsnap. "These ladies come from the Canterwell family and faced an unexpected detour on their travels. They were also concerned by the golem, seeing as it was about to attack them, had we not intervened. The Lady Claire and her cousin, Lady Joan, are my guests. After such harrowing events, they deserve our utmost hospitality."

"Understood, Your Highness," Master Roth said, his defensive tone extinguished by Elric's command. "Praise the High Empress you found them in time. I shall have their rooms made up right away –"

"In the east wing," Elric said.

The man bowed. "Of course, Your Highness. I will attend to their rooms myself. A few maids have already gathered in the foyer to meet them. Your coming to the castle was not exactly... subtle."

"His Highness knows not the meaning of the word," Sir Nicolo said, clapping Elric on the shoulder as he walked past. "Come. If His Royal Majesty is already seeking you out, we will not keep him waiting."

"Of course," Elric said as he turned to me. "Well... I wish we didn't have to part under these circumstances, but I'm afraid I've kept the King waiting far too long."

Of course. I couldn't keep a prince's attention to myself forever. "Right," I said, hating how disappointed I already sounded.

And despite Sir Nicolo and Master Roth looking at him expectantly, Elric's eyes stayed on me. "If... If you or Lady Joan are not exhausted by today's events, please have dinner with me."

"What?" I nearly choked on my own spit. Was he serious?

"Please join me for supper tonight, and bring Lady Joan, of course," he added again, for Jo's benefit.

I smiled. "We'd be honored to join you."

"Excellent," Elric said, before he was cut off by Sir Nicolo.

"Your Highness, the King," he reminded Elric before giving Jo and I a curt nod. "We bid you farewell for now, and put you in the capable hands of Master Roth and the rest of Norcrest's staff."

As soon as he and Elric turned away, Master Roth was a flurry of motion. "Come this way, fair ladies!"

We had no choice but to rush after him, running right into the castle before I could even take in the experience. I was more focused on Elric and how we parted ways in the main foyer, the way he also glanced back at me. My heart raced, and I couldn't help but smile back. Jo had to grab my arm to keep me on pace.

"If he's not careful, I'm going to start calling him Prince Charming," Jo teased.

"Oh please," I laughed, but heat poured into my face all over again. She could see the redness. "He's just being nice."

I tried to focus more on the architecture. Tile floors and intricate tapestries and sculptures lined the hallways. We even passed a huge mural of a mountainous landscape, probably inspired by Norcrest.

"Yes," Jo agreed. "Nice is totally inviting you to dinner, wearing his cloak, having his babies –"

"Stop!" I hissed, my face burning with mortification, because that kind of talk was wildly inappropriate for this world, and because that was impossible anyway. Elric was just being nice, and I would be a fool to fawn over him.

"My Ladies," Master Roth's voice made both of us jump. We focused on the small, round man and the two women stationed on either side of him. One was younger, maybe our age, while the other was probably my mom's age. "This is Miss Myrina and Miss Bricthled."

The moment of reprieve we both felt burst, reminding us of where we were and who I'd forced us to be. Jo ran her hand through her hair, grimacing at the twigs she pulled out. "Nice to meet you both," she said.

"We will take you up to your rooms," the older woman, Miss Bricthled, said. "Baths have already been drawn for you."

"Thank you all," I said as the women and Master Roth gave us quick bows.

"If you need anything at all, your handmaids will be at your disposal," Master Roth said before hustling off.

The deeper we went into the castle, the more of a fortress it became. But it was beautiful, with more art hanging off every wall, including portraits of Elric's ancestors staring back at us. I tried not to think their stares were accusatory, like they could see right through our lies. Candelabras hung on thick beams of concrete and stone, and chandeliers lined the hallways, casting everything in a warm glow.

"Lady Joan, this will be your chamber," the young maid, Miss Myrina, said as she pointed to a large wooden door across the hall. Then she pulled the handle of the one beside us, thrusting her shoulder into the heavy wood. "And this will be yours, Lady Claire."

The room was bigger than the entire floor of my apartment complex. Silk drapes lined the windows, which had been pulled back to let in the bright late afternoon light. A large green and gold rug ran across the width of the bedroom, framing the floorplan dominated by a bed triple the size I was used to, and a desk sitting between two ceiling-to-floor windows.

"I'll start the fire," Miss Myrina said. Somehow, I missed the giant fireplace across the room. The smokey scent that immediately hit the air bought an added layer of comfort. It smelled like the bonfires Jo always got invited to in the fall.

"I'll be your personal maid, Lady Claire," she went on, folding her hands in front of her apron. "If you need anything, ring the bell beside your bed and it'll signal the servant chambers."

"Lady Joan," the older voice of Miss Bricthled pulled my attention to my open doorway, at Jo staring into my room. "Shall I show you your room?"

Apprehension was written all over her face. "Yes," I answered for her, but I didn't look away from my friend. "Once we bathe, we'll get ready for dinner and regroup."

"Yeah," Jo nodded. "Let's definitely do that."

It wasn't a promising response, especially when such a short response came from someone who could hold a conversation with a brick wall, but at least she trusted me. I just hoped I could live up to it, in such an extreme and different... world.