Herald and I made it to the Royal Palace where a guard notified us that Crypta's father, Elera, wanted to speak to me. Herald was walking with his nose straight and differentiated. He didn't bother to spare me a glance as though he was irritated by my very presence.

"If Yvelcha died, who bore the next king? Was it not a mistress? Does that not make Crypta's father not the rightful heir to the throne?" I asked.

Herald stopped dead in his tracks then he turned to face me. His green eyes were dark, like a pumpkin leaf soaked and left to be, and fear was written all over him. "Fän petak qui Asterion snamir qui Asterion, zhun?"

[What happens in Asterion stays in Asterion, okay?]

I shook my head and said spitefully, "Whatever it is you spat!" A guard was standing in front of us, his face hidden behind his silver helmet. Looking at him now, it felt different.

This was an Asterion, possibly. A descendant of one of those who had surrendered to The Royals during the war. The guard had been sent by Elera to guide me to his chamber. I had been there once when I used my Mehjazgeu and had appeared when Crypta and his father were having a discussion.

Herald nodded to the guard and turned to leave. The guard worked without sluggishness, his eyes focused on the road ahead. I studied his body hidden under the silver suit as I mumbled a "Harijta yera!" not sure I had got the greetings right.

"It is five-fifty-six p.m., Miss Emerald."

"Right. What does that mean?"

He kept tight-lipped as he led the way. It wasn't until we approached a red curtain and he was about to pull it open that I held his hand and asked, "Are you not allowed to communicate?"

He tilted his head to me. I wished I could see his shade of red, or what emotion he held on his face. I stared back at the helmet. Then, he shook his head and pulled the curtain. There was a large mahogany door with two golden handles fastened to it. The guard knocked three times.

"You can come in," I heard Elera speak. It was deep, firm and brisk enough to make you obey. He pushed open the door and I was once again in the familiar intense blue room that had dark curtains and a large circular table with gold armless chairs. Elera was on one of these chairs. He was wearing a long seemingly thick gown with the front and sides bearing the colour red. His crown, a circular golden crown with a deep blue crystal on its front, was on the table before him.

"Yarijta yera, Elera Xengera. Ami kra'tart-tegh ki kyelma tun drorf ame tegh."

"Tun win kaw'vreh." The guard nodded and left. "Emery."

"Good evening, your highness."

He smiled. "Come and sit with me."

I felt the urge to obey him. His deep blue eyes were scary as though they were daring me to oppose him. I sat on the golden chair beside him and stared at his crown. Now that I was closer, it was even more beautiful.

"The Crown of Neba," he said calmly. "It is not an easy crown to wear."

"It makes you proud, doesn't it?"

"There is honour in every attainment. Do you not reckon that everything ought to be done as it is, and nothing less?"

"What do you mean?"

"The head that wears the crown will ultimately get used to its burden." He sighed, "It is not that we cannot bear it any longer, but what was bestowed must someday be returned."

"I'm sorry, Elera Xengera, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"My great, great grandfather, Sengba Domroyante, wasted no time handing over the throne to Laiasona as soon as he got a wife. Aiden is my first son but Crypta is ready to have a wife."

I knew of Sengba even though I couldn't tell Xengera that. What I didn't know was that Crypta had his eyes on someone. "I didn't know about that, Elera. I also don't know why you've called me to tell me this."

"I am talking about you." My head shot up. "Crypta loves you."

I adjusted the hem of my shirt. "He never said that."

Xengera stood up. He was as tall as Crypta although age seemed to have been acting on him. Holding his long gown, he walked to a glass shelf and brought a bottle of red wine--Pegrazh juice--and two champagne glasses. He walked back and set it on the table then sat down. "My son is not much of a talkative. Tell me, has he not expressed his love in any how?"

"He..." I trailed off.  The first time Crypta and I had met, he had appeared a gentleman to me. But Crypta was always a gentleman, it was how all Royals behaved.

There was also when he told me everything about his people and pleaded for my help. He handed a potion to me, an access slip as Herald referred to it, and said, "Usually, you can get to anywhere in Neba with this. But for more specification, just think about where you want to be, or more precisely, who you want to be with."

I had asked him, "So, you're referring to yourself?"

He'd bent his body, and brought his arm out, like a gentleman he always appeared to be. "I'd be honoured, Princess Emerald."

Thinking about it now, it did look cheesy and romantic and it was a demonstration of admiration. It was especially after I asked him if he always behaved the way he did and he'd replied, "Only to people I respect," and left.

Yes, Crypta Domroyante respected me. Respect was not love.

I could also never forget the comment he made when I asked him for advice while contemplating whether or not I should go to Kimberly's party. "The world needs people like you. People who can change the world."

That was a comment made out of admiration, not love.

When I had fucked up at Kimberly Isnaul's party because Sandra had been a bitch and set her leg for me, Crypta had been caring enough to help me wash my face and clean the mess. It was the first time he had been physically close to me, the first time I felt... Something. That was a desire on my part, not love.

The first-day Crypta and I began walking on my general physical fitness, he had given me that advice, the one that was always in my head: Don't ask, order. Don't beg, take. And, say no when you have to. It was that advice that continually fuelled my desires to fight back, until the day I did, and eventually unlocked my power.

Then, it stopped tormenting me and instead, the slightest provocation got me all boiled up and irrational. Irrational enough to cause a person like Kimberly to faint.

I shook my head. This wasn't time to think about her.

There had been many, many more encounters with Crypta. Most of the time he kept saying he knew what he thought of the first day he walked through the portal, and every time I asked him what it was, he would successfully avoid the topic.

Crypta respected, cared for or admired me, but it was not an attestation of his love for me. "I'd never kill you or let you die, Emerald," he had said when he tried to slice my head with a knife. But his eyes had been dark and he seemed to have meant every word of it.

Then he talked about trust and how much he was trying to trust me. Knowing what I knew about the Asterions, I knew I was betraying that trust. But he had his faults too, he had lied to me about things that he shouldn't have.

Ami tahon am'el tart-egharo tun, he had whispered it to me that same day. Sure, he said it meant I should leave and go to Earth but I couldn't bring myself to believe him.

Crypta's father exhaling loudly brought me back to reality. He had just downed a cup of pegrazh and was setting the cup on the table. "You have not said anything."

Xengera's eyes were so intensely blue. I wondered what the power of his crystal was. However, I was equally scared to ask. There were much more important things to ask than that. For one, how could I get more information about the relationship between the Zadios and the Royals without Xengera realizing that I already knew so much?

"You are thinking about something that has been bothering you for a long time," Xengera stated as he sipped from the glass. "I do not ask people to share their thoughts with me, I grant them that sense of privacy. All the guards, for example, are entitled to their thoughts, as long as they keep their mouths shut. I have given my children the best education. They all studied at Dregyhjyn, except Crypta who went to Krah instead. He insisted because it was close to Neba and had more information about the Asterions." He sighed and shook his head.

"Crypta said that the Asterions do not exist anymore, why?"

He poured himself another glass of wine. "Everyone knows that's not true. The presence of Pegrazh alone justifies that." He raised the cup to me as if proving a point. "Pegrazh is a Cirile cherry which instigated from Asterion. It provides strength which is especially advantageous to them because they need vigor a lot. When a place dies, everything goes down with it. Pegrazh is still here, your power is an Asterion one, it means there is still Asterion blood boiling in a place we cannot see."

And I knew that place.

"Why did he lie to me?"

"My son has not lied to you. To exist means to be extant. To be extant means to still be in existence, not extinct, destroyed or lost. Following that description, would you agree that the Asterions are extant?"

"Do you accept that the Asterions are either extinct or destroyed or lost?"

"What if they are all of those qualities. Does it not make sense?"

Xengera Domroyante was a wise man. The rightful heir to the throne or not, he had the right mind to lead such a large number of people. My heart kept tugging my conscience. I was hiding something that could make their battle a whole lot easier for me.

What was keeping me from letting it out?

"Emerald. Do you know why my son wants to overthrow the Zadios all by himself?"

"Because they killed the people he loved and they are not done yet. Because — he'd told me — your life is at stake. You are their next possible bait, what they could use to lure the entire Royals to them."

"Do you also know why you are in the picture?"

"He's refused to tell me those qualities he claimed to have been looking for on Earth. But he did tell me that I was here to help him fight and that he would train me to fight. When I unlocked my power, he handed me over to Herald Tessoline because he's the closest person to an Asterion who can teach me how to fight."

"Is that what my son said?" He got up and walked to his bed. He sat on the king-sized bed and stared at his crown from there. "Help me with my crown, Emerald."

I got up and grabbed the crown. It was heavy, like read gold, and the blue crystal in front glowed at my touch. "Is this stone here a representation of your crystal?"

"Have you asked me a question when you have not answered mine?" His voice was daring but his composure contrasted it. Timidly, I dropped the crown on the bed and shook my head.

"I'm sorry, Elera Xengera, but I don't know what your son needs from me at the moment. I haven't spoken to him since I began my training sessions with Herald. I don't need to anymore and it appears that he doesn't need me anyway. I don't even know why I am here. I'm getting confused by the day as to what your son really wants from me. I don't even know where to place the Royals, good or bad, because... because..."

"I have said that I do not ask people to share their thoughts with me because when I ask for something, you dare not defile me," he said, putting on his crown. "But I am Elera-ki-Neba, and I keep to my word. The stone is a representation of my crystal, lapis lazuli. It represents strength and courage, royalty and wisdom, intellect and truth. I do not lie. I am indeed a potential bait. The Zadios wish to dethrone me and wipe out the Domroyante family in general. That is what my son does not want to arise and he does not want to tell you that because he is apprehensive you will leave him."

He sighed."Have a glass of pegrazh and then you may leave to Earth."

His eyes were tempting. I could also spot disappointment in it.