The Lunar podship almost blinded Kai as it descended gracefully, blocking the sun out in his eye before shining like it was above it. This beautiful, sleek ship was such a stark contrast from the last Kai had seen of one of these. Smoking, hissing, sparking, the reptilian scales lining the exterior on the fritz.

Selene, Thaumaturge Hayle in her arms, coming hazily toward him like a risen goddess.

Kai shook Selene from his thoughts, and glanced over at her.

She was ever impossible to read, her shoulders drawn back and her hands calmly laced together at her front. Sometimes Kai looked at her, like this, in her queenly self, and wondered how she ever could have been the same girl who shoveled cake into her mouth with him and laughed until she cried.

Kai cracked a smile before coughing and smoothing his expression straight. Professional.

Hydraulics hissed as the podship landed to a serene halt on the platform, a breeze ruffling Kai's hair. The door took a moment to pop out of place and lower smoothly, revealing three thaumaturges and a row of guards at their sides. Selene didn't move, even as her thaumaturges riffled out of the podship and bowed so low their red sleeves brushed the floor, but for a slight incline of her head. The Lunar guards, four in total, took up a guard behind the thaumaturges, their gazes all fixed straight ahead.

Except for one guard, his hair blond and combed, who couldn't seem to take his eyes off Thaumaturge Winter, standing stoic beside Selene.

Kai cleared his throat and bowed his head respectfully as the newly arrived thaumaturges turned their strangely calm gazes to him. "Pleased to meet you, Thaumaturges Bement. Pereira. Burke. It is a great honour to make your humbled acquaintances."

Thaumaturge Bement returned the slight bow, her mouth smirking with a sort of insolence Kai hadn't seen in a long time. Her dark eyes bored into his. "It is mutual, your Highness. We only wish to serve our queen, however that might be."

Kai tried to look away, but found his eyes glued to Thaumaturge Bement's, her stormy gaze threatening him in ways he didn't quite know how to interpret. He wondered if it were his imagination, the way he couldn't look away, before he heard Selene's voice, sharply, "Charlotte, that's enough."

The intensity was gone and Bement's eyes were back on her queen, her bow returned. "I apologise, my Queen."

Selene's lips were thin and impatient, her eyes calculating and cold. "I want you, all of you, to treat our Earthen hosts with the utmost respect and dignity. It is unbecoming of us as their guests to do anything but." Selene turned to Kai. "Your Highness, pray excuse Thaumaturge Bement's insolence. She will be punished dearly."

Kai shook his head. "Think nothing of it. I'm sure your thaumaturges are those of the utmost character and benefit to our nations' business relations."

Selene nodded, turning back to survey her officials. She didn't say anything, but Kai could tell from the resolute walls in her eyes that she wasn't sure about any of these people. Kai knew that most of Selene's highest ranking thaumaturges died in the podship crash, and that she had to make some last-minute promotions to decide who would join her on Earth. From the way she eyed Bement, Kai guessed that Selene was already regretting her decisions.

"I would request that my thaumaturges be shown to their quarters, your Highness. We have a long day of work ahead of us," Selene announced, turning on her heels back towards the doors. She paused to nod at Kai before clicking away, Winter and a detached Lunar guard at her heels.

After Kai had called some guards to escort the Lunars to their chambers, he turned to Torin and sighed deeply, a knit unwinding itself in his chest. "What kinds of meetings do I have today?"

Torin nodded briskly, as though he approved of Kai's lack of whining. "You have scheduled meetings with the event planners and palace staff to discuss further details regarding your coronation and the Peace Ball at noon. At two, you meet with the Queen and her thaumaturges to discuss alliance terms, should you choose to accept."

Kai inhaled sharply and turned away. "Thank you, Torin, I'll be in my office." He escaped into the palace, his mind suddenly clouded, because he was afraid he would start whining and telling Torin much more than he needed to know if he stayed any longer. The facts were, Kai thought to himself as he stepped into the elevator, alone, that he had no idea what he wanted to do. Officially, he was interested in a marriage alliance for no more reason than the assurance of peace between his country and a powerful enemy. But for Kai, as a person, as a boy, he couldn't help but plant his face into his hands and complicate.

He told himself conflicting narratives and paradoxical lies and truths in turn. He fed himself political schemes and speculations about Selene and Luna. He told himself to keep it all at an arm's length, but he was really bad at that, he knew.

The elevator beeped with his level, and Kai trailed his fingers along the wall, to his office. He collapsed into a leather chair as soon as the door closed behind him.

He thought about two faces, side by side. Thaumaturge Bement and Queen Selene. One of them was a manipulative, illusionist snake. One to hold Kai's eyes in place with her own force and smile about it. Bement made him shiver. The other was, for all Kai liked to think he knew about her, an enigma. Sweet and caring and powerful, sure- but could she be as manipulative as Bement, as casually horrible? She was Lunar, Lunar. She had mind powers, for gods sake. Kai hated he forgot Selene had mind powers. She could be playing him like a game of chess. She could be waiting for the perfect victory, to knock him down and stand victorious over his body.

But for all Kai speculated, he didn't really believe that.

He believed that Selene was the same Selene who poured her heart out to him, again and again. She was a queen, yes, but she was also a sixteen-year old girl, one who smiled with him and cared about his problems, actually cared about them, in a way nobody ever could. She sent butterflies down his spine and into his stomach, constantly. He had fallen for her long ago, and though he kept trying to maybe, just maybe, stop feeling for her, he knew his heart would never stop skipping beats whenever she was in the room with him.

Kai tried to think about what his country needed, what the Eastern Commonwealth needed. He tried to think about what the Earthen leaders would say, what they would want. This was an important alliance. This would be peace. But where was the foul play? Where was the ulterior motive Kai kept trying to find? He would be king consort of Luna. Selene would be empress.

What does she want?

Kai wanted to believe she wanted peace. He told himself she wanted peace, and that was all she wanted.