So the Ceremony was nice. And later, Alexandra was given half an hour to pack - she threw in a box of breath mints, a lot of bandage, some wound cleaner, rope-hook, scissors, extra knives, quills and scrolls, a calendar and a Map of Akwanda, along with her extra clothes (nobody forgot about currency - money was life). All the while, she muttered a relentless chant, "I'll be back, I'll be back, I'll be back," herself not realizing what the need for it was.

She strapped Moira to her belt - as a final gesture of Agent-hood. She then plodded lazily to the Supervisory Centre where the pigeon was waiting for her. One she had been introduced to, in her fifth year, so that the animal recognized her well enough by the time of she passed out. Alexandra had named the pigeon Jade. Jade - because her neck had a greenish tinge to it. Everyone had a pigeon that had been specially trained. From wherever they were left, they would return to the supervisory. With letters - or without. At times, if they wished to, they could return to the Council as well. Especially if the trial was a long one - spanning more than a few months. The birds were temperate ones - tropical climate sometimes did not suit them. But such was seen in very few cases, since pigeons were universal. There was common consent that they did exist in the east too, the east of the world which nobody knew much about, except for the fact that it was quite prosperous.

'Good evening, Jade!' Alexandra cooed to the bird, stroking her neck lightly. 'Ready to come?'

The bird hooted enthusiastically. 'Right on - the exhilaration's caught you too!' She exclaimed, and opened the cage door. Jade flew out and perched upon her arm. 'Ever heard of Akwanda?'

Jade hooted uncertainly.

'Don't worry, it's bad on ground, but you're safe. Their air isn't poisoned - or at least I hope so.' She grimaced, then laughed to herself. Talking to a pigeon was definitely unusual.

She waved her goodbyes to her year-mates - oh no, her colleagues. And then the only thing she was left with was to meet Mark Fannel - who was no where to be seen. Inherently, she stood by the Lake - it was just where she liked to meet people.

'Waiting for me?' He asked, almost the instant she had stopped by the waters. The speed surprised Alexandra.

'Of course!' She told her annoying brother, 'and you better stop messing up your hair, or they'll all fall off!'

'As you say, mother.'

'Mother?'

'Most certainly. I mean, sometimes it's hard to decide whether you're my sister or my mother.'

'What kept you?' She demanded, crossing her arms and staring at him with an unimpressed look. She had wanted to say that if he behaved like a kid, she would have to be his mother - but for now - they didn't have as much time.

'This,' He replied, showing her a locket. 

No, it was a pendant. And hanging from the chains was - even with her despicable nature skills, she had no trouble recognizing it - a blue lily. She gasped and her eyes widened, the natural display of shock. But added to it was the first confusion - how did he have it? Still?

'The - the pendant you gifted Diana. How?!' She asked, gaping at it. If Diana had been wearing it on Velloi Hill during the ambush, the only logical explanation was that somehow, she was back - and so the ornament. 

However, that didn't seem to be the case.

'She dropped it.' Mark clarified, 'Only the pendant - not the chain. I returned afterwards - and this was all I found.' He added, with a small smile. The smile was so evidently fake that Alexandra felt a lump in her own throat. And she hadn't realized it, but in the six years, she had grown mightily close to Fannel. The biggest sign of it was that she felt his pain. She seldom cried, in fact, she didn't remember having done that since her third year's test, but at this trivial moment, her eyes brimmed over with tears. 'Don't you dare cry!' He warned, but it was no use - Alexandra felt one big, hot tear roll down. Mark Fannel only grinned wider, the sight of one person crying made either made the second tear up as well, or pull himself together. Usually, if the latter was older, more responsible and wiser, they pulled themselves together and such was the case with Mark. 'Brothers are supposed to kill the people who make their sisters cry- you want me to kill Mark Fannel?' He questioned, with such sincerity that Alexandra had to give a small laugh.

'Come on,' He then said, putting an arm around her and wiping her cheeks, he took the bag Alexandra was carrying. And perhaps he realized that some more words were necessary to brighten up her mood. 'If Master George finds out I made his star pupil cry - he is going to recall Kane to have me finished. And if your friends find out, I'll be mob-lynched. Besides, Akwanda's the one who's got to worry and cry. We're sending a tigress to have them ripped apart.' If he was being so protective and brotherly with a single tear, an eccentric part of Alexandra wondered what he would do if he ever found out about the number of people who had made a move on her. 

Hopefully, he wouldn't find out. For then, seeing the grin on her fact, Mark slid the pendant down her neck. It sent a warm, calming feel down her body. Inexplicably, she felt loved wearing it. And she surmised there was no way she couldn't feel loved wearing such a priceless ornament. A pendant that had seen a young boy's innocent love, a young girl's sacrifice. A pendant that was standing proof of how pure and unbreakable a brother-sister bond was. How nothing, not even death, could break it.

The pendant was lending her some of Diana's unmatched strength and moral. It was an indication, a constant reminder of the home she had, to return to. And she had a whole family - their affection. All these members of the Espionage council - they had went in different directions like branches of a tree - but their roots were all the same. Rooted in every heart and in every breath.

* * *

Akwanda started off terrible.

She had to stay inside the Palace. The scroll Master George had given her in the Ceremony, said that she was to be posted inside the Palace and she couldn't return to Idgard unless she found out something valuable. Something important - of certain worth. If that took ten years, then so be it. But there was no return without information.

It was a conditional trial - one of the worst, most inescapable form of trials. But she wanted to go back as soon as possible - so Alexandra had decided to spend one day spying on its situations. The position of the Akwanda Palace. And there was only one thing she found out in that day. Only one thing, but it was gnawing at her since the last week.

The Queen of Akwanda ... the new queen. The one who had wedded and come only a year before ... who was stunning and had charmed the King ... who had a mind.

She was Alexandra's eldest sister.

The Queen was Olivia.

Alexandra had set up base in an inn, for the time being. The moment she had learnt of the new Queen's name, she had lost her sleep - and to some extent, her appetite - because the arrangement disgusted her. She couldn't focus on anything - felt jittery and agitated. Without wanting to, memories with Olivia came flashing back to her. Even their last day together - her yellow gown. How she had said Alexandra shouldn't have had insulted the aunt ... and things before it. How Olivia used to teach her to write, when she was three. How Olivia had once protected her from Rose, when Alexandra had unintentionally spoilt one of her paintings. How Olivia had lectured her on good behavior when she had been nine. Olivia's face swam in front of her eyes with each memory and though it was a pleasant face, Alexandra was irritated with it.

What was her sister doing in this place? A small, insignificant kingdom that nobody looked twice at. With a corrupt king and a corrupt battalion of ministers and a corrupt espionage council with corrupt spies who were heavily incompetent. Back in Doveland, she had felt insulted with the Idgardian rejection. Was it the same Olivia who reigned here? 

If she hadn't been a spy, she would have definitely gone ahead and pulled her eldest sister out of this. What had Austin seen in Akwanda, to let a matrimony form between them? And if this was Olivia's case - what was going to happen to Rose?

It was best not thought about. For now, the eldest sister's appearance was proving bad enough.

'Olivia ... Olivia!' Alexandra snarled, throwing Moira on the bed with desperation. It was a a little over a week of her stay in Akwanda and she was scarily disconsolate. 'Why Akwanda, of all countries?!' She demanded, flopping down to the ground in frustration. 'Why did you have to do this.' And she buried her head in her hands.

'You are a Princess and you know how lucky that is. Use it Alexandra, and be a woman. I used to believe in love and charm. I used to believe in hearts. But that is foolish. There is duty and respect. And there is honor. Nothing above them.' 

And perhaps those words, Olivia's own, were the reason she was here. But with the words, her sister's face entered Alexandra's mind once again. She retaliated with something downright unfeminine - she grunted and upturned the table next to her. It was filled with scrolls and only when the deed had been done, she realized how foolish it was.

'Kane wouldn't have approved,' Alexandra sighed to herself, as she bent down to pick the scrolls up again. The lily pendant hung loose from her neck as she did.

Alexandra exhaled, spotting it. She closed her hand around its warm surface and she felt a warm, tingling sensation - not only in her clammy hand, but her body. 'I'm not only Olivia's sister. I am Mark's sister. And that makes me Diana's sister - wherever she is now. And I have got to live up to them. In fact, I have switched teams. Team Olivia had abandoned me and Team Liam has got me. On their side, against her. Which is why I am going to play - for my own team.' She reminded herself.

And it was time she embraced a bit of the past. Not entirely, not at once, but it bit and pieces - in fragments. It was time she plunged into the Palace.

And in accordance with the decision, on Monday, Alexandra tore up her black cloak into half and made a veil out of it. She stole a maid's clothes (they were awfully easy to run off with - since the maids themselves despised those garments and kept them hung outside the houses, as far away as possible). She spied on Akwandian maids for a whole week - learning and imbibing their gait. It was not very different from the Dovish ones - though the Idgardians had had a completely different class to them. It was common consent in Vedessa (and a smug one) that their maids were prettier and better off than most other noblewomen.

Finally - on a sultry Wednesday - after a lot of maid watching - she decided as much would suffice. And she would go to the Akwandian Palace tomorrow, again. This time as a maid herself, and she would not try to avoid Olivia.

She's a Queen. And I'm a Secret Agent. We both have our duties - our codes. No one, not even your own sister, can stand in between you and your duty. But if she does, if Olivia does, I will have to deal with her - the way I would deal with any other Queen. Was the last thought Alexandra had that night.