Hazel was spooked, to say the least. Right after the man disappeared, she turned and galloped immediately back to the stables, glancing over her shoulder every ten seconds. She hastily unsaddled Calpurnia and then ran up the stairs to her room, holding Chione tightly against her chest.

She froze once she flung open the door to her room. Her governess stood there, a blank expression on her face.

"Julia," Hazel said nervously. "Why are you in here?"

"We must go," Julia said in a clipped tone. "Hurry. We don't have much time."

Hazel stared at her. "What do you mean?"

Julia gestured to a single carry-on sized suitcase shed laid out on Hazel's bed. "You have ten minutes to pack. Bring only necessities. And for the love of all that is good, please change your outfit. Something no one will recognize you in."

"I-I don't understand," Hazel said, not moving from the doorway. "What's happening?"

"No time!" Julia snapped. "You've seen him, yes?"

Him...

"The man out in the gardens?" Hazel asked.

"Yes. He's come to collect you."

Hazel didn't like that phrasing. She wasn't some inanimate collectible!

"I'm not going to run off to who-knows-where with who-knows-who if you don't tell me what's going on!"

"I'll explain on the way," Julia said. "I promise, nothing bad is going to happen. Yet. Now, hurry!"

With that, her governess left the room and shut the door. Hazel didn't hear her footsteps descending the spiral stairs, but when she opened the door, there was no one there.

She took a deep breath, stroking Chione's fur. Unfortunately, the soft feel assured her that she was not in one of her weird dreams.

She stood still for a while, but the memory of the man who'd disappeared right before her eyes prompted her to go pack. If she could get some answers out of Julia, she'd just about do anything.

So she hurried around her room, grabbing clothes and a few other things and stuffing them into her suitcase after putting Chione down onto her bed. She changed from her jodhpurs and polo into black leggings and a large black hoodie she had in the back of her closet for some reason, but she kept her black ankle-length boots on. After a second of thought, she threw her riding clothes in with the rest of the stuff she was packing. She only packed one dress- the blue one Christine had given her. The rest of the suitcase was filled with civilian clothing that she never wore but still always had on hand for some reason, some soap and toiletries, her blue-covered journal, and a pouch of writing utensils. She tucked her sun-shaped necklace underneath her hoodie and slipped her phone into her pocket before tying her hair up with a black elastic.

Hazel glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She looked almost like a shadow.

Just to be extra careful, she grabbed a pair of dark sunglasses and stuck them into her collar, and then took some black lipstick she'd never used and applied it. When she slipped the glasses onto her face, she almost couldn't recognize herself.

A knock sounded on her door. Hazel panicked momentarily, but when it opened, it was just Julia who stood there again.

"Good," she said. "Time to get going."

She snapped her fingers, and Hazel's suitcase floated up through the air and towards her.

Hazel almost screamed. What on Earth was going on?

Julia noted Hazel's shocked expression and smirked lightly, though her features were mostly etched with worry. "Come on now, Princess. Bring the rabbit."

Under any other circumstances, that last statement might've sounded funny, but Hazel put Chione's carrying sling over one shoulder and picked the rabbit up, gently depositing her inside. Chione squirmed a bit, so to calm her down, Hazel grabbed a few baby carrots from the mini-fridge. She just hoped that Chione wouldn't need to use the restroom while she was carrying her.

Julia's car, a modest dark-blue painted vehicle, was waiting right outside. Hazel had never been in it. She rarely went anywhere outside walking distance, and when she did, she rode in the royal limousine.

Hazel stopped for a second. What if her governess was kidnapping her, like what people did in movies?

Julia wouldn't do that, she told herself. And, if she was being brutally honest, she trusted her governess more than she did her own family. Or what was left of it, anyway.

Julia put Hazel's suitcase in the trunk as the princess hopped into shotgun.

"So," Hazel said when Julia got in the driver's seat, "Mind telling me what's going on now?"

"Your powers have manifested," Julia said. "You must be taken to training."

Hazel rubbed her ears. She definitely was going crazy. Powers? Training?

Her eyebrows raised. "Excuse me?"

"We need to put as much distance between us and the palace as soon as possible," Julia went on. "We're going to Besamor."

"You're not serious," Hazel insisted. She considered opening the door and jumping out, but curiosity and disbelief kept her in. "That's a four-hour flight!"

"Mhm," Julia said, like everything was normal.

"Wait, wait. Explain everything, please?"

"Where shall I start?"

"How about with the whole 'powers' thing? I mean, that guy in the garden just disappeared, and you can like, levitate things-"

Julia nodded. "Powers. Some royals are born with them."

"Wait... you're not royal."

A gleam caught in Julia's eye.

"... are you?" Hazel finished tentatively.

Julia glanced over at her for a second, then turned her attention back to the road. "I will tell you in due time."

"Why not now?"

She chuckled. "Always the impatient one."

Hazel didn't care at the moment if she was impatient. Nothing that was happening around her made any sense anymore. Where was the logic of it all? The science that Julia had taught her?

By this time, they had arrived at the airport. Instead of going through the front, though, the governess lead the princess around and through a side entrance. The parking lot was surprisingly empty for that time.

Hazel frowned. "Why this way? Isn't this illegal?"

Julia peeled back a little of her dress's neckline covering her collarbone. On the inside of the fabric was a little circular golden button, about the size of Hazel's thumbnail. Julia unclasped it like it was magnetic, and stuck it to the doorknob. Hazel could hear gears whirring inside, and in two seconds, the door swung open.

She stared at her governess. "How'd you do that?"

"Agency secret," Julia said, taking the button and reattaching it to the inside of her dress. "Come on."

Hazel expected the door to lead to a maintenance closet or something, but instead, there was a ramp leading down into a tunnel illuminated with bright overhead lights. Julia wasted no time walking down, and Hazel followed.

The walk wasn't long. Another ramp slopes upwards, and Julia pushed open a heavy door. They were in a small white-painted room, with velvet couches, bookshelves, and paintings decorating the space. A burgundy carpet covered the floor. It looked fancy, and Hazel was pretty sure she knew what she was talking about when she said the word fancy.

A single man sat behind a black mahogany desk. He looked like a uniformed police officer, but instead of the Avaehanian crest on his cap, like normal officers, his cap had a symbol that looked like an angry owl.

The man looked up at them. "Pou?"

"Tau-zeta," Julia said, unclamping her button once again and holding it out for him. The officer took the button and scrutinized it, then handed it back.

"Besamor, I presume?"

Julia nodded.

"Go on ahead," he said, opening a door behind him.

"Thank you," Julia said. "Come along, Hazel."

The officer bowed his head respectfully as Hazel passed.

"You know him?" Hazel asked once they were through. Now they stood on the big pavement lot outside the terminals where the airplanes picked up passengers. She could see a few planes in the distance.

"No," Julia said. She walked towards a small airplane. Hazel had no choice but to follow.

Another uniformed man with the same owl symbol on his cap was waiting for them. "Ladies," he greeted cordially. "To Besamor?"

Julia gave him a nod, and he gestured for them to board. Then he took the pilot's seat, and the engines fired up.

Hazel could barely hear herself over the plane's noise, but she tried anyway. "What exactly is in Besamor?"

"Training," Julia said simply.

"Excellent," Hazel responded, drier than the Sahara in summer. "I don't suppose you have a brochure or anything about that?"

"Nope."

Hazel petted poor Chione, dragged along on all this. "What'll happen once we get there?"

"We'll be guests of the king."

"Won't Dad and the queen be looking for us?"

"We'll be far off the radar by the time they figure we're actually gone. As for now, everyone back at the palace thinks we've gone for a day trip to the mountains. No one will expect us back until nightfall."

"And... you convinced them of this?"

"Not me. I just have friends in other places."

"Other places?" Hazel repeated.

"Mhm. The Agency is spread out further than you realize."

"Hold up. What Agency?"

"My corporation. We're made up of super-powered royals."

"So then you are a royal," Hazel said. "I asked you earlier!"

"I am not allowed to disclose who I am as long as we are anywhere outside Besamor."

"Why not?"

"Safety."

Hazel might have been the most confused she's ever been her whole life, but she understood safety. It drove the whole idea of civilization.

The plane lifted off the ground.

Julia pulled a book from under her chair, and no, Hazel did not understand how that had gotten there.

"Settle in, princess. It's quite a ride."