"Are you really sure?" I asked once again, remembering how kind King Orlon had been to me, and in return I had given him the nastiest of surprise.

Doran let out a huge sigh, before climbing the steps to the foyer of his palace, "For the love of the Throne, Eleni, yes. I am sure."

"No need to be mad," I scowled at him.

"I am not. Yet." He said, and turned fully towards me, his eyes suddenly soft with concern, "Also, um, don't let anything bother you, alright?"

"Like what?"

"Hopefully nothing." He averted his eyes from me, "Let's go."

I walked behind him, a gigantic dread crippling my insides, as I entered the Grand Palace of the Sagittarius House.

Jaw-dropping artistic interior of the gorgeous golden palace, made me suck in a full breath. The walls sparkled with the soft whisper of early morning's sunshine. It wasn't bright outside but inside the palace, it seemed like a Sun glowed of its own.

My vision roved around and suddenly halted as it met a scared pair of eyes. A uniformed servant had stopped in her track, as though having seen a ghost. I looked around and found many other women and men, dressed in uniforms, rooted mid-movement.

"Y-Your Highness," one of the lady-servant blabbered at the prince, her eyes affixed on me. Following suit, almost everyone bowed low, their eyes aghast, body flustered.

Were they astonished or...perhaps scared?

"Bar all the entrances and exits. Do not let anyone in and out of the palace, unless I say so. And not a word outside." Doran spoke fast, and removed his coat, throwing it over a settee. His thin black tunic came into view, and I forgot to blink, unable to tear my gaze off his toned back. "Gather the guards in the backyard, I want to have a word."

"And prepare a room upstairs for the Lady," he added, not looking at anyone in particular, and extended a hand for me.

As he turned around, I peered down his chest and hardened abdomen.

"Eleni?" he called, his silvery voice, snapping me out of my trance.

I nodded, forcing myself to not look at him in such a creepy manner and put my hand in his open palm. Even the smallest gesture seemed to make me perspire. What was wrong with me?

He walked me through the main hall, and I craned my neck to look back up at the golden chandelier. It had hundreds of glowing oval-shaped glass balls, which burnt with tiny flames of orange fire. The Sun of the Summer Palace.

"Move!" Doran commanded in a gruff voice and the frozen servants started walking away, fumbling back into their previous actions.

They were scared, not astonished. They recognized me - The infamous Luesha!

But a loud scrunchy noise boomed in the palace –

"So, now we are bringing girls at home?"

I did not turn around, my eyes widening as I recognized the voice. But Doran did, his face already wearing an annoyed expression. The glow of the sunshiny chandelier radiated his darkening eyes. Oh, he was mad, alright.

Doran clutched my shoulders and gently turned me around. The King's eyes widened as they fell on me and I scurried closer to Doran.

"But...How?" He looked at me and then at Doran, "No one breaks out of the dungeons."

"The ones who don't belong there, surely do," Doran said, voice fiery, melting my snow.

"She did attack a dragon, though. Eh, but it was Nova's so I'm sure she had a reason," the King said, his hands clasping behind and he climbed down the stairs slowly. Guilt gnawed at me at the mention of Zephyr and I made a mental note to ask Serena about his well-being.

I bowed, "Your Highness!"

"So, that day you were in a hurry to save Ralph! Well, who knew, Egan had a daughter as well!" He speculated, as he came closer, his voice hoarse and suspicious. My heart thundered.

Doran's palm touched at the small of my back in a reassuring way and I took a deep breath, bracing myself.

"We are expecting some more company, father. We will talk after that."

"Have you lost your mind, Doran? How can you call more people if you wish to keep her safe here?" The King shouted, baffled.

"I did not call the High Panel or the High King. Have some faith," Doran gritted his teeth.

The father-son kept glaring at each other and I slowly put my hand back, placing it over Doran's.

Doran let out a huge sigh and spoke, "Later. Please. She needs to rest." King Orlon retreated back, his gaze shimmering between his son and the dungeon-breaker.

"Miss," Doran called out to a frozen lady-servant holding a platter of empty glasses, "Could you please show her upstairs?"

The young girl bowed at Doran and extended an unsure arm, pointing to the spiraling stairs to the farthermost left of the main hall. Her face showed her conflict or maybe it was fear?

"I don't wish to rest, Doran,"  I whispered as he withdrew his hand from my back and suddenly, I was scared to be all my own again. Don't leave me.

Doran whispered back, turning to me, his eyes recognizing my dread, "You'll be fine, I promise. I would've come up with you but I need to hold the fort down here. I'll send Serena up, as soon as she comes. Okay?" 

Don't leave me. 

"You are safe here. Not alone anymore. Okay? And I am at your service. Ring for me if you feel uncomfortable. But you need to rest." Doran tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Okay!"

Bowing once at the King, I followed the hesitating girl.

"Also," Doran's voice echoed and I turned back at him. He was talking to a uniformed man, "Prepare cheesecakes. Loads of them."

I blushed profusely at his words and he turned back to look at me, his face already wearing my favourite smile. And I found myself smiling back, my face as red as Winter Realm's winter cherries.

***

The young servant walked ahead, keeping a huge distance between us. Was she scared of me to an extent that her fingers holding the platter trembled, that she tripped over herself, while constantly craning back her head to look at me?

Would it always be like this? People wary of me, deeming me as a creature to be afraid of.  Glancing back down at the hall, I saw the servants whispering to each other, casting wide-eyed glances at me. I twirled Ralph's ring on my finger as I kept climbing the stairs. I had expected this, but now that I saw it with my own eyes, I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. So, this is what would be bothering me.

I looked at the shiny golden walls adjacent to the staircase that were decorated with ancient-looking crossbows and swords. A huge portrait of a giant Phoenix captured my attention next and I realized this was the Sagittarian House's creature, just like Ruby was mine...no...Ralph's.

But suddenly an enormous portrait got me rooted at the spot - portrait of a young King Orlon, his wife and their son.

I slowed my ascent, to take in the portrait. Doran's mother looked frail, sickly thin, and her husband's loving arm was around her shoulder while he carried a young boy with red flaming hair in his other arm. Their faces smiling bright.

Being a Corresponder had always exposed me to every single news and historical fact of all the Four Realms. And my heart suddenly shattered as I realized the baby wasn't Doran, but Milan, his older brother, who had died, a few years back.

Along with it, came another terrible truth to the surface - Doran had never seen his mother for she had died during her second childbirth. During his birth.

I let out a huge shuddering breath, and heard the girl clearing her throat, standing on the top-most stair.

I followed her, my steps hurried and I did not realize when I accidentally came quite close to her, lost in my thoughts. She shrieked aloud, making me jump.

"I...I am...s-" I started but cut myself off.

There was no need to apologize.

"Just point to the room and leave," I spoke, staring into her fearful eyes.

The girl looked like she had seen a ghost and moved back, climbing another set of steps, with me in tow. She stopped in front of an ornate door and bowed low.

"Was that so hard?" I raised a brow at her and she scampered away, almost on the verge of tears.

Maybe this was the only way I could survive now – Being what they expect me to be.

I entered the room and gasped with happiness, all my worries disbanding. A magnificent four-poster bed, was all I could see. Finally, I would sleep on something other than the stony floor of the dungeon.

I was safe here. I was safe here. No cold dungeons. Not until I had friends with me.

***

The sound of running water and creaking door woke me up. It came from the door, adjacent to the bed I was sprawled on. And it dawned on me where I was. Serena came out of the door, that apparently was a washroom, seeing her wet hair and fresh clothes.

"Good, you're awake," she said.

"When did you arrive?" I asked, sitting up a little and squinting my eyes at the sunlight coming in through the large window.

"I came and went straight to bathe, so not long, I guess," she answered and plopped down beside me.

"Ralph and Una are here, too?"

"I came with Ralph but Una stayed back. Spikes will bring her soon. Good dragon, that! But I almost threw up. Twice."

I chuckled, my incomplete sleep still bugging my head. 

"How are you feeling in a Summer Palace, Eleni?" Serena wiggled her eyebrows. I grabbed a pillow to bury my face into it.

"Oh, come on," Serena pulled at my pillow and I let her.

"I am just feeling sleepy," I said, rolling my eyes.

She laid down beside me, "Who would've guessed that all this time, my friend was a royal herself?"

"Serena!"

"We wrote about Lord Ralph, what are the odds, of him being your brother?" She laughed to herself.

"I just don't understand why your parents did what they did," she said, cradling a pillow under her chin.

"Stop, I don't want to hear it," I suddenly leapt up from the bed.

"Eleni..." she looked at me as if she was seeing me for the first time.

"I am not a royal," I said through clenched jaw.

"I see, Doran rubbed off on you pretty well," she said frowning.

"No! I... I am a simple girl. I don't want anything. And even if I did, this world wants me in a dungeon." I screamed.

She was suddenly quiet. The twinkle in her eyes fading to darkness. "I am sorry, Eleni. I was being insensitive. But at least you are talking now."

I sighed, "I am a bit jumpy lately, sorry." I sat down beside her, coming to my senses. I definitely needed a Mind Healer.

"Well, the situation could have been worse. What if Una and Ralph had not accepted you? What if Doran and his father weren't keen on opening their palace's door for you? And what if there were no Eclipses in this world? What then?"

I made the Eclipses for you, Eleni.

I put my face in my hands as her questions sunk in. There were tons of possibilities. But I was still here. Safe.

For now.

"How do you know about the Eclipses?" I snapped my head at her.

"At this point, surely everyone knows."

She let out a huge breath and got up from the bed, "Come on, clean up quick and let's go down. Una might be on her way." Serena said grinning.

What exactly are you so happy about?" I got up, making my way to a large table, where I could see clean clothes folded in a neat pile.

"Just because," she mumbled.

"Serena, are you okay?" I asked, flinging a bath towel over my shoulder, and looked at her.

"Of course," she shrugged.

"I know you are not. No one would be fine after going through all that. Are you going to tell me what all happened after you were...uh... taken from the dungeon? You don't have to pretend in front of me."

She seemed hesitant, her façade dropping, "The guards dumped me in the storage room of our embassy and locked me in. But Una found me the next day."

"Oh, thank Heavens!" I added as an afterthought, "How did Una find you?"

"I don't know, but she did, and... I am so grateful." Serena sighed.

"Una always comes to your rescue, doesn't she?" I smiled at her, and put my arm around her shoulders.

"She...does," Serena said almost in a whisper, "She's always there."

"I am glad you had her, even when I wasn't around," I said, resting my head on her shoulder.

"I... yes. We...we got close. Close friends, I mean." Serena seemed to squirm and I pulled up my head to look at her. "Now, come on, go freshen up," Serena smiled wide at me. Her secretive smile.

I narrowed my eyes at her. Did I have the right to pry in her life after having hidden so much from her myself?

Serena rose up and started to rummage through the beautiful, silky stacks of clothes on the table. "You got a lot of choices in color now."

I smiled wistfully, "I'll still take the white. Spring Realm is my home even if it doesn't want me." Amelia's face twinkled in my mind and I realized, I was never going back home. Everything had changed.

"...I am both sleepy and hungry," Serena was saying, and I cleared my head.

As I walked to the washroom, I suddenly remembered Doran's words.

"Serena, what's going on with the Conquest?"

She grinned wide. "Oh, I have so much to tell you. It's going exactly how it should be going, now that King Orlon is eliminated."

***

Serena and I walked downstairs; arms linked. She had braided my long hair into a thick bun and I, in turn had done the same for her. A scared house help, had guided us to the dining table, that was situated deep inside the palace's great hall.

I saw King Orlon seated at one end of the long table and going through some parchments, while he sipped through his tea. On his one side, sat Doran and Ralph, apparently mid-conversation. Ralph's golden sundial was placed in front of him. The table was sprawled with dishes, all under food covers. But one particular smell caught my attention and I melted like a syrup. Cheesecake.

"Who would've thought we'd get to have a meal with horsey King someday?" Serena whispered and I pinched her arm.

They might've felt us approaching, for they got up from their seats and looked at me, before bowing a little. I knew the fact that men got up from their seat, every time a female left or took a seat. But somehow it looked comical to me in the moment.

I stood, perplexed and conscious, clinging to Serena and looked down my silk gown, the hem touching the ground and sleeves twirling all the way to my wrists.

King Orlon said, tight-lipped, "A royal Eclipse, the Throne bloody bless us all."

Royal Eclipse, I gulped.

"Oh my!" Serena mumbled, before speaking up in a loud voice, "So, is the offer limited to only royal ladies?"

King Orlon turned his head at her in surprise, apparently having been talked to in this manner for the first time. "Yes."

"No!" Doran corrected, throwing a glare at his father. 

"You don't have to do this, Your Highnesses!" I mumbled, not looking at them. Royals were crazy.

Serena and I sat facing them and on cue, a dozen servants came forward and unlidded the dishes. My stomach gave a lurch and I pursed my lips, waiting to devour it all. Doran bent down a little to his side and brought out my white little satchel. My face broke into a large grin as I took it from him and peered inside. I pulled out the sundial and hugged it close to my chest. If it weren't for this little magical heirloom, I might have never met Ralph!

"Come here to gloat, Ralph?" King Orlon said, not looking at him.

"Not yet, Lord Orlon," Ralph said, picking up a green apple.

But then it hit me. If King Orlon wasn't in the Finale, that meant – the power dynamic had shifted for the decade. Ralph was in the Final Round! 

King Orlon had lost not only in the Conquest but also in the voting.

He wasn't the King anymore - Ralph was!

My thoughts collided onto one another as I looked at Ralph. He was the King of the Summer Realm now. People had chosen him worthy. Our father had never gotten the chance to be in the Finale, but here was Ralph – getting a well-deserved closure. I placed my sundial on the table and watched Ralph take a small peek at it. 

My brother was a King.

"So," Serena said, after a long dead silence, "Where's Una?"

"Wait, that earthling is coming too? But she can't. She can't come here," King Orlon grumbled.

"Yes, she can." Serena said, taking a sip from a fresh cup of tea, and added as an afterthought, "Your Highness."

"Actually," Doran said, "She might choose not to come, you know, this being the Summer Realm's embassy..."

Oh, the damned feud!

"But...then why didn't she say so? I wouldn't have come either." Serena pouted and her eyes widened at her own words.

I raised a brow at her, but saw her genuinely upset face, "Maybe that's why she didn't tell you."

Serena nodded, her face losing all the luster.

"Thank Heavens!" King Orlon said and took a large bite of his cake.

"Una should be here, father. We need her," Doran said, but then leaned forward, adding in a whisper to me, "Please don't tell her I said that."

Oh, I am definitely telling her that!

"Can we address the dragon in the room now?" The King said, raising his brows at me.

"Yes, Lord Orlon, we should," Serena grinned at him and he banged his fist on the table, startling everyone. I nudged her in the side. She was being a little too cheeky for her own good. Was it because King...no Lord Orlon had in a way disrespected Una? I blinked my eyes at the thought.

But Lord? Lord Orlon, not King anymore. That meant, Doran wasn't the Prince as well. And as I looked at him, biting into a slice of a cheesecake, I knew he couldn't care less about the title. He was always like that. I smiled to myself.

Just Doran...not Prince!  Well, he had indeed rubbed off on me pretty well!

"I'll deal with you later, lass," Lord Orlon pointed to Serena and then narrowed his eyes at me. "Eleni, dear, you need to tell me everything that you know about Nova. Leave no details out. Everything."

"But, Your Highness, why are you after Prince Nova? Do you know something? Is that why you have spies in his palace?" I said, looking at his urgent face.

"I..." he straightened up, but his brows knitted together, "Wait, how do you know about the spies?"

I pursed my lips. "Well, I overheard you talking to one of your spies at the royal ball. Accidentally, Your Highness." And I assumed you were the villain.

"Eleni!" Ralph snapped his head at me, "What all have you been doing in the Winter Realm?" His eyes narrowed on me; half-eaten apple being squeezed in his hand.

I had a sudden urge to pull my tongue out at Ralph and shut him up, like Amelia did with me. But I just settled with a scowl. King, he was a King!

Lord Orlon let out a huge sigh, and massaged his head. Something in his face, suddenly made me sit up. I looked at Doran and he seemed... tensed, eyebrows furrowed and jaw tight. I gulped.

"Well, kids, I do know something, but I have no proof. That's all I'm looking for. Answers." Lord Orlon said, his gaze glancing frequently at Doran.

I was suddenly afraid of what I was going to find out. I could feel the air around us turn warm, thick with tension.

Doran's father continued, in a tired yet certain voice, "That white light of Nova in the duels...that's... that's the reason why my older son is dead."

***

Author's extremely long note, sorry in advance: The next chapter is going to be very a small one. And you know what small chapters mean – EXPLOSION!

Let me just say... That it was Eleni's story till here, but from here on...she isn't alone. So we get more pov chapters.

I don't wish to add a separate chapter for summary so, I will just cram it here:

If you don't remember what the voting was, you can check Chapter 2, wherein Eleni voted for Prince Nova. The Defensors who get voted by people, get an upgrade in their ranking. There is a High Panel who keeps a check on this. The Throne keeps an eye on the Conquest, but reaching the Final Round of the Conquest, needs to be on the basis of their merit. You can say that the Throne looks into the souls of the Defensors. Four Defensors, each from one Realm, makes into the Final. You can easily guess, who all are the Finalists. *winks*