After I pulled away, seeing his shocked face slowly turn into a smile, I realized what a great mistake I just made. My heart sank.

"Oi!" I heard someone say. "It's the empress!"

"Tino." I said, sliding the scarf down. No point in hiding now.

"Yes, love?" He smiled at me, oblivious.

I leaned in closer, as the shuffling of feet slowly come closer. "Run."

His hand in mine, I dashed. Beyond the lights, beyond the still pools of water, beyond the shocked gazes, we ran for the gates. The South Gardens were a little less crowded as it was a Tuesday night, but the people made up for it by running after us like a hoard of wildebeest. Their hot pursuit making a type of adrenaline I'd only felt in a war zone come back in full force.

This would surely be the news to break tonight. Who'd remember the gentle eastern prince if you got the uncontrollable empress running around with a different guy barely an hour later?

I reached for the earpiece. "Hey, a bit in trouble. I need extraction."

"I'm back in Nepal." Raza said, annoyed.

"I need a runner at the gates of the South Garden in fifty seconds. Make it happen, Raza."

We were almost there, but even from where I was, I saw there was no runner, and none would make it in time. We'd be stampeded. I cursed myself for not giving Tino a vest, or a full nano-suit. He was in danger, and it was because of me.

"Tino?" I asked, screeching to a halt at the gates, seeing the people walking around towards their homes or to dinner or to bars stop their monotone nightly routines to stare. This would be a first. Not once did my grandfather leave the house unaccompanied, not once was he seen in this state.

"Yes?"

"Choose. Get mobbed here but not get photos or maybe not get mobbed outside... but with photos?"

"Um." He turned back, some of the people still running towards us. Then he looked outside of the glass-like walls, seeing someone fly his drone above us to take pictures. Either way, we would get thrashed, but maybe if we ran faster... "I go where you go."

And so we moved through the gates. The flashes came, the drones multiplied and descended, the audio on them asking me "Have you broken up with Agent Malak?" or "Was Prince Akihito not good enough?" while there was one daring one who asked "Two boys in one night, your grace? Will there be an imperial harem?"

I got Tino's scarf and whipped that drone from the air.

"Liza, love... they're-"

A mass of people barreled onto us like a tsunami would a beach. Traffic slowed, people got out of their runners and cabs, and I readied myself for the second wave. The bursts were blinding, their handhelds were the only things I could see. I was in the middle of a supernova, the eruption of flashes imitating dying stars. I was on fire.

"LIZA LIZA LIZA!" That's all I heard, as they pushed and pulled, daring me to cut them.

"Who's blondie?!" A girl asked as she pulled me away from trying to cover Tino's face. He looked like he'd just swallowed a lemon, eyes squinting against the assault.

I felt hands all over my body, I felt Tino tense up, his right hand over his face, his left clutching mine. Both of us tried to walk in every direction, but the hands and elbows kept pushing us around.

"Guys!" I screamed. "Guys! Please!"

No one was listening. I was the empress, and they didn't listen.

"Love." Tino whispered amidst the yells. His arms opened up for me and I disappeared in them. Still, the people tried pulling him off me, to see my face, to see his.

"Can I get an autograph?!" Someone was pulling at my hair, my hood, his scarf.

"Hey look at the damn camera, I pay my taxes!" Another one pulled at my head, feeling entitled to my face because he's done his national duty.

If only I wasn't trying to keep a good image, most of them would be on the ground by now.

"We're going to cross the road, okay?" He said to me.

"No! They might follow, what if they get hit by a car?" Some cars were still driving, some runners hovering over the concrete. The sound of traffic was drowned out by their screaming, I had no idea if the world still went on outside my cocoon of cameras.

"Are we going to stay here?" He asked in disbelief.

"I called the House." I said. "I'm so sorry."

"Should have brought a wig too, huh?" He said into my hair.

"How do you still manage to joke?" I giggled, frustrated, in into his chest.

"I'm very happy right now, da Vinci, don't use it against me."

"You like attention, Tino?" I asked while I was swatting someone's arm away from me.

"If it's your attention, yes." Someone pulled at his shoulders, and he very gently pulled the hand away.

"EVERYBODY AWAY FROM THE EMPRESS!" A voice boomed. It wasn't Ilyaas.

Soon enough the Imperial Guard surrounded us both and cleared a path to a runner, already hovering from the ground. I ran to it, and not once did Tino's hand leave mine. Once the doors closed after James got in, I took a breath. Silence filled the world as we ascended into the sky.

"We have the names of everyone who hounded you, your imperial highness, what do you want us to do?"

It hit me. What they did was assault. I could imprison them if I wanted to. "Nothing. Do nothing. Freedom of press and speech. Do nothing."

"But, your imperial highness, they can be charged with-."

"And it was my fault since I left without security." I said. "I should have known better."

Tino squeezed my hand, before reaching it out to James for a shake. "Thank you for rescuing us, Sir."

James seemed stunned for a second. Usually, guards were ignored, but of course Tino wouldn't do that.

"Tino, we'll drop you off in your building. We need to do some damage control and get some sleep. Is that okay with you?"

He nodded, faking a smile for the first time. I knew full well he got a taste of what he thought he was ready for. He was probably not ready at all. 

The runner landed on the front lawn of his building, a three-story cottage in the grounds of the House, hidden behind a line of trees from the main building which soared three-hundred stories high. Before he got out he kissed my cheek, in a quick peck. "Semper Invicta, da Vinci."

"Semper Invicta." I said back, knowing what a grave mistake it was to have been selfish for that one second; that I had almost destroyed the object of that selfishness, that I'd put him in danger because I wanted to be happy. 

--

" How the heck did you get out of the house?! Do you know you could have been killed?!" Uncle Hassan was screaming at me from the comm to my ear. He was right to be worried but I never understood people who still worried even after everything was been proven to be alright.

"I'm sorry." I lied. Of course it was risky, but aside from being with Tino, I had information on my brother now- I was not sorry.

"You're sorry." He said. "You have a meeting tonight about the Indians- they cancelled! They're not coming- and you choose to expose yourself in the middle of a garden?! You're showing them they made the right decision! Do you not know the many disastrous things that could have happened?!"

"I do." I said. "None of them happened." Then I cut the call off. Today had already been a bit much. I'd just let the council do their job; worrying about my worries. 

It was only Tino's safety I was concerned about, but since he was safe, I deemed the issue to be over. But the pang of guilt came crashing in despite that...I vowed never to do it again.

Despite the pictures that were already obviously circulating and the words that were going to barrel into the sanctity of the House, I was alright, Tino was alright, and that was all that mattered. I didn't need to think beyond that- not now.

Not when I had information on my brother.

When the doors opened to my room, with the ghost of Tino's hand still in mine, I realized how much my blink of happiness was truly a mistake. 

There he was, Ilyaas, with a bruised face, a shirt that reeked of bourbon, and a cut lip. In his hands were a few half-eaten carnations.

I was frozen again, in the doorway, wondering, wanting to solve the mystery of his disheveled state without saying a word. Still, I was not sure if I was supposed to be happy or angry at finally seeing him.

"What happened?" I finally said, trying to melt the ice between us with two words.

He was on my bed, sitting beside a sleeping Jazzy, looking like he'd just won a fight against her. "Where were you?" Ly asked in a voice so raw I wondered how he managed to speak.

"South garden." I said, saying the least amount of words possible. The conversation seemed to be a field of broken glass, and in my stupidity, I was barefoot.

"You didn't tell me."

You didn't care. You didn't ask. You didn't answer. "It was the garden. No comms." I said, holes in the argument left open for him. He could have asked why I didn't call earlier or after but he didn't. Instead, he raised a few green carnations as disheveled as him.

"Who gave you these?"

"Why does it matter?"

Ilyaas threw the carnations down at the floor near my feet, in a burst of sudden rage. Any normal person would have jumped but I was me. "Did Pretty Boy give you these?!"

"Tino did."

Just as sudden as his anger surfaced, it submerged itself again, replaced by a little shame? Shock? He of course, scurried to pick the flowers off the ground. "Don't tell him I did that." He says, limping over to my bedside table and putting the abused flowers in my vase. "Were you with him?"

I nodded.

"You should have brought a guard. Don't you care about his safety?"

"Why am I being preached to? Where were you?" I said, a little of my anger right below the surface. "I wouldn't have gone if you were here!"

He sat back on the bed, and took a tablet from his bag, grunting with each move. He turned on a projection to the air between us, showing me a brawl and the headline: ANTARCTICAN CHANCELLOR'S FIRST SON CAUGHT IN BAR FIGHT. I read the first lines to know that he was a known possible suitor, and that he was bad enough to be confined in Chaves Center.

"How?" I asked, turning to him. Theo had guards. Ly, despite his training, couldn't have done it alone.

"I... after you got here, I flew back to Kuscovo for their lunch. I poisoned all his guards- slow acting, non-lethal- but their bowels would have flowed by dinner. When they left for the bathroom, I punched a guy in the head and pointed at Theo." He shrugged. "The bar did the rest." He smiled to himself. "May I stay here? I can't drive... I barely got back here."

I nodded. "But how'd you get the mess on your face?" I asked, pacing towards my closet to change for the night, grabbing his own shirt and shorts from the pile of clothes he left in my room just in case.

"Ah... an incident with a Michter bottle and a drunk woman. She hit me on the face." He said behind the door of my closet. "And then I had to do some things... make sure he was knocked out before I left. Don't worry he didn't see me. By the time I got to him, his eyes were sealed shut already."

I came back into the bedroom and took his shoes off for him, the way he did for me a thousand times before. "Come on, you need to change."

I was worried about him, and here he was worried about me. Neither of us had the energy to fight- not tonight.

Helping him up was a bit of a challenge since he towered over me, but we managed to get him to the wash eventually.

He went into the other side of the bathroom as I splashed my face and brushed my teeth for bed. I could hear him snort in pain, but I knew he didn't like being helped when he was injured. 

I remembered well his first few months in Eurasia when he spat Egyptian insults my way for treating him like he was paralyzed, even though he was. In those moments I thought he'd never forgive me for saving him. He used to say he wanted to die.

"How was Tino?" He asked behind a divider.

"He was fine."

"Akihito?"

Hush. What was I supposed to say to that? "Uh... about that..."

I heard him groan. "Do you have nanites? Because if I have to beat him up too, I need nanites."

"No! It wasn't like that."

After he finished changing, I took him back to the bed and retrieved a nanite bag from my refrigerator- the one I had on standby since the explosion last Sunday.

As he settled in, I started telling him everything about Mongolia. I inserted the needle as painlessly as I could, and kissed his hand afterward, willing myself not to feel the guilt that would break me... and as expected, instead of him being the one in bad condition, Ilyaas comforted me. "We can't be accountable for following orders."

We both sat in silence for a while, the cut on his lip rapidly turning into a scar.

"I can't think like that anymore. I'm the one giving orders now." 

But what if I wasn't?

With a start, I reached for the tablet on my nightstand, gently coaxing the controls to connect to my lens. There it was, the file appeared, and I projected it in front of the both of us. It was a compilation of security tapes from six years ago.

"What-"

"Raza gave me something of my brother. Footage from the day he died." I said incredulously. It was actually here.

I felt Ly's eyes dart to me, disbelieving, concerned. "Are you sure you want to see this? And how the heck did he get his hands on these? We clear drives every three years." He asked, while getting his own tablet out again. 

"It's Raza. He's also investigating my grandfather's death."

"The Falcons did it. No need." He shrugged at that. "Connect to mine, I have ID software."

I locked him on with a scan of a thumbprint.

"Gimme a description. Hair?"

"Why hair first? How about build and height?" I asked, skimming the different perspectives of small rectangles showing the day; maids, butlers, my grandfather, the senator... darting in and out of view.

"The cameras are above eye level, so we see hair first." He said, projecting his own screen and combining with mine. "Hair?"

Kazimir was always the better-looking male version of me. "Like mine but more ash... less yellow."

Ilyaas typed "White."

"Height and build?"

"He was sixteen... six feet, two inches. He was also skinnier than you."

He typed it in next.

"Eyes?"

"Like mine but lighter like lilac or faded amethyst..."

He typed "Purple."

We waited and waited far longer than the length I'm used to waiting. But then... NO RESULTS.

"Are you sure he was in the house, Lesya?" Ly inquired, his eyes glued to the profile.

I still remember. "Yes! We were dropped off to have dinner with an islander senator. My parents stayed in the palace in Monaco." I said. "Maybe it's too specific. Get the eyes out, maybe the cameras didn't see that clearly."

NO RESULTS.

The build went out next, and yet still. NO RESULTS.

"Just do the hair. It will just be me or him, anyway."

"But your mother-"

"Wears a head scarf, and she was in Monaco for most of the day I think... I didn't see her after." I saw her six years after.

He did as I said, and after waiting a few more seconds it showed a few results, none of which was him. 

But there I was, in the best view, being pushed by a set of hands into the elevator. I was putting up a fight, but somehow gave up. Even Ly could see the frustration in my eyes with the ruffling of my red taffeta dress. Giving in, I went into the elevator and the doors closed.

"Who was that?" Ly asked. "Who pushed you? Wait-" He was starting to enter a new profile.

"I... I don't remember." I lied.

"Do you remember where you went next?"

Bunker.

I turned my tablet off, and took the connection out.

"Ly, I don't remember." I said, lying as obviously as anyone could. "Let's sleep."

He knew, of course, that I was lying. But maybe he knew he was too tired, or that I was too tired to talk about it.

"Okay." He said.

So I closed my eyes, knocking on wood, praying to any god who would listen to not give me dreams of that day. I've forgotten enough for it not to haunt or hurt me. I didn't want to remember. But needless to say, gods were unkind.

--

I was walking towards the dining room, unguarded, without a maid. I took one of the servant's halls to escape from the constant chattering of what I should wear, how I should look, or if I was too young for that type of makeup. Today was one of the days we spent inside the House. I already missed Monaco, Abbu and Mum and the view of the sea, I already missed the palace. I wanted to go home, but I needed to stay because Upapa said Kazimir and I needed to meet someone.

The senator.

So there I was in my finery listening to Kaz speak from the open doors of the dining room. He probably had his chest puffed up in pride, showing off his new tie or that small corsage of red carnations mother picked put of the garden earlier.

Then out of the corner of my eye a boy came rushing to me. He grabbed my shoulders and started pulling me away from the light of the hall, ruffling and creasing my crimson dress.

"Unhand me!" I said to him, but then he shut me up with his hand on my mouth, clamping my jaw into place.

"You don't want to go in there, Diwata."

I tried to speak through his hand to tell him I was not Diwata. I was Lizaveta. And if he didn't let go of me, I would order his execution.

"Don't go in there. He's looking for you. He wants to get rid of you both." He said, guiding me into one of the curves of the house, pulling towards an elevator. Then he pushed me against a wall in the shadows where no one could see. "I'm going to take my hand off, promise me you won't scream."

I nodded. No promises. "Who are you?"

"That doesn't matter right now." He looked at the elevator across from us. "If you get in there, where can you hide where no one will find you?"

"There are cameras. They'll find me." I said, not understanding his urgency.

"You have a bunker, yes?"

I nodded.

"Can anyone get in there except your family? Can you hide somewhere there and no one will find you?"

"Maybe-" I didn't understand.

"Then go!" He opened it for me and pushed me inside. I fought against the doors, but he pushed me again and again.

"But my brother!"

He didn't listen. Instead he turned and ran away as the doors closed.

I woke up with the start, in cold sweat with Ilyaas sound asleep beside me and Jaz snoring at my feet.

That's when I realized why the boy with the curly hair at the pyramid seemed to know me. It was because he did. 

--