Kasef could hardly sleep after the dinner, not even Kala cuddling him in comfort helped. Something was very wrong with Reyna last night until after he took her to her room, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. Her response to his response about her dress for one was very out of character for her, even though he barely knew her he just knew she would have had a flirty sounding response instead of the quiet sounding one she gave him. And another thing he noticed was her reaction to Elvira before the shouting happened, she looked...terrified, like she was going to bolt from the room if he hadn't stopped her. He hardly ever felt guilty about his actions, but today he just felt it.

Should I apologize for being so harsh on her last night? The prince wonders as he is getting dressed. I mean I should, but would she want to hear it from me?

"What do you think, Kala?" He asks, turning to his cat as she is attempting to lick a very difficult spot on her back. Kala stops her licking to stare at him for a few moments before blinking and going back to her previous task. "Of course, why bother asking you, you don't even know about how human relationships even work. And even if you could talk, you wouldn't be able to help me with that."

Kala stops her licking to meow loudly and pads across to the foot of the bed where he stood and headbutts the back of his leg before jumping to cling to his shoulder. Kasef gave a tired sigh and reached up to gently scratch her forehead. Kala was the only one in this whole world he could confide in and talk to about his problems, she didn't judge him and seemingly did listen, and always knew how to comfort him after a good long rant.

"Maybe I should talk to her now that we've cooled off, it was weird that she was acting out of character." The prince says as he heads to the door of his room and exits.

He made his way to where his family normally ate breakfast together, finding them all save for Reyna and his grandmother chatting. His siblings immediately went quiet the second they saw him, and he could have sworn some of them were giving him angry looks. Geez, what's up with them?

"Good morning." He greets as he takes a seat next to Amir. No response, not even Nijah (who normally would eagerly greet him) said anything. "Okay what did I do wrong this time?"

"You were mean to Reyna last night." Kafele responds with a scowl.

"She was being rude to our guests."

"And they were being mean to her too!"

"I had to have a long talk with Florian last night because he wasn't too happy about how Reyna got with his family, especially when Elvira told him that she nearly drowned Platinum." Ahling says with a shake of his head. "Lucky for her, Fareeda and her daughter and husband spoke up to defend your wife to explain what happened. So for now, the Del Barians aren't going to wage war on us or do anything drastic, but they do demand we punish Reyna in some way."

"Let me guess, divorce?" Kasef asks, recalling his conversation with Elvira from yesterday.

"Oh no, Stina suggested giving her some lashes but even I wouldn't dare do that." Ahling says quickly. "I'm still thinking about it."

"Where is Reyna?" Nijah asks, looking at the empty spot between Kafele and Sharifa. "I want sister!"

"She's probably sleeping in dear, or eating in her room." Ahling assures her. "After last night, I wouldn't blame her for not wanting to be out. Anyways, let's eat shall we?"

For the rest of breakfast, Reyna didn't even show up at all. After excusing himself to go train, Kasef decided to stop by her room to see what was up.

"Reyna? You awake?" He calls out as he knocks on the door to his wife's room. No response. Frowning, he knocks again before grabbing the doorknob and opening it, only to find the room empty. She didn't run away, did she?

Now concerned, Kasef immediately checked her closet to find her clothes still in there, as well as the bags she had for luggage and a book with a small pot of ink was left on the desk. So it didn't seem like she ran off, possibly still here in the palace. He did find a small table by the window with dirty dishes, so that meant she had eaten in her room instead of joining the family for breakfast.

"Um, your majesty?" Kasef turns in surprise to see a maid standing a few feet behind him. She meekly bows before glancing at the door. "Umm, if you're looking for lady Reyna, she's still here in the palace. She just wanted some alone time in the morning but she should be with your grandmother for lessons."

Of course, his grandmother was going to be giving Reyna lessons on etiquette and such. Kasef nods before heading out of the room, making a beeline for the gardens. Knowing his grandmother, she hated staying cooped up in her room and would spend hours in the gardens either reading, or playing chess with one of her servants or the nobles she actually was fond of. Reyna had to be with her there. And lucky for him, she was.

Reyna walking slowly with her arms out in large circles, at least two large books balanced precariously on her head with an apple on top of them and loudly reciting something. Zaria sat nearby on a chair, quietly sipping tea and watching with her servants. What in the world were they doing?

"...and thus queen Chameleon proposed a peace treaty with the crown princess, so that Neolandia would receive grains and fruits in exchange for their exotic spices and herbs." Reyna says as she stops her walking. "Okay, was that good?"

"Excellent, you could put the books down." Zaria says as Reyna dropped her arms.

"Grandmother?" Kasef speaks up, getting the attention of the servants and Reyna.

"Grandson." The dowager queen responds curtly, not even turning to look at him. "What brings you to the gardens so early in the morning?"

"It's not even early." Kasef mutters before looking at Reyna. "May I speak to you in private, please?"

"Why, too embarrassed to say it in front of your grandmother?" His wife asks with a frown as she folds her arms over her chest and looks away with a frown. "I'm not speaking to you alone, not after how you treated me last night."

"Reyna-"

"I'm serious, I'm angry with you right now."

"Then will you stop being angry if I tell you I am here to apologize?"

"And then tell me to apologize to that bitch and her family? No, not until Elvira, her mother and Platinum apologize."

"You'd have better luck in teaching a glow toad to talk than get an apology out of those three." Zaria scoffed before taking another sip of her tea. "Stubbornness unfortunately is rooted deeply in a Del Barian, trust me on that. And their dislike for everyone who isn't a Del Barian, that too."

"Well, good to know I'm not the only one being disliked." Reyna says, rolling her eyes. "When are they even leaving anyways?"

"Today or tomorrow, I hope it's today, I can't stand another day of those women."

"Alright fine, I...apologize for my actions last night." Kasef says, glancing away. He hated apologizing in front of so many people like this, it made him feel weak and vulnerable.

"Aaand?" Reyna asks, now looking at him.

"I...I shouldn't have scolded you."

"And?"

Oh great, what did she want him to say? "And...what do you want me to do to make it up to you?"

"Pick something embarrassing, last time a girl got mad at him she made him spend two hours reading a romance novel to Kala." Zarai says and Kasef gives his grandmother a scowl.

"And who was that?" Reyna asks, trying not to laugh.

"Aquila, she was upset at her brother for dumping his vegetables onto her plate."

"We seriously need to fix that terrible habit of yours, husband." Reyna snorts. "Fine, as a way to make it up to me, you have to take me to your next training session and let me train with you. And you have to let me have at least a few good sparring matches with you."

"You aren't gonna give up on that aren't you?"

"Nope! But I will prove to you that my skills as a fighter are more than just talk!"

"And that's why our family often prefers to have someone with good fighting skills marry into it over someone pretty. It's why I was very against Florian's niece as your wife, her cousin would have been more suitable but I can't stand her either." Zaria says before setting her tea cup down. "You say you are a good fighter and mage, trained by a Sunfire elf and a powerful sky mage who works under the king of dragons, I would like to see that in action against our most powerful soldier."

"Ihab? You want her to go against the general?" Kasef asks in surprise. "Grandmother, that's insane!"

"Actually, I was thinking Routhna."

"That's even more insane! She's tiny compared to her! Look at her!"

"I told you, I've gone against people taller and stronger than me." Reyna says as Kasef lifts her arm up. "I don't mind having to prove my skills, I've been inching to punch someone. And if this is to prove I'm a worthy spouse, then so be it."

"You are insane."

"Quiet, that's the reason why your father and siblings even exist in the first place." Zaria scolds. "Your grandfather, captain Efron of the crownguard, that's how he proved to the court that he was worthy to be my husband. Like your wife, he came from a humble and simple background, worked himself to the bone to earn his position as captain. Your mother on the other hand, a noble, but she worked her way up the ranks as a soldier with no coin to gain her positions and proved to be a worthy fighter and a queen. I have hopes that your wife is as skilled as her and can protect you when your time to be king comes."

"No one can compare to my mother." Kasef states with a frown and glances at his wife. "Not even an elf."

"Then consider me the first to be almost as good as her." Reyna challenges with a small smirk. "So, let me prove it."

---

Most people would have had regrets about this, but Reyna wasn't one of them. Sure she was a bit nervous, but it had been a while since she had a proper sparring match against anyone so her excitement outweighed it. After changing into more comfortable clothes, she was led to an outdoor area where there was a large stone floor and several combat dummies were propped up against the wall, several weapons racks and several soldiers waiting. Kasef stood among them, talking to a large muscular woman with a bright yellow head scarf wrapped around her head.

That must be Routhna, she doesn't look as tall or strong as Zolar. Reyna thought as she approached. Taller than the male elves I got in scuffles with, but I think I can hold against her well if I am careful.

"So, that's the one our dowager queen wishes me to spar with?" The woman says when Reyna got close. "She's quite tiny, you sure that's the one?"

"Unless there are other elves wandering the palace." Reyna says with a shrug as she stands next to her husband. "Otherwise, I am your opponent."

"Hmm, then I suppose so. Don't complain if you lose, I've never lost a fight since I've became a soldier."

"And I've taken on elves bigger than me and left them with more injuries than what they gave me. Let's just get this over with."

"I prefer if you two use staffs for this, no swords." Kasef says as he walked to weapons rack to grab two staffs and tossed one to Routhna. "Father would have my head if my wife got stabbed. Also don't get too cocky, this is directed at the both of you."

"How sweet of you." Reyna teased before she reached to remove her earrings. "Hey, can you hold these for me? I don't want them to get in the way while I fight, and I actually like these."

"Sure." Kasef says as he holds his hand out for her to drop the earrings back into his palm. "I'll hand them back when we're done with this."

Reyna nods before grabbing a staff and walks to Routhna to stand in front of her. This should be fine, she had fought against Zolar before so fighting Routhna shouldn't be too different.

"Do your best little elf, the queen is watching." Routhna warns and Enya glances behind the woman to see that Zaira and her attendants were watching, as well as some woman she's never seen before.

"Ready position!" A soldier barks as the two get into a fighting stance, their staff gripped tightly. "And...FIGHT!"

Routhna was the first to attack, taking a swing at Renya, who immediately flung her staff up to block the strike. Routhna made another swing, this time at her side so she quickly ducks to avoid it. Time to make an attack now. Still low on the ground from the previous attack, Reyna then immediately jabbed the end of her staff up towards the taller human's face, causing her to jerk back before the elf quickly swept her legs and knocked her to the floor.

"Is that an illegal hit?" Reyna hears someone ask loudly and glances behind her to see a woman she had never seen before with several fancy dressed women behind her. Great winds, who was this? And why was Elvira and her mother among them?

"Oh great, it's lady Noya." She hears one soldier mutter loudly as Routhna was getting up.

"Not bad, clever strategy." The human states as she brushes dirt off the back of her pants. "And to answer lady Noya's question, this is not an illegal hit at all, all is fair in staff fighting. Let us resume the fight."

Reyna nods, casting an annoyed look at the woman before getting into a fighting stance again. When someone shouted for the fight to resume, this time she attacked first. This time she closed the space between her and Routhna, swinging and jabbing her staff as the human blocked it before she swung the staff down at her head, forcing Reyna to flung her staff up to block it. While she was fast, Routhna was strong, putting pressure to force her down towards the ground.

"Do you yield?" Routhna asks as she leans down, putting more pressure down on the staff to press Reyna closer to the ground.

"I...refuse!" She manages to grunt. "Compared to...Zolar...this is nothing!"

Zolar had tried this sort of move on her, mainly as a way to force her to strengthen her arms, and to do this one trick she could use against bigger opponents.

"Yield elf, if you know what's good for you!" She hears Elvira sneer loudly. "Save yourself the embarrassment of losing!"

Shut up shut up shut up! Reyna thinks in annoyance as Routhna continues to put more pressure down on her staff. At this point, it was going to break if she didn't act soon and the last thing she wanted was to get crushed under her opponent. Reyna then threw a hard kick at Routhna's leg, causing her to grunt and stumble back a bit, giving the elf time to take a swing.

"Not bad for a small being like yourself!" Routhna says as she blocked the attack. "Best two out of three for this?"

"We'll see!" Reyna yells as she jabbed at the human's face, only for her to dodge and for the staff to smack her in the side.

"Don't break each other's ribs!" Kasef yells from the sidelines.

"You try staff fighting without getting injured!" Reyna yells, keeping her eyes on Routhna before both of them stop, their staffs at each other's necks.

"Ha! I like this one, she will make a fine queen someday, Prince Kasef." Routh laughs as they lower their weapons. "Say, why don't you go against your husband, you seem to fare well against me and he often struggles when I am fighting him."

"That's because you use a giant sword against my spear!" Kasef protests as some of the soldiers laugh.

"Then you will have no trouble sparring against your wife, right?" Zaria asks from her spot. "Unless you're afraid of her breaking your ribs?"

"And you seem to insist that I'm inexperienced in fighting, so this is the perfect chance for me to prove you wrong!" Reyna says with a grin. "What do you say?"

"Pass." Kasef responds. "Shouldn't you-"

"Now now prince Kasef, you aren't one to usually turn down a match even if you were feeling unwell." Routhna scolds before clapping the teen on the shoulder and causing him to almost fall over. "What, scared your tiny wife is going to beat you?"

"I'm sure he is." Reyna giggles, ignoring the scowl her husband was giving her. "Oh come on, you seem to be very adamant about not sparring with me, what's with that?"

"Perhaps he just isn't interested in fighting a subpar fighter like you?" Elvira suggests suggests with a smirk and Reyna rolled her eyes in annoyance. "What, no snarky little retort? Did my dear friend finally get it through your thick head to know your place and hold your tongue?"

"Don't you have somewhere more important to be?" Zaria snapped as she approached the women. "Perhaps the gardens sipping tea and gossiping like a bunch of chattering geese?"

"Lady Noya invited us to accompany her." Stina retorts with a frown. "Unlike that elf, this young lady has better manners."

"Oh thank you queen Stina, your majesty is so kind." The woman, Noya, gushes as she curtsied.

"Ass kisser." Reyna mutters and Routhna rolls her eyes.

"And that's the woman half the council wanted your husband to marry, pretty as a fancy vase but her head is as empty as one." The older woman mutters. "Thank our ancestors and gods for not having that happen."

"Routhna, be nice." Kasef scolds in a low voice.

"As long as she quits making servants cry for making the smallest mistakes I will."

"Oh prince Kasef! I was wondering if you had left or stayed!" Noya gasps as she approached them.

Sky gods help me, she's awful. Reyna thinks with a roll of her eyes.

"Say, if you are available, would you like to join me for lunch? Just the two of us?" Noya asks, reaching forward to grab Kasef's arm and hug it to her chest.

Ooooh no she just did not-

"Pardon, while it's still unsure what is and what isn't acceptable among the Neolandians, I'm very sure flirting with someone's spouse is highly frowned upon." Reyna says loudly, putting a hand on the woman's wrist to pry her off the prince and shove her back a few feet. "Especially in front of their spouse."

"Lady Reyna, I didn't expect to still see you here." The noblewoman says with a frown.

"I was literally right here next to my husband, stupid."

"Reyna." Kasef warns before putting a hand on hers and turns to Noya with a frown. "Lady Noya, I appreciate the invitation, but your behavior is rather inappropriate. Besides, I've already made plans with my wife to have lunch with her."

Since when?! Reyna wonders, but not daring to ask that before she grabbed Kasef's arm. "Oh yes! And he was going to take me to...see the royal family's elephants! I've been wanting to see the one I rode here for quite some time. Kiki, I believe that was what she was called."

"Yes...we had plans for that!"

"Then you best be getting to it, we'll stop the sparring for today." Routhna says loudly as she hands her staff off to a soldier and pushed the two towards the doors. "Enjoy the elephants! And say hi to Brutus for me, that old fart has been around since I was a wee little one! Queen Zaria, we should finish this another day don't you think?"

"I suppose so." Zarai agrees and looks at Reyna with a knowing smile. "The fight was short, but you seemed skilled enough to hold your own in a fight. Not as well skilled as my husband, but no one can compare to my beloved Efron."

"Thank you!" Reyna says with a wave as she tugged Kasef's arm to get him to keep following her. It wasn't until they were pretty far down the hallway that they stopped and she immediately released her husband's arm. "Geez...so that's Noya, right? Ido's daughter and someone the maids and servants mentioned who throws bad tantrums?"

"Unfortunately so." Kasef says with an annoyed sigh. "Noya is..."

"A pain in the ass?"

"Not the words I would use, but yeah. Just ignore her every time you cross paths."

"That's gonna be hard, but I'll try. Also, we should at least do what we claimed to do, to avoid suspicion of course."

"Oh right." Kasef mutters and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Uh, let's see...how about lunch in the gardens, where we posed for the painting and then I will take you to see the elephants."

"Sounds like a plan!" Reyna says cheerfully. "I'll just go freshen myself up a bit, you wouldn't want a little lunch date with your wife a bit sweaty, right?"

"I suppose not." Kasef admits with a small chuckle. "Oh and here, before I forget to return them. You know, maybe you should look into getting your ears pierced, so you won't have to wear the same pair of earrings all the time."

"Nah, I actually like these, plus they're a wedding gift. It'd be rude of me to not wear something my husband gave me." Reyna says as she takes the earrings, not noticing the small blush that came to her husband's face. "I'll meet you in the gardens."

---

[Somewhere in the palace guest rooms]

"So now that you've seen what we have to deal with, are you willing to work with me?" Elvira asks as Noya paced the floor, angrily biting at her thumb's nail.

"What does he even see in such a plain and ugly little thing? I thought he hated her!" Noya spat as she stopped her pacing by a table with a large vase filled with imported flowers. "Did you see how he was looking at her while she fought Routhna? In all my years of knowing him, not once has he EVER looked at anyone like that, not even me! It makes me want to hurl!"

Elvira nods as the girl grabbed the vase and flung it onto the floor with an enraged scream, sending pale grey and white ceramic shards, dirt, flowers and water spilling all over the floor. Ugh, at least Platinum was better behaved than this sniveling Neolandian noble, no wonder Zaria didn't want her in the royal family and probably preferred the elf.

"Are you done with your temper tantrum?" The princess asked as Noya kicked the table the vase had been occupying earlier onto the floor. "You want to be rid of the nuisance too, right?"

"What's even in it for you? My father told me that your father changed his mind ages ago about marrying you to the prince." Noya asked as she stopped to smooth back her hair and took a deep breath before releasing it.

"Yes I am very aware of that, but I'll tell you why I'm even bothering to do this.

Years ago when I was young there was this really expensive dollhouse I had imported from Serpentounge with real gold and silver in the walls. I didn't want it, so my mother wanted to give it to Platinum." Elvira says as she gets up from her seat to walk to the balcony overlooking the city. "So I did the only thing I could think of."

"You begged her to keep it?" Noya asks as she joins her.

"I pushed it down the stairs. Even though I didn't play with it, I didn't want anyone else to have it." The princess responds with a shrug before turning to Noya with a smirk. "You get what I'm saying?"

Noya frowns. "You...want to push the prince down the stairs?" Gods help her, this one was stupid. "Years ago I was in love with Kasef, even excited when my father brought up the idea of marrying him. He was still my friend at the time and I was quite excited about it, so you can imagine how upset I was when my father changed his mind and decided I wouldn't marry him and it was Platinum who would get to be his wife and possibly the future queen of Neolandia."

"So you still want to be queen of Neolandia?"

"Heavens no, I'd rather much be queen of Del Bar now, it'd be better that way and my stupid sister can't even run a kingdom. I just don't think that if I couldn't have Kasef even when I had wanted him, some elf who didn't even know he existed until this marriage shouldn't have him. I'd rather see her gone than being at his side."

"Oh...I suppose I see your point." Noya says as she slowly edged away from the princess. "Um, so what should we even do? We can't just send the elf back to Xadia, that'll just trigger the Skywing elves and they'll get the other elves and dragons to join them."

"Easy, we kill her and make it look like an accident. My name means "elf killer" in ancient Del Barian, quite fitting." Elvira says with a shrug and smirked. "You mentioned earlier that one of your servants spotted him outside of his wife's room last night leaving something, what was it?"

"My servant overheard one of the elf's maid say it was rosewater milk pudding, something that the royal family and their guests had eaten during the dinner after the elf was taken out of the room."

"Hmm, yes that will have to do then." Elvira says with an even wider smirk. "Once I get home I have something to do for Kasef, but the moment I do I'll send you instructions for soemthing I need you to do, but you must stay quiet about it. Whatever servant you use for this will have to be sworn to secrecy, use whatever means necessary to have them keep quiet."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Oh...just the perfect little treat for our dear elf."

---

"Okay, explain to me why you all decided to gather here in my room?" Reyna asks as she sits down on her bed, trying not to jostle Kala, who was stretched out and sleeping on the blankets.

"You spent a huge chunk of your day with Kasef, we didn't even get to see you until dinner!" Kafele states with a pout. "Big brother hogged you all day."

"Okay fair, but I had lunch and spent most of the day with the elephants before returning with your grandmother for my lessons." Reyna says with a chuckle. "Sorry about that."

It wasn't that late right now, Reyna was going to just write in her journal for a bit before her husband's siblings suddenly barged into the room, already dressed for bed and carrying pillows and blankets with them before they made themselves comfortable on the floor. Kala was already in the room, sneaking in earlier when the maids were leaving and flopping herself in the middle of the bed and refusing to leave even when Reyna put her on the floor. She would just hop back onto the bed every time she was tossed off until the elf decided not to bother anymore.

"You can make it up to us with book!" Kafele says as he holds up a worn book. "Reading time!"

"I thought we were gonna do a sleepover?" Sanura asks from her spot on the floor.

"I told you guys we should have asked her if this was okay." Salim says from his spot by the bed as he was trying to keep Nijah from escaping his grasp.

"I wanna sit with Reyna!" The younger princess yells.

"Nijah behave!"

"Its fine, she can sit with me." Reyna chuckles as the princess is released and she made a beeline for her. "Wasn't expecting a sleepover like this though."

"Bubba no come, boring!" Nijah says as her sister-in-law pulls her onto her lap.

"He's with Elvira." Amir clarifies as he is trying to braid Sharifa's hair.

"Sanura wanted to bring Spots, but we said no." Kafele adds as said sister stuck her tongue out at him. "Too big."

"Maybe next time." Reyna says, silently thanking the kids for not bringing the large cat. Last thing she wanted was for Spots to try and take over her bed like Kala and destroy her sheets while trying to do that paw kneeding motion.

"So are we gonna read or not?" One of the other children asks, Jamar, if Reyna recalls. At least now she was getting the hang of remembering all the kids and their names.

"Hey Reyna? Have you seen - there you are!" They hear Kasef say before his head pokes in the room. "You all should be in bed, Bastet is looking for you! You realize she's getting too old to be chasing you around the palace!"

"Its fine, they decided to spring a sleepover on me because you hogged me for most of the day." Reyna assures him with a chuckle.

"It was either that or spend lunch listening to Noya gossip."

"Ew." Sharifa says and stuck her tongue out in disgust, the rest of her siblings following in suit. "No like."

"You wanna join us?" Reyna suggests, patting to spot on the bed next to her. "Kala's here too."

"Oh that's where she was." Kasef mutters as he walks over to scoop the cat off the bed. "You scared me, don't do that." Kala just blinks at him, mews before wiggling out of his grasp to land on the bed and flop down in her previous spot near Reyna. "Traitor, she doesn't even like you that much."

"I like her much better than Noya and the royal Del Barian family, even if she is a bit stinky."

"She is not!"

"Lets read already!" Talora yells, earning several yells of agreement from her siblings.

"Read read read!" Nijah yells as she hopped off Reyna's lap to grab the book from her brother and run back to drop it next to the elf.

"Oh, you want me to read this?" Reyna asks as she picks up the book and carefully opens it. "You sure? Looks long."

"Neolandia stories!" Nijah explains as she turns some of the pages to show faded drawings before stopping at one with a girl dressed in rags holding something small out to a large elephant. "Read! Peanut For Palace!"

"You want the one that explains one of our winter celebrations?" Jamar asks as the other kids move to sit around the bed. "That's a boring one."

"You boring!" Nijah yells back and Reyna chuckles.

"Okay let's read this one first and then we can flip through the pages for a new one afterwards." She suggests before Nijah climbs back onto her lap and settles herself as Kasef takes a seat next to her on the bed.

She then began to read the tale of a young orphan who had nothing to her name but a kind heart and a clever mind. She came upon an injured elephant and she nurtured it back to health, and in return the creature gave her a single peanut. Next she met a hungry tailor whose lunch had been stolen, and she traded her peanut for one of his cloaks. After that, the girl met a traveler new to Neolandia who had plenty of supplies but had underestimated the intensity of the sun, and she traded the cloak for some of his waterskins. She met a cobbler, hot and thirsty in her marketplace booth, and traded the waterskins for a pair of boots. She then traded the boots and many other items until she had traded all the way from a peanut to a palace of her own.

"Oh...that's kind of...cute?" Reyna says when she finishes the story. "I mean in real life trading things to get this result won't really happen, but still a cute story."

"It's supposed to connect to one of our winter traditions, it's where we trade gifts with people until we get something better!" Rashid explains. "One time I traded a wooden elephant figure for a box of candied dates!"

"Well where I come from, we only exchange gifts and keep it. I think I only traded a gift with my sibling one time because our parents accidentally marked our gifts wrong and I ended up with an outfit with a hole in the back and they got a large knife." Reyna chuckles. "But this does sound like a fun tradition to do."

"I bet whatever you give Kasef he's not gonna trade." Talora giggled as her siblings followed in suit, save for Kasef, who gives her an annoyed look before getting up.

"Alright enough bedtime stories, it's time for bed." The older prince scolds as he gently pried the book from her to shut it and reached to grab Nijah, but she smacks his hand away. "Nijah, bed. Now."

"No! Reyna promised! More story!" The toddler yells as she clings to the elf. "One more!"

"I did promise, and one should never have to break a promise." Reyna agrees with a chuckle as Nijah climbs off her lap to yank the book back from her brother.

"You really shouldn't be giving into her tantrums." Kasef points out with a frown.

"Oh just like how we shouldn't give into yours?"

"Ooooohhhhh!" The kids yell and laugh as their brother glares at them.

"One last story, and then we all go to bed." Reyna says as she flipped through the pages and Nijah slammed her hand to stop on a random page. "This is...Killer Fever? You really want to read this one before bed Nijah? It looks scary."

"Yeah! Kasef reads it when Bastet doesn't!" Talora says happily. "It's a good one."

"I'd like to disagree!" Aquila yells as Salim nods in agreement.

"Just read it and get it over with, otherwise they'll bug you for the rest of the night." Kasef says as he sits back down, scooping up Kafele to place the younger prince on his lap.

"Fine, but if any of them climb into my bed because of nightmares, I am not to blame." Reyna sighs as she proceeds to read.

As she suspected, this was a rather...chilling story. Basically it was about a mythical fever that came from the oasis' of Neolandia, one that caused by drinking the water or inhaling some sort of toxic fumes. The story ended a bit gruesome with a queen struck by the fever due to her greedy nature.

"Okay...that was...odd." Reyna says when she shuts the book. "Well I'm certainly going to be plagued by nightmares tonight."

"You wanna take Kala to bed?" Salim offers, holding up the naked black cat who looked at the elf with wide blue eyes.

"Err...no thanks. Why don't we all go to sleep now? Kinda late."

"I should go to bed as well." Kasef says as he nudged Kafele off his lap and moves to scoop up Kala from Salim's hands. "Good night."

"No stay!" Nija yells, jumping off Reyna's lap to grab her brother's robe. "Sleepover!"

"Nijah, I can't."

"Yes you can!"

"You do know you can sleep in her bed if you don't think there's room on the floor. "Amir suggests. "Just stay on your side. Or sleep on the floor and suffer."

"Stay!" The other royal children yell.

"Hey it's your choice to stay or leave, I'm not stopping you." Reyna says with a shrug when Kasef looks to her for help.

"If you stay, we can all stay up late!" Kafele yells as he climbed onto the bed and excitedly jumped up and down, Nijah climbing off Reyna's lap to do the same, shrieking excitedly as the rest of the younger kids join in on the yelling.

"Ancients help me, you all aren't gonna let me sleep tonight are you?" Kasef asks as the kids scream. "Okay okay! But if father comes in to scold us and tell us to go to bed, we are leaving."

"We already told daddy! He said it was okay if Reyna was okay with it!" Talora yells before grabbing her pillow to smack Salim in the face with it. "Fight!"

"Gosh this makes me wish I had more siblings than Cici." Reyna chuckles as the kids proceed to start trying to smack each other with their pillows. "Then again I think poor Ikaros' hair would have turned white from the stress - and it's already pretty pale."

"You try being the one to corral them properly, they're stressful to live with." Kasef says as he returns to the bed and tossed Kala onto it before taking a seat on the floor near Reyna. "I'm surprised I haven't gotten any white hairs from stress, it seems to run in the family."

"Your grandmother is old, older people tend to lose color in their hair later in life."

"Not her, my father used to tell me how when he was yoabout Nijah's age, she had very big streaks of pale hair from stress. Not even the rulers who were her age had that. Sharifa started developing them after our mother died, and my father developed them when I was quite young too."

"Well, you still have none even if you've been looking after so many kids, so maybe you got lucky." Reyna says, reaching forward to ruffle her husband's loose and fluffy hair. "Or it's not as stressful as you claim."

"You try keeping them in line." Kasef scoffed, but made no move to remove her hand from his hair. "Then again- OW! HEY WHO THREW THAT?"

Reyna covered her mouth to hide her smile as Kasef jumped to his feet, holding the pillow that was flung at him in one hand. The other kids were giggling loudly before Sanura ran at her brother to smack his back with a pillow. Well the pillow fight was back on, this time all the kids versus their older brother.

"Yeah I'm not joining that." Salim groans as he sat down on the floor next to Reyna. "Kasef's attacks hurt even with a pillow, already bad enough that I must spar with him when I wanna be studying."

"I wouldn't know, he still won't let me spar with him." Reyna says rolling her eyes. "Has he ever stated why? He was so adamant about not wanting to spar with me today."

"Beats me, he fights everyone no matter what their skill level is. Give him time, he'll come around."

"We'll see. Anyways, can you hand me that leather book over by the head of the bed? Also that bottle of ink and the feather?"

"You write before bed?" Salim asks in surprise as he does what she asks, handing Reyna the items.

"Well if history would be interested to know the thoughts of the first elf married into a royal family, gotta have some evidence for them to know what is going on in my head." Reyna says with a shrug as she opened her journal. "Plus since I can't write to my family to tell them what happened every day, I could just write it in here and show it to them when I finally get to reunite with them."

"That's actually pretty smart, at least then people could read things from your point of view. I think one previous monarch had one, very detailed too. I think from queen Lina? Or her daughter Ishtar, I can't remember."

"Guess that's something I can go looking for in the royal library." Reyna chuckles before she began to write. "Alright after I finish writing, I'm going to sleep."

"I'll sleep over here since my siblings are having a war with the pillows." Salim says as a pillow flew over their heads to hit the wall on the other side, followed by a loud shriek.

"Well, one thing's for sure, nothing is ever going to be quiet around here."

---

"I swear tomorrow will be the last day the guests will be here and they'll leave tomorrow in the morning." Ahling tells his family as they are heading to the same banquet hall they had dinner at the other night. "So I hope everyone stays on their best behavior."

"No promises." Zaria responds curtly.

"If the Del Barians behave, so shall I." Reyna responds before yawning. "Also next time, no more long lasting pillow fights if you kids are gonna have a sleepover in my room."

"I blame bubba." Nijah says loudly as her brother sends her an annoyed look.

Indeed last night the poor elf could hardly sleep with her husband and younger siblings still in the middle of their raging pillow fight, at one point Kasef almost fell on top of her while trying to fend himself off from his siblings. Reyna and Salim ended up having to move to another part of the room to sleep until the children grew tired and promptly fell asleep.

"Glad to see you all want to spend time with your brother's wife." Ahling chuckles. "And nice to see that he also wanted to be included."

"They gave me no choice." Kasef mutters.

"Liar, liar ears on fire." Reyna snickers as they arrive and are allowed in.

The other rulers and their families were there as well, all standing next to their seats as the royal Neolandian family took their place next to their seats.

"My dear friends, it warms my heart that you all came this way to attend my eldest son's wedding and welcome his wife into our family, and while Reyna has only been here for less than a week, I couldn't ask for a better daughter-in-law than her." Ahling says, beaming proudly at the elf. "Today is your last day here, and it will please us if you all had one last meal in my home with my family. Please, enjoy your food before your long journey home."

"Oh fruit for breakfast?" Reyna asks as a servant places a plate of fruit in front of her. "Oh I see some blue Xadian apples!"

"I thought you'd like a little bit of home in your meal, someone in Duren actually has a tree farm growing these that was from a single apple the first farmer brought when the humans were kicked out of Xadia." Ahling says with a smile. "Sadly no one else is selling Xadian fruit and it'd be difficult to get any."

"It's fine, I love these apples, perhaps we can grow one here in the gardens if I ask the cooks to not toss out the seeds."

"Oh! Do you do gardening?" Fareeda asks, perking up.

"Sadly no, but apparently my husband does, according to one of his sisters. Quite the green thumb too."

"Sanura!" Kasef yells, glaring at said sister as she gives him an innocent smile.

"Oh come on, you used to love gardening when you were little, sometimes I wondered if you were part earth elf because you managed to revive the succulents I had." Ahling chuckles as the older prince covers his face in shame.

"Oh I remember that, Annika and Neha were not happy every time they came and saw the state of those poor plants." Fareeda says, rolling her eyes. "You have such a black thumb, how do you even manage to kill a succulent of all plants in the first place?"

Ahling simply gives her a sheepish smile before turning his attention to his meal.

"We still are waiting, elf." Stina says loudly as she stabbed her fork into the plate of eggs a servant placed in front of her and the other guests.

"For what?" Reyna asks innocently, ignoring the scowl the queen was sending her.

"An apology, which you haven't given them." Florian responds. "To my wife, daughter and niece to be exact."

"The hell do I have to apologize to Elvira for?"

"For dinner the other night." Kasef responds. "You...were very close to casting a spell on them."

Oh that. Reyna could hardly remember the events of the dinner save for the overwhelming emotions she normally wouldn't have felt on a normal day, but her reaction to Stina and Elvira insulting her family? That was justified at least, but she didn't even use magic on them.

"We're waiting." Florian says impaitently and Reyna fought the urge to roll her eyes at the man. "Fine, I will apologize."

"Good-"

"When the women of your family apologize for their poor behavior."

"Excuse me?" Stina asks with a frown.

"Your niece, for starters, attempted to throw wine at me during the wedding party and pushed me into the pool the next morning. Neither instance did she apologize for her actions." Reyna responds as she is cutting into her eggs. "And I was expected to say sorry for defending myself, yet she never apologized to me or Prince Amir, who got covered in wine. Also, isn't she too young for such a beverage?"

Platinum scowls at her from across the table, gripping her cup that most definitely had wine and not the fruit juice or milk the younger guests were given to drink.

"Wine's gross!" She hears lord Viren's son yell from down the table.

"My daughter is an absolute angel, she doesn't need to apologize." A blonde woman next to Platinum scoffs.

"Oh shut up Ilona, your daughter tried to drown my grandson's wife and throw wine at her during the wedding party, there's nothing innocent about her." Zaria scoffed. "Seems like you're not teaching her proper manners, as how Stina accused her parents of not doing."
"I beg your pardon?!"

"Also your wife and your daughter insulted my family, that I can't forgive." Reyna adds with a frown, ignoring the glare the woman was giving her. "If someone was to insult your parents king Florian and you lashed out at them for it, would you be happy to apologize?"

"I certainly wouldn't." Zaria states as she took a sip of her drink.

"So until those three apologize, don't expect one from me." Reyna finishes before turning her attention to Ahling. "Forgive me father-in-law, but I cannot stand having them demand this sort of thing from me."

"Uhh, lovely weather we have today!" Harrow yells, attempting to change the subject.

"I have three middle names!" Aanya yells, but both rulers were ignored.

"You demand an apology from me?" Stina snaps as she stands up. "An undignified brat like you has no manners, it's a wonder you were even chosen in the first place!"

"The choice was not mine or my family's to make, but I'm sure even if a different and well mannered elf was picked to be Kasef's spouse, you'd still treat them the same." Reyna retorts, not even bothering to get out of her seat. "Some would have meekly sat by and let people like you walk over them like a worn rug, but I'm not that kind of elf. I still stand by what I said, no apology from me until all three of you apologize to me and my brother-in-law."

"Reyna!" Kasef hisses, but she sends him a glare to shut him up.

"I don't feel like eating breakfast here, I'm going to my room." She states, grabbing her plate of fruit and eggs with two forks and storms out of the room.

"Florian, she has a point." Iris says with a frown. "The other night your daughter and wife were quite rude with her, and while she may have overreacted a bit, she had every right to be angry and defend herself.

"Taking the side of an elf? After what Xadia did to your queens?" Stina scoffs and sends a look at Aanya. "Heed my words little queen, don't trust an elf no matter how friendly she acts. In the end, she'll only stab you in the back."

"Stina, that's enough." Harrow scolds. "Look, let's all just finish our meal, and the sooner we do the sooner you and your family can leave and not have to see Reyna again."

"And once again you did nothing." Zaria mutters, just loud enough for Kasef to hear. "I really expected better from you Kasef."

"What am I even supposed to do? Make things worse?" The prince asks with a frown. "I tried calming her down and she didn't listen!"

"Geez, you don't even see the problem, don't you?" Amir asks with a scoff. "Of course, take your friend's side who apparently can do no wrong and not your wife who you seem to care about on and off."

"You have something to say brat?"

"Nothing that wouldn't make our father faint."

"And there goes the peaceful breakfast." Ahling mutters.

---

"Alright, I'll end the lesson here for today, I think that's enough talk of kings and queens for one lesson." Zaria says as she snaps the history book shut. "Spend the rest of the day however you like."

"I'm not spending it anywhere near the visiting humans, that's for sure." Reyna mutters as she closes her own book and stands to move away from the desk and stretch. Today's lesson was in Zaria's chamber, a room big enough to probably house a few elephants with a bed too large for one person to sleep in and many potted plants decorating the tables and hanging from the chains attached to the ceiling. "I feel like taking a nap but that wouldn't be wise in the middle of the day. Maybe I can go visit my horse."

"Attempting to learn to ride again?" Zaria asks as she sits at the edge of her bed. "I heard from my grandson that your first time didn't go too well."

"Wait who-"

"Kafele, poor boy was worried you had a fear of heights because of how terrified you were to get off."

"Oh no I don't! I've just never rode a mount like that before, I was just a bit daunted by how high off the ground I was. Magpie wasn't really holding still but he seemed to know I couldn't get off so he laid down for me to climb off properly."

"Clever horse, I've seen some horses do that but they were trained to do it for entertainment for performers. If my husband were still here he probably would have taught you, he was an excellent teacher to my son. Though Ahling did develop a fear of large and deep bodies of water because of his father's swimming lessons."

"What did he do?" Reyna asks with a frown.

"He used to toss him into the deep end of a pool, it's how he was taught to swim by his family. Sadly Ahling didn't seem to pick it up and would just start flailing around like a fish until his father immediately swoops in to grab him." Zaria says with a dismissive wave and sighs. "He was a good man, and I miss him terribly. Would you believe me if I told you that the two of us got married in secret and we never told anyone until after Ahling was born?"

"I wouldn't doubt it."

"The council wanted me to marry this stuffy short nobleman who seemed to have a problem with me being too tall for his liking and demanded I stop wearing shoes with heels when I'm around him. Can you imagine having a prince consort like that in charge of this kingdom while I was gone?"

"I can't even imagine." Reyna admits as she took a seat next to the queen. "Zaria, why don't the Del Barians like me? Like I get they don't like elves because of the whole "elves pushed us out of Xadia therefore we hate them" thing, but is there any other reason?"

Zaria grimaces. "It's best if we don't discuss this right now, it's not my place to say anything about it. Perhaps you should go with the little ones, they wouldn't stop complaining yesterday about not getting to spend so much time with you."

"But-"

"This will be a discussion for another day I promise. Qasim, show her out please, I am feeling tired and wish to be alone for now."

"Of course ma'am." A male servant standing by one of the plants says before walking to the bed and offering a hand to Reyna. "My lady, I shall escort you to the door."

"Is she alright?" Reyna asks as she gets up and follows the servant out as several more follow. "I hadn't noticed she looked tired."

"She does that at times, to avoid looking weak in front of others." Qasim explains as they step out of the room and shuts the door once everyone has exited the room. "Her grandparents raised her that way, at least that's what the older and previous staff have told me. But don't worry about it too much, she'll be fine later, she's just been walking around more than usual that's all."

Reyna cast the man a doubtful look but says nothing. She then takes down the hall, briskly walking past several servants, some nobles who cast her annoyed looks until she finds herself in an open courtyard. She could feel herself already starting to sweat again from the heat as she stepped out and pressed a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun.

And to think I have to live out here in these conditions for the rest of my life. She thinks as she could feel a drop or two of sweat run down the side of her head. Now if I was a Sunfire elf maybe I could survive out here, or if I lived in the Midnight Desert I could-

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK THIS INSTANT!"

Reyna is snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of what sounded like Amir yelling, followed by the sound of two wooden objects colliding with a loud thud. Worried, she started to run towards the sound of the shouting until she comes to what looks like a small training courtyard with various dummies and weapons, similarly like the place she had fought in earlier. Fighting in the middle of the courtyard were Kasef, Amir and Sanura, all three welding wooden staffs as the two younger royals are attacking their older brother.

"You know Elvira took it too far, and every time she opens her mouth you take her side!" Sanura yells as she tries smacking her brother in the stomach but he manages to dodge the attack.

"Hey- hey stop it!" Reyna yells as she rushes over to the three siblings as the butt of Kasef's staff smacks his sister in the face. "KASEF! What the hell is the matter with you?!"

"Stay out of this!" Her husband yells before Amir manages to shove his staff close to his neck.

"NO! Not until you apologize to your wife!" The teen snaps. "Sanura is right, every time Elvira is around you always take her side! And you never defended Reyna when she tried to defend herself!"

"I said stop!" Reyna yells as she grabs for the staff, yanking it out of the grasp of the younger prince. "Why are you fighting like this? Ever heard of just talking things out?"

"I said stay out of this." Kasef responds and yelps when Reyna smacks him over the head with the staff. "Hey!"

"Enough fighting! All three of you, sit down!" The three siblings reluctantly sat down on the sand in front of her. "Now what the hell are you three fighting about?"

"Nothing." Kasef states and Reyna once again smacks him over the head with the staff. "Hey cut that out!"

"Amir, explain since your brother doesn't seem interested in being helpful." Reyna says, casting her husband a glare.

"Gladly. So me and our siblings were discussing how terrible my brother has been acting when Elvira was here, and we decided he needed to apologize." Amir says and glares at his brother. "He hasn't stood up for you when she or her mother insults you, leaving that to you or grandma.

"Yeah, and just because Elvira is your "best friend" doesn't mean you should let her walk over Reyna like that." Sanura adds and stuck her tongue out at her brother. "We told him to say sorry to you and that he's a boot licker."

"Shut up!" Kasef snaps and Reyna frowns.

"Husband, they have a point. Since I've come here, you have never tried to defend me when the Del Barians attacked me verbally. You just sit there like a doll and say nothing."

"She is my friend, yes she's a bit harsh but-"

"A bit harsh? You call that a bit harsh?" Sanura snorts. "She's an absolute as-"

"Sanura I will be doing the scolding." Reyna interrupts before she tapped the top of Kasef's head with her staff. "I expect you and I to discuss this later - in private. So reflect on what we have discussed."

Reyna drops the staff to the sand and walks off, now feeling irritated. Why did he always take Elvira's side anyways? It's like she could do no wrong or something. Deciding to clear her head, she headed straight for the library. Yes she spent most of the day reading with Zaria, but it was pretty quiet in there and Aquila said that there were some good literature that wasn't about history that she could enjoy. Most likely she and Salim would be in there so she could ask either of them to help her find a good book to read.

As she was briskly hurrying through the hallway, she could hear what sounded like someone choking down the hall. Worried, Reyna quickly rushes forward, expecting to find someone on the floor, but instead sees something she wasn't expecting. Elvira had her hand around Noya's neck, the Neolandian gasping for breath as the Del Barian princess towered over the kneeling noble.

"You will do as you are told, understood?" The princess asks as Noya nods frantically.

Shit what do I do?! Reyna thinks frantically. Step in? What the hell am I thinking?

"L-lady Reyna!" A woman shouts, getting their attention. Reyna turns to see Nour hurrying over and grabs her hand. "Princess Nijah and younger visiting royals and guests ask if you could come to the gardens, they want to hear fun stories from you."

"Fun stories from an elf, whatever fun stories could she have?" Elvira asks and Reyna fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Then again someone as unrefined as her could have something interesting for our future young rulers to be entertained by."

"I have plenty of fun stories to entertain them with, some are ones my fathers have told me." The elf scoffs. "Now if you excuse me, my little sister-in-law and her siblings are requesting my presence."

"My lady, are you alright?" Nour asks quietly as soon as they are out of view of the other two women. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

I mean, I did just witness Elvira threatening and strangling Noya, why wouldn't I be afraid? Reyna thinks before shaking her head. "I'm fine Nour, just feeling a bit exhausted from studying with grandmother."

"Right..." Nour murmurs before straightening her back and giving her a cheery smile. "Of course! You can at least relax with Nijah and the other younger children, they were so eager to hear fun stories when she suggested to invite you."

"Well that's sweet of her." Reyna chuckles. "I suppose I get along easier with the younger children than the older ones."