On my way to meet the seamstress at the door, I ran into Sarah and Jasmine. They were both walking quickly down the corridor, clearly very excited about something. I had an idea as to what.

"Chrystal!" They shouted in unison when they saw me. They raced the rest of the way down the hall to meet me, then attacked me with a group hug. I didn't bother trying to resist, and hugged them back.

"Congrats, Chrys!" Jasmine exclaimed as they both pulled away, taking my hands in hers. "I'm so happy for you."

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "You act like this isn't what I came here for."

"Yeah, but the fact that you've got your courage back is enough reason for celebration, isn't it?"

My smile fell only slightly. "I really wasn't myself for a while, was I?"

Jasmine and Sarah exchanged looks.

Sarah was the one who answered. "It's not that you weren't yourself, Chrys. It's that we'd never seen you so afraid of anything before. Not even when we were getting you ready to leave for the orphanage."

"I know. I don't know what came over me. I just want to make sure I do this right."

"You will," Jasmine said. "And you have so many people around you that you can ask for help or advice from. We'll never let you go through this alone."

"Thank you." I squeezed Jasmine's hands, and she returned the gesture. I had already known I could count on them to always be with me. If I hadn't, they wouldn't have been standing before me now as demons. And with that conversation out of the way...

"Now, I do need to ask... You were made aware of my most recent vision, correct?"

They both lost their smiles and nodded. "We know we're to be careful, Chrystal." Sarah replied. "Don't worry about us when you have something so important to prepare for."

I looked at her. "You know it isn't that simple. I'm always worried about you. If anything were to happen you either of you, I don't think-"

"Don't." Sarah interrupted, her voice firm. "Don't think. We'll be okay. I don't want you imagining something that isn't going to happen."

"Yeah," Jasmine spoke up. "We've been preparing ourselves for any situation we could think of. Even if someone does manage to capture us, we'll be ready."

I took a deep breath and nodded. I had to trust them. They knew how much it would bother me if something happened to them, and I knew they didn't want anything to happen to themselves, so they'd prepared. I had to trust that they meant what they said and knew how to resolve any issue that may ensue.

"Anyway," Jasmine said, changing the subject, "where are you off to?"

"I was on my way to meet the seamstress. I'm not sure I want to allow her in here, so I was thinking of asking her if we can meet somewhere else." I looked down at the ground. "It's not that I don't think I can trust her, I just don't want a lot of people having access to my space, you know?"

Sarah answered. "You don't have to explain yourself. But yes, this is your private section of the castle. You are allowed to choose who you want to be able to come inside, whether you trust them or not."

I looked up. "Thank you. I think I just really needed some confirmation that I wasn't being rude."

"Of course," Jasmine said for Sarah, taking my hand. "Since you are leaving, would you like us to accompany you?"

I hadn't even thought of that. "That would be great."

As we got closer to the exit of the corridor, I could see the seamstress standing there patiently. When we reached her, I explained my feelings about allowing her into my room at this time, and she seemed to completely understand. A weight lifted from my shoulders then. I really hadn't wanted to hurt her feelings.

She led us to a large conference room, similar to the one Sebastian had been in before the attack on the palace. All four of us sat around the table and began talking about what my coronation dress should look like. Black was the usual color for demons, but I was free to pick a different one for this special day. In the end we decided on royal purple, and the design was to be something easy to move in, just in case my vision did come true. I had to be sure I was able to fight back.

"And what kind of shoes would you like to pair with it, then?" the seamstress asked. "Something you can run in?"

I thought about this for a moment. "I'm not too worried about the shoes. If I can't run in them, I just need to be able to remove them quickly."

She made careful notes of everything we talked about, then stood. "I'll get to work right away, My Lady." And with that, she hurried out of the room.

I glanced between Sarah and Jasmine, who were staring at me. "What?"

"You're going to look so pretty," Jasmine sighed.

"I'm glad you're thinking ahead and taking precautions with your clothing," Sarah started, "but it's your coronation day. You should be able to wear whatever you want."

I smiled at her. "Who said this wasn't what I wanted? You know I'm not a big fan of big ball gowns. I'll be a lot more comfortable wearing something I can move in."

Sarah watched me a moment longer, probably trying to deduce if I was lying to her, and eventually nodded.

With that, we all stood from the table and started making our way back to the royal suite.