Xanthy's stomach rumbled as soon as she caught the sweet smell wafting from Depandes's confectionery section. Cyrdel had led her along the array of circular houses boasting a different kind of food products displayed in windows propped open.

Xanthy's mouth dropped open when they came to a shop where the bakers tossed unkneaded dough towards the ceiling. The sticky dough would cling to the ceiling before being harvested and tossed again. Xanthy followed the dough's trajectory as the bakers tossed them at least four more times.

"This method ensures that you'd have the fluffiest variant of haagen," Cyrdel leaned in and whispered as Xanthy hunkered at the shop's open windows, mesmerized.

She watched as the bakers dressed in taupe aprons with matching hats shaped the dough into different figures faster than Xanthy's eyes could follow. The bakers laid these shapes flat on a slab before shoving it inside a forge that has a door. A few minutes later, a bell dinged and the brownies opened the door to the forge and out came the slab. On it, the dough had hardened into a crust retaining their various figures. Was that in the shape of a dagrine? Whoa.

Xanthy touched her chin partly to wipe the drool that threatened to drip from the corner of her mouth. Should she buy one? She opened the pouch Airene gave her. Hmm. Maybe not. She should save this for the journey ahead. She still has to find her parents.

Xanthy moved away from the window and resumed walking.

"Miss Vivenca," Cyrdel's arm swept past Xanthy's periphery. The prince passed her a bag of haagen with smoke still wafting from the inside. "Here."

Tears pricked Xanthy's eyes.

She reached inside and took one out. The haagen instantly melted in her mouth as she took a bite, leaving a trail of milk and sugar at the back of her throat as she swallowed. What kind of milk was used in this? She had never tasted anything like it. She shoved the rest of the haagen into her mouth and held out the bag to Cyrdel. The prince shook his head with a smile.

"Consider it a gift from me," Cyrdel chuckled. "Enjoy."

Soon, they were walking away from the confectionery section and into the parchment section. Such a shame that Xanthy wasn't even able to try much less look at the other delicacies despite their various smells turning the Depandes air in this section into a sugary goodness.

By the time they met Ravalee in front of a store for tomes, Xanthy had popped the last piece of haagen into her mouth. Ravalee smiled at them before adjusting a bag of tomes in her arms.

"Did you just over-shop again?" Cyrdel eyed the bag which Ravalee tucked away from him. She signed something to which Cyrdel translated for Xanthy as, "I finished reading everything at the Palace library, anyway."

Xanthy raised an eyebrow. Her half had read that many tomes? Whoa. In speaking of tomes...

Xanthy peered inside the shop through its glass-plated windows uncharacteristic of the buildings in Depandes. This one was still circular, though. The inside looked dreary from the outside. Xanthy spied parchment scattered around and empty bottles of ink thrown without care. Ceiling-height machines whirred and clicked as they worked, printing words on paper.

The door gave a shrill ting as soon as Xanthy pushed the door in. She was inside.

The smell of pressed ink assaulted her nose. Books laid in piles as high as Xanthy's chest lined the walls and curved along half the circumference of the building. Xanthy wandered around, her eyes noting rotting planks in the ceiling, noisy, metallic mechanisms clicking in place, and how the shop seem to undermine the fading sunlight despite the open window.

"Need something?" a burly man dressed in coveralls very much like Cyrdel's appeared behind one printing machine. Bronze goggles rested on his sienna hair, his chocolate brown eyes trained on Xanthy. He was barefoot.

Shouldn't that hurt especially if the floorboards decide to inflict him with a splinter? Xanthy cleared her throat. Why was she even thinking about that? "Do you have a copy of the tale of Quard and Lusa?"

The man scratched his chin and smelled his fingers. His nose scrunched up. "You mean Trials in Love?" he raised his eyebrows in Xanthy's direction.

Xanthy blinked. "Is that what it's called?" She looked behind her to see Cyrdel and Ravalee remaining in the shop's exterior. Ravalee waved at Xanthy. Xanthy turned back to the brownie selling the tomes. "Do you have that?"

The man pushed past her and began rummaging through the piles of books. After a whole five minutes of muttering and backside-slapping, the man extracted a thick book with a tawny cover. He shoved it into Xanthy's arms.

"Two mid-sized nosa sigra," he rasped, eyeing Xanthy's bag of versallis tied by her wrist. "Or a large nosa sigra, if you have it."

Xanthy blinked. "Nosa sigra is...?"

"Copper. Square," the brownie dusted his coveralls and frowned at the ink splattered at various sites on his sleeves.

Xanthy peeked into the pouch she earned from working in Cardina. Two copper square coins. She drew out two mid-sized ones. There goes her wage for twenty rolls of textile. "Are tomes usually this costly?" she inclined her head at the machines.

The man shrugged. "The machines ain't running themselves, dearie," he extended a hand towards her. "Pay up."

Xanthy dropped the versallis which the brownie called nosa sigra into his waiting hands. She peeked inside her earning and noted three silver circles or different sizes, two gold circles, and a small copper square. Great.

Xanthy walked out of the shops straddling her newfound possession.

"What did you buy?" Cyrdel raised his eyebrows at the tome in Xanthy's arms. Ravalee had the same questioning look.

Xanthy shrugged and held up her copy of Trials in Love. Ravalee snorted.

Xanthy narrowed her eyes. What's so funny?

"Why would you read that?" Cyrdel ran his hands through his hair. "It's a satirical take on love's hardships."

Xanthy rolled her eyes. "Everything for you is satirical," she sniped. She pushed past them and marched ahead. "We have to go back. The sun is almost gone."

Cyrdel tapped his chin. "Everything is satirical?" He turned to Ravalee. "Is everything for me satirical?"

Ravalee signed something. Cyrdel sighed and took her hand.

Xanthy watched them from where she was. She wondered if Ravalee ever took Cyrdel's hand in hers.

Because to Xanthy, it seems like Cyrdel was just the only one making a move. Was that supposed to be how it was done? Should she let June make a move first?

Then again, June, kind of, already did.

The sunlight dimmed around the city as the moons slowly crept to the sky. All around Xanthy, the shops started pulling their awnings down. Their windows started closing. It's another day.

Cyrdel and Ravalee caught up with her and they trudged back to the Palace. When they cleared the inventors' section, the air began changing. Several brownies dressed in russet armor pushed past the crowd, heading over to a single direction. Xanthy knitted her eyebrows. The direction which happened to be the Alkaran Palace. Did something happen?

Her question was answered as the Alkaran Palace came into view. Russet-armored fairies lined the arch's opening with tense shoulders and legs locked in a sturdy stance. Dark helmets with ocher tassels lined the white wall like ink splotches on parchment.

There were still a few distances from the arched entrance. Beside Xanthy, Cyrdel cursed. He started forward and Xanthy moved to follow.

"Stay back," Cyrdel hissed, his tone not at all gentle nor light. Xanthy stepped back, stunned. Ravalee took Xanthy's hand. Xanthy felt her half's hand tremble. Great, with no Cyrdel to hold her hand, Ravalee now turned to Xanthy. Just great.

Whispers bled through Xanthy's ears as brownies loitered at the Palace's front yard. She listened and caught snippets, enough to get the situation. There has been a break-in and the culprit has been being tried as of the moment.

Xanthy turned back to Cyrdel conversing with a uniformed brownie. Arms waved, heads nodded, and stances shifted from one foot to another. She narrowed her eyes on them. What were they saying?

After a few seconds, the guard grunted and stepped away, gesturing forward with his hands. Cyrdel glanced at them and nodded. Good to go.

Ravalee let go of Xanthy's hand and dashed towards the arch. Xanthy rolled her eyes. Well, Ravalee's welcome for using her as a temporary Cyrdel. Sure, the hand-hold was nice.

Xanthy shook her head. There was no time for that. Her soles slapped the cobbled road as they carried her past the line of brownie soldiers. She ducked her head, avoiding the gazes that she was sure were pinned on her.

The three of them moved as one, straight through the glass-slated center of the Palace. Cyrdel pressed his hand on a panel of glass and it hissed before sliding sideways.

Cyrdel let them pass first before sealing the hole again as he stepped through. Then, he clambered up the left staircase, taking two steps at a time.

Xanthy huffed as she followed in the prince's wake, noting the staircase's shiny chestnut color and its sleek rails. Cyrdel trudged towards a large door by the end of the steps. Xanthy frowned. What was in there?

Xanthy jumped when Cyrdel laid his hands on the door and slid it free. It gave a loud thud as the sliding panel slammed into the doorway's other side. A reedy voice rang from the hall as Cyrdel strode in. Ravalee shouldered Xanthy and dashed inside as well.

Oh, elbowing Xanthy now, was she? Xanthy exhaled loudly before tackling the rest of the stairs in a series of stomps. Well, she'll have to talk to Ravalee about this, but later.

The door gave way to a huge hall and the voice continued to speak.

"...and so for her crimes against the Crown, we sentence her to—"

"Stop!" Cyrdel's formal voice shook the hall.

Xanthy reached the top of the stairs and the view of the hall greeted her. Directly ahead of her, the King and Queen sat in matching thrones. Their chairs were mounted on a high pedestal, almost like a balcony. It branched to both directions, where two rows of three chairs each stood.

Burgundy curtains big enough to clothe the whole of Disfavoreds region were gathered in each post dividing the balconies. Balustrades guarded the edges. Beyond the chairs, Xanthy couldn't make out anything with the darkness swallowing any silhouette she might glimpse of.

From each seat in the balcony, brownies dressed in mahogany overcoats sat in all their pristine glory.

The Court of Varis, Ravalee's voice sped through Xanthy's head. In case you're wondering.

Xanthy rolled her eyes once more. Sure. Thanks. She stalked Cyrdel's steps as she strode inside the throne room. Was this even legal?

The man who walked out of dinner yesterday caught Xanthy's eye and gasped. He was seated to her right, on the second and higher row, his eyes as wide as versallis.

"What is that witch doing here?" he pointed at Xanthy's direction like she was a monster that leaped out of a forest.

A collective whish of clothes resounded across the room as the other court members whirled to Xanthy. What now?

Xanthy scanned the venue. What was wrong? Her eyes rested on a varichria with shriveled, blue wings and short, golden hair. The varichria knelt at the center of the hall with guards standing on either side, stiff and dressed in russet armor with swords pointed at the varichria's neck.

The court members clamored for Xanthy to be removed from the room. Xanthy went deeper into the hall, keeping the two or three guards rushing towards her in her periphery.

The prisoner wore some sort of armor made of tree bark. From the curve of the waist, Xanthy could tell it was a girl. Xanthy paused as something clicked. Bark armor, the wings, the hair.

"Reeca!" Xanthy dashed to where her friend was, slapping the swords out of her friend's neck. The guards exchanged glances, unsure of how to deal with this.

Xanthy knitted her eyebrows. How did Reeca end up here? Xanthy glanced at the varichria's back. What has happened to her wings? Blood pooled slowly by the Reeca's knee. Gods...

Suddenly, guards blocked Xanthy's view as they stepped between her and Reeca. Strong arms gripped Xanthy's shoulders. Cyrdel yelled something incorrigible. Darkness clouded Xanthy's vision.

Xanthy squirmed but the guards forced her to her knees. She had to get Reeca out of here. Her friend was hurt and the court barely noticed. Was Reeca even conscious of all this?

"Let me go!" she yelled. A blast of warmth tore off her skin. The guards holding her flew away before slamming into the opposite walls in a loud crunch of metal. Smoke poured off their armor.

Her hand swept forward and a slash of light flew forward. Something exploded. Cyrdel was definitely shouting at her now.

Worry about him later! She had to save her friend. She dashed towards Reeca.

The guards beside the varichria jumped away as Xanthy slid over to her friend. Indignant screams filled Xanthy's ears. What's that about? The darkness receded from her vision. Reeca was still awake, thankfully. Why would the varichria choose to keep quiet?

Reeca's mismatched eyes searched Xanthy's for a moment. Xanthy pressed her hand on Reeca's thigh where there's a tear in her armor. Xanthy directed her magic to it. Nothing happened.

A bitter taste filled Xanthy's mouth. Cardovia. It has to be them. She caught Reeca's eye and an understanding flashed between them. Later. We will talk about this later.

Hurried footsteps caught Xanthy's attention. Cyrdel dropped beside them and grasped Xanthy's arm. His nails dug into her skin.

"What do you think you're doing?" Cyrdel demanded through gritted teeth. His face was bright red.

"She's my friend," Xanthy glanced at Reeca before turning back to the prince.

One of the nobles began speaking but Cyrdel put his hand up, stopping him mid-sentence. A prince can do that to an official court? Awesome.

Xanthy lowered her voice. "I want to help her and these people are making sure I can't."

"Because that's their job!" Cyrdel hissed. He stole a glance at the disconcerted court members and at his parents. "Your friend has committed a crime!"

"Wasn't me," Reeca rasped. Xanthy noticed how Reeca clutched her side and winced. "I tried telling these stupid asses and they wouldn't listen. So, I shut up and welcomed my fate. I wasn't going to waste my remaining life bickering with filthy hags."

Cyrdel exhaled through his mouth. His grip on Xanthy's arm tightened. "Insult the Council one more time and I'll send you to prison myself," he growled. "Now, what happened and who did it?"

"Someone raided a room with random devices," Reeca glanced at the pool of her own blood staining the floor. Xanthy eyed the scrambling court as they reordered the trial. "The poop guards caught me and now I'm the one who did it. All I did was chase the thief after she raided a house. Then, we ended up in the Palace and she stole something. You satisfied, highness?"

Xanthy resisted the urge to slap Reeca upside the head. Even when facing a trial the varichria still hasn't lost her cheek.

Cyrdel met Xanthy's eyes. "Do you trust this fairy?"

Xanthy nodded. "I do." She raised her eyebrows. "What are you planning?"

As an answer, Cyrdel straightened. He let go of Xanthy's arm. "I invoke my right to aid in defense," he declared.

Somewhere above Xanthy, a shaky yet somehow defiant voice yelled, "Foolish boy! The verdict is already given!" this court member's ocher hair bouncing against his paunchy face. "This requires no trial. It's clear this witch trespassed into the Palace and desecrated our holy abode."

"I am addressing the King and Queen, not you Master Philine," Cyrdel said.

The man blubbered his disapproval but he sank to his seat.

Cyrdel continued, clasping his hands together. "The accused has claimed that yes, she trespassed the Palace. Not because she intends to do us harm, but because she was chasing the real culprit."

"Nonsense!" a court member huffed as he retook his seat in the middle of the first row to Xanthy's left, his copper mop flouncing on his head. "You believe this because the new girl told you?"

"I believe her because your accusation is not grounded, Master Vulre," Cyrdel answered with a clipped tone. "If she truly stole something, then where is it? Shouldn't it have been caught with her?"

The noble reddened to a shade close to his hair. "S-she could have hidden it before she was captured!" he wagged a finger at Xanthy's direction.

"Then search the Palace!" Cyrdel opened his arms and stepped back as a challenge. "Prove to me you're correct!"

The King raised his hand. Everyone fell silent.

"I concur. Search the palace. Report if you find something missing," the King addressed the guards. They nodded and dashed off the hall, even the ones that Xanthy threw with her magic. The King turned to his son.

"Crovalis, do you know of this?" The King's tone was flat and unimpressed. From beside him, the Queen nodded off to sleep. Xanthy frowned.

"Father, I believe Xanthiene over the Masters," Cyrdel was saying. Xanthy pursed her lips and huddled closer to the varichria who pushed Xanthy away with a click of her tongue. "Don't take it any other way than what I explicitly told you. In this case, Xanthiene and her friend's claims are true."

"You're just saying that because the girl has bewitched you, worked a few spells to addle your brain!" a noble interjected. Her braided blond hair plaited down her shoulder had several strands sticking out that gave her an impromptu crown. The King looked annoyed but he slumping back to his throne to let the court member be.

"I didn't!" Xanthy's voice echoed across the hall.

"She lies!" Master Philine, the one who walked out of dinner yelled, jumping from his chair and pointing an accusing finger at no one. "You even have the face to show yourself in front of the sacred Council after that infernal show you put up at the Royal feast! Now you are lying to the Crown!"

"I am not!" Xanthy yelled back. Blood rushed to her cheeks as darkness once again began creeping to her vision.

A court member by the last seat in the second row to Xanthy's left spoke in a hushed tone. "A witness of a brownie is legible in a Council trial," he said, his round dark eyes trained on Xanthy without a spark of humor or any other emotion. Xanthy puffed out her chest. "But you're not a brownie. Hardly."

Xanthy deflated. "What?"

"Your trail..." the hushed court member smacked his lips and twined his fingers together. His elbows rested on the arms of his chair. "It's different. Your inclination to violence is a bit surprising especially if you claim to be one of us. Your spell would have killed Master Lewel if the King did not stop it in time," he glanced at a court member who was being fanned by two guards. Apparently, he was hyperventilating.

The soft-spoken court member turned back to Xanthy. "Such an atrocious act against the principles Dina left us is close to unforgivable."

Xanthy then registered the fallen balustrade from the King and Queen's balcony, the cracked floor where it fell, and the curtains now neatly cut in two. Cracks appeared on the connected balconies' balustrades. The Virtakios did that?

"Yes!" another yelled, this one in the first row's last seat on Xanthy's right. "Such a fairy should never be liable for the truth. If our prince believes this ridiculous counsel, then she must have employed charms and bewitched him!"

"Better yet," the noble in the first seat in the first row to Xanthy's left added. "That she's an accomplice?"

A collective gasp ensued from the Council. They turned as one towards Xanthy. "Didn't you say you're her friend? Shall we throw you into prison too?"

Xanthy's throat dried up.

"Sacred Council for the Crown," Cyrdel's voice silenced almost all the nobles as it tore through the room. "I have gathered your claims against my friends and I extend to you a conclusion and if permissible, punishment."

Murmurs were the only clues for Cyrdel to continue. He began pacing. "I am certain that my brain is currently unaffected by any magical influences, so your claim that Xanthiene, here, has worked wonders with my reasoning is not valid. Next, about Xanthiene's inclination to violence, will it help that she has spent a large fraction, if not all, of her life living among Humans? She may have picked out their aggressiveness and their instinct to kill."

Xanthy swallowed. It's not just her Human exposure, though. Perhaps it's the Virtakios itself but there was no way she would tell a Court of Whatever that.

Judging from the frowns the court gave them, they weren't convinced.

Cyrdel plowed on. "It's not Xanthiene's fault that she was abandoned by her own race. She lived through it all, eventually finding her way back to us. Is that how we treat our kin? With contempt because they're ignorant? With false accusations, because they don't know our laws? I thought the Council has better judgement than what I'm witnessing. You're famed for your wisdom and justice. Is it still justice when you discount every viable fact just because you hate the defendant? Is it still wisdom when you refused to acknowledge that maybe what the accused says is true? Hear me, sacred Council."

"Now, for the matter of the theft itself," he continued when the Court didn't speak. "The varichria claimed that there's another thief and he got away. The one you accused of stealing something from us is actually helping us get rid of the thief. It's unfortunate that the thief escaped, but we should honor the varichria's intention in aiding us."

Cyrdel stepped aside and gestured at Xanthy. "Xanthiene isn't even conspiring with the varichria because if she is, then what is the reason she's still with us? Shouldn't she have ran away with the thing she stole? I've been with Xanthiene since we traveled from Flaron and I know she isn't capable of hatching clever plans nor is she a thief."

Xanthy knit her eyebrows. Was Cyrdel insinuating that she's dumb? She elbowed Cyrdel's leg but the prince remained astute and focused on addressing the Court.

"So, hear me, Sacred Council of the Crown," Cyrdel concluded. "Here is the solution I have for them. Turn over the authority to exact punishment on me. I figured I should give matters of ruling a chance. This case is a great way to practice. What do you say, Father?"

Cyrdel's eyes gleamed. It seemed like he had played his trump.

The King nodded, his eyes narrowing. "Alright," he relented. "You have shown yourself adept at handling these matters. I give you the authority to punish these criminals according to the Law."

Xanthy tried getting Cyrdel's attention. Her throat constricted. Nobody said anything about the punishment! What was she thinking in trusting this prince? She looked around. Where was June and Nyxis? They should escape while they still can.

Cyrdel barely hid his wince as he glanced at Xanthy. She shrank from him, her heart ramming against her chest.

"I rescind all punishments due to their crimes," Cyrdel declared. Xanthy's head snapped up. The Court's collective jaw fell open. The King sat up on his throne, jolting the Queen who had truly fallen asleep.

"They shall remain with me at all times," Cyrdel continued as the Queen blubbered her apologies. "I find them innocent in the laws of our land. I find no fault."

Voices began chattering as the Court began haranguing the King for an explanation. The King simply stood up, offered his arm to his Queen, and ushered the Queen out of the balcony, leaving the Court with mouths flapping open like cawing vulkraine.

When it was clear that there was nothing they could do, the Court members gave Xanthy one last withering look before filing out of their balconies until Xanthy, Cyrdel, Reeca, and Ravalee were the only ones in the large throne room.