Dinner unfolded like a quiet miracle.
The long table gleamed, but not in that stiff, ceremonial way Aster expected. Knights sat beside servants. Servants sat beside nobles. Conversation flowed like soup being ladled from one bowl to another, warm and ordinary. No one barked orders. No one bowed every five seconds. People passed bread. Someone laughed too loudly. Someone else asked for salt.
Eloise noticed first.
She stared down at her place setting.
Two spoons. Two forks.
Across from her, a knight had… also two.
Beside him, a maid… also two.
She blinked slowly, recalibrating everything she thought she knew about palaces.
"They… eat together?" she whispered to Aster.
"Apparently," Aster muttered.
Then he looked at his own place setting.
Six spoons. Three forks. A knife that looked ceremonial. Another knife that looked emotional. Something that might be a tiny shovel.
"Why do they get two pairs," he mumbled bitterly, "and I get a full cutlery orchestra?"
"Because you took etiquette classes," Nikolai said calmly. "They didn't."
Aster stared at him. "I regret my education."
Rowan, meanwhile, was trying not to touch anything in case it was illegal.
Eloise kept glancing toward Elodie, who sat a little further down the table. Every time their eyes met, Elodie offered a small, warm smile. Not formal. Not forced. Just… kind.
Eloise straightened in her chair.
Elodie cleared her throat gently. "Mother couldn't be here tonight. She's meeting with the dukes. But she sends her warm welcome to your family, Aster. She also wrote a message for both of you."
A servant handed Eloise a sealed note.
Eloise accepted it carefully, like it might dissolve if she held it too tightly.
"We are very honored," she said, voice sincere, "and deeply grateful that the royal family has welcomed us."
Nikolai frowned slightly. "Why didn't Mother come herself?"
A quiet ripple moved through the maids and knights nearby. Not fear. Just a pause.
Elodie answered softly. "When she heard about the conditions in your district… she went to see it herself. Quietly. To begin arranging help."
Eloise froze.
"She… went herself?"
"Anonymously," Elodie said. "She wanted to see the situation without ceremony."
Eloise stood from her seat before she realized she was doing it. She bowed deeply.
"That is very kind of her," she said, voice tight with emotion. "Please convey our deepest gratitude to the queen."
Along that side of the table, several maids and knights lowered their heads too. They knew those streets. They knew the hunger there, the cracked stones, the long winters.
Tonight, the table felt… shared.
Dinner arrived in gentle waves. Cream soups, soft and fragrant. Chicken glazed in rich sauce. Fresh bread. Then pudding with frozen cream that made Rowan's eyes go wide like lanterns.
He tasted it.
Paused.
Tasted again.
Aster watched him quietly. Something tugged in his chest. He glanced at Nikolai.
Nikolai caught the look. Nodded once. Understanding without words.
Then, because he could never leave sincerity alone for too long, he said lightly, "You'll be paying for all of this."
Aster snorted. "I was planning to behave tonight. But fine. How do I repay you?"
Nikolai leaned back, thinking. "You teach me how to draw. I teach you proper swordsmanship."
Aster's brow lifted. "That sounds like a deal. But are you underestimating my swordsmanship, Your Highness?"
"Of course not," Nikolai replied smoothly. "I'm simply concerned. After your… enthusiastic performance against the goblins."
Aster narrowed his eyes. "I won that fight."
"You almost died ."
"I fell strategically."
Rowan giggled into his pudding.
Eloise tried to hide a smile.
At the far end, Elodie watched the table with quiet satisfaction as conversation and laughter filled the space. For once, the palace felt less like marble and more like a home that was learning new voices.
Moonlight rinsed the palace in silver when Eloise slipped into the corridor.
The halls were too quiet for someone used to narrow streets and neighbors arguing through thin walls. Here, silence carried its own weight. Her shoes clicked softly against marble, each step echoing like she didn't quite belong to the sound of it.
She wandered until the air changed.
The corridor opened into a garden drowned in starlight. White flowers glowed faintly. Vines curled along carved stone. A fountain whispered to itself at the center, water catching the moon and breaking it into shards.
And there, near the roses, stood a woman.
She looked almost unreal in the pale light. Hair the color of molten gold, loose against her shoulders. Eyes gentle, bright, like someone who had learned to listen more than speak. She wore a simple night cloak, nothing that screamed power. Just presence.
"What troubles you, dear," the woman asked softly, "that you walk the halls this late?"
Eloise paused, then shook her head. "Nothing troubles me, madam. I'm only… curious."
She stepped into the garden, hands clasped behind her back.
"About the royal family," she admitted. "Where I come from, we see them differently. Not with anger. Just… distance. We thought we were forgotten in the outer districts."
The fountain continued its quiet music.
"But now," Eloise went on, "it seems the queen didn't know everything either. She went herself to see the suburbs. That matters. I'm grateful for that."
The woman tilted her head slightly. "Still, it is their duty, is it not? To govern all corners of Eidralis. Negligence is still negligence."
Eloise considered that. Then nodded.
"You're not wrong. But I think… maybe they cared, just not through the right people. Today we saw the map of Eidralis in the palace. It's enormous. Cities, villages, coastlines, forests. Governing all of it must feel like holding the sea in your hands."
She looked up at the stars filtering through the leaves.
"Perhaps we judged without hearing their side," she said quietly. "Even if mistakes were made."
The woman watched her for a long moment. Then smiled.
"You are wise for your age," she said. "You remind me of my daughter. Elodie."
"Elodie?" Eloise brightened. "That's a lovely name."
They talked a while after that. Not like noble and commoner. Like two people sharing a bench beneath a patient sky. About baking. About younger siblings. About how heavy crowns must feel even when no one sees them.
When Eloise finally returned to her room, the garden still shimmered behind her like a secret.
Morning arrived in a blaze of gold.
Servants moved like clockwork through the palace. Doors opened. Curtains pulled wide. The scent of bread and tea drifted through the halls.
Eloise stood before a mirror, dressed in a gown that felt like it belonged to someone with better posture and fewer opinions. The corset hugged her ribs with determined enthusiasm.
"I can breathe," she muttered. "Technically."
Rowan wrestled with a brooch nearby, tongue sticking out in concentration.
"I think it's upside down," Aster offered.
"It's a lion," Rowan said. "Lions don't have an upside down."
They were escorted to the dining hall. Sunlight streamed through tall windows, turning the long table into a river of gold. Knights, maids, and attendants gathered quietly. Waiting.
"For who?" Eloise whispered.
"The queen," Aster said.
Eloise straightened immediately.
The doors opened.
Queen Eliza entered in a flowing blue gown, a white fan resting lightly in her hand. She moved with calm authority, like someone used to storms and not impressed by them.
Eloise's breath caught.
It was her.
The woman from the garden. The gentle stranger beneath the roses.
Everyone bowed.
Eloise bowed lowest.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty," she said quickly. "For speaking so casually last night. I mistook you for… a fair maiden."
A small silence.
Then the queen laughed. Warm. Unbothered.
"My dear, there's nothing to forgive. I quite enjoyed our conversation." She stepped forward and gently lifted Eloise from her bow. "And you are not a servant here. You are soon to be family."
She pulled Eloise into a brief, soft hug. Then patted Rowan's head, earning a stunned blink from him.
Breakfast began.
Plates filled. Tea poured. The mood settled into something bright and almost normal. Eloise relaxed inch by inch. Rowan ate like he was afraid the food might disappear if he blinked.
Then....
Footsteps. Fast. Urgent.
The doors burst open.
A messenger stumbled in, breath ragged, cloak dusted from hard travel.
"Your Majesty," he gasped, dropping to one knee. "Urgent news. A great war approaches. The kingdom of Galesphire has begun seizing our territory"