It was really hard to keep my smile factory running while talking to so many important people.

  Some I knew—Llama, Lumi, Scamantha—were easy enough to banter with. But others? Total blanks. Just people who’d either vibed with my kingdom in Rimelion or showed up because they were curious. And for the latter half of it, I was flying solo. Well… Jerry helped a lot.

  Lola had vanished to fix… well, everything. Which, in her case, probably meant juggling three disasters and making it look like a single elegant dance.

  By the time the last VIP came in, the room was packed. Hundreds, maybe even edging into the low thousands, filled the chamber. The air was warm with body heat and perfume, the low hum of conversation rolling in waves against the high walls. Glassware clinked softly under it all.

  It was chaos, but of the pleasant kind; the kind that looked good in screenshots. Thanks to my recent curing of social anxiety, I could finally also enjoy it.

  Tobi was a walking distraction, or flying, technically, hopping from shoulder to shoulder, feathers flashing under the lights. Frozna kept chasing after him with the determined panic of someone corralling a toddler, but half the room seemed intent on sabotaging her by slipping the bird treats.

  First thing first, I made my way toward Lunaris to ask what she’d decided. But she wasn’t alone. She and Lisa were tucked into the same corner Dmitry had been lurking in earlier, and… Lisa had her locked in a hug so tight it looked like she was trying to absorb her by osmosis.

  “Hey, guys,” I said, stepping in. “How did it go?” Lisa finally released Lunaris and gave me an enthusiastic nod.

  “Queen Charlie!” Lunaris’s face brightened. “It was awesome! Sister Lisa helped me.”

  I eyed Lisa suspiciously. “Sister Lisa?” And then, because I’d been holding it since I met her, I just went for it. “Do you have a thing for… loli? Because I’m short—”

  “Princess… I mean Queen,” Lisa cut me off, shaking her head hard enough to make her earrings sway. “It’s just…” Her eyes sparkled like she’d just spotted a basket of puppies. “You both are so cuteeee!”

  “Dmitry—” Lunaris started, but Lisa’s hand landed on her shoulder, and she gave a very deliberate look. Lunaris cleared her throat. “Mister Baldie agreed to a contract with Rimebreak. I’ll be getting the treatment soon, and with Rimelion to train my mind to walk, I should be able to recover faster. Still slow, but I’ll be zooming past people in no time. Like a battle hamster.”

  Lisa pulled her back into her chest, squeezing so enthusiastically I was honestly a little jealous. “Older sister is soooo proud of you!”

  “Lisa.” I pointed toward the throne… which, by the way, was still not done. She glanced over, guilt flickering across her face. “Don’t you have a throne to finish?”

  “Right…” She nodded sheepishly, finally letting Lunaris go. Her drones lifted off from their standby spots with a mechanical hum, zipping toward the half-finished structure. Now that the chamber was stuffed with people, the under-construction atmosphere was… not ideal.

  But hey someone liked that… like me.

  “Charlie, sorry, but did you see Wian?” Lunaris turned to me, but here on Earth she didn’t have that barely contained excitement she always got in Rimelion. “I wanted to talk to him about the fight we had and how NightSwallow was rude.”

  “I was merely finishing what you should have,” said a voice right behind us.

  We both jumped… and there she was, standing in the crowd just a few steps away, her silhouette half-lit by the warm glow of the lounge sconces. I’d greeted NightSwallow earlier as a VIP but hadn’t spotted her since.

  “Don’t worry, I wasn’t eavesdropping on purpose… maybe.” She winked, the corner of her mouth curling into that roguish smirk she probably practiced in the mirror. “Nice to meet you on Earth, Lunaris.”

  “NightSwallow!” Lunaris practically bounced, her voice carrying just enough to turn a couple of heads nearby. “You’re wearing normal clothes! You look like you’ve committed fashion crimes! Like… silk smuggling or something.”

  I turned fully to get a better look at her. The deep midnight-blue dress fit her, but with a slit that flashed just enough of the thigh-high leather boot underneath to scream Rogue. The faint gleam of a hidden clasp at her hip made it look like the dress could be shed faster than a disguise in a back-alley escape.

  Probably a fashion choice. Hopefully.

  “Me?” NightSwallow lifted the skirt slightly with one hand, letting the light catch the darker embroidery stitched along the hem. “Crimes are more Scamantha’s thing, but I can also show teeth as an explorer.” Her grin sharpened, as if to prove it.

  Lunaris and I laughed… hers bright and unrestrained, mine a little more weary-but-amused.

  “I saw Wian. Still think it’s a stupid nickname, but he was in the back with Lisa’s guild,” I said, tilting my head toward the far corner where the crowd had thickened. I could just make out Lisa’s drones hovering like lazy fireflies above a knot of her guildmates. “Do you want to go see them?”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Lunaris puffed her cheeks in mock offense. “It’s cute, not stupid,” she murmured under her breath before glancing back at me and nodding. “Please.”

  I turned to answer NightSwallow… but she was gone. Just… gone.

  “She…”

  “She does that,” Lunaris said, amused, already scanning the room like she might spot the explorer in the crowd.

  We started weaving our way toward Lisa’s guild, slipping between small clusters of people in glittering dresses and black suits. The air was warmer here, thick with the mingled scents of cologne, champagne, and too many hors d’oeuvres in too small a space. Waiters threaded through the press of bodies with trays held high, their polite voices strained as they sidestepped guests gesturing wildly mid-story.

  We’d made it to the middle of the chamber when a streak darted toward us.

  Scamantha flashed her too-pleased smile and crouched behind Lunaris’s wheelchair like we were part of some elaborate stage prop. “Mind if I duck in here for a moment?”

  Lunaris froze, and then another streak followed. Three men in black suits—well, like almost every man in here—skidded to a halt across from us, the leader pointing an accusing finger at Scamantha.

  “Got you. Return the money!”

  Scamantha just rolled her shoulders in a lazy shrug. “As I said… no take-backsies. Every transaction is final.”

  The leader stepped to the left, trying to skirt Lunaris, but Scamantha moved with him, her little cat-and-mouse shuffle keeping him blocked… mostly. His friends were already circling.

  “It exploded in my hands,” the man said, his voice edged with bitterness.

  “Exploding potions tend to do that,” Scamantha nodded, unbothered. “You asked for one potent enough to kill a mini-boss.”

  “It killed me,” he grumbled. “At least make another.”

  “All transaction—”

  “Get her!” he snapped to his friends.

  Scamantha bolted, slipping between two startled guests and disappearing into the crowd. The man’s eyes flicked to me for the first time. He gave a quick bow. “Queen Charlie, sorry for the interruption,” he said before sprinting after her, his friends in tow.

  Around us, the tide of the party closed over the scene as if nothing had happened… laughter resuming, glasses clinking, the hum of conversation swallowing the little pocket of drama whole. We both shrugged and continued on our way.

  Lisa’s guild had staked out a chunk of space near the back, and sure enough — Wian was there, deep in conversation with Rob. His face had the same bright pink flush he always got when the talk strayed toward anything embarrassing.

  Ah, Ian.

  Despite knowing all that history, I was… fine. Weirdly fine. Like whatever weight it had once carried had been quietly filed away. Maybe that was the kind of “closure” Kai had been aiming for?

  “Wian!” I called over the din, Lunaris right behind me. Heads turned in our direction… not all familiar, but familiar enough. “Long time no see! And Rob, what nonsense are you telling him?!”

  The priest Peter stood nearby in a tailored white suit, his hands folded politely in front of him. He gave me a small nod, the only calm eye in the storm of voices. Next to him, a young woman, Natasha, kept her hood up and her head down like she was actively dodging recognition.

  “Nice seeing your boobs again, Queen,” Rob said with a wink that was about as subtle as a flashing billboard, his gaze dropping straight to my cleavage. “Just teaching my young son the ways of men.”

  “Jerry, send Lisa a message about what Rob just said and did,” I murmured under my breath.

  “Consider it done,” Jerry replied, his tone carrying a smirk.

  At that exact moment, something thumped lightly against my shoulder… claws gripping just enough to prickle my bare shoulder. Yeah, so much for armor.

  I glanced sideways. “Tobi,” I greeted with a small smile. His feathers were warm against my neck, carrying a faint, dusty scent of whatever hors d’oeuvres he’d been loitering near.

  Over the heads of the crowd, I spotted Frozna cutting a determined path toward us, her expression the perfect blend of polite panic and I’m sorry in advance.

  “Go,” I whispered to Tobi, tilting my shoulder.

  As if he actually understood, he squawked, “Yes! Tobi!” loud enough to make a few guests startle, and launched himself back into the crowd, flapping low in search of his next unsuspecting perch.

  “I just wanted you to meet Lunaris,” I said to Peter, focusing on the one sane-looking person in the group. “As you probably know, I’m going to be busy, but if you have time later, we can talk!”

  With that, I left Lunaris to fight her own battles, the crowd already closing in behind me, swallowing her into the living, shifting mass of the VIP chamber.

  I was trying to melt into the crowd, but Lola probably had security tracking me like I was a misplaced crown jewel. She was weaving through the bodies in a direct line toward me, head high, eyes scanning.

  “Left. Behind the woman in the green dress”, Jerry suggested in my ear. I twisted sideways, slipping behind her just as a waiter passed, and snagged a champagne flute off his tray.

  A quick gulp for courage.

  Lola brushed past the spot I’d just been, turning sharply, her gaze darting for me like a hawk hunting a rabbit.

  Would Frozna approve of that or be sad?

  “You are needed for the speech,” Jerry said in that too-casual tone of his. “She knows you’re ignoring her messages. She said ‘please’ twice. Not ‘please-please,’ but ‘please, twice’.”

  “Oh, Lola!” I burst forward dramatically, wrapping my arms around her like a lost child. “Please, twice too!”

  She blinked at me; her face was still creased with worry. “I said to Jerry to say please twice.”

  “I did,” Jerry’s voice was suspiciously innocent.

  “And Lady, please don’t do this to me. You were like a ghost!”

  “No, I’m like NightSwallow,” I said, glancing around half-expecting her to acknowledge my rogue skills… especially with Jerry as my cheat code. Nothing.

  “It’s time,” she said firmly. “And you even amended the speech. There is nothing to worry about. You’ve been in large crowds as the Sword Queen. Be the Rimebreak Queen.”

  I grumbled, dragging my feet toward inevitability. “I was having fun talking with people…”

  “After the speech.” She pointed toward the far end of the chamber where Lisa’s drones were just powering down. “Lisa finally finished the throne. I had to fix—”

  I nodded quickly, hoping she’d spill the juicy details.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Stop stalling. No, it doesn’t matter. Speech is important. Let’s go.”

  “Fiiine…” I muttered, following her toward the throne like I was walking to Calenfall and the emperor’s execution hands again. I still owed him a nice icicle in the eye.

  Lisa had set the throne on a raised podium, the base edged in subtle gold trim. The crowd shifted and murmured as we climbed the stairs. A microphone waited for me at the top like a smug little executioner’s block.

  I scanned the sea of faces and gulped. “Can I go to my secret closet and go home?” I joked. Half-joked.

  Lola only smiled, stepping forward with that smooth, unhurried confidence that said she’d been planning this moment for hours. She plucked the microphone from its stand and faced the crowd.

  The room seemed to lean toward her, voices dimming, champagne flutes lowering.

  “Please,” her voice carried, clear as crystal, “can I have your attention!” A hundred conversations died mid-sentence. “Our Queen…” She gestured toward me with a flourish I was definitely not prepared for. “…would like to say something.”

  Every eye turned to me.

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