Chapter One: Arrival

When Lana had accepted Ema's invitation to visit her in the Kingdom of Khura'in, she didn't think she was going to need a time machine to get there. Unfortunately, it seemed the plane had flown through one anyway.

Aside from the bus that had taken her from the airport to the city's inner temple (she'd asked for the place's name, but the bus driver simply said the word "temple" two times in a row, with a strange accent the first time), Lana had yet to see a single motor vehicle in the streets. Electric lights flashed from inside buildings, though they seemed to be interchangeable with candles. Worst of all, she couldn't see a single place where Snackoos might have been sold.

She hadn't been here five minutes, and already she had to wonder how Ema lived here. Ema, the girl who lived for the newest equipment and modern invention. The girl who whined and griped for months about the inner city apartments raising their rent, but wouldn't dare move even a mile away from the downtown precinct.

Maybe he really was magic.

Lana checked the time on her phone, resisting the urge to call her sister. Sure, she told her she didn't have to pick her up from the airport, but it would have been nice to see a familiar face. It would have been nice to see her face. Ema might say she hadn't moved to this country, but she might as well have. She was in the US once a month, if that. And those days, Lana would be lucky to get an hour with her.

It was too reminiscent of prison, when Ema could only visit once a week. And when she was studying in Europe… it was a phone-call, if that.

Eleven years had passed since Lana had vowed to be more open with her little sister. Eleven years, and still contact was hard.

But... Ema was happy. And at the end of the day, that's all that matters, right?

Well, Lana hadn't sat on a plane for fifteen hours just to make a pleasure visit. She had to know how happy her little sister really was. If he was doing everything in his absolute monarch power to keep her happy.

"Lana!"

She barely had time to react before the sharp scent of chemicals crashed into her, strong arms crushing her internal organs. But Lana was just as fierce, wrinkling Ema's lab coat and ruffling her hair.

"Ah, sis! I thought you stopped doing that," Ema grumbled, pulling back to fix her hairdo. Now that Lana got a better look, she could understand why.

It was cute, though not much different from her normal style. The small braids reminded her of that time she'd met a nun in prison. And aside from a large badge proudly proclaiming Khura'inese symbols, her attire looked no different than when she visited her in the States.

"That's new for you. I can't remember the last time you had different hair."

"The hat didn't count?" Ema shrugged. "I'm just trying something new."

"Did you do it yourself?" The braids were small, delicate. They didn't look like something Ema would willingly spend time on.

So it was no surprise to Lana when Ema shook her head. "Princess Rayfa convinced one of her attendants to teach her how to braid hair, and now she does it to everyone she sees. I promised I'd keep my hair this way all day if she let me go with just this."

Lana laughed. "You talk about her a lot. She sounds like a handful."

"Oh, don't get me started. How are you?"

"Tired. Jetlagged." Lana stretched her back out, listening at her spine popped. "How do you do this all the time?"

"Not easily. Nahyuta offered to have me fly first class, but I told him not to waste the money on me."

"So he's Nahyuta now, hm?" Lana smiled teasingly, nudging her sister. "How long did it take, six months?"

"Shhh! Lana," Ema glanced at the area around her. "It isn't exactly common knowledge, you know."

What? He was hiding her? "Why is that?"

"I asked him to," Ema fixed her with a hard stare. She knew exactly what Lana was thinking. "These people reacted bad enough when his mom married a commoner from their own country. If they found out he was dating a foreign detective, we'd both get our names smeared for it. He just wants to do his job without incident until his sister can take over. And I want the same."

"Sounds like a lot of trouble," Lana mused. Guess running off with a fairytale prince to a magical land wasn't all it was cracked up to be. "Does anyone else know?"

"Apollo, his assistant, and Nahyuta's mother and sister, for sure. I'm pretty sure some servants are suspicious, but we didn't tell anyone else."

"Hm… Will I finally get to meet this mystical man for myself, this visit?"

"Yup!" Ema smiled. "I made him promise to have dinner with us at least one night while you're here. But I don't know which one yet."

"Sounds good to me," Lana looked down at her bags, as if suddenly remembering they were there. "Is there anywhere I can set these down?"

"Oh yeah! My place has an extra room, if you don't mind staying with me."

"Not at all," Lana replied, though her mind was elsewhere.

Little did Nahyuta Sahdmadhi know, her little vetting process had already begun for him.

And he was not faring well.

The walk to her sister's new place didn't take long. When they got there, Lana took a moment to ogle the real estate.

"Well, someone bought quite the place for themselves." Ema's 'small house' was bigger than three of Lana's back home. "Is land just cheap here?"

"Yeah, kinda," Ema tapped a finger on her chin. "More like 'we have you working over a hundred hours a week, but at least we pay well'. I had to beg the new Justice Minister to talk to the police chief and give me these days off."

Upwards of a hundred hours?! "Oh my- Ema! Why would you buy a nice place if you never even see it?"

"Hey, I do too see it! I pass by it every day on my walk from the palace to the Hall of Justice. And all my forensic supplies get shipped here, so I visit at least once every few days."

Lana couldn't help but notice how she said nothing about sleeping in her own house. Well, the royal residence was only a block off (they'd passed it on the way), and they'd have to go to court together in the mornings anyway…

Oh, Ema. "I guess it helps with image, too. Close, but not too close."

"Yeah, that too." Her sister looked around, trying to be a good host. "Hey, do you want some food? I know this really great bar/restaurant five blocks south, and if you ask nicely, they make yak burgers for you. Maya taught them how."

"What time is it, here?" Lana asked her sister. "We wouldn't want to ruin dinner."

"About four pm. But I know how much plane food sucks, so it's fine."

And she'd crossed the International Date Line, which meant she'd lost two days in transit. Fun. "No, I can wait. Let's just talk."

"Huh? What do you want to talk about?" Ema looked genuinely surprised at this request. It was a testament to how little of it they did together. "Your new job going okay? They aren't giving youu a hard time because of the past, right?"

"No. Ema, it isn't about me," Lana had gotten an assistant manager job at Lordly Tailor, where her boss was also a former inmate. She'd been sympathetic, and Mr. Tailor agreed: if both women were good employees, why not put the past where it belongs? "I want to know about you. How are you, here?"

"Oh! I'm great, I guess. Busy, but I was expecting that." She looked like she was pondering something. "It's funny. I'm doing more investigation work than I ever did as a regular detective, but I'm less tired than I used to be. It finally feels like what I'm doing has a purpose, you know? Sure, hours are long and the work is hard, but I actually feel like I'm making a difference now."

"You're appreciated here."

"Exactly! Sure, the people here have lots of weirdly specific customs, and that takes getting used to, but most everyone is nice. Though not always with the best intentions…"

"What do you mean?"

"They know I'm connected to the acting ruler of Khura'in and are used to a government who imprisons their family if they displease the queen. I can't tell if they're cooperating because they want to, or because they're scared of what happens otherwise."

"What happens otherwise?"

"I'm... actually not sure. Everything the ex-queen wrote into law is still in the books until something new specifically addresses it, but none of it is enforced. Best I can tell, Nahyuta is rewriting the laws as it becomes necessary."

There he was again. Lana wanted to reserve some of her judgement for when she actually met the guy, but no harm in asking a few questions before then. "Does he talk about these things with you?"

"Sometimes. He's usually not very open about stuff, but I think the stress wears him down. He's trying to prosecute cases, participate in the clergy of Khura'in, and run a state at the same time. The only time he sleeps is when I grab him by the braid and drag him into bed with me. Or his mother threatens to strike him down with lightning if he's not done in an hour."

What the- never mind. I probably don't want to know.

"I try to help, but I don't think I'm doing very much. I could barely follow American politics. Khura'in's? No chance."

Lana took it all in with the same, impassive expression. Truth was, she had no clue how to respond to all that. "I know you like him, but... he sounds like a lot of trouble."

"It's not Nahyuta's fault. And it might not sound like it, but things have settled down over here. The first few weeks were the worst of it because no one knew what was going on. Now, it's still busy, but at least we have a routine established."

"I didn't say it was. I'm just wondering if-"

Knock knock! "Forensic Investigator Skye?"

Ema was the first one out of her seat, rushing to the door like she was expecting something. Or someone.

"Oh! Hey, Corporal. What's going on?"

There was a man of about thirty years standing outside the door. He had thick black hair, a stiff back, and a small scroll of decorated parchment in his hand. "This is for you. I was asked to deliver it right away by the royal regent himself, minutes before he entered a meeting. He apologizes that he was unable to come in person, but he would like to welcome you and your older sister to the royal residence this evening for an informal dinner. It is his current belief that the royal advisor and former queen Her Mercifulness Lady Amara and heir apparent Her Benevolence Princess Rayfa will also be in attendance. It his his hope you will be there, though this should in no way be considered an official summons and attendance is optional. Thank you."

And with that, he handed Ema the paper and left. She unscrolled it, spent a few seconds reading, and blushed.

"Good things?"

"...How does dinner sound? It's in an hour."

"Fine with me." She'd be meeting this man sooner than she thought.

How wonderful.

A/N's: I actually copied this over from the kink meme, but the actual prompt included Lana and Nahyuta having sex, and I don't want to write that part anymore. So from here on out, I'm just gonna post on here and ao3 a cute story about the two families meeting and Lana being a protective sister/near-motherly figure to her sweet Ema. And I get to write about Lana after prison, a woefully unexplored topic.

Well, hope you're enjoying it so far! Thanks for reading, please review, and I'll see you on the far side!