The winter session at Kings University was startlingly quiet. There were only a handful of students left on her street, and from what Addy could tell, a similarly sparse smattering of students, faculty, and staff throughout the rest of the campus, too. The bakery was all but abandoned, and Addy never had to wait in line for her coffee, but it was also a little too quiet for her to really focus when she tried to study at her favorite table. Though the employees behind the counter were very good at pretending she was just an ordinary customer and not their future queen, she still felt awkward being able to hear every word of their conversations as they passed the time before their shifts ended.

Addy liked going to the same class every single day, though her brain was usually boggled by the end of the three hour lectures. Every few days they had a paper due or a quiz to take, so Addy was just as busy as she was during a normal semester, even though she only had to focus on one subject.

She missed Meri and Kile, she missed Martin and his lips, she even missed Lenore, but there was a special ache in her heart every time she walked past Luke's bedroom. She still hadn't heard from him since their fight. She wondered if he might not regret ever transferring to Kings University. Maybe he was even in negotiations to transfer back to his old school, just so he wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. Luckily, her mind was too busy with class work to spend too much time lingering on dark thoughts like those.

One particularly chilly morning, after an early, brisk jog with the guards that had left her lungs feeling grated by the cold air and the rest of her body humming with endorphins, Addy noticed a Palace announcement in the lower corner of a newspaper; Illéan troops were headed to New Asia to help with the rebel crisis. Addy knew it wasn't something the Palace wanted people to be concerned about, given the deemphasized placement on the front page. Though her father had been the one to make the ultimate decision, it still felt as if she'd been the one to put those soldiers in harm's way. Some of them would certainly die over there, though she hoped not many. Addy had a hard time focusing in class that day.

On the bright side, Illéan history was basically a family history class for Addy. The discussions about Gregory Illéa's life before founding their country, including his time at the very university they were currently attending, were the same kinds of discussions Addy had been having with her tutor and the rest of the Palace kid gang for years. Gregory Illéa wasn't a hero in any story told about him anymore, but it was thanks to him that Maxon was the King. Addy knew her daddy liked to daydream about a normal life as a photographer or office manager, but the truth was, if he'd ever been anything but his country's leader, it would have been a waste of his potential. He belonged on that throne, and it was nice to be able to say so to all of her classmates during an academic discussion about the various Kings of Illéa.

They also spent an entire class, three full hours, reviewing the origins of the caste system. Addy knew her own family's history with the system by heart, her grandmother had been a Six, her mother had been a Five, both of them had been extraordinary choices to become Queen given that everybody below a Four was considered a second-class citizen. The more the class discussed the details, including the differences in standard of living, amongst the castes, the more grateful Addy was that her parents had done away with the whole thing. Sure, there were protests about the education system now, but those people protesting had lost sight of the bigger picture. No one was starving, there was adequate medical care for every citizen of Illéa, everyone had an opportunity to find a job they enjoyed and make enough money to provide for their family, and none of that was the case when her parents had been her age.

For homework that night, they were supposed to interview somebody who had lived through the caste system, to record their interview so that it could be added to the University's current collection for future historians to access.

Addy knew that, because she was the heir to the throne, future historians would definitely be interested in whatever interview she conducted. She decided to use a voice recorder and call her grandmother Magda.

"Okay, Grandma, I have four main questions for you."

"And I'm ready for them, Bird." Grandma Magda was excited and flattered to be interviewed for historical records by her most famous grandchild.

"Good. When we learn about the castes now, we learn about how unfair and inefficient they were, but we don't talk about much else. I'm curious, though, was there anything good about it? What was the best part about being a Five?"

There was a pause while Magda considered the question, "You know, Birdy, I really loved the music. I really, really did. I can remember practicing the piano with my grandmother and playing duets with my mother. It was a true joy to teach each and every one of my children how to play, even your Uncle Gerad, though he never learned much beyond a few basic scales. Our caste changed when he was still so young, you know…"

Addy hadn't thought much about how young Uncle Gerad had been when her mother had married her father, but she knew he was different from her other aunts and uncles. He never drew pictures for any of the Schreave children, and he never played music in the family room. As far as Addy knew, he didn't make any kind of art at all. Aunt May was a practiced artist, and she was almost the same age as Uncle Gerad, they'd lived in the caste system for almost the same amount of time. Addy wondered what kind of artist her uncle would have become if push had come to shove and he'd never been able to study medicine. She wondered who would have made the research breakthroughs that he was making, who would have focused so hard on curing their specific genetic heart condition. Would there have been other doctors to take his place? Would they have been as talented as he was? Would they care about heart defects as much as he did?

"It's good that Uncle Gerad had the chance to chose his own path." Addy said.

"That's right. He's happier than I think he ever could have been as an artist. Although, for a brief moment, I thought your father might have turned him onto photography."

"Really?"

"He adores your dad, sweetheart, he's looked up to him since your mother first started boasting about him in interviews during his Selection. Gerad took her at her word, no questions asked." Magda chuckled at the memory. "So, when your uncle Gerad found out how much your dad adores photography, let's just say that he was captivated. He wanted to be just like Maxon in every possible way."

Addy thought about the photographs she'd seen in her father's albums, the ones depicting the earliest days of his reign as king, back when her mother had merely been a princess, not yet married to her father, and so not yet crowned Queen. Uncle Gerad had been little, only Lief's age, when he'd first met Addy's dad.

Addy's stomach swooped, thinking of introducing Lief to her future husband, as she would do sometime in the next few years. Would it be Martin? Would it be someone else? It was easy to imagine Lief idolizing whoever she chose, just like Grandma Magda was saying that Uncle Gerad had. It was a reminder that she had to be very, very careful who she introduced to her siblings. She'd have to keep everyone from her Selection separated from them for as long as possible, so that they wouldn't get their hearts broken when Addy sent nearly every single guy away forever.

"Adrienne? Are you there?" Grandma Magda called through the phone. Addy blushed, realizing she'd been lost in her thoughts a few seconds too long.

"I'm here. Just thinking." Addy cleared her throat, rushing to continue the interview, "Grandma, when we're at home and you talk about before Mom entered Dad's Selection, you talk about some really happy times. Does that mean it wasn't all bad?"

"I don't think you'd find many people willing to say that their lives were 'all' anything, honey." Magda pointed out. "There was real, true happiness in spite of a cruel, terrible public policy. I loved watching your grandfather work. He could make the most breathtaking, beautiful images out of nothing more than a blank paper and a pencil."

Addy knew that her grandfather had been a painter, like Aunt May and Aunt Kenna, but she really only knew that because of the half-finished painting that had hung in the nursery since she'd been born. He'd been in the middle of working on it when he'd died. It was a painting of a redheaded queen, adored by her people, both ethereal and somehow, from the look in her eyes, very earthly at the same time. As a little girl, Addy had figured that it was a painting of herself. The red haired queen had wings and looked almost like she was floating, and Addy was, after all, the Bird of the family. She hadn't even questioned her assumption until she was thirteen, and one day it just dawned on her that, of course, it was a painting of her mother. Her grandfather had died without ever knowing that Addy would even exist, how could he have painted her?

For some reason, this realization had hurt her very deeply, in a way that wasn't entirely healed even four years later. Addy'd covered the pain with anger at herself for being so stupid for so long. Of course her grandfather had never painted her, and he never would.

Truth be told, Addy was still jealous of her mother, deep in her heart, that she'd gotten to know Grandpa Shalom and Grandma Amberly, and Addy would never know either of them. Those were two holes in her heart that couldn't be filled by anybody, no matter how enormous Grandma Magda's personality was.

"So…" Addy blinked, bringing herself back to the interview, "The art was a bond? It connected you to your grandmother-"

"Your great, great grandmother." Magda reminded her. "A connection that flows all the way down to the little sketches you send Rosie in the mail."

"Oh Grandma, those aren't art." Addy was hoping to discourage future historians, listening to the recording of this conversation, from seeking out any record of Addy's dumb doodles.

"They most certainly are!" Grandma Magda objected. "The only thing separating your drawings from your Aunt Kenna's or your Aunt May's is a lack of practice. Don't sell yourself short."

"Grandma-" Addy complained, "-This isn't about me. This is about your experiences with the caste system."

"Fine. Just don't, for a moment, think that you wouldn't fit right in with the rest of your artistic ancestors. Your shading reminds me of some of the charcoal sketches your grandfather used to-"

"Grandma," Addy objected. Trying to get Grandma Magda to stop bragging about her grandchildren was like trying to stop a boulder from rolling downhill. The only shot was to interrupt the momentum. "We talked about what was good. What was the hardest part about living under the caste system?"

Grandma Magda was quiet for a moment, then she said, "Hard in what way, Bird?"

"Um... I don't know..."

"Do you mean what was the most frustrating, or challenging, or what was the most painful?"

Addy was taken aback, "Painful?"

Magda sighed heavily, taking her reply for an answer rather than a question, "Birdy, are you sure you want to hear this? Your mother and father have changed everything, it's all different now. Shouldn't that be what the history focuses on?"

"In order to understand my dad's solutions, I need to understand his problems." Addy challenged. "I need to know what he was facing when he became King, that way I can wrap my head around the ways he solved those problems."

"Then surely speaking with him would be-"

"No, Grandma, he was a prince. He didn't live with the system like you did."

Magda took so long to speak that, at first, Addy thought they'd been disconnected. But then Magda said, "Sweetheart, before your father met your mother, there was no food assistance program."

"I know that. It's Dad's flagship initiative." she recited, a lesson from a textbook.

"Think about what that means, honey. There was nowhere for people to go if they didn't have any food to eat, or even if they just didn't have enough food to eat. Keep in mind that the caste structure was like a pyramid. Vastly more people in the lower tiers than the higher ones. We're talking about over half of the Illéan population facing some kind of chronic hunger on a regular basis."

Addy blinked. How had that never occurred to her before? "...Even you?"

"Yes." Grandma Magda said, matter-of-factly.

"...Even Mom?"

"Yes." This time, her voice was sympathetic.

Addy's mind was reeling. She tried to imagine what she would have done, with a family of seven people getting by on the money two artists could bring in. She kept coming back to programs that hadn't existed back then. The subsidized daycare centers her mother had pioneered, or the public school system that served children two free, hot meals every day. "What did you do?" Addy asked quietly.

"Our best." Magda replied gently.

"Grandma… Mom never told me."

"I know, honey, she's too stubborn. There's a lot about the world before you were born that she doesn't think will ever be any of your business. She thinks you have more than enough to be getting on with, just handling the world as it exists now."

Addy got through the other two questions she'd prepared for her grandmother in a numb, automatic haze. If there hadn't been castes, what job would Grandma Magda have wanted? The answer was that she only ever wanted to give her children better than what she'd had, so any job that did that would have been a dream come true. And was there any aspect of the caste removal process that wasn't going smoothly, was there anything that the government had overlooked? Grandma Magda had no complaints, but couldn't speak for everyone's experience.

Addy thanked her grandmother and promised to see her at America's birthday ball, then hung up the phone and pressed stop on the audio recording device. She felt like her mind was full of quicksand, she was trying to process what her grandmother had told her about her mother's experience, but as hard as she strained and struggled, she was getting nowhere. She'd known her mother had been a Five, she'd known that meant that the Singers hadn't been wealthy, but she'd never realized that they'd been starving.

Addy's heart raced in her chest, tears sprang to her eyes, and her mouth turned to cotton. She was headed for a meltdown, fast, and she knew that she needed an intervention if she wanted to avoid a full blown anxiety attack.

She picked up the phone and dialed another number. The phone rang several times before America answered.

"Hi sweetheart! How are you doing tonight?"

"Hi Mom. I'm good." Addy said, struggling to make her voice cooperate.

"What can I do for you?"

"I... I don't know. I just wanted to talk. Are you busy?"

"The usual," America's voice had a rueful amusement to it, "But I'm never too busy for you. What's on your mind?"

Addy didn't know what she wanted to say. If she told her mother about the interview, then America would feel like she had to gloss over the truth to make Addy feel better again. She'd never get a straight answer out of her mom, not when it came to life before her father's Selection. And pushing her mother to be more brutally honest would probably only bring back terrible memories and make everything worse now. "Are you doing okay?" Addy asked, finally.

"I'm great. Someone just gifted a bunch of land in Sota to the government, it looks like we might get a new national park out of it if we play our cards right. And there's a beautiful estate on the southern side of the property, it's a breathtaking location for a public library. I'll show you the pictures next time you're home, I think you're going to love it."

"Wow, Mom, that sounds incredible." Addy's tone still wasn't matching her words, but the knot in her chest was starting to ease. "Let me know if you need my help."

"I certainly will." America promised. "So that's why you called? You just wanted to... to check on me?" her voice was skeptical.

Addy picked at one of her fingernails as she figured out how to respond, "I just wanted to catch up."

"It must be hard without Meri or Kile on campus." America guessed at the problem. "I'll bet it's pretty lonely right now."

"No, it's not a big deal. Don't worry about me." Addy hurried to set her mother's mind at ease. "What... um, what did you guys have for dinner?" She just wanted a reminder that her mother wasn't hungry anymore. Maybe that would calm her heart down.

"Sweetheart? Are you sure you're alright?" America asked.

Addy scowled at herself, knowing she wasn't a good enough liar to stop her mother's almost psychic ability to know when something was bothering her. That, combined with her mother's insurmountable stubbornness meant that she wouldn't let up until she knew what was happening. Addy was cornered.

So, she told her mother all about class, about the homework assignment, about the interview with Magda. Addy sniffled and hugged Elephanty tight to her chest as she said, "Mom, I never knew you were starving..."

There was a long sigh on the other end of the telephone. "Did Grandma Magda use that word, honey? Did she say 'starving'?" America asked curiously.

"I... I don't remember, I think maybe she said... 'hungry'."

"There's a big, big difference between 'hungry' and 'starving', don't you think?"

"Yeah." Addy allowed, eager to let her mother take the sharp edge off of her sadness.

"Our lives were never in danger, and most of the time we were fine. We never had leftovers after dinner, but we had enough. It was only sometimes, mostly in between holidays when there was a lull in business, when we went to bed with our stomachs growling."

Addy thought about her aunts and uncle, about her grandmother and the specter of her grandfather. She imagined them like characters in a novel, dressed in rags, smudged with soot, huddled around an open fire pit in the middle of a shack for warmth. She knew her imagination was being dramatic, she'd even been to her mother's childhood home once or twice. It was small, but it wasn't a hovel. It was cozy, comfortable, and it even had a little treehouse in the backyard like at the Palace.

"You know, this is why I never told you about it, Birdy." America said gently. "I knew you wouldn't be able to understand it properly."

"I wish I could... fix it." Addy confessed, feeling helpless.

America giggled, "You are a redheaded Maxon sometimes, do you know that?"

"Maybe." It was a strange compliment.

"When I first told your father what it was like to be hungry, he ran out and started his food assistance program. Just like that."

"Really?" The idea of her dad in the silly, outdated ties he'd worn during his Selection, sprinting off to save the world after hearing her mother's story, was like a cure for her homesickness. It was exactly what she'd expect from him. She smiled.

"I'm sorry to say, he didn't leave much of that particular problem unsolved for you to work on." America told her. "You're just going to have to fix something else. Okay?"

"Okay." Addy promised.

"Good girl." America said approvingly. "Is there anything else you need to hear from me to make you feel better?"

Addy's cheeks burned. She hadn't wanted her mother to realize how close to a meltdown she'd been when she'd called. She'd wanted her mother to think she'd just been calling to check on her, but America hadn't been fooled for a second. "No. Nothing else."

America made an unconvinced sound. Then she said, "Hold on a moment. There's someone who's been asking to talk to you all day long."

Addy waited patiently, pressing her face into Elephanty's soft fur and breathing in the scent of 'home' that was forever seeped into his fabric.

After a moment, Addy could hear shuffling on the other side, and then a sleepy voice on the other end of the line. "Addy?"

It was Rosebud.

Addy smiled, "Buddy, it's so past your bedtime!"

"Mommy came to got me." Rosie yawned. "Um… guess what?"

"What?"

"I'm going to real lessons, I'm going to learn math."

Addy gasped, "No way."

"Yes! I wasn't going to go until tomorrow-"

"This fall." America corrected her gently.

"Oh, yeah, this fall, but Miss Alvaraz came to me when I was with Aunt Kenna, and I read her a story from my little book, and she says I can come tomorrow."

"Monday." America reminded her.

Rosie said, "Addy, I'm going to have homework like you. I need markers."

Addy laughed, "What are you talking about, Bud?"

"I need special homework markers just like you."

Addy looked over at the kitchen table, which she'd turned into a study den while she had the whole dormitory to herself. There were several textbooks spread out, as well as pens, pencils, erasers, and highlighters. Addy's mind clicked, "Oh, I know what you mean. The yellow and pink kind?"

"Yes, I need a rainbow of colors."

"Okay Rosie, I'll send you a bunch of highlighters for your homework."

"Good. I knew you could find some." Rosie seemed mollified by this.

"I'm so proud of you, Rosie. You must have worked really hard on learning to read your little book, if Miss Alvaraz thinks you're already ready for lessons."

"I practiced all the time, even to Aunt May." Rosie bragged.

"Good job."

"Lief and me... um... we get to be in the same room as Maisy and Jamesy. They have harder lessons, but sometimes we'll get to play with them and eat lunch together."

"I bet Jamesy and Maisy will like having you there to take some attention." Addy grinned. Ever since their twin cousins, Leo and Rogan, had switched to public school, Jamesy and Maisy had been complaining about the pressure of being the only two Palace kids left in lessons. "Maybe Miss Alvaraz won't have time to ask them as many hard questions if she's busy with you."

America's voice chimed in, "Miss Alvaraz is a world class educator, I wouldn't worry about Jamesy or Maisy not being challenged enough." her voice was teasing. Addy knew that Miss Alvaraz shared all of her lesson plans with the King and Queen, and so America probably knew about some upcoming quizzes or essays that were sure to make Jamesy and Maisy consider abdicating their roles in the monarchy and running far away to join the circus.

"Know what else?" Rosie asked.

"What else?" Addy asked, grinning.

"I can count to five in French! Mommy taught me."

"All the way to five?"

"Want to hear?"

"Of course!"

"Un, doo, twaah, cat, sank." Rosie demonstrated proudly.

Addy laughed as quietly as she could, and rushed to praise her baby sister, "You're going to be so ready when Miss Alvaraz starts teaching you Spanish and French."

"Daddy knows a lot of Spanish, his mommy came from Spanish, he said he can teach me tomorrow."

"This weekend." America reminded Rosie, clearly stifling her own giggles, "And Daddy's mommy wasn't from Spanish. Where was she from?"

Rosie yawned sleepily, "... I think she was from Carolina."

"Honduragua." America answered for her, and then Addy heard the slightly muffled sound of a hair kiss. "I'm from Carolina."

Addy was willing to bet that the difference between 'Honduragua' and 'Carolina' meant very little to Rosie, who hadn't learned much of the Illéan map yet. "Well Buddy, make sure you learn everything Daddy teaches you so you can tell me about it later." Addy said. "Lots and lots and lots of people speak Spanish in our country, and I'm going to be their queen, too. I want to understand them as much as I can."

"Okay, I can help you." Rosie promised. "I will teach you all the way to ten."

"Wow, ten? Thank you, Buddy." Addy grinned.

"Tell Addy goodnight and let's get you tucked back in." America's voice instructed.

Rosie was quick to react, like a reflex, "I need water."

"I'll bring you some water."

"I need a snack."

"You already had crackers before bedtime."

"Oh, yeah. I need-"

"Rosie." America said in a pointed but gentle tone. Addy knew it well. It meant that the time for negotiation was past, and there would be no more compromises.

Rosie sighed as if she bore a great burden of persecution, then said, "Goodnight, Addy. I love you."

"I love you, too, Rosie. Will you do me a favor?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. I need you to give Mommy a huge hug and a very big kiss for me."

"Oh okay, yeah, I can do that." Rosie was pleased to have such a monumental responsibility.

"Thank you. Goodnight, Rosebud. Happy dreams."

"Happy dreams, Addy."

There was a shuffle, and America took the phone back. "Goodnight, Adrienne. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom."

"I..." America paused, "I wish Grandma had been a little more thoughtful in how she told you... she's… she's really never been good at managing those of us who tend to wear other people's burdens as heavily as our own... but I'm glad you're getting a broader sense of the country you're going to rule. I think it'll help you, to know what your people have been through. Anyone your age won't have had to live through the castes, but anyone my age and Grandma's age will have, and you're going to be our queen, too."

The idea of being Queen America's Queen in just a few years made Addy extremely uncomfortable. "You'll always be my queen, Mom."

"Just as long as I get that year long vacation your father keeps talking about, I'll be whatever you want me to be." America joked.

"Have fun without me." Addy pouted, though she meant her words. She'd do just about anything to spend an entire, work-free year with her parents and siblings, just traveling around the world and experiencing everything freely. But, no matter what, they'd never all get to be free together. At least one Schreave always had to stay behind, and she'd just as soon it wasn't any of her younger siblings.

"You'll have your year." America promised. "You'll be about my age when your heir is ready to take the throne, and Daddy and I will be Grandma's age, and you know your Grandmother. She'll still be kicking."

Addy giggled, "She'll outlive all of us."

"Don't I know it." America agreed.

Addy was barely beginning to come to grips with how soon she'd be Queen, she hadn't even started thinking about what would come after she was Queen. "You really think that'll happen, Mom? I'll get to go with the whole family somewhere far away?"

"I really do." America said, a smile in her voice.

That was how they left it, other than a couple of 'I love you's. Addy fell asleep that night trying to imagine herself as an adult, done with her reign as queen, and where she'd choose to spend her year long vacation. There was so much she wanted to do. She wanted to hike with her dad and cook with her mom and watch a soccer match with Maisy and ride horses with Rosie. She wanted to ride carnival rides with Jamesy and go to the beach with Lief. She wanted to walk out until the salt water was up to his shoulders, then help him stand while the waves rolled past them. The trouble was, she wanted to do all of those things now, and it was hard to have the patience to wait twenty-five years.

That night, she dreamt of a thirty-year-old Rosie, too far across the Palace to make it to the stables. The first thing Addy did after coffee the next morning was go to the campus bookstore and use some of her allowance to buy the biggest variety pack of highlighters they sold. While on a study break, she drew a special doodle for Rosie and then had both gifts couriered to the Palace immediately. Rosie had her 'special homework markers' by the end of the day.

Addy didn't have a final exam at the end of winter session. There was a test, but it only counted for a small portion of her grade. Most of her grade was comprised of participation from the rest of the session. She had perfect attendance, she'd done every single homework assignment, and she'd spoken in class a few times. She walked out of there with an A+, and a few extra days to spend at home before the spring semester started.

Her favorite part of her mini-break was getting to help Rosie with her homework. Rosie highlighted every word on every worksheet with as many different colors as she could manage. Maxon, James, and Gerad had moved the kid sized desk that had originally been Addy's into Rosie's room, and Rosie took her inheritance very seriously. She'd decreed that only important work was allowed to be done at the Addy desk. Homework. Drawing. Reading. No toys and no snacks allowed under any circumstances except emergencies (Addy hadn't asked her baby sister what kind of toy and snack emergencies she was expecting. She was sure the rule was there for a very good reason).

On her third night at home, Addy was on her way to her room from the movie theater downstairs, where she and Kile had had a movie night. It was late, the hallway lights on the third floor were dimmed, and so she could easily make out the bright lights leaking out from under Maisy's bedroom door.

Addy paused in the hallway, then padded over and knocked softly.

"Who is it?" Maisy's voice was hushed.

"It's Addy."

There was a pause, and then, "Come in."

Addy creaked the door open and peeked inside. Maisy was curled up in her bed with Lief laying next to her. Lief was clutching Maisy's stuffed giraffe tightly, and his eyes were red and watery.

"Lief?" Addy asked, surprised, "You've been crying?"

Lief pouted at being called out like this and Addy winced. Lief associated crying with babies, and he wanted to be a big kid.

Maisy explained, "He had a really scary dream."

Addy frowned. There had been a time when Lief would have come running to her, not Maisy. All her siblings used to come to her with their worries. She supposed they were having to figure out a new way to do things now that Addy didn't live at the Palace anymore.

Addy tiptoed into the room and slid onto the bed, careful not to squish Maisy's feet which were buried somewhere under the blankets. "So," she settled in across from him, "A nightmare, huh?"

"Yeah." Lief sniffled.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Lief shook his head, then paused. "I got lost from home." he confessed miserably.

"Oh no. That's so scary." Addy said sympathetically.

"I didn't know what to do. It was dark." his voice shook.

"Where were you in the dream?" Addy asked.

"The woods."

"Okay," Addy squared her shoulders, "If you ever get lost in the real woods, hug a tree."

"Hug a tree?" Lief thought she was deranged.

"Uncle Aspen and all the guards will be looking through the woods for you. The best chance for them to find you is if you stay still and listen for them. It would be harder for them to find you if you wandered even further away, you know? Then, when you hear them calling for you, you yell back. Even if it's dark, they won't stop looking until they find you. And they'll be calling out for you, even if they don't use your real name. Okay?"

"They won't use my name?" Lief asked, confused.

"They might use a secret code name to protect your identity. Like… Stinky Face." she imagined for his benefit, and he giggled wildly in appreciation. He loved anything and everything yucky.

"Hairy Nose!" he contributed, eager to play along.

"Puke Mouth." Addy suggested.

"Butt!" Lief shrieked with laughter and clapped a hand over his mouth at his own use of the "swear word". Maisy snorted loudly, head falling back onto her pillow.

Addy was laughing, too, "I don't think Uncle Aspen is going to call you 'Butt', Lief."

Lief couldn't handle hearing the word 'butt' out loud, not once but twice. He laughed so hard, he started falling off the bed. He reached out and clung to the blankets at the last second to keep himself from going overboard, and after a moment, he managed to drag himself back to a secure position.

"Okay, so you know what to do if you're lost in the woods?" Addy checked, her tone returning to earnestness.

Lief nodded, still grinning impishly, "Hug a tree?"

"That's right."

"How did you learn all that stuff?" Lief asked curiously, "How did you learn what to do?"

"Well, I'm Dad's heir, so Uncle Aspen has been drilling me on what to do in every kind of emergency for basically my whole life."

"Like if there's a fire?" Lief asked.

"Go to the library. It's fireproof and secure."

"What if there's a monster?"

"Safe room downstairs."

"What if a robot comes and it slides down the chimney and it kidnaps Dad?"

"I become Queen and lead the army on their mission to rescue Dad." Addy shrugged.

"Woah." Lief was impressed.

Maisy lifted her hand up and threw the blanket over Lief's head. "Wanna get some sleep, Squirt?"

"Can Addy stay?" he asked from under the covers.

"Yep." Maisy allowed.

Addy giggled and stretched out on Maisy's bed, taking care to jostle and accost the giggling blanket lump that was Lief. "Slumber party time."

"Emphasis on the slumber, I've got soccer practice in the morning." Maisy bossed.

Lief poked his head out from under the covers and Addy squirmed up the bed until she found a pillow. That last thing she heard that night was Lief's groggy little voice mumble, "Love you." before they all three fell asleep.

Addy was excited to be going back to campus for a new semester. She got to ride with Meri, and they listened to very loud pop music in the back of the car for the entire ride. Addy had a brand new textbook list, and that meant she got to make a trip to the school bookstore all for herself. She got her textbooks and blew twenty dollars on some brand new school supplies she didn't technically need. She even splurged on a felt pennant bearing the Kings University logo to decorate the space above her desk.

She made plans with Kile and Meri to go to their favorite campus diner for dinner that night, and she played with some makeup that Meri had given her for her birthday while she passed the time. She was distracting herself from the obvious. Luke still wasn't back. Their fight felt like a hundred years ago now, but she still felt queasy when she thought about him being mad at her.

Kile paid for dinner that night using money he'd won in a card game against his roommates. He was in a great mood, and it wasn't just because of his lucky hand of cards. He'd spent the last few days before the semester started at Aunt Kenna and Uncle James' house, where Astra was living while she was dancing in the ballet company. This meant that they'd told Uncle James and Aunt Kenna, not to mention Astra's brothers, that they were back together again. And if they'd told one family, they'd definitely told the other. Uncle Carter, Aunt Marlee, and Josie were now in the know, too.

Addy doubted they'd gotten up to any naked shenanigans while sleeping just down the hall from Uncle James, but just getting to spend that much time together must have been amazing. They'd probably watched television while cuddled up on the sofa, maybe cooked dinner together for everybody, and had a hundred little conversations in between. Addy loved that her cousin-sister and one of her best friends were back together, and actually figuring out how to have an adult relationship. The adolescent one they'd had before hadn't worked in the adult world, but Addy figured that this time they had a real chance.

"I'm the maid-of-honor at Astra's and your wedding, right?" Addy asked, apropos of nothing. Kile'd still been going on about winning his card game, he hadn't mentioned his girlfriend all evening. He rolled his eyes and threw a fry across the booth at her. It bounced off of Addy's nose and into her lap. Unwilling to let a fry go to waste, Addy picked it up, swiped it in special sauce and popped it in her mouth. She took his fry projectile as confirmation."I'm totally the maid-of-honor."

When she was as full of salt and soda as any princess could hope to be, she and Aaliyah made their way back across the darkened, chilly campus, and Addy smiled. The students were back. There were clusters of reunited friends heading every which way, and they passed no fewer than three raucous parties, even though everyone had classes in the morning. All break long, the campus had been practically abandoned. Addy had felt just like she was on a royal tour of a closed location, lonely and missing half of the fun. Now campus was alive again, and Addy was just a student again, and she couldn't wait to start classes and study at the bakery on the weekends and go to a sports match or a festival in the park or some other campus event. She took a deep breath of cold air and her lungs stung pleasantly with it, making her smile eagerly. She was ready for more.

When Addy got back to her house, the guards on the first floor were all stirred up over something, and though she didn't peek around the staircase to look in at their kitchen or common room, she could hear Illéan and English voices conversing excitedly. If the English guards were back, that could only mean one thing: the English prince was back, too.

Addy looked up the staircase and felt every emotion it was possible to feel. She was relieved that Luke was back and excited to see him and happy that she wouldn't be alone on the top floor anymore; and she was anxious that he was still mad, and terrified that he would hate her, and angry that he'd skipped her birthday party, and annoyed that he'd left it to the last possible second to come back and put an end to this fight, one way or another.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she took the stairs, and the whole world around her seemed to be in vivid, saturated color and also, somehow, a blur of tunnel vision until she got to the top of the stairs and found Luke, sitting on the sofa, leg bouncing nervously, head in his hands.

It actually reminded her of how she'd found him when she'd been sneaking back from her amazing date with Martin. This time he wasn't crying though, and that was a marked improvement. He stood when he saw her, and Addy allowed herself a moment to take in the sight of him. His sandy blond curls were longer than they'd been before break. She'd never seen his hair so long that it covered his ears before, but she didn't hate it. He wore a cable knit sweater in a deep, forrest green that made his eyes look more hazel than blue, and the way he wore his corduroy pants somehow made them look formal enough for a prince.

"Hi." she said softly.

He looked relieved that she'd found a sensible way to break the ice. "Hi."

"You just got back?"

"Yes."

"Good flight?"

"Fine. Long."

"Yeah…" Addy shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

There was an heavy silence, and then they both spoke at once, "Adrienne, I—"

"You don't have to—"

They froze. Luke bit at his bottom lip and Addy tried to remember if she'd ever seen him do that before. Should she warn him that Aunt Silvia would have his head if she spotted a royal personage biting at their lip? She would have, if they'd been at the Palace.

"I owe you an apology." he said suddenly. He got the words out before she could stop him because she'd been totally distracted by his lower lip. She scowled at herself, but Luke thought she was scowling at him. He continued, "I behaved terribly when we fought. I raised my voice and… and slammed doors… I made an absolute idiot of myself, and then I skived off your birthday party, which I'm honestly so ashamed of—"

"Luke—"

"I've played this apology through in my head dozens of times… every night before I went to sleep, but it always came off as sounding like some kind of excuse… When I try to explain my actions, it just sounds like I'm… like I'm blaming you for my bad behavior. So I won't. I won't explain anything. I just want you to know that I'm sorry, I'm a complete monster, and I beg you to forgive me."

Addy shook her head, letting his words hang in the air between them for a moment while she processed them. "Luke… you're not a monster."

"I am."

"No." she laughed a little at the idea, "I just… You don't get to control what I do."

"I know that. I'm done with that."

"I know what I did was risky, and I get that it was selfish, I just don't think that being a little selfish once in a while is the worst crime I could commit."

"You're right."

"My whole life is for my country. That night was for me."

"I understand." Luke nodded.

Honestly, Addy was surprised. At some point, she'd expected him to remind her of the people who risked their lives to protect her, of what it would have done to her family if she'd gotten hurt or killed while she was off campus, of the future for her country that would die if she did. He didn't. Maybe he'd realized that she already had that anxious voice inside her head, and she didn't need any external voices to add to it.

"I… I'm sorry I scared you, though." Addy took a step forward, offering him her hand. "I know I scared the absolute life out of you, and I didn't mean to, and I'm not sorry about anything else from that night. But I'm sorry about that."

He took her offered hand in his and said, "Thank you. I'll try to imagine you dead in less creative and frankly horrifying ways next time. That'll help."

"Next time I'll give you fair warning." Addy rolled her eyes. "Then we can decide the ways I'll probably die together."

"Yes, you always make everything more practical." Luke nodded.

"I'm more likely to be stricken by lightning than devoured by a pack of ravenous wolves this far away from any forests, for example." Addy pointed out.

Luke pretended to heave a breath of relief, "Thank goodness. Illéa isn't ready for its first werewolf queen, no matter what the progressives say."

Addy tilted her chin back and laughed. It was a good play on all of the headlines that had periodically popped up in magazines for Addy's whole life, questioning whether Illéa was truly ready for its first ruling queen. "Maybe in another fifty years." she replied.

Luke gave her hand a gentle squeeze, then dropped it and turned back to the sofa, "I have something for you…"

"What?"

"It's your birthday present. I'm absolutely foul for not being at your birthday party to give it to you…" he paused, picking up a brightly wrapped package and turning back to look at her, "Your dress was magnificent, by the way."

"Th—Thank you." Addy realized with a jolt that he must have sought out magazines with photographs of the event, maybe to torture himself for skipping town.

"I can't believe how quickly Lief and Rosie are growing up. I saw them a few months ago, but I swear they look taller now."

"It's dizzying." Addy agreed.

"I'd like to see your family again soon, if that's alright."

Addy's heart ached for him, so far from his own family and clearly afraid she wouldn't want him near hers, "Oh Lucas, you're always welcome at the Palace. It's your home, too."

He smiled gratefully, then offered her the wrapped package in his hands. "Happy birthday, Bird."

Addy tore into it happily, letting the wrapping paper fall away, and she gently opened the white cardboard box beneath to reveal a wide, thick mug with an overlarge handle on the side. Addy stepped aside to set the box down and examine her new gift. It fit perfectly on her hand, though it would also be comfortable to clutch between both of her hands for warmth. It was silky-smooth ceramic, white with blue snowflakes falling down. On the front of the mug, an adorable cartoon redbird stood in a pair of tiny ice skates, a tartan scarf wrapped around her neck, the end of it flying like a flag in the breeze. The bird tilted her head curiously, thoughtfully, adorably.

"Found it in Scotland." Luke grinned. "Now you've got your own mug and you can stop stealing mine."

Addy grinned up at him, "Oh, I'm going to keep stealing yours."

"And neglect your pretty bird?" Luke asked in a tone that attempted to guilt her.

Addy giggled, clutching the mug to her chest, "Did you bring any more of that cinnamon spice tea?"

"Two tins. It ought to last us until warmer weather, so long as there aren't any hard freezes that necessitate extra tea to survive." he said wisely.

"Will you make some now for my new mug?"

Luke bowed to her at the waist, "As your Highness commands."

Addy laughed, "Luke, you can't bow that deeply to me! What are you trying to do, start an international incident? A bow that deep, and you've basically just handed me England."

Luke bowed even lower, until the top of his head was pointed fully at the floor, "Have Wales as well."

Addy poked him in the side, causing him to jolt away from any potential tickling, then crossed the room to carefully set her mug next to the stove and await her tea. "You can't give me Wales, Wales isn't yours anymore."

As he also crossed over and put the kettle on, he muttered, "That's what they think."

Addy rubbed a hand over her face, shaking her head at the rogue prince in front of her. What was she going to do with him?