A/N: New chapter hooraaaaay

This one hurt my brain a little to write so I took an extra week to give myself another multi-chap to finish(I will be finishing the Tyler spin off story, please go read it if you haven't) but now this chapter is ready so woohoo.

Special thanks to Kitkatkatester and the guest for reviewing the last chapter. :)

Enjoy!

The day proceeded as normal for much of the township. By the time night had rolled around Duncan was anxiously waiting for Mani to meet him back at the bakery to go to his place.

"Took you long enough, man," Duncan said when he finally spotted the Australian approaching.

"Sorry, mate, got caught up elsewhere. Plus I had ta get changed outta my work getup," Manitoba apologized, pressing his hat down a bit more securely on his head. "I'm ready now." He was dressed up a bit more since he would be a guest at their house...for him that essentially meant clean, dirt-and-rip free clothes, and actually wearing shoes.

"Sweet, let's go," Duncan replied with a nod, leading the way out of town and down the road.

Zoey wasn't aware that she was cooking for four so it was a surprise to see Mani arrive with Duncan, but not an unwelcome surprise. "Great to see you Mani," she said with a smile while standing in the doorway.

"Zoey! Wonderful seein' ya too, Sheila," Mani replied before the two had a quick, friendly hug.

Zoey then gave Duncan a look as if asking 'does he know?' with Duncan shooting back one that read 'he's about to.' "I'll have to add some extra to the pot, I wasn't expecting anymore people eating tonight," she noted out loud.

"Well your wily husband 'ere invited me this mornin'. Don't mean to inconvenience ya," Manitoba explained.

"Oh no, it's not a problem at all," Zoey assured him. "You're always welcome to come over for dinner, just... would prefer a bit of a heads up next time."

Duncan had walked past the two and quickly made his way to the guest room, knocking on the door.

"What?" Mal's muffled voice asked from the other side, annoyed at being disturbed. He'd started to loosen up a little bit since the other day but was no less intimidating to talk to, even through a door.

"Got someone for you to meet," Duncan said quickly. "Look presentable."

"Tch, don't tell me to look presentable…" Mal muttered before saying, "Fine," a bit louder.

Duncan moved back to the front of the house, where Mani had already settled into the kitchen, talking to Zoey and catching up with her while she made dinner. He'd offered to help but Zoey reminded him of the last time he'd tried cooking in this house. "Hey, I've gotten better at cookin' since that time!" he insisted.

"I don't want to take that chance today, Mani. Maybe another time," Zoey figured with a shrug.

"Alrighty, 's your house, I get it," Mani conceded before finally noticing Duncan. "There you are, wondered where ya'd run off to," he remarked.

"...you'll see in a few minutes," was all Duncan said to that.

"Right, right…you've been all cryptic-like since this mornin," Mani replied with a small nod.

"What do you mean by that? Duncan isn't 'cryptic'..." Zoey asked as she continued cooking.

"Y'see, Sheila, we was in town today an' miss that runs the record office updates the board, right?" Mani began to retell the story of that morning.

"Oh, Mildred? I've never liked that board of hers," Zoey commented. "She gets a little too into people's business from what I've seen...not trying to be mean, of course."

"Sometimes too little I'm afraid…" Duncan chimed in under his breath.

Zoey and Mani didn't really hear that. "Saw a certain name, we did, and we both froze up," Mani continued, his tone turning more sad.

"Whose name?" Zoey inquired further.

"Ugh, is the food ready yet? I did nothing all day but plot revenge and that's boring after awhile," a fourth voice emanated from the living room.

Manitoba looked surprised to hear said voice, which made sense since he hadn't been made aware of another person in the house.

"Maybe in twenty minutes?" Zoey called back in reply.

An audible groan followed by a thump, probably onto the couch. "Sure," he mumbled inaudibly.

"Uh, Mani, would you, um, follow me to the living room…?" Duncan asked.

"Sure, mate," Manitoba replied.

"So, remember this morning? I said it wasn't right because, y'know…" Duncan started to give an explanation.

"Yeah," Manitoba confirmed.

"Well…" They stepped into the living room, and Manitoba stared at the couch as soon as his eyes landed on it. Duncan looked at its occupant and sighed. "I told you to look presentable, Mal..." he said, sounding disappointed.

"Well, pardon me for having three sets of borrowed clothes to choose from," Mal retorted, sitting up and causing the sleeves of his shirt to sag over his gloved hands. He spotted Mani staring. "Don't you know it's rude to stare?"

"Crikey…" Manitoba said under his breath, taking a step back in shock as he was able to see Mike in Mal in a similar way that Vito had the day before. "You...you ain't dead!" He placed his hand over his mouth and looked at Duncan. "Why the hell's 'e on the board then?!" he wondered in slight panic.

"I don't know and we really need to find out. This could be really bad," Duncan replied, also slightly panicky.

"What are you talking about?" Mal asked, very confused. He didn't like being confused.

"Lot to unpack here, mate. Time to buckle in, I guess," Mani figured, taking a seat.

"Yeah...a lot to unpack…" Duncan agreed.

While revelations continued to happen in the town itself, plot was also unfolding in the capital once again, specifically the palace, where Ella was sneaking back to her room after being dropped off. "Thank you," she said quietly to the driver, who still had DJ to bring around the front.

"Mmhm…" the driver replied, wiping her eyes and yawning with one hand. "No problem."

Ella tiptoed through the currently empty kitchen-it was halfway to dinner time so she had to hurry-and made her way out of the basement levels and towards her bedroom. Of course, with security being heightened following the incident at the ball, it didn't take much longer for someone to spot her. "Your Majesty," a guard said with surprise.

Ella was starting to hurry, quickening her step as she found the right staircase and made her way up.

She opened the door only to find her sister staring at her from atop her bed. Sky stood up, an odd look on her face. "Where on Earth did you run off to?" she asked, sounding equal parts worried and miffed. "Two days I've looked all over and you weren't here! Topher finally went home so that was enough distraction for Jo and Dad for a bit but I was this close to calling a search party-" She walked towards Ella as she spoke, her speech getting quicker with each step.

Ella suddenly felt awful for making Sky worry. Usually her sister kept it cool under stress, but this seemed to have really got to her. "I'm terribly sorry for making you fret this way, Sky. I so very much wanted to tell you what was happening but I knew I couldn't get you in trouble," she apologized, giving her sister a hug.

Sky hugged her back. "Tell me about it next time, okay? I'd rather know what's going on," she requested. "Could've helped you out more if I did."

"I didn't think about that...I promise I'll tell you everything," Ella reassured her, letting go of the hug to go and shut the door before finding a spot on her bed, feeling the bumpy carriage ride in her bones as soon as she hit the blankets. "It was absolutely wonderful," she noted as she took off the cape she'd been wearing.

Ella told Sky about her trip away from the capital, making sure to keep quiet in case a guard passed by. She was careful not to mention DJ's name for that same reason.

"So you found your mystery guy from the ball and went to his house?" Sky summarized what she was told, surprised that Ella had done such a thing. It didn't seem like her to sneak off like that.

Ella nodded. "He was the sweetest thing ever, so gentlemanly… a bit nervous, but we were both like that at the start." She sighed with a smile. "I wish we'd had more time together...I learned so much more about him, but...I still know so little."

Sky had never seen her sister talk this way about a guy before, excluding her worries and guilt from the ball. She could tell that Ella had fallen for this guy, whom sir herself had taken to be a nice enough fellow that probably shouldn't have come to the ball in his condition, but had a bad feeling that this wouldn't work out in the end; after all, Ella was a princess who was meant to marry someone else of noble lineage. "What was the house like? Was it big?" she asked further, spurring her sister into providing more details.

Eventually there was a knock on the door and both princesses turned their heads. "Your Highnesses, His Majesty the king requests your presence at dinner," a servant's voice followed.

"One moment," Sky replied back, standing up. "Thank you." She waited for the servant to leave. "You need to get some proper clothes back on, Ella," she told her sister.

"Oh dear, yes, of course," Ella agreed, hurrying to her closet to change while Sky left to hurry off to her own room. "Lost track of the time, didn't we?" she thought aloud while pulling the final layer of skirt over her head to finish her outfit.

"Good thing that servant was there to warn us."

The real transition happens next chapter, promise.

Sky is hard to write for some reason ugh

Lemme know your thoughts on the chapter, they're always welcome. On a break from school this week so that might mean the next chapter comes quicker?

Stay safe out there y'all, and I'll see ya next time :)