The only thing that Bloom felt like eating the day before she had to give her speech was ice cream. Everything else made her want to vomit. So she was waiting in a private room in full makeup and a ball gown, with her hair piled on top of her head trying not to spill ice cream everywhere.

Owen sat opposite her eating his own cup. He didn't seem fussed when Vanessa had asked him if he could run and get some ice cream for Bloom so that she wouldn't be standing up in front of everyone on an empty stomach. It turned out there was a lot to do before her speech and even more before they sat down for the dinner.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as he carefully spooned more soft-serve into his mouth with the plastic utensil the ice cream parlour had provided. "Gonna throw up?"

"No," Bloom laughed, although she could still feel her stomach. "I think I should be fine to meet and greet all the people without passing out or getting vomit on them."

"That's good, that'll help with the first impression." Owen laughed. "I know me saying this might not help, but you will be fine. Everyone out there is rooting for you and wants you to do well, they'll forgive any little slip ups."

"So just no big slip ups…" She knew she was continuing to make a fuss, but Owen was helping. He just didn't seem bothered by the speech, unlike Effie and Vanessa and Brighid who all seemed to think this was a massive event that she would remember for the rest of her life. Between Owen and Mavis' nonchalance this felt more like a little school project, and that she could cope.

Anne's hunch that he had a crush on her was still unconfirmed, but in case she was right Bloom hoped that it wouldn't dissuade him from staying in touch.

Effie came in a few minutes later to take Bloom through so that she could greet the members of the society as they came into the grand hall. She stood close to Vanessa and Mike as she fixed a smile on her face and started shaking hands.

It was a strange experience to have a queue of people all acting like they knew her already, and so many of them had red hair just like her own. Some of them addressed her as 'Your Highness' others as 'Princess' and a few as 'Princess Alexandrina'; she tried not to look uncomfortable or confused so as not to repeat what happened with Killian.

She tried her hardest to remember everyone's names but there were so many that they all blurred together. Bloom had to spend a few minutes with each person as they came past. Multiple old women told her how much she looked like Marion, a few others told her she had Oritel's nose. But what most people wanted to discuss with her, even for a few moments, was the possibility of returning to Domino to finish what her parents started. The society was split almost in half between urging her to reclaim their ancestral home and pleading with her to do no such thing.

Once everyone had arrived, she took her seat next to Killian and breathed deeply until it was time to stand up and give her speech. Mavis, dressed in the traditional masculine robes of Domino, stood behind her with the fire extinguisher at the ready.

"Ladies and gentleman," she began, her voice shaking as she started. "It is an honour to be here and to meet with you all…"

Bloom took care to speak slowly and not just stare down at her notes, looking around and smiling as she spoke. Every so often she made eye contact with Owen and he would smile to reassure her. This was fine, there was nothing to worry about. At some point her legs would stop wobbling and she would stop producing this much adrenaline.

She was getting into it, feeling like maybe this wasn't so bad after all, when the worst phrase out of the entire speech was upon her; "proper patience for prosperous times", and she started to trip over all of the 'p's. Bloom couldn't seem to stop herself from repeatedly stumbling over the same phrase and she was going bright red. The hand that held her note cards was shaking and then, before she could stop it, the decorative flowers in the wall behind her burst into flame.

Before she had time to panic properly, Mavis was by her side and there was a blast of CO2. The fire went out and Bloom tried not to lose her grip on her notes. She cleared her throat and attempted the same sentence again and this time got it out in one go.

It was harder to make sure that she didn't just stare down in front of her after that, but she made herself keep looking around the room until she was done. As she finished, Owen gave her a thumbs up and she smiled.

Bloom took her seat to a round of applause and the dinner started. Killian gave her an approving nod as the soup course was laid down in front of them. As far as meals went, it was an incredibly fancy one but Bloom didn't know any of the supposed significance of the dishes.

After the main course there was a pause so that some fiddlers could play for them. As they were serenaded two people approached the head table and Killian stood to greet them, motioning for Bloom to do the same. She wracked her brain to try and remember their names from when she'd been at the door, she knew that they were brother and sister and from an old Domino family.

The woman curtseyed to Bloom as her brother shook Killian's hand.

"Excellent oration," she said as she came back up to make eye contact. "I am so pleased that you have developed into an accomplished young lady in spite of everything."

"Oh, thank you." At least, Bloom thought that had been a compliment.

"I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to not have parents from such a young age." She shook her head and Bloom felt Vanessa stiffen next to her.

"As can I," she said, trying to be both polite to whoever this important woman was while also correcting her. "I am very pleased that my parents were able to come with me to this event. This is my mum, Vanessa."

Bloom gestured to Vanessa and the woman looked both shocked and embarrassed. Bloom's mother stood up so that she could shake her hand. There was a definite air of embarrassment around everyone and Bloom wasn't sure that she'd done the right thing at all. The woman and her brother left hurriedly and Vanessa sat quietly, her fingers drumming the table top.

Dessert was some complicated chocolate thing that had to have sauce poured over it so that the fancy little casing would melt and reveal the cake underneath. There wasn't much else of substance to the dinner, and Bloom was disappointed. She had spent so long worrying about this that she had been expecting it to leave more of an emotional impact on her. Instead this was just a posh meal with a lot of people she didn't know.

Bloom had to stand at the door again at the end so that she could say goodnight to everyone as they left. Thankfully this took considerably less time than greeting them, most of them were at least a little drunk and ready to go home.

The last few people were put into taxis and that just left Brighid and her family, Killian and Tristan, Bloom and her parents, and Owen who was just hanging around in the background.

Killian clasped Bloom's hands as the valet brought his car around for them. She hoped that Tristan was driving because the smell of wine was wafting out of Killian's mouth. He grinned drunkenly at her.

"I'm so glad you were here tonight," he said, still holding onto her. "It really made the night special, I am so grateful that you agreed to this."

"Alright Dad." Tristan stepped in gently to prize his hands off Bloom as Killian began to tear up. "Let's get you home."

Brighid snorted as she watched Killian be folded into the passenger seat. The man looked like he was about to start weeping as his son waved goodbye apologetically from behind the wheel. Once they drove off, Brighid turned to Bloom.

"Are you going to take pity on that nice young man and invite him back to the house for a bit or are you going to put him out of his misery and send him on his way?" She asked, pointing her cane at Owen and making him go red.

"I didn't want to assume you'd be okay with it…" Bloom said. It was Brighid's house after all, and while having people over in the day was one thing, it seemed a bit rude to just bring someone around this late in the evening.

"Oh, it's fine," Brighid said, waving her hand dismissively as her own car was delivered to her. "Might as well see friends while they're still alive."

Owen came to stand next to Bloom and her parents as they waited for their taxi. He had his hands in his pockets as he looked at the pavement in embarrassment.

"She's a bit morbid, isn't she?"

"Just a little…" Brighid had outlived both her husband and her daughter, and she had fully expected to die in exchange for banishing the Army of Decay. Bloom hardly held a bit of morbidity against her.

She squeezed into the taxi between Owen and Vanessa with Mike sitting up front with the driver. During the drive, Vanessa was studying her purse carefully, turning it over in her hands and staring down at it in her lap. Bloom reached over to hug her.

"I love you, Mum." Vanessa jumped a little at the contact, but put her arm around her daughter.

"I love you too, Bloom. Did you have fun tonight?"

It was a short ride back to Brighid's house and they weren't too far behind their host family; Effie was still untying her shoes in the hallway when they came through the door.

Bloom and Owen went up to the living room to flop on the sofas while Mike and Vanessa started to get ready for bed and an early night.

"I'm gonna call Stella," Bloom told her friend. "She wanted to know how things went and she'll want to see my dress too."

"Sure."

It didn't take too long to get through to Stella. The princess of Solaria had been sunbathing by the pool and was eager to have Bloom stand up so that she could see the ballgown that Killian had had made for her. Overall she gave her approval of his choices and she squealed with glee when Bloom told her how the speech went.

"Given how frequently you were setting things on fire, I'd say that one slip up is a marked improvement," Stella said and then squealed again as she turned the camera around to show Bloom more of her environment. "Look! Brandon's back with the drinks, he's been staying at the palace with me. Say 'hi' to Brandon!"

"Hey!" She called and watched as he came closer so that he could see her on the screen.

"Hey! That's a nice dress, your speech go well?"

Bloom started to tell him the same thing that she had told Stella when a frown flashed across Brandon's face and she faltered.

"What's wrong?"

"Bloom, do you think that maybe we could speak privately?" He sounded serious, his whole demeanour different from a moment ago when he'd been indulging his princess.

"Excuse me!" Stella said. "It's my phone! You can't just take it off me!"

"I don't mean you, don't worry." He stroked her hair and Stella immediately stopped being indignant. "I meant your end, Bloom."

"Oh, er, sure." She got up to go stand in the hallway and caught Owen's eye as he looked at her in confusion. "Sorry, a friend just wants to talk to me in private."

"Oh, no problem. I'll still be here when you get back."

Bloom felt a little guilty leaving him as soon as they'd got back. It felt like she'd invited him over to hang out and was now immediately ignoring him, but Brandon had sounded so serious that she didn't think saying 'no' was a good idea. She closed the door behind her and went to lean over the bannister, looking all the way down to the entrance below.

"What's up?"

"Who do you think that guy who was behind you is?" He asked, Brandon was still frowning but this time there was no confusion on his face.

"'Who do I…' what do you mean?" That was such a weird way to phrase that question.

"Sorry," Brandon shook his head. "I mean, what did he tell you his name was?"

"Owen, why? You're kind of freaking me out…"

"Good, you need to be freaked out." Even Stella was staring at him in shock now. "What did he tell you about himself?"

"He's from an old Domino family, he's got a kid sister… he was helping me with my speech."

"Bloom, I'm really sorry but none of what he's told you will be true."

"What?"

"Yeah," Stella chimed in. "What are you talking about?"

"His name's not Owen, it's Adrian. And he's an Eraklyon spy I trained with before I was assigned to Sky. I don't know why he's been sent to you, but it won't be a good reason." Brandon pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sky said that his father was acting strange around him, not taking him seriously when he talks about your guys' relationship."

"He asked me out but I turned him down. He seemed fine to be friends."

Bloom was struggling to process everything that she was hearing.

"Don't say anything else to him, just get him to leave and don't contact him again. He could be staying close to you for any kind of reason and it might not be safe for you."

"What do you mean? What could he want?"

"Erendor doesn't like anything about Domino and he doesn't like you, Adrian could be relaying information or he could be on standby to kill you. Don't go back there alone."

"Oh my god!" Stella grabbed her phone so that she took up almost the whole screen. "Do you need me to come back to Magix? I will teleport right to you, just say the word."

There was a creak on the staircase and Bloom jumped around to see Effie climbing up towards her.

"That won't be necessary, Your Highness," she said, addressing Stella. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"No, it's okay…" Bloom's legs were struggling to keep her upright. "Please help me."

"I've got it from here," Effie said as she gently took the phone from Bloom's hand. "Thank you for all your help."

Stella and Brandon both said goodbye reluctantly and Effie hung up. She turned to Bloom and offered her hand. Bloom took it.

"We'll get him out quickly, don't worry. I'll push him out of the window if I need to."

"I don't think that'll be necessary," Bloom said weakly. She hoped that it wouldn't be necessary. Was he really as dangerous as Brandon had suggested?

She let Effie push through the door first, not sure how she was still standing up. Would Owen, Adrian, have really killed her if he'd been told to? Of course he would have. She didn't know him, they weren't really friends, nothing about these last few days were real. And with that realisation came her rage.

She hadn't survived being frozen in ice, having her powers stripped from her, the Army of Decay, and her fight with Icy just to be taken in by some smiling man who had said the right things. Compared to the witches he was nothing.

"Is everything alright?" Adrian asked as they came in. He looked tense, as if he knew that something was wrong. Effie opened her mouth but Bloom cut in first. She was ignoring Brandon's advice to not say anything to him but she was too furious to care.

"What is it," she asked through gritted teeth. "With Eraklyon men and lying to me about their names?"

The sofa burst into flames, not just a small lick of fire, the whole piece of furniture was engulfed before Brighid's spell could extinguish it.

"Oh." Adrian's expression gave nothing away and that did nothing to quell her anger.

"'Oh'?" She yelled back at him. "That's all you have to say to me?" Fire erupted next to his feet and he quickly took a step back. He was so controlled, so practiced and it hurt her. Because it just showed her how much of this was his job, that he had been working this whole time.

"I would also advise you to be careful here," he said. "Magix is a diplomatically neutral planet, attacking me would likely result in…"

"As if you're not in more trouble for being here." Effie cut him off. She was staying cooler than Bloom, but there were sparks flying from her clenched fists. "I imagine that Prince Sky would have his visa revoked if you were reported."

"Which would in one way fulfil my brief." Adrian shrugged. It all clicked in Bloom's brain, the reason he was here wasn't to hurt her, it was to try and break her and Sky up. A petty, petty reason. Her teeth hurt from how hard she was clenching her jaw. She was trying to hold back her magic, to not release it all at once, but she was so angry…

Adrian yelled and threw his jacket off as it burst into flame on his back. Unlike the rest of the room, Brighid's spell didn't cover him or anything on his person. There was a look of fear on his face and that made Bloom pause. He couldn't be much older than her and he was backed into a corner. She had been in his position before and even though she was furious, she no longer wanted to take it out on him.

"Just get out," she hissed. "Take the door, jump out the window, I don't care. Just get out of my sight before I change my mind and burn you to ash."

"I'll be more than happy to help you," Effie added. "In case you don't think you can leave fast enough."

Slowly, and leaving his jacket behind, Adrian walked past them. Both Bloom and Effie followed him out into the hallway and down the stairs, making sure he went straight out of the front door. Bloom slammed it behind him.

There was a moment where she looked triumphantly at Effie, and then she dissolved into tears. It wasn't fair, she hadn't done anything to Adrian, she hadn't done anything to Eraklyon either. She'd barely been able to talk to Sky this summer because his father was being so strict, there was no need for any of this. Effie put an arm around Bloom.

"I need to tell Gigi what's happened, but you don't have to be there for that if you don't want."

"I don't want." She couldn't face telling Brighid that she'd brought someone like Adrian into her house. She had been so naive, so stupid.

"Why don't you head to bed? I'll take care of this."

Bloom nodded and allowed herself to be gently pushed towards the stairs to the room she shared with Mavis. She got into her pyjamas quietly and lay down to stare up at the ceiling. It wasn't just that she felt humiliated, but she had to have embarrassed everyone else too. She brought Adrian to the society and in doing so let all of Brighid's family as well as Tristan and Killian down. And what about Brandon? Surely he'd be in trouble for blowing Adrian's cover, something he wouldn't have had to do if she'd been more discerning about who she was friendly with. Bloom had probably ruined Stella's day too.

Quietly, she sobbed into her pillow until she fell asleep. Bloom hoped that Mavis couldn't hear her in the night.