The next morning, at breakfast, Liam announced that Emmeline and Landon had requested all of our visiting party to participate in the polo match. "They thought turning it into a celebrity game was a wonderful idea," he explained, "So, if everyone's up for it, it would be Riley, me, Penelope, and Hana on one team, and Drake, Maxwell, Neville and Rashad on the other."

Surprisingly, even Neville agreed to this, although he and Drake weren't happy to be on the same team, and I pled with Drake to keep things civil. After eating, I rushed to a nearby boutique to meet Madeleine. It was still early in the morning, barely 7:30, but she was waiting for me, tapping her toe as if I had kept her waiting for hours.

"While you try on this," she said, handing me a dress with a chic design in fall colors, "I wanted to review your agenda for the day."

I took the dress into a changing room and said, loudly enough for Madeleine to hear, "I know, I know, I need to please the crowd, put on a show, raise relief money, etc etc."

"And impress Penelope's family," Madeleine's reply came, muffled through the door. "But yes, that's actually a decent summary. And don't forget that you still need to convince Penelope to come back to court."

I swung open the door of the changing room, stepping out with a twirl of my skirt, and smiled widely. "Oh, didn't I mention?" I said, affecting a tone of carelessness. "I've got that sorted."

Madeleine raised an eyebrow at me, surprised. "Well," I expounded, "Okay, it's not done yet, but I know exactly what I need to do to convince her. Trust me, it'll be easy." I looked in the mirror and added, "Especially compared to riding a horse in this. Am I supposed to play polo side-saddle?"

She handed me some cute but sturdy-looking boots and rolled her eyes. "It's a charity match, it's not like you're going to be working that hard. Side-saddle should be just fine."

"If you say so," I said, unsure, as we headed out of the boutique.

I parted ways with Madeleine at the entrance to the polo field. Liam smiled at me, but I diverted my path to see Penelope first. As I had told Madeleine, I knew just what Penelope needed to rejoin court, and I wanted to tell her as soon as possible.

"Riley, you look so pretty!" Penelope said, embracing me in greeting.

"Thanks, Penelope. You do, too. I'm a little worried about playing polo in such formal clothing, though."

She nodded. "I've only played in riding gear before," she said, "But my mother assures me that riding side-saddle will be easy enough, and that it's more important to look like proper nobles than professional polo players."

I chuckled a little. "I guess that makes sense. So, hey, I wanted to talk to you before the game. I really don't want to pressure you to come back to court-" As soon as I said it, I could see Penelope tense up, but I soldiered on. "So I'm only going to bring it up this one time. You know how important it is to me to have you there. But I want you to feel comfortable and safe, so I wanted to invite, not just you, but also Merlin and Morgana, to join us on the rest of the Unity Tour."

Penelope's eyes lit up when I mentioned her poodles. "But Madeleine always said-"

"Madeleine's not in charge anymore, Penelope. And as your future queen, I decree that poodles are always welcome in my court."

Penelope gave me another long hug. "That means so much to me," she told me, her eyes bright. "I...I still have to think about it, but it's good to know that if I do come back to court, I'll have Merlin and Morgana with me."

I nodded and waved goodbye, telling her I'd see her on the field. Then, I found Liam, who was waiting with two horses. I shook my head, smiling, when I saw them. "How'd you get Juliet here so fast? We only decided to play in this game yesterday afternoon!"

I pet my ebony horse on her snout, scratching at the white diamond of fur between her eyes. She whinnied softly, nuzzling my hand.

"Just one of the perks of being royalty," he said. "She's been staying at the stables at Applewood, and that's not too far from here, so I had someone bring her down last night."

"At least now I know my horse will do well in the game today," I said, feeling uneasy as I looked out at the field. Last night it hadn't seemed so large and imposing as it did right then. Neville and Rashad were already waiting on the field with an umpire, and the rest of our friends were riding in that direction.

"Ready?" Liam asked.

"As I'll ever be," I said, taking a deep, steadying breath. Liam helped me mount Juliet, and then settled himself on his own horse.

"You can do this," he said with a warm smile. I nodded, and followed him onto the field, feeling my heart beating in my ears. As we entered the field, cheers and applause broke out from the stands. I looked around to see nearly every seat was packed, and I smiled and waved, glad that our plan at least helped sell more tickets.

The umpire stepped forward, holding up his hands to silence the crowd. I glanced at my teammates, who were all smiling eagerly, and nodded with determination. The umpire rolled the ball into play, and suddenly, everyone was off! I goaded Juliet forward, but Hana reached the ball first, and with a practiced swing, she sent it flying down the field. After a little back-and-forth, I knocked the ball away from Rashad and went charging after it. I saw Maxwell headed my way, and realized he was going to get there before me. If I didn't have to ride like a Victorian lady, Juliet could totally take him, I thought, and decided to even the playing field, so to speak.

"Oh, Maxwell, look, we're missing a dance party!" I shouted, pointing over his shoulder.

"Without me?" He gasped, twisting around to see. He let up on the reins, and his horse slowed just enough for me to swoop in and hit the ball through the goalposts. A roar went up from the crowd, and Maxwell shook his head, laughing.

"You know what? I'm not even mad. That was brilliant," he told me as we rode back towards the center of the field.

As the game went on, we all had a moment or two to shine, and the crowd seemed to be loving every minute of the game. An hour later, it was finally the last round, and all the players seemed grateful.

"The horses make this look so easy," Penelope told me, wiping her forehead with a handkerchief and frowning.

I nodded in agreement as Hana and Liam joined us for a team huddle. "Alright everyone," I said in a loud whisper, "We're up by two points. What do you say we make this last round count, let's really wow the crowd!"

"Let's show them what we've got!" Hana cheered.

As the umpire tossed the ball into play one last time, everyone was riding hard to finish the game strong. Liam stole the ball from Drake and passed it to me. Hana was nearer the goal, so I passed it to her. She looked at me with surprise, maybe wondering why I didn't take the chance to score the last goal, but I gave her a meaningful look. I knew Hana had some mad polo skills that we hadn't got to see yet, and I wanted her to show off for the crowds. She must have understood my look, because she smiled and nodded, then turned her attention to the ball. She threw her polo mallet straight up, flipping it end-over-end before catching it and, in one smooth movement, hitting the ball into the goal.

Everyone, myself included, went mental. I jumped from Juliet and raced to Hana. She jumped off her horse and we hugged, twirling and laughing. "That was amazing!" I shouted, because we had to shout to be heard over the thunderous applause and cheering from the stands. "You are a rockstar, Hana!"

She blushed and waved me off. "It was nothing. Just something I used to do to pass the time during polo lessons. I called it the windmill." We looked out at the stands and saw people imitating the Windmill, and I grinned at Hana.

"I think you've set a new trend in polo," I told her. We jumped back on our horses and trotted to the middle of the field, where the umpire declared our team the winners. We all shook hands and dismounted, leading our horses off the field as the crowd continued cheering wildly.

Liam and I walked side-by-side, leading our horses to the stables. "Thanks for giving it your all out there, girl," I told Juliet, stroking her neck fondly. I could sense Liam's gaze on me, and suppressed a smile as I turned to him. "What?" I asked, as if his staring lovingly at me was something unusual.

"You were incredible out there," he said.

"I had a good teacher."

After dropping off the horses, we found Landon and Emmeline in the stands.

"Your Majesty, Duchess Riley," Emmeline said, shaking our hands. "You put on quite a show out there for us."

"Lady Hana was the real star, though," I said with a smile.

"I overheard a few spectators," Landon said, "Who seemed impressed that you gave your friend the last goal, Duchess Riley. It's nice to see that sort of selflessness among the nobles."

"Well, I didn't really think of it that way, but I hope it encouraged others to be selfless, and generous, in their support of the relief efforts."

Emmeline looked at a tablet she had been carrying, tapping a few buttons before answering. "Yes, I've just received the projected total of donations from today, and it'll be more than enough to shore up our relief funds."

"That's fantastic!" Liam said, letting an arm wrap casually around my shoulder and giving me a squeeze.

"It is," I agreed, "I'm so glad we were able to help!" Just then, Penelope's poodles bounded up, yapping and jumping on my shins. "Oh!" I yelped, "Hello! You've brought company!"

"I thought Penelope would want to see them, after the game," Landon said.

Penelope herself arrived at that moment, and the poodles quickly abandoned me for their owner. Penelope bent down to cuddle with the dogs, thanking her father for bringing them. She looked up at me and smiled, then stood, straightening herself up as much as she could. "Mother, father," she said, turning from me to her parents. "I've decided to return to court. I want to help Cordonia the way Riley and King Liam have helped us."

Emmeline smiled, but Landon looked shocked. "Are you sure about this, Penelope?" he asked.

She nodded, resolute. "Yes. It's the right thing to do. And, Riley's offered to let me bring Merlin and Morgana, so I won't have to leave them home alone anymore."

"That's very generous," Landon said, turning to me with a smile. "Thank you, Duchess Riley." He looked at his wife, and I watched them have a silent conversation, exchanging looks that only they understood. Finally, he turned back to me and Liam and said, "We'd also like to repay your kindness by offering our support. We'd love to attend your wedding."

In spite of myself, I reached out and hugged Landon and Emmeline each in turn. "Thank you so much," I said as I released a startled Emmeline from my grasp.

"Yes," she said, smoothing her dress. "It has been wonderful getting to know you, Duchess Riley, and I'm happy to do whatever I can to support you and King Liam. I'm confident you two will do great things for Cordonia."

"Now," Landon interjected, "If you'll excuse us, we all have travel plans to make." He led Emmeline and Penelope away, and I turned to Liam with a silent cheer.

"I knew you could do it," he said, hugging me tightly.

"Where are we headed tomorrow? Who's duchy am I gonna save next?"

Liam chuckled. "We're going to Kiara's estate." But, he was wrong.

The next morning, after packing my things, I headed to the foyer of Penelope's house, where all my friends were already waiting. They were watching something on their phones, and I sidled up to Liam. "Watching highlights from our epic game yesterday?" I asked, but my face fell as I realized what was on the screen.

Liam looked at me, his face red with anger. He handed me his phone, and I hit replay on the video he had just watched. He stared intently at the screen with me as it began again. The same masked men, with the same altered voice, spoke to the camera with his hands behind his back.

"Look to your King, Cordonians," the man said. Even through the electronic distortion, the hatred was evident in his voice. "He could not protect his own court, and he cannot even protect the Crown's most prized possession." Slowly, the masked man revealed what he had been holding behind his back. The camera zoomed in on the charred husk of an apple. As his gloved hand closed around it, the apple crumbled into dust. "Let the destruction of the orchard at Applewood serve as a message," he continued as the camera moved back to his face. "Your government is weak. Divided. And soon, it will meet the same fate as the Cordonian Ruby." He let the charcoal remains of the apple fall from his hand, and then the screen went black.