I'm so sorry this is late again. I've been super swamped with school and life in general. Sorry I wasn't able to update last week, and this one is still super short.

Yuuri's POV

Yuuri awoke with a splitting headache. Groaning, he sat up, jostling a slightly disgruntled Willow. He looked around the room. It was his own, the curtains drawn, tossed into complete darkness that was native to him. He huffed and swung his feet over the edge of his bed. He waved his hand, and, using his magic, lit the torches in the room.

Yuuri peeked out the window to see the sun in the midworld, slowly approaching high noon. He went to change into different clothes, finding his robes from the previous day bunched up on the floor. He would have to tell the maids to wash them as soon as possible.

He slipped into a dark leather tunic with black pants and boots, and turned to make his way downstairs. Most of the other people would be sleeping during the day, but Yuuri chose to take a walk down the silent halls. Sleeping during the night had its benefits-he could wander freely without a care in the world, with nobody to tell him what to do.

It was a short while before he came across anybody awake. Phichit had bounded up beside him, giggling madly.

"What happened?" Yuuri asked.

This only made Phichit laugh harder. "You don't remember anything from last night?"

At this point, Yuuri was staring to freak out. "No! What did I do?"

Phichit doubled over, and Yuuri could see tears of laughter forming in his eyes. "Y-you asked King Viktor to dance, Yuuri!"

Yuuri blanched. "W-what happened…?" he asked tentatively.

Phichit grinned. "You should have seen his face. I wasn't up close, but he looked pretty dumbfounded. Then you guys went outside, and…" he trailed off, snickering at Yuuri's expression. "Well… you kissed him."

"WHAT?!" Yuuri screamed, most likely waking up half the castle. "I…wha… ho-WHAT?" came the splutter. "Why didn't you stop me?!"

"You wouldn't have listened," Phichit said, still grinning. "You got SO drunk."

Yuuri buried his face in his hands. "Uuuuugh. I can't believe it." He peeked out from behind his fingers. "Who else saw?"

"I think I was the only one who saw the kiss, but Otabek, Viktor's bodyguard, and the viceroy of dawn saw you two dancing. They dragged him away, and that was the end of it."

The two heard footsteps behind them, to see Otabek walking down the hallway. "Did you tell him about last night?"

Phichit snickered. "Yep."

Yuuri appreciated Otabek for not teasing him outwardly, but there was still a laughing twinkle in the man's dark eyes.

Yuuri grumped and turned down the hallway again. "I'm going back to my room. Don't bother following me." He heard Phichit's snickers, and stormed down the hallway.

He reached his room and opened the window. He looked out, the cool air washing over his face, giving him momentary peace. He groaned and flopped down on the bed, laying there for a few moments.

He only lifted his head up when he heard the gentle flapping of wings and a soft coo. He turned around to see a golden eagle staring at him with beady eyes from the sill of the window.

He stared for a moment. Golden eagles did not exist in Lunis. The most common birds one could see in the kingdom would be owls, never eagles. Yuuri assumed it was a bird from Solis that had lost its was, possible.

The bird cocked its head and let out a soft cry. That's when Yuuri noticed the rose attached to its foot. Definitely from Solis. Roses did not grow in Solis. Yuuri slowly stood, and took the rose from the eagle, which then fluttered off the sill and onto the floor. Yuuri took another glance at the rose.

At first, the flower seemed yellow, but when he looked closer, it almost seemed to glow with yellow light. The petals seemed as if they were covered in a gold dust, and the thorns had all been picked carefully off, with the green leaves that were attached to the stem in the exact same uniform shape.

Whoever had picked this rose had clearly taken great caution and care choosing this one. It was a beautiful rose, but Yuuri could feel the darkness of his kingdom slowly seeping away its life. He set the rose down on the sill, and turned to the golden bird that was pecking at his floor.

He shook his head, as if the creature could understand him. "Stupid bird," he muttered under his breath. He wasn't angry, just upset. He knew exactly who this flower was from. "Such a stupid bird, getting my hopes up."

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