She could have sent a messenger, but her gut instinct told her the Laurent prodigy would take better to an actual visit rather than emotionless missives. Lux rose at the crack of dawn to prepare for her trip out to the manors belonging to said family; what she hadn't expected was the distance she needed to put between her home and the first signs of their land. Unlike most of the noble houses, the Laurents' property sprawled amongst rolling hills, and green fields provided a stark contrast to the typical Demacian architecture. The roads here transformed from dirt paths to a clean cobblestone - also different from the same hybrid material that gave the city its distinctive glow. Here, Lux felt more at ease which was strange considering the woman at the head of it all.

A few directions here and there from passing travelers and Lux found herself at a set of wide, cast-iron gates. She could only gawk at the sheer size of the mansion through the rungs and for a moment, forgot who it belonged to.

"Greetings, milady." A kind voice cut through her reverence and the blonde looked down from her horse at the woman by the gates. She was striking in appearance - foreign, with long flowing white hair tied back loosely and soft green eyes regarding her with curiosity. "How may I be of assistance? Do you have an appointment with Mademoiselle Laurent?"

'Now that is an accent.' "I do not have an appointment - I was hoping to meet her in person." Lux slid off the back of her horse when the woman opened the gates. "I am Lady Luxanna, Illuminator first, Crownguard second."

At the mention of Crownguard, the woman's eyes widened a fraction and as expected, Lux found herself on the receiving end of a courteous bow. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Crownguard. I am Nera Laurent, servant to the madam."

The blonde made note of two other things in this briefest exchange. One, the bow Nera gave was not a customary Demacian bow. Two, she knew about Fiora's family and her brothers but had never heard of Nera before.

"Unfortunately, the madam is busy today and cannot receive extra visitors. However, depending on the urgency of your visit…"

Lux frowned slightly. "Perhaps I should have sent a missive instead. I do not mean to impose on your hospitality, I came with the intention to extend an olive branch on behalf of the Crownguard family. "

Nera appeared to digest the request, leaving Lux to fidget nervously in place. "I can always return another time if–"

"Nonsense, you traveled this far from the capitol. It would be poor form not to offer refreshments before your journey home." The snowy-haired woman reached out to take the reins from Lux. "While the madam may not be able to visit you in person today, I can check with her to see if she is available at a later date?"

The blonde handed over the reins to Nera with a relieved smile on her face. "It would mean the world to me if you could." Lux placed her hand on the woman's arm, squeezing lightly to show her appreciation. "Er, actually it would be best if you kept my identity anonymous. Just in case she might view my visit as an affront to her pride…"

"But of course. If you'd like to wait in the courtyard by the tables, I'll be out shortly with some tea."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Sharp eyes darted up to the heavy door as it creaked open slowly. "Milady."

A delicate-looking woman sat behind the oak desk situated in the middle of the room. She straightened and stared at the visitor with narrowed, teal eyes, fingers woven together over her mouth. Irritation wrote itself plain as day across her face though she remained perfectly motionless when her servant came in. "My sincerest apologies for interrupting your work, Mistress Laurent."

Fiora's lips twitched at the formal title. It had been years since her rise to the head of House Laurent, and since the final clash with her father, she took painstaking measures to replace many of the original staff in case someone harbored a grudge against her. Everyone assumed it was a hasty, rash decision born out of an arrogant desire to "reforge" the house in her image. What ended up happening instead was a miraculous rebound in fortunes and wealth, spearheaded by the young woman herself. The network Fiora curated was not only carefully hand-picked with the certainty of her family's future, but also became a part of her defense against anyone who would bring further harm to her name.

This included an internal means of addressing her. 'Mistress Laurent' was for the masses, not the house. 'Someone is listening,' Fiora mused, paying closer attention to her servant's words and movements.

"La porte, si vous voulez." A soft click followed the command. Nera's practiced maneuvering tipped her off - closed doors meant a secret needed to be kept between them. Had it been something of little concern, she would have left the door open. "Better, now what is it, mon cher?"

"Someone is requesting an audience with you. I thought it best to check with your schedule." A lie. Nera knew her schedule like the back of her hand. The excuse was to relay a hidden message. The snowy-haired woman wandered over to the liquor cabinet, glancing between the bottles. "Would you like a drink?"

'Oh, this is gonna be a headache.' Fiora rarely indulged in alcohol save the occasional flute of wine. The bottles were mostly for a show of wealth, but also served as both an offering for guests and a part of the unspoken code in her office space. If Nera offered her a drink, then whomever was making the request was going to grate her nerves. "Non, but you are free to make yourself one if you wish." 'Where are they from?'

Nera slid her fingers over each bottle, all hailing from various nations and lands. Some could be questionable in their consumption ability with how oddly colored they were. Thankfully, she stopped on a silver-labeled one and pulled it out. "I've always preferred something a little more home-brewed." 'Demacian. Of course.' "I like it on ice, two cubes, with a salted rim."

Crownguard. Fiora fought the urge to scowl. "Lovely choice. It is usually accompanied wiz spices, no?" 'Are they looking for something?'

"Yes, but I'm fine without it this time." That gave Fiora pause. 'A request by the Crownguards, but no specific itinerary…' Nera swirled the liquor in the glass, and the duelist noted the strange way it caught the light. 'Luxanna is the one behind this?'

Fiora sighed. "Take it with you before you go." 'I want no part in this.'

Nera remained quiet. Fiora raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. A minute passed, then a second, and finally a third before her servant left the drink on the desk, centered to the duelist.

Rarely did the woman defy her orders. Had it been anyone else, she would have sent them running for the hills. She sought audience with a select few, but Nera was special - she was the only one with the right to speak with Fiora on equal footing, and for good reason.

'Reconsider the offer. It is still your choice.'

Fiora stared at the glass for what felt like forever before picking it up. She swirled the contents slowly, deliberating her next words.

The visitor's urgency for secrecy. The potential of someone listening in on their conversation. A request from a Crownguard, from Luxanna no less, for an olive branch. Did the girl think Fiora would entertain a tea party? She declined, but Nera urged her to rethink her decision.

'Why do I feel like I'm missing something here…'

"I'm busy." Fiora dismissed her servant, gesturing to the door. "See to it that our guest is content and satisfied."

'I leave it to your discretion.'

Nera grinned, bowing and spinning on her heels. "Of course milady."

When the white-haired woman finally left her in the solitude of her office, Fiora let her shoulders relax and slumped in her chair.

She stared at the glass in her hand. It was supposed to leave with Nera.

Yet she kept it.

The duelist sighed and took a sip of the drink. Too weak for her tastes, and very much made to Demacian standards.

Nera better explain herself after this.

"Ah, she's far too busy today then?" Lux was hoping the servant would return with better news, but after apologizing profusely for the inconvenience, she couldn't be - nor had a right to be - mad at Nera. "You've at least relayed my message to her, and I can only thank you for doing that for me."

Nera had a seat beside Lux, pouring out another cup of tea for the young Crownguard. "Mademoiselle Laurent is an incredibly busy woman, but she is not a poor hostess. While you may not be able to see her today, perhaps in three days time you may be able to catch her. Albeit, it will be a rather unconventional method. But then again my mistress is an unconventional woman, so it is somewhat expected."

That bit of information gave the blonde enough fuel to placate her mother. "Of course!" she exclaimed happily, clasping Nera's hands in her own. "The fact you've even found time for me is a blessing." Rebuilding burned bridges was always harder than new ones, and something Lux herself was new to. Given the servant's cordiality and friendliness, perhaps her door into getting to know Fiora wasn't the woman herself but through Nera instead.

'Unconventional. Right.'

Lux spent a few more moments chatting with Nera on some arbitrary subjects before taking her leave. Just before she departed with her horse in tow, she gave her a tight hug.

"Thank you again. It means a lot to me."

Nera smiled and offered a gentle hug back. "Safe travels, Lady Crownguard and may the light always be with you."

"It is rare for you to use ze code, Nera." Fiora changed her location from behind her desk to lounging on the couch. She still kept the drink the snowy-haired woman made, already having made a dent in despite her earlier displeasure. Waste not, want not she supposed.

Nera took the seat Fiora had been in earlier, loosening the band holding back her hair only to redo it again - this time in a bun, as she looked over the paperwork scattered across the duelist's desk. "I had to. There was something off about the whole ordeal so I took the most cautious approach possible. I had an unsettling feeling of being… watched." She neatly stacked them in proper piles and pulled out a blank parchment, reaching for a nearby quill.

Fiora snorted. "A little blonde girl will not uproot our family."

"Ah, I see you've deduced who our visitor was…" Nera shook her head. "Regardless, the Crownguards are a veritable family to contend with, and neither of us know what they plan behind their backs."

An astute observation, one Fiora came to the same conclusion as. She sighed deeply and let the drink rest against her chest. "So what have you discovered?"

Nera paused before the tip hit the paper. "While I do not suspect Lady Crownguard to bear any semblance of ill-will, her family is an entirely different matter." The duelist's jaw stiffened, but otherwise made no other indication of interrupting her servant. "My first assumption was to prod for reasons behind our withheld decision on the 'insurgency.' Hence my obscure conversation with you."

Fiora scowled. "I swear, if ze Crownguards are looking to shame us-"

"I don't believe this is her ulterior motive here, Fiora." Nera grinned when the duelist glared daggers at her for interrupting. "Let us partake in a bit of a political exercise then."

Fiora groaned and slapped a hand over her eyes. Normally she had no problems maneuvering the field of landmines that was Demacian politics as long as she could get by with the bare minimum and sharp tongue. When it came to the Crownguards, she needed all the help and tools she could lay her hands on. And if that meant enduring one of Nera's 'training' sessions, she had little to no objections.

"To begin with: Lady Crownguard introduced herself to me as 'Illuminator first, Crownguard second.' We know the Illuminators are a highly respected organization - whereas the Mageseekers are synonymous with the 'boogeyman.' Yet she requested an audience with you to 'extend an olive branch from the Crownguards.'"

Fiora would have simply assumed the Illuminator bit was a cover for the olive branch. Words had a propensity to be as barbed as thorns on a rose. But anyone in Demacia knew using the title "Illuminator" loosely brought dire consequences upon their head - most of all Lux who held a prominent position within the order. "So we assume zen, she is approaching us as a messenger."

Fiora hated having to view Lux through an unbiased lens. She encountered her once before, but it had been brief enough the duelist committed not a single shred of memory to the girl. The only thing permanently engraved in her brain was her high pitched squealing coming from a stall during an outing to the market once - that had been enough to send retrievers in her stead. She rubbed her temple subconsciously. "If she comes as an 'Illuminator,' then zat means she is playing puppet to this ridiculous, archaic system. It is a politically-charged move - someone is controlling her."

The snowy-haired woman waited patiently, watching as the duelist furrowed her brows in thought.

"But zat doesn't make any sense. Ze Illuminators work for the benefit of all, not as some pawn in a game of chess."

"Lady Crownguard was alone, which is highly unusual for them." Nera scribbled something down. "They often work in pairs, usually as a means to ensure there is no duplicity in their work."

"She is hiding something. For what reason I wonder," Fiora pondered, unable to help the curious lilt in her tone. The picture remained as obscured as before. Someone wanted to use her to gain a foothold into the Laurents' business. But why would Lux be foolish enough to invoke her title in such an affair? Was she so secure in the bosoms of comfort and luxury, she believed herself above reproach? Were that the case, it would only deepen the hatred Fiora harbored for the aggravating blonde.

On the flipside, her intuition told her more was at play. And Fiora didn't like not knowing things.

"Milady?"

"I do not like ze Crownguards. I do not like her even more. But we would be fools to scorn the branch." Besides, if they truly were reaching out to her, then the implication that the mightiest family in Demacia acknowledged her power was not lost on the duelist.

'Fine then, if it is a game you wish to play, I shall play along for now.'

Nera set the quill aside and folded the parchment in half. "Do you trust me?"

Fiora sat up halfway and gave Nera a deadpan stare. "Unequivocally." The question was entirely unnecessary to ask.

"Good, because I would deign to play a small part in this dance." The duelist eyed her suspiciously, silence demanding a further explanation. "I have already written an invitation, to 'pass the ball back into her court.'"

Fiora mulled over this for a moment. "Informal audience?"

"Yes, milady. Three suns from today, in the middle of the Grand Plaza."

She would be in the capitol that day. "Good."

The snowy-haired woman rose from the Laurent's seat and bowed slightly, headed out of the office space to send off the message. She turned back to Fiora just before leaving, a twinkle in her eye. "Would it be remiss of me to add our personal touch?"

"...I do not like you wasting hard work on something so trivial, but do as you will." She shooed Nera away. "Just don't pick the pretty ones."

"Of course, madam."

A/N: I've changed the narrative of this chapter from the previous version, partly to rearrange a few things but also to set up some foreshadowing and establish some symbolism.