Dravin left after saying that. She didn't sleep after that.
She lay in the dark with her eyes open, and turned those seven words over and over in her mind. Your mother wanted to name you Hania.
Her mother had wanted it. Which meant they had discussed it, at some point, in whatever brief and apparently complicated arrangement had produced her. Which meant her mother had thought about her before she existed. Had imagined her, named her in advance, wanted something for her before walking through a portal and leaving her in a man's hands like a problem to be solved.
She didn't know how to feel about that. She stared at the ceiling. Fine. I've read enough stories to know how these things go. Let's not think about that. Sleep, Hania. You need to meet the queen tomorrow. Sleep.
She closed her eyes and, eventually, slept.
The morning of departure, Hania woke up. Kofery was the first to appear in her nursery, looking like he hadn't slept at all. His dark robes had been replaced with formal—deep blue with silver threading along the collar and cuffs, fitted to his shoulders in a way his usual robes never were. His hair was brushed. His boots were polished. He looked like a completely different person.
Oh, Hania thought, watching him pace. Now he looks like a proper man.
"Kofery," Lusha's voice came from the doorway. "You're going to wear a hole in the floor."
Kofery stopped mid-pace and looked at her.
Lusha had transformed herself. Her usual predatory elegance was still there, but she had softened it somehow—rounded her features, dimmed her eyes from molten gold to something closer to amber. Her dress was simple, almost something a young noblewoman's nanny might wear. She looked like she wouldn't hurt a fly.
She looked exactly like someone who wanted everyone in the palace to underestimate her.
"Lusha," Kofery said. Then stopped. Started again. "You look—"
"Innocent," Lusha finished, smiling. "Don't I?"
"That's not the word I was going to use."
"What word were you going to use?"
Kofery's face went red. He did not answer.
This is going to be a long trip, Hania thought.
She was already dressed in the spider-silk gown, moving with her like it was part of her. Her stone was in her pocket.
Kofery came to lift her from the crib, his hands steadier than usual. "Ready, little moon?"
She nodded against his chest. She had been practicing nodding. It was one of the few gestures she could reliably manage.
The Tower's main hall was empty when they arrived. Dravin was waiting at the center of it, and Hania's brain stopped working for a full three seconds.
What? What is that? What are you wearing? Who gave you permission?!
His usual dark robes were gone. In their place was formal attire that looked like it had been designed specifically to cause problems for anyone with eyes. Black coat with silver threading that traced patterns she recognized—magical formations, the same ones she'd been drawing for months. High collar. Dark pants. His silver hair was loose, falling past his shoulders, and his red eyes looked like he was already bored of everything he saw.
Truck-kun, she thought desperately, if you can hear me, I need you to know that I am being tested. I am being tested in ways I did not ask for.
Dravin glanced at her. "You're staring," he said.
She was. She absolutely was. She could not stop. This was not her fault. No one had warned her. This was what he looked like when he actually tried?
"I think she's just impressed by your outfit, Master," Kofery offered, sounding strangled.
Dravin looked down at himself, then back at her. "It's just clothes," he said.
It is not just clothes. That is a war crime against my ability to function.
Lusha appeared beside her, close enough to whisper: "Close your mouth, little moon. You're drooling."
She wasn't. But she closed it anyway.
The portal opened. Through it, Hania could see sky. Green. Grass. A road lined with white stones.
"Stay close," Dravin said. "Don't touch anything. Don't talk to anyone unless I tell you."
I can't talk, Hania wanted to point out. But he was already stepping through the portal, and she was in his arms, and then they were through.
The air changed first. The palace air was warm, smelling of flowers and cut grass and perfume, maybe, or incense, or the accumulated scent of hundreds of people in one place.
The palace itself rose in front of them, white stone that caught the morning light, towers that spiraled upward like woven thread. It was enormous. It was beautiful. It was exactly the kind of palace she had spent her old life reading about in manhwa.
I'm actually here. Finally I'm in a fantasy palace for a princess's birthday party.
Figures were already approaching from the main entrance—a delegation, she realized, sent to receive them. Three people in formal wear that screamed royal household. The one in front was an old woman with white hair pulled back, her face neutral.
She stopped at a respectful distance and bowed. "Greetings, Archmage Noctis. The Queen welcomes you to the Palace of Obelion. I am Lady Sera of the Royal Household, and I have been assigned to escort you and your party to your quarters."
Dravin said nothing. The silence stretched. Lady Sera's neutral expression did not crack, but Hania saw her shoulders tighten almost imperceptibly. She's nervous, Hania realized. She's nervous about him.
Kofery stepped forward. "Thank you, Lady Sera. We appreciate the Queen's hospitality."
The woman's eyes flicked to him before returning to Dravin. "If you'll follow me, Archmage. Your quarters are in the Sun chamber, overlooking the gardens. Her Majesty has requested that you join her for tea this afternoon, when you've had time to rest from your journey."
"She requested," Dravin said.
"She did, Archmage."
A pause. "Fine."
Lady Sera turned, and they began walking. Hania looked around as they went inside. The palace of Obelion was... aggressively white.
White marble floors, white marble columns, white marble ceilings. Everything gleamed. Everything reflected. The light coming through the windows was so bright it seemed to bounce off every surface at once, creating a kind of luminous fog that made her eyes water.
It's like someone looked at the concept of 'white' and said 'not enough,' she thought, squinting. Lusha was right. Gold leaf everywhere. Marble everywhere. It's like a wedding cake vomited.
She looked at Dravin's face, and wondered what he was thinking. Whether he remembered the last time he was here. Whether he was thinking about the letter, the woman who had written them.
His eyes flicked down to her. She looked somewhere else.
The Sun Chamber was, predictably, aggressively golden. Gold walls, gold furniture, gold fixtures. The chairs were upholstered in yellow silk. The windows faced east, catching the morning light and amplifying it until Hania felt like she was sitting inside a sunbeam.
I'm going to go blind. This is how I die. The Queen's interior decorating choices.
But their quarters were a suite of rooms that probably qualified as a small house anywhere else—a receiving room with furniture, a bedroom with a crib that had clearly been brought in specifically for her, and a connecting room for attendants that Lusha immediately claimed with a look of quiet satisfaction.
Lady Sera showed them in, explained the schedule for the day—rest, then tea with the Queen, then the birthday celebration in the evening and left with a bow that suggested she was very, very glad to be done with them.
The moment the door closed, Kofery collapsed into one of the golden chairs. "That woman," he said, "was terrified of Master."
"Everyone is terrified of Dravin," Lusha said, already moving to examine the windows. "That's the point."
"She was also staring at you," Kofery added. "When you introduced yourself. She looked at you like she was trying to figure out where you came from."
Lusha's smile didn't waver. "She was. And she will keep trying, and she will not figure it out, because the Archmage hired a perfectly innocent nanny with no connections to anyone at court. Isn't that right, little moon?"
She looked at Hania. Hania, still in Dravin's arms, gave her the most innocent look she could manage. Which was probably pretty convincing.
Dravin set her down on the bed. "We meet the Queen in two hours," he said. "Don't let her eat anything before then. The palace food is probably poisoned."
"Master, you can't just say that."
"I'm not worried about assassination," Dravin said, his voice completely flat. "I'm worried about indigestion. She's not used to food prepared by people who don't have access to Tower kitchens."
He looked at Hania. She looked back at him. He's worried about me getting a stomachache at the Queen's tea. That's... How considerate.
He turned and walked into the adjoining room, the door closing behind him with a click.
Kofery stared at the closed door. "He's worried about her getting indigestion."
"I heard," Lusha said, settling onto the windowsill. "It's almost sweet, in a way that is deeply concerning coming from him."
This is fine, Hania thought, looking around the room. I'm in a fairy tale palace. And I'm about to have tea with a queen who plays political chess with my existence. Let’s see how this game plays out, my queen.