“So what should I prepare before going?”
“Everything is already prepared.
You only need to get yourself to the carriage.”
Veyra blinked.
That was it?
Apparently, her departure had already been decided long before she had agreed to it.
She glanced at Eryndor, still unsure whether she should say something, then finally followed him.
Raveth walked a few steps behind her.
The moment they passed through the palace walls, Veyra slowed.
She had known the palace was large.
She had seen enough of it during the past week to understand that much.
But she hadn’t realized just how large it was.
The path stretched ahead of them, paved with smooth white stone that reflected the sunlight.
Vast gardens spread on either side, filled with carefully arranged trees, flowers, and greenery that seemed to go on far beyond what she could see.
She barely looked at them.
Something else had caught her attention.
A large pavilion stood beside a broad lake, its elegant domed roof supported by tall pillars.
The entire structure seemed designed for quiet gatherings rather than ordinary use.
Small boats rested near the water, while the pavilion itself overlooked the lake and gardens from an almost absurdly beautiful position.
It was luxurious.
Far more luxurious than anything she had seen during her week inside the palace.
Yet Veyra’s eyes remained fixed on the dome.
Something was carved along its edge.
Words.
She stopped.
Her gaze moved from one inscription to another.
She couldn’t read them.
Veyra’s expression changed.
She pointed toward the pavilion.
“What is that?”
Eryndor stopped and looked at her.
“The pavilion?”
Veyra stared at him.
She pointed again.
“⟟◇∿ 𐓂◈⌁”
The words.
The strange symbols carved into the stone.
Why couldn’t she read them?
Eryndor’s brows drew together slightly.
He looked from the pavilion back to her.
“Yes?”
Veyra remained frozen for several seconds.
She had no idea how to explain what was wrong without explaining far more than she wanted to.
Her hand slowly dropped.
“…Just forget it.”
Veyra said nothing more about the pavilion.
Eryndor seemed content to do the same.
They continued along the white stone path, with Raveth following a few steps behind.
The farther they went, the more Veyra realized just how enormous the palace grounds were.
By the time they finally reached the main gate, her legs were already aching.
‘How far is this place?!!’
She had spent most of the past week inside rooms and corridors.
Apparently, that had been doing her legs a favor.
The main gate was heavily guarded.
Guards stood on both sides of the entrance, along the inner walls, and on the towers above it.
More were stationed outside the palace walls, their armor gleaming beneath the sunlight.
The moment Eryndor approached, they bowed.
The massive gates opened.
Veyra stared.
They looked as though they had been made entirely of gold.
Beyond them waited an extravagant carriage.
Two lines of guards stood on either side of the path leading from the gate to the carriage, leaving a narrow passage between them.
Their armor was immaculate, long spears held upright in their hands.
Banners hung from the tops of the weapons, shifting gently in the breeze.
It should have been impressive.
Veyra barely noticed any of it.
She looked down.
The ground beyond the gates was unlike anything she had expected.
Sand stretched into the distance, but it wasn’t the dull, endless beige she had always imagined when she thought of a desert.
Some areas were deep orange, while others were covered in warm golden sand, the two colors spreading across the landscape in broad, separate stretches.
And scattered between them were tiny, transparent stones.
They were almost impossible to notice at first.
But whenever the sunlight touched them, they glittered brightly against the sand.
Veyra slowed.
The little stones sparkled everywhere.
It looked almost as if someone had scattered glitter across the ground.
She stared for a moment.
“A desert?”
The question escaped her before she could stop it.
She wasn’t even sure.
It was far too beautiful to match the image in her head.
Her gaze remained fixed on the ground as she walked.
Then something caught her attention.
A shadow.
Veyra glanced down at her own.
Then at the guards walking ahead of her.
Something was wrong.
She stopped.
Their shadows stretched across the sand.
But there were two of them.
Veyra’s brows drew together.
She looked at the carriage.
Two shadows.
The palace behind her.
Two shadows.
She slowly turned her head, checking the guards around her one after another.
Every single one had two.
“What…”
Her gaze followed the shadows across the ground.
They seemed to stretch in slightly different directions.
Veyra’s eyes narrowed.
She slowly lifted her head.
Her eyes met the sun.
It hung high above them, enormous and brilliant, bathing the desert in golden light.
Veyra blinked.
Then her eyes moved slightly to the side.
She froze.
There was another one…..
Smaller than the first.
Paler.
But unmistakably a sun.
Veyra stared at it.
Her brain seemed to refuse to process what her eyes were telling it.
She looked back at the larger one.
Then at the smaller one.
Then back again.
“….
wha..?”
She blinked several times.
Even rubbing her eyes
The second sun was still there.
Veyra slowly raised one hand, as though pointing at it might somehow make it disappear.
Her finger remained suspended in the air.
“There are…”
Her voice trailed off.
She swallowed.
“Two.”
No one answered.
Veyra’s eyes widened.
“Why are there two suns?!”
She turned toward Eryndor, completely forgetting the carriage, the guards, and everything else around her.
“Is that normal?!”
Very strange.
Veyra’s expression slowly changed.
She looked around.
Every face was turned toward her.
The guards.
The servants.
Raveth.
Even Eryndor.
They were all staring at her.
Silence.
She looked around.
No one answered.
The guards were staring at her.
The servants were whispering among themselves.
Even Raveth looked as though he had suddenly forgotten how to move.
Veyra lowered her hand slightly.
“What?”
Her eyes moved from one face to another.
“Why is everyone looking at me like that?”
Eryndor was staring at her too.
Not with amusement this time.
His expression was genuinely strange.
“⌁◌〰 ⟐╱◇ ◉⌇╲ 〰⋔?”
He said something.
Veyra blinked.
She hadn’t understood a single word.
“What?”
Eryndor spoke again.
The sounds were completely unfamiliar.
Veyra stared at him.
“…Why are you suddenly speaking a weird language?”
Eryndor’s brows furrowed.
He turned toward one of the guards and said something else.
“◇〰⌁╲ ◌⟐ ⌇◉ ╱ ⋔〰.”
The guard immediately bowed and hurried back through the palace gates.
“╱◉⌁ ◇〰.”
Veyra watched him disappear.
Then she looked at Eryndor.
Eryndor looked back at her.
Neither said anything.
A few uncomfortable moments passed.
Veyra shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
‘What is happening?’
Eventually, the guard returned.
He was carrying something carefully in both hands.
A glass sphere, roughly the size of Veyra’s palm, rested on a small, soft cushion.
Something swirled inside it.
Pale blue and white light moved slowly through the transparent sphere, twisting around itself like a miniature current trapped within the glass.
The guard stopped before Eryndor.
Eryndor took the sphere from him.
Then he held it out toward Veyra.
She stared at it.
Then at him.
“…You want me to take that?”
He didn’t answer.
He simply kept his hand extended.
Veyra hesitated before finally taking the sphere.
It was surprisingly cool against her palm.
She looked at Eryndor.
“What should I do now?”
This time, his answer came clearly.
“Keep it in your hand whenever you want to speak to someone.”
Veyra stared at the glowing sphere.
Then back at him.
“…That’s it?”
Eryndor gave a small nod.
Veyra looked down at the strange object again.
Apparently, even asking a simple question in this place required equipment.