I woke up early, rubbing sleep from my eyes as soon as I felt Lance get up. He tried telling me to go back to sleep, but then I told him about how we'll need all hands on deck now that the Court will be coming in a few hours, so the fight ended, and he kissed me on the forehead before heading to meet with Darius and the others one last time before ten hells comes to Fernweh.

He's dressed in his full Jade King regalia: Jade suit, boots I polished last night, any and every weapon he could possibly strap to himself, the balaclava, pulled low hood, and he now wears a sword at his hip gifted to him by Darius, and his father's black ring with a polished Larimar stone in its center. He told me that it was the ring of the Jade King, and he rarely saw his father wear it, but it made him feel closer to him.

It's been hours since I've gotten out of bed. I've been running around doing everything from setting up the throne room for the meeting, preparing and organizing food dishes, preparing the many rooms in both the Canary and Eagle Wing, as well as finishing to get the halls decorated with whatever we could find. It's winter, so there are few flowers to fill the vases, which leaves the many walkways barren. Someone found tinsel and more spontaneous yet elegant things we managed to use to make it look a little more civilized, and even a few of the people in the town came with their own ideas and offerings to help.

At the moment I'm back in the room Lance and I share in the Glass Tower, trying to change into a more suitable dress for the occasion. Nothing as flashy or grand as the gown Fauna put me in on the night of the ball, but something cleaner than the servant's dress I've been using for the past few days. It's a pale shade of blue turtleneck dress with sleeves but still cut a few inches off of the ground so that when I walk it doesn't drag against the ground. The top is held tightly to my body like a glove, and the material is thick so that I won't have to wear something over it. It's plain, but it's warm and makes me feel more feminine, so it's downright beautiful.

I pull and twist my hair back into a simple bun, securing it with a few pins and ribbon. My face gets little attention, a thin line of kohl on my eyelids that I redo a hundred times, and dyed powder to make my cheeks pink, though I don't need to use too much of it, as the cold already has them in a permanent blush.

The other servants - sorry, staff - chosen specifically to be both in the room during the meeting of the Court, as well as the head servant for whatever Lord or Lady they're assigned to, will be wearing the same thing. There are only six of us, three women, and three men, not including Thomas. Blaise will be disguised as one of the head servants/staff like myself. We're spies in plain sight, though I'm more suited to tending to such big-headed courtiers than she is, and I'm a bit nervous that she'll step out of line.

Once I deem myself decent, I set a quick pace toward the kitchens.

No one seems to really know where the food is made aside from those who work among it. Then again, it's not necessarily easy to find. It's below the throne room, just as wide and long in length as the room above, and only one level. The heat from the ovens keeps the Throne Room floor warm, acting as a soft heater of a sort for those who may occupy above. Such a large room is hard to heat, but as the heat down here rises above, torches will also be lit days prior to ensure it's comfortable.

People are skittering everywhere, voices calling for ingredients, others calling for things to be taken upstairs. I spot Lance's cook from the House of Jade with flour on her face and a little in her hair that she doesn't seem to notice. She's directing those around her with a kind but stern voice. I've only spoken to her in passing, but I already find myself drawn to her.

There's plenty of diversity down here. A few Jade Assassins are amongst the crowd, townsfolk who came to the Prince's call, - because the announcement of his Kingship is only rumored right now, though I disagree with the statement - a few healers, and the rest of the staff. It's hard to not let the smell of sweets and spices and the warmth of the fires burning all about the floor distract me, but then I spot the woman I've been searching for, swipe a piece of sweet bread from a tray, and stuff it in my mouth. Gods I forgot to eat breakfast. 

"Lícia," I call, just reaching the short woman as she finished giving orders to a handful of other staff members.

Her dark eyes find mine, her light brown hair already frizzed and loose. "Oh good, you're here. Thomas is in the back grabbing the last of the pitchers with the drinks in them, help him take them up and then both of you need to finish setting up the table. The plates are there but they're not placed or stacked. Oh, and make sure we put out an extra set for Lady Marrieta, she'll be joining the cockfight it seems."

"Oh, joy," I mutter flatly, and then quickly take off past her towards the back of the room. It takes a good three minutes before I reach it, having needed to stop or weave myself through people and carts and trays and a bunch of other things that smelled delicious. Thomas has his arms full when I get to him, carrying four pitchers of different colored liquids already. "Take those, I'll grab the rest."

He leaves up the stairs without another word and I carefully but quickly grab the last four and follow after him. Of all the things I hate about my work, it's having to constantly go up and down the castle's many wretched stairs.

When we get to the top Thomas uses his back to open the flap door and holds it open so I and another staff member can walk through. I don't know her name, but she's carrying the giant bowl of fruit that goes at the center of the table. I quickly put down the pitchers on the table in the shadows of the room behind the pillars and then scurry over to help her. I take the opposite end and pull it towards me, before we set it down, both of us releasing a held breath and looking at the display for a moment.

"Do they ever eat anything out of this?" the woman asks, squinting at the vines of grapes dangling off the sides of the bronze bowl.

"Honestly," I answer, squinting at it myself. "I don't think they even notice it."

"Well in that case..." She reaches into the bowl and plucks out a peach, already taking a bite out of it as she turns and walks back to the flap door.

"I thought they were fake," I think aloud.

Thomas chuckles as he takes the other side of the table and starts arranging the plates and putting the right utensils in their correct order and placement. I follow, easily finishing a set out of practice from doing it for Claritia hundreds of times.

"They usually are," he responds, finishing with his fourth set.

"Will they even eat? Or is this all just for display?"

"Not sure, but something tells me that the Court is going to test Darius and his efficiency to get the castle running."

"In other words, we need to be prepared for everything."

"Pretty much." We both step back, finished with the setting of the glassware, and now admiring our work.

"Why do I feel like there's something missing?"

"You notice it too?" We both start circling the table, eyes darting over everything in search of the thing out of place. I count the chairs and match them with the number of Lords and Ladies attending, including Marrieta - sadly. Then I count the sets and look at the candles already lit and dripping over their metal displays. Seriously, what...

"The eggs," both he and I say at the same time with the same wide-eyed expression.

Without another word, we run for the flap door and head back down to the kitchens. They're small, glass, hollow-made scarlet eggs that are only ever used for when the Court comes to visit. They're supposed to symbolize something along the lines of pure lineage or something idiotic like that, but they're always filled with bright red wine that looks like blood for the Court to all take in one gulp before any eating or business talk is done at the table.

If we don't get those eggs, then we're definitely screwed.

Thomas and I race through the still-hurried crowd, and his pace suddenly changes, telling me that he must've found Lícia. A moment later we're facing the still wild-haired woman, Thomas already explaining the situation to her while I snatch another piece of sweet bread and stuff it in my mouth.

"Here." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a key. "They're in my office, on the third shelf, pull the fifth book from the left. Get them and put them on that table before you head into the foyer. Quickly. You only have a few minutes to spare before the Court gets here, and those privileged bores are never late."

"Minutes? I thought we had an hour," I say, swallowing the last of the bread.

"An hour until the meeting begins, yes, but the Court will have that hour to rest and prepare. Now stop asking questions and go." She's already talking to another group of the staff before we can turn and start running again.

We don't go back up the stairs to the throne room. Instead, we head for the adjacent wall and take off through the servants' tunnels that are now empty save for a few last stragglers grabbing the last bit of blankets and towels for the rooms.

"Lícia seems nice," Thomas says in between strides, not at all out of breath in even the slightest.

"She's nicer than Barite, you mean," I correct. Gods am I really already so tired that I can barely talk and run? Maybe I should've forgone that sweet bread.

"To be fair, anyone's nicer than Barite."

I don't bother to voice my agreement, he already knows how much I hated our old boss. She was old and strict and beat you if you so much as had one hair out of place. She was the one who made me so silenced and well-mannered, though she herself was horribly mannered that not even Claritia or Neven went anywhere near her. So yes, Lícia is nice, and likely far better than Barite could ever be, horrible as it may sound.

We finally come upon what's now Lícia's office door, and we're through it the second Thomas twists the key. I get to the bookshelf first and instantly have my hand on the fifth book from the left, sitting on the third shelf. I pull the top of its spine down, only stopping when I hear a click and whirr of something turning. The bookcase makes a scraping sound as it suddenly starts moving forward.

When it stops, Thomas moves to the side of it and pushes, moving the bookcase out of the way and exposing the small compartment behind it. Inside sits all fifteen of the Scarlet Eggs. I take a second to admire them, their gold and blue designs swirling around their edges seamlessly, and their small golden stands that they sit upon. They're honestly nothing more than nicely decorated and highly expensive eggs, but I will admit, they're nice to look at.

"Here." I turn around to find Thomas with two small containers in his hand, each with red cushions that have several indentations meant to carry the eggs. I take one box, carefully settling four of them in the innermost slots of the carrier before stepping aside so he can do the same with his carrier. Once the nine eggs that we'll be needing are taken, we put the carriers on the desk carefully. While he closes the bookcase back up, I close the carriers and flip the locks so that the eggs are secure in their holdings.

I grab my carrier, and then he grabs his, and we're walking out of the office, locking the door behind us.

"How mad do you think Lícia would be if she found that we've snuck into that same office just to see the eggs several times while Barite was in charge?" I ask as we walk as quickly as we dare back to the throne room.

"It's probably best that we keep that little fact to ourselves."

"Probably."

We make it back to the kitchen and I instantly wrap both my arms tightly and securely around the case. I won't be the reason that Darius gets thrown aside during his first meeting with the Court as King.

We're nearly to the stairs when Lícia calls out to us. "You two bring those over here." We don't really have room to protest, so we head for her and a pair of older staff members that I recognize. It's nice to see more familiar faces as the days go on, I just wish I knew more names.

"Leave them here, we'll fill them and get them onto the table before the meeting."

"But-"

"You have no time to spare, the carriages were just spotted outside of the castle gates. Leave the eggs, and go before we all lose our heads."

Thomas doesn't give me a second chance to argue as he takes the carrier out of my hands and puts it on the table in front of her, and then grabs my arm and tugs me back towards the stairs. We race through the throne room, up the few steps and through the double doors that are being closed, and then through the bridge, down the two wide sets of stairs, and across the foyer to the larger entrance to the castle. Everyone's already there; Darius, the Bhaltayr, Lance, Claritia, Aldred, her small personal guard dressed in their armor, Jade assassins that line the steps and the pathway below, and the group of servants gathered to serve the nobles.

I go to take my place among them when Thomas pulls me back to him. I panic for about half a second before I realize that he's only trying to fix my hair which seems to have come loose. I look down at myself and start patting my dress trying to get whatever dust I might've collected onto it off. He gives me a thumbs up a moment later, and then we're both moving to take up our respective places.

I squeeze through the small crowd of staff members and stand beside Blaise, in front of the other three servants who line up behind me. They'll be with me and whichever house we're assigned to, though they wear more traditional servant's outfits for winter than the nicer dress I have on. Darius wants all the staff members to have different uniforms, but they've been hard to come by on short notice, especially with such a large number of them.

I turn around to greet them, thankful to find that I recognize all three of them. I'll feel more comfortable that way. I look forward, finding the first of the carriages already halfway across the path leading up to the castle, the second beginning its trek over the drawbridge. I nearly jump when I feel Blaise's hand press up against mine, but I stay still when I notice that she's actually slipping me something. It wasn't necessarily an assassin-like move, so I don't bother trying to hide it from the wandering eyes around us. I open my palm and find that it's a twine bracelet with a small orb of glass no bigger than the width of my pinkie fingernail. It carries the tiniest flame of fire I've ever seen. I look at Blaise, my eyebrow raised in question.

"Break the orb if your life or theirs becomes threatened," she explains with a glance at the three women behind me.

I nod, making the assumption that the flame is Darius's doing and that by smashing the orb and letting the flame free, I'll be able to, in a way, summon him. Sure does make it a hell of a lot easier for me. I glance at the wrists of the other head servants, finding them all wearing similar bracelets around their wrists.

Manners be damned, if these nobles of the Court don't accept Darius's rightful claim to the throne, then I'm going to burn them to ashes myself the old fashion way.

The first carriage stops at the bottom of the steps and the footman quickly rushes to open the door for the noble inside. I downcast my eyes before they step out of the carriage. If we're going off of the old ways that we servants acted - which we are because the Court won't be so open to otherwise - then we lowlifes have no place nor the social standing to look directly at the nobility. It's honestly questionable bullshit at best, but as I said, anything to give Darius whatever help I can, preferably without stepping out of a line.

"Duchess Pernella, thank you for coming," I hear Darius call into the biting cold wind. No doubt he's using the breeze to his advantage.

"I never miss a summons," she replies matter-of-factly.

"And we're all thankful for your loyalty. I hope Nevlander is fairing well during the season."

"Despite the strange winds that have been blowing, our winter stock is holding steady. We should last through the winter without much loss."

"Wondrous news indeed." I cringe at the utter formality in his voice and words. He's been strange for good reasons, sure, but hearing him talk so...royally is beyond unsettling. "How is your daughter? Beatrice."

"She's doing well, thank you," the Lady responds slowly, sounding almost impressed and touched that he asked about her daughter. "I'm sorry I couldn't bring her, she's not one made for traveling in the cold."

"I'm glad to hear of her strong health, and I understand her dislike for the season."

"Not one for chills, are you?" The older woman smirks as she ascends the last step.

"I have my likes for the display of the snow, the cold, not so much."

Liar, I think. He's perfectly warm with his power. The rest of us are the ones really suffering.

"I suppose I agree with you partly on the matter," the Duchess says sweetly.

"Few do. I'm sure you'd like to warm up after your journey. Nicholas will lead you to your room in the Canary Wing, your usual one, I believe."

"Thank you, Your Highness." I see her curtsy out of the corner of my eyes, and then the man standing at Blaise's other shoulder leads her away. This Nicholas doesn't look familiar, and I catch the silent step of his feet and conclude he's a Jade.

The next carriage arrives swiftly, and I spot a dark green dress with silver embroidery reaching from the hem and upwards like tree branches growing. There's a man that follows the woman, and then the sounds of two children laughing following them. The family of four climbs the steps together, and I don't need to look up or hear their names to know who they are.

"Lord Gregory, Lady Pyrrah, welcome back to Fernweh," Darius greets. Joyful as he may sound, I can still hear the difference.

"I will admit-" Lord Gregory takes his wife's arm, helping her up the stairs whilst meeting Darius's gaze, "-I had hoped it was under different circumstances."

"And sooner in time," Lady Pyrrah concedes.

"We all had hoped for better," Claritia retorts smoothly. I forgot she was here for a moment, she's usually not this quiet.

"Indeed," Darius agrees. He bends at the waist a little toward one of the children. "And how are you, Lady Paulina?"

"Pleased to be here, You Grace," the twelve-year-old girl responds sweetly with a small curtsy of her own.

"I'm glad. I heard a rumor that you and your brother enjoy the hard candy made in Riela. I hope your parents don't mind, but I had a small shipment of sweets brought in. They await you in your rooms."

A shipment courtesy of Dee who misted yesterday to find them. Not that there was much left after the Bhaltayr found them. I made Lance force them into a hard training session that afternoon as punishment.

"Oh, please, mama," Paulina's brother, Kenric, pleads, holding fast to his mother's arm.

"Don't beg child," she quickly retorts, causing the boy to look back down at his feet. "But seeing as we could hardly turn down such a kind gift..." The boy perks up again, but not too much to where his mother will hush him again.

"In that case, Nicia here will take you to your quarters where warmth and