Next day rolled around and, though he was bubbling at the thought of seeing Siren, he avoided her. Under the light of day, it would be weird to look her in the eyes after the way he'd touched her — that, and admitting he had a crush on her. When it came time to get ready for the party, he had to take a breather as he did his eyeliner. Her comment about wanting to see what he'd look like had gotten him a little self conscious, even if readying himself was usually second nature. He put on a corset and ditched the usual travel cloak in favor of a better looking one. 

He'd agreed on meeting Siren in front of the library after sundown and, sure enough, there she was. The first thing he noticed was that she looked shorter; her daily boots had taller heels than the shoes she was wearing. Over a long dress, she wore a dark green cloak with the Umbral Star insignia. Surprisingly enough, her hair was loose and most of her fringe had been brushed back and contained by a silver tiara. "You clean up well," Laurel said as a greeting, "Your hair looks so good like that." He tried to hold back the adoring look that wanted to show itself on his face. She stared at him for a while, mouth agape; then, she scoffed and held her arm out. He accepted it and they started walking. "I'm not boosting your ego," she said, "You already know you're pretty." 

"Do I?" he asked, somewhat amused. "Don't tease. You're so pretty it disgusts me on principle," she rolled her eyes. "On a more positive note, your beauty doesn't disgust me," he said softly. She went quiet for a while, but he could feel her tense up beside him. "By the way, I thought Umbral Star cloaks were meant to be navy blue," he said. "That's for alumni," she replied. "And green is?" She fiddled with the silver star. "For councilors," she said. He thought it over. "Is this some sort of formal function? Am I, like, underdressed?" he asked, widening his eyes at her. "Uh, no. It's just a small party." Laurel smiled a little, digging his thumb into her hand. "So you just want to show off? How pretentious," he said. "Shut up," she exclaimed, whisper-shouting, "You said you liked my pretentiousness." He bent down a bit, whispering back close to her ear: "I love it."

She elbowed him away, putting some distance between them. "We're almost there," she said, looking at him somewhat apologetically. Indeed, they soon got "there", which seemed to be a courtyard similar to the lookout him and Siren had chatted at a few weeks prior. There were tables, chairs and fairy lights scattered about — and, of course, people. Not many. Immediately, Wyvern came running over to them, arms wide open. "Siren dearest!" she beamed, her voice dropping a little when she added: "Oh, you brought the Ashen Prince. How delightful." Though her words were positive, Laurel found himself guessing. "He's been working hard," said Siren, "Thought he deserved a night out." That was a blatant lie. He'd barely worked the past few days. "Nevermind that," Wyvern declared, picking Siren up by the armpits and lifting her above her head as if she weighed nothing, "You look just like a doll!" 

Laurel nearly stumbled on himself with concern; "Wyvern, your wrist-" he started, cutting himself short once Wyvern let Siren go and she remained on the air, her expression like that of a kid on timeout. "Levitation. Effortless!" Wyvern exclaimed, smiling. "But look at her hair. Looks just like her student years," she sighed, rotating Siren as if she was meat on a stick without even moving a finger. "Let me down," she groaned, crossing her arms. "Sorry," Wyves said, obeying, "I'm just so proud. I have to show you off to people." Desmond appeared, bringing in tow the last guest, a woman Laurel didn't know. "Let the girl be," Des said, placing his hands on Wyvern's shoulders. 

"Siren," said the stranger in a rough voice. "Fabiana," Siren returned the greeting, narrowing her eyes. "Oh!" Wyvern beamed again, gesturing to the woman while looking at Laurel, "This is my older sister, Fabiana. And this is Laurel Greyland." Considering the reason behind the party, he should have guessed that was her sister, but they didn't look much alike. Fabiana was slightly taller and, well, bigger. More muscular. Somewhat scarred. "As in the Ashen Valleys' Greylands?" she asked, her face twitching slightly. After Wyvern confirmed it, Fabiana made a face at Siren, who didn't flinch despite being obviously smaller. And weaker. "Out of all people, you are hanging out with royals now?" she asked. Siren shrugged. "He's somewhat insufferable, but I've adopted him as a pet. Plus, he's no rat."

They walked to a table and found seats. "How do you know he's not?" Fabiana asked as they did so. Des snickered and Siren tried to look mad at him, but ended up laughing too. "Let's say he took it like a good boy when I cursed him a while back," she said, glancing at Laurel with a crooked smile for a split second. That seemed enough to convince Fabiana. "Can't say I don't like your style," she said. "Yes, like that," Wyvern cheered, "You should all be friends." Des sighed, "I don't think you're being helpful." The table fell silent while drinks and appetizers were served. "Come on, Bibi. You know I only came for business," said Fabiana, immediately pouring herself some wine, "Yet you always throw a stupid party or whatever." 

"Bibi?" Laurel asked, surprised to notice that it was the first time he spoke. Wyvern seemed a little embarrassed; "Bibiana. My superiors thought that wasn't a very menacing name, though." He smiled, "But why would you have to sound menacing?" Fabiana looked over to Siren. "Is he always this dense?" she asked. "Yeah. It's like having a dog." The older woman looked at Laurel for what seemed like too long. "Do you have an inferiority complex?" she asked. "Well, somewhat," he admitted, pouring himself wine as well, "This amuses me though." He was pleased to notice it was Ashen wine, though the taste made him kind of homesick. Not that he was hating his stay at Estella. "He has this 'good royal' act," Siren said, making air quotations, "So I'm pushing his boundaries to see how long he can keep it up." 

"Seems like you want to end up back near the Beltpass," said Fabiana, a sudden seriousness in her eyes. Siren averted her eyes, shoving a piece of bread in her mouth with zero class. "Not happening," she mumbled, grimly. "Yeah, even if Siren dearest insulted a random prince right to his face, I'd be in her corner," Wyvern proclaimed, patting Siren on the head. Well, as far as things were concerned, Laurel was a random prince. He had to find a way to make the conversation stop reverting to Siren, but it seemed like there was some weird tension between her and the sisters. "I really hadn't noticed you guys were sisters," he said, smiling cordially, "You hardly look alike."

"We get that a lot, actually," Wyvern smiled, "Fabiana being so strong and all." Her sister sighed. "Our father and I think she's a bastard," she said, "Not that he minds. There's also her health issue, which I think is the reason she looks so… frail." Wyves chuckled, "Wouldn't call it a health issue, but okay." Laurel raised an eyebrow, "Health issue?" Siren nearly choked on her bread, punching herself on the chest and coughing. "You seriously don't know?" she asked, brow furrowed. Laurel shook his head. "You're sheltered alright, no kidding," she said, "But you must have heard it. Most powerful mage in the world, freak of nature, vitality always completely leeched, endless supply of mana, etcetera. It's what makes kids talk about Wyvern." That brought up a smidge of acknowledgement in Laurel's mind. "Ah, I knew she had some special circumstances, but wasn't sure what," he said. They held still while the main dishes were served.

"Anyway, what are you here for this time, Fabiana?" Siren asked, drinking a clear glass of water. She had a grin plastered on her face, as if talking to her was provocative in itself. "Just some border shit," she replied. "Oh, we have mercenaries on the border? Must really be going down," Siren smiled wider. Des, who had seemed content just talking to Wyvern up until then, spoke up: "Can you guys really be saying this in front of him?" Of course, he pointed at Laurel. Fabiana chuckled, "It's already happening anyways. Plus, he's gonna be stuck here soon enough… And I imagine you have people monitoring his letters." Wyvern scoffed and giggled, "What? Totes not!" Siren shot him a meaningful glance.

"Hey, Siren dearie, I've been hiding something that's totally going to cheer you up," Wyvern deflected. "I'm not down," Siren paused, her loaded fork near her mouth. "Sure," said Wyves, "Well, I got The Quads to come play after our meal." Fabiana audibly groaned, but Siren nearly punched the table. "No way, how?" she asked. "They just wanted food. It was quite whatever," Wyvern smiled, her cheeks going so high they hid her eyes a bit, "Anything for my prized pupil." Though at least someone was happy, the interaction Laurel had witnessed prior to that didn't go well with the wine. He couldn't really concentrate on what was being said the rest of the night. Plus, The Quads sucked.