“Are you mad!?” Orion Estrix screeched. His hands gripped the letter from Alantin tightly enough for the paper to tear. 

Sion flinched, it was rare for her to show any reaction to anything in the world and its objects but it was a much, much rarer instance where her brother would express his anger in any way that was deemed violent. Yelling was included in that list.

“It’s not as if I haven’t done anything much worse than apply for a school. Really, must you be so dramatic on a pleasant day like this?”

Orion paused for a moment before closing his eyes and forcing himself to cool down. Slowly, his skin turned back to its usual shade of darkened copper. He released his grip on the letter, letting it loosely dangle from his fingers.

“You know what I meant.” Orion sighed, exasperated.

“Did I?”

Her brother started her dead in the eye, his mouth set in a firm line. Her expression changed to match his. 

“You never had much humour, did you?”

Orion rolled his eyes, his annoyance was clearly visible. 

Sion held her hands up in defeat before resuming her argument. Before she could start, Orion attempted to argue back. The siblings clashed, each one a skilled debater, royalty against royalty. By the time they were done, day had twirled itself into night, and sun had melted into moon. At the end of the passionate debate, the two were so exhausted that they went straight to their respective rooms, sustenance was forgotten to the sleep-deprived. 

Sion collapsed in her bed. She had fully convinced her brother that she had the capability to go to Alantin, but to herself, the doubts clawed her to her core. 

The situation was messy, in the possibility that if someone found her true identity at Alantin she would have to pay a significant amount of bribery to the figure. And she was briskly running out of bribery money due to that venal interviewer. And, if in the rare possibility that they don’t accept bribery money, what would she do then?

Threatening could only do a certain degree of damage. Telling her dastardly parents would only result in hours wasted in arguments. Orion would attempt to help her however he could, but he was more than busy with his new self-given role of publicity management for the House Of Estrix. 

Sion clawed the soft fabric of her gown, the seams slowly shredding under her sharp, pointed nails.

This would not do.

If she was to go to  Alantin incognito then she would have to learn how to blend in. Voice and appearance-changing potions could only do so much. She would have to learn how to be a true peasant.

♕

When day had finally decided to wake, Sion was already in the centre of the village market. The peasants had started to stream in, the sound of polite greetings to old acquaintances, highly skilled shoppers haggling their way through shops, and tempered arguments between faerie and demons were scattered around the Square.

Sion stared at a particular demon with spiked, scarlet-dipped nails and braided, inky hair. The demon swatted a faerie that repeatedly plucked at their hair. A large mistake on their part. Even the smallest of children knew that a demon’s vanity was their largest flaw. Foolish faerie.

The faerie, sensing the weight of stare glared back at her direction.

Sion widened her eyes and tumbled back before regaining her balance. The faerie grinned at her surprise. 

Forgetting about the irritated demon, they twisted its minuscule body, completely facing Sion. This was another dense decision on his part. The demon caught him in his inattentive state, and the faerie, too small to fight back buzzed angrily in his temporary cage.

Sion edged towards the demon. She wasn’t necessarily interested in the daft faerie but she was, however, extremely curious about where the demon had found fresh Valmin during this season.

The faerie, peeking through his prison, flashed her a grateful smile as he saw her heading towards the pair. Sion rolled her eyes at his daftness.

Tapping the demon’s arm, Sion mouthed to the faerie, “Not for you”.

The boy’s grin evaporated. 

As she asked the demon for information about the Valmin the nitwitted faerie furrowed his eyebrows at her and gave her the crudest hand gesture she had ever received. She immediately returned it to him.

“How dare you!”

The demon glared at her, thinking that he was the receiver of the rude message.

Sion turned pink, an enraged enough demon could destroy a grown man. Royalty or not.

“Oh! Seems we’ve reached a miscommunication, the gesture wasn’t meant for you, kind sir. It was meant for the obnoxious faerie over there.” Sion pointed at the air behind the large demon, no faerie present.

“Faerie, what faerie!”, the demon roared and twirled in the pointed direction.

As soon as his guard was down, Sion fled, leaving the screeching demon and the captured faerie behind her.

Practising her peasant-imitation skills would be reserved for another day.