With a flash of light and a ring of gold, the three princesses entered the very same corridor where Aideen had taken them on their shared seventeenth birthday. Lila was the first to race to the railing. She leaned over to look at the city, to take it all in.

Like before, it was night in the city, but the moon was a pale blue rather than the jade green of before, and it overlooked a city as bustling as before—if not moreso. The clothes were more luxurious and eccentric, every passerby masked and there were new decorations hung up in the city. If Lila closed her eyes, she could hear the faint lilt of music—but not quite enough to determine the tune. 

She wanted to see all of it. 

"Come on," she said, backing away as Aideen and Kira approached. "This is our castle—we should explore it."

Aideen and Kira shared an uneasy glance. 

"I'm not sure we should be wandering around unattended—"

"What are you afraid of?" Lila cut Aideen off. "Why aren't we allowed to be in the Jade Palace?"

"I don't know," Aideen admitted. "But I was never allowed to come here alone." 

Lila had no idea why Lady Angaharad would do such a thing. Looking back, Lila also realized that Absinthe and the other members of the Council of Crown were only a fraction of the full governing body. Another mystery—and one that didn't sit well with Lila.

"I have to believe that there's a reason we aren't allowed in Agartha yet, I think they might be waiting for the proper opportunity to present us," Aideen continued as Lila started down the hallways. She and Kira followed Lila, in spite of their reservations. "The Council of Crowns is full of dragons far older and wiser than ourselves—they didn't come to this without wisdom."

Lila whirled around. "Then we won't leave the castle—surely they can't object to that?"

The look on Aideen's face said otherwise, but Kira visibly relaxed. 

Lila let her expression soften. "We won't leave the Jade Palace, then. I just want to look around a little longer."

"Okay." Aideen bit her lip, defeated. 

Lila then turned back around, ready to see what mysteries the Jade Palace had to offer.

The corridors of the Jade Palace were mainly empty, with its crimson pillars and jade floors, and not many details to reveal where they should go. So the princesses wandered around the Jade Palace aimlessly. Until they came across an open door, with soft golden light pouring through—finally, something to truly explore.

Lila entered first and was taken aback. They had found the library—or at least, a library, although she couldn't imagine any more magnificent than this. Books with their titles written on bejeweled spines in golden ink filled the cherry shelves stretching infinitely overhead, to an arched ceiling with the paintings of dragons overhead and representations of the same twelve statues that Lila saw in the open area where the princesses had arrived.

Hadn't Aideen's story said that their ancestor, Abraxas the Avenger, had created this library?
The golden light came from the lanterns scattered across the floor between tables and chairs, and sporadically planted on shelves built onto the pillars between books, the delineation of the tomes. Close to another door with an iron gate over it were three teenagers gathered around one of these lanterns, papers and books scattered around them.

Lila froze. After wandering the Jade Palace with nary a sign of life, she hadn't expected anybody to be in this room. It was stranger still to see three dragons that were their age, not the adults of the Council of Crowns. 

It was then that one of them looked up, scarlet eyes meeting amber—and Lila knew that they had been seen.

"I didn't know anybody else was here," the boy called out. 

The other two popped their heads up—a boy and a girl, Lila could see now. 

"Sorry, we didn't mean to intrude." Aideen took over the speaking. "We'll just be leaving—"

"Wait." The boy with the scarlet eyes spoke with regality, a calm commanding that froze Lila in her tracks. He stood up, and began to make his way to them. The other two followed behind, and all three came closer, where Lila could get a better look at all of them. 

The first boy had scarlet eyes and dark mahogany hair that complimented his tan skin, grown in a longer style that contrasted his fine aristocratic features. His clothes hung perfectly straight, in dark colors accented with gold in arcane symbols. 

The girl was petite, with flowing dark hair partially secured by delicate-looking pins of gold and jade, her eyes a glowing emerald. She practically bounced with energy, and in a silent room Lila was sure she would hum like electricity. 

The second boy hovered behind the girl, his dark brown hair falling into his cool blue eyes and refusing to fall flat. His freckles scattered across his face and hands like stardust. A scan over his clothes revealed small burns and cuts, places where the fabric frayed or a mistake was made. Everything was an attempt to be tidy—but always fell just short. 

The scarlet-eyed boy looked Lila up and down, and she felt as if he could see right through her. "How did you get into the palace this late?"

Lila raised her chin. "It's our palace—why shouldn't we?"

His entourage let out a gasp and shared a look.

The scarlet-eyed boy blinked, a small betrayal of surprise. But then recognition, and a polite smile took its place. "Forgive me. I didn't recognize you. You three must be the Princesses of Agartha."

"That's right." Lila managed to keep her voice even—and was surprised at how royal she sounded. "We just came for a visit."

"We didn't mean to disturb you," Kira added.

"You're not disturbing us at all!" The girl bounded forward, her green eyes gleaming. "I can't believe it—you're really here! The Princesses, the ones that are going to break the curse—"

"Hopefully," the second boy added in a flat tone. 

"Lloyd!" The girl chided.

"What?" The boy's voice rose in irritation by half an octave. "They all thought the ones before them would break the curse too, who's to say this time will be different—"

He caught Lila's eye, likely by mistake given how red he turned, and averted his eyes. "I mean, my apologies, Your Majesties."

"There's no need for that," Lila said quickly.

"Yes, there is," Aideen cut in. 

The scarlet-eyed boy let out an exhale that sounded almost like a laugh. "We weren't expecting you."

Lila could hear the missing words, the true meaning implied in the gleam in his eyes.

We weren't expecting princesses like you.

"You've met our parents, I believe." The girl looked between the boys, and then returned beaming to the princesses. "I'm Mahin—my mother is Lady Rana Mahoraga."

She extended her hand out, as if she'd been waiting to try it all her life.

Lila wondered if they usually shook hands in Agartha.

She accepted, only for Mahin to vigorously shake her hand.

"It's alright, we don't have to do that," Kira said when Mahin then turned to her.

"Oh, okay." Mahin tilted her head, blinked, and then returned to her sunny smile. She pointed at the first boy with her thumb. "This is Ammon, he's Lord Absalom's son, and Lloyd over here is Lord Rhodri's."

"We volunteer here in the Archives." Ammon stepped forward. "An important responsibility, and one that helps build trust for the day that we'll join the Council of Crowns."

Lloyd looked at Ammon, eyebrows upturned in hurt. "I thought you joined to hang out with me."

Ammon's expression softened. "We did."

"Yeah, Ammon might mimic his dad all the time, but you and I both know he's really a big softie!" Mahin clasped Lloyd's shoulders and shook him a little, like a small earthquake. 
Luckily, Lloyd seemed to be used to Mahin's energy, and so he managed to stand up to that force. 

Ammon ignored them, folding his arms over his chest. "Still, that brings us back to the question—what are you doing here?"

"We heard about the festival, thought that we'd come." Lila shrugged, trying her best to sound causal.

"I can't blame you there." Ammon shifted. "But you can't."

"I knew it," Kira muttered.

Lila ignored her. "Why not?"

"You haven't made your debut yet." Lloyd was the one to speak, in his flat, cool tone. He avoided looking at the princesses directly. "It's against the code of the curse."

"The what?" 

"The Code of the Curse," Aideen repeated, as if Lila was supposed to know what that meant. "I'm not aware of all of the conditions, of course—but I should have known that this was one of them."

"You say that like that clarifies anything," Lila muttered.

Ammon took another step forward. "It seems that Ajax the Avenger took quite a long time to die. Because his curse has a great many clauses for its terms, loopholes, and of course, how to break it."

Lila looked to him incredulously. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Oh, we wish it wasn't that way," Ammon sighed. "But it is what it is."

"As I was saying," Aideen continued in a self-righteous tone, "I am not aware of all of the terms, and I am sure Lady Grandmother will go over them soon. But it makes sense now—if it's a term, then we forsake the entire realm."

"Don't worry, it won't be too much longer before you make your debut," Mahin said eagerly. "I saw the dresses they're making for you—they're beautiful—"

"Are you sure we aren't breaking the terms by talking to you?" Kira interrupted. 

"Oh, no, the Jade Palace is exempt." Ammon looked to Lloyd. "Isn't that right? You have a better mind for memory than I do."

"You're correct," Lloyd said in a small voice, as he continued to avoid looking at the three princesses directly.

This had to be a weird dream during the sleepover, Lila decided. None of this was making any sense.

"We do really appreciate your enthusiasm." Ammon's eyes locked back onto Lila's, and there was something genuine there. "But you have to leave now."

"On it." Aideen was already weaving the portal. 

Lila looked from Aideen to Ammon helplessly. She'd wanted to ask so many more questions, about Mythos, about Agartha, about the Code of the Curse, all of it.

But then Aideen grabbed Lila's arm, and she was back in the sleepover again.