The next morning I awoke to a heavy lion lying on top of me and a loud banging at our door. I was instantly on alert, but then I heard a voice calling me through the door.

“Marquis Julien!”

The voice belonged to Evan, the Palace knight I’d met the previous day. His was a voice I didn't fear, and I relaxed as soon as I realized it was him. Though I was quite curious as to why he was in this deserted wing of the Palace looking for me.

“Marquis Julien!” he banged on the door a little louder. “If you’re in there, please open the door!”

Andrian began to stir after the second knock, but I was already out of bed and answering the door. When I opened the door, Evan de Vray was standing in the hallway, his blue eyes shining bright with excitement.

“Good morning Marqu–” he froze when the lion in the bed climbed out from under the covers. He narrowed his eyes in confusion and asked, “Can they not keep their human form when they sleep?”

“That might be the dumbest question I’ve heard in a while,” Vargas commented, appearing in the doorway behind Evan. “We wake up in whatever form we went to sleep in. Now, here’s a smarter question; did you have to be banging and yelling in the hallway so damn early? Some of us prefer to sleep past the crack of dawn.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Evan responded, looking down at his feet with a flushed face. His embarrassment lasted for only a brief moment before he continued, “Marquis, the First Prince has granted me leave to take you out into the inner city. Would you be interested in coming to a café with me? I thought that after yesterday, you could use an escape. The southern Duke and his men will definitely stay inside the castle today, so you won’t have to worry about running in to them if we leave. I made sure of it before I came.”

From how excited he was, I was pretty sure the young knight didn’t get to leave the Palace very often. He was probably looking forward to escaping these walls for a while, and I didn’t want to be the one to burst his bubble. Besides, it was probably a better idea than hiding in my room feeling sorry for myself.

The large lion disappeared and was replaced by Andrian, still in the clothes he’d worn to the training ground.

“Sorry, but if you want to take him out, you'll have to let me come with you,” Andrian asserted, “for what should be obvious reasons, I don't feel comfortable letting him go alone.”

“I’m coming too,” Vargas added, “I’m his personal guard, so where he goes, I go. You're stuck with me.”

Evan didn’t falter at all when they told him that. In fact, he smiled even bigger and said, “The more the merrier. I’d have invited you regardless. But do you have anything you can wear?”

“I’m wearing clothes right now,” Vargas responded, clearly missing the point of the question.

“Not the right ones,” Evan explained, “The cafés in this city requires you meet certain dress code requirements to get a table. It’s not formal wear only or anything like that, but if you’re dressed like a commoner, they won’t let you in.”

“Are you serious?” Vargas muttered. “Then you better get us all something pretty to wear. We didn’t pack with the intention of going to some fancy dancy cafe that judges you for being comfortable.”

“Oh, yeah, right. That makes sense. Then, uh, I’ll be right back,” Evan stammered for a moment before rushing off down the hall, presumably to find one of those dressing rooms that seemed to be scattered around the Palace.

“Are we really doing this?” Vargas asked, looking unimpressed with the whole idea.

“If Falyn wants to go then I see no reason to decline,” Andrian answered him, “After yesterday, some time away from the Palace wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“I’m alright with it,” I added. “Andrian’s right. If I stay here, I’ll probably spend the whole day…”

I didn’t get to finish that thought because I realized that Evan was back at our door looking at me with wide eyes. For a moment, we were all frozen in place.

“I wasn’t supposed to hear that, was I?” Evan asked, looking between the three of us nervously.

“Nope, you certainly weren’t,” Vargas said, grabbing Evan by the wrist and pulling him into the room. He closed the door behind him and looked at the Palace knight menacingly. “So, you gonna keep your mouth shut about it?”

“Does His Highness know?” Evan asked me, ignoring Vargas’ intimidation. He met my eyes unflinchingly. The knight had to be aware of the position he was in, but he didn’t falter. “I won’t promise anything until I know what you’re about.”

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“A smart man would just say he’d keep his mouth shut,” Vargas commented, keeping himself between Evan and the door.

“Then I suppose I’m not a smart man,” Evan replied, “It is my duty to protect everyone within this Palace, and you're included in that. If His Highness is already aware, then I have no reason to reveal your secret.”

“Before I say anything else, I need to know which ‘His Highness’ you are referring to,” I informed him. Based on our interactions the day before, I doubted he was one of the Second Prince’s supporters, but I had to be sure.

Evan looked surprised at my response, but quickly replied, “His Highness, the First Prince, of course.” He paused for a moment to consider us, before nodding like he’d decided something and adding, “The Second Prince has no authority over the Knights of the Golden Palace.”

“His Highness is aware,” I answered simply.

“Good. I’ll confirm with His Highness later, but until then, as your friend here has so politely requested, I will keep my mouth shut. For now, I only came back because I needed to know your shoe sizes, assuming you are still willing to join me,” Evan continued, seemingly unconcerned about the content of our conversation just moments before.

I had a feeling he was a smarter man than Vargas thought and had already pieced together enough to know we weren’t a threat. Perhaps a Palace knight wouldn’t be a poor choice of ally.

With that in mind, I said, “Sir Evan, I can promise you that if you are loyal to the First Prince, then our goals are aligned. That’s all I can say for now, but you are welcome to ask His Highness if you wish to know more. Otherwise, as long as you don’t mind a silent companion, Vargas and I should wear the same size as you, and Andrian is two sizes larger.”

As soon as Evan had left again, Vargas shut the door behind him and asked, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Andrian, who had remained silent throughout the entire exchange, answered, “It is. He’s given me no reason to believe that he’s anything but sincere. Having the Palace Knights on our side would also be helpful.”

“That’s pretty much what I was thinking,” I added, “I don’t think he’ll say anything, and if he does, it won’t change anything except that we'll lose the element of surprise.”

“No, I agree with you on that. He doesn't strike me as the type to work with the Second Prince,” Vargas replied, “However, I don’t know if it’s a good idea to go prancing about the city with him either. Just cause he don’t mean us any harm doesn’t mean that others won’t. Plus there’s still a chance he’s just a damn good liar.”

“There’s a chance, but I really don’t think he’s someone we need to worry about,” I said after a moment of consideration. “We've all been so focused on the four ducal houses, but what about all the nobles of the capital? Surely they must hold some sway with the King. It’s a chance worth taking if we can add both the Palace knights and the unaligned Royal blood nobles to our cause. Besides, I doubt the First Prince would have agreed to let him take us if he wasn't part of his faction.”

Vargas had no further arguments, but we agreed that the others should know where we were going, just in case things went south. Andrian went to inform them, and while he was gone, Evan returned with what he deemed acceptable clothing for a day in the capital. To be fair, the clothes weren't all that bad. He seemed to have taken our preferences into consideration, and even Vargas couldn’t complain.

Once we were appropriately attired, we departed into the city. I’d passed through the inner city a number of times, but always on horseback or in a carriage. I was surprised when we set out on foot, but Evan assured me it was the best way to experience the city.

Despite Evan’s contagious enthusiasm, I felt ill at ease in the picturesque inner city. Just as I had previously observed, everything was perfect, not a single thing out of place. There was nothing wrong, and that was exactly what was wrong with it. In the Beastlands, the cities were chaotic, colorful, and exciting. Everything here was well organized, boring, and pristine. Every direction I looked was like I was looking at a painting.

We arrived at a corner café with a large patio filled with tables. The silver haired nobles milled about, sipping elegant looking drinks under large umbrellas that protected their delicate skin from the sun. The entire patio seemed to know Evan and greeted him as he approached. The young ladies greeted him with undisguised interest and delight.

I knew enough about the culture in the capital to assume he’d already bedded a good number of those ladies. Those with Royal blood were notoriously open in their affairs, everyone looking to sire the golden eyed child. In such a puritanical nation, they were the exception to the accepted rules. After all, they were Royal. Fortunately, there were enough bloodlines to go around that the unions were rarely truly incestuous. Distant cousins might share a bed, but never brother and sister.

We sat down and a server appeared out of nowhere to take our order. The beastmen had no idea what a café might serve and I didn’t dare use my voice while we were out, so it fell to Evan to order for all of us. He guessed as best he could, and soon we all had drinks topped with whipped cream and grated cinnamon.

Our time passed surprisingly pleasantly. The Royal blooded nobles were nothing if not cordial, and seemed unbothered by the beastmen in their midst. I felt a little ashamed of how I’d thought of them before now. I’d assumed that they were all vapid, unpleasant individuals, but they were surprisingly naive. Most of them seemed completely oblivious to the suffering outside the city walls and knew almost nothing of the war. The young women were enchanted by Andrian and my story, wanting to hear all the details of our love affair before attending our wedding the following day. To them, we were like figures from a fairy tale come to life.

I wondered how many generations these nobles had spent, trapped within the city’s walls. They were like captives who had been held for so long that they had forgotten they weren’t free. Their only concerns were following the rules, indulging in endless frivolity, and copulating with each other as often as possible.

Evan saw it too, I think, but he pretended like he didn’t because this was the only world he knew. He was even more trapped than they were, wasting his life away inside the Palace.

By the end of the day, I realized I pitied the lot of them.