The royal life is full of twists and turns, and quite frankly, Crecylla finds herself surprised at the sudden visit from the Phoenicians in the week. Cyrus writes a letter to her in advance to gather her friends, and she's glad he notifies her in advance.
The day he arrives, the sun is out in Diana for once. The sun shines, and while most of the royals opt to stay inside, Crecylla and her friends bask in the sunlight outside. They were the few who were lucky enough to not have allergies in the sun. This was also one of the many reasons they decided to marry Crecylla off to Phoenicia.
Phoenicia was the sunniest of lands, which meant that one had to have an incredible immunity to the sun. It was also rumored that Phoenicia's people didn't match the weather. Crecylla would have to ask Cyrus then.
The carriage ride to Diana is vivid. Cyrus is suddenly aware of how much Sirius talks, and he is more than thankful that his best friend talks so much. Cyrus wasn't one for many words, sure he could pull off a successful treaty with other countries, that was one of the reasons he was to inherit the kingdom when he got married, but he wasn't one to talk.
His brother, Helios if you would, also wasn't one for words, yet he was able to start a conversation so easily. His use of language brought people far and wide, and it was one of the few things that Cyrus was envious of. He hoped that the princess he were to wed would be better at words than he.
The girls in Crecylla's bedroom gossip and smile at each other. Blossom, Crecylla's best friend since young, dolls Crecylla up and smiles to herself at the outcome. Crecylla is dressed in a lace dress, and her hair is up in a bun. Different for her, but she could sit through it. On the other side, Selene, the king's illegitimate daughter, files her newly done nails. Had Crecylla not been conceived all those years ago, Selene would've been the one to the throne. And at the end of the bed sits Luna, Crecylla's little sister, her health is fragile since she was poisoned since young, and is unable to lead the kingdom. All eyes have been on Crecylla since young, she couldn't afford to be weak, so she's been trained among the most elite of knights since young.
When the six arrive at the palace gardens, Cyrus is greeted with some of the rarest breeds of flowers in the world. The blue roses, queen of the nights, jade vines, and colorful orchids take their breath away. The preservation was amazing and so many of these flowers had gone extinct in his country years ago.
Crecylla notices how Helios greets Luna first. He greets her with a traditional kiss to the hand, yet she knows that the Phoenicians did not greet people that way. So then why was it that he had greeted her like that? Perhaps she was reading too much into them.
The six settle for a pot of butterfly pea flower tea, and the afternoon passes in relative peace. Helios happily chats away with Crecylla over his kingdom and how much she was going to love it there. Though Helios mentions that Crecylla's flowers might pass without her, she only laughs and brushes it off. The flowers were Luna's not her's.
Cyrus notices the way that Crecylla flinches whenever she's complimented. The way her eyes dart back and forth between Helios and him, and how she takes in their similarities and differences. He notices how her fingers are slim from an instrument, and considering that her nails are well tended and trimmed, and how she has no calluses on her fingers, he concludes that it is either a percussion instrument or the piano. Her arms, which aren't very exposed, are lean muscle. How her arms don't move an inch while drinking her tea surprises him, he concludes that she must do some sort of sword fighting.
Crecylla's eyes wander when Helios talks to Luna. She takes notice how Cyrus has a slight writer's callus on his middle finger. How his hair is an ethereal shade of orange, and how his lips are a soft peach color. He reminds her of one of the mythical creatures she had read about with Luna when they were both young. Underneath his eyes rest three orange scales or feathers, and at first Crecylla thinks she's hallucinating. But when she blinks her eyes back into focus, she notices that they're still there on his face. It isn't until Sirius pulls her into a conversation when she stops staring.
Selene stares at Cyrus, then at Crecylla. She notices the unspoken words in the air, and can't help but wonder if there was something she could do to help them realize their feelings for them. Perhaps she would have to help them.
It doesn't take a genius to realize that Crecylla and Cyrus have unresolved tension and Luna can tell. The glances they cast at each other are calculated, and they are both predicting eachother's next moves. It's like a game of chess, and black is Diana, and white is Phoenicia. Despite Phoenicia offering the wedding deal, Diana knew that they were trying to tie their future ruler down, so that they could take over when Crecylla was weak enough. Someone from their kingdom had already poisoned her, so she feared that her sister was next.
It was always the quiet ones. Sirius was extremely wary around Selene. The name was so common in her time that someone from her status shouldn't have been named something so common. There had to be more behind the tale. So he opts to ask his highness if he was allowed to dig into Selene's past. Better to be safe than sorry.
The day ends at midnight. Cyrus, Helios, and Sirius are all tired and worn out, the moon's beauty in Diana was unrivaled, but for people of Phoenicia, there was nothing prettier than the sun yet, Cyrus had found someone whose beauty rivaled the sun's.