“Extra-large hug. Enormous.” William winks and slips out the door.

As soon as William leaves, I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s not that William is stressful to be around. The exact opposite, actually. He remains as calming to me now as he ever was. But the constant company is… draining.

I open the fridge to see what my options are, and savor these last hours of solitude.

It doesn’t last. Thirty minutes later, my phone buzzes while I pick at the platter of fancy cheeses and dried fruit that I keep wishing was a burger. It’s Alice. How was the funeral?

I type back quickly. Layers of awful

Oh, so a normal Legendborn event then

I huff a laugh. She’s not wrong. She types back before I can answer. Ready for the Rite?

Ready as I can be? Still not sure which clothes to wear under my robes. I’m a girl, but today is the first step to becoming king. There a fit for that?

Wear what you want. You’re the ONLY person on the planet who can pull Excalibur. Wearing a skirt while you do it not gonna change that

You right

Always

I roll my eyes. K, gotta go get dressed for this thing

This “thing”?! The fifteen-hundred-year-old magical ritual thing where you Oath yourself in service to the entirety of the Order, and the Regents take the Oath of Service back to you?

I suck my teeth. Yup, that thing

Been reading up on these Oaths in the Lodge archives. Oath aether soaks INTO your body. Like, the commitment becomes a part of you, physically. In your cells. FOREVER

Thank you for that super helpful reminder, Alice

You’re welcome! Have a great ancient blood ceremony!

In the end, I opt for a pair of thick but stretchy leggings under riding boots. A long tunic rolled up at the sleeves and belted loose at my waist. A green hooded cape. In the mirror, I pull at my curls and am reminded of Theresa’s comment.

There really is no blending in, even though that’s exactly what I’m supposed to do right now.

The last items I add are my mother’s charm bracelet and Nick’s Pendragon coin necklace.

What I truly want is for everyone to be safe and whole. For Nick to return. For Sel to be free to come home. I want Patricia and Mariah to live without fear. I want the same for William and Alice. For Felicity, whose grief has hollowed her out. I need to make sure Lord Davis doesn’t destroy any more lives, like he did to my mother’s, and Sel’s, and Nick’s.

That’s what kings do, I think. They protect their people.