Kris shook her head, her platinum-blond hair brushing her shoulders lightly. “No, it’s okay, Mr. Montgomery.” She nodded toward the bellhop who was walking toward us, ready to escort her to the Royal Quarters.

“Of course. As you wish.”

I scrambled out of the back seat with no offer of help—not that I needed it, but c’mon—and took in a deep inhale of crisp air, happy to be out of the stuffy car and in the chill of the mountains.

Kris pulled me into a big hug and whispered in my ear, “Text me as soon as you can escape!”

“Wish me luck!” I gave her a squeeze before watching her walk away, the bellhop trotting after her and probably hoping for a Pure Royal–sized tip. I grabbed my suitcase and faced my dad, dreading being alone in his company for even five minutes. He had his phone out and the usual furrowed-brow look on his face. I cleared my throat to make it obvious that I wasn’t going to stand there all day, ignored.

“Right. Avery. Stay here. Don’t move,” he said to me like I was a poorly behaved puppy. “I have to take care of some things and get access to our suite. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

I nodded my assent. Satisfied I wasn’t going to give him attitude, he marched off toward the Hyped. Letting out a long sigh of relief, my rebel alter ego took over—time for a self-guided tour of the Court.

I had never seen this many Hellenicus in one place—people were bustling around everywhere I looked. Wandering past the Hyped and the crowds toward the center of the Court, I found a beautiful garden. The big oak tree standing in the center of the garden must be the Whispering Oak of Dodona—the oldest Oracle and Zeus’s sacred oak, from which, through the whisper of its leaves, priests had interpreted messages from the gods to mortals. People used to travel from all over Greece to Dodona, where the tree first grew, to worship Zeus and the goddess Dione, whom the city was named after.

But centuries later the sacred oak was in danger of being cut down. So Zeus moved the soul of the tree here, far away from the religious struggles of the time to a land where the natural world was respected. It has remained here ever since, protected by the Court walls and our people.