I looked over to see Elof, raising his own mug to Pan. Pan smiled and took a long drink. We sat at the table a while longer, him sipping his ale. I don’t know that we ever completely shook the tension from Rikky’s angry outburst, but by the time we decided to head back to our rooms, Pan was smiling and I felt a lot more relaxed. Bryn and Elof seemed in good spirits.

When we got to our rooms, we parted ways to freshen up before we figured out what to do next. Bryn went into our room first, but Pan took my hand and pulled me back toward him.

“I forgot to tell you before. You look really beautiful in that dress.”

“That’s funny because you did already tell me that,” I said with a smile. “Twice.”

He kissed me, gentle and sweet. “Maybe I can talk to Elof and see if he wants to hang out with Bryn for a little while, so we could have the room to ourselves.” Then, quickly, he added, “Just so we can watch a movie on the laptop or something. I’m not suggesting Netflix and chill. Just the Netflix part.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That was just a convoluted way of asking if you wanna hang out later?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. Just come knock on my door when you’re ready.”

I finally went into the hotel room, and Bryn was lying on her bed, texting someone on her phone.

“You want me to clear out of here so you can have some time alone,” she said as I sat on the bed and she never looked up from her phone.

“Uh, no, I would never ask you that,” I stammered.

“So you guys weren’t just making out in the hall?” she asked.

My cheeks reddened. “That was hardly making out.”

She finally looked over at me. “I could just as easily go text Ridley from the lobby. They have a bench there that’s slightly softer than this bed. It’s no big deal.”

“I don’t know. I guess, maybe, if it’s no big deal,” I said sheepishly. It felt rude kicking her out of our room, but she’d offered, and honestly, I would love to spend some alone time with Pan. We’d had hardly any since the Lost Month.

A knock at the door came before she could respond, and I hurried to answer, assuming it was Pan. But when I opened the door, it was Margarit, the bespectacled front desk clerk.

“Sorry to disturb you, but um . . .” She adjusted her glasses. “The palace called, and the Queen Regent has requested your presence, along with that of Mr. Dómari.”

“Just the two of us?” I asked.

“Yes, they requested only Ms. Tulin and Mr. Dómari,” she said.

“When do they want to see us?”