A/N: Mini FYI y'all, trigger warning, there is a gore mention in this chapter. It isn't anything too terribly much, but I figured that you might want to know. Happy reading!

I took the etiquette class. Now I know what spoon, and fork, and knife to use and when. There's still five hours until dinner, and no other class seems interesting. I suppose I could drop into Abigail's class, but then I'd just be bored in there. So now, I just walk along the stone walls, trying to see if I could fine something. I turn, and reach a dead end.

Well, sort of, that depends entirely on your definition of 'dead end'. Rather than a plain black wall, another set of wooden doors lay in front of me. This time, a large and intricate text reads, Library. Also on the inside of this engraving is little tiny jewels. I push the door open, ever so slightly, and take a peak inside. Sure enough, the room is filed to the brim with book shelves. It even has a second, and third story. The one at the academy I went to just after I was bitten has one story, but it was still huge. I pushed the door open fully, and step inside.

"Hello, Madam Canada," An old and weathered voice calls out to me. I swiftly turn to face the other direction, where an old man, who I suppose is the librarian, sits at a desk.

"How do you-"

He cuts me off. "I ensure to research all of the speakers, madam."

"Oh."

"Are you looking for anything, or would you just like to browse?"

"If it's alright, I'd like to-"

"Browse?" The man raises an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, sir."

"Go ahead, madam." He says, bowing his head. I walk about the library, walking past all of the various books. The first floor had a lot of books on history, and texts from the likes of authors such as William Shakespeare and Mark Twain, with some new authors like John Greene and Veronica Rossi.

The second floor was a lot of texts and languages, and psychology. This meant that the third floor probably had texts on sciences, to check and see if I was right, I climbed up the third set of stairs. I was right, and it feels good. All sorts of journals lined the walls, even Darwinism had a coveted spot on the shelves.

I continue walking along the platform, until I see a set of sofas an ottoman, and a stack of books piled high. In the center sits a person who is too far off that I can't make out, but whoever they are, they're pretty deep in whatever book they're reading. As I walk closer, I can start to see a black scarf starting to show itself.

"Reigna Na'im." I say, falling to a curtsy, and feeling my breath catch in my throat.

"Please, don't feel obligated to do that when we are in private." She says.

"Of course."

"Please, come," She gestures her hand for me to take a seat right across from her. I'm sitting across from the most powerful vampire in the world. "You are Ms. Canada Wayward, if I am not mistaken."

"Yes, your majesty."

"Please, drop the formalities. When we are in public, then you can use whatever they taught you in the academies."

"Of course."

Reigna Na'im moves the tea cup on a saucer off of the table, and onto the chair next to her. "Forgive me, I usually drink in private, had I known I was going to have company, I would've waited until I was in my private chambers." Her apology isn't distressed like Gayle's usually is. It's calm, and comes out like a perfect speech, accept, she actually sounds sorry.

"It's alright, I understand." I say. "If you wouldn't mind my asking-"

"Yes, Ms. Canada, I do consume all of the blood I intake in private. If I must do it, I will at least do it modestly."

"Wow." It's the only thing I can think of saying.

Reigna chuckles a little bit. "Enough about me, let us talk about you. I saw you on the stage today. How is your speech coming along?"

"I finished it, and hopefully, I've memorized it."

"You came prepared. Many have come and written their speech the day of their time."

"I don't think I could ever do that."

"You would be shocked. As time moves on, and as we become better speakers, and more confident in our ability to make speeches. You will understand one day."

"I hope I will."

"Trust me, a person of your intelligence can go very far in life."

"Thank you, but how did you-"

"As you can see," she gestures to her books "I like to do my research."

"I see."

"I'm looking forward to your speech in two days."

"Thank you, I am honored that you would think so highly of me."

"Anyone would. I also hope that you will keep the topic of your speech a secret to me. I've been around the block a time or two, and I'd like to get a surprise."

"Of course."

"Might I offer you some advice for your speech?"

"Please do."

"Today, I noticed that you kept to yourself, you tried making yourself seem smaller, and smaller, on the stage, make yourself big. I know that it will be hard, especially considering the magnitude of the audience, but also because, the more confidence you have, the better you will do."

"Wise words. Thank you."

"Also, stare at the back wall if you can't stare at the crowds, it's what I do." She lifts a different cup to her lips, and takes a sip out of it, smiling a little bit.

"Thank you."

"It is my pleasure, Ms. Canada." She says, once more lifting her book up, and reading out of it, once more. I do the same, flipping through the pages. I get lost, until I hear heeled steps coming along the floor.

"Reigna Na'im." A female voice says from behind us.

"Hello." Reigna says.

"It is time to prepare for dinner."

"Of course." Reigna says, swiftly standing up. "I look forward to your speech, Ms. Canada. And, if you wouldn't mind doing me a favor?"

"Yes?" I ask.

"Keep our little interaction a secret, if you wouldn't mind."

"Of course." I say, nodding a little bit. I walked out of the library, and into the hallway. As I look over to the wall on my right, I see Mikah, leaned up against the wall.

"Oh, hey, Canada!" He says, almost sort of jumping on the wall. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Canada." He mocks bows at me.

"Just Canada is fine. I could use a little informality."

"Of course. Where are you going?" He asks.

"Back to my room, I have to get ready for dinner." I continue walking once more, and he joins me in stride.

"Ah, yes. With Reigna Na'im, if I'm not mistaken?" He asks, offering his arm, just as Harrison did, and a graciously take it.

"Yeah." I say.

"So, tell me, what is it like being one of the guests of honor in a palace in Antarctica?"

"Crazy. Honestly, and I though that the academy was gorgeous, geeze."

"Tell me about it. When I got here, I kept getting lost. Heck, I still get lost all the time."

"I bet."

"Yeah, but sometimes, it's nice to get lost in such a pretty place. All of the art in here is beautiful. What do you think?" He asks.

"Just gorgeous. I've never seen anything like it before in my life."

"Hey, you could look at it every day. Vlad's Point is always looking for some more pages."

"I don't think that's it right for me." I shake my head a little bit.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I just really like home." I shrug.

"Who am I to stop you from going home? Offer's always open, and you'll always have someone waiting for ya."

I feel a pang of guilt go over my chest when he says that. Had I hurt him this much?

"Back to the art thing though. Can I show you my favorite work of art?"

"I need to get back to my room." I feel sorry yet again. Am I hurting him?

"Come on, it's on the way there."

"Fine, I suppose." I say.

"Great." He says. Then, he moves so his hands grabbing my hand. I raise an eyebrow up at the much taller man before me. Man, does he have a handsome jawline. Not as cute as Gayle's, though- wait, what?

Before I know it, a force is pulling on me. Mikah has begun to run, quickly going into his advanced skills, causing me to do the same, or get dragged. I try to match his speed in running, however.

"What're you doing?" I ask over our loud footsteps.

"Might've lied, it isn't necessarily on the way there, but it's certainly close." Mikah says. He turns a corner, and we come to a sudden stop, which causes me to come crashing into him. I take a step back, and smile a little bit at him, who's smiling right back.

"What is this?" I ask, looking at the wall. Pegs about half a foot long stick out of the wall.

"You learned about Vlad the Impaler, right?" Mikah asks, rising a brow.

"Yeah, of course. He's the guy that inspired Dracula, right?"

"Yeah, and, pray tell, how did he get his name?"

"By his intense punishment of impaling people?"

"Yep, and don't worry, I won't make you go any deeper, but, these are some of the pegs he used."

"Wait, really?" I ask, staring at the walls now, and feeling almost a flashback wash over me of what they've done.

"Yep, real and genuine. Took us forever to find them, but once we did, they became the crown jewel of the palace."

"And this is your favorite piece of art?" I ask.

"Yeah, I know it's a little grim, but I just think the history's cool." He rubs his neck sheepishly.

"I guess it's pretty cool, too." I say. "I should probably get back to my room now."

"Most likely, sorry I had t take you away like that." Mikah says.

"It's alright, don't sweat it." I say. "See you when I see you." I wave, and walk to the room, only to find an impatient Emma waiting for me at the door.

"Where have you been?" She asks.

"Uh, sorry, just got a little off course." I decide not to tell her about Mikah, just in case that she should get so mad, and take this out on him.

"Why didn't you just use your instincts?"

"Must've forgotten about them."

Emma sighs, and rolls her eyes. "Just get dressed. I'll try to do your hair and makeup." I walk into my room, and put on the slightly more formal dress. I get dressed behind the little divider, and Emma walks in and starts laying out my makeup.

"That was really irresponsible."

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry."

"You need to take this thing more seriously."

"I'm doing my best." I say. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, just a little..."

"Stressed?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"I have a feeling that based on your reaction that is not really it."

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Emma says. "I'll get over it, I promise."

"And if you need help, you can always come to me."

"I'll try. This might be a battle that I have to fight on my own, though." She moves away from my hair, and starts going into the makeup kit.

"No one deserves to fight a battle on their own."

"I said that I might have to, not that I deserve to." Emma begins going at one of the palette's and I close my eyes in anticipation. "But thank you for the offer, though."

"Anytime." I start to play around with my thumbs a little bit, and wait for her to finish. When she does, I open my eyes, and she looks at her watch.

"We should probably get going. I don't like being late." We both stand up, and walk out into the sitting room where everyone else is waiting, patiently.

"You both look wonderful." Abigail says.

"Thank you."

"Let's head to dinner, yeah?" Matthias asks, adjusting the cuff of his shirt. We all walk down to the dining hall once more, and sit in the exact same spot as last time. The first course of soup is served. It's just plain, old, boring old soup. Reigna Na'im sits at the same spot in the front of the room, still eating in silence. Soft guitars play in the back ground, and the fire crackles even harder than usual. This is nice, because of just how cold Alaska is. I haven't been out of this castle since I've arrived, and I don't think that I want that to change.

A waiter comes around, topping glasses off with some sort of blood. "Actually, do you think I could get this sent back to the room, rather than drinking this here?" I ask when the water offers the pitcher.

"Of course, madam."

Matthias tilts head a little bit to the side, and I glance over at Reigna Na'im to see a little smile on her face. Then, I swear, she winks at me. Everyone else at our table- and everyone after- follows suit with this.

I feel something wash over me. The fact that I could do something like that. That I set ff a chain. Is this what it feels like to start off one of those 'pay it forward' things at the drive through? The meal finishes, and I just sip out of water for the whole entire thing. We all leave the room, and begin the long walk back to our rooms.

"Heck yeah, that's my kid sister." David puts his arm around my shoulder in the most brotherly way he can. "Much pride, much pride."

"Thanks." I smile a little bit.

"My kid sister started a chain of events, what made you even do that?" David's big smile falls over his lips.

"Keep our little interaction a secret, if you wouldn't mind." Reigna Na'im's words echo through my head.

"I don't know."

"Either way, it was probably the most impressive moment of the day, but not the whole event of course. Of course, the most impressive moment will be your speech the day after tomorrow."

"You are so going to kill it." Abigail says.

I notice Emma walking down the hallway, arms folded behind her back, and just looking at the ground. "You will." She mumbles.

"But, you have to drink tonight, Canada. A full moon is, in fact, coming soon." Matthias says. "I just don't want to see anything happen to you, or any of you."

We finally reach our room, and I finally get to get out of the dress. The castle doesn't have showers. So, this means that everybody takes a bath. I scrub all of the days makeup off, as well as anything else off. When I get out, I smell better than ever, all thanks to the soaps that the council gave us to use. I throw on my own pajamas, and walk out into the sitting room, where blood had already been delivered to the room.

I sit on the same chair as before, pull out my book, and start reading. Once I finish my glass, I put it on the counter, put and put a marker in my book.

"I'm going to call it a night." I say.

"I think I'll do the same, actually." Emma says, also standing up.

"Then I guess I better, too." David says. All of us kids walk to our bedroom, and close the doors behind us. I lay in my bed, and stare up at the ceiling. Well sort, of, it's a piece of fabric that stretches over the top of bed and connects all of the posts together.

The top has stars painted on top of it, and has some real constellations on it. The big dipper and little dipper make appearances. All of the stars, rather than being white, are deep bronze. It's more beautiful than anything. This takes me back to homecoming, when Gayle put out his phone, and held it up to the sky, to show off all of the stars in the sky. Was he also staring up at the big dipper?

Who knows. It also takes me back to our kiss though. I start to feel hints of regret slowly growing in my chest. Is it because I kissed him when I didn't have feelings, or is it because I kissed him and had feelings?

I don't think I will ever know that answer.