Ara's eyes darted around as she looked outside the window of the carriage that was taking her into Revenet. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her nails gripping the frame of the window as she wondered what on earth was going to happen to her. Would they be merciful?

"Where are we going?" she asked softly, so softly that Wang Jun almost didn't hear.

"There's a large town not far from here. We will rest there for the night and get you some clothes. In the morning we will go to greet the Royal Family and after that, your family."

"My family?" she asked, giving him her full attention.

"Yes. If you wish, that is, Miss Ara." he smiled. "Take your time to think about it."

She nodded silently, her attention being caught by the scenery outside. For a while they had been going through nothing but plains. There were, some distance away, some ruins surrounded by butterflies.

"What is that?" she asked.

"The Temple of Gion." Wang Jun replied, admiring the pretty atmosphere around it. "This place we are in now is very special."

"The energy is strange."

"Indeed."

"But not malicious."

"Exactly."

"The dead rest here."

"Sharp as always, Miss Ara." he crossed his legs the otherway, his lower back having become uncomfortable during the journey. "Thousands of years ago people were not allowed to bring any kind of transportation through here, not horse nor carriage nor motorcar."

"What's a motorcar?"

"A dirty machine made by humans and used by vampires. They had some popularity hundreds of years ago, back when New Revenet was first founded, along with electricity and internet, but they all failed. It was a warning from the universe, the great King Min had said - a huge storm became very deadly because of it and he scrapped all work that was being done to stop such a disaster ever happening again."

Internet? ...She didn't understand what he was talking about at all, but was too tired to ask any more questions.

"Ah, if you look over there." he continued, pointing a bony finger out the window. "You can see something very interesting."

Ara poked her head out slightly as they approached a very unique landmark.

A single tree stood in the plains, almost split entirely in half, but remained strongly rooted at the bottom and was in full bloom.

"This is the Reckoning Tree." he explained.

"What happened to it?"

"There was a great war many hundreds of years ago, a war that made Revenet as big as it is today. The Great Queen Zhi Xiu, a crown princess who was cast out by her terrible, tyrant of a father, led the war effort on foot by disabling the magic traps and shields the Revenet army had set up to allow for the vampire forces to take over. When she encountered a group in these ruins, she and her Royal Guard slaughtered them all together, and they hung up all the bodies from the branches as an example to others who might dare to betray her. There were so many people that the tree almost split entirely down the middle."

"This Queen was killing her own people? Why?"

"For casting her out. They sent her off to marry a foreign power for diplomacy's sake, but in order to do so her bastard father had her hunted down and dragged back from the human realm on the pretense that she could be reunited and live with her lover so long as she went to the Northern Territory. She discovered that while she was away, the man had already married and was expecting a child, yet used her feelings to get into her father's good books. The whole country held a funeral for her as she was leaving - a hugely disrespectful event for a disgraced princess. So she married the docile Vampire Prince Shuo, used her magic to make him lead a war on Revenet, all the while colluding with his advisor, a noble Demon whose family was exiled when he was a child, to take the throne together once the war was won."

"So it was a personal grudge?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

"Indeed."

Ara wasn't aware she fell asleep until she was being shaken awake. Night had fallen and Wang Jun greeted her with a warm smile, helping her out of the carriage. With her first step into Revenet, she was suddenly acutely aware of how much she stood out. People passing by were giving her strange looks and a brand new feeling of self-consciousness was creeping its way up her neck as some local officials approached them and gave a deep bow in greeting to Wang Jun.

"We've been expecting you, Miss. Please come this way, we've prepared a room for you and some dinner. You must be absolutely famished."

Jun noticed her hesitation, how she looked to him for confirmation that this was safe and for all the time he had known her she had never looked anything less than self-assured and confident, regardless of their situation. But things were different now, she was in a new territory where she knew nothing, knew no one but him. She had simply trusted his words and Crown Prince Jing Han had allowed her to come back without question because, quite frankly, discovering her to be the stolen child and taking her back to Revent along with Ranhara and doing it all on National Day could not have bolstered his image any further in his father's eyes.

Jing Han didn't care what happened to her after they arrived in Revenet, Wang Jun was the one in love with her after all.

"I will accompany Miss Ara." Jun said. "Please lead the way."

The moon shone brightly in the night sky as they made their way over the town square and into a large hotel. They were brought to a private dining room with a table practically heaving under the weight of the dishes piled upon it, the vast majority of which Ara had never seen. The aromas were strong, new spices and combinations creating a heady mix in the air.

"Please." Jun pulled out a heavy chair and gestured for her to take a seat, which she did.

He set about making her a plate of mixed foods for her to try, setting it gently in front of her and handing her a cup of boiling hot tea to wash it all down with. He smiled to himself as she yawned and found himself suppressing one himself.

Jun relaxed in his chair as he sat down, his hands flying around as he mixed condiments to his own liking to dip the cured meats and dumplings into and couldn't help but feel Ara's big eyes on him, silently studying what he was doing, wondering what the correct way to eat was.

"Just try it as it is for now." he smiled. "Let me know which ones you like best."

Ara lifted a piece of breaded meat drenched in a reddish brown sauce flecked with black specks, her eyebrows raising involuntarily as the flavours danced over her tongue. Sweet, smokey and salty - this dish was delicious. She tried some smashed cucumbers in garlic, and tea eggs - which they had in Ranhara - and it soon dawned on her that a lot of the names of the dishes Jun was telling her were ones that she knew, but how they were made in Ranhara was totally different.

After their bellies were full and satisfied, Jun suggested they go for a walk around the town to help their meal go down and though she wanted nothing more than to collapse into a heap on the floor and sleep, Ara agreed.

The night was warm, calm and quiet and she found the raging discomfort in her stomach had quelled somewhat. She had managed to relax enough to forget about everything that was worrying her and there was something oddly comforting about looking at Wang Jun's back as he walked a few steps ahead of her.

She looked around at the town, at how people were greeting each other, at the clothes they were wearing, the murals and banners celebrating the royalty, the country and its people. This was going to take some getting used to, but this was where she came from and tomorrow she would be able to meet her family.

Ara came to a sudden stop.

She'd never had a family before, not really.

What was she supposed to do with these people?

A gentle hand on her shoulders brought her out of her thoughts and she was greeted with Jun's small smile that she loved so much. He had bent down slightly so his forehead was almost touching hers and she felt the warmth of his breath, his hands, his... mere presence, and it was surprising how much it made her feel calm.

"I'm not going anywhere." he murmured.

"I feel so foolish." she admitted and Jun frowned.

"How so?"

"My whole life was a lie. I was raised to be The Witch, the most powerful person in all of Ranhara, the direct descendant of Lu, of the founder of our nation, no one even came close to my skill level, my physical power but I was... I was only so much more skilled because I'm a Demon, and I have the magic of a child here ." her eyes grew wet with tears as she found the courage to look Jun in the eyes. "You must've had a good laugh at me when we first met-"

"No." he said firmly, his thumb running over her soft cheek where a stray tear fell. "There is nothing to laugh at. How could you possibly know any better when you were consistently lied to your whole life? You only worked with what you had and you were exceptionally good at what you did - I was and still am so impressed by you in every single way. Yes, there is a lot you don't know yet, but I promise you I will stay by your side no matter what, Ara."

Ara?

"Jun..." she cleared her throat, hesitating for a moment, her breath still shaking. "Is my name really Ara?"

Jun licked his lips, biting the bottom one for a second before planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"No."

Jun swiftly dipped down to grab her and hold her close as all the strength left her knees at once, not caring in the slightest that she was soiling his expensive silk robes with her tears and snot.

Right down to her fucking name, she was lied to.

Was there anything that was real?

"I was going to let your family tell you your real name, but if you prefer, I can."

"I don't want to hear it from strangers." she sniffed, the worst of her feelings having passed.

He cradled her head and shoulders as she clung to his robes, waiting for her to collect herself. After another minute, he stepped back, making sure to look her in the eyes, making sure she was listening.

"Your name is Wang Shiyao."

"Wang Shiyao..." she repeated, her lips curving up at the sound of it. "Wang Shiyao."

"Do you like it?"

"I do." she smiled. "It suits me."

"It certainly does." he agreed. "Would you like me to call you this from now on?"

"Please."

"Of course." he nodded, his expression calm and collected as always as he held his hand out for her to take. "Why don't we head back and get some rest?"

With the morning brought a slew of attention.

Maids flooded the room bringing in soaps and makeup and hair tools, shoes, jewelry and a large trunk. Shiyao was taken into the baths and plopped into a hot, steamy tub of fragrant water - her hair and body getting the most thorough scrub down she'd had in weeks. The cloths the maids used to exfoliate her skin rubbed off every square inch of dry, dead skin she never knew she had.

She wasn't used to having so much attention.

More heavily fragranced lotions were applied to her face and body, revealing a brightness and clarity she hadn't seen in a long time because she was so damn busy taking care of everyone and everything. She didn't protest as they made her up, lightly but very prettily. Half of her long, black hair was pulled back, tied and flipped and twisted into a pretty chignon, the rest of her hair hanging free.

Bright gold pins and headdresses were adorned on top, the design similar to what she used to wear in Ranhara, but much more grand looking. Matching earrings dangled from her lobes in a similar shape and a thick gold necklace in a matching laurel leaf pattern was placed around her neck.

Revenet robes were composed of three layers in spring, summer and autumn and five in winter. It was still autumn time, so the maids opted for three layers. The first was a silk tunic with sleeves that widened greatly at the elbows and hung almost to the ground, but were secured around the wrists. The second was the dress, a pale purple sturdy silk fabric with no sleeves and a square neck to fit around the first layer. It pinched in tight at the waist and flared out dramatically. The third layer was a translucent champagne gold shoulder cover with split sleeves, tied at the waist with an embroidered belt and covering only the outer arm to allow the sleeves to swing freely. Like her accessories, the cover had a leaf-like design, edged in gold, folding gracefully over her shoulders and overlapping until it reached the elbow.

She had never felt so grand or so feminine before.

The dress was heavy and she was worried about tripping, but apparently the maids were also there to escort her out of the room and down the stairs so she wouldn't fall down them and die. Thank goodness for the young women by her side.

As they took one step at a time down the solid wooden staircase, she could see Jun's back coming more clearly into view. The men wore similar robes, but with tall collars that were open at the front of the neck, the silk below buttoned down the middle, the sleeves only half the length of the women's, but longer than that of the service staff. He wore a cream silk tunic and a floor length dark gold sleeveless coat, the shoulders of which reached over his own.

At the sound of careful footsteps, Jun turned around, freezing as he caught sight of Shiyao. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about her wearing their own clothes, but the image in his head wasn't anywhere near as amazing as the real thing.

She was positively shining.

He swore his heart literally stopped beating for two whole seconds as she smiled at him, his face becoming hot as he smiled like an idiot right back.

"Good morning." he grinned, stepping back to allow her room to step down.

"Good morning." she breathed, hand on her chest in relief that she made it down in one piece.

"Are you ready to go?"

Shiyao took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, a firm nod of her head giving him permission to lead the way.

"Then shall we?"