The following morning was just as overwhelming as the night before. Attendants run around me setting everything up for the ball that Raphael is organizing for me. My bare feet curl into the carpet trying to calm myself as Hallie bounces around the room.

"You are just so beautiful!" She screams shaking her hands towards me.

"Uh-Thanks." I groan looking at another attendant run by with something expensive. None of this is needed, I actually asked if it could be skipped, but Raphael states tradition is imperative. This ball is a formal introduction of their queen, and I am to be a smiling presence at the event.

"You know, we could sneak off the grounds." She taps her chin, "I have a pair of shoes you can borrow." Her feet are just as bare, toes painted a deep red.

"He would kill me." I pinch the bridge of my nose, "Literally."

"No such thing, he couldn't lay a hand on you even if he wanted to. He's in love with you!" She scorns shaking her head in a don't you get it kind of way.

"With the Tazi targeting me as well..." I look around for relief, the hallways eerily quiet compared to minutes before.

"I promise you have nothing to worry about. Come on, or I'll drag you." She wraps her dainty hand around my wrist pulling me down the hallway towards a dark wood door. Hallie lets me go for just a moment to crack the handle open and snag the shoes stuffed in vases.

"Hallie..." I try to weasel my way out of it, more focused on sneaking off to the library. However, my luck is centered around Hallie herself and the protection she is supposed to offer me.

"Come on, we won't be long." She clicks her tongue, "It's wrong he keeps you locked up. The Queen deserves to see her beautiful estate."

We find ourselves stopping at the back door, no attendants in sight. Hallie gives me a wicked grin checking my feet for the shoes before pulling me into the burning suns. It takes only a moment for my eyes to adjust, and when they do my mouth falls open. The most exotic flowers surround me, giant Lily type florals that stand feet above me. Their stems are more like trunks of trees, leaves as big as my head. Smaller flowers line the base, all a different color I hadn't seen, each pigment brighter than the last. My fight dies, the beauty of the garden over taking me and stopping my arguments.

"Isn't this beautiful?"

"Yeah it is." I groan smelling all the wonderful smells. She picks a deep purple flower from the edge of the walkway holding it out to me.

"Smell it!" I grab it from her taking in a deep inhale. The world around me fuzzies, her grin dropping from her face, "Do you know what that is?"

"What?" I stumble, my knees hitting the searing hot ground. A scream leaves me, Hallie moving forward to cover my mouth.

"That's a typeria a special flower used for knocking out soldiers when they are in immense pain, but for now, it's great for shutting up a bitch."

"Hallie..." The black spots take over me, my heart slowing. I twist, the world lagging in my eyes, she squats in front of me laughing to herself. I feel my knees crack, blood pooling on the sidewalk. The heat... it's too much.

"Don't worry, purple. We got you now."