Liora found Roxanne beneath the oak tree outside the palace, the shade of it falling across them both in long quiet strips.
"Your Grace." Liora bowed her head. "I wanted to thank you personally for the policy. Because of your kindness I am now able to go home with my head held high. I am truly grateful."
"There is no need for thanks," Roxanne said warmly. "I simply want everyone within these walls to feel at ease."
She looked at Liora as she said it.
Then she looked deeper.
Past the surface of her. Past the gratitude and the relief and the simple honest face of a girl who had never been given much and was overwhelmed by the little she had just received.
Roxanne's eyes shifted.
The silver bled through slowly then all at once, flooding her irises until they glowed cold and steady in the afternoon light.
"By silver and by soul, obey."
Liora stopped.
Every muscle in her body locked into place, her expression freezing mid smile, her eyes open and glassy and perfectly still.
"Follow me," Roxanne said.
She turned and walked toward the palace.
Liora followed without a word.
They lay inside a circle drawn in chalk on the floor, candles surrounding them on every side, their flames burning without flicker in the sealed room.
Corrine sat before them with an ancient spell book open across her knees and began to recite. The words came in layers, one spell folding into the next, building until the air in the room thickened and grew heavy around them all.
Then the wind came.
A single sharp gust that moved through the sealed room with no source and no explanation.
Liora's eyes opened.
They were no longer brown.
They were silver.
"Cassius will keep watch over your body," Corrine said. "Where is he?"
"Right here," came the answer from the corner of the room.
Roxanne in Liora's body turned toward him.
Cassius looked at her with a gaze that did not quite know where to land, his expression carrying something between discomfort and something he refused to name.
"Brother," Corrine said, gathering her spell book. "Alter her appearance to match Roxanne's. I have to go."
"Please be quick about it," Roxanne said from inside Liora's skin. "I have responsibilities waiting."
Cassius placed his hand on Liora's chest and spoke the words quietly. The change came immediately, the borrowed body reshaping itself until Roxanne's face looked back at him from someone else's skin.
Roxanne relayed everything. The hidden wall, the portal, the library, the shifting books, the seventy seven spells, the Codex, Korra the guardian and the key living inside Valeria's chest. Corrine listened carefully then rose and left without ceremony, her role complete for now.
The room settled into silence with only the two of them in it.
Roxanne looked at Cassius.
"Now that this is done you are free to go and warm whatever bed you choose," she said. "The body I am wearing carries no bond to you. You knew exactly what you were doing that night." Her voice was flat and unhurried. "When all of this is over I will use the Codex of Silence to sever everything between us. Every thread. Every claim. Every last thing." She held his gaze. "Do you understand me."
Cassius looked at her steadily.
"You believe the title of Duchess gives you authority over me?" he asked.
"Without me," Roxanne said, "you would still be in chains. Cold and forgotten." She tilted her head slightly. "Remember that, Fire Lord."
She walked out.
Cassius stood alone in the room and said nothing.
Roxanne returned to the palace and not a single person looked twice. The swap was seamless.
She changed into a long purple gown, a small arrangement of accessories at her neck and wrists and moved to join the convoy of cars without drawing any attention.
Fiona and Vangelis arrived shortly after and the group set off together, pulling up at the park as the full sight of it opened before them.
Every tree had been dressed in white veils that caught the breeze and moved like something breathing. White balloons filled the sky above in clusters, drifting and still all at once. The couples moving through the park wore white robes, the women with their pregnancies visible and unhurried, the whole space carrying a softness that felt deliberately removed from the world outside it.
Roxanne stepped forward and turned to the royal couple.
"Your Highnesses, please allow me to escort you to the royal family section." She gestured ahead. "We have cake, fresh fruits and porridge. There will be music and dancing as the afternoon continues. Everything has been arranged for your comfort."
"Your Grace, you sound different today," Fiona said, her hand moving slowly across her stomach.
"I have not been feeling my best," Roxanne said smoothly. "The cultivation classes have been demanding. They take everything from you, body, spirit and soul all at once. It has left me somewhat drained."
Fiona's expression shifted into something more concerned.
"You need to be careful," she said. "Cultivation is not something to push through carelessly. When it begins to drain you at that level it can cause serious damage. Even death." She looked at her steadily. "Please do not take that lightly."
"All you need to concern yourself with is the little one you are carrying," Roxanne said warmly. "Everything else is being handled."
Fiona smiled and looked down at her bump.
Then Roxanne straightened slightly.
"Alpha Phoenix has arrived."
The words landed quietly between them.
A small satisfied smile moved across Fiona's lips before she could stop it.
"Then let us go and greet him," Vangelis said, already moving. "It has been far too long."
They found Phoenix and his convoy at the entrance. Vangelis crossed to him immediately and pulled him into an embrace.
"It really has been too long, brother."
"A few months at most," Phoenix said, returning the embrace with a single firm pat on his back.
Fiona stepped forward.