Oralie set down the brush and dabbed a cool pink gel on the apples of Sophie’s cheeks. “You know what I think it was? Out of all the people there, you were the one who could flee from the danger the easiest. Everyone else needed to get their hands on a leaping crystal. But you could’ve teleported away—and your trollish bodyguard even tried to convince you to do exactly that. And still, you stayed. That kind of loyalty means something to people.”

“As it should,” Bronte agreed. “Why do you think you’re here with us now? Though I wish we weren’t here.” He gestured around the room as Oralie smeared Sophie’s lips with a balm that tasted like lushberries. “So while Oralie finishes whatever nonsense she’s doing, I’ll walk you through the Articles of your Regency. The more we multitask, the sooner we can escape this pink monstrosity.”

Oralie flung one of the powder puffs at his head, showering his face with a cloud of glitter.

But Sophie was all for Bronte’s plan—even if the term “Articles” had her bracing for a bunch of thick, boring books she’d be expected to read from cover to cover in order to learn all the various laws and procedures of the nobility.

Instead, Bronte grabbed one of the larger chests resting at her feet and flipped back the lid to reveal…

“I have to wear a crown?” She scowled at the gilded circlet resting on a black velvet cushion. The band was decorated with curls of gold that hooked together to form pointed spirals, and tiny diamonds were dotted throughout the design. The main focal point, though, was an oval ruby that glittered at the circlet’s center.

The delicate headpiece was actually quite pretty, in that horrifying, everyone-will-definitely-be-staring-at-her-when-she-wears-this kind of way. But she would’ve preferred the jewel not be bloodred.

“It’s only for official occasions,” Oralie assured her. “Like elections or special announcements—or today, when we’re trying to get people’s attention.”

“I guess.” That was still a whole lot more crown time than Sophie wanted.

“And remember, we decided on the starlight circlet,” Oralie told Bronte, spraying Sophie’s face with something that smelled citrusy, “because the glow from the lumenite will draw more attention.”

“Uh, how many circlets are you giving me?” Sophie asked as Bronte lifted the velvet cushion, revealing a nearly identical silver circlet hidden underneath. Then he lifted that cushion and there was a third nearly identical glowing white circlet, which had to be the one Oralie meant.

“There’s one to represent each of the Sources,” Bronte explained.

So… three crowns.

Ugh.

“Occasionally we may request that you wear a specific one—like today,” Oralie explained, leaning back as she dusted Sophie’s forehead with one of the powder puffs. “But you’ll generally be able to choose your favorite. The important thing will be making sure that everyone on your team is wearing the circlet for the same Source as you are, so the five of you come across as unified—and the same thing goes for your cloak clasps.”

Before Sophie could ask, Bronte lifted another smaller trunk and flipped back the lid to reveal three pins—one gold, one silver, one lumenite—each in the same swirled shape as the pattern woven throughout her circlet. It reminded Sophie of some of the Celtic symbols she’d seen, only the spiral was a little looser.

“It’s the symbol we created for your team,” Bronte explained, handing her the gold pin to examine. “Each of the three lines represents one of the Prime Sources, and the design shows them evenly uniting. Hopefully it will remind you of the need for proper balance in your collaboration.”

“Do you not like it?” Oralie asked, pausing in the middle of lining Sophie’s eyes with black, smudgy pencil.

“No, it’s fine.” Sophie ran her finger along the smooth metal curls. “It just… feels a little weird that I’ve never heard people talk about the Sources before. Seems like they’re super important.”

“The Sources should definitely be covered better in the Foxfire curriculum,” Bronte admitted. “I’ll have to make sure that Magnate Leto has that oversight corrected when sessions resume. But most people will likely still see them primarily as light and nothing more. Focusing on the power behind them is more of a Council way of thinking, which is why we thought they’d be a fitting symbol for your team, since you’ll be collaborating with us rather uniquely.”

“But something else bothers you about the pins,” Oralie pressed, placing her hand on Sophie’s shoulder, probably to remind her that she couldn’t hide anything from an Empath.

Sophie sighed. “Well… I guess I’m just wondering if these pins mean I can’t wear my Ruewen crest anymore.”

“We’d prefer that you didn’t,” Bronte admitted. “At least until people no longer need regular reminders of your authority. That’s the point of all this”—he motioned to the gilded chests at her feet—“to ensure that people will see past your youth, and any of the previous scandals they may remember, and recognize that you must be obeyed and respected. Particularly those with authority themselves, like the leaders of the other species. That’s going to be essential for you to succeed with your assignments.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Sophie mumbled, reaching to remove her Ruewen pin. But her fingers didn’t want to unfasten the clasp.

“Grady and Edaline will always be your family, with or without their crest on your cloak,” Oralie assured her.

“It’s not that,” Sophie argued—though it was a little.

Having a family crest meant a lot to a girl who’d been adopted.

“It’s just… I don’t know—this all feels so much bigger than I imagined when Edaline first told me about the Regent thing. I mean, it’s not like Grady wears a special cloak clasp with a custom designed symbol, or a circlet—and he’s an Emissary.”

“But you’re a new kind of Regent,” Bronte reminded her. “In fact, we considered creating a wholly new title for you and your friends, to help highlight the difference to everyone. But we feared that would end up causing too much confusion—as well as a bunch of Regents seeking appointments to the new level. So we asked our gnomes to put together these Articles for all of you instead. The circlets, clasps, and cloaks should sufficiently communicate your exalted status, while also feeling specific to your team.”

“Cloaks?” Sophie repeated, letting out a sigh when Bronte pointed to three more of the chests on the floor.

“One silver, one white, and one gold,” he told her. “I’m sure you can guess the meaning for the colors at this point. And in case it’s not clear, you should be mixing up which Source you choose for each item. So you’ll be wearing the starlight circlet today—and you’re holding the sunlight clasp. Which means you should wear the moonlight cloak.” He flipped open the center trunk to reveal a neat bundle of folded silver with some sort of patch sewn to the fabric. “The patch is one final demonstration of your new status—and your Foxfire uniforms will need to be affixed with it as well, once sessions resume, since it’s a noble school.” He reached for another small chest and showed her the stack of round patches inside, handing her one so she could study the design.