[ChicletPrime]

• meanwhile, back in the palace, i hope Natasha did a good job being me.
  
• we shall lurk suspiciously by 'the back entrance'.
  
• so the palace lake has "eight rivers running in eight different directions, each flowing from the city's centre"
  
• /tries to envision that and realizes that would a logistical nightmare to design and maintain
  
• and THEN each rivers splits into eight streams so 64 rivers flow out of the capital
  
• and we're somehow surrounded by golden sand.
  
• really not a fan of this slavery, fictional or otherwise. this sounds like a very cruel system. although Rafayel does say he can only be captured if he wants to be, which i guess is *something*.  but what about the rest of his people who can't call up moondust sharks?
  
• the girlfriend's suspicious mind immediately thinks the worst. if he deliberately got captured in order to see me, he must want something from me.  is it red, covered in crystal and beating in my chest? 
  
• "Rafayel is quiet, then he bows before me."  "I would be honest."
  
• you usually are and it usually doesn't help because you are VERY good at saying things out loud that only later reveal themselves to be the garotte.
  
• aaaand speaking of, lets get abandoned in the middle of the lake!
  
• "Rafayel stands on the water's surface...."   (we have GOT to kidnap us an artist)
  
• yeah, i am such a spoiled little twelve year old princess. i am not a fan of myself in this timeline.
  
• that was... odd. we demand to walk on water too (because we don't want to row the boat) and Rafayel says "Now I'm satisfied" before reaching out with both hands to help us out onto the water.  was he testing to see if we'd give him orders for petty reasons? EDIT: or maybe he wanted to be sure he was compelled to give us what we wanted, testing the strength of the bond? but we've already ordered him around a bunch, so not sure that holds.. uh. water.
  
• realizing that Rafayel might think it funny to let go now, i clutch the man. good idea! lets not drip our way through the back door if at all possible.
  
• "engaging in tomfoolery is a tactical plan" -- yeah, and you've been using it for thousands of years and it has certainly served you well the entire time
  
• oooh. i ask him again if he'll visit me (so i won't be bored) and he responds with "Is your Highness' most important person one to visit often?"
  
• who IS my first most important person anyways.
  
• "Yes," I reply blithely like the idiot I am, "will you surpass him? You're allowed five weekly visits. Or at least three." and then i give a list of demands on where i want to go. 
  

I am just going to take an aside here and commend the writing for portraying this version of the girlfriend as naive, spoiled, bratty and clueless, all without making her come across as too annoying to live. I mean, she is mean and snotty to Rafayel and to Natasha, but this is really well done for showing all the differences between her/princess and her/present day without resorting to spelling it out like a Jack and Jill book.

• so Rafe has to leave in three days and isn't taking questions about where or for how long he'll be gone, other than to say he wants to take me somewhere before he vanishes.
  
• The girl's silhouette appears in the window on the palace's second floor. Only when the lights are off does Rafayel turn around.  "You're here."
  
• good old Amund. yeah, this is where I let Rafayel go as a child. why does that matter? 
  
• Amund: "Perfect. The Island of Songs (ooo was that my dream of the island i was trapped on?) has been found. You no longer need to play suitor." 
  
• well, that's fucking cryptic.
  
• aaaand there's the dagger. and instructions that it can be used to carve out the heart. "I leave it to your Quintessence to decide." 
  
• "Are the legends to be believed?"
  
• Amund believes. Surely that's enough for everybody, right? 
  
• OOOOOH. "Her method of acquiring the heart wasn't forgotten, was it? If that island sparked the beginning of our demise, then everything should end there. The Lemurians cannot be deceived again!"
  
• "Your words ring true." /stows dagger "Yet what if the legends are incorrect?"