Cyrus had just reached Zander and Sophie's room and knocked on the door and entered with excitement.
"I feel like we never get to hang out anymore, like we used too, so I wanted us to have dinner tonight at my place," Cyrus said excitedly.
"That sounds like a great idea, what do you think Sophie?" Zander asked.
"Dinner sounds great!"
With some small talk, Cyrus was off and Sophie and Zander decided to dress up in their formal Haven attire, and when they arrived for dinner, they were surprised to see Juno, in a red dress, which suited her blonde hair and blue eyes.
She was 5'7 and 23, so she looked about the age of Zander and Sophie, even though they were 17. They were both caught off guard by her beauty, as they had only seen her in a council setting.
Zoey redirected them from Cyrus' room to a private dining area, which was guarded by Ethan. She also let them know Cyrus was on his way.
While walking to the room Zoey told Cyrus to go to, he couldn't stop thinking.
"What is my sister up to? Why did she have me wear this new suit Ricardo made for me? Why'd she leave this expensive cologne from outside of Haven? My exams in two days this is going to drive me nuts!" Cyrus thought as he walked and eventually saw Ethan.
"Long time no see," Cyrus said with a big smile.
"You look quite handsome, my young prince," Ethan said with a bow.
"How many times do I have to tell you Ethan, I appreciate it but you shouldn't bow to me, it's weird," Cyrus said with a laugh.
"Some habits are harder to break than you may think. Now, go enjoy dinner and keep an open mind," Ethan said
This confirmed Cyrus' suspicion that his sister was up to something.
As Cyrus walked in the room, Zander and Sophie followed Juno's lead and stood up and bowed, and waited to sit back down.
Juno's beauty definitely caught Cyrus' eye, and to both Zander and Sophie's surprise, Cyrus had asked them not to bow and went and pulled out Juno's chair and asked her to have a seat next to him.
"So this is what she was planning, a double date. This brings back memorie," Cyrus thought.
Zoey also happened to be the chef for the date, which was in a private dining hall, lit with candlelight and had a beautiful view as the roof was retractable.
This was one of the Hart family's special rooms with the clear, one way roof so they could see the stars and moon growing brightly.
Zander had never seen Cyrus so polite, formal and nervous in all the years they had grown up together. He knew Cyrus would turn 18 on September 4th, but it amazed him how much Cyrus had truly grown in his time in Haven.
Juno was quite interested in how Sophie and Zander were able to get married so quickly,
They both laughed and said, "it's almost like Solace chose us as mates, but not everything is always perfect."
Juno also whispered to Cyrus, "would it be rude to ask to meet their phoenixes? I've never met one but have read all the scripture Haven has to offer?
Cyrus responded, "they will happily show you," with a smile, and he noticed how badly his hands were sweating, so he took a drink of water.
After meeting Zintan and Scarlett, Juno was amazed at how nice the phoenixes were and couldn't help but pick up on the, "but not everything's perfect," part and asked what Sophie meant.
"Well, we recently had our first big argument, but we got through it and Zander is always a gentleman and came around," Sophie said with a smile.
Zander smiled and said, "we probably just made a mountain out of a molehill but it's ok, everything worked out in the end."
"If you don't mind me asking, what was it about?" Cyrus asked
Juno was pleasantly surprised and smiled, put her hand on her cheek and stared at Cyrus, which Zander and Sophie noticed.
"Well, without saying who, we disagreed on whether or not we should take the royal trial in addition to the Haven original entry assessment, but in the end, we agreed we aren't nobles and should leave that for Cyrus. Hopefully he can break his sister's record," Zander said with a big smile.
Because of her sensitive hearing, Zoey overheard this and as she brought out dessert said, with a laugh, "I hope he does, then Father won't bring up every assessment that I hold the record. It's embarrassing."
"Wait so you're not taking the noble trial? I think you both should. Even if you outscore me, it will just motivate me to try harder," Cyrus said.
At this point Juno had placed her left hand on Cyrus's right leg, and Cyrus held out his hand for her to hold. He wasn't sure how long he'd be able to hold out with her hand on his leg like that. She gladly took his hand and chimed in on the matter.
"I also think you should both take it, although I see the viewpoint of not taking it because you're not nobles of Haven. However, the council, including myself, have all taken it per request of the King and Queen," Juno said.
"Really? So the King and Queen aren't really offering, they're more like stating that you should take the offer and complete both assessments?" Sophie asked in a confused voice.
"Yes, my parents are weird and think everyone can read their minds or something. Speaking of which, I hope you enjoyed dinner. I'm off to meet them to prepare for the assessment," Zoey said as they all thanked her for the lovely meal.
As Zoey walked out, Ethan walked with her and said, "are you leaving to let Juno give them some inside information on the exam and how did it go between those two?"
"She wouldn't say anything either way and it went well. They make a good match I think, don't you?" Zoey asked.
"I do," Ethan said as they walked away, turning in for the night.
Juno, Cyrus, Zander and Zoey stayed in the room for a couple of hours, sharing stories about the outside world and Juno shared what life was like growing up in Haven.
None of them bothered talking about the assessments.
"Hey Juno, Cyrus, would you two like to have another double date the day after the assessments?" Sophie asked, and Zander smiled, nodding in agreement.
"That's up to the Prince," Juno said with a blushed face.
"Can you please just call me ANYTHING but that?!" Cyrus exclaimed as he put his hands in his face in embarrassment.
They all laughed and Juno said, "ok, ok it's up to Cyrus," and paused and when Cyrus went to answer Zander said, "you mean the Prince right," and everyone laughed, except Cyrus.
"Come on Prince Cyrus, don't keep the lovely lady waiting for your response," Sophie teased.
Cyrus finally burst out in laughter too, and the three of them couldn't remember the last time they just got to be themselves and relax.
"Yes, I would like that, Juno, would you like to have a double date with the lovebirds after the assessment?" Cyrus mustered up the courage to ask.
Juno laughed and said, "Lovebirds is pretty fitting and I would say yes, but I'd say let's do it a couple of days after the assessment. I can't tell you about it, just know it's both physically and mentally demanding. The only thing I can say is they fully restore you after the original assessment, but that doesn't heal the mental toll it takes on you. The noble trial is quite extensive and very, very difficult so when you're ready, we can have that double date."
Silence fell over the room for a moment as the three of them never really thought about how difficult the assessment must be.
"Just let us know when," Zander said as he pulled out Sophie's chair, put his arm around her, gave her a kiss and they waved and said goodbye.
Left alone in the room, Cyrus was more nervous than ever. He was always so outgoing and he thought back to the day he waved down Claire and Sophie.
"I've changed so much, all of us have, and it was really nice of my sister to set this up. Now it's just hard to tell if Juno likes me because I'm the prince or likes me because I'm me," Cyrus sat in thought.
Juno could tell Cyrus was nervous so she broke the ice by saying, "well, at least my twin brother can't complain about this date," she said with a laugh.
Not knowing how to respond, Juno followed up with, "I'm kidding, Zander and Sophie told me how you were the reason they met and how sweet and great of a guy you are. My brother always hates who I date, it could be Leo of Solace and he'd gripe about it."
Feeling better, Cyrus said, "they really said all of that? Zander has always been my best friend and even with the quick marriage, he's never treated me any differently. Not even since coming here. I can't believe Sophie cares enough about me to convince Zander to not take the exam."
"How do you know it was Sophie," Juno said, smiling, and stood up and sat across from Cyrus.
"Zander and I have always been hyper competitive and Sophie is too. If I'm being honest, I know he's going to outscore me, but I really don't care. I just don't want to disappoint my family so it was really great of Sophie to try to get them to not participate," Cyrus said with a smile, although looking a bit sad near the end.
"He may be the Chosen One, but he's your best friend and you're the Prince of Haven, the most prestigious and powerful Kingdom on Earth, blessed by the Father himself. Don't enter the trial with that mindset, you had Ethan train you. There's no one better," Juno said with a big smile.
"What about my parents, I don't want to disappoint them," Cyrus said.
Juno stood up, grabbed Cyrus hand and started walking with him toward her room, which was located on the floor below his and the floor above the dining hall. They walked toward an elegant staircase and eventually got to Juno's room.
"Your parents are so happy you're home. Zoey talks about how happy she is that you are home. Look at how far she went out of the way for tonight, I didn't even know that room existed. Zander said you beat him fairly in quite a few spars. The noble trial is," Juno paused as she looked both ways and then whispered into Cyrus's ear, "not just about physical strength, it has 7 different exams."
Juno could feel the confidence start to brew inside of Cyrus, who thanked her and leaned in for a kiss.
Juno kissed him on the cheek and Cyrus asked, "how about just you and I have dinner tomorrow?"
"That sounds great," and Juno leaned in and kissed Cyrus.
Back in Zander and Sophie's room, they were happy the night went well and realized they hadn't been spending as much time together as they normally would, so Zander offered to cook Sophie a nice dinner and have a date night before the assessment.
"Ping. Your mate is not currently in her fertility cycle," the system notified Zander, and with a big grin, picked her up off her feet and gave her a big, passionate kiss.
"I miss you," Zander confessed.
"I miss you too, I can't wait until this assessment thing is over," Sophie admitted.
"What assessment?" Zander said as he carried her to their bedroom.
Back in Juno's room, Zoey was waiting and asked her how it went.
"He's very sweet. Completely different than what Sophie and Zander said he was like before," Juno said.
"This place will do that, especially when you're a Hart or a member of the council. I just want my brother to be happy and have a normal life for as long as he can. Don't feel obligated to go on any dates with him now, I appreciate you doing this one for me," Zoey said.
"Sophie and Zander wanted to do another double date, and he hates when people call him Prince but he eventually agreed. But after Zander and Sophie left, he was a lot more relaxed and asked me out to dinner tomorrow," Juno smiled.
"Well, what'd you say," Zoey asked with excitement.
"Yes of course," Juno said while being mauled by a big bear hug from Zoey.
"Now when are you finally going to muster up the courage and ask Eldrick out," Juno teased. "Everyone in this Kingdom knows you to have a thing for each other."
"Ugh. Ethan asked me the same thing earlier. How about this? If any of them beat my score on either assessment, you can get him to ask me out," Zoey said.
Laughing, Juno said, "Fine but why not ask him yourself, you've always been the confident type?"
"Yeah, well, I'm also confident Zander is going to crush my scores," Zoey admitted with a blush.
"That's why Cyrus was worried about and why Sophie and Zander got into an argument," Juno told Zoey.
"My parents will be proud of him no matter what, but Zander is the Chosen One. Even Sophie has a phoenix inside her. My brother has always been special and will always be special, but when you literally are beings of Solace, it's a little different, wouldn't you agree?" Zoey asked Juno.
"Yes, but don't underestimate him. I see why Zander loves Sophie, she is very thoughtful and kind," Juno said.
"Well, in two days we'll know. I'm sure Cyrus will clear an A rank beast, and I'm sure he'll beat my score in a few of the events," Zoey said as she gave Juno a hug and walked out of her room for the night.
"What about Zander?" Juno asked as Zoey walked out.
"I'm sure he'll challenge the highest tier and fly through the noble trial."
Juno sat in disbelief and got ready for bed.