Anne was stunned. Lady Corvina, her favorite character from The Foundling’s Wings, a woman so beautiful, intelligent, cool, and confident that absolutely no one could rival her, was kneeling in front of her offering to pledge her life to her.

Anne closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

When she opened her eyes, Corvina was still there, her hand held out to Anne.

Anne took Corvina’s hand…

…and helped her to her feet.

“Thank you,” said Anne. “You have no idea how much this means to me. But I can’t accept your pledge.”

Now it was Corvina’s turn to look stunned. “I don’t understand. I thought you wanted my help… to avoid the events in your prophecy.”

“I do!” said Anne. “But I don’t want you to, like, dedicate your life to my service. Like I’m some great lord and you're my vassal or something. I want to be equals. Allies. Friends, even, maybe. If that's cool with you.”

Corvina continued to stare at Anne. Anne couldn’t read her expression at all, so she tried to explain further.

“Look,” said Anne. “Up until now, you’ve lived your life for the sake of your father, right? And Grand Duke Marshal and Prince Sebastian. You’ve always had to push yourself aside in order to put their interests first. I don’t want to be the next name on that list of people who have used you as a tool to further their own ends. I want you to live for yourself first, before anything else. I want you to fight for your own interests. And if you decide that your interests align with mine… then I’d be glad to accept your help.”

“And what if I decide my interests are opposed to yours?” asked Corvina.

“Oh, well, then I’d be fucked,” said Anne, with a shrug. “There’s no way I’d win against you. But that’s fine. The point is, I don’t want you to live for me, I want you to live for yourself.”

“Then why do you let Sister Eva live for you?” snapped Corvina. “Isn’t that slightly hypocritical?”

“What do you mean? Eva doesn’t—”

“All she does is look after you day and night,” said Corvina. “What would you call that?”

“Okay but that’s… that’s different. She’s like my official attendant. It’s basically her job to look after me. Like your maid.” Anne pointed to Helen, who (along with Agis) was watching this exchange with deep interest.

“Helen takes time off. She has hobbies. Isn’t that right, Helen?” Corvina looked towards Helen.

There was a pause, during which Helen pointed at herself, like, who, me? When no one said anything further, Helen cleared her throat and answered, “Sure, I like to knit sometimes."

“See?” said Corvina. “When was the last time Eva took a day off?”

“I…” stumbled Anne. “I don’t—”

“What’s going on in here, then?” said Eva, who was suddenly standing in the doorway.

Eva was wearing her usual gentle smile, but something about her seemed… worn thin. On the edge, somehow. Well, it made sense to Anne that Eva might be a bit exhausted or upset after… recent events.

And it was under Eva’s watchful gaze that Anne finally noticed that she had been continuing to hold Corvina’s hand through this whole conversation.

Covina gently pulled her hand away and performed a quick curtsy. “Saintess, I fear I’ve taken up too much of your time. We will continue this conversation next time we meet. Helen, come.”

On their way out the door, Corvina and Eva made eye contact, their expressions inscrutable. Whatever tension was exchanged between them, it went over Anne’s head entirely.

“I’ll try asking again,” said Eva, stepping further into the room. “What is going on?”

“There’s a lot to catch you up on…” said Anne.

Agis, who had been watching the conversation with interest up to this point, began slowly edging towards the window. “I should, um… go on patrol,” he said. “Make sure no one’s sneaking around trying to murder Anne for being an elf or anything.” He jumped out the window, not even bothering to do a back flip this time.

Eva just continued to smile. “I’m listening,” she said.

Later that evening, Eva set a bowl of soup and some bread on Anne’s small table in her room, placing the utensils carefully before pulling the chair out for Anne. “Eat up,” she said. “I thought it would be better if you ate in your room tonight. If you tried to eat in the dining hall it might be a bit… chaotic at the moment.”

Earlier, when Anne had told Eva everything about what had happened that day (with the Duke, and then with the alchemist, and then with Corvina), Eva had barely responded with more than an “I see,” before leaving to “take care of a few things.”

Anne obediently took her seat at the table.

“When you’re done eating I’ll help you get ready for bed,” said Eva. “It’s been a long, exhausting day. It would probably be good for you to turn in early. The good news about all this is that I managed to convince the Bishop to give you a few days off while things settle down. Isn’t that nice? You should take full advantage to get as much rest as you can before you start needing to attend to your duties again.”

Anne was a little embarrassed to admit it to herself but she was genuinely relieved to hear that. She couldn’t wait to sleep in. But…

“Eva?” said Anne. “Can we please talk about everything that happened today? I can’t just guess what you’re thinking if you won’t tell me.”

“Alright,” Eva sat down opposite Anne.

There was an awkward silence, during which Anne took a few bites of the soup and tried to brace herself to be shouted at.

But Eva didn’t shout. Instead, she reached across the table to take Anne’s hand and said in a soft voice. “Anne, I want to tell you that I’m sorry.”

“Huh?” said Anne, a spoonful of soup halfway to her mouth. “What for?”

“For ever pushing you to ally with Duke Marshal,” said Eva. “Clearly you never liked him. And his actions today really crossed the line. I promise you I’ll never mention the Duke again.”

“Okay,” said Anne.

“And as for Lady Corvina…” said Eva. “Are we entirely sure that alchemist wasn’t a paid actor?”

“Eva!” said Anne. “I swear you're both ridiculous.”

“What do you mean?” asked Eva.

“Corvina didn’t think I would take her at her word, so she hatched this whole roundabout scheme to prove that she was trustworthy, but even with all that, you think she might’ve just staged it all. I know what I saw, okay? That woman’s remorse was genuine.”

The alchemist’s story also just made sense with the events of the original novel. Anne couldn’t remember if the exact method used to destroy the forest was ever mentioned in The Foundling’s Wings, but alchemy seemed to fit with the details she could remember.

“Alright, I believe you,” said Eva. “I just want to be careful. Your safety is the most important thing to me. And if you like Corvina… then I’m sure she’ll make a fine ally. And maybe if you attend some more noble social events with her then you can meet some more people who you might also like, and who could also be our allies. It never hurts to recruit more.”

Anne watched Eva’s face for a moment, but the cleric’s expression gave nothing away. Anne wasn’t exactly a master social navigator and had a tendency to just take people at face value, but still… Eva was an especially hard person to read. And she’d barely appeared in the novel, so Anne couldn’t use her knowledge of the original novel to make a guess at what Eva might be feeling.

“Eva, do you ever feel like…” Anne paused. She had a feeling this wouldn’t be a fun conversation to have, but after what Corvina said, Anne didn’t feel like she could just let this go anymore. “Do you ever feel like you dedicate too much of your life to me?”

Eva’s grip on Anne’s hand tightened, but her expression didn’t change. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you spend all your time looking after me, or worrying about me, or making plans for me, or running the rebellion for me,” said Anne.

“So? I’m your best friend,” said Eva. “I like looking after you. And besides, it’s my job.”

“Yeah, but you make me feel like a shitty boss,” said Anne. “Like you don’t have any work-life balance. If I’m your work, then what’s your life?”

“Also you,” insisted Eva. “I promise you, I’m fine this way. Don’t worry about me.”

“Oh, so you’re allowed to worry about me constantly because you're my best friend, but I’m not allowed to worry about you at all?” said Anne, exasperated.

Eva got up and started tidying the room. Although it was already pretty tidy, so she was mostly just moving piles of paper from one spot to another.

“Eva,” said Anne. But Eva was ignoring her now, so Anne got up from the table, too, and started following her around. “Eva, listen to me! When was the last time you took a day off?”

Eva slammed the papers she was holding onto the desk. “I haven’t taken a day off since you were appointed Saintess,” said Eva, quietly. “You know that. I promised you I wouldn’t.”

“Well, now I’m asking you to,” said Anne.

Eva stood there quietly for a moment. “Do you want to throw me away?” she asked. Her voice sounded more fragile than Anne had ever heard it. “Do you not need me any more now that you have Lady Corvina?”

“No, no, no, no, no,” said Anne, grabbing Eva’s hand. “Of course not! No one could replace you! I’m not saying you can’t do your job or that you can’t help me anymore. I just want you to build a life for yourself, as well as for me, you know?”

“That’s a large demand,” said Eva.

“Okay, well, then, start small,” said Anne. “Just take the day off tomorrow. I’ll be staying inside all day anyway, probably sleeping the whole time. And I’m sure Agis will show up to hang out with me. So you won’t have to worry. You can just take some time to get some rest and maybe… do something you like to do. Just for yourself.”

Eva was unresponsive.

“Eva, this is serious,” said Anne.

With that phrase, Eva looked at Anne with an expression of shock. Or, at least, Anne thought it was shock. It was gone as soon as it appeared, replaced instead by Eva’s always unreadable smile.

“Alright,” said Eva, placing a hand on Anne’s cheek. “For you. I’ll take a day off.”