There was a moment of silence in which everyone watched Corvina for her reaction.

Crovina sighed and shook her head. She was getting a stress headache again. She should have known that things had been going too smoothly lately. But still, of all the things that could have gone wrong…

“Don’t just stand there gawking,” Corvina said to Sebastian. “Get in the carriage already. It’s early morning and this is a back alley but we should try to minimize the chance that someone sees you.”

“Oh, right,” said Sebastian. Eva opened the door for him so he could get in the carriage.

“We’ll need a story for why the Crown Prince has suddenly disappeared, and it’s not the right moment for the kidnapping yet,” said Corvina. She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “We’ll say he went on a sudden hunting trip on a whim. That will be believable enough. I’m sure I can count on you all to spread the rumor.”

Corvina looked at the Bastards’ Club. Nia shrugged, Collette nodded enthusiastically, and Belle gave a resigned sigh.

“Helen,” said Corvina.

Helen ran up to Corvina’s side and saluted. “Ma’am,” she said.

“I need you to run to the palace. Find the stable hand Wilfred Tathame and have him pass the message on to manservant Landan Harforde and Baron Beorhtric. I need all of them to leave the city for the next two weeks to give the impression that the Prince is traveling with a retinue. I have a preexisting agreement with all of them so they shouldn’t ask questions. Tell them to bring… just a moment.”

Corvina approached the carriage and knocked on the door. Sebastian opened it a crack. “Yes?” he asked sheepishly.

“What’s the name of your favorite horse right now?”

“Oh,” said Sebastian. “Lately I’ve been really favoring this beautiful gray mare named Hildegard. She’s very gentle, but she can really get up to a great speed on a gallop, and she—“

Corvina turned back to Helen. “Tell them to bring the gray mare Hildegard with them. If anyone asks for specifics we’ll tell them Prince Sebastian has gone to Orrinshire. There are good hunting grounds around there, and it’s far enough away from Longren and the Sacred Forest that it won’t be suspicious, but close enough to that area to make the kidnapping believable when we need it to be.”

“Understood, my lady!” said Helen. Helen turned towards Agis and was sure to catch his eye, giving him a smile and a wave before she headed off to follow Corvina’s instructions.

Corvina sighed again. This should be enough to avert the immediate crisis, but properly selling this story would take a lot of additional work. Which was fine. It’s not like Corvina wasn’t used to changing and adapting her plans last second out of necessity. Flexibility was key in properly responding to the ever-evolving political situation of life in the empire. But something about this particular situation was irritating her more than normal.

Anne stood nearby, fidgeting sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Corvina,” she said. “I just felt like he deserved to know.”

“It’s fine,” said Corvina, turning her face away. “I just… I thought you said you trusted me.”

“I do trust you!” said Anne.

“Then why did you do the one thing I asked you not to do?” asked Corvina. “Help me understand.”

“Because I also trust Sebastian! And you know…” Anne squared her shoulders and puffed up her chest like she was psyching herself up to make some big declaration. “Trust should go both ways!”

Corvina looked at Anne, her mouth hanging open. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you don’t trust me, or Sebastian, or anyone! Not really.” said Anne. “And I know I’m not as smart or good at politics as you are, but I’m not a total moron and I have my own skills! Like, I’m really good with people. And if nothing else, everyone has their own unique perspective, so if you actually shared your thoughts and plans with me I might occasionally be able to see something you don’t. For example, I could tell you how shitty it feels to have something bad sprung on you out of nowhere and then have someone you care about smiling about it and telling you it’s all according to plan.”

“Is that what this is about?” asked Corvina. “You were so upset about the Emperor, your enemy, saying some mean things about you and taking your job away that you had to undermine my plans that I crafted for your benefit? You didn’t even like doing the job of the Saintess! You should be thanking me for getting you out of it!”

“How do you know I didn’t like the job?” asked Anne. “You never asked me!”

“Maybe not,” said Corvina. “But if you’ll recall, you once sneaked out of the Cathedral late at night and came over to my estate just to complain about how busy and miserable you were.”

“Okay, well… you still should have asked me!” said Anne. “It’s not nice to just make assumptions about what people want, even if you’re right. People deserve to have a say in what happens to them.”

“Oh, so I should start asking everyone’s permission before I use and manipulate them to serve our common goals, should I?” asked Corvina, her voice dripping with venom. “You knew who I was when you asked me for my help.”

“No, you’re not understanding what I’m saying,” said Anne. “That’s not the problem, the problem is—“

Eva put her hand on Anne’s shoulders, stopping her mid-sentence. “I’m sorry to interrupt, dear Saintess, but we should really be going soon.”

“She’s right,” said Nia, who had stepped up behind Corvina. “It’s getting late. The city’s going to start waking up soon and it will be much more difficult for all of us to move in secret.”

Corvina and Anne held each other’s gazes for a moment longer. Corvina could feel herself glaring as fierce a glare as she ever had. Anne was glaring, too. She was clearly angry, but she also looked… sad. Somehow. And that just made Corvina angrier.

She wanted to kick a wall. She wanted to punch something. She wanted to spit on the ground. She wanted to smoke a cigarette and then grind it under her foot as hard as possible.

Instead of doing any of that, Corvina turned her back on Anne. “Fine,” said Corvina. “I was going to follow you after a few days, but it may take me a bit longer to wrap everything up here now that I have to deal with this new development. Just lay low until I arrive. Find some way to keep Sebastian hidden. We don’t need rumors spreading if people spot the Crown Prince in the streets of Longren. Sister Eva, I assume I can count on your help for that?”

“Of course,” said Eva, with a smile.

“I do trust you, Corvina,” said Anne.

Corvina raised the hood on the cloak she was wearing. “Travel safely, Saintess,” was the only thing she said.

Anne, Eva, and Agis all climbed into the carriage and it pulled away. As Corvina watched them go, her anger subsided slightly, but she didn’t understand what feeling had replaced it. A sense of betrayal? Regret? Guilt? Sadness? Just a different sort of anger?

Corvina didn’t have time to sort through her feelings. She had work to do.

Nia, Collette, and Belle were all watching Corvina with concern.

“Let’s go,” Corvina said to them. “Meet at my estate for tea tomorrow so we can finalize our plans before I leave the city.”

“Corvina,” Nia readjusted her sunglasses. “There’s something urgent I need to talk to you about. In private.”

“What!?” said Collette, placing an offended hand on her chest. “That’s no fun! Let me in on the secret!”

“Let people have their privacy, Collette,” said Belle. “You don’t have to know about every little thing that everyone thinks and feels all the time.”

“Yes I do!” said Collette.

“Come by my estate later tonight, then,” said Corvina. “Wait until after dark. And bring cigarettes. I’m going to need to stock up for my trip.”

“Roger,” said Nia, with a salute, while Collette and Belle continued to bicker.

Eva was in a fantastic mood.

Honestly, this was the ideal situation for Eva. To have Lady Corvina as their ally, but for Anne not to be too emotionally attached to her. Of course, there was always the risk that Corvina would betray them to her father, but after coming this far that would be a dangerous move on Corvina’s part. Corvina would obviously be wary of revealing her own treachery to the Emperor, who wasn’t known to be a forgiving man. No, Corvina was committed to the rebellion at this point.

Eva’s smile as she watched the landscape pass by through the window was more genuine than usual.

The mood of everyone else in the carriage wasn’t quite as cheerful.

For one thing, it was cramped and uncomfortable with four of them crowded in. Anne and Eva didn’t have too much trouble sharing a seat, but Agis and Sebastian had each crammed as far as they could into their separate corners and were doing their best not to touch. They occasionally exchanged awkward glances.

“Um… Anne, sorry for causing trouble,” said Sebastian. “I didn’t mean to make you and Corvina fight. I probably should have thought through my actions more. But I thought if I didn’t come join you right away I would chicken out.”

Anne smiled and reached across the carriage to pat Sebastian reassuringly on the knee. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’m just glad you decided to help us out after all. That was very brave of you.”

An awkward silence descended over the carriage after that.

In the early afternoon, Agis, who had been staring morosely at the passing landscape, suddenly jumped up and smashed his whole face against the window. “Stop the carriage!” he shouted.

As soon as the carriage had slowed down, he bolted out of the door. Everyone else climbed out after him to see what was going on.

There was a figure on the road ahead, wearing a cloak and leading two horses. Agis ran up to one of the horses and immediately threw his arms around its neck.

“Iramis! It’s so good to see you! It’s been too long!” he shouted.

“Hey, uh… Agis, what’s going on?” asked Anne.

Agis ignored her, distracted by his horse, but the cloaked figure removed his hood, revealing an elf with green eyes and long blonde hair.

“Sorry about the fuss,” he said. “My name is Ylyndar Runethorn. I am the second in command of the combined elven-human rebel forces.” He gave a small, but elegant bow. “Prince Agis sent word ahead that he wanted me to come meet you on the road with his horse. Did he not inform you I was coming?”

“No,” said Anne. “No, he didn’t. But it’s nice to meet you.”

Eva nodded at him, and he nodded back. They knew each other already.

“I just didn’t want to have to ride in the stuffy carriage the whole way,” said Agis, still snuggling with his horse. “And this way I can ride ahead and check out the situation in Longren and have a report ready for you guys when you catch up.”

“Ooh, so this is the fabled Iramis,” said Sebastian, approaching Agis’ horse with twinkling eyes. “He is indeed a noble steed, just as you’ve described him.”

“Right?” said Agis. “You can pet him if you want.”

Sebastian took him up on his offer. “Can I ride with you?” he asked Agis.

“What?” said Agis. “No way!”

“Come on, please!” said Sebastian. “I don’t like the stuffy carriage, either. And besides, don’t you want to show off what a great horse Iramis is?”

“You can see what a great horse he is just by looking at him!” said Agis. “You don’t have to ride on him!”

“Ah, I see,” said Sebastian, turning up his nose. “I guess Iramis is too weak to carry two riders that far. I suppose that’s understandable. That would be difficult on most average horses.”

“Average—!” said Agis. “I’ll have you know, Iramis is strong enough to carry three riders if he had to!”

“I’m not sure I believe you,” said Sebastian. “I mean, if he can’t even carry two…”

“Fine, I’ll show you how strong Iramis is!” said Agis. “But you have to ride behind me, okay?”

“Yay!” said Sebastian, clapping his hands excitedly.

They took a short break and had some snacks before setting off again, Agis and Sebastian on one horse, Ylyndar on the other. Ylyndar saluted Anne and Eva before they set off, cantering down the road at a decent pace.

Anne and Eva climbed back into the carriage, which was much more roomy now. Anne stretched and put her feet up on the seat opposite to her.

“This is much better,” said Anne. “Do we have anything to drink, Eva?”

Eva handed her canteen to Anne and and Anne took a swig of water.

Now that they were finally alone, just the two of them, Eva could finally ask the question that had been on her mind ever since Anne had called Sebastian over to the Cathedral late at night to warn him of Corvina’s plans.

“So, Anne, tell me,” said Eva. “Are you in love with Prince Sebastian?”

Anne spit out her water.