Not for the first time, Malou wished formal dinners didn’t require an evening party afterward, but at least there would be some room to breathe. The expectation was to stay for at least one drink, and that was still longer than she wanted to be in the company of the de Klijns. While more insufferable people did exist, they weren’t attempting to become part of her family.

Why in the world had Aunt Amandine agreed to this deal?

Once all the plates were cleared away, as per patrician tradition, Aunt Amandine invited everyone to the drawing room for the evening party with a champagne smile. Although Malou thought this would be the perfect time to catch a moment alone with Elodie, Aunt Amandine rounded the table to collect the girl first. Niels accompanied the two of them, along with Senator de Klijn with Janna on his arm. Haddou left together with Uncle Wilhelm and Grandmother Hwari, who looked uncomfortable but determined to continue meeting the professor's poor manners with graciousness.

Malou turned to Gavriel, and he gave her knee a pat. “I know. Just a bit longer.” After he got up, he helped push out her chair and offered his arm.

“Should one of us pretend to have a headache?” she asked quietly as they trailed behind the others down the hall.

He whispered, “What do you mean one of us? You’re the only one who could make that angle work, and you should because I’d like to see that.”

She scrunched her nose because he was right. “You’ll play along?”

“That’s why I’m here.” He grinned.

Grandmother Laïla joined them. “I do hate to interrupt you two,” she said, “and it has been a long time since I’ve had a chance to talk with the young Eng, but you’ll have to forgive me for both because I’d like a word in private with my granddaughter.”

As Gavriel nodded and left ahead of them, Malou tried to figure out what her grandmother would need to talk to her about. Perhaps the engagement. Perhaps the dinner. Grandmother Laïla hooked her arm around Malou’s and leaned in close.

“You’ll have to forgive me again, dear,” Grandmother Laïla whispered, “because this will be both brief and direct. I have a few silvers for you, as requested by your Vice-Premier, each a different identity tied to a small sum of money that should help get you where you’re going.”

“Zeynel?” Malou asked though she hadn’t meant to say his name aloud, however quietly. Was this what his letter had been about? Her mind battled with what that might mean. Maybe it was possible he’d simply been thinking ahead.

“His note said you might need them,” Grandmother Laïla confirmed as she took Malou’s hand. She was trembling—or maybe that was Malou. “It’s not safe for you here, dear. The three of you must go. I’ll do what I can to ease your departure, but it must be as soon as possible. Do you understand?” She passed Malou a small satchel as they neared the drawing room.

“Is it safe for any of you? What about Elodie? Why can’t you just say no to all of this?”

“Saying no,” she said, “unfortunately isn’t an option. I’m doing what I can, but your staying here any longer than necessary will not help. You’re only supplying them all the more reason to ensure the engagement happens. You must leave with Anka. Promise me?”

“I promise.” Malou held her grandmother’s hand in both of hers, then pocketed the satchel. “Promise me you’ll be safe?”

Her grandmother smiled and kissed her cheek, then stepped inside the room, thanking the attendant for offering her a flute of champagne from a tray as she took one for herself. Malou’s chest tightened. Why did this feel so much like the night her father had left? She took some champagne as well and remembered her Valois smile as she crossed the room.

The drawing room at the Valois Manor had the same white paneled walls as the rest of the manor but had coffered ceiling moulding. An oversized Jadaali rug of simple geometric design in a near-white palette covered most of the wood floor. Near the grand fireplace stood an elegant white piano with an attendant awaiting any requests.

There were two general sitting areas—one in the middle of the room beneath a crystal chandelier and another at the far end of the room near the tall windows. Professor Haddou sat near the fireplace with Uncle Wilhelm as a humidor was placed in front of him by an attendant. Gavriel waited for her in the middle of a loveseat near the windows looking as unapproachable as she’d ever seen him. Which was saying something.

He smiled when he saw her though. He moved over for her when she went to sit next to him and clinked his glass with hers. “How much more until you have a real headache, lightweight?”

“How much do you think would make it more believable?”

He chuckled. “Not much."

“Then I’ll start with this one." She raised her glass and took a sip for the sake of it.

"Everything with your grandmother alright?”

Not knowing yet how to answer his question, she faced him on the sofa and gazed out of the window behind them. As rare as it was, the snow brightened the night sky with the luster of the moonlight.

Zeynel might’ve planned for her eventual need of a few fake identities, but her father might’ve also planned for the eventual moment she’d steal the Teir. Either one of them could’ve consulted the Teir to plan how to best keep it safe. Though, if she was honest, her father was more likely to have done that.

I’m not telling you because I want to protect you, Zeynel had said back in her studio in Ghislieri. Or at the very least offer you some semblance of a choice. She thought he’d meant her choice to steal the Teir, but he might’ve meant something far more than that. Did she want to know what? Would that knowledge change anything about her situation?

“Hey,” Gavriel said as he turned to her, gently touching the elbow she’d balanced on the back of the sofa. “I’d be fine with a yes or no if this isn’t the best time or place to answer, but you’re making me worried.”

She put her hands in her lap and studied the way the vein in her wrist moved as she flexed her fingers. “The Vice-Premier asked her to acquire some fake identities for us. She said it’s not safe here and that we need to leave as soon as possible. I don’t know what to do about Elodie, though. How can I leave her here? And Zeynel—”

“Forget about him for now.” He put a hand over hers, and she had to click her tongue at him for taking away her small distraction. “Fake identities—helpful. We’ve already figured it wasn’t safe. And you know already that you have to leave her here.”

“My question was how.”

“On your feet, but I can carry you again.”

Malou pinched the back of his hand, but he only gave a soft snicker. Haddou and Uncle Wilhelm were enjoying cigars now, and Dorian had joined them in a nearby armchair. Janna had chosen to sit on the arm, her legs crossed elegantly and her face rosy from the alcohol. Aunt Amandine stood with her arms around Elodie from behind and chatted with Grandmother Laïla, Grandmother Hwari, Senator de Klijn, and Niels closer to the fireplace.

There probably wouldn’t be a single moment for Malou to pull Elodie aside to talk. She should’ve pressed the girl yesterday to talk about the engagement. Or she should’ve followed up with when Elodie had first mentioned she had something to tell her. A simple message would’ve worked. A video call would’ve been better. Maybe her cousin had been trying to tell her all along, but she hadn’t been paying attention. Malou’s chest tightened again, so much that she had to force herself to breathe past the pressure.

“We can’t bring her,” Gavriel said. “She just got engaged in front of the entire empire. She’ll be recognized, which makes the fake identities useless. They’ll start looking for her as soon as she’s registered as missing, and that’ll lead the Gendarme—or the fucking Sea Legions—right to us. That puts her in more immediate danger than being engaged to that asshole.”

"But at least she wouldn’t be fed lies about what the engagement means or manipulated into being used by her own mother. And for what? More power for the Valois family? What would that do to her in the long run?” She had to stop to swallow hard against the way her throat wanted to constrict.

“It’s not that you’re not right—about everything,” Malou reasoned. “But what if I say I’m taking her on a shopping trip in Srionne? Takes two hours to get there using the métro. They’d expect us to shop for two, three hours. That’d give us a large lead. The fake identities mean they’d have to search through hours of security footage to find out where she went. Even with a competent program, that’d take a while to process. We could possibly be out of the country before putting her in any immediate danger.”

“Possibly,” Gavriel echoed her. “Then what? Say we make it to Rielha with fake identities. Does that mean she’s not engaged to Niels anymore? Does that mean her life would suddenly return to being the same as before?”

Malou released another slow breath and Gavriel squeezed her hands. How could she protect the Teir if she couldn’t even protect her cousin?

Gavriel leaned in closer. “Don’t look, but it seems we’ve caught Janna’s attention. She’s heading this way. She’s been trying to get your attention all night. Guess she got tired of waiting for you to take the same interest in her?”

“I don’t know what she wants from me,” Malou said. Whatever it was, though, she was more likely of figuring it out than Janna was of getting it from her. “Does Dorian look thrilled to be rid of her at least?”

“Does he ever look thrilled?” Then Gavriel met Janna’s approaching footsteps with his most charming of smiles. Maybe that’d be enough to take her attention off Malou. “Good evening. Something we can do for you?”

“Oh,” Janna started then gave the prettiest little laugh. She gestured for an attendant to bring a chair over to her and as she waited, said, “Well, I thought I’d introduce myself since you asked me who I am. No one has ever asked me that before! I was quite taken aback.” When the attendant placed the chair, Janna angled it toward Malou and sat. “I’m Janna de Klijn, and it’s nice to make your acquaintance, fair monsieur. Now what should I call you?”

“Not fair monsieur,” Gavriel said and sat back, stretching his far arm along the back of the sofa. He kept his near arm against Malou’s and took her hand into his. “Nice to meet you, Janna. Anything else?”

Janna laughed again. “Oh, you are so different from anyone I’ve ever met. Both of you, really. You’re both so interesting. I’d like to be friends. In fact, I want to be friends. So let’s be friends! Though I will need your name, not fair monsieur.”

“Malou,” Laure interrupted. “Senator de Klijn just stepped into the hallway and has taken a call on a private line, which unfortunately I haven’t been able to access. Would you like me to relay his half of the conversation?”

Why would he have done that? He should fully expect a manor like this would have security cameras in the hallways much like she expected his own in Triedam did. He could’ve asked the butler for a more private location or gone to his guest apartment. Did he want to be heard?

Gavriel finished off his glass of champagne and Malou couldn’t blame him. She offered hers, hoping he’d understand the plan, then hid her head in his shoulder for a moment. To Laure, she said, “Yes.” If the senator wanted someone to listen into his conversation, then he’d gotten quite lucky she’d asked Laure to keep track of him.

“My name is Gavriel,” he provided, taking Malou’s glass. “Anything else you need?”

“What have you been able to uncover?” Laure relayed.

“Your friendship, of course. Don’t be silly. Or more, if you’ll both have me. You two are courting, yes? You’re amourens. I don’t see many of those as a patrician. How did you meet? When did you start courting? I want all the details.” She laughed again while Gavriel chuckled hollowly, not the least bit enthused.

“That’s all?” Laure continued. “I need more information than that. Far more. This is quite disappointing given that the Valois family still poses a number of threats that need to be eliminated. Leonore has been identified as one of them, correct?”

Gavriel released Malou’s hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Where I’m from, friendship is earned and questions like that get you punched in the face. Our private life is none of your business. Malou,” he said gently, “did your headache get worse?”

Laure’s voice lowered as she attempted to match the senator’s baritone. “You did not inform me, for example, that Leonore’s daughter would be here. Nor did you send me any worthwhile information on the girl. She could be how we get to Leonore.”

Malou hadn’t been expecting to hear her mother’s name in Senator de Klijn’s conversation, nor had she expected to be brought up herself. She stood on uneasy legs. “Maybe I should lie down.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Gavriel asked, steadying her with concern clear on his face. She wasn’t sure if it was real, but Janna certainly would think it was.

“Would you mind giving my goodbyes first?” she said. He couldn’t leave Professor Haddou here alone. This way, he could potentially rescue her from this as well. They all needed to talk.

“Let me walk you to the door at least.” He stood, offered his arm to her. Such a gentleman when he wanted to be. His façade was as good as hers. Hopefully, this would get him away from Janna as well.

“I do not care,” Laure said, her voice deepening to match Senator de Klijn’s more and more, “what that Adeyemi concluded about the girl’s value to Leonore. Do you have children? People would do anything for their children. Leonore will be no different, and her daughter is here. Find out everything you can about her.”

Malou knew she’d heard the name right, but she couldn’t believe it for a moment. Adeyemi. One of the Sea Legions who’d murdered Brosch. One of the Sea Legions she’d killed. Adeyemi had known who Malou was when she’d introduced herself. If Malou had gone with her, would the Legionnaire have just taken her straight to de Klijn?

Laure continued, “Casals? Remind me.”

When Malou was alone in the hallway, she debated finding the senator and using magic to hear the other side of the conversation. She could make herself invisible as well, her presence imperceptible to the most insidious of people. The conversation might end before she was close enough, though, and even if she could use magic to hide from him, she didn’t like the idea of putting the Teir in such close quarters with him more than necessary.

Maybe that was what he wanted. To lure her further into his grasp.

If Senator de Klijn knew who Adeyemi was—if she was working for him by getting information on Leonore—then didn’t that suggest that he had been the one after the Teir all this time? Her father’s murder could’ve been on his command. Professor Brosch could be dead because of his kill order. Maybe he’d killed Grandfather Claude to weaken the Valois family so that he could offer an alliance between their families through this commitment.

Did he want Malou to know all of that or had he just been careless for a moment because he’d had too much to drink and thought the whole family under his panoptic control?

Malou headed to her mother’s apartment. What did he want with the Valois family? What did he gain from this alliance, and what did Aunt Amandine think she’d achieve by bending to his blackmail? What did Malou’s mother have to do with any of it?

Her mother’s words came back to her. I know it’s your home, and I consider it mine as well, but there’s no protection for us there. Not from my father’s murderer. Not from those who wish to see our family crumble. And as long as we’re targets, we have only two options. We could stay here with the rest of the family—our family is stronger together than apart, after all. Our other option is to leave the country.

“Continue in that direction,” Laure said, cutting through Malou’s sudden wave of nausea. “—Oh, he ended the call. Rather abrupt. Does no one say goodbye anymore?”

“Do you think he wanted someone to hear all of that?”

“Wouldn’t he have found a corner in the drawing room then?”

Malou walked faster. “Do you think this was what Mother was warning about—that it's Senator de Klijn who’s after the Teir? Does he think Mother has it? Does he think the Valois know anything about it? The only connection between the two is—"

“You,” Laure said, “but correlation does not mean causation. The senator might be after the Teir and your family for separate reasons that both serve his ultimate goal.”

Malou had never been so grateful to see her mother’s name on a door. Inside, she laid across the sofa and rested the back of her hand on her forehead. The obvious answer was that Senator de Klijn wanted power.

Rather than using the Teir against the Libertines, the senator probably wanted to use it to assassinate the Crowned Consul—exactly what the Libertines were trying to prevent. Drondaal would support his ascension to the throne, and with the de Klijn’s alliance with the Valois family, Nuyere would also support him. Perhaps Grandfather Claude had been the final holdout among the senators.

“I should’ve gone with Mother.” She covered her eyes.

“Then I wouldn’t have become what I am,” Laure said. “You had to go back.”

“That means that I had to steal the Teir, too. Father knew all this, didn’t he? He asked the Teir how to keep it safe, and the answer was all of this. Was this the only way?”

“Do you want an answer to that?”

She clenched her jaw. Perhaps Zeynel had been right not to tell her more. “I don’t even know enough magic to keep the Teir safe. If Senator de Klijn sent the Sea Legions after me like he sent them after Brosch, how will I protect myself? How will I protect you?”

“You will,” Laure said. “I believe in you.”

At least someone did.

Malou went back through her memories, finding solace in the slight tingle of magic skittering just under her skin. All the way back to her father leaving. All the times she’d learned another professor who’d been protecting the Teir had disappeared. All the times she knew Zeynel was keeping something from her, the times the truth seemed just at the tip of his tongue. Had she missed something all this time? Was there a detail she hadn’t noticed that would’ve prevented this outcome?

Perhaps she should’ve left with the Teir the night she’d returned to Tousieux. She’d been wearing it, and although Zeynel had shut the Teir off, she knew now that it’d been temporary. She could’ve used magic to escape with both lenses. Laure would’ve still eventually synchronized.

Then again, Elodie would still be engaged to be committed with Niels in that scenario as well and Senator de Klijn’s plan seemed to be moving ahead without the Teir just fine. There was no relief to be found in mulling over what she could’ve done differently, only more certainty that her father had known this would be the only outcome. All options led back to Elodie engaged and de Klijn no further from his assumed objective.

Haddou and Gavriel returned from the evening party not too long after. That did bring her some sense of relief, no longer stuck in her own mind. As Haddou made another round of drinks, Gavriel helped Malou sit up then took the spot next to her. He gave her a long look.

“Janna might be worse than Niels,” he said, and given the expression he had, she believed him. “Are you alright though? What happened?”

She’d circle back to Janna. “I told Laure to watch the senator. He stepped out of the evening party for a private call, and Laure repeated back everything he said. He thinks the Valois family poses a number of threats that need to be eliminated. Mother is one of them, and he had a Sea Legion write a report on her—I recognized the name because I’d heard her code name used at Brosch House.” Haddou handed her a glass of water, which she appreciated. “He wants to see how he can use me against her.”

“Good thing we’re getting the fuck out of here,” Haddou said. She took the armchair again. “So Sander’s the one behind it this time? There’s always someone after the Teir. Always someone after more power. He’s not special, as much as I’m sure he thinks he is. Did you check the silvers Laïla gave you?”

Malou retrieved the satchel and handed it to Haddou. The professor raised an eyebrow but took it without questioning her.

Perhaps the senator wasn’t special, but neither was Malou. She was the one protecting the Teir this time, and there was always someone protecting it. Always someone willing to die to keep it out of the wrong hands. The Teir wasn’t just the contact lenses anymore, though. This was Laure. How could she have forgotten?

She dug her fingernails into her palms. “He also mentioned Casals—so either the Premier or they’ve found Zeynel. Whatever they’re doing, the senator wants them to keep doing it.”

“Nuria’s tough,” Haddou said as she rolled the silvers in her hand and asked her personal assistant to connect to them one by one. “She’ll be fine. We’ll leave in the morning. I’ll come up with some excuse. We can take the métro to Srionne then down to Novenzia, finalize our travel to Khalasaj on the way. If we’re lucky, they’ll have someone to escort us and we won’t have to take an airship.”

Although Malou wanted to ask about Elodie one more time, she drank the water Haddou had given her instead. Maybe she could steal her cousin away from Niels and the de Klijns before the commitment ceremony just as she had stolen the Teir before the Sea Legions had claimed it. Just because she would be leaving Elodie here didn’t mean she was abandoning her forever. Malou wasn’t her mother.

Haddou retired first, and then it was just Gavriel and Malou watching the shadows from the flickering false flames dance against the elaborate boiseries.

“I’m alright,” Malou answered him. “I hate that I’ve put the Teir—Laure—in danger by coming here. I feel sick to my stomach about leaving Elodie. And I wish that I didn’t feel like a pawn. But what’s there to do about any of that? Tell me about Janna. I’m sorry for leaving you to deal with her alone. Are you alright?”

Gavriel curled his lip. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just be careful if you have to be alone with her. She’s not just interested, she’s obsessed. Not sure if it’s with you or with following whatever directive her father might’ve given her about finding out more about you. Either way, she can fuck off.”

“She could be that way because of him,” Malou wondered aloud.

“That’s no excuse.”

She sighed. “Right for the second time tonight. Incredible.”

“Sorry, I know you hate that.” Gavriel laughed just as Assa let herself into the apartment with her head lowered. The attendant hurried upstairs without sparing a glance toward them.

Gavriel’s gaze followed her until she disappeared up the steps. “That’s your mother’s attendant?”

“Grandmother Laïla told me she came with a note from Mother that said to expect me.” Since Malou didn’t want to leave the girl waiting for long, she stood and stretched. “At first, I thought she was quiet and shy, but I think she would just rather be attending to Mother.”

Gavriel scoffed as he got up as well. “Never once seen Leonore with an attendant, but I guess I can’t put it past her to keep one for vanity’s sake.” He opened his arms to her, and she stepped into his embrace.

Being in his arms like this, the pressure in her chest faded away. She was thankful that he was here with her—more thankful than she’d thought—and so she held him close in hopes it’d be enough to tell him that. When his arms tightened around her, she realized that maybe he needed the hug as much as she did.

“Wake me if you need anything,” he said. “Or if you need to sneak into someone else’s apartment again.”

“Don’t make me regret telling you that.”

He offered a cheeky grin when they separated. He headed to his room and she climbed the stairs to her mother’s to join Assa. The attendant had Malou’s nightwear laid out and had a cup of steaming chamomile tea waiting at the dressing table alongside her mother’s night skincare regime.

“Sorry for making you wait,” Malou said, grabbing the nightgown and heading into the wardrobe. “I’ll be quick.”

“No need to rush,” Assa said, standing beside the chair at the dressing table and looking too stiff for that to be true. The more time the girl spent with Malou, the more Malou’s presence seemed to put her on edge.

Malou debated taking her time in spite, but she wanted to be alone too desperately to draw out the process. She washed up and changed quickly. Assa started taking down her hair the moment she sat down, and she watched the attendant work in the mirror. Perhaps Assa hadn’t smiled once, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t done a good job or that she wasn’t well-meaning. It didn’t mean she wasn’t also reporting Malou’s every move.

When the tea was cool enough, Malou nursed it in two hands while Assa finished up applying one last layer of moisturizer. The final touch was a satin scarf to protect Malou’s hair. As Assa started by folding it in half, Malou stopped her hands.

“I can finish from here,” Malou said, slowly pulling the scarf from the attendent’s slackening grip. “I wanted to let you know that I’ll be leaving tomorrow, and you don’t need to tend to me in the morning. Thank you for helping me while I’ve been here, Assa. I’m not used to having an attendant, so I wouldn’t have minded if you hadn’t lifted even a finger for me, but you still did so much. I really appreciate it.”

Assa’s wide eyes finally blinked. “Why tell me that you’re leaving?”

“Wouldn’t Mother want to know?” Malou took a sip of tea. “You’ll have no reason to stay here if I’m gone, right? You can return to her. Or at least do something more worthwhile than waiting on me. Just keep in mind, Mother Dearest is only loyal to herself. Be careful not to give her too much while expecting anything back in return.”

For a few long moments, Assa seemed unable to do anything but stare at Malou. Perhaps she was at a loss for words. Maybe she felt caught for being a snitch or defensive over Malou’s warning. When she composed herself, she moved her hands behind her back and straightened her shoulders.

“I need no thanks,” Assa said. “I’ve just been doing my job. I’ll take my leave. Sleep well.”

After the door shut behind her, Malou tied the scarf around her head, finished her tea, and slipped into bed. She had to meditate tonight. She had to learn how to protect Laure as quickly as possible so she could then protect Elodie as well.