~ * ~ * ~

Ellie followed her aunt along, her crossbow weighing heavy in her arms. Catalina had a backpack on full of gear, a bunch of bolts strapped to the back of it. To her surprise, it was only her and her aunt on this hunting trip. No one else had joined them, which could only mean one thing: they were going to talk, and this trip was going to be extra miserable. Okay, that was two things, actually, but those two things stacked on each other.

"Elspeth, you shouldn't panic so much," Catalina said. Ellie cringed at hearing her full name. "Panicking is what gets people hurt. What if you'd hit me by accident? Tell me."

"I'd be in big trouble?" Ellie guessed.

"No, I'd be the one in big trouble, because you don't know shit about first aid," Catalina said. Away from Hildegarde, she was free to swear as much as she wanted. That was one of the things that made her particularly cool in Ellie's eyes. She was real. There was nothing fake about her. "So do me a favor, Elspeth, and don't walk around with your finger on the trigger, okay?"

"Can you stop calling me Elspeth?"

"I'm doing it to make the lesson stick," Catalina said. She set her crossbow down. "Here, I'll load a new bolt for you. Did you see where the one you fired went?"

"I don't know. Off into a tree somewhere?" Ellie had gotten startled by a bird and shot it by accident.

"Next time you screw up, watch where the bolt goes. We've got a limited supply with us," Catalina took Ellie's crossbow out of her hand. She set it down, stepping onto the stirrup-looking part of it. She tugged the string back, and snapped the bolt into its proper placement. Once the loading was done, Catalina handed it back to Ellie.

They started walking again.

"Isn't this trip taking away from council business?" Ellie asked.

"I've got my subordinates to handle things for today. That's what they're hired for," Catalina said. "Besides, this trip is practically official duty. Your mother wanted me to show you some things."

Ellie groaned. "If this trip is for showing me that the woods are dangerous, then let's end it now. I've gotten that message like a hundred times now. I've got nothing new to learn about that, trust me."

Catalina raised her eyebrows. "Who'd you hear that from? Your mother?"

"Yep," Ellie said, popping the 'p.' "My mom. My friends. That bird I was trying to hit. Everybody."

Catalina laughed. "Hell no. I'm not telling you that. Right now, we're the scariest and most dangerous things in the forest. We're the dominant forces here. Do you see our weapons?" She held hers up. "We've got things the likes of which these animals have never seen."

"Don't animals have weapons, too? The non-feral ones?"

"Not with this level of engineering, no. They're nothing to be afraid of. We're the ones to be feared."

"I don't feel that way," Ellie said, frowning. "There's so much I don't know how to do. Tracking. Loading a crossbow like you can. Hunting animals."

"Ferals are easy to hunt. Anthropes are harder," Catalina explained, "but nearly all of them are smart enough to stay out of our way."

"Nearly all?" Ellie repeated.

"The wolves have their own part of the forest, that-a-ways. They're the ones we have the most problems with," she replied. Catalina didn't have to tell Ellie that, though. "They couldn't stand sharing, because they thought they were at the top of the food chain, and we thought the same. You can't have two groups thinking that way living together."

Ellie looked in the direction her aunt gestured towards. As far as she knew, they lived somewhere beyond the other side of Ianes' Wall. "Why let them have any space at all? They've gone back on their word before."

"You don't trust them?" They kept walking as they talked, towards what, Ellie didn't know.

"It's only a matter of time, isn't it?"

"It's funny... Your mother pushed for the non-aggression pact thirteen years ago, and pushed for this latest one, as well...but her thinking's more in line with yours, despite all of those agreements she's worked out."

"She's two-faced, that's why," Ellie said without thinking.

"Don't be disrespectful. She's cautious, for good reason."

"If we're such dominant forces like you say, then why don't we crush them?" Ellie asked. "What are we keeping them around for?"

"Maybe we should've let you keep napping. It sounds like you woke up on the wrong side of the kitchen table."

Her mouth ran faster than her brain. "I'm just tired of no one wanting to take care of their problems."

Catalina's words took on a more serious tone. "I think this one will be more than taken care of. You should've seen your mother at the council meeting we had the other day. She's not calling for war, but she's trying to funnel the city budget towards a project that's doomed to lead to that."

"What is it?" Ellie thought back to one of their more recent dinner conversations, the one they had over wine and pheasant. She'd mentioned an argument about something revolutionary that she wanted to happen.

"You'll have to talk to her about it," Catalina said. "And I hope I don't need to say this, but don't mouth off about any of this to any of your friends. You're only privy to this information because you're the heiress."

"Understood."

As they walked, Catalina pointed out various plants to her. She talked about leaf patterns and color combinations that were too much of a risk to go near. Everything she was saying felt like it went through one ear and out the other. This was supposed to be a hunting trip. Ellie could get that information out of a textbook. That stuff was, like, primary school level. She needed to know more important stuff, like everything that Shreya was going to help her with.

Shreya... Hopefully they wouldn't come across her. Catalina couldn't know about her, their friendship, or anything that even hinted that Ellie was a frequent woods visitor. If they happened to see each other, they couldn't act like they were friends. Whatever happened, Ellie hoped that Shreya wouldn't approach them. They were holding crossbows, that should be enough of a signal for her to stay away.

"Have you ever been to Ianes' Wall?"

Ellie schooled her face into a neutral expression. "The border? I can't say I've ever been there. It's dangerous, you know?"

"Did you forget that we're the ones in power, Elspeth?" Catalina grinned. "Have you ever wondered what it's like to step on their side of the line? We can do that if we're feeling daring enough. We could wander right into their territory and see what happens."

"What about the treaty?"

"Good, you passed the test. I wanted to see how daring you actually were." Catalina's grin widened. "Because what makes us powerful is being smart. Every move we make is calculated." She pointed at a cluster of six-leafed plants on the ground. "Do you see those? If they look like that and have veins underneath, then don't eat them. This knowledge may be rudimentary but it's something you should brush up on. Hunting can take a long time... When I was your age, we'd be out for hunts for weeks on end. We'd have to gather plants to eat when we ran out of provisions," she said. "Me, Vicente, our older brother Federico, our parents, and the other hunting families... It felt like an adventure. Sometimes, I miss it. I miss a lot of things."

Ellie wondered if she should bring up what she overheard her mother and aunt talking about. That sounded like a good opening for a discussion about her father's care. Maybe, she'd take Henrik's advice after all... If there was anyone she could trust with her personal life, it was her aunt.

"Aunt Catalina, when I was in the kitchen, I heard—"

"Wait," Catalina silenced her. "See that girl coming our way? I want you to be on guard."

"Girl coming our way?" Ellie's mouth ran dry. It couldn't be...

It was. She could tell it was her by the way she walked, that same hat pulled down over her head. Ellie clutched her crossbow tighter, her hands tensing up. She glanced at her Aunt Catalina. Would she catch on? Would she spot the familiarity in their eyes?

"We should turn back," Ellie urged her aunt. "This isn't safe."

"This isn't the time to panic," Catalina said. "She'd be foolish to try anything against us, even if she is a thief. We're too risky of targets."

Ellie widened her eyes, hoping that Shreya would understand the look on her face as no, no, no, turn around, not a good time, go away. She shook, her grip tightening and her palms sweating against the crossbow handle.

Shreya kept heading for them. She smiled. She actually smiled, and Ellie felt sicker than she'd ever felt. If Catalina knew about them...she'd make sure Ellie'd never leave Stockbrunn ever again. Bad things could happen to her. Bad things could happen to Shreya. What if Catalina locked her up? What if she forced her back to Stockbrunn? What would happen then?

Ellie had to stop her. She had to make sure Shreya stayed away. Ellie lifted her crossbow, shaking too much to properly see through her sights.

Just close enough for conversation, but still a decent bit away, Shreya started to say, "oh, hello! Is this a new—"

FWIP!

The bolt flew from Ellie's crossbow. A warning shot. One that would be enough to drive Shreya away. One that hopefully wouldn't hurt her if it did accidentally hit her. Hopefully...

All three of them froze.

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A/N: That's it for Chapter 17. Next update on RRL will be Chapter 18.1: Fix What's Broken.