"Wait, who are we gonna kidnap?" asked Agis in a low voice, and Anne immediately kicked him in the shin.

"Not now," Anne hissed.

"Hello?" said Sebastian, waving his hand to get their attention. "Aren't you guys pleased to see me?"

"Of course we are!" said Anne.

"I'm not," said Agis.

"I just thought you might be bored and lonely, what with all your Saintess duties being canceled and all." Sebastian's smile was practically sparkling.

"That's very thoughtful of you..." said Anne. "You wanted tea, right? Betty, can you bring us some tea?"

Suddenly Anne felt like it might be kind of awkward to hang out with the Crown Prince in what was essentially her bedroom, even if it had a decent seating area and desks and stuff. So she added, "Actually, can you bring that tea to the Blue Courtyard? We'll take it out there."

The Blue Courtyard wasn't far from Anne's chambers. It wasn't one of the fancier courtyards in the Cathedral complex—it was just a small green space with a few tea tables scattered about—but Anne liked it because it was usually empty. The Cathedral was often crowded and there weren't many places in the complex you could go where you wouldn't be mobbed by people, if you were the Saintess.

"Why is it called the Blue Courtyard?" asked Sebastian. "All the flowers planted here seem to be white, not blue."

"Oh, huh," said Anne. "I hadn't really thought about it before, but that is weird."

"So you don't know?" asked Sebastian, tiling his head to one side.

"No, I have no idea..." said Anne.

"Maybe it's a sad courtyard for some reason?" suggested Agis.

Sebastian let out a short, derisive laugh.

"What?" said Agis. "What's wrong with that answer?"

"I'm sorry," said Sebastian, covering his mouth with one hand. "It's just, a courtyard can't be sad. It's a courtyard."

"Shows what you know, you shitty human prince," said Agis. "The wisdom of the elves has always been clear that places can have feelings. Hey, no, stop laughing! Places can be imbued with any really strong emotion felt by creatures in the space over time, it's like—I said stop laughing!"

While she half-listened, smiling, to this exchange, Anne thought about how guilty she felt about the whole kidnapping thing. Yes, it was to save Sebastian's life, but still... She'd feel better about it if she could fill him in, but Corvina had said not to, and Corvina knew what she was doing with this sort of thing.

I can't believe I danced with Corvina last night, thought Anne. When she first came to this world, she never thought she'd be that lucky. To share that kind of moment with Lady Corvina herself. Thinking about it made Anne feel really grateful for having been reborn in this world.

But still... that story Corvina told of her childhood was so sad. And fucked up. Anne knew the Emperor was a bad person, but how could he be that manipulative and abusive and... murderous without already having been overthrown by someone? It boggled the mind.

Also, how could the original author have left all that out of The Foundling's Wings? Well, maybe it was mentioned at some point after Anne had read. But by the point Anne was at in the story, both Sebastian and Corvina were dead. What more reason was there to mention it?

I suppose it could have been revealed as part of Duke Marshals' backstory... thought Anne. But the anecdote didn't exactly paint the Duke in the best light. If he was meant to be the hero and romantic lead of the book then it would be a strange thing to reveal. Especially towards the end, when he was supposed to have had his redemption arc already...

Oh yeah.

Thinking about all that reminded Anne of something else (not kidnapping related) that she'd wanted to tell Sebastian.

"Sebastian!" she said.

"Hmm, yes?" said Sebastian. He was currently laughing while holding Agis away at arm's length, while the much shorter Agis tried (not very hard) to hit him.

Anne stood up and reached across the table to grab Sebastian's face in both hands, looking him dead in the eye. "What happened to your mother was not your fault," she said, in a stern voice.

Sebastian looked stunned. "Huh? What?" he said.

Anne let go of Sebastian and sat back down in her seat. "Listen to me, you were a child and your father put you in an impossible situation. And regardless of your actions, he chose to do what he did. And he probably would've found another excuse to do the same thing if you had acted differently. You're not weak. You're not a coward. And you didn't fail anyone."

"But..." said Sebastian. "How could you possibly know...?"

"It wasn't a divine revelation or anything," said Anne. "Corvina told me about it in confidence. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone else. I promise. But as the Saintess I'm a moral authority and I'm telling you, it's not your fault. Okay?"

Sebastian turned to look at Agis. "Do you also know...?"

"Uh... I have no idea what you guys are talking about," said Agis, shrugging. "If you don't want to tell me, I won't ask, but if Anne says whatever it is wasn't your fault I'm sure she's right."

Sebastian wiped tears away from his eyes and smiled, shakily. "It seems you're determined to continuously rescue me from myself. Thank you, Saintess."

Just then, Betty arrived with the tea things. Sebastian made an effort to compose himself while Anne greeted the acolyte.

"You're certainly popular today, Saintess," said Betty, setting down the tray. "You've got another visitor. Although this one much more politely decided to wait by the door to hear if you'd receive her."

"Who is it?" asked Anne.

"Why, it's another royal if you'll believe it," said Betty. "Lady Corvina herself!"

Corvina hadn't slept very much the night before. She'd gotten caught up in her book, taking extensive notes as she read. But it hadn't been wasted time. She'd formulated a plan of action. And she was perfectly capable of functioning on very few hours of sleep, anyway, so it didn't really matter.

Corvina's first stop after leaving her manor, with no escort but with multiple knives hidden on her person at her uncle's insistence, was at a famous florist's shop where she ordered a small bouquet of hyacinths and honeysuckle. They were both relatively ordinary flowers with strong, sweet scents. So they would not make an overly extravagant gift, but the scent would surely make them especially soothing to Anne, and hopefully remind her of Corvina long after Corvina herself had gone home...

Also, in the secret language of flowers the young noblewomen of the capital sometimes used to send messages to their lovers, this particular combination of flowers meant something like "I am devoted to your charms." Again, not too strong of a statement for this early stage, but nicely... flirtatious. It was not the sort of bouquet one would give to a mere friend, knowing its meaning.

Not that Corvina expected Anne, an elven orphan raised by the church on the furthest outskirts of the empire, to understand that particular meaning. But that was just as well. Corvina just liked the thought of it.

As Corvina strolled through the city, bouquet in hand, she felt like whistling. This was a foreign feeling to her, and as such, she had never actually learned how to whistle, so she couldn't. Still, what a novel sensation! Her life had certainly become far more interesting since meeting Anne.

Unfortunately, when Corvina actually arrived at the Cathedral, her hopes for sharing an intimate tea with the Saintess, just the two of them, were immediately dashed by the presence of both Anne's brother and her own.

As soon as Corvina entered the courtyard where tea was already in progress, Anne got up to greet her. "Corvina! It's great to see you."

Corvina glanced at the two men present and sighed. No matter how much you planned ahead of time, actual events rarely played out exactly as expected. You had to learn to adjust in the moment.

"It's good to see you, too, Anne. These are for you," said Corvina, handing over the bouquet.

"Ooh!" said Anne.

Taking the gift, Anne almost immediately stuck her whole face in the bouquet and sniffed deeply. When she looked up, her smile was blinding and her eyes were sparkling in the afternoon sun. She had such big eyes, which were such a fascinatingly light shade of blue. Like ice. Or the sky seen through a thin layer of clouds.

"These smell so good!" said Anne. "Thank you so much!"

Corvina felt herself start to breathe again.

I'm so glad I decided to buy the bouquet, thought Corvina.

"Can you get a vase with some water for these, Betty?" Anne asked the friendly acolyte who had shown Corvina in.

"Of course, your eminence," said Betty. She reached out to take the flowers, but Anne moved them out of her reach.

"No, just bring the vase here," said Anne. "I'll hold onto these in the meantime."

"As you wish," said Betty, curtsying.

"Wait, before you go," said Sebastian. "Do you know why this courtyard is called the Blue Courtyard?"

"Oh, hmm..." said Betty. She tilted her head and placed a hand on her chin, like she was deep thought. "If I remember correctly, it was named for Oletha Blue, who was a Bishop a few generations before our current Bishop."

"You see?" said Sebastian, looking sideways at Agis. "It has nothing to do with emotions at all."

"That doesn't mean the courtyard can't also be sad," grumbled Agis.

"What are they talking about?" asked Corvina, baffled.

Anne shrugged. "I don't know, I haven't been paying attention," she said. Then she grabbed Corvina's arm and started pulling her towards the table. "Come on, the tea is getting cold."

Corvina smiled. "I think this is probably a very happy courtyard," she said wistfully.

"Oh, come on!" said Sebastian. "Not you, too!"

The sound of their laughter echoed through the Blue Courtyard and into the surrounding hallways. In one of these hallways, standing far enough back in the shadows that she could not be seen from the courtyard, Bishop Geist surveyed the scene with a frown on her face.

Bishop Geist sighed and shook her head.

No matter. The Bishop knew that soon enough the actions of the Saintess would no longer be her concern.