Light was filtering through the window.

I woke quickly, blinking the eyes out of my sleep—uh, sleep out of my eyes. Okay, I might’ve been a little woozy, but it cleared away soon enough.

As I fully came awake, I realized that I was still lying down in the great hall’s couch.

Ah. That was right. When I’d been detailing the end of my illustrious career as a member of House Byron, I’d slipped too deep into my oath. I’d pulled hard, drawn deep, and the memories had been as vivid as the actual experience had been. It had been a mess of emotion and remembrance, and at the end of it all I had been worn out enough by the combination of the hectic events of the night and the energy used for the godlike communication taught to me by Nishi that I’d fallen asleep shortly after.

Jasmine hadn’t left me alone, it seemed. She was nestled into my shoulder, her side pressed against mine. I watched her for a moment, taking her in in the morning light. Jasmine was still stunningly pretty even in her sleep, her blonde hair tousled messily in a way that just made me feel warm inside.

Unbidden, a smile played across my lips, a stupid little one that I couldn’t quite manage to banish.

I tore my eyes away from her, turning my attention to the light streaming in to the hall.

What time was it? It didn’t look too late, the sun still not quite over the horizon.

I wasn’t sure when we’d fallen asleep, but it couldn’t have been much later than two or three hours after midnight. I didn’t feel terrible, so I’d definitely gotten at least four hours of sleep, but I didn’t feel totally rested either.

Whatever. I could find a clock somewhere anyway. I didn’t need to think about the time right now. According to what I could remember of my conversation with Jasmine last night—this morning?—there was a civil war inbound, and I’d be damned if I wasn’t prepared for that.

On the other hand, I didn’t really want to move. I was comfortable where I was, Jasmine half-draped over my body. It was warm and cozy and it just felt right, and I almost felt bad trying to extricate myself.

Still, war did take precedence over my comfort, so off the couch it was. I tried to remove myself from her kinda-embrace as quietly and slowly as I could, but as it turned out I needn’t have bothered.

As I started moving, Jasmine stirred, her eyelids fluttering, and she turned towards me, matching the stupid little grin on my face with one of her own.

“Uh,” I said. “Hi.”

“Morning,” she said, the latter half of the word distorted by a yawn. “You sleep okay? Sorry if I disturbed your rest.”

“You didn’t,” I dismissed. “The opposite, if anything. I slept alright.”

Belatedly, Jasmine seemed to realize that she still held me in half a hug, and she withdrew from me. The noble tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear and stretched, standing up from the couch in the same motion.

I had to admit that I felt an ever so slight sense of loss as the warmth of the girl beside me dissipated, but it was mostly compensated for by the image of Jasmine’s lithe figure stretching in the morning sun. That same warm stir I’d felt earlier was back again, and I found myself staring for far too long.

I looked away before Jasmine could notice me, heat rising to my cheeks. There were more important issues to handle right now.

She turned towards me, catching my gaze even as I was turning away.

Oops. I hoped that she hadn’t seen me dumbly watching her.

“I do hope that nothing serious happened during the night,” Jasmine said, letting out a satisfied sound as she stretched her arms. “If the conflicting Houses stick to the noble code of etiquette, nothing will have on the first night.”

“I’m not sure that every House will be doing that,” I noted. “House Alzaq sure as hell weren’t.”

“These times are turbulent,” Jasmine admitted. “After…”

“You can say House Byron,” I said. “I don’t mind. You know now, I know you know, and we’ve talked it over. I trust you to keep yourself from prodding too close to a sore spot, and I’ll let you know if you do.”

“I appreciate your trust, Lily,” Jasmine said. “And yes. After House Byron, the traditions have shifted. Not quite gone in their entirety, but the willingness of noble Houses to play quick and dirty has certainly increased.”

“And House Alzaq is new to the scene, right?” I asked. “I don’t really remember the name.”

“Correct,” she nodded. “They were prominent merchants around the time House Byron fell, and they were elevated to nobility a few years after. They didn’t secure a seat at Dakheng until recently, though.”

“Which would make them more prone to this kind of tradition-breaking warfare.”

“Probable. I do believe it would be more productive for us to connect with the others and see for ourselves rather than speculate, though.”

“True that,” I agreed with a small chuckle.

The others. Who did that constitute at this point? Alex, Lukas, and the jester had been with Jasmine, even after seeing fragments of my past through the [QUERY] I’d sent. They’d likely not grasped my true identity, given that they’d still fought with me afterwards, but after the events of last night there was no way they didn’t have suspicions. Would they still be able to work with Jasmine if it turned out that I was a member of the most infamous traitor House in recent memory?

They hadn’t been the only other ones there. Seb, that vagrant that definitely had more training and expertise than any true wandering beggar should have, had also showed up with the troupe of commoners that had accosted me just a few days ago. They’d beaten Lord Alzaq to death, and then they’d been gone just like the rest of us before the Crown’s security could arrive. Were they an ally? Seb’s group had seen me talking to and retreating with a group of nobles, and I knew that they were at least as anti-nobility as I was, if not significantly more.

As far as I was aware, the two groups had called a temporary truce to take down the Alzaqs, but that didn’t mean it would extend to their acceptance of me now that they knew I was affiliated with the nobles as more than a simple serving girl. It wouldn’t be much of a loss, given the general lack of power the commoner mobs held, but Seb was unnaturally sharp for a poor homeless man in a way that absolutely shouted oathholder. It might have been nice to have a resource on the streets, but I wouldn’t know if that was something I could tap until I interfaced with them more.

“Who are we meeting with?” I asked. Seb almost definitely wasn’t on the list of Jasmine’s potential allies, which probably meant we’d be meeting with the former group, but it was always good to make sure.

“Alex, Lukas, and the adventurer that joined us,” Jasmine said. “Kyle, I think his name was. We’ll visit House Varga first, and then perhaps House Alzaq.”

“Alzaq?” I couldn’t help but be surprised by that. “After what just happened?”

“As much as Orchid helped in the plot, I cannot help but think that he wasn’t exactly a willing participant,” Jasmine said. “I think he could be made to see reason and try to deescalate the situation. At the very least, it would be a boon to us if we did not have to fight them alongside the Tempets.”

“House Tempet was the primary aggressor, right?” I asked. “Them and their branch families?”

“House Lysin and Ther as well,” Jasmine said. “I believe they may have believed House Tempet’s claims that the Byron family is alive and well.”

I winced. Those two houses… Victoria and Rosemary. Two children. One of them killed by my family’s poison, the other by my own hand. Only two among many, but the memory was still visceral in my mind.

“Sorry,” Jasmine said.

“Don’t be,” I replied. “I need a reminder of who I was from time to time. I’ve been trying to be better, but it’s so easy to just… forget.”

“I understand,” she said with a nod. I wasn’t sure if she truly did.

“Why House Tempet?” I asked, changing the subject. “I know Alto, uh, died, but wouldn’t they want to distance themselves from a plot to take the Crown down?”

“They claimed that House Alzaq has unlawfully controlled one of their own,” Jasmine said. “Not through conventional means, but through magical compulsion.”

“That’s not allowed?” It sure had been when I’d been a noble, at the very least.

“It’s become taboo over the years, yes.” Jasmine started walking from the great hall, and I followed suit. “Come on, let’s get ourselves cleaned up and into something a little more presentable.”

I was a little bit disheveled right now. A shower and a change of clothes would be nice. I would’ve done that last night, but I’d forgotten amidst the flood of raw emotion I’d been experiencing.

“What about the other Houses?” I asked. “You said they declared conflict on multiple.”

“Correct. Varga, Rayes, Alzaq, and Byron. They may have declared more by now.”

“I get Byron, given what Alto knew and what Lord Alzaq knew, and I get Alzaq, now, but what about the others?”

“House Varga and House Rayes both stand accused of orchestrating the murder of one Alto Tempet," Jasmine grimaced. “It’s a messy situation, especially since none of the observers that were present at the Alzaq manor last night were actually Crown officials, so there’s a lot of murkiness.”

“Wait, hold on, wasn’t it established that Alto was a traitor?” I asked. “Surely they can’t be serious.”

“They are,” Jasmine said, shaking her head. “It’s confusing, I know, but that’s the nature of noble politics these days. Alto was confirmed to be a traitor, which is the basis for their conflict against House Alzaq, who they also accuse of being traitors—“

“Which they are, judging by both of our accounts,” I cut in.

“Not according to the acting patriarch and new matriarch,” Jasmine said. “They claim Lord William was acting completely on his own.”

“Right,” I said. “And I’m the Crowned King.”

Jasmine shrugged. “There is potential that they truly were coerced into their roles. I strongly suspect Orchid to have, at least. Even if he did not go directly against his father’s plot, the way he carried it out was far too obvious and reluctant to have been a true effort from a man that competent.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” I said. I had lost most of the respect I’d gained for Orchid pretty fast, which kind of sucked. He’d been one of the few decent nobles I’d met these past few years, and knowing that he’d been dragged into the hellhole that was plotting for the Crown and hadn’t managed to drag himself out was more than a little disappointing. “Sorry, I interrupted. Please continue.”

“You’re fine,” Jasmine said. “Anyway. Even though he was confirmed to be a traitor, he still was a member of House Tempet, and both Alex and I were members of the adventuring squad that ostensibly brought an end to his scheme and his life.”

“That was me,” I said, tilting my head. “Did they miss that part?”

“They saw that Kyle went after you and assumed that he killed Alto,” Jasmine sighed. “Since we were all in the same party, observed both later at the Alzaq manor and earlier when the mob was attacking, we were implicated as well.”

“Are they associating themselves with Alto or not?” I asked.

“Yes and no,” Jasmine said. “You can chalk it up to politics.”

“Yes so they can attack Rayes and Varga, no to attack the Alzaqs,” I summarized. “That about it?”

“Just about,” Jasmine nodded. “I don’t doubt that they’re going to take this seriously. House Tempet has grown greedy in recent years, and the backlash from other Houses has pissed them off. This has been a long time in the making, if my mother and father are correct.”

“I’ve never been on this side of a noble conflict,” I said. “I genuinely don’t know what it involves.”

“Death, deception, and occasionally open warfare in the streets,” Jasmine said frankly. “It’s not the most pleasant to witness, and even though the conflict is meant to be cordial enough for normal Crown functions to go on, I can tell you that it is exceptionally awkward going to a ball and knowing that at least four assassination attempts are going to occur on notable involved members over the course of the event.”

“Lovely,” I said. “And since we’re all gathered in Dakheng already…”

“It’s a pot waiting to boil over.”

With that, we had reached one of the many, many bedrooms that House Rayes apparently possessed in this manor.

“Come on,” Jasmine said. “Let’s get you cleaned up. This room should have an attached bath and spare clothes aplenty. I will take a different bathroom, and I should be done quickly. If you need anything, just let me know.”

Stay with me, I almost blurted out, but that would have been a dumb move to make. Not the time, not the place, and besides even though she was a fantastic friend I didn’t know if something that forward would fly.

“Sure, works for me,” I said instead, giving her a wan smile. “See you in a bit.”

“See you,” she replied, giving me a wave with her fingers and then walking off. I watched her go for a second or two before shaking my head, gathering my focus.

Get clean. Get changed. Get yourself ready for war. I couldn’t be this distracted by Jasmine when there was a brewing conflict out there. My ruin might be needed soon enough, and thinking too much about the very pretty and sweet girl I’d wound up with was not going to be productive in that respect.

Still, I found myself thinking about her as I showered, the warm water running down my body faintly reminding me of Jasmine’s sweet embrace.

“Gods above, get yourself under control,” I whispered, hugging myself tightly. The warmth that I’d felt inside earlier was back again, and it was distracting.

It made me feel that I needed someone to hold me close and tight enough and squeeze hard enough to break me down and get to the core of me, get to that warmth inside and share it, and—

Ugh. Feelings were complicated, and I didn’t want to deal with these right now. I set it aside, best I could, but I couldn’t fully ignore its creeping presence in the back of my head.

When I got out of the shower, I found myself staring at my reflection. My own grey eyes looked back at me, and I found myself looking away, like looking into the mirror meant acknowledging how fucking embarrassed I was right now.

At any rate, when I was done and cleaned into a fresh set of clothes, light leather armor over a black blouse and thick pants that fit me just right, I was thoroughly flustered.

Deep breaths, Lily. This really wasn’t a situation in which I should need to calm myself like this, but I found myself resorting to it anyway.

Once I’d mostly managed to make the flushed heat go away, I opened the door to the bedroom.

Jasmine was already ready, her hair washed and dried and pulled back into a loose ponytail. I myself didn’t need that—my hair didn’t stretch far beyond my shoulders, it wouldn’t get in my way during a fight—but something about it just looked right on her.

Shit, wrong thoughts. With as much effort as I could muster, I shifted my focus back to the very real threat of the nobles we would be facing down soon.

“Ready to go?” Jasmine asked.

“Ready,” I said. “Your ‘spare clothes’ could outfit an army.”

“We have a lot of space,” Jasmine shrugged. “You can keep it, I don’t mind.”

There were enough hidden crevices in the armor that I could’ve hidden near a dozen knives on my body. I hadn’t, of course, but there were three or four on me. It was a fine work of leather, and she was just letting me have it for free.

Right. Nobles. I’d nearly forgotten what that meant despite living with this one.

“Thank you,” I said. “Off to House Varga, then?”

“I sent a messenger already,” Jasmine said. “We are friendly with them, but it is still good practice to meet on neutral ground.”

“What does that constitute, in this case?” I asked. “The royal castle isn’t really something that the Crown wants people to get in unauthorized—gods know I’m familiar with that—and the noble sector doesn’t seem like it would have anywhere that you could call neutral.”

“Dakheng itself, of course,” Jasmine said. “Alex is progressive, so he has no issue with it.”

“Hold on,” I said, remembering a conversation from a week or two ago. “Isn’t Alex alienated from his family? Will meeting with him even enable us to do anything?”

“He is,” Jasmine said, “but not to the extent that they will not be willing to work with us if we use him as the intermediary.”

“More of a disappointment than a traitor, then,” I said.

“Essentially.”

“Well, if it works…”

“It should.”

“Where in the city are we going?” I was more than a little familiar with Dakheng now, the experience of the two days spent combing it by the makeshift squad I’d been a part of for House Alzaq coming to mind.

“The square at the intersection of Fourth and Shedi,” Jasmine said. “Near one of the old Tempet warehouses that got abandoned after the Byron incident. Are you familiar with the area?”

“More than familiar.” I frowned, remembering the exact location she mentioned. “That’s where House Alzaq got ambushed that first time. Is it safe?”

“The attackers were themselves hires of House Alzaq, correct?” Jasmine asked.

“I believe so.”

“Then it should not be a problem. If they do choose to attack us, then House Alzaq will lose the last crucial tie that they still have. They would never risk doing that if they wanted to come out of this conflict in one piece.”

“If you say so,” I said, still a little unsure. “Oh well. I suppose if it comes down to that, we’ll deal with them as they come.”

“Of course,” Jasmine said. “Come on. Let’s get going.”

We were going to be going by autonomous carriage, because of course we were. Jasmine told me to wait for a few minutes while she informed the patriarch and matriarch that we were going to negotiate with House Varga in an official capacity, but soon enough she was back and we were good to go.

The Rayes manor wasn’t all too distant from the commoner sector of Dakheng, all things considered. Even though the House was largely established, it wasn’t deep in the heart of the noble sector, which I could respect. It said a lot about the Lord and Lady Rayes, much of it good.

As we entered Dakheng proper, though, I realized another potential issue.

“Neutral ground is supposed to be unaffiliated, right?” I asked Jasmine, staring out the windows.

“It is, yes,” she said. “You know this.”

“Yes, just confirming.” My gaze was still fixated outside, watching as we passed group after group of commoners. They were mostly milling about, going on their everyday lives, but there were a few of them that were stopping and fixing us with cold, empty glares as we passed them by.

More than a few. As we continued on, there were more and more of them, until near a third of the commoners we passed by were turning to give us an ugly glance.

I had a decent idea of our general layout, and we were just a little over halfway from the Rayes manor to the square when I could almost perceptibly feel the shift in the commoners.

The number of them dropped off sharply, and the remainder no longer included small children. Every last one of them turned towards us as we passed, and some of them started following.

Off in the distance, far, far away, I thought I could feel my oath resonate with something or someone.

Are you watching us, Nishi? I wouldn’t put it past the inexplicably powerful oathholder.

Significantly closer to us, I heard something crash to the ground behind us, followed by the crack-crack of a two-shot hunting rifle. Neither of them penetrated the carriage, but we came to a stop anyway.

I glanced outside. We were surrounded on all sides by commoners just like the ones we’d encountered at the royal ball, each of them wielding anything ranging from shortswords to hunting rifles to full-on military maces.

“Somehow, I don’t think this is neutral ground,” I said.