Virian stared out at the church's "holy army" from high atop Atrican's east wall. They had deployed thousands of soldiers and who knew how many paladins after Ivy's dismantling of their presence in the city. He frowned at the sight of so many men aimed at the city. What little difference Ivy's efforts had made. Nearly every church had already begun holding daily services in her absence.

And now, it seemed they had gotten tired of waiting for Ivy to pop back up. The army had fully encircled the city overnight. No one and no thing has been allowed in or out since. Whatever previous allowances of trade they had been willing to give had gone up in smoke. Atrican was officially under siege by the church.

"I suppose this was bound to happen sooner or later," Armond said, stepping up to his side. Virian heard Rose cough not too far behind. For some reason those two were spending more time with each other than Virian felt comfortable with.

He turned his head to regard the older, hardened man. Armond wore no weapons strapped to his simple, worn pair of brown breeches and white, buttoned tunic, but their absence did not make him any less imposing. His size alone made Virian appear like a child trying to get something from a parent.

"You hear their 'proclamation'?" Virian asked, then shook his head. "Of course you have. Everyone has by now. It's madness. The city will eat itself alive."

At first, it was merely rewards given out for information on Ivy or another witch. Then the Paladins came with their forced inspections. Now, unless the witches were given up, the city would suffer under the blockade.

"Their goal, no doubt," Rose said, also joining them. She was dressed all in black, complete with a hooded cloak that obscured much of her face irregardless of the temperate weather. "Atrican is tainted for all they see. The church will murder thousands with a smile on their face for merely a chance at one of us."

Virian gave the witch a pointed stare. Her bright blue eyes shined from beneath the shadow of her hood as she rolled them.

"There's no one within earshot, you stupid boy. Do you think I've lived hundreds of years waging a secret battle against a global organization hell-bent on killing witches by being that stupid?"

Virian gritted his teeth, but despite himself and her comments, he scanned the wall around him, and even peered over the edge of the stone buttress down below on the city side. Like she had said, no one was around. But it didn't mean she had to be so rude about it. Not everyone could sense nearby minds with magic.

At least, he thought she could still do that. He had no idea how truthful Rose had been about how much power she had lost.

“So what do we do, then?” he asked, turning to face his two companions.

“We still have the port,” Armond said, “for now.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Armond shook his head, laughing.

“It means that whenever the ‘holiness’ in charge decides to send his men in to capture the docks, we’ll lose any semblance of control over this city.”

Just like that? Virian had a hard time believing a man like Armond with a title “The Bloody Prince” would let his territory go so easily.

“You’re not going to fight them?”

“My army was gathered to fight a different foe, ‘your highness.’”

“Is this about your demons again?”

At the question, Virian noticed a change in the otherwise quiet Rose. Her feet shifted and he caught her snorting under her breath.

“What was that?” Virian asked.

Her stance tightened, glaring at Virian from beneath the darkness of her cloak, and for a moment he thought she might not say anything, but a second later her stony exterior faded just the slightest bit.

“This, at least, you and I can agree on, Virian.” Well, she had used his name. That must be a good sign.

Armond glanced down to his side, eying her.

“Rose—”

“Oh shut up,” she snapped back, “you’re impossible. As dumb as this one sometimes.” She gestured a hand in Virian’s direction who took the insult in stride. He expected it by now. It was much more common than being given the smallest modicum of respect.

Armond on the other hand? Not so much. A palpable tension hung in the air. His two companions stood staring daggers at each other, Armond towering over the much, much smaller witch.

She went on, as though the ire of the deadliest man in Atrican focused on her was a mere annoyance, “I should have seen this coming. From across the Great Sea? Ridiculous. I never thought to look so far. And now it’s impossible.”

And then something strange happened. Armond didn't exactly soften, but his eyes flicked from Rose down to his feet. He was...backing down. Something else had to be behind this small gesture of deference, and Virian felt somehow removed from it all. Rose's powers were formidable and terrifying—even while weakened—but this was different. The way the two had squared up on each other, like Virian didn't even exist. It almost appeared like a quarrel between two—

“What is going on here?” he finally asked. “Did I miss something?”

Rose swiveled her head in his direction and the hint of smile revealed itself on one side of her shadowy face.

“You miss almost everything of significance.”

Virian had to blink a few times to get it through his head.

“So, there is something here. Between…you two?”

“Is there something wrong with a powerful, capable, experienced man? Is he not pretty enough to meet the standards of the 'Pretty Prince'?”

Virian instinctively cringed at the mention of Ivy's nickname for him. He didn't exactly think of himself as "pretty." Handsome would do fine. He would need to mention it the next time—

He shook his head, resisting the urge to smack himself. He tended to get lost in his head anytime he thought of her, and although Armond had claimed to have located her, little other news had reached them. He had said that she was very far from Atrican, and updates would be slow. Virian understood that of course, he just...missed her. Every day he regretted his actions that had caused her to run and—

He forced his train of thought to stop when he noticed Rose and Armond watching him, each with a single eyebrow raised. Perhaps he had needed a light slap on the cheek after all. There was no telling how long he had stood there silently, but their conversation came back to him when he saw the other two standing side by side now, like a united front. It felt...off-putting for some reason.

“Well no," he finally answered her mocking question, "it's just...but he’s…well, old. And you’re—”

“Eternally beautiful?" She threw the hood off of her head with both hands, exposing what the church had done to her. "Yes, I’m aware.” Her smile was in full blossom now.

Right. The word “eternally” rattled around in Virian’s mind. Just looking at Rose it was very easy to forget how old she claimed to be. The church had scarred one side of her face with a hot iron, yet still she was nearly as stunning as Ivy.

“But…still,” Virian said, reconciling her age and appearance, “it’s weird. What would Ivy think? And…” he shifted his gaze over to Armond, “aren’t you worried she’ll…you know, use her powers on you? Know everything you’re thinking all the time?”

It was the Bloody Prince’s turn to scoff. “Is that somehow worse than a woman who magic’s her way into men’s bed chambers to cut their throats?”

Virian didn’t even have to think about it.

“I mean, yeah. It is.”

On one hand, being murdered was obviously the less desirable circumstance, yet he really had no fear of that from Ivy, despite her anger at him the last time they spoke. But just a quick peek into a partner’s mind? It would be too tempting to resist—and too easy to get away with.

Armond shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Virian took one more look at the unlikely couple before burying the knowledge deep down. He didn’t have time to deal with anything other than the looming threat surrounding Atrican. And then it dawned on him. Rose and Armond’s argument seemed to revolve around securing the city. He couldn’t forget about it after all.

“We can’t just let them have the city,” he said finally.

Rose shot Armond a pointed look, who ignored it.

“And what do you expect me to do?” he asked. “Wage war against the church like our little friend? You think that’s a smart fight? I can’t disappear like she can.”

“Aren’t you the one who claimed the church stood no chance against the supposed demon army that you’ve been preparing for? Are you saying you can’t handle a—in your opinion—weaker threat?”

Once again, the air seemed to thicken in an instant, though this time the Bloody Prince’s icy gaze was focused on Virian, not Rose.

“You speak of two very different battles,” Armond said.

Virian threw his hands up.

“And so what? You let them take over the city? What kind of presence will you have then? What will all your preparation have been for? You’ll lose everything.”

“He’s right,” Rose said, “and you know it. I know you know it.”

And there it was. Of course Rose was using her powers on him. Probably constantly. Virian had no idea how the man could stand being around her so often.

The big man sighed, dropping his guard and deflating just a bit.

“Then what do you two geniuses suppose we do about it?”

Finally, Virian was able to let out a small grin. He had actually been the one to ask the same question himself just minutes ago, but in reality this is what he had been waiting for. He just needed Armond to be on board.

“We finish what Ivy started,” Virian said.

Armond gave him a blank, unamused stare like he was looking at a particularly awful circus performer. Rose broke out into laughter, bending at the waist. Whether she thought the idea was so ridiculous she couldn’t help herself, or was just so thrilled with the prospect of fighting the church, he couldn’t be sure.

“Yes,” he said, “we get rid of the church. In Atrican, at least. And I don’t mean running around murdering every supporter or something like that. But it also isn’t going to be bloodless.” He scratched the back of his neck in an unconscious nervous gesture. “And so I need your help.”

Rose finally stopped laughing and righted herself.

“Well I’m convinced,” she said. Still, he couldn’t tell if she was mocking him or not. To make matters worse, she gave him a little wink.

“This is a thing easier said than done,” Armond said.

“Of course. Which is why I’ve been limiting the church’s influence at every chance I get. Over the last year, we’ve curbed the paladin’s hounding to a reasonable level in their search for witches. Right now, there are maybe only twenty of them in the city. I have loyal men keeping watch on their movements. I receive daily reports. They cycle shifts in and out, never sleeping inside the walls. But still, if we strike them unaware, they should pose little threat to our numbers. From there it's only priests. All of their strength lies outside the gates. Unless we let them in.”

Armond huffed as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing and Rose eyed him just a little more closely. Ugh. Virian knew exactly what she was doing.

“Perhaps I misspoke. You aren’t so stupid, after all,” she said, “Armond. This will work.”

Virian continued while he had momentum, “As long as we have the port, they can’t box us in.”

“And what about the people?” Armond asked. “They will accept your grand plan?”

“The church isn’t as loved as they would like to have us believe. Sure, Ivy’s massacre gave them sympathy, but the masses’ memory is short. What they see now is a hostile army at their doorsteps and inhuman paladins invading their everyday lives. The nobles are already fed up. Your people will listen to you regardless. Everyone else will see it for the best. Probably. In time, at least.”

Silence filled the space between the three of them for several moments until the Bloody Prince rolled his eyes and huffed.

“You two are talking about establishing a rogue state. It might work. For a time. But what happens when your brother sends his support to our enemies as he inevitably will? The church may not be equipped to raze a city to the ground, but the kingdom has weapons that are capable. How do we hold out, then?”

Virian was under no illusion that Rowan would choose the church over him.

“We hope your demon army arrives before then, I guess,” he said. He of course meant it as a joke, but Rose nodded with a wide smile at the comment. Nevertheless, he held his hand out to Armond. “What do you say? Ivy did ask for us to work together, you know.”

With the speed of an aged tortoise, Armond raised his hand to meet Virian’s, his face expressionless the whole way up. The man’s iron grip wrapped around Virian’s to the point of pain, yet he never let it show.

“To a better future,” Virian said.

“To a future,” Armond shot back.

Rose, still beaming, placed her hand atop both Virian’s and Armond’s.

“To a future where we all pray for a demon invasion.”