“Are you going to tell me where we’re going soon, or why we are here?” Kiara asked.

Janis glanced at her and smiled. “We’re meeting Regina, at least, I hope so. Come on.”

Then, after a moment of hesitation, she took her hand again. Kiara looked at her for a moment, then gave her a small smile, and a knot around Janis’ chest loosened.

She was glad to spend more time with her - girlfriend? They hadn’t really named what they were to each other, although she hoped for that title. But Kiara barely knew about official relationships beyond betrothal and marriage, much less with someone of the same gender, and Janis still worried she might get spooked.

She also worried about what they were here for and what it might do to her or to their relationship, but she couldn’t just leave Kiara out of it.

“So, you are not just getting me in an out-of-the-way corridor so we can kiss?”

Janis grinned at her. “We could do that, if you like,” she offered. “I certainly wouldn’t object.”

Kiara looked like she was gathering her courage, then actually stepped forward and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

Janis’ grin widened, even though she probably looked like a fool. It had been a pretty chaste kiss, but it still sent a tingle down her spine. She could never get enough of those. But they would have time for more kissing and making out later, hopefully.

For now, she glanced around them and then focused on the psychic link. She knew Kiara was a bit annoyed because she could not use it, and that was a definite drawback when living with the Hive. Even if it gave the two of them an excuse to hang out, so she could show her around and talk to people. For now, however, Janis was also looking for someone who wasn’t a part of the psychic link, either, which wasn’t as easy as finding a drone since she had to work indirectly.

She pulled Kiara down another corridor, then reluctantly let go of her hand. Not only did they both need their hands free just in case it came to a fight — which she rather doubted, but she still would have felt antsy if she didn’t, reflexes from the war — but she knew Kiara wasn’t comfortable showing their relationship too openly. And to be fair, Janis wasn’t either, really.

“Mother?” Kiara frowned as she finally recognized who Janis had been heading to find.

Florance turned to face her, brief startlement on her face before she managed to put her calm and collected mask back in place. She looked a bit worn, recent events obviously having taken their toll. The pregnancy clearly didn’t make it easy for her, either. Janis had diagnosed and helped heal her before, and she knew the morning sickness the woman had suffered a bit from had ended, but it was clearly still an additional issue.

“Kiara,” Florance smiled at her daughter, then looked at Janis and inclined her head. “And Lady Janis, how nice to see you again.”

Before they could truly start a conversation, Regina finally arrived. She was, as always, accompanied by Max, who hung back a little but looked around watchfully, never mind that they were surrounded by thousands of troops loyal to her. The base had lost a lot of soldiers to the new war in the east, but they’d still kept a large garrison. Regina was visibly a bit out of breath, and Janis knew she had hurried here.

“Regina,” she greeted her cheerfully.

“Your Majesty,” Florance sank into a perfectly executed curtsy. Janis once again suppressed the thought if maybe she shouldn’t learn how to do it. This wasn’t the time.

“It’s good to see you all,” Regina greeted them, waving at Florance to rise but looking mostly at Kiara.

“I assume you wanted to speak about something with Mother and me?” Kiara asked, cocking her head slightly. She was obviously curious why they’d gone back to this base when all three of them, minus her mother, would be needed, or at least more useful, closer to the action. She’d already been preparing to speak to the Cernlian rebels who’d come to support her.

“Don’t worry, this won’t take long,” Regina assured them. “We’re just waiting for June, she’ll be here any minute.”

Kiara exchanged a confused look with Florance, while Janis tried not to give anything away. She might be enjoying the mysterious act a little too much, although the nervousness from before still lingered and spoiled the enjoyment.

True to Regina’s words, it took less than a minute for June to arrive as well. She was accompanied by a drone Janis only vaguely recognized, who left her after saying a few words. June had clearly taken to copying Kiara’s style and was wearing trousers. Her braid was slightly undone and there was a slight flush to her cheeks that made her look healthier in addition to showing that she’d clearly been active.

"I’m here,” she said. Then she paused and bowed to Regina. “I apologize, Master. Mother. Sister. Lady Janis. I hope I have not kept you waiting.”

Regina smiled at her with visible warmth, waving away the apology. “Not at all, June. I realize this was short notice.”

“Oh?” Florance said mildly. “It seems everyone knew about this gathering except I. Did I miss a notice?”

“I wasn’t aware, either, Mother, Janis simply dragged me here,” Kiara told her. “She is right, though. Can we get to the point? Please.”

Janis glanced at Regina. They hadn’t talked about this in detail. She wasn’t even sure what Regina wanted to accomplish here. The Hive Queen inclined her head slightly.

“The war is going well,” she said. “We have launched a successful attack on the capital, though without the intent of capturing or holding it, yet. Civilian casualties were thankfully minimal. It also allowed us, coincidentally, to rescue Lady Margaret, who had been apprehended by the Marquis’ men.”

Florance nodded. Kiara looked like she wanted to speak up but kept silent. June just looked interested.

“At the same time, we used the opportunity to move on the army he had gathered — what remained of the Cernlian rebel army, marching east of Cera,” Regina continued. “It was rather chaotic, but we did manage to gain control, thanks to brave supporters of Kiara. Duke Bluegrass was instrumental, as well.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Good news,” June commented. “But I don’t see why we have to hear it here, and in person, I have to admit.”

Janis suppressed a sigh and decided to speak up. “It allowed us the chance to talk to several people we have had rather sporadic contact with, and even go through some documents and gather material evidence, you see.”

June’s eyes widened slightly, and Kiara looked pleased. No doubt she was thinking about the diplomatic boost they could get if they got proof of her father’s actions against her, not to mention the personal vindication of what people thought of her.

Florance smiled as well, a moment later, and Janis found it hard to tell whether it was sincere. She had to have misgivings regardless of where her loyalties lay.

“Indeed,” Regina continued. “From what we have heard, it sounds like I may have been a bit hasty in my judgment, and Marquis Lyns didn’t actually order you killed, Kiara. Probably. We don’t exactly have hard evidence. But there are indications that he intended to, essentially, kidnap you and bring you back to Cernlia under his control. Whether he still would have sent you to the Esemen is unknown. And from what I sensed, I’m relatively confident he at least had assassinating you as a backup plan.”

Kiara blinked, then frowned. “That’s good to know, I suppose,” she said slowly. The tension in her shoulders did decrease minutely, though, although Janis doubted the others noticed. Kiara was actually a bit relieved.

“Well,” June said, “you have kind of started this war already, anyhow. Are you saying it might not have needed to come to this? That would be nice, I suppose …”

“Kidnapping Kiara is not an acceptable alternative,” Janis said stiffly. She reached out her hand, on impulse rather than planned, but Kiara allowed her to take her arm and tuck hers into her elbow.

“That’s not quite what I was getting at, now,” Regina said, then paused.

“Oh!” June glanced at them and then at her mother. “Was there only a plan to get Kiara? What about Mother? And me, I suppose, but I wouldn’t be overly surprised if Father decided to just leave me here. But Mother is pregnant with the heir he wants, if nothing else …”

They all looked at Florance, who raised an eyebrow.

“One of the assassins — well, intruders, I suppose — used some kind of Recall Skill,” Regina said. “I have been informed that at higher levels, it can generally be extended to cover one more person, in addition to the user. They were certainly high enough level. And there were two intruders.”

“One of those could have been backup …” Kiara mused, her eyes narrowed. Janis could tell she wasn’t convinced by her own words.

“Florance,” Regina said, almost gently. “Is there anything you want to tell us?”

June drew in a sharp breath. Florance just stared, silent for half a minute. Finally, she clicked her tongue. “Are you implying that I had something to do with it, Your Majesty? That I would knowingly invite assassins or kidnappers to take my eldest child?”

“I was not making an accusation,” Regina said calmly. “But now that we are speaking of it, I confess I do have suspicions. Lyns seemed far too assured when it came to you, too focused on getting Kiara back. And you were in the common room of the suite I assigned your family for a rather long time, at an hour when you would usually have gone to the healers or to the library. I wasn’t paying attention at the time, too focused on whether anyone was too close to the assassins, but I asked a few drones and they told me.”

Janis cocked her head. They didn’t have much of a library, just a room where they stored some books the Hive had got their hands on and copies of those they were printing, but it was closer to the center of the base.

"That’s pretty circumstantial,” Janis pointed out quietly, keeping her tone neutral.

“True. But it bears asking.” Regina paused, focusing her gaze intently on Florance. “Lady Florance. Look me in the eyes.”

She did, perhaps reluctantly, and the two held eye contact. Janis scrutinized the woman’s expression and she knew that Regina was looking at her mind more than her face. Perhaps she was reading her thoughts or even memories, but either way, it would be rather hard for Florance to lie to her.

“Did you conspire with the would-be king?”

“No,” Florance answered slowly. She grimaced. “Not truly.”

“But?” Kiara prompted.

“But I knew, or at least heavily suspected, that he would get me out,” Florance admitted. Her eyes darted to her daughter before she returned her gaze to Regina. “I received a message. It was some sort of magic writing fiery words in the air, I am unsure of the details, but they simply appeared and then disappeared before me.”

“And you did not tell us, but instead cooperated,” June growled.

“I had no way of sending a reply or any other message, I did not pass information to my husband,” Florance retorted. “But he is my husband. He wanted to take me and my baby out of possible danger, of course I accepted it.”

“And Kiara?”

“… There was no mention of what he intended to do about her in the message.”

Janis squeezed Kiara’s arm. She was sure they both heard what Florance omitted there. She hadn’t known what the Marquis intended but had still gone along with it, without warning Kiara or trying to get her out of danger.

“How could you, Mother?” June’s voice rose and she pulled her clenched fists together as if to stop herself from hitting the target of her anger. “He might have killed Kiara! He almost did! I thought you loved her.”

“He wouldn’t have … I never imagined he would try to murder her. Nicholas has his faults but he’s not a kinslayer.”

“The evidence would beg to disagree,” Janis muttered, then bit her lip. Not helpful. Although she itched to give the lady a pointed reminder that her husband had, at the very least, killed his cousin. And gotten Kiara seriously hurt.

Regina raised a hand, getting them all to stop talking. She cocked her head and just watched them for a minute.

“We are hostages,” Florance finally said, breaking the silence. She fiddled with her sleeves, then stopped and folded her hands in front of her belly, almost protectively. “I know you like to ignore it and play house with the Hivekind, June, but it is the truth. I am not here by choice and while I know attempting to leave is dishonorable, under the circumstances, is it not justified?”

“I never threatened you,” Regina murmured. “Or so much as hinted I held your child hostage.”

“With all due respect, Your Majesty, you still made me a hostage,” Florance retorted.

Regina sighed, and Janis couldn’t help but glance away uncomfortably for a moment. She was aware, even if June wasn’t, that Florance was not entirely wrong. Regina wouldn’t have accepted a hostage if she’d had no use at all for them.

But it was the way the world worked. Perhaps it put Florance in an unfortunate position, but Janis couldn’t bring herself to feel much sympathy for her. Not when she’d so nonchalantly risked hurting Kiara.

“You would have been safe here,” Regina said. “You still are. And so is your unborn son. Do you really think, if you’d managed to return to Cera, that you or he would have been any safer?” She shook her head. “Your husband has very little chance of winning this war, Lady Florance. And even if Kiara was inclined to ‘remove the competition’, so to speak, which she clearly isn’t, I wouldn’t have allowed it.”

“And it’s not like kidnapping you or Kiara would have really made Father more likely to survive this,” June muttered. She was frowning and looked more unhappy than Janis had ever seen her, even during an outbreak of her illness.

“What now?” Kiara asked, her jaw set in a hard line.

Regina turned to her. “What would you suggest, Kiara?”

She shook her head. “She’s your hostage.” Kiara placed some emphasis on the word that, to Janis, sounded mocking.

Regina didn’t seem to care. She spoke in a businesslike tone. “You are confined to your quarters until further notice, Lady Florance. Healers will come by for appointments. We will see if I will allow you more privileges in the foreseeable future.”

Florance’s expression turned cold and stiff, a mask put in place. She curtseyed deeply and murmured, “Your Majesty.”

Janis called a few drones over that she knew had been lingering nearby, and they escorted her away.

Then Janis took Kiara’s hand again. She wondered who else was thinking about the implications at this reminder of Florance’s and June’s hostage status, even if it was rather technical in the latter case. After all, they would work as hostages against Kiara just as well. Not that it really mattered.

Kiara sighed and leaned into her shoulder, which, more than anything, told Janis she was sad and emotionally wrung out. June just gave them all nods and walked away, barely not storming off. Janis really needed to track her down soon for a talk, see how she was doing and offer a sympathetic ear.

Regina was clearly talking in the psychic link, though not to her. Idly, Janis wondered how they might go about forging a letter from Florance.