Wow, I think this is the fastest I've updated something before. But I laid a lot of groundwork with the last chapter, and wanted you all to know where I was going with it before my big break. Don't expect another chapter until September at the earliest, I have too much going on as well as other stories.

Do I really need to point out the obvious, and not owning anything?

"Ah… Do we have a plan for our engagement tonight?" Guiche asked the others seated around the table. Louise was sitting across from Guiche, not looking at anyone or saying anything, but still paying attention. Saito was beside her for both support, and control over her impulses. Guiche and Montmorency both looked at Tabitha as the question hung in the air, who in turn gestured at Saito.

"Here's the way I think things are lined up. We go to the Water Spirit and tell it that the attackers have been repelled. In exchange, it gives us the tear. Then we warn it that other attackers may come in the future if it continues the flooding and…any ideas?"

"If we're lucky, that may be enough to get it to stop flooding. I can't imagine why it would—this is pretty much unheard of in what I know of my family's history." Montmorency shifted uncomfortably as everyone looked at her. Saito was tempted to ask, 'Any good ideas?' but something else occurred to him.

"Only pretty much uncertain? Has it happened before?"

"Never on this scale, but there have been smaller floods when people began dumping animal waste into the waters, or when someone insulted the Spirit while attempting to bargain. The only major catastrophe I can think of was when my family first made our contract with the Spirit."

"How did that happen, anyways? And isn't the Church rather down on trafficking with Spirits?" Kirche asked.

"Elemental Spirits are more acceptable because they have a place in Church doctrine, and my house's founder had permission from the Papacy to create this contract. But basically someone had been forcing the Spirit to help them commit necromancy," Kirche, Guiche, and Montmorency all spat on the floor with looks of disgust, "and it was flooding the land as it attempted to escape. My ancestor freed it and made the contract when it granted him a boon."

"Good for him," the Germanian said disgruntledly. "Necromancy. Disgusting."

"So maybe it's been bound again like that?" Saito asked.

"The church supposedly confiscated or burned all the texts on the subject," Guiche pointed out, "and there would be news if dead men were walking around and sacking towns, as per the usual necromancer's modus operandi."

"So we simply have to find out why the Spirit is throwing a fit and fix that. Great," Saito groaned. "Do we have any back-up plans? Anything we could bribe it with?"

"The Spirit's mind is not easily comparable to our own," Montmorency snapped. "Its wants, if it even has any, are not things we would know to recognize. My family has only identified four human-like values it appears to have."

"And they are?"

"First is cleanliness, or rather habitability. It abhors the pollution of its water, although it must tolerate some pollution as fish live in the lake. As long as the lake is clean enough to support healthy life the Spirit is happy. Secondly, it values respect. The Spirit is very proud, and if it feels slighted it will react, usually through some form of rebellion."

"Given that Tabitha and I were fighting it, we might count as both polluters and insulters," Kirche noted. "Should we really go along with this? We might sabotage the meeting."

"You should go to promise you won't attack again, because the third thing the Spirit values is honesty," Montmorency told her. "It is known as the Water Spirit of the Oath for a reason, and deceiving or breaking faith with it is a bad idea. That also means no attacking it when we try to negotiate." She glared at Saito. He raised an eyebrow and waved his fork at her.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said as she flinched back nervously.

"Right. Well, the fourth thing it values is freedom. Water must flow where it will, and the Spirit hates being forcibly bound to a path. It's fine if it gives its word on its own, but extorting a promise…at best, it will try to wriggle out of it like water dripping through your fingers. At worst, it will be much, much worse."

"So we can't threaten it, we can't bribe it, and if it doesn't want to reason with us it won't," Saito summarized. "Does anyone else get a bad feeling about this?"

"Did you handle the ride okay, master?" Saito asked as they slid off Sylphid and onto the lake's shore.

"Yes, it was quite pleasant," she answered shortly.

"Um, Louise," Guiche mumbled, tugging at the arm she had wrapped around his torso.

"Ah, yes dearest?" He tugged at the arm again, and she frowned, and then pulled herself away with visible effort. "Yes, of course. Thank you again, dearest, for allowing me to sit with you." She blushed slightly, no longer willing to look him in the eye, but apparently sated by an hour and change of contact.

Can you get cavities from watching cute things? Saito wondered. Then he turned back as Montmorency cleared her throat, glaring daggers at the two before facing the lake.

"Robbin, take this token of my blood to the Water Spirit so that it knows we wish to speak." Montmorency's frog familiar jumped into the lake and swam out of sight.

"And now?" Saito asked.

"And now we wait. The Spirit should appear before us soon." Almost as soon as the words left her mouth the rippling rainbows of the Spirit's presence seethed up from the water.

"Remember, don't look at it," Kirche warned. Saito averted his eyes and checked that Louise had done the same.

Montmorency dipped a finger into the lake. "Spirit of the Water! I am Montmorency Margarìte la Fère de la Montmorency! By the ancient compact I call upon you to answer my call in a form and manner we can understand!"

The water stilled, and then surged up like a geyser, before falling away to reveal the Spirit's chosen form.

"By the Founder," Guiche whispered. "Ow!"

"Don't ogle other women, especially when they aren't really human," Louise scolded, elbowing him again. She then looked up and pouted at the Spirit, mentally tallying it up against her own attributes.

The Spirit had taken Montmorency's shape, only six times her height and completely naked.

"[Miniscule]Insignificant one, I [condensation]recognize the water in your blood. Has our compact been [ceasing the cycle of motion]completed?" Saito shivered at the voice slightly.

"Great Spirit, the two who were attacking you have come forward, ready to give their word that they shall cease such actions. But they wish to know the reason you have begun flooding the land."

"A powerful treasure, known to your kind as the Ring of Andvari, has been [drawn up]taken from my [depths]possession by an air mage named Cromwell."

"So you are seeking vengeance for the theft?" Kirche asked. The Spirit turned to her, its face cycling through a smile, a pout, and a scowl before settling on a cocky smirk.

"Vengeance? What a [polluting]ugly idea. That is not our purpose. I merely seek the [condensation precipitation immersion]repossession of my treasure. It has the ability to imbue false life," this brought several reactions of disgust, "and was given into my keeping as part of The Pact. It must be recovered. The water shall inevitably erode away the land until it passes into my hands once more." Tabitha, Kirche, and Saito all shared a look.

"Spirit," the Germanian said, "my friend and I attacked you because the spreading of your waters has done harm to the humans who live on the land you erode. We have sworn to cease, but if you continue your flooding, the Crown may send more soldiers to continue."

"Such matters do not concern me," the Spirit burbled. It began to sink into the depths once more.

"Wait, Spirit!" Montmorency shouted. "What of the piece of your body we were promised."

"That oath was made on the condition that the attacks would cease. I cannot stop my search for the Ring, and thus the attacks have not ceased." Its features began to collapse and melt away when Louise growled and bolted forward, Saito barely catching her at the edge.

"Bullshit! Liar!" she shrieked at the spirit. It froze, (not literally) the face reforming to stare at her. "I don't really give a damn about-" she growled and struggled with Saito for a moment, who stopped covering her mouth once she stopped trying to break free, "-about the Tear, but if it's the only way Guichey-pie will accept my feeling as real, then fine! We were promised the Tear if we stopped the people who were attacking you. They have stopped. If other people come later then that is the matter for a second pact, after you fulfill your part in this one!"

The Spirit surged forward, Montmorency's giant head ending up almost with arm's reach of Louise.

"A second pact? Are you suggesting such a thing?"

"Master. Louise!" Saito hissed as they started struggling again.

"Let go, I know what I'm doing," she snapped back.

"Like you did this morning?"

"I'm ordering you to let me try, dammit! Let me act in my own best interests! I'm deciding that I want to do this, so don't stop me!" Saito snorted and reluctantly dropped her on her feet.

"Fine, but if you get into trouble I'm going down with you."

"Agreed." She turned back to the Water Spirit. "I am willing to make a second pact with you, Spirit, but only once you fulfill the terms of this first one. We have dealt in good faith, so show that you will do the same."

"You demand this of me, [miniscule]insignificant one?" It didn't sound angry, but Saito wasn't certain if that was a useable tell. Louise drew herself up haughtily.

"I am the Insignificant one, Spirit? Humankind rules the world for a reason. We are the chosen of God, Graced with his Message through the Founder, and blessed with power as far beyond your comprehension as you are beyond ours."

"I have [mixed with touched upon]met the Brimir you speak of," the Spirit responded, drawing gasps from the rest of the group, minus Saito. Louise merely scowled. "If there is truth to your words, step into my boundaries and speak them."

"Louise," Saito began warningly. She held up a hand.

"Stay, Saito. Have I your oath of safe passage?"

"You shall come to no [defilement]harm in my presence," it replied. She stepped forward, moving knee-deep into the water as the spirit moved back to make room. Then she began her argument.

"You have met Founder Brimir? Yes, well I have met you, Spirit, have I not? And any human who chooses may do the same, because you are bound here in this lake. As a human, I have the power to choose. I may swim against the river current, or with it, or swim from one bank to another, or leave it entirely. I may dig into the ground, or walk over it, or fly into the air when I travel my chosen path. Should I come to a mountain, I may climb up it, and back down, or merely circle around it. And should I dislike my choice, I may turn my face around and walk backwards until I find a new path that I better favor.

"Can you say the same?" she challenged. "You are the insignificant one, I challenge, because any change you create will be long, slow, and clumsy, while you are at humanity's mercy. If two mages, children by our standard, could hurt you so, then what could ten do? Or twenty? And even if no more soldiers were sent after you, well… If you were truly as knowledgeable and powerful as you say, you would not bother flooding the land, for it will inevitably fail to retrieve the Ring you seek."

"You speak truly? How is this [erosion]endeavor to fail?" it asked.

"You say it was taken by the wind mage Cromwell?" she answered. "Then it is likely Oliver Cromwell, leader of the Reconquista filth, who resides upon Albion the floating island. No matter how far you reach, you will never find him there, and never retrieve the Ring on your own."

The spirit rippled violently, and then stilled. "Have you a vessel?" it asked Montmorency. Fumbling and wide-eyed, she pulled out a bottle, and a tendril reached out and dripped into it.

"Th-thank you, great Spirit," she answered. It turned back to Louise.

"The first pact is fulfilled," it stated. "To withdraw my waters, what do you ask for?"

"I will bring you the Ring, and if possible the head of the scum who stole it," she answered. "In exchange, return your waters to their prior breadth and depths, that those who live here may return to do so."

"Agreed. Merely return the Ring before your life dissolves and the pact shall be complete," it agreed. "Give me a token that I may be assured of your continued flow."

"Token?" Louise asked.

"Blood tribute," Montmorency supplied.

"Right. Saito, a knife?" He drew Derflinger and ran the edge lightly along her extended palm. Louise tilted her hand to let the blood drip into the water, and the Spirit writhed wildly.

" {{Polluter ender first empty final}}" it roared, drawing winces of pain from all listening. For a moment it surged up in a wave and Saito was instantly at Louise's side, pulling her away. But the water stopped.

Then it settled down and began to seep away. "The composition of your blood is known to us. This was a fortuitous choice." And with that the Spirit vanished. Everyone relaxed slightly.

"Louise, has anyone ever told you that you are absolutely insane?" Montmorency asked, looking almost haggard from shock. "I can't believe you spoke to a Spirit like that. And lived! And it worked!"

"Insane?" Louise tasted the word. "From you, Bedwetter, I shall take that as the highest compliment. Perhaps I should start using that instead of Zero, even." She grinned brightly and turned to Guiche as she squished onto the bank. "Now, Dearest, how about a celebratory kiss?" She approached him hungrily, but paused as he quailed back.

"Um, the potion first, please, Louise," he stuttered out.

"…You're still afraid of me, aren't you?" she whispered. Guiche shifted uncomfortably.

"J-just a little," he assured her. "This morning was, um, rather disturbing. But once you've drunk your potion it will…it will get better," he placated.

"I-I…I can accept that," she muttered with a slow nod, and grimaced. "But once I've drunk it and nothing's changed then you have to accept that my feelings are serious, and take our courting equally seriously, agreed?" Guiche quailed and stuttered out a hasty affirmation. "Fine then. And…" Louise trailed off, blushing. "W-would you hold me on the r-ride b-back. Please?"

"If he won't, I will," Kirche interrupted. "I've heard of people too crazy to die, but this is the first time I've seen it in action. It's actually rather…hot," she added with a purr. "I would happily show my appreciation for your achievements, Louise."

"Not even if I was a normal hormonal male and you were the last and most beautiful woman in Halgenkia," Louise answered bluntly, getting a pout from Kirche. "But…" the Germanian perked up. "If you really want to show some appreciation," Louise continued flirtingly, sashaying toward the Germanian, "I can think of something you could do for me."

"What did you have in mind, Louise?" Kirche asked. "Another makeover? A threesome with your Guichey-pie for his next birthday?" Louise's forehead twitched. "Stop calling you Zero? Help you get some experience for seducing your Dearest?"

"Nothing so crass, Zerbst," she answered. Kirche looked on expectantly as Louise sat on the ground and reached down to her ankles. "Switch shoes and socks with me for the flight home, as mine are soaked through."

"Is it almost done yet?" Saito asked, watching the cauldron boil.

"For the third and final time, not yet!" Louise and Montmorency blinked at each other from opposite sides of the cauldron, surprised at having spoken simultaneously.

"I guess those two are more alike than they want to admit," Kirche chuckled, reclining bare-feet-first in front of the fireplace.

"We are not!" They both snapped, and glared at each other.

"You haven't chopped that nearly fine enough," Louise snapped, stopping Montmorency from adding in a pile of diced herbs.

"Yes I have!" she shouted back. "You wouldn't know, Zero, but if you dice it too fine it will dissolve completely before you can properly reduce the dragonroot to a paste."

"I've already reduced it to a paste," Louise snapped, holding up her mortar and pestle. Montmorency yelped.

"What! You idiot!" She quickly dumped in the diced leaves and started stirring. "Zero, you never reduce dragonroot to a paste in advance, because it still needs to be a wet paste instead of a dry powder when you add it in. We need to get this dissolved quickly before it dries or else your mistake will throw off the whole potion!"

"Don't stir it so quickly, you'll splash!" Louise snapped. "And the paste versus powder problem is only true with sleeping potions, not antidotes, Bedwetter!"

"Excuse me! Which of us is top of our potion class and who's family has specialized in brewing for generations?"

"Me, actually," Louise snapped. "My mother broke the mold, but prior to that her mother and their family were excellent brewers, and if you'll remember I'm the top of our class!"

"Are not!"

"Are so!"

"Enough." Both girls turned to stare, having never heard Tabitha raise her voice like so. "No yelling. You are guests in my house," she reminded them. In the background Saito heard the Duchess wake up and begin screaming.

"Should I go get that?" he asked.

"Espie will handle it," she dismissed with a frown. Something niggled at Saito's mind, and he grimaced as his discovery popped back into memory.

"Tabitha, when we're done, I need to talk to you in private," he told her. She looked up from her book.

"Found something?"

"Later," he told her.

"Second to last ingredient," Montmorency announced, pulling out the bottle with the tear.

"Shouldn't you be adding more than that?" Saito asked.

"The Spirit was very generous," she corrected him, putting the stopper back in the bottle. "Half of what it gave us will suffice for this potion."

I'll have to remember to grab the rest later, Saito noted to himself.

"And now we wait a few minutes," Louise declared, pouring out liquid from a measuring cup. "Don't forget to turn off the heat."

"Done," Montmorency told her. "Now we leave it for a few minutes and concentrate and then we can put this mess behind us."

"Yes, and Guichey-pie will finally have to accept how genuine my feelings for him are," Louise declared. Montmorency scowled at her.

"Yes, you can get back to normal and finally keep your claws away from my man," she countered.

"Please ladies, stop fighting like this," Guiche pleaded uncertainly looking back and forth at them. The last few days had clearly been hard on him, Saito noticed. There were bags under his eyes, his hair was unkempt, and his clothes probably had not been changed for too long.

"Fine," both girls allowed, and then glared at each other for having spoken simultaneously. They both bristled, looking on the verge of violence.

"You know, this reminds me of a kids' game back home," Saito said idly. Everyone else turned to look at him in confusion. "Whenever two kids would say the same word at the same time, one of them would shout 'jinx' and then the other couldn't talk at all until someone said their name."

"And your point is?" Montmorency asked archly.

"The potion changed colors," he answered, pointing. Both looked and it was now the light lilac that signified it was safe to drink.

"Finally we can get this stupid squeamishness behind us!" Louise grabbed the petite cauldron, brought it to her mouth, and downed the dose in three gulps. "There, nothing's changed, now come over here lover-boy!"

Louise jumped at Guiche before anyone could intervene, locking their mouths together, and stayed stuck there with a pleased hum. Montmorency swelled with indignation for a moment, then settled down with a nasty smirk.

Saito winced as Louise's shoulders stiffened, a walked over to lay a hand on her shoulder in support. She let go of Guiche and he stumbled back to reveal that Louise's face had become tight, drawn, and very pale. She took a tottering step back.

"I-if you'll e-ex-excuse me," Louise gasped faintly, "I'd l-like to b-b-be alone. That me-means you too, S-Saito," she added as she stumbled out of the room. He hesitated, went out the after her and then stepped back in when she shouted, "I m-mean it! I'll be fine, I ju—I just want t-to think! Please!"

"How long do you think I should leave her for?" he asked.

"An hour," Kirche suggested.

"Two, maybe," Tabitha put in, and then rose from her seat. "Talk," she added, exiting through a different door and motioning for him to follow.

"No one can hear us?" he asked as they slipped into a side room. She murmured a spell and nodded.

"What did you find?"

"You might want to sit down for this," Saito told, her, and she did. "And hand over your staff, please." She frowned.

"Won't hurt you."

"I'm not worried that you're going to hurt me," he told her. After a moment she laid her staff to one side, in easy reach but not in her grasp, and out of Saito's reach.

"Talk. Cure?"

"Possibly. I'm still no potion expert but I mostly know how it does what it does, and there should be a way to fix it. What it does, basically, is mess with the way she interprets the world. She confuses fear and happiness, anger and sadness, and that kind of stuff. She confuses things, too."

"Me and Tabitha," Tabitha said with a nod.

"I'm sorry?"

She sighed and explained: "Born Charlotte. Doll Tabitha. Now doll is daughter, Charlotte."

"So you used Tabitha when you went abroad," Saito finished. She shrugged. "Well, yes, she confuses things like that, but the emotions are still there, if it makes you feel any better." Tabitha cocked her head at him in confusion. "As far as I can tell, she still loves her daughter, Charlotte. That hasn't changed—she still loves you. So when she thinks the doll is you, she's trying to tell you she still loves you, but it comes out sort of backwards. Like trying to shoot an arrow when you can only see out the back of your head. I'm not sure if that makes you feel better, but she still loves you."

Tabitha looked at him for a while. "Not sure either," she admitted quietly. "What else?"

"So there are still traces of the potion in her system, but they're fading."

"Counter-spell or antidote," Tabitha concluded with a nod.

"Yes, you're going to need one of those," he agreed, "but you're still going to need a healer afterwards. Not just to heal what the potion did, since I think her body can mostly handle that on its own, but…well, she's not exactly healthy right now." Tabitha grimaced and nodded.

"Thank you. Suggestions?"

"I'm not done yet," he told her with a grimace. She motioned for him to continue. "This is the part you're really not going to like."

"…No cure?" she asked with a frown.

"Not that hopeless," he amended. "It's just…well, how large was the first dose of potion?"

"Champagne flute," she told him, making a shape with her hands.

"Yeah, so, the problem is that there's only about a third that much in her body right now, and it's noticeably dropped in the two weeks I've been here."

Tabitha went so still Saito wasn't certain that she was breathing. Fear for his life wasn't something he encountered too often, but he recognized this feeling for what it was and put a hand on Derflinger's hilt. It was an open, obvious move that would both let him prepare and warn her that he was preparing in the hopes that it made her stop and think. Finally he saw that her chest had started moving again, and she exhaled a single word.

"What."

"I want you or Kirche to double-check my math on this, since I'm no expert," he hedged. "Still… Basically, if the pattern stays stable, the potion is going to be out of her system in another four months, meaning that she'd need to be given another dose." His breath, he noticed, was fogging in the air.

"What." He drew Derflinger completely, dropped the bomb, and prayed.

"So, working backwards from that, she probably got this current dose seven or eight months ago, and has had four or five doses after the first one."

Every window in the room shattered.

The shock of cold hit Saito like a sledgehammer and he staggered as the room instantly frosted white. Tabitha's hand snapped up her staff in a blur and she exploded forwards in a swirl of wind.

Even with Gandalfr, she was almost to the door when he tackled.

"Let. Me. Up." Tendrils of cold lashed out randomly as she struggled to escape the hold Saito had locked her in while he used his superior weight to keep her on the ground. One hand found his exposed side and she dug her nails in savagely, but he managed to hit her in the chin with her own staff, stunning her long enough to wrench it out of her reach.

"Not. Like. This." She growled ferally at his answer. Saito got a glimpse of his hand and realized that his fingers were a raw red, and his nails had started tinting blue. Worse, his face and arms were almost completely numb.

"Going. To kill. Traitor."

"Which?" he gritted out, and she stilled. "Which of them are you going to kill, or are five innocent and loyal people a good exchange for one scumbag?" The writhing mists subsided.

"…Let me up," she said quietly, but without her prior venom.

"Promise you're not going to go off on a killing spree?" She huffed and nodded. Saito rolled off of her and began rubbing his hands together, shivering. "Do you have a blanket?"

"…Sorry," she told him, looking around at the frost and shattered glass.

"Well, I knew you were going to react badly," he pointed out. He started pacing to keep his blood flowing. "What are you going to do now?"

"Leave," Tabitha said firmly. "Take her and go."

"Where?" Saito asked. She hesitated.

"Tristain. Or Germania. Or Romalia."

"How are you going to get there?"

"Sylphid. Flight."

"With her fighting you every step of the way."

"Sleeping potion." Saito looked at her for a long time and sighed.

"Do you know where you're going to put her?"

"Convent. Seek Royal protection. Anonymous inn. Kirche's home."

"Money?" Tabitha raised an eyebrow at this and gestured around the room. "Fine. I guess that will work as a plan. It's better than I've had half the time. Anything else you should do before we blow the situation to hell?" She turned away, and then turned back to him, cocking her head.

"I usually like to have a plan before doing something I know is going to raise hell," Saito told her. "Disappearances among the royal family, even a disgraced one, are the type of thing to get noticed. But you've got a plan to evade notice, keep her safe, and eventually get her help; that's every reason I need to help. Louise would almost certainly agree, too." Tabitha still looked troubled by something. "What's wrong?"

"Worried. How often do things go wrong for you?"

"All the time," Saito admitted. "Look at what happened here: Guiche, Montmorency and Louise got involved, and we ended up making an open-ended bargain with a being of absurd power that we don't understand very well. Or when Louise and I went to Albion, we ended up dragged into assassinating an officer and rescuing the prince. And you remember Fouquet, I hope."

Tabitha winced. "That often?"

"We call it Murphy's Law at home. 'Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, probably at the worst possible time'." Tabitha frowned. "To be fair," Saito added, "I don't actually believe it. If everything that could go wrong did, humans would either be still trying to eat stones and living in caves, or wiped out completely. What are you worried about, specifically?"

"Sheffield," Tabitha hissed poisonously.

"…I have no idea what that means."

"Who. Joseph's advisor. From Rub al Kali. Powerful magic. Very strange."

"You're worried about her?" Tabitha nodded.

"Uses Gargoyles. Alviss. Very good at scrying. Advice?"

"Assassinate her?" Saito suggested helplessly.

"It's been tried."

"Tabitha, it's your call. Are you going to talk yourself into this or out of it?" he asked finally. She was very quiet.

"Preparations," she said finally. "Next month."

"Like?"

"Tell Kirche's family. Find trustworthy convents. Get extra money. Contact Tristain's Crown."

"Louise can help with that," Saito volunteered. "She has a personal connection to Henrietta."

"Thank you."

"So, a month you said?" She nodded. "We'll be there."

"I owe you one."

"By now, we shouldn't bother counting," he dismissed.

"Are you feeling more human now?" Saito asked, stepping into the room. Louise was spread out facedown on the bed, chin perched on a pillow.

"All too much," she replied darkly. "That was…how am I ever going to look anyone in the face ever again? Founder!"

"It's not your fault," he said, plopping down next to her. "It's not your fault, everyone knows that, and no one is going to bring it up ever again except to tease you during drinking games or at you wedding."

She choked, laughed, and then shook herself back to seriousness. "Why would someone bring it up at my wedding? That's a completely inappropriate—gah!"

"I guess you don't have that tradition here," Saito chuckled. "Back home, there's usually a party after the wedding, where everyone makes speeches wishing the bride and groom well, and also bringing up embarrassing moments from their past. It's all in good fun."

"Humph. I get the impression that you don't take marriage very seriously."

"Oh, we do. To be fair, we generally stopped using political and arranged marriages a couple centuries ago. It's not a merging of families, it's just two people who love each other, and everyone who loves them." Saito smiled fondly.

"That sounds nice, I guess. Wait. Marriage…what am I forgetting?" Louise asked herself. Saito frowned and flipped through his memories.

"Is it what you were upset about when Guiche offered you his drink?" That had been a question bugging him. Louise bolted upright.

"Oh Founder! The letter! Saito, we need to get back to Tristain right the Pit now!"

"Wait, what?" She was already streaking out the door. "Slow down!"

"No time!" she yelled as he raced down the hall behind her. A palmed dagger and he had blurred past and scooped her into one arm. "Saito! Let me down!"

"This is faster," he told her, twisting through the halls to the kitchen. "Gerda! Do you know where Tabitha is?"

"I think Young Miss went out for a flight with her dragon," the woman told him, bustling around the kitchen. "She said she'd be back for dinner in an hour."

"Thanks." He ducked out of the kitchen and into a nearby room, setting Louise on her feet. "At the fastest, you still won't leave for another hour, so tell me what the problem is."

"King James is alive, has abdicated his throne to Oliver Cromwell, officially endorsed him as the new leader of Albion, and publicly disparaged and defamed his son for fleeing from the battle as a coward! Also, Wales and Henrietta are arguing horribly because she needs to marry to forge an alliance with Germania, and there's something else she wants to discuss with us so she asked me to come to the palace as soon as I could! Three days ago! Is that bad enough for you?"

Saito nodded absently, mulling it over. "Okay, no changing any of that, so we just have to get there at top speed. That means we wait for Tabitha to get back and ask her to fly us. As for the rest…are people really that stupid?"

"Who are you calling stupid?" Louise asked lowly, and he quickly backtracked. The last time he'd seen that look in her eyes had been in Albion. "The thing with King James. There are things like glamours and illusions aren't there? Shape-shifting? Why would anyone believe it's really him?" Louise furrowed her brow.

"That's right…I guess they must have some convincing evidence, but how many people would actually meet the King and know him well enough to tell… We definitely need to mention that to the Princess!"

"That, and we just learned that Cromwell stole a powerful magical artifact that helps him raise the dead," Saito added.

"That's right! The Ring of Andvari! That must be why he stole it! That…that's actually pretty scary," she finished, eyes wide. "Disgusting and scary."

"But impressive?"

"Don't dignify it with a compliment," she snapped. "Necromancy is worse than trafficking with spirits or elves! Right up there with demons!"

"Want to explain the difference to me? I haven't heard this yet," Saito asked. "Since we aren't leaving for another hour anyway."

"Ignorant—! Basically, there are three classes of spirits, depending on where they reside: the Pit, heaven, or here on our world. Respectively, they are demons, angels, and spirits."

"Like the one we spoke with?"

"A little. That one was a greater spirit, but generally they aren't that big, powerful, or self-aware. There are also two kinds of spirits. Natural ones fall into the earth, air, water, fire alignment, and are generally seen as obedient to the will of the Divine. In fact, some theology and philosophy says that part of magic involves telling the spirits what we want cast and they do it out of respect for the Divine privilege bestowed upon us."

"How does that work with what we just did, negotiating with a Spirit?"

"Greater Spirits obey different rules, and as humans we can't understand what all the rules are, being that they are divine in nature. Regular nature spirits are usually too stupid to negotiate with, consciously at least. But the other type of spirit, primal spirits, are more troublesome."

"What are they?"

"No one quite knows—at least, I've never heard a version I agreed with—but they generally seem to represent an idea instead of an element, and a nasty one at that. Predatory hunger. Rotting corruption. Rampant destruction. To say the least, they are not very nice, but that doesn't stop some idiots from trying to make deals with them for power or revenge." She spat on the floor.

"How common are they?"

"Not much, in recent years. There are still a few wild places where they appear, but no one goes there."

"And demons?"

"Spirits represent both the good and the bad in the creation of our world, but they only came into being after the creation, or as part of it. Demons were before it, and are responsible for the flaws in it. But they can't get out of the pit unless someone calls one of them, and the Church confiscates and burns as many instructions about that as they can find."

"Let me guess. Demons do the whole 'I'll grant you a wish in exchange for your soul' thing?"

Louise tilted her head. "Not exactly, but that sounds like it. Supposedly, they recruit you in exchange for whatever you're asking from them, and the summoner becomes a demon as well."

"Interesting. Well, now that you cleared that up, what do you think the call to the palace is about?"

"I…I have no clue. That's what has me so worried. Henrietta was very emphatic that it was important. My best guess is that it's another mission like Albion."

"I hope not," Saito grumbled. She shot him a look.

"What is that supposed to mean? Do you think I am incapable of handling it?"

"I don't think you should have to," he answered. "Last time was something she couldn't trust the usual people with, but there are usual people for this stuff. People like Wardes who are supposed to do the quiet and dangerous missions. She shouldn't be putting a second-year student with two spells under her belt in these circumstances."

"She shou- " Louise puffed up furiously and drew her wand. Saito took a step back in surprise, but when she pointed it at him, a chant on her lips, he lashed out and twisted her wrist so that the tip faced the window.

"Don't," he warned harshly, but she finished and pronounced her spell and flicked her wrist.

"Furrow!"

Saito stared as a line carved itself into the floor following the path of her wand. Louise just stared smugly at him as he parsed the revelation, wrenching her arm free now that he wasn't paying attention.

"…You're going to need to apologize to Tabitha for wrecking her floor, you know." Her jaw dropped.

"Th-that's it? I just reveal that I've finally, finally managed to perform a traditional spell, and you just comment on damaging the stone floor! Which I did without an explosion, I might add!" Saito didn't blink as she jabbed her wand at his face again. "That's it! That's all you have to say! No congratulations? You're not surprised at-"

She yelped as Saito grinned suddenly, picked her up by the waist and spun her around several times.

"In answer to your question," he laughed as he set her back down, "I'm very impressed. Congratulations. And no, I'm not surprised at all, because I always knew you'd get it eventually."

"Glurble. Dizzy," she groaned, stumbling a bit. "Did you have to keep up that poker face, then?"

"You pointed your wand at my face, master," he answered drily, and she rolled her eyes and made a disgusted noise, but nodded.

"Fine, fine. Point conceded, I apologize. But it's not two spells anymore, it's five. Almost six, but I can't manage to light that blasted candle without blowing half of it up."

"What are they?"

"Furrow, which you just saw. Fountainhead, which conjures a stream of water. And Silence, which as the name suggests, creates a deafening boom." Saito narrowed his eyes.

"I shouldn't have taught you about sarcasm."

"Pity."

"How long have you been able to do that?" Saito asked. Louise smiled proudly.

"I've been practicing in secret for a while now—ever since Albion. I wanted it to be a surprise. Once you were gone I spent all my spare time trying everything I was able to think of. Furrow was my first success, two days after you left. Silence was the day after that, and then Fountainhead three days later."

"Again, congrats. Really. I guess I have to eat my words now," he laughed. "You have more than two spells to your name, even if they're dot spells, right?

"They are, but it won't be long before I get to line and triangle," Louise swore. "Still, I sort of see what you mean about the mission. But if she's willing to ask me to do it, then it will be because it's important, and she knows I would never desert her."

Saito sighed. "Just don't let her abuse that, master. But I'll be behind you every step of the way. Anything else I should know about? Any problems while I was gone?"

"As I noted in my letter, Siesta was more than adequate in replacing you. A little jumpy, but after the first two days she managed more than adequately. I'm thinking of hiring her as my personal maid."

"Can you afford that?"

Louise frowned, mouthing the calculations out to herself. "The Academy pays very well, so I'd probably have to meet the same wages or higher to convince her to switch… adding in the purse the Princess gave us, less what you spent on weapons and I on ingredients and my new wand…which is a lot now that I think of it…I could hire her out for two months at most, and by that time I'd probably have more money for another season or so. I'll mention it to her when we stop by the Academy on the way to the palace, if I see her."

"We need to stop by the Academy?"

"I need the letter she sent, and the Water Ruby she asked me to keep, and if this is a mission I need a change or two of clothes and some potions."

Louise actually jumped off of Sylphid when she was still in the air, landing heavily but dashing into the Academy while everyone else dismounted at a more sedate pace. Knowing he'd be getting on in a few minutes, Saito did a few stretches to work out kinks from the trip.

It also left him in the perfect position to overhear (not eavesdrop—eavesdrop implied secrecy or a violation of privacy and he was standing out in the open. At least, that was what he'd tell anyone who caught him, before launching into a spiel out how people misuse words until they'd quite lost their train of thought.) the others talk as they disembarked.

"I for one am glad to finally be done with this, aren't you Guiche?" Montmorency asked. She turned to look when he didn't answer. "Guiche?" The blond had been silent the entire trip, not speaking at all save for when Louise thanked him and apologized for what she had done while under the influence.

"Yes, I," he took a breath and steeled himself. "Montmorency, we need to talk."

Kiss of death, Saito thought to himself. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost.

"I…I'm not really surprised," she said weakly. "Oh Guiche, I'm sorry. I should have trusted you, it's just—you were never there. I know you've always held me in the highest regard, and-"

"Have I?" he interrupted gently. "Miss Montmorency," she winced at the formal add-on, "do you remember how I've spouted on about how a rose must be free for everyone to admire whenever you confronted me about my cheating?"

"Guiche, cheating is a strong word-"

"No, it isn't," he said, softly but firmly. "I was two-timing you with Katie. And she isn't the only one I dated while we were seeing each other. There were at least half a dozen more I saw at one time or another. In fact, I began dating you last year while I was already seeing someone else—our relationship began with you as the other woman, before she graduated. I freely admit it now, to your face. Do you still trust me?" From her eyes and breathing, it was easy to tell that this had rattled her.

"I- I-" Montmorency took a deep breath and forced out the painful words. "Yes, I do."

"Why?" Guiche asked, his voice still quiet and mild.

"Because of these past few days. You had a girl quite literally throwing herself at you—it was Zero, admittedly, but she's still female—and you fought her every step of the way. And looking back, in spite of everything I worry about, you have never tried anything untoward with me, nor do I have any reason to believe you have with another woman."

Guiche looked at her evenly, and then smiled a tired, faint smile.

"You are a gem, Miss Montmorency." Her lips tightened, uncertain whether or not this was a good thing. "I thank you for the compliment, even if it does not change my decision."

"Your d-decision?"

He sighed. "We were speaking of the rose, were we not, Miss Montmorency? Let me extend the metaphor a little, then. Love is like a rosebush, with each relationship an individual, beautiful rose. Each has a flower, but it is natural to find a few thorns as well." He paused, looking her in the eyes. "And when a rose is plucked from the bush, it withers, and it takes some months before a new one can grow."

"I…Guiche, what are you saying?"

"We're breaking up," he told her sadly. Montmorency's breath caught and she flinched.

"I— No, please no Guiche. I'm sorry! Please, you can trust me, just as I've learned I can trust you!"

"It's not only about that," he said gently, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Miss Montmorency, do you know why I never tried to start something with Louise? She is, without a doubt, the single most stubborn, hot-headed, hard-headed, repressed and tightly wound person I have ever met."

"Guiche-" But he kept talking over her.

"You mentioned that it would have taken several months for the potion to wear off naturally." Saito tensed at this. He had suspected, but he hadn't known, and to have it confirmed…he bit back the instinct to commit violence. It wasn't needed now.

But Montmorency had used up two-and-a-half strikes in his book…

"It was a matter of days before she had succumbed to her basest desires regardless of everything else—if we hadn't got her out the Academy quickly it would at best have murdered her reputation, possibly permanently."

"But-"

"And when we were with her, trying to obtain the antidote, one single thought kept occurring to me. 'How long would it have taken me to succumb?' And when I considered it—taking into account my lax and loose personality, our past history versus the way Louise and I were barely acquaintances, and how likely you were to return my feelings—I realized that it would not have been long. And then an even more frightening question occurred to me."

Guiche trailed off, and Saito nodded appreciatively. I wonder if he realizes how well he's playing this off. Good build-up, stringing her along toward an obvious conclusion, and appropriate pauses to let the weight of his words sink in properly.

I'm not certain I could do better, really…

Well, no, I could, but I'd be a lot more vicious about it because I'd want to shatter her. He's doing his best to let her down gently—wounding her as much as he can while still making sure it will heal cleanly.

"W-what was that?" Montmorency asked, taking the obvious line.

"I wondered, 'How much worse would my succumbing have been?' And I could not bear the answer."

"But we were already together! Do you really believe it would have had made things so much worse?" Montmorency's tone said that even she knew how stupid a question it was, but she was grasping at any straw she could find.

"Miss Montmorency, when saying that you trusted me, you mentioned that I had never tried anything untoward with you or any other woman. This is true, but how long would it have remained so? Louise has, to my knowledge, never done anything with anyone, but after a handful of days she ready and willing to rape me in an attempt to fulfill her desires. How long before I would have tried something untoward in a misguided attempt at affection and been rebuffed? How long after that before I resorted to force? And if I succeeded, Founder forbid, how long until I realized what harm I had wrought, and threw myself from the tallest tower I could find?"

"I wouldn't have let you!" she desperately objected.

"Let me what? Force myself on you? If I used my Valkyries you would not be able to stop me. Let me jump? After what I would have done, you would almost certainly have pushed me off yourself if you were in any sane state of mind. Do you see now, Miss Montmorency? I cannot fully trust you after you made that potion. And worse, I cannot fully trust myself, knowing that I disappointed and dishonored you with my philandering until you felt that such an action was your only recourse." He took her hands gently as tears gathered in her eyes. "Do you understand?"

"I…yes, I understand. But Guiche. I think, no, I know that we can still make this work. Something horrible could have happened, but, but it did not, and we can still be together. Please! I'll do anything to make up for this—I'll ignore the other girls, I'll never brew another potion again and get rid of my materials, I'll- I'll-…just please, give me, give us one more chance!"

That is…a very good sell. They're both naturals at this. But… Saito eyed Guiche. His shoulders were set, his face firm, and his feet planted solidly. I wonder how he's going to handle this? The silence dragged on as Guiche watched the tears on Montmorency's cheeks. His lips pursed as he came to an unpleasant decision.

"Anything?" he asked softly, trailing a finger up the wet trails on her face.

"Anything," she affirmed with a small sob, her gaze dropping to the ground.

I really don't think she knows what that word means, Saito realized, shaking his head.

"Very well, Miss Montmorency," Guiche murmured, and both Saito and Montmorency audibly snapped their heads around to look at him. "I'll give…us…one more chance. On one condition." Montmorency nodded frantically.

"Name it."

"Tonight. I want you to spend the night in my room." She took half a step back eyes wide. "And…bring an appropriate potion. I know you have one in stock; you blushed bright red when I noticed it among your collection." Saito's knuckles were white, and he vaguely noted that he was probably drawing blood from his own palm with his nails.

The rest of him was more concerned with eyeing Guiche and deciding…

The blond ponce...no, the blond young man, was standing straight, not leaning, except for his slightly bent neck. His eyes were on Montmorency's face. He was also still holding her hands, but only barely—it was as gentle as he could be while still touching and soothing her. His weight was on the heels of his feet, not the balls or toes.

Saito swallowed a low whistle and resolved to find a book on advanced acting techniques for the blond.

"I. I." Montmorency's tongue flicked out to wet her lip, which she then began chewing on. She couldn't look straight at him for more than a second, nor to look away for very long. Her hands slipped out of his and clasped together in front of her chest. "Just to be certain," she said weakly, "you mean a preventative potion, not a sleeping draught, don't you?"

"Yes, yes I do." His voice was still gentle and soothing. He hadn't moved at all since she pulled away. "You did say anything," he added.

"I-I did," she admitted. "And…and I…I wil…I...I'm sorry, but no."

"No?"

"No," she repeated more firmly. "Not that. I won't do that. And I can't believe you, you would ask me that. If I didn't know better I'd have thought I was in a nightmare, and I wish were. But no, Guiche. I'm sorry. But if that's truly the only thing that…no. I'm s-sorry. No." She took another step back, tears gathering in her eyes, but not leaking out.

"Final answer?"

"Final answer," she affirmed. After a moment, he smiled.

"Good," he told her approvingly and she nearly melted with relief. "I would have lost all respect for you if you had let me pressure you."

"That. That was a test?" she breathed.

"I suppose."

"And. And I passed. You'll give us another chance?"

"No," he said gently, and she stopped. "I wasn't going to do that no matter what you answered. But this way, at least, I can leave knowing you are still the strong and self-confident young woman I once held in the highest esteem." He stepped forward as the light seemed to drain out of her face. "Be in peace, and Founder bless, Montmorency. You will survive without me—perhaps even thrive." He kissed her forehead. Then he stepped aside and walked away.

She fell to her knees, not sobbing or wailing, but on the verge of both.

Guiche didn't stop, and he didn't look back.

Saito watched him vanish through the front door. He turned back to Montmorency, who was barely holding herself together by the furthest stretch of the word. He glanced up at Tabitha, still on Sylphid, who had abandoned her book and was looking uncertainly at Montmorency. She glanced uncertainly back at him.

No one deserves to be alone like this.

She dosed Louise with a love potion that she meant for Guiche. He did the right thing.

And now the right thing is to be there for her.

Is it? She has a lesson she needs to learn.

More than one.

Show her what caring for other people is supposed to be?

Lack of compassion is cruelty.

To save the guilty is to harm the innocent.

If it was put into words, both would agree that their silent discussion followed approximately those lines. Though when they thought about it, to their dying day, neither would ever be entirely certain who had made which arguments.

Saito settled back against Irukukuu's side and watched with a frown, his fingers and feet twitching anxiously. Tabitha put down her book and looked at and then away from the prone girl, as though unable to make herself stand up, despite wanting to.

Neither moved to comfort her.

"Founder take it!" There was a muffled crash and Louise popped out the front door, pulling a good-sized chest behind her.

"I can't pack that away," Saito warned her, "and it looks a bit heavy to travel with."

"Lighten," Tabitha said, waving her staff. Louise stumbled as the resistance the trunk was putting up dropped drastically.

"Thank you," she said with a nod to Tabitha. Then to Saito, " I know, but I wanted to bring everything I could need since I didn't know why she wanted me, and I'd sort it out once I found out where we were going." She stopped as she saw Montmorency curled up in distress. "What's wrong?"

""G-Guiche. He. I. W-we," the blonde choked out. Louise gave a small 'ah'.

"He broke up with you?"

"You don't have to sound so happy about it!" Montmorency shrieked rounding on Louise. Saito tensed for a confrontation, but stopped when the blonde did, staring at the finger Louise had stuck in her face.

"Montmorency Margarìte la Fère de la Montmorency," Louise said severely, "you attempted to dose someone you claimed you cared for with a mind-altering illegal potion. You dosed me instead, and tried to duck responsibility until Guiche gave you an ultimatum. The same Guiche who attempted to cover for you when Saito found out what happened.

"You've generally been a bitch to me for most of my life at this Academy, and while I don't think you started calling me Zero, you certainly ran with it.

"While I've argued more with Kirche, you have been my primary rival in scholastic achievement, repeatedly down-playing what I could accomplish through mundane means and likening it to my success rate with spells.

"In short, I have every reason to enjoy seeing ground into the dirt, reduced to the Zero you always called me. I want you to keep that in mind with what I am about to tell you."

Montmorency quailed back as Louise stepped forward. Then Saito watched his master pull the blonde into a loose embrace.

"Everything, is going to be fine," Louise told her softly. "Not now, maybe not soon at all, but your life will pull itself back together, Montmorency. This is not going to destroy you. It hurts, I know, but trust me—you will heal."

"H-how do you k-know?" she squeaked. "Have you e-ev-ever-"

"No," Louise answered, "but I've been in a bad place before. At the end of our first year here I locked myself in the chapel and prayed for God and the Founder to show me that I wasn't a mistake or a failure, and that I wasn't a Zero. I'd brought a knife, and I intended to leave either with my answer, or not at all." Montmorency stared at her, horrified.

"What, what happened?"

Louise smiled softly. "I found an my answer. And you will too. Come on, I'll take you there."

Saito coughed softly. "Didn't you want to leave immediately? We're wanted at the palace."

"For the moment, this is more important," Louise told him as she led Montmorency away. "We'll be leaving soon, though, so don't go anywhere!"

On Sylphid's back a few minutes later, Saito, touched Louise on the shoulder as she stared at the landscape below.

"I'm very proud of you, master. You're a better person than I am." She blinked at him.

"Really?"

"I was willing to leave her there," he said with a shrug. "She'd brought all her problems on her own head, and hurt you to boot; I didn't mind watching her be hurt like that."

"Really? I…I learned it from you. I just did what I thought you would have done, if you'd known her well enough to do it."

"I'd say the student has surpassed the…well, master isn't quite appropriate, is it?" he said with a laugh. She chuckled too, and then gave him a new order.

"Saito. Familiar, as your Master, if you see someone like that in the future, help them. No one deserves to be alone like that." Saito looked at her for a long time.

"Alright," he said softly. "But if you don't mind, what answer did you find in the chapel?"

Louise just smiled mysteriously.

"Louise Françios? Oh, I had been worried my letter was lost! Were you delayed on the road?" Henrietta asked as Louise and Saito were escorted into her study. There were bags under her eyes, and Saito saw that her nails had been chewed on, but the smile she gave to her oldest friend was as bright as ever.

"There was a," Louise coughed, "slight mishap that I would rather we discuss later, Princess." Henrietta frowned at her. "Sorry, Anne. It really is rather personal and embarrassing. But I'm here now, and I hope that I'm not too late."

"Not yet, as things are still in the discussion stage. Arguments, politics," she sighed, "and other such lovely things."

"If you don't mind my asking, Anne, what did you call us for?"

"What do you know of the situation at Albion?"

"Cromwell probably used the Ring of Andvari to resurrect King James as his pawn to give himself the appearance of legitimacy. He's trying to discredit Wales and solidify his own rule while he prepares to invade." Henrietta and her guard stared at Louise.

"I'm, I'm sorry, Louise Françios. What was that about the ring of Andvari?"

Ten minutes later Henrietta had called an emergency meeting of her highest advisors and officers. One visitor in particular had shocked Louise.

"F-father!" she yelped as he walked in the room.

"Louise? What are you doing here?" he asked, temporarily too bemused and confused to be upset. Saito gave the man a once-over. Tall, with strong shoulders, and an easy gait. Very confident. Well-groomed and a neatly trimmed beard, but his clothes are more business than flash and…he's wearing some kind of armor under his shirt. Cautious. Blonde, so she probably gets her coloring from her mother. Relaxed enough not to be authoritarian, but Louise respects him a lot, so he can be disciplined. Still gentle, but I wouldn't want to get on his bad side.

The Duke Vallière looked at Saito's position, standing ready but at-ease behind his daughter, and the familiar instantly recognized that he'd just been examined as well.

"Louise François is here at our request," Henrietta said from the head of the table. Duke Vallière turned and gave a perfunctory bow of acknowledgement, which she met with a similar nod. "She comes bearing what may be the most important news Tristain could receive at this time, and we felt that it would be best to tell you all at once."

"I must, if you'll pardon me, your highness, I must admit confusion as to what news an Academy student, and a rather unsuccessful one at that." Louise and her father both bristled at the richly garbed, noble's accusation.

"Lord Richmond," the Duke said warningly, "please be polite when speaking of my youngest."

"I apologize, your grace, but it is common knowledge that she has not successfully cast a single spell during her career there," Richmond replied. "Her looks may favor her mother, but she clearly has not her inherited the talent or power of that side of the family." The man paused mockingly. "Nor has she inherited much of anything from you, I must say."

Henrietta's eyes flashed as a murmur ghosted around the table. The Duke's eyebrow's snapped together while his daughter first went white with fury, and then very, very calm.

"Justice Richmond, that was out of line!" barked a heavy-set man copiously adorned with medals.

"Quite so," added the man who Louise had identified as Cardinal Mazarin. Before anyone else could comment, Louise interjected.

"I'm afraid common knowledge is a few months out of date," she said politely. "I have performed both Summon Familiar and Contract Familiar perfectly this Spring, albeit with unusual results, and have made progress both in designing my own spells to overcome my problems as well as learning several of the more usual spells." She smiled sweetly, though her eyes were utterly venomous. "If you have any further concerns about the legitimacy of my place here, I would be happy to demonstrate my efficacy with a Silence spell, or display something more destructive in the dueling court," she finished innocently. The decorated general's mustache danced as he burst out laughing.

"Well said, well said," he congratulated. Duke Vallière was staring at his daughter in surprise. Saito allowed himself a small smirk of pride.

"This is neither the time nor the place," Henrietta announced, quieting everyone else. "Louise has been my trusted friend for more than a decade and a half, as well as recently serving as our agent in a sensitive matter, and succeeding beyond all expectations. Now we wish her to share her discovery, so be silent and let her speak." Everyone turned from the Princess to Louise, expectantly. Louise blanched, took a breath, and began.

"It is my belief that the so-called King James is not an imposter." That was as far as she got before people began objecting.

"Ridiculous. The old man would never bow his head to those usurpers no matter what they threatened. It has to be a disguise!"

"No, I've said it once, and I will happily repeat it: mind-control. There are several potions or spells that could allow them to dominate his will."

"Especially used together."

"You think the Reconquista would have allowed him to live? That he would not go down fighting to his last breath? Idiocy!"

"Dominate the will of a king? Ridiculous! He's a square-class mage and one of the most stubborn men alive! They'd break his mind before they brought him to heel."

"Yes, but he's old. He's not as strong as he once was, and if senility is setting in it would do half the job for them."

"Blasphemy!"

"Idiocy!"

"Silence!" Henrietta called, slamming a smooth orb of granite against a flat slab of similar stone. The deafening *crack* settled the table down reluctantly. "We apologize that those closest to us are unable to control themselves," Henrietta said sharply. "Please continue, Louise François." She nodded.

"Unfortunately, it is worse than what any of you suggested," she said solemnly. "There is no doubt," she nodded to one of the speakers, "that the Reconquistador dogs would never have allowed King James to live, even if he had allowed himself to be taken alive. But it is neither disguise nor mind-control. I have heard testimony that suggests Oliver Cromwell has used necromancy to resurrect His Majesty and control his corpse."

"What? Ridiculous," Richmond scoffed. "If nothing else, Cromwell is a dedicated member of the church, who would never commit such blasphemy. What possible evidence could support this?"

"Yes, he is so dedicated to the Church that he led a revolt against the rulers who descend from Brimir himself," Louise drily, but waved away the subject. "Lake Ragdorian has been flooding higher and higher over the past several years."

"What does that have to do with any of this," Richmond asked exasperated.

"Clearly you do not know your history," a blonde man chided scornfully. "My family first made our pact with the Water Spirit when its power was used to commit necromancy by a sorcerer, and it rebelled by flooding." He frowned. "It has refused to bargain with me for several years now, and I have been worried that my last insult might have prompted this but…" He looked at Louise, who nodded.

"Just yesterday I visited Lake Ragdorian with my classmate Montmorency," which got a surprised reaction from the man who was apparently Lord Montmorency, "when we negotiated for a Tear from the Water Spirit. It revealed that the flooding was because the Ring of Andvari had been stolen, and it would erode the land until it found it again. It informed us that the thief was an air mage by the name of Cromwell."

"Because Founder knows that Spirits are bastions of honesty," Richmond pointed out sarcastically. The blonde knight next to Henrietta gritted her teeth and reached under her cloak while the Princess's eyes flashed.

"It is known as the Spirit of the Oath for a reason, Justice Richmond," she snapped. "Be either constructive, silent, or gone! Do I make myself clear?" He glowered, but reluctantly nodded. Henrietta turned back to Louise, motioning for her to continue.

Louise cleared her throat. "Yes, well, the implications are clear. Cromwell stole the Ring of Andvari during the early stages of the rebellion, and has used it to resurrect King James in an attempt to gain legitimacy while weakening any Royalist opposition."

Cardinal Mazarin sighed, cleared his throat, and gestured to speak. Louise gave him the floor with a nod. "Do you have any evidence of this interaction?" he asked politely. "These are serious accusations, and the more firmly they can be backed up, the better."

"Our interactions can be confirmed by Montmorency, obviously, as she initiated the bargaining" Louise answered. "Also, my familiar Saito as well as our classmate Guiche du Gramont accompanied us, as well as Tabitha from Gallia and Kirche von Zerbst from Germania. The latter two are triangle mages with wide reputations who, being from foreign countries, could not be pressured into giving false testimony by the Tristainian Crown, which will increase the validity of their word."

"I will make a note of the names," he assured her. Saito cleared his throat, grabbing attention, and then leaned forward and placed a bottle on the table.

"This is what remains of the Tear, if that will help," he told them.

"Yes, I can double-check the age and source of the sample," Lord Montmorency told them, taking the bottle. An incantation later and he returned it, nodding. "This is from Ragdorian Lake, and less than a day old. I'm impressed at the size of the sample as well, I have not known it to be so generous." Louise blushed and coughed embarrassedly.

"She was very persuasive," Saito assured him, concealing the bottle once more.

"I don't believe you have been introduced," Richmond pointed out snidely. "You don't appear to be a mage, so what brings you here?" Louise and Saito shared a look. He smiled and gave a wave as she made introductions.

"Ladies, and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce my familiar, Hiraga Saito. He hails from Rub al Kali, and is not always accustomed to our ways."

"Like Louise François, Mister Hiraga has contributed his talents to our cause in the past and performed admirably," Henrietta added. "We consider him to be of good reputation and quite trustworthy." That settled most of the muttering at the table. Saito gave a short bow and stepped behind Louise once more, noting that the Duke was eyeing him more seriously now.

"That is the sum of Louise François's report, and the implications are grave," Henrietta stated, "but there is more that she, and some of you here as well, have not been yet made aware of, which we will rectify right now. Cardinal Mazarin?" The old man stood up.

"I received word from the Papacy that our Holy Father himself will be attending and performing the coronation in a month," he revealed, spurring another outbreak of nervous muttering. "Once this occurs it will be effectively impossible to dethrone Cromwell and the Reconquistadors by any means other than another bloody rebellion—which would, having the Papacy's implicit support, also be heretical. But with Miss Valière's revelation, if correct, there now seems an avenue of hope."

"Necromancy is a horrific sin," Henrietta elaborated. "If the Holy Father could be informed of Cromwell's heresy he would condemn the Reconquista and call for all those loyal to the church to stand against their false regime. Knowing what we know, if we send emissaries to the coronation and make our accusations, it would be easy for him to test them and reveal the truth. Unfortunately, this is not our only problem. Wales."

There was a distortion in the air as Prince-in-exile Wales dropped his invisibility spell and stepped up to the table, holding a box and a scroll.

"The dogs have taken a hostage of great import," he said simply. "It was not made public by the royal family, but I am not the only potential heir to the throne. Anne and I have a third cousin, from our mutual uncle's line."

"Wasn't that branch of your family cast out and executed?" a noblewoman asked.

"Father later repented his actions, discovering that he had been deceived as to his brother's actions and intentions. He posthumously declared that line innocent of all charges and reinstated them into the royal family. Normally it would just be a pretty gesture of remorse, but a handful of his most trusted advisors were privy to the truth: his brother had fathered a daughter in secret, and she had survived the bloodbath that wiped out the rest of that branch of the family."

"And the Reconquista discovered her?"

"Yes, which lends credence to the belief that they have defiled my father's corpse, as no mere imposter would have known of her," Wales said with disgust. "They sent us a ransom note for her safe return, asking an outrageous price."

"You are certain that they have her, and that she is still alive?"

"They enclosed one of her ears with the note," Henrietta revealed, eyeing the box he held meaningfully. "Certain water spells allowed us to ascertain that the one it came from was still alive. We also received word from another, more shocking source." She turned to the blonde woman—definitely a fighter, and skilled, Saito thought—who sat beside her.

"As you are all aware, Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt was finally captured after a several year crime spree. We have not made these details public, but it was in large part due to the actions of Louise François and her familiar."

"What!" Duke Vallière roared, standing to stare at his daughter. Louise switched from proud to nervous, and then proud again when Saito laid a hand on her shoulder. "How?"

"Saito is very good at tactics, and my habit of exploding all my spells is very useful for destroying something like a giant golem, father," she answered proudly. "I brought the official commendation with me, if you wish to examine it."

"This is not the time," Henrietta interrupted gently, smiling at Louise, who nodded. "To continue, Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt was finally brought to justice, and Louise proved her abilities as our trusted agent for the first time. When I visited the Academy I both congratulated her, and issued her another mission."

"Miss Vallière and her familiar, along with Viscount Wardes the Lightning, were the three who penetrated Albion and," Wales grimaced, "removed me from our last stand at Newcastle. Mister Hiraga also personally infiltrated the Reconquista's lines, assassinated at least one of their officers, and brought back several important documents detailing their plans."

"A single commoner did all that? How?" one official asked as Duke Vallière his daughter and her accompaniment a more thorough examination. Louise gestured to Saito, who sighed.

"In short, I killed one of their soldiers in the woods, stole his uniform, walked into camp and went to the largest tent I could easily find, and told the captain I had been sent by one of his fellow officers with sensitive information. Then I murdered him when he put up a privacy spell, stole whatever papers I thought were valuable, burned the rest, and ran before anyone could realize they needed to chase me," he summarized bluntly. "Not that complicated."

"Quite," Louise agreed.

"He also spoke with my father in private and was asked to deliver papers to Henrietta that retroactively declared my cousin Tiffania to be legitimate, reinstated her inheritance and holdings, and affirmed her place in the line of succession," Wales continued.

"To back-track a little, however," Henrietta interrupted, "I visited Louise at the Academy and asked her to infiltrate Albion as my person agent. Her familiar accompanied her, and I also asked Viscount Wardes, who was both her fiancé and the captain of the Griffon Knights, to go as well. Not long after they left, I was informed that an unknown mage had broken Fouquet out of prison. At first I thought these events were unfortunate, but unconnected. When I learned she had attacked Louise en route to Albion, I dismissed the possibility that she was recruited by Reconquista due to her known hatred of nobles, and assumed she had been pursuing personal vengeance against her captors. I was wrong. Agnes."

The blonde soldier stood and made her report. "Less than a week ago, Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt staggered half-dead into a guard-post on the outskirts of the capitol, offered her total and unconditional surrender, and stated that she had information that we needed to hear, and would accept any and all punishments we dealt to her once she had delivered it."

"When it rains, it pours," commented the heavy-set general, his mustache wobbling.

"Indeed. When I interrogated her personally at the Her Highness's request, I was surprised at the change," Agnes continued. "Before she had been extremely tight-lipped, but now she seemed viciously eager to divulge each and every piece of dirt on the Reconquista she knew. Naturally, we took this with a grain of salt, though we now know her tales of necromancy were true." Agnes nodded politely to Louise. "When their highnesses went to speak with her in person—under the heaviest of protections, of course—the shocking truth came out." Wales stepped forward once more.

"Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt was born Mathilda de Saxe-Gotha," he revealed. "She grew up the closest of comrades with Tiffania, and when my father misguidedly sent troops against the families, Mathilda hid and protected them both with her prodigious earth magic. Since then, she and Tiffania were the only family each had, and they cared for each other like sisters. Fouquet targeted nobles due to her hatred for them, born from the tragedy she suffered, but the money itself she mostly sent back to Albion to support the orphanage Tiffania had started.

"When the Reconquista captured the only person in the world she cared about, it was the last straw. She failed to rescue Tiffania herself, and escaped with heavy wounds, but resolved to do everything she could to tear them down. She revealed as much of their organization, operations, and plans as she knew."

"One name in particular, a double agent, stood out," Henrietta said solemnly. She took a deep breath, palming the piece of granite again, and looked sadly at Louise. "She named Viscount Wardes himself as an agent of the Reconquista, and the one who broke her out of jail the first time."

"What!" The room erupted in an uproar. Even Duke Vallière was on his feet, shouting, but Saito only had eyes for his master. Ever since Louise had bolted to her feet in shock at this proclamation, she hadn't moved or spoken, only growing paler. Saito put a hand on her shoulder, pushed her back into her seat, and began whispering in her ear about how she needed to calm down, clear her mind, think rationally, and please calm down.

"Silence. Everyone, be silent!" Henrietta snapped, slamming the orb down again and again. Wales stepped forward and gestured with his wand. The sound in the room cut off immediately and everyone looked to the head of the table after a moment.

A few went for their own wands to cancel the spell, but Henrietta put them in their place with her glare.

"If you are all settled down now, children," she chided, "then we would appreciate it if everyone acted their age and approached this calmly and rationally, like mature, responsible adults. Now, who has something constructive to contribute?" Several people raised their hands, and Saito silently chuckled at the comparison to school children. "Louise Francois," she selected, Wales undoing the spell on her first.

"Princess." Louise took a deep, calming breath, restraining a sob. "Are you absolutely certain of this?" Henrietta met her gaze solemnly.

"No Louise François, we need more evidence than the word of a traitor and thief before we will damn the Viscount for certain. However, several facts add up with that piece of evidence. We've long known that there must be at least one traitor in the higher echelons of our country's governance, due to the quiet leaking of several facts that could not otherwise be known. This is one of the reasons we sent you to Albion—you were then largely unaffiliated with politics and unswervingly loyal to us, to me personally.

"The Viscount's treachery, if true, would explain how Fouquet and the unknown, masked assailant—who she claims to be Wardes as well, using the square-class Ubiquitous Wind to appear in more than one place at a time—were able to find you in the middle of the mission. I had only even decided to give you this mission two days before doing so, and spoke of it to none but you and the Viscount.

"It would also explain why he has neither returned, nor have we received ransom for him, nor heard rumors of him in Albion. And we cannot confirm his death using the spells we confirmed Miss Tiffania's survival with, because the sample all knights are required to give for such purposes is gone. As a captain, he would have had the authority to access and remove it," Henrietta finished. Louise choked back another sob and leaned back in her chair. Her father leaned over to lend a comforting arm while making the next petition to speak, which was granted.

"Your Highness, I apologize for the impertinence, but do you have any other Midnight Dragons to hit us with? If not, I would like to leave to inform my wife of these events immediately."

"Unfortunately, there is one more matter to address," Henrietta replied. "The Reconquista, as I said, sent a ransom note with demands for they safe return of Miss Tiffania. Surprisingly, they are not asking for gold, nor for Wales to return and face their so-called justice," she spat. "Instead, they ask for only three things: the Wind and Water Rubies passed down through the royal families, and the Founder's Prayer Book entrusted to our keeping. Yes?" She pointed to one elderly noble lady who had raised her hand.

"Do you intend to accede to these demands?" she asked severely. "They do not seem like much, it is true—the two rubies are artifacts and keepsakes, but not much more than symbolic, and the Founder's Prayer Book may supposedly the original, but I studied it in my youth and the pages are blank from age. It does not seem like a high price, but if they want it so much, then I believe it is either part of a trap, or that they know something we do not."

"We believe much the same, but cannot in good conscience leave Our royal cousin in the hands of those dogs. Our intent is to make the following offer: we will send emissaries of goodwill to the coronation bearing the artifacts as gifts for our new neighbors. If possible, they will alert his Holiness to Cromwell's heresy before the exchange can be made—otherwise, we will make the trade, and attempt to circumspectly retrieve them at a later date. Yes?" She granted permission to another noble, the youngest man there save for Saito.

"Miss Tiffania has been recognized as in line for the throne of Albion, correct? If the King is dead, and Wales is in exile, then she would be the Queen regent, would she not? Thus could we not inform the Papacy that the yet unrecognized Reconquista government are guilty of holding hostage and—as the ear would prove—torturing a recognized member of royal blood, descended from Brimir himself? Then he could petition them to pass her into Romalian hands without ransom. It has happened several times in history, I know."

"The problem is that the paperwork declaring her legitimacy has not yet been filed with the Papacy," Wales explained. "I intended to do so when I traveled to Romalia seeking asylum, but my Father's resurrection disrupted those plans. Our current intent is to present him with the papers when we meet him at the coronation, as another nail in Cromwell's coffin. If this is made public sooner, then Cromwell could go the other direction, and legitimize his claim to the throne further by marrying Tiffania. An unacceptable result." The young man nodded.

"If there are no further points of order," no one made a move to draw attention, "then we hereby dismiss this gathering until further notice. Do not speak of what was revealed here to anyone, unless you wish to face criminal charges. Louise François, please stay a moment. We would speak with you in private."

Everyone filed out, the Duke staying a moment to arrange a later meeting with his daughter before exiting to send a letter to the Duchess.

I get the feeling that something is going to blow up. Probably multiple somethings, Saito thought to himself. He and Louise stepped into another room with Agnes, Wales, and Henrietta. The two males ended up face to face.

"Mr. Saito," Wales said, "I need to ask you something sensitive. What, exactly, did my father tell you when he spoke with you alone?"

Saito took a moment to run through the conversation, and then what he remember saying about the conversation, before he answered. "Is this about the fact that Tiffania is part elf?"

"She's what!" Louise yelped. Wales tensed slightly and Saito shifted to free up his hands. The prince had not been happy when he awoke to find himself far from the fighting and the rest of his men. Accusations of kidnapping had popped up, which Saito had mostly defused.

But there was almost certainly still something of a grudge.

"It is about that. I wasn't certain if you knew, or what it meant to you. Obviously, this is not something that should be spread around too widely."

"That's why they sent you her ear, wasn't it?" Saito surmised. "Elves have pointed ears, right?"

"Correct," Henrietta told him.

"Anne," Louise said quietly, but her tone got everyone's attention. "Why did you ask me to come here?" Henrietta looked at her and sighed.

"I am afraid, my friend, that my motives are not entirely pure. I was hoping to impose upon you to venture into danger once more."

"What are you asking, Princess? And, why me? You have trained soldiers, experiences spies, wise advisors—what do I have to offer that they do not?"

"Ultimately, it is a matter of trust," Henrietta answered, taking Louise's hand. "I am certain that one of the people who was in the room for the briefing just now is another traitor, but I have no ways to discover who, except to observe their actions in response to this newest development. But whatever else may occur, and whoever else may interfere, I know that you have no alternative motives for your desire to help me—it is born of true friendship, and nothing else.

"While useful, I do not need the greatest mage, nor the smartest academic, nor the most skilled warrior, or the wisest priest for this assignment. I need someone who is willing to fight and die before she would betray my trust, and your name is, sadly, at the top of that list," her voice caught. "Sadly because, in my heart of hearts, I am terrified that that is exactly what I am asking you to do for me." Her shoulders shook, and Louise pulled her into a hug.

Saito eyed this, leaned back against a wall, and started scribbling on piece of parchment, careful to keep it hidden from Wales and Agnes. There was a moment where nothing else in the room happened. Then Louise's nose scrunched, and Saito folded the paper as Louise pulled away and frowned at Henrietta.

"Anne, is there seriously no one you trust more than me? You obviously trust her," she nodded to Agnes, "since she is still present for our conversation. And Wales, obviously. And there must be one or two other people you trust." Henrietta sighed.

"There are a number of people I trust, but to judge from the leaks of information I am wrong about one of them. Wales obviously cannot go to Albion, and I need Agnes here to act as my guard and run the Musketeer corps. And as for why I know she is not a traitor…" Henrietta laughed darkly. "If Agnes were to betray me, leaks of information would be the least of my worries. I will likely discover any treachery she commits only when the knife is already in my back."

"Princess," the woman said with a frown, and Henrietta gave her a pacifying wave.

"Don't take offense, Agnes. You know I have great faith in you. As for the few others," Henrietta continued, turning back to Louise, "Either I cannot be certain that they are loyal only to me, or I know they are loyal to Tristain more than to me personally."

"What's the difference?" Louise asked. Saito raised an eyebrow, as did Agnes.

"Someone who is loyal to Tristan first and foremost—which is not a bad thing, I assure you—wants what they feel is best for Tristain as a whole. Even if that would be dethroning me and putting an older male in my place, who is stronger and more experienced at leading."

"What! That's—well, I can see where they'd get that idea—but it's still a bad idea! There would be fights! Not everyone would accept the next ruler! It would start a precedent! Not even getting into theological issues with bypassing your Divine right!"

"The divine right argument would only apply if my replacement was not also a descendant of Brimir. And considering who the most popular option for my replacement is, I can't blame them for their beliefs very much." She paused and added, "Nor would I blame you for sharing them, Louise François. Sometimes even I think that he would make a better ruler than I."

Henrietta gazed into Louise's eyes, searching for an answer. Wales eyed Saito, who pulled out the paper again as his master blankly met the princess's gaze, not comprehending. Agnes tensed, one hand disappearing beneath her cloak, and Saito threw her a warning glance as he scribbled, shifting to a slightly more mobile stance. She met his look with a challenging one of her own.

Louise finally voiced the question hanging in the air. "Princess, what are you suggesting?" The honest confusion in her voice seemed to throw Henrietta for a loop.

"I…do you honestly not know?"

"As you just pointed out, I have been completely uninvolved in politics until just recently," Louise answered drily. Her nose scrunched up and she spaced out for a second while Saito furrowed his brow. When she spoke again, she seemed more hesitant, as though something unpleasant were weighing on her. "My main involvement in politics and dealing was convincing my eldest sister that I neither wanted nor needed to be educated more firmly in the marital arts and married off to whichever nobleman of the month she had selected." Louise's lips twitched in what was almost a smile. "I'm not even certain she was serious most of the time, as my engagement the Viscount was still arranged." Louise frowned again.

"Yes, Viscount Wardes," Henrietta began delicately, but to her surprise Louise waved the subject away.

"Discussing that further will go nowhere. He either is a traitor, or he is not, and we cannot know which right now no matter how much we discuss. Though I would not mind speaking with Fouquet myself at some point," she added darkly.

"That could be arranged," Henrietta promised, drawing a tired smile from her oldest friend.

"Thank you, Anne, your assurance is very gracious. But if you do not object, I wish to return to the previous subject of my mission, and why you feel there is no one more qualified to fulfill it than a second-year Academy student who can reliably cast less than half-a-dozen spells." Henrietta frowned uncomfortably at Louise's tone—not quite accusing, but neither as gentle as it once was—but nodded in consent to the subject change. Saito just scribbled down more on the paper, still keeping it out of view.

"Yes, of course. As I said, you are not the greatest mage, or the most learned scholar, or the most cunning of my—and I pray you do not spread word of this—my intelligence agents. But I would without hesitation trust with my life, and potentially the future of the realm."

"And I am not the only person you would trust so? Just to be clear."

"Not the only one, I confess; obviously, I have similar trust in Agnes, Wales, and a handful of others. However, recent revelations and doubts, such as Wardes's potential treachery, have thrown much of that into uncertainty, and drastically shortened the list."

"Perfectly understandable," Louise agreed, taking Henrietta's hands, "and I am flattered by your faith in me, your highness. So in summary, I am not the most magically, physically, or intellectually capable of the people you trust so highly, but they are all otherwise engaged, such as Chevalier Agnes coordinating your guards, thus it falls to me to be trusted with, well, whatever this is?"

"That is not the way I would have phrased, and said like that sounds more derogatory, than I intended, but it sounds true, strictly speaking," Henrietta allowed uncertainly. Louise's particular words had disturbed her, but the young woman was still holding her hands with a comforting solemnity, looking earnestly into her eyes.

Agnes frowned and leveraged herself out of her seat ever so slightly. Wales picked up on the tension and fingered the handle of his wand. Saito finished writing whatever he was writing and shifted the paper and charcoal both to his right hand, freeing up the left for whatever weapon he called.

Louise kept smiling, though her lips had tightened slightly. She continued to speak calmly and kindly, though. "It's quite all right, Princess. I just wanted to be sure before I heard more whether or not you were sending me because I was the most expendable option."

"That's—what! No!" Henrietta took a half-step back in shock and horror, but Louise followed her, still showing no anger, though her smile was a little more wry. "Louise, that is not it at all, I swear!"

"Isn't it, Anne?" Louise asked gently. "Look at it without any emotions, for a moment. If you lose Agnes, you lose a proven soldier, a skilled Chevalier, and your personal guard. I'd wager she's very much your friend, confidant, and advisor as well, as we haven't spoken too often before the Fouquet incident. Even if he could go, Wales is a powerful political figure and symbol, and has probably forgotten more of Albion's secrets than you know. The same goes for some like Cardinal Mazarin, your advisor and a man of the Church, or any of the others."

Horror had continued to spread across Henrietta's face as Louise spoke. The other three were still tense, but as no attack had appeared, they settled back to a prepared wariness of the others. Louise continued, with still not a drop of condemnation in her voice or manner.

"Except for me. My family would be upset, but dying in the service of the Crown is something we all expect, and given their history neither of my parents has the right to object or be too surprised. And the loss of an Academy student would in no way place the realm in danger. Politically, I'm very nearly a nobody, and thus the perfect person to spend on a su-" Henrietta wrenched her hands away and slapped her.

"Be Silent!" she shrieked. Saito had nearly surged forward while the other two leapt to action, but held himself back when he got a good look at the princess's face and stance. Tears were streaming down her face, and the set of shoulders showed less anger than sadness. And more importantly, he saw sheer, naked terror.

"An-"

"I said be silent! Louise François is my oldest, dearest friend, and the only one whom I knew throughout my childhood cared more for me than for my position! We fought, and we bickered, and we wrestled in the grass, pulled each other's hair, and tore our dressed, and Founder take it I loved every second of it! She was the only playmate who played with me, and did so of her own accord! I do not care who you are, whether you are a noble of the court, Her Majesty my Royal Mother, or Brimir himself speaking from the heavens, but I will not stand to hear her denigrated like that!"

Henrietta stormed forward and Louise away in response, eyes wide. "And never, ever suggest that I would callously throw away her friendship and life like it was, was, was a piece parchment I had finished writing on. She is my friend, and that means something. I- I- " She started sobbing in earnest now and Louise stepped forward to hug her. "I-I'm n-not like *sniffle* like those v-v-vipers in the court, all cold eyes and forked tongues, and, and, I'm not!" She collapsed onto Louise's shoulder. "Please. I'm not. Am I?" She asked, quietly.

Louise rubbed her back soothingly.

"No, Anne you are not. You never will be. They care for no one but themselves, and you—you can't stop caring. Perhaps even too much. I believe you Anne. Please, I believe you. That wasn't what I'd meant either."

"I-I, but, then," then Princess stammered out.

"Children ignore what their parents say all the time, but they always notice what you do," Saito contributed. "Even when you, or they, don't realize it." Both girls turned to look at him, and blinked.

"What…are the three of you doing?" Louise asked. Wales and Agnes both seemed to realize their positions, wand and sword out and aimed in the direction of a rather relaxed Saito, and squirmed awkwardly.

"They were worried you two were going to fight worse than you did, and wanted to make sure I didn't stick a dagger in the Princess's back," Saito admitted cheerfully, a lackadaisical gesture also showing off his empty hands. Both women frowned.

"Really now," Henrietta chided, "what was this entire discussion about trust for if you two are so quick to doubt my faith in others?" Neither of the two could quite look her in the eye as they put away their weapons, though they still tried to sneak a suspicious glare at the unfazed Saito.

"Besides that, I take offense to the implication that they'd kill him for attacking Anne," Louise said. That got varying degrees of odd looks from the rest of the room. "Familiar or not, if he tried anything like that I'd murder him myself before you even got close," she elaborated irritably. Saito seemed to accept this with good grace while others needed to mull it over a bit more. "Moving on, Anne, I'm sorry for what I implied. I didn't mean you were heartless towards me. Dying in service of the Crown has always been a possibility, though I would prefer to be much older when it happens," she added drily. "I simply want to know if I'm not likely to come back, so I can say my goodbyes, write out my will, and make other such preparations. Don't be afraid to be honest with me when we've already established that I really would die before I betrayed you."

"I understand that now, even if the idea is very…distasteful," she said with a grimace. "I want you around long enough to be godmother to my children, when they eventually arrive." Louise inhaled suddenly, and pulled Henrietta into a crushing embrace with a brilliant smile.

"I'd be honored, Anne."

"No more than I," Henrietta responded. "And while there is a certain degree of risk in this request, Louise François, you should not be any real danger unless things truly fall into the Pit. Though as you will be in enemy territory the entire time you must always remain cautious."

"Constant vigilance!" Saito roared, with a grin, making everyone else in the room jump. He found himself facing the end of a wand and sword once again in short order. "What? It's a quote from my homeland that I thought would be a nice joke." He grinned guilelessly, but the other two weren't buying it.

"Ahem." Fortunately, Henrietta was, and they once more sheathed the weapons shame-facedly under the pressure of her glare.

"Now I'm really curious. Forgive the impertinence, but please just spit it out already, Anne."

"I want you to be the custodian of Miss Tiffania's ransom."

"…I'm sorry?"

"The Reconquista wants the two Rubies and the Founder's Prayer Book in exchange for her safe return, placing us in a tricky position, since their reasons can be nothing good. It would be hard to arrange a meeting on neutral territory without risking ambush, and neither of us will send one ahead and merely trust to still receive the other. They would double-cross us as easily as breathing, and I cannot bring myself to deal with King-killers and usurpers."

"Especially the Reconquista. I concealed Tiffania's heritage from the others," Wales added, nodding to the meeting room they had come from, "but judging from Cromwell's oratory about the evils of elves and their possession of the Holy Lands, the ransom may be the only reason she is alive. If they get it without making a genuine trade, they will undoubtedly kill her. Possibly they will even use her existence as further fuel against my claim to the throne, accusing my line of betraying Brimir and consorting with elves."

"Thus, the message I sent states that we will present them with the ransom at the coronation. During such a public political event the Reconquista will not risk the fight that would come from attempting to double-cross our deal. Then our representatives—namely you, Louise, and the other officials we send—can simply take Tiffania home when they leave to return home."

"The danger is that the Reconquista will attempt to use the time between our group's arrival to steal the ransom away and default on the agreement. The curs," Wales spat.

"I intend to send a package with our representatives that will—being decorated and under guard—obviously be the Prayer Book and Rubies. In fact it will be a fake, laced with a dozen traps to capture any thieves. I want you, Louise, to have the real artifacts in your personal possession and to keep them safe until the time of the ransom comes."

"I will," she agreed immediately, "but what of the plan to reveal the desecration of His Highness's corpse to our Holy Father?"

"There are still details to work out, of course, but we intend to give instructions to proceed with that plan as well," Henrietta told her. "As a prime witness regarding the Ring of Andvari, you will no doubt play an important part in that as well. I trust you can fulfill both tasks, with Mister Saito supporting you."

"I will not fail!" Louise vowed.

"Thank you, my dear, dear friend," Henrietta said, pulling her into another hug. They parted after a moment and Louise stepped back, fingering her face.

"If there's nothing else, Anne, I should go to the practice courts for an hour or so."

"Really? Why?"

"I need some excuse for this, don't I?" Louise teased, arranging her hair to better cover the palm-mark on her face.

"Oh my, I hadn't realized I hit you that hard! Here, let me heal it; it will only take a moment."

"Don't trouble yourself, Anne. I want to keep it as a reminder about communication and trust."

"Well, if you insist," she conceded with a blush. "I'll see you at dinner."

"I'm planning to eat with my father actually," Louise told her as she and Saito headed for the door. "But certainly we can speak later tonight or tomorrow." He kept staring at the paper he was holding, but Louise stopped halfway. "Anne? Just one more thing."

"Yes, Louise?"

"You said some of the people who are more loyal to the Realm than the Crown may have plans to replace with a better candidate. Is…is that candidate my father?"

Henrietta hesitated, but nodded. "Yes, his name has come up the most often when people discuss whom they feel would better fit the throne, though I have never been given reason to fear that he holds such thoughts for himself. But he is a decorated and experienced knight, married to the greatest living legend of our day, and the Vallière family not only has historically set the standard that many others measure themselves against, in terms of prosperity of both themselves and those they care for, but it was founded by a royal bastard who was embraced and trusted by his half-sibling, so the blood of Brimir is in your veins as well."

"But…we aren't at all in line for the throne."

"Yes, you are," Henrietta corrected to Louise's shock. "Only speaking genealogically, your father is fifth in line, which likely would place you personally at eighth. However, the cousins in line between myself and your family are either foreign-born, or too incompetent to have any public support.

"In practice, if I were to die, your father would likely be awarded the Crown, and I have filed paperwork in secret making this my official decision regarding inheritance, should I for some reason die. The main reasons this is not more publicly known is because it has been some time since the Line was weak enough to be passed diagonally, instead of to a direct child or sibling, as well as the fact that people usually concern themselves more with the closer cousins, and forget that the title Duke does not mean he cannot take up another, higher title, should the occasion rise."

"Founder save us," Louise swore absently.

"It is…a touch worrisome, but your Father would certainly make a good king, in the event of my death," Henrietta pointed out.

"I'm more concerned that Elèanore would be the Crown Princess. Elèanore! That must never come to pass," she swore with a fearful shiver.

"I'm relieved you are so relaxed as to still make a joke, Louise François," she laughed.

"I'm dead serious, Anne," Louise answered darkly. "But…well, I don't believe it, but I want to hear it from your own mouth."

"Hear what?"

"That sending your main rival's youngest daughter on a dangerous mission into enemy territory is not intended as a threat towards my family, to discourage them from seeking the Crown," Louise answered darkly.

"I—what? No! Oh dear, I suppose it could be seen that way…perhaps I should find someone else."

"No, no, I want to do it still. I trust your word, Anne. I just needed to be certain." She nodded politely, and stepped out after Saito. Henrietta, preoccupied with new doubts about plan, only nodded absently, worrying if she was more the plooters she despised than she had believed.

"…So," Saito finally said, after they had passed down four or five halls.

"So?"

"You are still afraid of dying, aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?" she asked airily.

"That. If I get more formal when I'm anxious, you get less." There was silence between them for another two hallways, with two flights of stairs in between.

"Absolutely terrified," she finally admitted. "I faced the possibility of being hurt with Fouquet, but even in Albion actual death never really seemed possible until I looked back on it."

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty."

"You'll have to explain that saying to me later," she said absently. "But yes, I was and am scared almost witless. But Founder deny me entry to heaven if I let my oldest friend see that. She needs someone she knows she can rely on."

"Agnes? Wales?"

"One is, ultimately, her servant and employee, not her friend. And Wales was prepared to die a beautiful, futile death, whether she knows it or not. I don't trust him to always be there for her, though if he fails I doubt it will be intentional. Still. I'm the closest thing to an equal reliably available to her, and she needs to know that I'm there for her. End of story."

"As you wish. Have I ever told you that you're a better person than I am?"

"Yes. I'm still not certain if I believe it. Considering your notes, you may just be more cynical—about yourself as much as the rest of the world."

"Maybe. We're never good at judging ourselves, I read somewhere. Were the notes helpful, or should I not do that in the future?"

"As long as you are discreet, I think they were a great help. Were you antagonizing Wales and Agnes?"

"Who, me?"

"On second thought, you don't need to answer that."

"You're getting better at double-meanings, too," Saito complimented. The practice courts came into view. "So. Dinner with your father. Am I invited?"

"If he won't accept you as a guest, then you can still be a guard." Louise hesitated for a moment. "What should we tell him?"

"Wrong question, master. What do you want him to know?"

garoorar: Your comment, oddly, was actually a big part of what motivated me to get this out quickly. Not sure why, I think it was just that I agreed with you, and couldn't bring myself to do much of anything else.

lucky777: Thank you for your comment. I like that people appreciate everything I'm doing. I usually try to be better at spelling mistakes, but in this case I think I'll just leave them until I get around to a story-wide edit and stuff.

slx3: I hope I delivered well.

Treerat: Thank you. I'm always worrying that I may be changing the characters too much. SINO is something I'm hoping to avoid. Kirche will discover the truth eventually. And as was touched upon, Henrietta and Tristain does have an Intelligence corps already.

Well, I've finally managed to part from the original version. It took long enough. Do you all like the direction I'm taking this? The way I handle the characters? I like to know when I'm doing a good job.

Also, if anyone would be interested in setting up a TVtropes page for this, I'd be eternally grateful. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!