At Corvina’s prompting, Anne did try the tea, which turned out to be a really sweet chamomile. Anne loved chamomile. It was nice and refreshing.

Then she tried one of the tea snacks as well. It was a little cake decorated with cute icing patterns. She took a bite. It was delicious. It was like a gourmet version of the convenience store snack cakes Anne had loved in her old world.

“How is it?” asked Corvina, with a smile.

“Absolutely incredible!” said Anne. “As expected of Lady Corvina.”

“I didn’t bake them myself, you know” said Corvina.

“Well, of course not,” said Anne. “I just mean any chef you hire is bound to be incredible! Why, these are almost as good as the pastries made by the monastery’s chef back in Longren. Oops—” Anne put her hands over her mouth, suddenly mortified. “I didn’t mean that in an insulting way!”

But Corvina didn’t look offended. If anything, she looked amused. “I’ll have to try those pastries from Longren one day,” she said.

Blushing, Anne put the rest of the cake down on the table. “So what was is that you wanted to discuss with me?”

“Well, I hope you’ll forgive my impertinence, Saintess, but I’ve gotten the impression that it seems like you know rather a lot about me,” said Corvina. “But I’ll admit I don’t know much about you, not on a personal level. So I was hoping you’d be willing to answer a few questions for me. So I can get a sense of who you are?”

Get to know you questions? Almost like a first date, thought Anne. No way that’s the intention, but it’s nice to imagine… “Of course, ask away!” she said out loud.

“First of all,” said Corvina, resting her chin on her hand. “I do already know you’re an elf, so there’s no need to wear that hood around me.”

“Oh, right…” said Anne, blushing and pushing the hood back.

“I see that minder of yours already got someone to fix your haircut,” said Corvina, reaching across the table to ruffle Anne’s hair. “It’s cute.”

“Thank you…” said Anne, turning her face away. She was entirely red now.

“I like the outfit, too,” said Corvina. “I think this suits you better than the dress you wore to the ball yesterday.”

“Weren’t you going to ask me questions?” asked Anne, who’s heart couldn’t take much more of this praise from Corvina.

“Oh, yes, of course,” said Corvina, sitting up straight again. She placed her hands delicately on her lap. This seemed to be her serious pose. It made Anne nervous, although, of course, she also thought it was very sexy.

“I want you to answer these questions based on your own personal opinions, not as a representative of the views of the church or anyone else,” said Corvina.

“Sure,” said Anne, who had been planning on doing that anyway. Perhaps being totally honest wasn’t the wisest approach, but Anne was a terrible liar, and Corvina was very perceptive, so why not just speak her mind?

“Who do you think should have more power?” said Corvina. “The imperial family or the church?”

“Oh that’s easy,” said Anne. “Neither.”

Corvina cocked her head to one side quizzically.

“Well, neither really has the best interests of the common people at heart,” explained Anne.

“Many would say that the church exists to serve the people,” said Corvina.

“Maybe more so than the Emperor,” said Anne. “But at the higher levels of the church it’s all about political maneuvering and seeking personal power. They only pretend to care about the people for the sake of their reputation, and so that people will give them money.”

“Hmm,” said Corvina. “I feel like I know how you’d answer this now, but there’s been a popular question up for debate among the young nobles lately. It’s the question of whether the peasantry exists to serve the aristocracy, or whether the aristocracy exists to serve the peasantry. Of course, many would claim that both are true, but it’s a matter of emphasis. Would you put the emphasis on a noble’s duty to serve those under them?”

“Oh aristocracy shouldn’t exist at all.”

Corvina’s eyes widened in surprise.

“No offense meant to you, of course,” said Anne. “But isn’t it ridiculous for someone to have tons of wealth and power just because of who their parents are? It’s an inherently unjust system. If you think about it—”

Corvina made a strange sort of snorting sound and turned her head away. After the initial shock of it, Anne realized it had been a laugh.

“How easily you toss aside the very basis of our society,” said Corvina. She looked genuinely amused. Her smile was reaching her eyes more than usual.

“Sorry…” said Anne.

“Don’t be,” said Corvina, taking a sip of her tea. “Do the others of the rebellion feel the same as you?”

Now it was Anne’s turn to be surprised.

Seeing the expression on Anne’s face, Corvina continue. “Yes, I know about the rebellion. But don’t worry, I haven’t told my father much about it.”

“You haven’t? Why not?”

Corvina shrugged slightly. “I didn’t think it was important for him to know. It’s not necessarily such a bad thing for radicals in a society to have a bit of an outlet, as long as you keep an eye on it. Perhaps I would have told him eventually, if the rebellion became a real threat.”

“Would have?”

“I’m no longer quite sure whose side I’m on,” said Corvina, looking Anne directly in the eye.

Anne could only stare back, amazed. Then she remembered Corvina had answered a question before. “Um, I don’t actually know if the others in the rebellion agree with me.” Eva won’t let me get too involved in the rebellion stuff, and The Foundling’s Wings was never very specific about the rebellion’s politics. “But you said you just wanted to know my own personal views anyway, right? You didn’t want me to act as a spokesperson.”

“Indeed,” said Corvina. She sighed, closing her eyes. “I suppose most of the political questions I had prepared are pretty irrelevant now. We’d best get to the more important questions, then.” Corvina opened her eyes again. “Yesterday, you said that if you didn’t change anything, something terrible would happen. Can you explain what you meant?”

Agis was watching this conversation play out from the top of one of the trees that lined the perimeter of Corvina’s garden.

He was watching the conversation play out because, as Corvina had explained, there was nowhere to hide within listening distance of the gazebo. Which was driving Agis insane. He kept leaning further and further away from the tree trunk, trying to catch a snippet of something.

“Are you hungry up there?”

Agis fell out of the tree, landing flat on his back and having the wind knocked out of him. When he recovered from the shock, he saw a maid staring down at him. She had light blonde hair and a smattering of freckles across her face.

“Oh dear,” she said. “Are you alright?”

Agis sat straight up. “I’m fine!” he said. “Who are you?”

“Helen,” she said, with a small curtsy. Although she was carrying a tray, so it was really just a slight knee-bend. “Lady Corvina thought you might be hungry, so she instructed me to bring you some tea.”

Agis glared at her.

“Don’t worry, Lady Corvina’s not going to hurt your sister,” said Helen. “She really just wants to talk to her.”

“It seems like your Lady knows far too much!” said Agis.

“Of course she does,” said Helen, proudly. “After all, she’s incredibly smart and cool and well-connected.”

“Well I bet she’s not as smart and cool as my sister!” said Agis, folding his arms. “My sister can perform miracles, you know!”

Helen was watching the elf prince carefully, and it was starting to make Agis squirm.

“What is it?” said Agis. “Have you never seen an elf before?”

“Oh, no, sorry,” said Helen. “I was just thinking how sweet it is that you care so much about your sister.”

Agis blushed. “But you really don’t care that I’m an elf?” he insisted.

Helen shrugged. “Why would I care?” Helen set the tray with tea and snacks down on the ground next to Agis. “Anyway, just enjoy your snacks and don’t worry too much! Someone will come by to collect the tray later so just leave it here when you’re done.”

Helen turned to leave, but Agis grabbed the hem of her skirt. “Wait!”

Helen looked down at him questioningly.

“You should have some, too,” Agis muttered. “After all it’s not fair that you had to carry this all the way over here and you don’t even get any.”

“How considerate!” said Helen. “Alright, I’ll have a few bites, although I really need to get back to my Lady’s side before too long.”

Helen tucked her skirt under her knees as she knelt down beside Agis.

“You know, I’m actually a prince,” said Agis. “And I’m a very impressive fighter. And I’m great at stealth. Normally no one would be able to catch me hiding in a tree in their yard.”

“Is that right?” said Helen, doing her best to suppress a laugh.

Agis nodded enthusiastically. “I come from the Sacred Forest, and I have this noble steed, Iramus, and I—”