The next morning the Bastard’s Club met in Corvina’s gazebo for their standard weekly brunch. At least, that’s how they hoped it would appear to any outside observers. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a group of noblewomen chattering over coffee and light breakfast fare.

“I’ve written ahead so that my parents will know to expect you,” said Belle, taking a sip of her coffee. “Knowing them, they're already excitedly preparing a spare room.”

“I look forward to seeing them,” said Corvina, picking at her eggs. “Although I’m sure it will feel a bit strange without you there.”

“I could still come with you, you know,” said Belle. “I worry about you alone out there in the border country.”

Corvina smiled. “I won’t be alone,” she said. “Your family will be there.”

Belle rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“I’ll be fine,” said Corvina. “Besides, I need you here. I have an important task for you while I’m gone.”

“Hey, no fair, I want an important task!” said Collette.

“You have one,” said Corvina. “I need you to keep an eye on the aristocratic social circles, pay attention to the general mood and any particular rumors.”

Collette clicked her tongue and folded her arms, disappointed. “Oh, but I always do that anyway,” she said. “That’s not exciting.”

“Wait, what do you need me to do, then?” asked Belle.

“I know this might not be pleasant for you but I’d like you to be our liaison with the rebel groups in the city,” said Corvina. “They’re decentralized and a bit unpredictable, and with so many major figures out of town at once we don’t know what they might do. We need to keep a close eye on them just in case.”

“What?” said Belle. “I don’t want to do that!”

“I do!” said Collette. “That sounds way more exciting.”

“Can’t Collette and I switch assignments then?”

Corvina shook her head. “Belle, I’m sorry, but you’re the only one I can trust to do this. Your mother is a commoner, so they’re more likely to trust you.”

“Your mother was a commoner, too,” said Belle. “And Collette’s.”

“Yes, but both of us were raised by our noble fathers,” said Corvina. “We never knew our common mothers. And besides, I’m going to be out of town, which is the whole issue, and Collette is… well, you know what Collette is like.”

They both looked at Collette, who had pulled a wad of cash out of her bag and was using it to fan herself.

“What?” she said. “What am I like?”

Belle sighed. “Fine.”

“You don’t have to do much,” said Corvina. “And I’m leaving Ulrich behind. He already has contacts with the rebels so he can work with you on this.”

“Alright,” said Belle. “Just send him over to my estate. I’ll tell my usual butler to go on vacation and we can say Ulrich is filling in for him.”

“Good plan,” said Corvina. “And Nia?”

“Hmm?” said Nia. She had been fidgeting with a fork and staring off into the middle distance during this whole conversation.

“While I’m gone I’d like you to pay special attention to any international goings-on. According to the prophecy of the Saintess it’s possible that war could break out with Quellinia at some point in the near future. I want you to let me know if you hear anything at all that appears to be heading in that direction.”

“Roger,” said Nia. “Are you sure you can afford to spend much more time here, though? Shouldn’t you get going if you want to make it to Longren tonight?”

“It will be fine,” said Corvina, sipping her coffee. “The Emperor has lent me one of the imperial carriages that’s treated with alchemy to make the wood unnaturally lightweight and we have a strong team of horses lined up. We should make good time. Still, you’re right, I suppose I should prepare to leave fairly soon.”

When the group finally said goodbye, they all gave each other hugs, something they rarely did (other than Collette, who hugged everyone all the time), but with this kind of travel and these sorts of high-level schemes you never knew when you might see each other again.

Still, the most difficult goodbye was with Ulrich.

“I still think I should come with you,” said Ulrich.

“Everyone’s saying that today,” said Corvina, with a smirk. “I told you, I need you here. I can’t fully trust anyone else. Even the Bastard’s Club, well… you never know when they might have their own agendas. We are who we are. But I know you’ll always have my best interests in mind.”

“Which is why I should be by your side!” said Ulrich. “What if the elves don’t agree to your plan? What if they decide kidnapping, or Goddess forbid, killing the Emperor’s daughter would serve their purposes better?”

“I can look after myself, Uncle,” said Corvina. “I’ll have my sword and my dagger on me at all times, and you personally taught me how to defend myself. Or do you not trust your own training?”

“Of course I do,” said Ulrich. “I’m just worried is all.”

“And I thank you for it,” said Corvina. She threw her arms around Ulrich’s shoulders. “I only have a sense of what family should be because of you, Uncle,” she said. “Thank you for staying by my side all this time.”

“Don’t say that like you’re not going to return,” said Ulrich, hugging Corvina back.

“Of course I’ll return,” said Corvina. “I can’t personally pull my father off his throne from all the way in Longren, can I?”

Ulrich let his niece go and wiped his eyes.

“Are you crying?” asked Corvina.

“No!” said Ulrich. “I just…” He clearly couldn’t come up with an excuse so he pushed past it. “Have you got everything you need?”

“Of course. Helen already checked three times.”

“And the driver has directions to the Tulin estate?”

“Yes!”

“And you know how to signal our agent in Longren?”

“Uncle! Stop worrying!” said Corvina. “I’m a big girl, I know what I’m doing.”

“Right, right, of course,” said Uncle. “And I hope things go well with Anne.”

Corvina opened her mouth to object or make a retort or something but she couldn’t quite find anything to say. Luckily, at that moment, Helen interrupted them.

“The carriage is ready, my lady,” said Helen, with a curtsy.

“I’ll be right there,” said Corvina.

Ulrich stood in front of the door to see them off, waving until the carriage was out of sight. He wiped a tear from his eye.

“That’s my brave girl,” he said to himself.

One of Corvina’s agents, dressed as a city guard, came running up to him. “Sir!” he said.

“Take it easy, man,” said Ulrich, under his breath. “You shouldn’t be approaching me like this so openly, not in the daylight.”

“I apologize, sir,” said the agent. “But I’m afraid I bring a rather urgent message. I didn’t think you would want to wait to receive this.”

“What is it, man?” demanded Ulrich.

The agent handed him a small piece of paper which he unfolded.

There, written in a delicate but flamboyant cursive, were the words, Guess who’s back in the city? After that the writer had drawn a small winking face. The paper smelled faintly of lavender perfume.

“Goddess’ tits,” said Ulrich. “Does anyone else know about this? Anyone in the… family?”

“Not yet, sir,” said the agent.

“Do your best to keep it that way,” said Ulrich, tearing up the piece of paper into tiny pieces and dropping them in the gravel drive. “And for the love of the Goddess tell her not to do anything until I contact her.”

That afternoon, after a morning spent searching every nook and cranny of the church complex for any sign of the assassin with no luck, Eva brought Anne to the rebel camp.

It was only a short ride out of Longren, but it was a little ways into the woods, further than most humans were brave enough to go, but not actually far enough for the confounding magics of the Sacred Forest to actually kick in. Anne was legitimately impressed with the location.

The location was just about the only thing she was impressed by.

The rebel army was a pretty ragtag group. No two people wore the same uniform, and the clothes they did wear were ragged and dirty. A lot of them were very young to the point where Anne wasn’t sure it was okay for them to be fighting in any sort of battles. There didn’t seem to be much discipline among the ranks either. Every soldier was preoccupied with their own activities. There were a few elves mixed among the humans, but if anything they seemed even lazier than the humans for the most part.

In one corner a boy who couldn’t have been older than sixteen was practicing shooting his bow while a group of elves lounged nearby and laughed every time he missed the target.

On the other side of the camp there was some sort of loud argument going on about which specific aristocrats most deserved to get hanged first.

“I sincerely apologize for the state of things, Saintess,” said Ylyndar, who had greeted them at the edge of the camp. “The humans here are mostly runaways or exiles. The stronger and more… careful humans tend to stay in the cities and covertly join rebel cells there rather than traveling to join the ranks here. And the elves… well. The first and second princes have never been particularly eager to lend their best to a joint effort with the humans. I do my best to organize them all, but… well, you see how it is.”

No wonder the rebellion didn’t get anywhere until after they allied with the Duke and his soldiers in the book, thought Anne. And now that I think about it, the rebel army in the book also had a huge influx of trained soldiers deserting after the fiasco with Quellinia…

“It may not look like much, but don’t worry, dear Anne,” said Eva, linking arms with Anne. “The power will come to us when we need it. After all, the Goddess is on your side.”

“Why did you join the rebel army, Ylyndar?” asked Anne, thinking that the serious, disciplined soldier seemed out of place with this motley lot.

“I’ve been bodyguard to Prince Agis since the day he was born,” said Ylyndar. “Kneeling at his cradle, I pledged my life to his service. Wherever he needs me to go to best support him, there I will go. Until the day he or I dies.”

“Wow,” said Anne. “That’s… a lot.”

“You’re seriously 38 years old!?”

“Shut up! I don’t want people around here to know how young I am, it’s embarrassing.”

Agis and Sebastian were sitting beside an unlit fireplace nearby.

“How in the world is that young?” asked Sebastian. Before Agis could answer, he spotted Anne approaching. “Oh my goddess, Anne!” Sebastian got to his feet and threw his arms around Anne. “I heard all about that dreadful assassination attempt! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“It’s fine,” said Anne, untangling herself from the hug. “They didn’t really, like, try to kill me. We just had kind of a weird conversation.”

“Still, we’re going to be extra vigilant with her security for a while,” said Eva.

“Do you think the assassin might come after me next?” asked Sebastian, looking worried.

Oh right, the whole reason we’re going to all this trouble is to save Sebastian from being assassinated, thought Anne.

“I… think it’s probably fine,” said Anne. “But we should probably get you properly kidnapped as soon as possible just in case.”

“On that note,” said Ylyndar, pulling out a small envelope. “This correspondence from Prince Elyon arrived just before you.”

Anne wasn’t entirely sure if she was the one who was supposed to read it in this scenario, but Ylyndar was holding the envelope out to her so she took it.

“What does it say?” asked Agis, trying to look over her shoulder as she read.

Anne finished reading the letter and let her hand drop to her side. “Well… fuck,” she said.