Sewheil carries Areiu to bed after supper. Leah remains in the dining area a little longer, nursing the sweet fermented milk beverage.

“Is Kain settled in alright?” Seffon asks.

Leah nods. “She’s staying with Jeno, I think.”

“Ah.”

“It’s convenient.” Seffon raises an eyebrow, and Leah shrugs. “Only need to guard one door.”

He chuckles a bit, setting down his glass. “I’ve been thinking about what we need to do, in the coming days. We’ll know almost immediately if Bair sends someone to Valerin, but we have to have a plan for afterwards.”

“You mean if Cheden and Devad don’t just give up and run away, and pretend they never tried to usurp?”

“Cheden might be sensible and run, but Devad is proud. Eschen has apparently still kept our declaration in the war a secret, and I can’t decide if he’s waiting for the most damaging moment to reveal us, or if maybe he has plans against Devad as well.” Seffon sighs and stretches his legs out. “I can’t predict where this war will go, not even a day from now. You’ve actually been inside the keep; you know what the situation is there.”

Leah nods, and recounts what she saw in as much detail as she can; the sparse kitchen, the barely equipped improvised hospital, the collapsed walls around the bridges, the polluted waters. “Really I think what they will most need is supplies.”

“Soren’s a decent medic, but I’ll mention it to Bair; they produce most of what we use here. Even the non-magical stuff.”

“Soren?” Leah asks, trying to remember the name.

“The ranger; one of our advance-guard.”

“Oh…”

Seffon looks up. “Yes?”

Leah looks into her cup, guilt churning. “When Eschen was grilling me for information, in the dreams, he asked me about the medic we’d sent in. He saw that some of the people in the hospital had received magical healing.”

“Did he know who to look for?”

Leah chews her lip. “All he knows is that the man is redheaded and a ranger, mid-thirties.”

Seffon hesitates, then nods. “You told him?”

“I did.”

“Why?”

Leah’s fingers tense around the glass. “I traded it for information about the five. To be sure they were all safe, or at least alive.”

Seffon nods. “And are they?”

“Vivitha’s in prison, Iris is still recovering in the hospital, and Meredith has apparently been party to some surrender talks between the captain and Lord Valerid.”

Seffon rubs his chin. “That’s interesting. That’s very good to know.”

“I didn’t have anything else to bargain with, I – ”

“If you say ‘sorry,’ I’m taking away the rest of your dessert.”

Leah bursts out laughing, sliding off the pillow and onto the floor. She takes a moment to settle herself again. “Okay, I won’t. But it was still very wrong of me to barter for information with someone else’s safety.”

“Soren will be fine,” Seffon says gently. “He’s already on his way back here.”

“What?”

“I called him back as soon as Solace described the situation in Valerin. If Bair or Algi finds one of our people in Valerin’s capitol, it will look very strange.”

Leah nods, still working through the last of her nervous guilt. “What are our options, in terms of the army you’ve got outside Valerin? Nine hundred!?”

“About that much, yes. Mostly volunteers and militia, with a few career-soldiers.” Seffon picks his drink back up and takes a sip. “If Devad decides to make a stand, it will not be by water. Our army’s primary purpose is to defend the city if Devad decides to go down fighting. If Cheden stays as well, then the army will be providing magical support to Valerin’s forces, land and naval.”

“What about the Baroness?”

Seffon frowns pensively. “I still cannot get a scry on her. If we could find her, there are a number of ways we could get her to safety. Possibly a small team, sent onto the ships, could search her out. Unfortunately, Solace tells us she is being kept with the Duke and Duchess, so there will likely be many highly trained guards protecting that ship. Possibly Eschen himself.” Seffon’s hand wanders to the pocket with the charm, but does not remove it.

“Is Eschen the one blocking the scry?”

“I don’t know. I imagine he’s not the only warrior-mage on the Cheden side,” Seffon says. “And even he can only spread himself so thin. He’s been trying to break into your mind, and collapsing bridges, and controlling Kain…he must be exhausted, unless he has support.”

Leah stares down into the drink again. “We’ll have to go face him eventually.”

“Sooner or later. He’s the best evidence we have of this being a usurpation, unless we find out who gave him his mission.”

“And what if it turns out to be someone in Cheden? What do we do about Jeno if her whole home nation is part of this?”

Seffon frowns. “She will need to seek asylum. If we can prove the usurpation, we can prove she was manipulated into killing Samson Valerid; that much won’t be a problem. Finding a place willing to incur Cheden’s wrath, and to protect her from anyone they might send after her…”

“But there’s an option? Other than sending her home?”

“Oh, absolutely. It will have to wait until after the situation is resolved, but she’s welcome here for as long as that takes.” Seffon hesitates. “Are you alright having her here?”

“Of course. I want her safe.”

“Alright.”

They sip their drinks in silence for a few moments, the candles burning down.

Leah sets her empty glass down. “Some people in this Hold still see me as an enemy.”

“Yes,” Seffon says, setting down his. “And they are wrong.”

“There was a confrontation, a couple days ago. In the mess hall.”

“I am aware.”

“Oh?”

“A dozen different people reported it to me.”

Leah looks at him in confusion. “Why? Who?”

Seffon shrugs. “Staff, militia, students. They saw the whole thing, and how lieutenant Adan ended it, and they wanted to make sure you were being looked after.”

“But why?”

“I think Solace phrased it well.” Seffon leans over the table to look into her face. “You’re a proper hero now. People think of you, and they think of the things you’ve done for the Hold, and for an innocent accused of murder, and for Valerin, and for me. They’re proud you’re on our side.”

“I’m just looking out for my friends, that’s all.” Leah looks down at the table.

“And who are your friends, here? Lord Valerid? The Baroness? Lieutenant Adan?”

She hesitates. “I don’t…”

“Is it possible that you’re not thinking on such a small scale anymore?” Seffon takes one of her hands. “Is it at all likely that you’ve found things in this world that are important to you, not personally, but ideologically?”

She sits up at that, frowning. “How so?”

Seffon pats her hand and lets go. “You pay attention to the minutiae, so it doesn’t surprise me that you haven’t noticed. Think about it, when you’ve got the time; are there things here that you care about? Not just people, but things, big things. Laws, morals, nations, peoples.”

“That’s a big question.”

“These are big times,” Seffon says, raising his eyebrows. He finishes the rest of his drink in one sip. “And everyone’s going to be making big decisions, soon.”

Leah nods, a little stunned. She gets up and goes to her room, the halls quiet for the night. Inside it is dark, lit silver by the moon though the sky is distorted by the pebbled glass. She strips down to her undergarments and pulls up the covers, still not entirely sure what to think.

I should make a second list. Not what I miss about home, but what I’d miss if I left here. No, that’s not fair; there’s so much here I haven’t yet discovered. How could I ever make an accurate list?

Her thoughts race down tangents as she drifts off.

Who matters to me? What matters to me? How can I keep it all safe? Why is it my responsibility? How can I rise to that responsibility? Who can help me meet that responsibility?

When I face down Eschen, who are the bastards backing me up going to be?

*

Leah wakes up groggily, a little sore from her skirmish on the wall the day before, but for once uninjured. The charms from her bracelet have left little dents in her wrist, and the chain itself has left a little line of ‘C’s, pressed into her skin. She takes the bracelet off and leaves it on the dresser. The beacon’s pretty much dead, anyway.

She reflects over the myriad events of the past few days as she brushes out her hair and goes to the showers. The Baroness is still alive. Eschen is going to try everything to make this look like a legitimate war, but the deadline’s coming up fast for when people realise it’s actually a usurpation; then, he’s going to either bail or try even harder to make it look legitimate. Jeno being confirmed helps this, because the Duke and Duchess can say that Cheden is only looking out for their family and Valerid’s, taking care of the city, et cetera.

The warm water is soothing on sore muscles. The stab wound in her side hurts only a little when she raises her arms, and the scab seems to be shrinking.

Eschen thinks I’m important to this war. Why? Because I know that he’s got a mission? Because I have Jeno? Because I’m with Seffon? Maybe he told something to other-Leah, and he’s worried I’ve remembered it. Maybe we should do another Bitter Dream, just in case…Seffon said it might be making me lose some of my own memories, but I’m okay with that, if it means I remember something important. Maybe I’ll get lucky and forget having had to learn trigonometry.

She dries herself off, checking for any new bruises or relapses in her previous healing. She runs through the tally in her head, of all the times she’s been injured, and smiles to herself. Oh, you bumbling fool. You’re lucky you’re still around.

She dresses in linens, not suede, to let the wound breathe. The shirt flaps strangely around her, the looseness unfamiliar after so long in armour. Bras. I should add bras to the list of things I miss from home. At least that’s something I could fix, here. They’ve got that sort-of-dudou type sports bra, at least. I should get a couple.

What’s for today? Training this afternoon again, I suppose. I’m improving quickly! Am I allowed to think that, or is it bad luck? Or hubris?

She goes down to the mess hall for breakfast. She sees Solace in the line, but does not call out to her; the hurt from yesterday is still there, and still strong. Why would Solace do that? She knew about me and Jeno. Wait – how did she know about Kain and Jeno? Oh, I suppose as the little servant girl. Humph. That’ll teach me for befriending a mistress of illusions.

I wonder who else she’s been? I’ve seen her be herself, Teo, Haybree…the guard, although that was more a clothing illusion…she made me look like Jeno, that one time.

Leah stops for a moment, looking up, thoughts shifting around on their own. Eschen wants his occupation of Valerin to seem legitimate. Jeno is a Valerid now. Eschen said he didn’t need Jeno to die, and Jeno even said he offered to sneak her out of Valerin. They have the Baroness.

The servant at the counter hands Leah her breakfast, and Leah thanks him absently, still staring into the middle distance.

Solace can illusion people. Seffon could get the Baroness somewhere safe, if he just knew where she was. The Baroness is insurance for the Baron’s good behaviour. Eschen wanted to know in clear terms whether Jeno was still alive. Jeno would legitimise this whole war, if the Auzzos had her back.

Solace can illusion people.

She leaves the mess hall and jogs up to Seffon’s library, then the tower, then the dining area. She bumps into him in the hallway on the way there.

“Oof!” Seffon catches her, looking a little worried. “Something wrong?”

“I’ve had an idea, about the Baroness,” Leah says eagerly.

Seffon perks up. “Yes?”

“You’re not gonna like it.”

“Oh dear.”

“We propose a prisoner-swap; her for Jeno.”

Seffon’s eyes widen. “Why by the Gods would we – ”

“But,” Leah cuts him off, grinning. “We send Solace instead, illusioned to look like Jeno.”

Seffon’s eyes drift off, and he runs a hand over his hair. “Okay…” he starts nodding. “Okay, I see it. And then?”

“And then we whisk the Baroness away, and Solace can do her weird teleport-jump-thing to get away. Or, if it looks like Eschen’s not going to allow it, Solace can grab the Baroness and teleport pre-emptively. Or, we don’t do the switch at all, and just say we will, so Eschen will show us the Baroness to prove she’s still alive, and then you can do whatever idea you had planned for if you found her.”

Seffon is nodding eagerly now. “It’s feasible. It’s flexible. You’re right that I don’t like it, there’s too much risk, but it’s the best option we’ve got to get her safe. And it fits well with the news I’ve just received.”

“Oh? Something from Bair?” Leah feels like bouncing on her toes.

“Not Bair; Algi.” He brandishes a missive. “Seven ships of the mercenary fleet have been sent out to Valerin’s capital, with food and bandages, but more importantly armed to the teeth and ready to seize or sink any Cheden or Devadiss ship that tries to stop them.” Seffon hands her over the paper, beaming. “Algi has recognised the war as a usurpation, and is declaring for Volst.”