°~3 Weeks Later~°

(Alexander POV)

'Fifteen,' I growled.

'Should it be wise?'

'I said fifteen.' I slammed the money upon the desk.

Robert shrugged. 'Fifteen it is.'

He shuffled the cards around in his hands before administering two between us both, setting the deck aside. An Ace and a Two of Hearts. I took a glimpse over to him and caught as a sigh left his chapped lips. Clearing my throat, I reached out for an extra card.

Another Ace - what were the chances? Robert, too, took another. I chose to instead make one of the Aces a one and the other an eleven, ensuing a grand total of fourteen. Sniffling, I snatched up another: a Queen. I had to make both Aces a one in order not to bust. Following Robert's turn, I took my final card: an Eight of Spades. I fiercely strung the cards to my side, alarming Robert.

'Bust, ey?'

'Oh, no,' I spat, 'a perfect twenty-one.'

With a reluctant breath, he placed down his cards and whisked the money in the middle of the desk towards me.

'For the nation's Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton, you don't do too well financially.'

'You earned it,' I refused, turning my back. 'Take it.'

'You require it more than I.'

'What I require is sanity!'

'Alexander?' Jannetje entered through the doors, her little son suckling upon her breast. 'A letter addressed to you.'

She held out the piece of parchment for me to recieve. 'Swear it be another letter of question then I shall throw myself into the river. Thank you, Jannetje.'

She nodded kindly, gave her husband a gentle kiss on the head and left.

'Have you been expecting?' asked Robert.

'Not to my awareness.'

I opened up the letter and read. It was not someone who wished to question my actions, no, it was far worse than that. I sank pitifully into my chair, perking Robert's interest. 'Your wife?' I handed it over. I had only read the first couple of sentences and already, I was mortified by what I had seen.

Eyes flickering back and forth, he soon placed his hand on to this chin. 'Lord have mercy...'

'You don't suppose that they received one?'

'Perhaps,' he replied.

Thinking it through, I made up my mind. 'I shan't go.'

'And leave them to go alone?' Robert criticized. 'You wrote the damn thing, Alexander, it is part of your responsibility. I must be truthful in stating that it is a possibility that you might never see them again.'

'Oh, lay the blame on me, just as my wife has!'

'It is truth that I speak, in no way do I desire to ridicule you! Who was the one who let you stay at their home?'

I settled myself down. 'I am grateful, truly, I am.' Moments of silence led me to shake my head. 'I cannot go back to the home, but they must know as soon as possible. Perhaps we could make a negotiation.'

'Then I'll go,' he confirmed.

'Will you?'

He nodded. 'I know that you care for them. What you did was a terrible mistake, might I say, but we cannot lead them into their graves. I will do whatever I can to give help to an old friend.'

He patted down my shoulder and I smirked. 'You're truly loyal, Troup. I am forever in your debt.'

'And you're a stupid man, but I can't hate you enough to toss your life to the dogs.'

~

(Y/N POV)

The arena was dark; nothing could be seen throughout the abyss. I stared into the endless void, feeling around the warm air. A consumption of greed and turmoil smote the land, filling it entirely with grief.

There was something... strangely familiar about this...

Emerging from the shadows were two sources of light accompanied by a strange mist outlining their bodies. I don't know how, but I could just tell that the one on the left represented Honesty, whereas the right was Jealousy.

...I'd been here before...

With all the strength I had, I pulled myself up to my feet. This... dream... Yes, it was clear to me now! The lights, with Honesty shining brighter by the second and Jealousy cowering in reluctance. 'HELLO!' I called out as loud as my body would allow me to, evoking a flinch from Jealousy yet nothing from Honesty.

Then, the words. Still mumbled, yet more audible than previously. 'Reached the peak', 'refused', 'permits us', 'ready', 'God'.

'STOP!' I bellowed, recalling Honesty's fate as he would soon fade away. 'STOP IT, NOW!' I stumbled forward between the two lights, tried to push Jealousy away but was disrupted by a stinging sensation in my chest.

I could hardly perceive what was around me from my eyesight growing fuzzy, though enough to recognise that Jealousy was fading instead of growing brighter. I hadn't to know what I did, but as I turned, I noticed that Honesty was still in tact. The pain was indescribable, and soon enough, I'd fallen upon my back with the world around me turning dark almost instantly.

I woke up on the sofa with a blanket covering my body. Most peculiarly, a bubble softly landed on my nose and gave a brisk pop. I wiped away the liquid, glancing behind to catch Frances and Angelica blowing bubbles through a straw.

The fireplace was lit and all of the curtains closed; Eliza thought it for the best so that people couldn't get a look inside. Emily and I hadn't been outside for three weeks and were not permitted to, which was understandable. Eliza herself had reportedly received rude stares and mocks just from setting foot outside of her own home. She didn't do it so often now and left the shopping to Gertrude.

Though it was a risk, I'd slept on the sofa that night to watch over Bonnie who had fallen ill. We had no medicine to provide for her and so I volunteered to keep an eye out on her. So far, so good.

And then, a knock at the door. Frances and Angelica giggled as they left and I groaned. We weren't expecting any visitors so for once to turn up when I saw still in my nightgown I thought of as a disgrace. Accidentally, I rolled off of the sofa, almost face-planting the floor but holding myself up with my hands.

'Good morning, Mrs. Hamilton,' I heard a male voice greet. I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders, wobbling out of the room through the door to the far right.

I peered around the back of the staircase to see if I could spot who was there. Sad to say, there was nothing that I could see without confronting the figure. I hid myself behind the staircase and waited for Eliza to welcome him inside.

I hadn't caught his name, but with the word that he 'had important news', Eliza led him through to the other door into the sitting room. Once it had closed, I made sure nobody else was around and hurried myself to the door. I could guarantee that any important news nowadays involved me and my sister, so just as I had with the office those weeks ago, I pressed my ear against the door to listen.

'I hope you don't mind what I have done for your husband,' he began.

'Oh, no, it's better that way. So much as I loathe him, I could not bear to live with myself if he were out on the streets,' Eliza responded.

'Yes, well, he is well. He sent me out on a matter of urgency, Miss, and I hate to be the one to bring you the news.'

'Dear God, what is it?' Though she'd told us to never speak the Lord's name in vain, here she couldn't hold herself back.

The man sighed.

'A court is being conducted in regards to the notice.

A court that may seal the private executions of Y/N and Emily L/N.'