"Plans have changed," Ellise told Gabrielle. "Now that we know the French soldiers are already here, we have to step back and regroup."

"I need to reach Belcourt."

"I know," said Ellise, looking at her, face unreadable. "I'm not the one who makes the decisions in the Circus. If you want to get to Belcourt, you will have to wait."

Her jaw tightened, and her gaze flickered to Rider Fairborne. He remained motionless where he was, just watching everything like he always did. Thinking that she had made her choice—that this was her choice—Gabrielle nodded.

"Good," Ellise said, turning around to the door. "I hope you don't mind if we lock the door."

"Where are we going?"

"To meet with the Royal Master."

*****

"I will meet you in Strait after I get Sheridan," Dior told her the moment they were alone in their cabin.

Ellise nodded, facing him. She considered his serious face, completely aware why he wanted to go. He was not doing it for Ruby. He was doing it for Sheridan Garmont, the only living relative of the man he did not manage to save.

"Bring two Royals with you," she told him. "We don't know how many Soldiers are going to be there."

He nodded, stepping closer. He planted a kiss on her forehead. "Please don't go anywhere until I'm back."

"Are you asking me to make a promise?"

She felt his smile against her skin. "You'll never do that, but I hope you will."

"There is a chance Blackwood will make a move, and if he does, I don't think we can wait for you. We don't know where things stand with Reginald and the Vandenbergs."

He leaned back just enough to look at her. "Elle, forming alliances is the former Darcy's expertise. I'm sure she'll be able to convince everyone to swallow their pride if they all want to survive."

She shook her head. "I just don't like how we have to constantly change plans."

"Of course, you don't. That's why you're not the Royal Master." She scoffed. "You are no longer fencing or playing chess with friends, Elle," he said. "This time, you don't know your enemies well to expertly guess their moves. Not even the ones on your side."

She did not comment. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. She did not want him to go. What if he never came back? But if she stopped him and something happened to Sheridan Garmont, he would always live in the shadow of guilt. She kissed his jaw and murmured, "Be safe."

His mouth sought hers. "And be very careful. No fencing."

She smiled. "No fencing."

"And for God's sake, Elle, no horses."

His hands unbuttoned her dress and she let him slip it down her shoulders. "No horses."

*****

Leila watched Jade pace before her, looking troubled.

"You're saying that Esther is here?"

"Yes. We are being kept in the tower."

"Arielle never told me." The Mistress' voice was laced with anger and frustration. She stopped pacing and faced Leila. Asa stood silent in one corner, head bent. "She told me Esther was captured by the Circus."

"She was, but now she's here."

Jade's jaw tightened and Leila could only hope that the woman hated Esther as much as she hated Trent Durham. Albert once told her that fury was the best weapon, so long as it's not yours.

"I don't know why Arielle did what she did to me," Leila said when Jade remained quiet. "In fact, I didn't understand many of the things she did, but I think I know now. She wanted to be High Priestess so she can use the women of Belcourt for her own personal battle. Just like what Esther did to you, she used me and then disposed of me."

The fury in the woman's eyes grew, as did her breathing. "What do you need, Your Highness?"

"I need to get out of here. I'm not safe here while Arielle is in control. I need to get help from the Circus. I've managed to manipulate them enough to be able to use them to regain my seat in the High Court."

Jade shook her head. "The Circus will never lift a finger to help you. They're intent on destroying us."

"No. I know Robert Dior. He will help."

"Dior and his friends are currently preoccupied. After what happened, they are even more cautious. To get to them is as difficult as getting into Arielle's chambers."

Leila frowned. "What do you mean by 'what happened'?"

"The attack."

"Which one?"

"The one near Herst. Arielle sent Soldiers to attack Dior's ship. There were a few casualties. His father was killed. But so were others back in Herst."

Leila stiffened. "Others?"

Jade nodded. "I'm uncertain of the numbers, but I heard Trent Durham's brother was killed."

Blood drained down Leila's face. "Jamie?"

Jade nodded, the corner of her lips quirking into a smile. "I heard he was found dead inside the closet with Caroline's sister."

Suddenly, Leila did not feel quite well as she imagined Jamie and Camila inside a dark closet, hiding, one of them dying. In a flash, the image of the pair came to her. Their obsession over their future house, their gardens...

She could still vividly remember the first time she met them. "I'm Camila. This is Jamie. We are betrothed."

And she could still hear Jamie's voice when he said, "We have to make a plan. But we should make haste. We are expected to join them downstairs."

"That can't be. We don't kill children," she said, voice shaking.

Jade shrugged. "It must have been an accident."

Leila stood, tears welling her eyes. "We do not kill children." We save them.

Jade blinked and stepped back, bowing her head. "I'm sure it was just an accident, Your Highness."

Leila closed her eyes to master herself. She willed the tears to stop, to retreat. This was not the time to be weak. Lifting her chin, she stared at Jade. "If you help me regain my throne as High Priestess, I'll give you Esther."

Jade looked up at her, eyes glimmering with hope and eagerness. "I would also want Ellise St. Vincent."

Leila frowned. "Why?"

"She almost killed me."

Of course, Leila thought, nodding. "But only if I get to be High Priestess."

Jade nodded. "I'll find a way out for you, Your Highness."

She nodded, turning away from the Mistress. "I'll return in three days. By then, I want to hear a plan."

Outside, as they traversed the corridors of the Flower Garden, Leila added instructions to Asa. "I want to know what Arielle is planning."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Inside the carriage a few minutes later, Leila sat on the floor, arms wrapped around her knees. The image of Jamie, Camila, and Mason with his stick walking in the woods, came to her. And before she knew it, tears escaped her eyes.

She did not even know why she was crying. She should not because she barely knew them, barely spent time with them. But Jamie did not deserve to die—not when there were people who should have been protecting him. He had parents. He had a future.

Her shoulders shook with the gentle journey of the carriage down the road. And her tears were as silent as the night outside. Finally, she realized, that in war, children's cries were often unheard. The world would never be a safe place for children. Not outside Belcourt, not inside.

*****

The journey back on land was short, but when they set foot on solid ground, dawn was giving rise to a new day. Ruby waited with two Soldiers as Robert Dior and Ellise St. Vincent stood on one side of the dock, talking in whispers. In her time with Robert Dior, back when he was her flower, she could have never imagined him being with a woman. There was not a romantic bone in his body. But with this woman, who was just as stoic as him, he looked like a man hesitant to go to war.

She looked away when he planted a nonchalant kiss on Ellise's forehead, her eyes landing on another group of Royals escorting Gabrielle into a carriage. Ruby could only guess why the woman was with the people Belcourt deemed to be its enemies. Mayhap Gabrielle was also facing a battle of her own, one that involved people outside Belcourt.

Seeing Gabrielle here amongst Royals gave Ruby hope. The women of Belcourt had roots and history outside the walls of fantasy Belcourt built around them. And no matter what the institution told them, whatever the story they believed in, those roots and history would always find a way to slither back into the fantasy.

"Are you ready?" Robert Dior's voice asked beside her.

She looked up at his stoic face. Suddenly, hesitation crept in. She was desperate to save her parents and Sheridan, but would she also take this man away from the people he cared about? "You don't have to do this," she told him. "I can go alone. I think it's a much better plan. I can always make an excuse for the Soldiers. They've always believed me." She stole the two Royals standing behind Dior. "If they find you there, it might just turn bloody."

"The fight is already bloody, Ruby," Dior said, walking away. "We have to get moving. Let's not wait for the sun."

*****

West was cradling Jonah in his arms while Sasha sat in a chair, Seven on her lap as she absently gazed at them with a small smile on her lips. They did not object when Vanessa Lyndon, the captain of the ship that brought them to England, suggested that they named their first son Jonah. It meant dove, the symbol of peace. "It's also the name of the boy who survived after being swallowed whole by a whale," Vanessa had said. "He came out alive and wiser than he was before."

Odd as it was that a woman like Vanessa Lyndon had read the bible, Sasha and West agreed to the name. Jonah crying snapped her back to the present.

"I think he's hungry," said West, turning toward her with a panicked look on his face.

"No, I think he's not liking all the juggling."

"I'm not juggling him."

She gently gathered Seven and placed the dog on the floor to stand and take Jonah from her husband. "You have to be gentle," she said, smiling down at her son.

"How did you learn to do this?" he asked, watching her watching their son.

She looked up to frown at him. "Are you seriously asking me?"

He blinked at her innocently, and she laughed when the realization finally reflected on his face. "You had to take care of the other orphans in the Common Court."

She planted a kiss on Jonah's forehead. He had gone back to sleep in her arms. "We were each other's family," she murmured, reminiscing about the nights they would have to wake up to care for an infant who had been dropped outside Belcourt's gates. They would also take the babies to the hired nursemaids living in one room in the orphanage.

West leaned closer to kiss her. "Your family is growing, darling," he said, turning around when a knock came to the door.

Darren walked in and in a conspiratorial whisper, said, "He wants to see you, Your Grace."

West sighed and nodded. "We'll be down shortly."

Sasha chuckled, turning away to place Jonah in his crib. "He's like a child throwing a tantrum because he's not getting what he wants. It's time you practice on him."

"I'm considering the use of force, but then I know you won't like that," he said as he stepped out of the room. Jonah's nanny walked in as Sasha joined her husband down the corridor.

She took his hand, and they both enjoyed the short quiet of the manor.

When they reached Reginald's bedchamber, he looked just as they expected: old and grumpy. But what he said next was not as they had expected. "Call everyone. And I mean everyone, including Luis, his witch of a wife, and their son."

Sasha blinked in surprise. "And what should we tell them so they actually come, Your Highness?"

The old man's eyes flickered away from them. "Tell them we're all going to enjoy a private dinner."

"And what shall be served?"

"Truce for the main course. Marriage for dessert. They will have to come if they don't want Napoleon at the head of the table."

"We will send words at once, Your Highness."

He grumbled under his breath at West's amused tone. "And I want Leo here at once!"