If she was not desperate to escape, and if he was not grinning at her like a bloody fool that he was, Esther would have thought she was dreaming. A part of her thought this could not be real. Climb out the window—again? But she did. He forced her to after giving her only two options: stay or climb.

It took a while to convince Leila. No, in fact, Esther almost knocked her out when she refused to go with them. "Do you think me insane to leave you here to die? You are no High Priestess if you stay here and let that wench have control over everything." she had hissed at the child before pulling her out of bed.

And while Leo, his rope hanging from somewhere up on the roof, tied Leila with another rope someone unseen dropped from above, Esther shook her head. She looked over her shoulder in the direction of the door. Anytime, it could open. Anytime, they could be found out. And here she was, risking her own precious life for her brother's child. The brother their own mother ordered to be killed. The same one who was planning to commit treason. God only knew what Albert told this child, what his plans were for this child. But as bad as she was, Esther would dare not let a child die. Later. She would think about what to do with Leila later.

When Leila was out of sight and another rope was dropped, Leo grinned at her, holding out his hand. Why was he here rescuing her? What happened? Where was her mother? Did he even know what he was doing? Esther shook the questions out of her head and reached for his hand.

There was another man on the roof. Another Royal. He gave them cloaks that would help cover their escape. A gray one for Leila and a black one for her.

"Now, princess, I know you hate my escape plans," Leo said, pointing with his hand. "But do you see that tree?"

Esther followed the line of rope that ran from the roof to the said tree and shook her head. "Leo, you bastard. You can't—"

"Hang on to this," he said, addressing both her and Leila, tapping a bow-shaped handle perched on the rope. "Then do not let go. Fret not, you'll have a rope around your waist so you don't fall to your death in case you are too weak to hold on."

Her brow twitched. "Too weak?" she and Leila gritted out.

He shrugged, turning to Leila. "But first, the child."

"I am not—"

"You are a child." This time, she and Leo chorused.

Esther was itching to escape. She should be first, she thought. She had already done Leila enough favor by taking her with them. But what if there were enemies waiting on the other side?

So she allowed Leo to strap Leila to the line, and held her breath when the child was pushed away.

"Where is she?" she asked when Leila disappeared through the crown of the tree.

"We can only pray," Leo said, grinning at the look of horror on her face. "Your turn."

"No, you go first. This could be a trick."

He grumbled something under his breath and turned away. He went without another word, leaving her with the Royal. She watched and waited as he disappeared in the same tree Leila did. Then he poked his head out and waved in her direction.

It had never been easy for Esther to put her life in someone else's hands. Apart from her mother, of course, because the queen always knew what was best.

But Leo had not yet failed her. Yes, he tricked her before. Fooled her. But he had not yet put her in harm's way.

With a sigh, she stepped forward and allowed the Royal to secure a rope around her waist, giving it a heavy tug before handing her the bow-like handle. "Hang on to this," he said. "Are you ready?"

She did not know him. For a second, she wanted to know why he was doing this. Why he was here, risking his life for this. What was he to gain?

Too many questions. She should stop, really. And she did. Without a word to the Royal, she nodded, eyes on the tree. She did not know what waited for her on that side. But she knew what waited for her behind the door of the chamber they just escaped from. For the first time, she was choosing the unknown.

*****

Arielle waited in the hall of the Flower Garden, wrapped in her velvet cloak. Behind her were the Maidens, all of them wary, for certain, but also blindly following her orders. Just six of them. Asa had already proven that she did not deserve her cloak.

The Royals entered the hall just as she expected and she smiled when her eyes landed on Tanner. The fool. He thought he outsmarted her. For a moment, he did. Well, perhaps he did most of the time. But these men should have known that Belcourt ladies knew how to survive. Belcourt took what they could from anyone, including men. And Tanner was just one of them.

Her eyes jumped to West Blackwood, her brother by blood. The lucky child simply because he had a different father. She had seen him from afar many times, knew his voice, even the way he walked. She had captured him and his friend, seen him bound and gagged. She talked to him before she ordered for his death, but she had never had the opportunity to have him really look at her. To see her.

Did he despise her? Was he curious? Was he disappointed that he never got to her through Sasha?

"Good evening, gentlemen," she greeted.

They stopped when the Soldiers appeared from where they were hiding behind the columns that surrounded the hall. The Belles were not here because they had a different mission. Arielle could only wish the ladies could witness all these men be humbled in their beloved court.

"Are you surprised to find me here?" she asked, eyes on her brother. She could still not read him. His face was bare of emotions. The Soldiers moved in position, surrounding the Royals. "Hello, Tanner. I was hoping you would return and stand by my side. But that seems to not be the case."

Tanner smiled wanly and shrugged. "I had to make the hard choice, darling. Brother or sister? Sister or brother? As you can see, I chose the brother."

She scoffed, gaze never leaving West's. "How is Sasha, West Blackwood?"

Instead of giving her the satisfaction of an answer, he said, "Other Royals are surrounding this building, Arielle. I suggest you surrender to us before more blood is spilled."

"You dare enter my home and expect me to leave it for you to invade? Would you do the same if I sashay into Everleigh and demand that you leave the care of your child and his home to me?"

"You are using your so-called home to side with the enemies of the kingdom, if not the world. By doing so, you're not just putting Belcourt on dangerous grounds, but the entire kingdom as well."

"I don't care what happens to the kingdom. As far as I'm concerned, Belcourt is never a part of anything. We never were. Are we not the unwanted children of your so-called kingdom?"

Finally, she got something. His jaw tightened and something crossed his eyes. Remorse? Pity? Well, she did not want those. Belcourt did not feed on charity.

"Tell Reginald and Louis that their reigns are over. It's time for a new era."

A long silence followed her statement. All the while, she never broke eye contact. But West Blackwood did. His eyes went over her shoulder to address the Maidens. "You would not want to put the children through this," he said.

"Anything you wish to say, you direct it to me. They answer to no one but me, West Blackwood."

"You are not even the High Priestess," Tanner said.

"I am after the previous one has been proven to be incapable."

"You mean you are after you stole the role."

Her eye twitched and she snapped her gaze toward Tanner. The corner of her mouth lifted in a sneer. "I was her regent."

"By her appointment?"

"Of course."

"Then it must have been child's play for you." Tanner let out a chuckle and, with a mocking amused look on his face, looked at the Maidens. "You're quite a player, after all. You manipulated me and all these grown women, all of us capable to think until you played your tricks on us." He turned around to sweep his gaze at the Soldiers surrounding them. The women answered by raising their weapons. "All these accomplished women and no one questioned you. Bloody hell, even Louis could not make the entire House of Lords bow to his commands."

The gong had stopped, and it took a while for anyone to notice. Her eyes went to the wide opening of the hall, over the walls at the distant sky. The Royals did the same, and seeing the look of alarm on West Blackwood's face, she smiled. "Is Sasha in the Great Hall?" she asked. He turned to her, and she shrugged. "I knew you will come for the children first."

The smile on Tanner's face had disappeared. Arielle let out a long, bored sigh. "Fret not, we take care of our own. I made sure the Belles took out all the children and leave everyone else inside to burn." She let her shoulders drop in mock pity. "It will take us some time to rebuild the Great Hall. The new one shall have a history for the future children to learn. It would be standing on ashes of the Royal Circus, after all."

Finally, she saw something more powerful than pity in his eyes. Fury. Desperation. Love. All for one woman.

"In case you have not realized, Arielle, we're holding pistols," Tanner said. "Your Soldiers are wielding swords. This fight shall not take too long. And oh, yes, you'll not just be facing the Royals tonight. Unlike you, we make use of our enemies."

Her brow arched. "I am not falling for your tricks, Tanner, dear. We're past that stage."

"Oh, but I'm not," said Tanner. He turned to West Blackwood, who added, "The king sent his Royal Guards along with the Vandebergs and their men."

Her eyebrow twitched. Behind her cloak, her hand clenched into a fist.

"Oh my," she said with feign delight, stepping forward. "My brother is here. My sister is somewhere in a tower. And you are telling me that my father is also on his way here? This is a grand family reunion." She took two more steps. "Very well. Why don't we wait together? I have something to show you, after all. Will you walk with me?" She was not asking all of them. Her eyes were just on West.

His men looked at him, waiting for orders. His light blue eyes, which looked very much like hers, studied her for a few breaths. Then he gave the tiniest nod and turned halfway to give way.

Her back straight, she walked through the Royals and out to the garden. The Maidens and the Soldiers made a move to follow, but Arielle motioned for them to stay. The Royals did the same.

"Walk with me, West Blackwood."

He did. He stepped right beside her. Their shadows before them could be anything. Friendly strangers on a stroll. Brother and sister.

But they knew they could never be those. They were enemies. He was here to take her home. She was here to witness him lose his.

"I heard you have an heir. Congratulations," she said, eyes on the smoke that slowly rose to the sky in the distance. The Great Hall was burning, a sign of her retaliation against her enemies. A sign of her triumph.

She wondered what he could be thinking. Arielle was certain Sasha was inside that Great Hall. The traitor would have wanted to be a part of this great battle. Pathetic. She should have stayed behind with her son.

"Belcourt could work with us, Arielle," West Blackwood said. "It does not have to be this way. As your brother, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe."

"It's more complicated than that." She paused, blankly staring down at their shadows. Arielle was waiting, too. "I'm tired, you see."

"Then talk to us. Let us reach an agreement. Everything's over. We already have a list of the men who had been working with you. Louis' men are on their way to capture them. Belcourt is all you have now. Don't ruin it."

She shook her head and continued walking. Across the driveway. Toward the threshold of the Flower Garden. Then she stopped in the middle of the empty road to watch the lake not far away.

"Do you think she had ever thought that we would someday be together like this?" she asked with a bitter smile on her face.

"I'm certain she wanted it to be different."

"Of course, not. She knew the consequences of her actions. Of all the people she could play with, she chose the husband of the then High Priestess."

West looked over at the Great Hall. "Her only sin was to love the wrong man." Then he turned to her, eyes boring into hers in a way that made her a little uneasy. "And leaving you here."

She looked away. "She had no other choice."

"If she knew who the High Priestess was, she would have never stepped foot in this place again."

Arielle shrugged. "Well, it's rather too late to debate on the matter. The woman is dead. And you will be, too, if you don't pull your men out of Belcourt."

"What do you want, Arielle?" he asked, voice almost desperate. He must be in a hurry to save his wife, she thought.

"I want all of you gone," she said. "I want Louis gone. Reginald gone. I want the Vandenbergs gone."

"You're doing this because you feel abandoned."

"I may be an orphan, but I never felt abandoned. As much as I hate Louis, Albert saw me for what I am. He treated me with respect. He saw me as his sister. He made me a Maiden. Don't get me wrong, West Blackwood," she said with a laugh. "I never desired to be a part of anything other than Belcourt. And you're all trying to take that away from me. First, you took away Albert. Then this."

"We would not if you are not feeding the entire kingdom to the enemies."

"I'm simply playing the game all of you have been playing for years, West Blackwood. As I understand, there's no rule against anyone outsmarting anyone. Albert was right. This kingdom is rotten. He knew what his family had to do to climb to power, and he was done with that. It's not Belcourt who's been feeding the kingdom to the enemies—it's the king. He has been sending soldiers to die in a war we never even wanted." She lifted her chin with a smile. "The world will never survive Napoleon. Unless we're on his side. You have no place here in Belcourt, West Blackwood. Belcourt only welcomes allies."

She took a step back when they heard the sounds of hooves approaching.

She smiled at her brother, then at the Royals who came running from the Flower Garden. "That does not sound like your men, does it?" Tilting her head to the side, she narrowed her eyes. "Nor the Vandenbergs. Or the Royal Guards." When they turned to face the army of men approaching them, Arielle allowed a very satisfied smile. "They sound French, don't they?"