The flight to Vacuo was awkward.

Oscar was oblivious. He was reading the whole time and making notes.

Cinder pretended to be reading also, again, but she wasn't really processing anything on the page.

"So..." Royal said, after an hour at least, "that was interesting."

"I don't want to talk about it," Cinder said firmly.

"All right, fine..." Royal dropped it.

But he kind of smiled to himself--and then frowned, confused.

"Aha!" Oscar scared both of them by saying some time later. "I think I've found something."

He walked up to the cockpit.

"We're nearly there," Royal said.

The flight to Vacuo from Vale was only a few hours, at the speed of these ships. They could already see the mountains below them.

"Okay." Oscar nodded. "But look, I've been researching the royalty of Vale. The records are pretty haphazard past 200 years, as you know, but there's some rough documents that they think survived... Anyway there're big gaps in the genealogy of the kings of the four kingdoms. but I finally found one book that mentioned a King Charles, also called Charlemagne the Humble."

"Humble?" Cinder grabbed the book out of his hand without asking. "Let me see." She frowned at it. "Why would anyone call a king that?"

"Well, you know how they used to give kings special titles to describe their ruling style?" Oscar said. "Apparently he didn't want to be king, so people said he was the humblest one. Also they were kind of poor. It was more of a title than anything that gave you wealth. I mean, they built the kingdom up, yeah. The records say he only became king in the middle of his life, which is pretty unusual. But the kings of Vacuo and Mistral also were like that. Only Mantle had an established line already. Kind of makes sense. They had to be the most organized kingdom. Oh, and Vale and Vacuo were friends at the time then too. King Charles and the King of Vacuo apparently knew each other."

"That sounds like the connection that might be missing." Cinder looked up. "Didn't you say that there was one other man who came back from that quest?"

"Yes, but I never heard his name," Royal said. "I didn't even hear it was a man."

"It was," Oscar said. "Mantle had a queen at the time--all the others had kings. Menagerie didn't even exist yet. This book is just a commentary on the old documents... Unfortunately they were pretty damaged. Most of the kings' reigns aren't preserved. We just have the names because they were listed in more than one section...and the titles and some other stuff. But the commentary says there were rumors that the Grimm began to lessen in those days, and we know that eventually the kingdoms were able to build larger cities, but those have hardly ever been replicated since. Every time we expand beyond the main cities, the Grimm stop us. Until recently."

"So you think that the reason is that whatever this Charles knew, from Alicia," Cinder said, "he helped the kingdoms use it to get actual strongholds established, just like we are now...but over time they forgot, and no one has been able to grow the boundaries of the kingdoms anymore since then."

"That's what I thought," Oscar agreed. "This is so interesting. It explains some stuff I wondered about, concerning the kingdoms. It always seemed so impossible that they ever grew so big when Grimm never let up...but if something was stopping the Grimm from working, that explains it. Something even Salem couldn't have explained since she didn't know about it. The Great War also changed stuff, but the kingdoms were way stronger when the War happened."

"Wow." Royal shook his head. "I can't believe this... There's actually some evidence that the rumors about my family were right. And my father isn't alive to hear it. That is some kind of irony."

"I wonder what Vivian would think of this," Cinder couldn't resist saying.

"Can't wait to find out," Royal said dryly.

"Who?" Oscar asked.

"My cousin," Royal said. "The one I visited a few hours ago?"

"Oh. Right...Vivian... Huh, that sounds familiar."

"You ever shop at Vestimos Lavida?" Royal asked.

"I think I bought a coat from their knockoff shop once," Oscar said. "I outgrew it a while ago, but I gotta admit it was a really durable coat. Quality stuff is important for a huntsmen."

"Wait, that one you had back then?" Cinder said.

"Yeah," Oscar said.

"Hmm...that was pretty good," Cinder said.

"Is Vivian your competition then?" Oscar asked. "Is that why you were acting salty about her?"

"What? No," Cinder said. "Those factory items can't compare to tailored clothes anyway. Don't be ridiculous."

"Do you still take orders?" Oscar asked. "I need new combat clothes."

"Take it up with Faye." Cinder shrugged.

"There it is," Royal announced. "Well...I  hope this will be an enlightening visit for us all."

Vacuo was in sight.

* * *

Theo was waiting for them on the airstrip...to Oscar's dismay.

"Oh, you didn't have to come all this way in the heat," he said. "We would have come to you."

"What kind of cousin would I be if I didn't welcome my own kin in person?" Theo asked, clapping him on the back way too hard. "Wow, you're really not so scrawny anymore. I can almost believe we're related."

"Not...blood..." Oscar coughed.

"Maybe," Theo said. "We'll never know. I asked Vic about that, you know, since she knew Uncle so well. She said she always thought that some ho told him that I was his and he never bothered to fact check, just figured I needed to be taught some discipline. I don't really remember that much about my mom, so she could be right."

"Did you just say that word...?" Oscar said.

"What? I don't know," Theo said. "Amway, come on. Vara said you have to visit the house this time. No more skulking off to the library... Oh, hello, Fall...other guy who is probably dating her."

Cinder turned red.

"Funny." Royal by now knew what to expect from Theo... He'd made enough runs to Vacuo to have the idea.

"I thought so," Theo said. "But seriously, why are you always paired up? Is Raven matchmaking again or does she just hate you?"

He meant Royal.

"She'd be more likely to just hate Cinder. She's the one who complains about it." Royal shrugged.

"Theo!" Oscar hissed. "Can you not say that? Have a filter, please."

"Oscar, by now you know I don't have one of those," Theo said, carelessly. "Come on, Coz. Oh... be careful around the house though. Vara's been babyproofing everything in case the kid has her Semblance. Maybe he'll have mine, though. Then we'd never worry about him getting lost."

"Is it a boy?" Oscar asked. 

"Officially, we don't know, but I have a gut feeling," Theo said. "I don't think I'd have a girl first, you know."

"Do you control that?" Royal muttered.

Cinder rubbed her face and rolled her eyes.

"How does Oscar put up with this guy as his family?" Royal asked her in a low voice. "I always want to slug him after listening to him for one minute."

"I don't know," Cinder said. "But Vara is almost worse."

As evidenced by Vara's reaction when they arrived at the "house".

It was more like a small apartment, since it was Vacuo. But Theo and Vara hadn't wanted to live in Shade's teacher's quarters with a baby--they knew their students couldn't be trusted to be child safe.

So they'd moved in recently.

Vara was almost due and it showed, but she seemed just as high spirited as before, if not more so.

"Oh, hello, Oscar," she said. "Finally. I thought you'd avoid us again. Look, can you believe how nice we set this place up? Sit down."

"Thanks, Vara, but I really just came to ask about some books," Oscar said. "And Royal has some questions too, for Victoria... Is she around?"

"She's still at the lab," Theo said. "They finally decided she wasn't guilty, and now she swears she'll find a way to trace those scurvy bandits. I hope so... I heard about Menagerie already. Sorry...I wish I'd been there to beat the crap out of those b-----ds."

"I'd like to give them a beat down too," Vara said fiercely. "If I could, I'd use a barbed wire whip to hit all the most sensitive parts of their bodies."

Royal winced.

"I see you're just as unstable as before," Cinder noted. "Time changes some people not at all."

"Has it changed you, Cinder?" Vara asked, rather meanly. "Other than that eye and arm that you still have. I'm almost surprised, with all the attacks you've been in, that they haven't left a mark yet. You never did have the most luck with that."

"What about Watts?" Cinder changed the subject.

"Oh, him." Theo scowled. "He says he just hasn't been able to get any real information from his contacts yet. I don't really buy it. Robyn's not around right now, so I can't ask him if he had anything to do with this Menagerie thing. But I wouldn't put it past him. I wish we'd killed him back when we had the chance... Vic, though, she was livid. I had to keep her from wheeling into the jail to flail him alive when I told her that he stole her research and made copies. She said she'd burn his moustache off with a hot iron."

"She's never liked that moustache," Vara noted. "OW!" She winced and sat down. "Kid, stop kicking me there! I swear..."

"Wow," Oscar said. "I forgot that you can feel that... That's so amazing."

"Not so amazing when it's in the middle of the night," Vara said. "They're just like their father--they have way too much energy at night."

Royal gave her a strange look.

Theo chuckled.

It took Oscar a second to understand, and then he looked away.

"Both of you disgust me," Cinder said. "Why can't we focus on the problem?"

"Oh, cool your jets, Fall," Theo said. "If you want to take a shot at getting Watts to talk, be my guest. It seemed to work before. He's still sore about that, by the way. He's said several times that he can't believe he got put inside the cell because of that airhead. Nice to know he's never changed his opinion of you in all this time. It's reassuring."

"The airhead who's already outsmarted him twice, and he's 0 for 2," Royal noted. "Some people are beyond delusional."

Cinder shot him a questioning look.

"Whoa, what's going on with you two?" Vara asked, sitting up and gesturing. "I thought Theo was kidding about that, but there's some kind of vibe happening right here. What's with all the glances?"

"Vara," Oscar said, "come on, don't give them that. Not everyone is as okay with that as your students are."

"You see, that's what I don't get about Atlesians," Theo said. "Or Valeians. They're all so polite. Or just plain cold. They won't say what they really think or feel. In Vacuo, we're just direct. If we like you, we tell you. We don't stand on ceremony. We have red-blooded passion. You guys are weird."

"And Mistral?" Vara asked. "Let's not leave anyone out, baby."

"Mistral? I always thought they were kind of too wishy-washy about it," Theo said. "They write dumb poems and stuff. That's all stupid. Just tell someone you like them and they're hot. That's all we need here."

"And that works for you?" Oscar said, with some slight curiosity... He was still a teenage boy after all.

"Well, there are a lot of couples at Shade," Theo said. "And there were hardly any in Atlas before it went down. I think that speaks for itself. Besides, you saw it yourselves. Sun and Meridian? They're both from Vacuo, and they got their girls the fastest and most confidently out of any of you youngsters. And it took Var and I like one meeting for me to know I liked her."

"But did you tell her that right away?" Oscar said.

"How long did it take me?" Theo asked Vara.

"As I recall...48 hours maybe," Vara said. "I remember, we left that inn, went back to Vacuo, found a hiding spot, and then you said if I wasn't doing anything later, you were available for a good time or something like that."

"Then she said no," Theo said. "Vara had her pride. Didn't want to seem too easy."

"So, what, did she run out of options?" Cinder said meanly. "Or was it the cabin fever?"

"Actually, Theo can be quite romantic," Vara said. "But I won't waste my time trying to explain it to you. You're not the type who'd understand."

Cinder actually looked kind of offended by that.

"Hey, that's mean," Oscar said. "We were just asking. You guys seemed to think you're role models...though I don't know if I'd ever do it your way."

"No, you're too nice about it," Theo said. "Why aren't you and Ruby dating yet? I mean, do you want that girl to get the idea you're not interested?"

"Theo!" Oscar blushed.

"They're not dating?" Royal didn't help by saying.

Cinder slugged him.

"Sorry..." He rubbed his arm.

"You and me both, Pilot," Vara nodded.

"Can we please just go talk to Vic now?" poor Oscar begged.

"Fine, always in such a hurry," Theo said. "I hope you learn to appreciate family time in the future, Pine. Even Emily said she might visit once the baby is born."

"Maybe she wants to file for custody," Cinder said meanly again.

"Ha ha," Vara said. "You're no one to talk about getting custody. I hope you never decide to have kids."

"Vara!" Oscar cried. "That is enough. If you're going to keep talking like that to her, I'm not going to come visit here at all. Or to anyone. I don't care if you prefer 'family', you still need to treat my friends with respect."

Theo and Vara looked at each other and then at Oscar and smirked.

"Well, there we go," Theo said. "Kid has spunk, if you push him hard enough."

Oscar looked as if he was going to blow a gasket at that.

"Well, let's go," Vara said. "I don't want to miss this. Not this time."

[Are they the worst or best family members ever? I never can tell.]

* * *

Victoria was not as dreadful as Cinder expected her to be when they showed up.

"So, you want to know about those books?" she said. "I do still have them...except that one Theo never gave back."

"I have it right here." Theo held it up. "Here, Zapato."

He handed it over.

Royal took it with more interest and opened it carefully.

"Be careful with that," Victoria said. "So let me understand this... He's related to the man who wrote that book?"

"It's our theory," Oscar said.

"I'm surprised," Victoria said. "Charles LeMain was an exceptional man, from the accounts he gives and his later ascent into the ruling class, as I understood it, and you are an ordinary pilot."

Royal paused to give her an annoyed look.

"Maybe he's more interesting than he looks." Theo leaned on a table.

"Theo, your elbow is right next to a highly volatile prototype for my new shock weapon," Victoria said calmly. "But if you want to risk it, be my guest. It should be a show."

Theo moved at once.

"They let you make weapons?" Cinder said.

"Try to understand this, Fall--some of us are just the best of the best," Victoria said, holding up a screwdriver in a prissy way. "And the best cannot be discarded when they have an idea."

"I think I see why you and Watts get along so well," Royal muttered.

"Do not mention that SOB's name to me," Victoria said. "I'm still frustrated at him."

She strained. "If I was out of this chair, I'd crush him. I'd stomp on his stupid jugular."

"The Vacuo in you really comes out when you're mad, Vic," Theo said.

"I'd like to hurt him also," Vara said. "Though it wouldn't be very forgiving, I suppose. But I still don't see how you didn't know what he was doing."

"We work separately a lot," Victoria said. "I can't have him breathing down my neck all the time... Anyway wasn't it your job to make sure he was supervised?"

"What about the idea of tracing the bandits' signal?" Cinder interjected.

"Oh, yes... Surprised that you and Raven thought of that," Victoria said. "Then again, her involvement in this is just so ironic...so is yours, actually. But anyway...yes, I have it ready."

She wheeled to a different table and picked up a box. "But there are limitations. If they are hiding out underground, as I strongly suspect, this won't do much good. Radio signals aren't strong enough to go underground. There are some signals that can. But technology is...limited, unfortunately. Especially without extra power of magic or dust."

"You know why you're banned from using dust for anything except batteries," Theo said firmly.

"Blah blah," Victoria said. She pursed her lips. "Theo, though, you could probably track them, if you knew anyone in that camp well enough. But you'd have to get close enough to. For that, maybe this will help, if you can find unregistered air ships or any other signal out there. You might narrow it down. But unless you get close enough to follow one of them to the entrance of their hideout, I don't think it'll be anything anyone can just walk into."

"What could it be?" Vara asked. "Bandits aren't know for their technological prowess. If they're in some cave somewhere, it can't be that hard to find."

"Vara, did you really not pay attention in history class at all?" Victoria said. "Don't you remember the thing that inspired Derek's tunnel plan to begin with?"

"I never really cared about the boring part of history," Vara said. "Just the battles."

"You dunce, this was to do with battles," Victoria said. "Back before the kingdoms were organized like they are now, people needed strong shelters from the Grimm. Tunnels have been used many times... Some innovative people turn them into more elaborate fortresses. Not as good as the one here--they didn't have the advancements for that." She smiled smugly. "But they knew enough. Some of those places were in Mistral and are likely still in good condition; they were made of rock, after all. If that ungodly tribe has found one of them and managed to seal it off, they would be hard to find for even the Grimm."

"This didn't come up before?" Cinder asked.

"No one said the hideout was in the mountains before," Victoria said. "If it was just in the forest, there was no reason to assume they had it underground. But as I've been informed, you encountered the bandits both at a rock quarry, many months ago now, and at a pass... It's plausible that they have tunnels under rocky areas that lead back to their main hideout. Likely they don't use the same tunnels to go all the way there, just in case they are caught. Just like I would get in and out of the ones here to avoid being detected. But if there's one, there's more. You'd have to find the right one. Which is looking for a needle in a haystack if it's hidden in rocks. But it's a theory."

"These are mostly in areas that Raven has staked out as being likely for them to hide in," Theo said. "But they're not big ones. Not likely on the northern side."

"So? They don't need to be that big," Victoria said. "I do have one more little toy for you."

She picked up another box and opened it. This had many small devices inside it.

"Aura protection," she said. "The ion charges and dust combinations I used to make those Aura-draining devices do rely on some electromagnetic current, which goes through all living beings. If you can disrupt that connection, the devices don't work. These things should do it, effectively making the drainers not work on anyone who wears them...but be warned, they're not very durable. It's delicate programming, and it can only handle so much without blocking the signal. The drainers are meant to work with the element of surprise, so that didn't matter much, but these will have to be worn all the time... I designed it to look like a watch or bracelet, but a smart bandit will probably guess soon enough what they are. I wouldn't wear them where they can be seen. I think I made enough for everyone in your core team, but not for backup. I need more dust for that."

"If you want to expand your quota, we have to approve it," Vara said. "And so does the lab commissioner. We can try."

Victoria sniffed in annoyance.

Cinder picked up the bracelet. "Should I trust this after the last time I was close to one of your inventions?"

"It worked, didn't it?" Victoria said. "Even if you didn't enjoy it. Personally, I think you don't deserve it, but I suppose all of you must have one if you're going to go up against the tribe."

"So do you really not feel at all responsible for this?" Royal could not contain himself any longer.

Victoria's expression went cold.

As much as Cinder would have thought this, she was worried Royal was about to get fried by one of the devices, since she'd only seen Victoria look like that when she was angry.

Theo and Vara kind of winced also. They might rag Victoria a little about some things, but they knew that this was a sore subject, and she kind of unnerved them still.

Victoria gave Royal a look like he was a cockroach she'd like to crush.

Royal normally would have been kind of cowed by it, but he thought she was pretty clearly just denying the truth, so he stared back at her.

Anyway, after what they'd seen the last few weeks, people like her were starting to be less intimidating.

A very uncomfortable pause while the others waited for one of them to break.

Oscar was tensely watching.

Finally, Victoria said, "Are you blaming me for what that weasel of a man did with my stolen tech?"

"He couldn't have stolen it if you didn't make such unethical things to begin with," Royal said, flatly. "Or sell them on the black market, as I understand it. Probably not just Watts, was it?"

Theo really thought he was dead for sure.

"We can't be sure of that." Vara attempted to diffuse the situation, for once. She grabbed Royal's shoulder. "Watts is a snake."

"I just would think someone who's supposed to be such a genius would think of that," Royal said. "That people aren't so good as to not exploit things like that."

"Aren't you Atlesian?" Victoria said, coldly. "Do you know that General Ironwood commissioned those soul-sucking devices ages before I made anything like that? I got the idea from his people."

"Yes, Ma'am, I'm aware, and seeing how it ended for him, how is that not making my point?" Royal dared to retort.

Cinder hadn't seen anyone talk to Victoria like that since Shine had, and she flinched inwardly.

However...the reality was Victoria knew very well that Royal was right and that she couldn't do anything to him over what he said. She just didn't like it.

After no one said anything else, she shoved her wheelchair back huffily. "People abusing power is nothing new. I meant to help humanity fight the Grimm, not use them to kill each other."

"I remember you used them to attack us," Oscar finally backed Royal up.

"That was out of a need and to study how they worked," Victoria said.

"I expect that's what the tribe will tell us if we ever bring them in." Royal didn't know when to quit.

Victoria's eye twitched.

But she didn't even answer him. She just turned to Theo. "Better get on with Arthur. I'm sure he's had some contact from them by now, whether or not he admits it. Or he knows who might have. I can talk to him if you like. I'll try out some of my interrogation devices on him."

"We want him to live through it, Vic," Theo said. "But tell you what, that can be the backup plan if he doesn't sing for Fall over there."

"You're letting her interrogate him?" Victoria snorted in laughter. "What do you think he'd tell her? Nothing that would help her, that's for sure."

Cinder frowned at her...and then suddenly she got a strange look, same as she had when she first figured out Watts was behind some of this.

"What?" Oscar asked.

"Nothing," Cinder said. "But if she's right, then I'd be fine with her torturing him for the information."

"Is torture beneath you?" Victoria seemed to think she was being smug. "I'm surprised. I thought you were a sadist just like the others."

"I never tortured anyone," Cinder said, as if that was the important part. 

"Is that really true?" Oscar asked.

"Why would I?" she said. "Waste of time."

"Congratulate yourself, that's one thing you didn't do," Vara said dryly. "Unless you count sucking the life out of the Maidens."

"Technically, I never actually finished doing that to anyone of them." Cinder bristled.

"Not for lack of trying," Vara said. "I know I had nightmares about it happening to me. I wouldn't have lived through it though."

"Indeed, why do you think I was trying to stop her?" Victoria said. "You should have let me."

"Well, it all worked out." Theo wished to change the subject. "And, bright side, turning Salem's most devoted follower, aside from Callows, against her did have a certain dramatic flare to it."

"I just don't know how you can live with having done those kinds of things." Vara wasn't to be dissuaded. "What kind of human being does that to anyone else? Becomes that...and just acts as if it never happened. Beats me how Raven can stand working with you."

"Vara!" Oscar cried. "We just talked about this."

"I can't help it, Oscar." Vara frowned. "Too many memories."

"I can't believe that the Argus bunch is okay with using her at all," Victoria said. "I wouldn't trust her around the bandit tribe. Especially with all the Grimm."

"That's enough," Royal said. "All of you. This isn't even important. I thought we were focusing on Watts."

"True," Victoria said. "But my point remains that she is not the one to negotiate with him."

"I can do it." Cinder finally found her voice again. "I understand things about Watts that seem to escape your notice."

Well, she finally had a barb that did actually bother Victoria, since that was something that was still angering her to think about.

She glared at Cinder.

"Let's just go then." Theo decided to separate them before it got worse.

He still gave Cinder kind of a rough shove towards the door, when just leading the way would have sufficed.

Oscar and Royal hurried to follow.

"I'm sorry about that," Oscar tried. "You know that Victoria and Vara both have no filter. They don't get it."

"Don't bother, Oscar." Cinder had her tight expression on that meant she was hiding her emotions. "I know what they think of me already. It wasn't a surprise. I never liked them either. Why should you try to smooth it over? They looked for a fight."

"I just don't like them acting like nothing is different," Oscar said. "All the rest of us have tried to redefine what our position is, with each other and with the world. I thought they would want that also. Vara is supposed to believe the same...but then, not everyone acts on it just because they say they believe it."

"She's hormonal anyway," Theo said. "Not that I really disagree that much, but it is what it is. If it works, I can't complain."

"Theo, is that fair? Remember what you were doing when we arrived here?" Oscar said. "It was years ago. Why do you need to hang onto it? We've let go of what you did to us."

Theo frowned. "You can't compare the things we did, Oscar. I'm sure even Fall would admit that."

Cinder clenched her fist.

But she looked at him coldly. "No, I wouldn't compare them."

"There you are," Theo said. "And why do you expect us to trust you now? Would you?"

"No," Cinder said. "But as we've established, all of you are nothing like me. Perhaps, we're more alike than you think in that case, Theodore."

"That's faulty logic," Theo said. "I think a scorpion will sting, that's all. Nature doesn't change much, even if people take different paths. I'd almost respect it, if I wasn't concerned about whatever that meant for our safety around the Mind Grimm. I just don't see how Raven and Schnee can think it's wise to put you on this when you once had such a connection to the Grimm yourself. Seems like you'd be the first to go."

"That's not how it works," Oscar said. "Sometimes it's just the opposite, actually. Theo, you're talking about things you do not understand."

For some reason that last part actually seemed to shut Theo up, as if perhaps he was ashamed of it deeply down.

All in all, he wasn't as big a grudge holder as his wife. Vara tended not to let things go either because she was so sensitive or because she felt she had to be on her guard all the time. Theo was not as much like this, but nor was he the most trusting of individuals. And he lacked the imagination to see why people might have changed more because of their association with the darkness before. He didn't understand how exposure to something can create a distaste for it, if you're removed far enough from it to see clearly.

His poorly thought out words, though, were more likely to hurt Cinder than to sway the opinion of anyone else about her reliability. Especially Oscar and Royal, who more of thought Theo and the others were being bullies than they cared about what they said.

The walk to where Watts was being held could not pass fast enough for Cinder, and once they were there, she tried to focus on that and not the others.

"Victoria and Vara will be following us soon," Theo said. "They'll want to hear this. His room is tapped, of course, and Vic swears he'll never find where the wire is. She better be right."

"He won't talk if the wire is on," Cinder said.

"Excuse me?" Theo said.

"He knows it's on. If it's on, anyone can find it," Cinder said. "Idiot. No wonder you've not gotten anything out of him. We had better talk somewhere else."

"You can't be serious," Theo said.

"She's making a good point," Royal said. "Why would he risk it? The bandits seem to find people. If they had proof that he talked, he's as good as dead anyway."

"But you expect me to not be listening to you?" Theo said. "How do I know what you would tell him?"

"I trust Cinder to know what not to give away," Oscar spoke. "So far none of them have gotten anything out of her. Watts probably wouldn't think she'd know much anyhow."

"And if he tells you stuff that you don't tell us?" Theo said.

"You can verify that, you moron," Cinder said.

"Robyn?" Royal sounded almost as irritated as Cinder by now.

"Right..." Theo said. "She's still not here."

"Can't you fact check later?" Royal asked.

"Besides why would she hold back?" Oscar asked. "This affects her too."

"Fine," Theo said. "But the responsibility goes to you if this goes south."