"Ali, darling, you know that there might be danger along the way," Oliver spoke very patiently while they were having supper. "I cannot allow you to travel back to Strait alone."

"Then you come with me," she said.

"As much as I would like to endure the two days journey, I cannot. I am..." he looked around the table but none of his family cared to provide the perfect word, "Shall we just say that my presence here in Coulway in required?"

Aliya sighed. It had been weeks since she had seen Mason. "I have traveled from Coulway to Strait many times before, Ollie," she insisted. "This one would not be so different."

"Yes, but was it not you who said that Belcourt may be watching us—you?"

"Yes, but Belcourt will not cause me harm—"

"This conversation ought to be discussed elsewhere," Natalia's authoritative voice said as she stood to her feet, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

Simon blinked up at his wife. "Darling, we are halfway through supper..."

Natalia ignored her husband, her green eyes fixed on Aliya. There was something there that gave Aliya a reason to lean back against her chair, putting as much distance between her and her mother-in-law.

"We need a chat," Natalia coldly said, turning to leave the dining room.

Aliya groaned and closed her eyes. "Go," her husband urged, nudging her side.

She slapped his hand away and followed Natalia, but the woman stopped at the doorway to look over her shoulder and say, "Oliver."

"Yes?"

Raising her brow, the woman gave her order.

With a groan, Oliver slowly stood.

"Ellise," Natalia called next.

Ellise let out a long sigh, stood, and followed behind Oliver.

Everyone else paused by the doorway to stare at Simon who was cutting his meat. The man was pretending to not notice the attention.

Natalia continued to stare at her husband.

Grumbling something under his breath, Simon grabbed his wine and finished it in one gulp. "Very well," he said, standing to his feet.

Satisfied, Natalia walked across the hall to the parlor.

She settled in her favorite winged chair and waited until everyone strolled inside one by one. "The door," she ordered at no one in particular. Being the last man to enter, Simon grumbled some more and banged the door close and locked it. "Apologies," he belatedly murmured, coming to sit at the end of the settee while Ellise settled in her corner with one foot under her.

Aware that Natalia would mostly be talking to her, Aliya sat at the center of the settee between her husband and her father-in-law.

"Oliver has told us that you are doing something that you do not want us to be privy of," Natalia began.

Aliya nodded. "Yes."

"And you claim it is to protect us."

"And myself," she added.

Natalia's eyebrow twitched. "Unlike my son, Aliya, I cannot just trust you simply because you say so."

"Mother," Oliver said, voice grave and laced with warning.

"I understand," Aliya said nonetheless, her hands clasping together on her lap. "I would think the same if our situation is reversed."

Natalia veered her eyes to her husband and then to Oliver. And then she said, "I am used to secrets, Aliya, but I hate it when they are conflicting with mine."

Aliya swallowed. She ought to have thought about this. Oliver was fine with their arrangements, but she should have considered that his family would not be, most particularly his mother.

"But we can control it," said Natalia. "By sharing the secrets within this family. You are now a St. Vincent, Aliya. You are part of the family and we have to learn to compromise."

"Mother, if Aliya is not comfortable—"

"I am not done, Oliver," Natalia snapped without taking her gaze from Aliya. "Let us be clear, Aliya. The St. Vincents are part of the Royal Circus. You no longer have to guess now. What you do with that secret will be up to you, but we expect that you hold it with as much care as you do your secrets. As the women in this household, you, me, and Ellise are not Royals—members of the Circus—but we are still very much a part of ensuring that the men in the family who are will not be placed in grave danger because we are being careless."

Aliya blinked, lost for words. She knew they were part of the Royal Circus, but to hear it from Natalia's lips was still unnerving.

"Now, why don't you try to be honest with us and tell us what it is that you are truly into?"

"Mother, stop this," Oliver started just as Simon said, "Natalia..."

"What are you keeping in Maple Row, Aliya?"

"Stop this, Mother. This is not your concern!" Oliver snapped.

"It is when your wife is putting you and our family at risk. We are better protected knowing the truth and the dangers of her actions," Natalia said, eyes never leaving Aliya.

Oliver grabbed her hand. "You do not have to answer her, Ali—"

"She has to if she wants our help!" Natalia's voice rose a notch and echoed around the parlor. Her green globes were glinting with controlled anger. "Soon, Aliya, you will bear Oliver's child. You will have your own family to protect. I suggest you start doing it now."

Aliya pulled her hand from Oliver's hold. He jaws tight, she hated Natalia St. Vincent. But she could also understand the woman. They both had people to protect. And good God, the woman was correct. She will someday have her own family—she would have children—not just Delaney and Mason to protect, not just Fatima and the others. How would she protect her future children? Who would she turn to?

While she stared at her mother-in-law, she could feel the presence of the rest in the room. Simon was silent beside her, but the man was not saying anything because he agreed with his wife. Ellise was looking at her, listening to what she had to say. And Oliver... he grabbed her hand again and squeezed it, telling her she could choose to be silent as they had agreed.

Tears stung her eyes for she realized right there and then that the first place she would run to in grave danger would not be Belcourt. It would be the people locked inside the parlor with her now because they were family and they would never allow any of her future children to step into Belcourt grounds and be thrown in the same fate she was.

"His name is Mason," she started, voice shaking. Oliver's hand tightened. "He is my previous maid's son. She found a lover five years ago while serving me as her mistress in Strait. It is against Belcourt's law for a service lady to take a lover, but we chose to keep her pregnancy a secret until she delivered her son. I have been keeping him in Maple Row since he was born. He is living with a governess."

Silence reigned in the room for quite some time.

Natalia was the first to speak. "Is this where the money from your gowns went?"

"Yes. Fatima is back in Belcourt, trapped. She has not yet been assigned to any Belle and it is unlikely that she will be. No service woman can walk out of Belcourt freely. I am all that Mason has."

Oliver's hand tightened around her hand.

Simon shifted in his seat beside Aliya. "Good Lord," she heard him murmur.

"But Mason is not just the only reason why I need the money." She stared at Natalia. "My sister, Delaney, is also in Belcourt."

Ellise went to her feet and walked closer to them, now completely interested.

"She is nearing her eighteenth birthday." She looked at everyone. "The day you turn eighteen is the day you get assigned to a court. Belcourt chooses it for you. I have to take Delaney out before her Courting Ceremony."

"Because she may be assigned to a court that will keep her in Belcourt," Natalia finished.

She nodded. "If it is only possible to select your court, she could easily choose the Court of Flowers and become a Belle. She can earn her own money and pay her dowry out of Belcourt. But that is not the case and that is what I fear the most."

"But if she is courted in a different court, you cannot pay for her?"

Aliya shook her head. "No."

"Then that is absurd," Ellise said. "You are saying that the only ladies who have the chance to exit Belcourt are the Belles."

"I am afraid so, yes."

"But you can take her now? How?" Natalia asked.

"She is still in the Common Court—the orphanage. Anyone can come and adopt a child. Belcourt can consider accepting my application to adopt her." When no one spoke, Aliya continued, the words she had been keeping to herself now rolling out of her tongue. "For years, I have prayed that she will be adopted, but that never happened."

"Because Belcourt never wanted it?"

"If you must know, almost no child gets adopted in Belcourt. But it is possible if a family member adopts the child."

"And you plan to do that."

"Yes."

"You said you have an aunt," Oliver finally spoke beside her. "She could not have taken you out of Belcourt?"

She shook her head. "I can only imagine that my father's enemies made it difficult for her to return to Sutherland."

The silence that followed was almost deafening. Aliya gripped Oliver's hand tightly until Natalia asked, "Well, is there more you wish to tell us?"

She shook her head with a bitter smile. "If you are expecting me to admit that Belcourt has given me a mission to infiltrate your family, I am sorry to disappoint. That has not happened yet."

"Whatever do you mean?"

She shrugged. "By paying my dowry out of Belcourt, I signed a Vow."

"A Vow?"

"A promise to grant any of Belcourt's wishes once they come to you to claim it," Simon St. Vincent provided. "They did the same to Elizabeth Blackwood."

"Why am I not aware of this?" Natalia asked her husband. "What did they ask from Eaton's mother?"

"She was pregnant with the king's bastard," Oliver said. "They wanted her to get rid of her child."

For the first time, Aliya saw Ellise's face register a reaction—contempt.

"And that child is still in Belcourt," Simon said.

"What?" Aliya, Ellise, and Natalia cried out at the same time.

Realizing he might have said too much, Simon lifted his hands. "But you did not hear that from me."

"But who—" Aliya started, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Somewhere in this place they call the Palace," Simon replied nonchalantly.

Aliya frowned. Belcourt never told them this. But then, if the child was in the Palace, it was understandable. Was she a Maiden? Did Sasha know?

Natalia narrowed her eyes at her husband. "You and I have much to discuss, Simon."

Her father-in-law groaned beside her. Aliya reached out to hold the man's hand.

Aliya squared her shoulders, taking her hands back from Oliver and Simon. "I will not demand that you tell me more about the Royal Circus. I do not wish to find out at the moment as I am aware that Belcourt may opt to claim my Vow and extort information." She looked at each St. Vincent in the room. "If you have more questions, you may ask now."

"What do you plan with this child, Ali?" Oliver asked and Aliya hid her smile by maintaining a blank façade. She knew he had more questions.

"I do not know. I only know that Belcourt cannot find out about him and they cannot most definitely find out who his mother is. No service lady has managed to get out of Belcourt and if Fatima does that—if she ever finds a way to earn for her dowry, Belcourt will question everything. She will be investigated and Mason will be discovered. They may use her Vow against him."

Simon stood up and walked to the liquor cabinet where he fixed himself a drink. Turning to his family, he said, "We will take the child to Herst."

Natalia's eyes widened in horror. "Simon!"

Lifting his hand, he stopped his wife's objections. "The child will be safe in Herst."

"No," Natalia objected. "I will not allow a child connected to—"

"You allowed our son to marry a woman from Belcourt," Simon interjected, tone serious. "And I say we take the child to Herst."

"I do not object," Oliver said with a shrug.

Aliya could not speak. She felt a lump in her throat and she struggled to control her emotions. She had struggled for years to give Mason home and had always thought that it was her burden alone.

But now, Simon was offering an alternative. And it was a tempting one.

"You cannot go to Maple Row forever and expect Belcourt to be blind," Simon told her. "My wife managed to find out about your trips. It is possible that Belcourt is aware of it as well. The child goes home with us to Herst."

Natalia looked like she had more to say, but she remained silent, clenching her jaw.

"And we shall give Aliya the amount that she needs to get her sister out of Belcourt."

"I do not object that decision," said Natalia.

"As do I," Oliver added.

Ellise stared at Aliya, her expression blank. "It seems to me, Aliya, that you need to take the trip to Belcourt once and for all."

*****

Aliya was perfectly still as she waited for Lady Miranda to finish reading her letter.

The woman perused through it with concentration, taking her time with each page.

Finally, when she was done, she looked up and met Aliya's eyes with a smile. "This is a very good letter, Aliya."

Aliya nodded. "I know."

"But you know that we have to go through an extensive process."

"Yes."

"They will demand to know where you got your money."

"My husband is filthy rich."

Lady Miranda smiled. "Of course, he is."

"And he is very generous."

"He knows of your plans to adopt your sister?"

"Yes, and he supports it. He met Delaney when we were younger and has fond memories of her."

Lady Miranda nodded. With a sigh, the woman placed Aliya's letter to the side and clasped her hands together on the table. "It will take a while before Belcourt makes its decision. Now, I will provide a good letter of recommendation to help your case and Delaney's, but the decision will still come from the High Court."

Aliya gratefully nodded. "I can wait."

Lady Miranda reached for her hand. "I truly pray that you can get her, Aliya."

Tears blurred her vision. "I know."

"But we need to follow protocol."

She nodded and a drop of tear fell on her lap. "I know." She looked around Lady Miranda's office. "Can I see her?"

Lady Miranda smiled solemnly. "You are no longer a Belle, Aliya, you know that. As an alum, you are welcome in Belcourt and you may visit your previous court and the Village, but you are not allowed to see any of the children in the Manor."

Aliya was fully aware of that. The only time someone who was not from Belcourt could bestow their eyes on the children at the Manor was during a special occasion—the Orphan Ball. Only a very select few from outside Belcourt were invited for the ball where they get a glimpse of the children through a short performance prepared for the occasion before the children disappeared once more to allow the guests to enjoy the rest of the party.

Aliya would not be able to see Delaney until she legally adopted her for the Orphan Ball had already passed.

Aliya's shoulders dropped. "Very well," she said, standing to her feet. "I will see her when Belcourt accepts my application."

*****

"Well?" Oliver asked inside the carriage the moment she climbed in. He had been waiting outside Belcourt's gates for hours.

His wife could not say a word as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

Oliver blinked and gathered Aliya in his arms. "Darling, what is it?"

"Thank you." Her words were muffled by his coat and her sobs. "I can no longer imagine doing this alone, Ollie." He pulled her closer. "And I fear even more," she added.

He frowned and cupped her face with both hands, forcing her to lean away from his chest to look up to him. "Why?"

Her golden-brown eyes were swimming in tears and fear. "I can no longer imagine being alone, Ollie."

"You do not have to," he said, kissing her lips and tasting the salty tears. "You are no longer alone, darling. We have my mother. Let us simply pray she lives a long life."

Her sobs turned into laughter against his mouth. "This is your fault."

"Yes, of course, it is."

"I cannot lose you now."

"You will not."