Aliya had never been to the Theater as what Oliver and the Royal Circus referred to their secret meeting place. She knew it was in Sinclair after Sasha had discovered the previous one in the Royal Theater the year prior.

"Eaton had foreseen the raid and asked me to spare a chamber in Sinclair for our rendezvous," Oliver explained as he led her down a narrow corridor. "Fortunately, Sinclair has more than just one useless bloody chamber," he said, opening a door.

Aliya's eyes widened as the sight of three gurneys lined up in one side of the room with bodies on top covered in white linen. "Ollie! You cannot be utterly serious!"

"Fret not, darling, we are just passing through," he said, pulling her toward another door.

"But why are there chairs on this side of the room?" she asked when she looked at the opposite wall.

"Ah, this chamber serves as the waiting area."

"The waiting area!"

"For the wives," he added.

She pulled free from his hand. "Do you expect me to wait in this chamber for you in the future?"

"When I am dead and on one of the gurneys, you may. But while I am alive, you can wait in my office upstairs if you wish. But then, the Royals do not always require the wives to always be present. It is the wives who require to be here as most of them are... shall we say—also on their way to the gurneys?"

"You will never have to expect me to spend a minute of my time in this horrid room—dead or alive."

"As I had expected," he grinned, taking her hand and leading her through the doorway which led to a flight of stairs.

When he opened the chamber to the Theater, Aliya had expected nearly the same sight from the one downstairs. But to her pleasant surprise, the room was quite welcoming.

"Is this the room I sent Jason to?" she asked. "To be rid of the brandies?"

"Yes," he said, walking down the narrow aisle that separated two groups of chairs. It was indeed akin to being in a theater, Aliya noted as she followed Oliver to the front of the room where a large desk sat.

"Is this yours?" she asked, running a hand over the surface.

"I am but the Royal Doctor, Ali. I do not lead the Circus."

"Then this is Blackwood's."

"Yes, and he enjoys owning it," her husband grumbled, checking his pocket watch. "He ought to be here soon—" he stopped, arrested when she opened a drawer. "What are you doing?"

"Looking," she murmured, picking up a round gold pendant. "It is a habit of mine when I was a Belle. When I used to have missions—What is this?" she asked, opening the pendant. To the right, she found a miniature painting of a man. To the left was the answer to her question. Addison Blackwood—Royal Master, father, and hero.

Her husband took the pendant from her hand and replaced it in the drawer. "Addison Blackwood was the Royal Master before Eaton took his place."

Aliya nodded, looking around the room. She walked over to one cabinet and started searching the drawers.

"I imagine you are not opening drawers because it is a habit of yours," Oliver drawled. "You are searching for liquors."

"No, of course not!" she cried out guiltily, walking toward a chair right in front of Blackwood's desk and settled in it. "I will behave."

Oliver went down on the floor in front of her and took her hand. "Ali, West Blackwood will be very suspicious of you. I hope you do not take it against him."

"I know," she said, her jaw tightening. "Which is why we have our plan, yes?"

He nodded.

Noting the worried look on his face, Aliya sighed. "They will not believe me until I give them results."

"Yes."

"But surely, they will have to help me?"

His hands gathered hers on her lap. "If we give them results."

"Is this the test you were talking about?"

"I do not know. It is not as though they will give you an impossible mission. The tests are often subtle. They can come in any form."

"Surely I will succeed, considering I have nothing to hide."

"I hope you are telling the truth, Aliya," said West Blackwood's voice from the back of the room. She looked over her shoulder to find the man walk toward his desk, his face impassive.

She had met him quite many times before when she was a Belle, before and during his time as a gentleman of Belcourt. She had taken him out for a walk around the garden in the Court of Flowers. And now, facing him again after what had transpired with Sasha, she could sense that the man had very little trust in anyone associated with Belcourt.

The man's light blue eyes stared down at her. "St. Vincent said that you have things to offer."

"Yes," she said, "in exchange for the Circus's help."

"What help?"

"I will tell you later," she said. From the corner of her eye, she could see Oliver smiling proudly at her as he stood beside a cabinet with his arms folded in front of him.

"And what are you offering?"

Aliya smiled. "I will provide you secrets," she said, standing to her feet to look around the room. "But I believe I demanded more Royals to be here."

West Blackwood looked at her for quite some time before he said, "They are on their way."

*****

"You must know that we will be aware should the identities of the Royals who will come here today be known to Belcourt," West warned her after nearly an hour of waiting.

"Yes, of course," she said, motioning her head to Oliver. "So long as you keep my husband alive, I am a willing participant."

Oliver wiggled his brows at West who only stared at him wryly.

The first one to come through the door was someone very familiar to Aliya and she would not have guessed he was part of the Circus. Trent Durham strolled into the room and skidded to a stop when he saw her. He frowned and snapped his head toward West. "What is she doing here?"

"Good afternoon to you, too, Trent," Aliya said, managing to compose herself. To West, she said, "I see you have quite an advantage against Belcourt."

West replied to Trent by saying, "Aliya is here to provide information."

"If she is here to provide you information on all gentlemen of Belcourt, I do not think we need her," Trent said, walking to a chair.

"Including the names of the people the Belles have their eyes on?" Aliya asked, her brow arching in challenge. "Perhaps you think you know so much about Belcourt being a gentleman, do you?" she asked. Trent's jaw merely tightened. "Your Belle does not even get the big missions, Trent." With a dramatic sigh, she said, "I can offer more to the Circus."

Trent scoffed. "Of course, you can. But forgive me, Aliya, if I cannot start trusting you now."

"I understand," she said, walking to the center of the room as another gentleman she was not familiar with entered with the same arrested look as Trent earlier. "You may know a few things about the Belles, but you know very little about the other things Belcourt is keeping."

"Such as your High Priestess?" Trent asked. "Or the Maidens?"

"I do not know any of them," she said, "but I know enough about the Mistresses."

That got West and Trent's attention.

Aliya allowed a contented smile. "But first, let us wait for the others."

Lord Winthrop was probably the only Royal who entered and greeted her with a smile. The rest was scowling at her. She recognized the Earl of Ross and the Viscount of Greene. The others, she was barely familiar with.

"This is not everyone," said West as the tenth Royal settled into the room. "The others cannot spare the time."

Aliya scanned the room with a nod. "My husband has given me a warning that I will not be welcomed warmly today, but I believe it is time I present myself to the Royal Circus. I understand where the mistrust is coming from. Apart from my husband, I care very little that you do not trust me as I feel the same. Having been Belcourt's Belle, I have experienced enough secrets and mysteries." She paused to square her shoulders. "I also came here to offer the Circus another advantage in return for a little help." To West, she said, "I am certain that you are aware of my sister who is in Belcourt?"

"Yes."

Turning to face the group of Royals, Aliya nodded. "I want to get my sister out of Belcourt. I have tried applying to be her legal guardian, but I was denied it by Belcourt. I suppose they now suspect that Oliver is a Royal."

"And you want us to take your sister out of Belcourt," Trent said, frowning at her. "Even the women in Belcourt cannot escape that place. How do you expect us to take her out of there?"

"The women cannot go out not because they cannot, but because they do not feel the need to and those who do are afraid," she retorted. "But I will not ask the Circus to execute an impossible mission of stealing one of its ladies. I will ask all of you to help me get her courted into the Court of Flowers."

"And how will we do that?" asked Rider Fairborne.

"Delaney is soon to be courted. There is a chance she will be placed in a different court, but we can have her recourted."

"There have only been two women in Belcourt's history who managed to do that," West Blackwood said.

"I know. Your mother and your former Belle," Aliya said. She shrugged and added, "There are people within Becourt who has the power to initiate a lady's reassignment into another court."

"The Mistresses," offered Trent.

"Yes."

"Get straight to the point, woman," said the Viscount of Greene. "What do you want the Circus to do?"

"Careful how you talk to my wife, Greene," Oliver warned.

The viscount incredulously scoffed just as Aliya answered, "The Mistress of the Court of Flowers has a lover."

Trent straightened in his seat, now completely interested. "But Mistresses cannot—"

"Yes, they cannot take lovers," said Aliya.

"And how do you know she has one?"

"I am a woman. I know," she sternly said.

"If you find out who Lady Mariam's lover is, we can use it against her."

"And she will be forced to take Delaney into the Court of Flowers."

She sighed. "I am very glad that the Royal Circus is filled with very wise and intelligent gentlemen."

"And do you think having control of this Mistress is enough for us to trust you?" Tanner MacMier asked from the back of the room.

"No, of course not. I have other secrets to share."

"We like secrets, especially Belcourt's secrets," said one gentleman.

"One secret at a time, my lords," Aliya said.

"Surely you have something better to offer than just the Mistress?" Trent asked.

"Of course," Aliya said, locking eyes with Trent. "My first flower and his secrets."

She saw Oliver push away from the cabinet.

"My first flower had many secrets, most of them I did not report to Belcourt for future use." She smiled as she paused. "I was the prime Belle for many reasons, my lords, and amongst them are the secrets I keep both with Belcourt and from Belcourt."

"And who is this first flower?" West Blackwood asked.

"Emory Louis Frederick Davercher," she said with a mysterious smile. Everyone in the room stiffened. No one blinked, including her husband. "Prince Albert's younger brother, the second man in line for the throne."

*****

"You could have warned me about your first flower, darling," Oliver murmured under his breath as he led Aliya out of the Theater.

"You knew I had secrets, Ollie," she sweetly said.

He resignedly shook his head and gave her a quick kiss. "Wait for me in the waiting chamber—"

"No, I will not—"

"Lady Winthrop must also be there. Have a care for the lady, darling."

Aliya pursed her lips. "If you do not return in thirty minutes, Ollie—"

"The opera will not take long."

She nodded and climbed the stairs down to go to the other chamber. As she entered, she found Lady Winthrop gracefully sipping tea.

"Aliya!" the lady greeted with a smile. "Finally, someone alive to accompany me! Welcome, welcome!"

"Good afternoon, my lady," she greeted, walking to the empty chair beside Lady Winthrop, all the while avoiding the covered bodies at the other side of the room.

With an amused smile on her lips, Lady Winthrop said, "I cannot believe that the day will come that I will be saying this, considering the beautiful waiting area I had to enjoy in the previous Theater because it was truly a theater, but it finally did." Composing herself, Lady Winthrop told her, "You will get used to it, darling. There, I said it. The dead does not talk back, I tell you."

Aliya shivered. "Please, my lady, let us not talk about the dead bodies."

Lady Winthrop laughed, her light green eyes filled with mirth. "I often complain to your husband about this chamber, but I think it is quite interesting, is not it? I call this room The Coffin."

Aliya smiled. "It is befitting."

The woman's face turned curious. "But whyever are you here, dear? I thought you are to have a discussion with the Royals?"

"I did."

"Then the opera is over?"

"No," she said, leaning against her chair. "They have something to discuss that I cannot be privy to."

"Ah, of course. It must be another letter from Darcy," the lady said with a wave of her hand. "Now, tell me, dear—how have you been?"

"I have been fine, my lady. Marvelous, in fact, if we do not think about my sister."

"I have heard about your sister. Natalia told me."

Aliya sighed. She had to now accept that her mother-in-law kept no secrets when it came to the Royal Circus.

"You know, I have always felt that you and I are going to be fast friends," said Lady Winthrop. Despite her greying hair, Aliya agreed with the woman. They may not be compatible in years, but Lady Winthrop had always been a fun company. She was the kind of gossipmonger you cannot hate. "And Alannah would have been proud of your choices."

The sudden reminder of Lady Hartcaster wrenched at Aliya's heart.

"She often talked to me about you and how she wished she can take you out of Belcourt herself. But she did not want to do that because it would be an insult to your independence to think for yourself. She always said you are smart to know what you are doing."

Tears blurred her vision as she smiled. "She always had too much faith in my faculties."

"And she was correct."

Blinking to keep the tears at bay, Aliya decided to change the subject. "Then she was part of the Circus? Lord Hartcaster is a Royal?"

"No, of course not. Malcolm would never dream of complicating his life by being part of all this. He only lived for Alannah, the poor man. I hope he is being safe wherever he is in the world."

"He must be having a fantastic adventure."

Lady Winthrop rolled her eyes. "Let us only hope we will be able to take his body home if he dies somewhere."

Aliya did not know if she should laugh or feel scandalized.

Lady Winthrop laughed. "You will get used to me, darling. More time in The Coffin and you will be laughing at my quips."

"I can see that happening soon," Aliya said with a chuckle.

"Of course. You will also enjoy the company of the other wives, although there may be few you will have to ignore. I only hope these young Royals marry soon. We need younger ladies sitting in this chair when our time to lie on those gurneys come."

"My lady!"

"Oh, fret not. I will soon be dead, Aliya. I am getting old. But the Circus will remain. And these men need the best wives. They can barely function on their own without our help if you must know," Lady Winthrop conspiratorially said.

"Yes, I know," Aliya said with a laugh.

In the next minutes that followed, Lady Winthrop was able to share more about the Royals and their wives to Aliya than her husband ever did.

*****

"What do you mean they want me to take on a mission?" Aliya asked with a frown. "You told me I cannot be a Royal."

"Well, you cannot, but you are still the wife of a Royal."

"You mean to tell me that Lady Winthrop and others have gone through missions before?"

"And more," Oliver said.

"Then why can we not be Royals?"

Oliver leaned back into his chair. "I believe my answer will spark an outburst, so can I simply not answer?"

Aliya narrowed her eyes. "Is it because I am a woman?" When he did not answer, Aliya scoffed. "Very well, I cannot blame you because you do not make the rules."

"The rules have been around for centuries, Ali."

"Yes, of course, just as all the injustice in the world. But I am from Belcourt, so I understand the inequality," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Oliver smiled at her, pulling her from across the carriage to sit beside him. "You always prove to have better control over your emotions and your mind, darling. If that is not sexy, I do not know what it is."

She scoffed. "Do not try to appease me, Ollie. I am still disappointed with the Royal Circus. They test my loyalty by making use of my abilities."

"But you understand that it is what it is—just like Belcourt."

"Yes, of course. And I know this mission is to test me."

"It could be a test, yes. I cannot truly say. Eaton and Darcy make the decisions. The reason for their decisions is not sometimes exposed, of course."

"And who is this Darcy?"

He smiled. "The other Royal Master."

She groaned. "There are more?" When he did not answer, she sighed. "And what is this mission of mine?" she asked.

"We need to find out who the Mistress's lover is."

"I gave the Circus that information so they can find the lover. I did not expect them to make me do all the work myself."

"Ah, but the Circus will help you, darling. When we say you are on a mission, we say you lead the mission."

Suddenly interested, Aliya twisted to face her husband. "You mean to say I get to order the Circus around?"

He blinked, his gaze wary. "Not, entirely..." a wicked smile curled his lips, "but that is essentially what it means."

"Wicked," she said. "I think I like the Royal Circus better now."

He laughed. "I knew you will say that."

She fell at ease beside him and let the silence linger for a while. "Do you truly find me sexy?" she asked, eliciting a laugh from her husband.

Before she knew it, she was swiftly transferred from the chair to his lap. "Very," he said before his mouth claimed hers.