Aliya waited three days in Humbrick for Oliver to willingly share information, but when it did not happen, Aliya could no longer help but ask, "How did it go with Rothsker?"

Her husband turned to her with an innocent look on his face, one she now knew was not at all innocent. "It went quite well."

They were taking a walk along the vast grounds behind the large estate. A few feet away, a crowd of Humbrick guests was gathered together to watch a cricket game. Since neither of them was interested, they decided to stray away and be 'one with nature' as what her husband had said.

"You are once more teasing me by deliberately withholding information you know I am desperate to have."

He grinned at her, bending low to steal a kiss under the brim of her bonnet. "Rothsker is a member of the Royal Circus, darling. That is all you have to know."

Aliya tilted her head to assess his face. "He is more than that, is he?"

"I cannot tell you, darling. Not yet."

Shaking her head, Aliya scoffed. "Then Sasha is once more being used by a Royal."

He remained quiet and she appreciated that. It would not do any good if he tried to defend the Circus now. And it would even be pointless if she got annoyed about it because Belcourt was doing the same things as the Circus.

"You do not feel good about it," Oliver said after a while.

"Yes, not good at all. But I am not stupid. If Sasha is wise enough, she will discover things on her own and might be the force that will make Belcourt fall. It is always easy to destroy someone from the inside, you know."

"I know," he said in a serious tone. "And it is always the hardest to fix."

Reaching for his hand, she squeezed it. "But it is best to fix it with someone else, yes?"

The smile he gave her clenched at her heart. She could only imagine the struggle he had to face every day. "Yes."

"You have me, Ollie," she said.

"I know. And I could not be any more grateful. And you have me too, Ali."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and they continued down the path that led them to the garden. "We have to leave Humbrick early," he said. "Your sister's Courting Ceremony is tomorrow."

Aliya's jaw tightened.

"Do you think she has a chance in the Court of Flowers?"

"She does, but I cannot tell. I do not know where she excels the most and that is most often how Belcourt makes its decision."

"I have always wondered how you ladies are being courted."

Aliya smiled and said, "Courage, passion, wisdom, and service maketh the perfect woman." She turned to look at Oliver and added, "That is Belcourt's golden adage. Courage is for the Court of Arms—the Soldiers; passion for the Court of Flowers—the Belles; wisdom for the Court of Libraries—the Librarians; and service for the Court of Service—the Servants as we often refer to them. Delaney could land in any of these courts."

"But we have a plan, do we not?"

Aliya could not even bring herself to smile. "Yes, we do. But I fear Belcourt may have more."

*****

They arrived in Coulway before luncheon and were surprised to find that Natalia St. Vincent was already in the villa.

"Mother, we were not told you will be arriving," greeted Oliver.

"Well, I came here to meet Aliya's sister and take her to Herst."

Aliya blinked, confused. "We were unsuccessful in adopting Delaney, Natalia."

Her mother-in-law blinked in confusion. "Well, she is to be courted soon, yes?"

"Today."

"Then it is her birthday."

"Yes."

"And when do you plan to take her out of there?" she asked, her eyes going to Oliver.

"We are yet to know which court she is courted into."

Her brows knitted in a line, Natalia asked, "Does the Circus have no plan to take Delaney out tonight?"

"No!" chorused Oliver and Aliya.

"We cannot do that, Mother."

Natalia's frown deepened as she stared at them innocently. "Whyever not?"

"Because it will merely pose more problems," explained Aliya.

"Then how do you plan to take your sister out of that place, Aliya?"

"We have a plan, but it needs a few more days—even months—to be executed. We have to be careful. Belcourt is always watchful and suspicious."

Natalia scoffed. "Then I should not have left Mason in Herst alone with Ellise! By the time I return home, he could very well be amongst the wild animals!"

"Perhaps you ought to go back then," Oliver hopefully suggested.

His mother glared at him. "Only after Delaney is taken out of Belcourt."

Oliver groaned. "Mother, it will take months."

"Then make it shorter," Natalia ordered before she turned and left the parlor.

By evening, Lady Miranda's short note arrived.

Dear Aliya,

As I have promised, I am penning this note to inform you that Delaney had her Courting Ceremony today. She is now a proud Soldier.

Sincerely,

Lady Miranda

Aliya was not surprised. She threw the note into the fire and sighed. Her mother-in-law silently sat in her chair, sipping her tea, her face grim. Oliver took her hand and squeezed it.

"Well, your plan ought to be very good," said Natalia St. Vincent.

*****

Two nights later, Aliya and Oliver were awakened by Jason.

"What is it?" Oliver groggily demanded.

"Three Royals are waiting for you in Sinclair, Doctor," said the man.

Aliya rubbed her eyes. "Why?"

"I do not know, my lady, but I was told that I should inform Doctor Oliver that Pemberton is not enough."

With a groan, Oliver pushed out of bed and blindly reached for his coat. "Pemberton not being enough is not good," he said, shrugging into his coat. "Have the carriage ready, Jason."

"Right away, Doctor."

When Jason walked out of the room, Aliya flew to the closet and took out her petticoat.

"What are you doing?" her husband demanded.

"I cannot let you go there alone, Ollie. You may need my help."

"There are people who will be helping me, Ali. Go back to sleep. I will be home before you awake."

She raced him to the door, fixing her hair with her fingers without a word.

Oliver sighed and followed.

Merely a few minutes later, they arrived in Sinclair to find Pemberton bending over a groaning Terence Garmont, a young blond man who owned countless small businesses in Sutherland with his aggressive approach on many things but was currently rendered immobile with a large gushing wound in his waist. "Blade wounds," said Pemberton the moment Oliver strode into the room. "I am managing the worst one, but I suggest you see Durham."

Oliver went to the brown-haired man sitting on the side of the bed next to the window. "What happened?" he asked, peeling Trent's right hand away from his left shoulder.

"We were in Stanway's estate—"

"Aaron Stanway?" Aliya asked behind Oliver. "The Earl of Emsworth?"

Trent's face hardened even more. "Why is she here, St. Vincent?"

"She is my wife," Oliver said, tearing Trent's shirt with ease. "Now, tell me what happened."

Trent hesitated for a moment, looking at Aliya as she walked near them. "We were in Stanway's estate—his father's, to be exact."

"Ah, of course." He looked at the long, straight wound on Trent's shoulder. "Blade?"

"Swords—rapiers."

"They were good?"

"Very," Trent gritted out.

"Women?"

Trent's face hardened as he threw Aliya a look. "Yes."

"Belcourt ladies are trained in rapiers while in the Manor. Fencing is a sport Belcourt ladies enjoy," Aliya informed them with pride.

"Remind me to hide my rapiers, darling," Oliver said before he asked Trent, "How many?"

"Three."

Oliver paused to blink. "Three Soldiers against three Royals. Are they injured more than the three of you are?" He looked over his shoulder at Garmont and the other Royal in one corner of the room, the Viscount of Greene. The black-haired man's left leg was being wrapped with a bandage by Pemberton's assistant. When none of the injured Royals said a word, he laughed. "You bloody bastards! Do not tell me—"

"We were unprepared for the attack. We had planned it well. There were no signs of anyone else in the estate."

"Well, this being your first mission for the Circus, Chalbarth, you can be forgiven. But Greene, you cannot be utterly serious!"

Stefan Northcott's light blue eyes threw daggers at him from across the room but said nothing.

"Why were you in Aaron's estate?" Aliya asked Trent.

"And why would I tell you?" Trent asked and Oliver squeezed the man's wound.

"Please be careful with your words when you are talking to the wife of the man trying to save your life, Chalbarth," he said. Turning to Aliya, he said, "What he means, darling, is that you cannot know about his mission."

Aliya rolled her eyes, her beautiful bedraggled face starting to look bored.

"I told you, this will be quite tedious," he reminded her.

She turned and said, "I will go and see if Doctor Pemberton needs a hand."

"No, darling, you help me," he said, smiling at Trent. "Your dear friend needs your help at the moment."

As it turned out, Aliya was very helpful indeed. She knew what he needed when he asked for it without asking if she was holding out the right apparatus.

"We were trained," she said, handing him a forcep. "But I still do not like this gory sight."

Oliver chuckled, facing Trent once again. "You are lucky the wound is not deep enough, Chalbarth," he said, beginning to stitch the man's wound. He eyed the man who simply gritted his teeth at the pain. "Did you get what you needed?"

"No."

Oliver nodded. "Perhaps there will be more opportunities in the future."

"No, there might not be," Trent said grimly. "The Stanways will be even more careful from now on."

"Were your faces covered?" Aliya nonchalantly asked.

Trent did not reply, still regarding Aliya with open suspicion and doubt. "Yes."

She nodded. "Good. So long as they did not recognize you, you can still be a flower."

She received a scoff from that. "As you have said, Aliya, my Belle does not get the best missions. She prefers our rendezvous to be in Belcourt nearly almost all the time."

"And you do not think it is a good thing?"

"I cannot do anything in Belcourt."

"Ah, you only think so," said Aliya mysteriously. She turned to Oliver and said, "Darling, perhaps I need to arrange a few lessons with the Royals. They seem to know very little about Belcourt."

"I have been a flower for years, Aliya. And West Blackwood had had his chance as well. I believe the two of us can attest that the flowers do not have much to do in Belcourt."

"That is because you are paired with a Belle who only wants to keep you in her bedchamber, Trent; and Blackwood was with a new Belle who had spent her entire life in only the Manor and the Court of Libraries. Neither of them is the best lady to tell you about Belcourt's secrets."

Trent seemed too interested now to bother with the pain of the needle poking through his skin. "And what secrets?"

Aliya sighed. "Secret passages—or similar."

"Which passages?"

"Oh, I would love to share them with you, but I am afraid I have something I need from the Circus first." Oliver smiled at his wife's wit. "Perhaps, after we successfully assist my sister's transfer into the Court of Flowers, I can tell you just how you can enter the Village without being seen—or what time Lady Mariam leaves her study and retire to bed. Surely you wish to get into her office, yes?"

Trent Durham turned to look at Oliver. "I cannot say I am proud to say this, St. Vincent, but you might have just married someone far better than you."

*****

Later in the carriage, Aliya asked Oliver, "I know that you may not tell me, Ollie, but I am still curious so I will ask—why is the Circus interested in Aaron Stanway?"

"It is not Aaron Stanway we are interested in, darling, but his father— Jubert Stanway, the Duke of Islefield."

"The island?"

"Yes, the very one."

"And why would the Circus be interested in the Duke of Islefield, Ollie?"

"Islefield is perhaps one of King Louis's closest advisors."

She nodded in understanding. "And you wish to get more information on the king."

"Evidence, Ali," he said. "Evidence on how they took down Reginald and what they plan to do next."

"I have spent years outside Belcourt, Ollie, and I still do not feel that Sutherland is in the hands of a tyrant."

Oliver took her hand. "Darling, tyranny is not the only evil in this world."

"What could be worse?"

"Treason, of course."

"You are telling me that King Louis is a traitor? To whom? Himself?"

"Sutherland, of course."

She frowned. "I'm afraid I do not follow."

"He is exporting Sutherland, darling."

She scoffed. "To who? England? England is an ally, Ollie."

His hazel eyes were not smiling when he turned to look at her. "And you believe Sutherland is an ally to England?"

A shiver ran up Aliya's spine. "No," she said, shaking her head. "You cannot possibly be suggesting that—"

"The Circus has found enough evidence that Sutherland is fighting for Napoleon."

Aliya blanched.

Her husband squeezed her hand. "But we cannot let that happen, can we?"

"Ollie, Belcourt is working for the king. What you are suggesting is that—"

"Belcourt is not working for the king, darling. Perhaps it is the kingdom that is working for Belcourt and they do not even know it. We need to know who is behind Belcourt."

She withdrew her hand from his. "No, it cannot be. Belcourt is not that powerful—"

"Belcourt is more than what we all imagined it to be. Everything it did before the dethronement of Reginald up to this point suggests that it is quite powerful."

As her eyes filled with tears, Oliver took her hand again. "I had many reasons why I wanted to get you out of Belcourt, Ali. This is one of them. And we are getting your sister out of there before things get even more difficult and dangerous."

Aliya nodded, tears falling from her face as she did so.

"The Circus is not just fighting for Reginald to take back the throne. It is fighting for Sutherland's doomed fate if the current king gets his way."

"And Belcourt is a part of all this..."

Oliver peered down at her. "Darling, tonight will not be the last one that we will have to face. This is your new life now. Soon, you will be facing more choices, too, most of them difficult."

She gripped his hand. "I know."

"Are you fine with it?"

Her tearful eyes searched his. "I have to be," she replied with conviction.