Warren joined Diana and Jonah as they left the building. The conflict on the Captain's face was quickly hidden behind his helm. The story of the Ash Maker children was certainly frustrating and confusing. All the happiness that Diana had from her confession and Jonah's acceptance had settled down. The relaxation she felt from her unexpected sleep had faded with the telling of the frightening tale. Now as night approached, she was simply awake with no rest in sight. A light meal had been eaten on the couch, and it sat askew in her stomach, not bubbling enough to be indigestion, but not exactly nicely filling.

She imagined the missed meals of the poor orphans and terrified time that would forever haunt them. Not only their run from the Nymphs, but all their time in the camp. Diana now knew where they came from and how they were unlikely to return. Orphanage to orphanage and now they were Ash Makers in a time of war. Though she didn't hold a grudge against them, to some people they might as well be enemy troops seeking asylum. They were brought aboard a ship on false promises and now they had no home. She wondered if the adult Chiru had a similar story. Or why the young woman had such strong defenses.

The alley way behind the hotel hadn't changed much in the last few days. Waiting on the Ash Makers to recover felt like weeks. The poplar tree and the hearty Sentinel Pine stood strong against the city’s light wind. The patch of flowering heather was no longer the sole source of pollen for the city’s insects, so Diana and Jonah were safe to tread through them to the poplar. They sat before it and Jonah held Diana as she placed her hand to the rough bark.

Around the small garden walked Aiko the tiger and Warren in alternating watches. Diana hoped they were wrong to fear the Heroes return. Even though a few weeks were long overdue, she hoped that they had forgotten about them. That was impossible though, they had stormed the Ash Maker camp and sought out information from them. It was only a matter of time before they returned for the princess and the rest of them.

Pushing out the thoughts of danger, Diana sent herself through the roots of the tree. On the other side of the world it was sunny. The Greed river moved along steadily with the summer rains and the lonely willow tree beside the stone bench swayed with the breeze. On the stone bench was the queen, her red hair reflecting in the sunlight. She started at the sight of her daughter’s projection, putting down the dress she held in her hands. The thing was held like something precious, careful not to touch the stone.

“Diana, my love, I wasn’t expecting you today,” she said, trying to hide the dress in her belt. It was far too small to be Diana’s and was clearly Luann’s.

The living princess sighed, once again glad for the anchor of Jonah against her real body. “I have something to tell you, mother,” she said after a moment.

“You’re coming home?” the queen said quickly.

“No, not here at least,” Diana said, eyeing the castle off in the distance. Behind her came the flap of wings and she saw in the boughs of the willow tree sat Castor the hawk. The mighty raptor preened itself, usually a sign of annoyance at its master. A familiar just didn’t draw mites or dust like a flesh and blood beast might.

The queen was considering things for a moment. “I suppose that you would be safe in one of the other homes,” she said quietly.

“I must ask if any Flies are here,” Diana said, taking a seat on the stone bench. Her mother reflexively reached out for her, then put her hands back down. The queen nodded, sending her hawk off towards the castle. With a squawk the bird flapped away, soaring off through the blue skies.

“Helena will check for me, your father isn’t here currently,” Eliza said, smiling at her daughter. “How are you, besides whatever secrets you have to tell me?”

“I’m well, mother,” Diana replied. The air between them felt as off as the meal in her stomach. She felt like she was talking to a stranger. The tear tracks and puffy redness around her mother’s brown eyes made her look like someone else. "Have you thought of leaving here, mother?" she asked quietly, unsure of the question as soon as it left her lips.

The queen blinked in sudden shock. "Why would I leave my home?" she asked, an edge creeping into her voice.

"It might make you feel better…" Diana said. Her heart beat nervously and Jonah rested his head on her real shoulder, breathing warmly on her neck. She could only imagine the expression on her face. She wanted to leave seeing the growing fury on her mother's.

"I might not like it here, but I cannot leave it. I won't be happy anywhere. I do not need to run away like you," Eliza said, her last words like the brutal stab of a dagger.

Wincing like she had been struck, Diana considered the recent times that she had been in trouble for speaking up. Her temper had never been so bad before the death of Luann. She was able to calm her rage before, because two months ago life had been simple. All her rage was held for the man that cheated on her, but that was normal. Now she raged like the many arms of an octopus, pulled in all directions from the Heroes to her mother, to Blodwyn and the Technophile, even the Ash Makers and their foolish insistence to keep the war going.

"It's helped me," is all Diana said, unable to look at her mother's hawkish glare.

"Good, I'm happy for you. Though I doubt I will be in a moment, when you tell me some tragedy you were involved within a mere couple of days," the queen said harshly. "There are no Flies, the Heroes cannot hear us. Helena has managed to hone in on the Witch's frequency like your father. She's probably the best Court Mage we could have had. I knew that we should've brought on a Wizard instead of those twin Sorcerers."

"Rose is doing well," Diana countered, turning back to her mother's stoic face. "Or rather Rosetta, she doesn't like the shortening of her name as much."

"Good. I was worried that she would be unable to help you," the queen said, picking at the neckline hem of the dress in her hands.

"Yes, Warren and her get along well," the princess said.

The queen scoffed. "She always had a way with men," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"She's been doing very well. Though she is still haunted by Luann. When Warren and her tried to link minds she broke out into screams over her."

Considering that, she changed the subject. "Why were they linking minds?" she asked.

With a weary sigh, Diana began to tell her mother all that had transpired since their last conversation. The queen groaned at the mention of danger in the swampy sewers. Then she covered her face, sliding it down to her mouth at the point of Diana and the others harming the Nymphs. The admission of being marked made the queen jump as if she had been stung. Folding up the dress, she set it neatly in her belt. The queen drew back a sleeve of her Weaver dress, which naturally came to her wrist. She was clearly buzzing with a hundred questions, but this was suddenly the most important thing on her mind.

"See here, my love, this is from a punishment as well," the queen said, tapping a tattoo on her slender forearm. "It was a foolish group of children that were shooting trees in the forest. I sent them on their way, breaking the devices. The Nymphs wanted blood, it was one of their favorite places. I refused, but see how many lines this is?" The brown ink stood out as clear as day on her pale skin, as if it were freshly marked hours ago. Forever etched was the alder tree full of bullet holes. "See, another here, a man killed a grand catfish to hang it on his wall. I stopped the Naiads from drowning him when he came back." She pointed to another tattoo in blue ink beside the tree, a catfish of tremendous size jumping from the water, happy, free, and alive.

"Yes, mother, I know your markings," Diana said, suddenly feeling exhausted. Next to those two punishments was a forest filled with wildlife, praises that went up to her shoulder. The queen had none on her hands, but she had two sleeves and a back full of accomplishments. They even went up from her ankles to her knees on both legs. She had stopped Blights and saved many forests from corruption and the destruction of Watchdogs of the gods.

The queen brought her sleeve back down. "Those… those poor children, are they safe?" she asked, placing her hands on the stone.

"For now, mother. We need a way to transport them and a place to send them," Diana said, sitting up straight. An idea was starting to form in her mind, but she wasn't sure how her mother would react to it.

"Hm, how old are they?" the queen wondered.

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"The twins are fourteen and Chiru is twenty." Diana nervously shifted, trying to hold onto the tree.

"Fourteen…" the queen breathed.

"Yes, and they're small for their age," Diana added. "They've spent most of their lives going from orphanage to orphanage."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" the queen snapped.

"Like what?"

Her mother pursed her lips. "Like you're expecting something from me," she said harshly.

"I was just thinking about things."

"What?" the queen said, searching her daughter's face for answers.

"Maybe you could adopt the children," Diana said evenly.

The queen puffed up with a long inhaled breath. She turned away from her daughter, staring at the river. She went on after a moment, blowing out that long breath, "You weren't done speaking, tell me more. I still have no idea why Rose and Warren were linking mentally."

With another sigh, Diana continued, knowing her mother was acting childish, ignoring her statement instead of addressing it. She made sure to emphasize the trauma the children had faced. She rejoiced when she saw her mother wince at the mention of the vampire, and recoil at the thought of them running around sewers with no help for a full day and night.

"I'm glad to have sent you Warren," the queen said, still staring off at the river. "I can't adopt those children," she added.

"Why not?" Diana asked. She knew it wasn't a perfect idea, but it was better than nothing.

"Because your sister is not something easily replaced."

"It would look good for us and it would be the best thing for them," Diana went on.

The queen whirled on her daughter, shooting up from the bench and staring down at her. "Since when do you care about the optics of anything?" she said with a sneer.

"I care about these children who can't stay awake long without being upset by the horror they've faced! Horror that we might have been able to stop if we could stop the Heroes…" Diana said, springing up from the bench as well. "The calming crowns nearly broke trying to keep them contained! They cannot be sent to another orphanage! They need the best help possible, mother, and our family can take care of them!"

"How? We couldn't keep your sister safe?" Eliza blurted out.

Diana reeled in shock, Jonah held her real form tightly. "Their blood is not linked to a magical lock holding in the most wicked woman of recent history, they won't be killed like she was… Gods mother, you need to leave here!"

"No, I must mourn your sister here…" she said, her eyes mad as she clawed at her face, turning away from her daughter. "Just because you can leave doesn't mean I can. Just because you replaced her with Jonah doesn't mean I need to do the same thing."

The sentence came like a smack across Diana's face and she shook off the pain of it, nearly breaking her connection with the poplar. "I have not!" she cried, but a small part of her feared exactly that. "You, you've turned my home into a graveyard! I never want to return here. You make me sick, you don't act like my mother anymore. Why would I ever return home to you? You're pathetic!"

The queen gasped, but said nothing at all.

There was a long silence between the two of them and Diana knew she had gone too far. Though she couldn't see her mother's face, she knew from a slight whimper that she brought her to tears. The hawk had become feeble and would never return. That was only to be expected. Diana feared that she too had voiced what Eliza didn't want to admit.

"I'm sorry mother, please--"

"You did mean it," the queen cut in. Her shoulders tensed with her quiet sobbing. "Please, go… I don't want to keep you here any longer. I prefer to be alone in my graveyard…"

"Mother please…" Diana said, stepping closer to her. "You don't have to adopt the children, it's a foolish idea. I'm sorry I ever recommended it. Please, mother…" Now it was the princess's turn to try and touch her mother's shoulder and to phase right through.

"Go! Diana! You hate it here, you hate me, what I've become. I hate it too, I wish I didn't have this hole in me that will never shut. Go, I don't want you to come home, just bloody stay safe. I will…" She sniffled loudly, tears streaming from her. "...call the castle chauffeur, they'll arrange a ride for you and your wards. We'll figure out what to do soon."

"I love you, mother, I didn't mean to hurt you," Diana said carefully.

The queen continued on, her voice cracking like glaciers shifting on the sea. "All I know is pain… my youngest daughter is dead and my oldest daughter doesn't want to return home where she's safe. Your father and I have a rift between us and I can barely sleep in the same room as him. Any moment between us is soured by the thought of her. The girl we made in a beautiful union is dead, never to return." She hugged herself tightly, because there was no one else to do it for her.

"I still love you, mother, and I'm sorry," Diana said, unable to contain the tears welling up from her. "Some day, I swear I'll return home."

"I love both my girls, and always will,” the queen said, turning her blushed and crying face to her daughter. It was a stranger there. Not the woman who raised her, but an imposter that could never be unmasked. Another loss to add to her list that started with a murder. It hurt like a knife through the heart. And that knife bore a hook, set to drag the bundle of muscle out of her chest.

Only an hour ago she had given her love to Jonah, but she wasn't sure how her heart was capable of such an act. He held her together, and he was more than a romantic replacement for her lost sister. Both her and her mother knew the best ways to hurt one another, as any family does. This most recent wound was going to take a while to heal. This was adding onto the slow mending of her Druidic motivation. She didn't have time to consider it though, it was a part of her, one given to her by her mother. A mother that was leaving her with little to do but leave her be.

Unable to stand another moment, Diana turned away and her soul thudded back into her body as she was returned to Alpha. She twisted around in her seat, embracing Jonah tightly, burying her face in his shoulder. Confused, but eager, he stroked her long hair, whispering assurances into her ear. Her heart and her soul hurt, even with his tender treatment of her. It was going to take time alone to mend her back together again.

"It's okay, it's okay," Jonah said soothingly.

"It's not, but I thank you," she breathed.

The door to the back of the hotel opened and tiny feet padded down the stairs. “Oh Honey, your heart is beating in so much pain,” Kalyah remarked. The small healer moved through the heather and came around to hug Diana from the back. Two people putting all their strength into a squeeze wasn’t enough to fuse the pieces of her shattered heart. She felt a great need to apologize, but she had already said it and it wasn’t enough for her mother.

Around her Diana felt the heather start to wilt and the branches of the poplar begin to sag. The joys of being a Druid was her emotions could also destroy. She pictured the courtyard where her mother had first told she would be leaving. The destruction they’d caused was substantial, where green once grew now there was only black. She had to use the lonely willow on the river bank because the strength of the flowing Greed kept it strong. That and she couldn’t stand to be any closer to the graveyard. She couldn’t apologize for that statement, not truly, because she still meant it.

As Jonah and Kalyah released her to let her breathe, she felt limp. Aiko tread through the heather towards her, letting her lean on the strength of the tiger. From the mighty beast came a rolling purr that naturally it would not be able to do. She held onto it tightly as Jonah caressed her back.

Through the heather came the heavy footsteps of Warren. The Captain cleared his throat, calling for their attention. When they looked up at him, his helm was gone and he was frowning. “Through a game of telephone I heard some shitty news,” he said glumly. “The docks are expecting the Pirate’s ship within the next ten hours. So far as they know, she’s just buying supplies, but it’s likely she’ll come check on y’all.”

Diana collapsed into the tiger, burying her face in the scruff. Jonah groaned with her and Kalyah started whispering a prayer to the Goddess.

“Come on, we better get some rest while we can,” Warren said, gesturing his head towards the door.

“Are you certain?” Diana asked, shakily standing up with Jonah’s help.

“Eutace heard from one of his aunts who are at the docks, apparently Niae sent them there as spies a few days ago,” Warren said, shaking his head.

“Those poor faithful,” Kalyah remarked. “They aren’t gentle lovers there. They're all Bound god worshipers.”

Warren nodded, as if thinking of something else.

“I’m glad the Arch Priestess is always watching out for us,” Diana commented with a grim smile.

“She is a true faithful,” Kalyah said in a crackling voice.

“Truly,” Diana added.

“What do we do if they all come for us?” Jonah asked loudly, clear panic in his voice.

“I don’t know for sure, but we better rest, either way,” Warren said, moving up the stairs.

“Oh God, he doesn’t even know,” Jonah remarked in a low voice.

Warren turned his head with a smile. “I’ll fight like hell to defend y’all. I’ll take them all on if they try to harm ya. I don’t know what y’all will do.”

“I’ll fight,” Jonah said, swallowing a lump in his throat. He raised his right fist in a clench. The gray metal caught the light of the city as underneath it was his gun.

“I will fight, if need be,” Diana said, nodding.

“I’ll do all I can,” Kalyah said firmly.

“Good to hear,” said Warren with a grin.

Diana stood at the top of the steps and looked up and down the tall hotel which had been her home for some time. Was it defensible? She had been growing wolfsbane for the Werewolves, but was it enough? Could the Paladin with his skill and knowledge, her and her magic, Jonah with his magic and his gun, and Rosetta and her magic all fight? Would Eutace help them? If the undead were fighting, then could the peaceful Corpine Clergy fight? Ten hours from now was the morning, only the Hags and the Heroes could really fight them in the sunlight.

Was this an attack?

Was it a coincidence?

No, something was bound to happen, Angelina was not the type to let an opportunity drop.