“Life and death circumstances have a way of bringing clarity to one's mind," Garrett replied calmly. "I believe you had been about to tell me of your true ambitions before dinner."

"Oh, I was, wasn't I?"

Pausing, Victor puffed on his cigar for a few minutes, admiring the smoke that curled into the air above his head. Garrett remained quiet, waiting for whatever madness was bouncing around in Victor's mind to settle.

"You said that you have a smuggling route that can lead outside the city, is that correct?"

"I did."

"Then I have something I need you to move, well, bring in, really. I'll have somebody contact you. They'll be heavy boxes from Port Reverie, and they should arrive at some point in the next few weeks."

"What are you moving?" Garrett asked.

For a moment, he didn't think that Victor would answer, but then his father seemed to think better of it and grinned.

"I don't mind telling you," he said, "because after all, we're in this together as a family. We're bringing in weapons and armor. There's going to be a party at some point in the future, and it's best that we be prepared."

Furrowing his brow as if he was trying to figure out why weapons and armor would be needed for a party, Garrett heard Victor laugh.

"Oh, come on, kid, you can't be that dumb. You mentioned that you had access to the princess, right? Well, Baron Gelavin already reached out, and we have come up with the most delightful plan. There are only two remaining members of the royal family. The first, Duke Arkov. The second, the princess. One of them will be inaugurated as the next ruler. King or queen, we don't care, just that they fight amongst themselves. I can see it now."

Standing to his feet in an abrupt surge, Victor began pacing back and forth in the dining room, walking the full length of the table before turning and coming back. As he walked, he waved his cigar in the air, his eyes filled with excitement and a hint of madness.

"And what a terrible fight it will be. Uncle and niece, both desperate to cling to the throne, both driven to extremes. Nothing will be out of their grasp. Poison. Betrayal. And when the dust settles, the city will wake to find both prospective rulers dead. Not one, but both. And into that void shall step the council, proposed by the princess before her tragic death to her uncle."

Stopping, Victor slowly turned to fix Garrett with his mad stare.

"But at the top, there has only ever been room for one. And that, my son, is why we need a little bit of insurance."

"You'll dispose of the council," Garrett said, his eyes bright as he returned Victor’s stare.

"Yes, I will. And then it shall not be advisor Victor Klein, but his majesty Victor Klein. Your help in this will be instrumental. And when I have succeeded, you shall become prince. Whatever you desire will be at your fingertips."

"And Henrietta?" Garrett asked.

Laughing, Victor waved his hand.

"She's necessary in order to secure Earl Boren's cooperation. After all, she shall be queen once you ascend the throne. Or at least, so he believes. Now, don't go spilling any of this. The girl knows nothing and should continue to know nothing. There's no need for us to get the women involved. Besides, if you don't like her, that's fine. All you have to do is marry her. Once you're married, you never have to see her again."

Silence fell over the room as Victor walked to the window, gazing out into the street as he puffed on his cigar. Garrett remained silent, occupied with his own thoughts, until, with a crafty look on his face, Victor turned around, as if struck by a sudden thought.

"That princess, you said she's staying with you. That means she trusts you. Good. Continue to build that trust. It will make what is going to come much easier."

Without replying, Garrett bowed his head, as if accepting Victor's command. Too occupied with his own thoughts to think anything of it, Victor strolled past Garrett, patting him on the shoulder.

"Come along. I'm sure Henrietta is eager to get to know you better."

With a nasty laugh, as if he had just told a joke, Victor left the dining room, and Garrett followed slowly after him. After a nearly insufferable half an hour with the ladies in the drawing room, Victor made his excuses and left, and Prudence followed almost immediately, only staying long enough to encourage Garrett and Henrietta to spend some time getting to know one another. Garrett was clear that Victor would not have arranged a way back for him, and so when he mentioned needing to get a carriage to return him to the inn, Henrietta offered to give him a ride. Hesitating for a moment, Garrett finally nodded.

"That would be wonderful. Thank you."

From the ease with which Henrietta's footman helped Garrett into the carriage, it was clear that she hadn't been lying about her brother. And as the carriage finally left the Klein family home behind, Garrett felt Henrietta relax. It was as if a great weight had been lifted from her, and with an amused smile, he watched her from across the carriage. It was only after a moment that she realized what she had just done, and with a panicked look sat up, straight.

"It's okay," Garrett said. "I'd much prefer you to be comfortable."

That didn't help the panicked look on Henrietta's face at all, but Garrett didn't particularly care, and instead turned his attention to looking out the window. After bumping along in silence for a few minutes, Henrietta finally spoke.

"If you're not interested in getting married…” here she paused, clearly unable to continue her statement.

"It's sort of out of our control, isn't it?" Garrett said, turning to look at her.

Immediately, her face fell.

"It is, isn't it?" She mumbled, dropping her face into her hands.

After a moment, she put on a resolute expression and lifted her head.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I never imagined that this would be the way that I got married."

"We're not married yet, and you never know what might change between now and then. For the time being, if you're going to be sold off, you might as well pretend to be engaged to me."

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Listening to Garrett's calm voice, Henrietta stared at him, a thread of confusion in her gaze.

"After all," Garrett continued, "the city's going to be changing quite a bit in the next few months, and I imagine that our fathers are going to have very little time to worry about the two of us and our marital bliss. The engagement isn't going to be announced until the first ball of the season, which gives us approximately a month and a half. That's a surprising amount of time, so I think it's best that we let things develop in the direction they are, and we can worry about whether or not we're actually going to get engaged later."

Henrietta didn't reply, and instead just stared at Garrett as the carriage continued down the city streets. When they finally arrived at the inn, she peeked out the window with considerable interest.

"Is this where you live?"

"Yes, this is Dreamer's Inn."

"It's a wonderful name.”

“Thank you.”

“Can I come in?"

Garrett hesitated for a moment, unsure how to say no without offending her, but that hesitation proved his undoing as she took it to mean yes, and quickly got out of the carriage. The door opened and Ryn strode out, her eyes narrowing as she looked over the pretty noble woman. Glancing past Henrietta, she saw Garrett sitting in the carriage.

"Welcome back, boss. How was your time?" As she spoke, Ryn smiled, her eyes shooting slyly to Henrietta. "I see you traded up."

Knowing that Ryn was talking about Vester, Garrett just ignored her. When he was out of the carriage, Ryn grabbed the handles of his wheelchair and wheeled him into the inn, pausing on the doorstep to look back over her shoulder at Henrietta, who was still standing in the middle of the yard.

"What are you waiting for, miss? A personal invitation? Come on in."

With a start, Henrietta quickly nodded. Unsure quite how to deal with that sort of speech, Henrietta hurried to follow, looking around with considerable interest at everything she saw. It was mid-afternoon and the inn was full of people, many of them grabbing late lunches or meeting others to talk about anything and everything. The bartenders were busy, and Francis even more so, but Henrietta, far from being frightened by the somewhat raucous atmosphere, seemed to think it all great fun, and when they finally made it back to Garrett's office, she looked at him, her eyes shining.

"That was exciting," she said.

"If you think that is exciting, you should see The Underground." Ryn said with a grin, perching on the edge of Garrett's desk, one leg on the ground and the other swinging.

"The underground? What is that?" Henrietta asked.

"Well, if you want to find out, you'll have to follow Garrett here. The boss can get you into all sorts of places."

"Ryn, that's enough," Garrett said, as he flipped through a few of the reports that had appeared on his desk since he had left that morning.

"Oh, come on,” Ryn said. "You're no fun.”

“Are you finished gathering your team?"

Grimacing, Ryn shook her head.

"No, we simply don't have enough Awakened who aren't already deployed," she said. "I've got Abbius, and as long as we're hanging out close to the inn, Francis too. But Francis doesn't want to leave his kitchen, which means I can only count on him sometimes."

Henrietta had no idea what they were talking about, but she looked back and forth between them as they talked, soaking every word in.

"I was afraid you'd have that problem," Garrett said. "If necessary, we can call the Red Masks up."

"I'm not quite there yet, but I'm getting close," Ryn said, shaking her head.

Just then, the door to Garrett's office opened, and Princess Louise stormed in. Following behind her was Thomas Gelavin, who looked as harassed as the princess looked angry.

"Garrett, tell Thomas that if he's not going to be helpful, he should just leave me alone."

"Princess, it's not that I don't want to be helpful. I'm just telling you that your best move is to go to the palace."

"Princess Eloise?" Henrietta said, staring at the princess in complete shock.

"Etta!" the princess yelled, just as surprised to see Henrietta standing in Garrett's office.

No less startled, Thomas stared at Henrietta and then at Garrett, who simply shrugged and said, "I've been to see my father.”

“And Garrett and I are engaged to be married," Henrietta added, causing Garrett to facepalm and everyone else to shift their shocked expressions in his direction.

"We are not engaged yet," Garrett said, rubbing his forehead. "My father has just spoken of how it's a possibility."

"Congratulations on your upcoming marriage," Thomas said, completely ignoring what Garrett had just said.

Clapping her hands together, the princess rushed over to Henrietta.

"Oh, that's so exciting, Etta. You must be very happy!"

Taken aback by the obvious exuberance in the princess's expression, Henrietta could only glance at Garrett, but he wasn't looking at her at all and was still rubbing his forehead.

“Congrats on your upcoming nuptials, boss.”

His eyes narrowing, Garrett looked up at Ryn, his expression promising swift death if she continued down the path that she had just stepped onto.

"If I hear rumors that I'm going to be getting married," he said, his voice cold. "I will know exactly where they came from."

Smirking, Ryn lifted her hands.

"Fine, I get it. But the least I can do is go ask Francis for some wine to toast the happy occasion."

Laughing with delight, Ryn left the room in a flash, moving so quickly that it almost looked like she just disappeared. This caused Henrietta to gasp as she hadn't imagined the young woman was an awakened.

"Instead of talking about our personal issue, I think it would be wiser to discuss what the two of you were fighting about when you came in," Garrett said, taking the opportunity to divert the conversation. "What's this about going to the palace?"

Crossing her arms and huffing angrily, the princess glared at Thomas.

"My father," Thomas said, shooting a frustrated look at the princess, "thinks that the princess's plan to enter the palace is foolhardy, that there's no need for her to expose herself to danger."

"And I'm telling you it's not dangerous," Princess Eloise said. "I do not know why your father is so intent on pitting me against my uncle, but I know that he won't harm me. Garrett, tell him I'm right."

Seeing Thomas look at him silently, entreating him for his help, Garrett thought for a moment and then gestured to the princess.

"I'm afraid Princess Eloise is correct. Entering the palace is the right move."

Seeing Thomas frown as Eloise grinned in triumph, Garrett held up his hand.

"Now, that's only the case because my father has agreed to help. If you had entered the palace previously, you would have been putting yourself into your uncle's hands. I'm not saying that he's the bad guy or that he somehow wants to harm you. I'm just saying that you would have had no support. However, with my father there, you should be perfectly safe. It is my recommendation that you should enter the palace sooner rather than later. Thomas, you should try and persuade your father to be the one to break the news to the Duke. You can also let him know that my father is expecting a visit as soon as is convenient."

"Of course," Thomas said, excitement filling his eyes.

As he watched Thomas say goodbye to the women and rush out the door, Garrett stared after him. He had no idea whether Thomas was actually in on what was going on or not. If he had to guess, it would be that Baron Gelavin had kept his son in the dark, not alerting him to the plot that he and Victor had cooked up. The only reason that Victor had mentioned it to Garrett was that he still believed he had his son firmly under his thumb. Shortly after Thomas left, Princess Eloise dragged Henrietta off to talk about something, leaving Garrett alone in the office for a merciful few moments before Ryn came back, holding a bottle of nice wine and a few glasses.

“Hey, where did everyone go?” Ryn asked, looking around in disappointment.