Out of sheer luck, Ivan disarmed the older and more experienced Giles. Ivan pressed his golden sword to the latter’s neck. “Surrender now or I’ll give you no mercy.”

Giles spat out, “Never, you sapling.” His eyes flared.

So Ivan pushed the sword a little into the bodyguard’s neck, and Giles screamed at the pain. He coughed. “Fine. Let me go and I’ll heal Vermeer myself.”

“No, don’t listen to him!” Randy yelled from the inn room where he watched over Vermeer. He hugged the latter’s shoulders protectively. “Give us the antidote, you louche.”

Giles growled, but fished out a small vial of medicine from his pocket.

“How do we know that’s not just more poison?” Jasmine asked. She stood, poised at the door to Randy and Vermeer’s room.

Giles laughed. “If so, your husband can kill me.” He shot Ivan a scornful look.

With cautious steps, Randy approached and swiped the vial from Giles’ grasp.

Vermeer started murmuring something that Ivan couldn’t hear, and Randy whispered something back. Vermeer seemed to relax at his words.

Jasmine grabbed Ivan’s sleeve as she looked on. Ivan held his breath.

Randy pushed his master’s lips open and poured the liquid down his throat. The man coughed, but Randy pressed his mouth closed so he didn’t spit out the medicine.

Giles sneered. “Vermeer will recover, but by that time, it will be too late.”

With those ominous words, the tall and menacing man stalked out of the inn. They heard a horse’s whinny, rattling carriage wheels, and then they were gone.

Even though he wasn’t the one who was poisoned, Ivan felt cold, terribly cold. Would he and Jasmine have to continue pretending to be the innkeepers? What if the real innkeeper came back?

Jasmine caught his eye. She put a furtive finger to her lips, and glanced down at Vermeer and Randy. Vermeer was silent and it appeared that he had fallen asleep.

Randy heaved a sigh of relief, and brushed the hair from Vermeer’s forehead. He gazed up at Ivan and Jasmine. “Thank you. You saved my master’s life. Don’t be intimidated by Giles’ words. He can rot in hell for all I care.” He sighed. “For now, all I want is a good night’s rest, some soup, perhaps, and then we will depart again in the morning. I don’t want to risk staying in one place for too long.”

As Ivan deliberated whether to tell the truth or not, Jasmine chipped in, “Of course. Stay in the room, and we’ll make you some broth.”

Ivan was incredulous, but Randy didn’t seem to see the ruse. He only nodded with gratitude, and Jasmine yanked Ivan out of the room with her.

When they reached the kitchen, Ivan hissed, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Jasmine frowned and crossed her arms. “This Randy might look harmless, but he could be even more dangerous than that Giles, if you get on his wrong side.”

Ivan stared at the ingredients and kitchen equipment with dismay. “But how do we make good broth? Have you ever learned how?”

Jasmine shrugged, not looking at him. “No, but how hard could it be? Since Randy is distressed and occupied, he is unlikely to demand something of superior quality now, so long as it passes.” Her lips curved up. “Worst comes to worst, he will complain that our culinary skills have much left to be desired. We can humbly apologize and promise to improve in the future, and so on and so forth.”

Ivan sighed. He didn’t understand how his best friend could be so nonchalant about some things.

The two of them rummaged through the kitchen shelves and the ice box. They chopped up potatoes, carrots, onions, and other things; they mashed the ingredients into water, boiled them, and hoped for the best.

***

When they tasted their soup, Jasmine said, “It’s all right.”

Ivan just made a face.

But when they brought their soup out to Randy, he looked relieved. He inhaled the soup like a starved man, and made no complaints. Randy thanked them profusely after he licked the bowl clean. “I would save master some if he were conscious, but…” He looked tremendously guilty.

Ivan comforted him. “You were hungry. You need the strength to take care of him.” He handed the other man a cup of water.

Randy took it with a sad smile. “You are too kind, sir.” He turned back to gaze at his master’s unresponsive face, and sighed.

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Jasmine and Ivan left the two in their room, and Ivan whispered, “What now? Surely we can’t keep pretending to be innkeepers?”

“Why not?” Jasmine said with a scoff, her pearl earrings jingling. “Ada, it’s not like you to be so cowardly and a spoil sport.”

Ivan frowned, not wanting to be called Ada, even though no one else was around. But there were more important matters at hand, so he brushed it off. “Vermeer and Randy are a part of royalty, and who knows what Giles would do. A temporary charade of being innkeepers is one thing, but to continue it?”

Jasmine threw up her hands, the rings on her fingers sparkling. “It’ll only be until morning. After the two of them leave, we’ll be free to go as well.”

“By morning, it may already be too late,” Ivan pressed. “You know better than I do how quickly the authorities can arrive.” He glanced warily at the inn’s unlocked doors.

Jasmine raised her voice a little. “What? You want us to abandon Randy and his sick Master to save our own skin?”

Ivan gritted his teeth. His friend could be so exasperating. He rubbed his neck. “No. I would rather be honest with them. Randy doesn’t seem to be the tyrannical sort. We would be less likely to find trouble if we told the truth, rather than to keep on with this act and get caught in the morning.”

Jasmine looked like she wouldn’t budge. She put her hands on her black waistband. “I don’t understand why acting for another few hours would harm us. Even that Giles would care less about us and more about Randy and Vermeer. Moreover, if they try to arrest us in the morning, they will do so regardless of our professed identity.”

Ivan eyed his friend carefully. “Jasmine, you enjoy this, don’t you? The charade of being someone else.”

A glimmer of something showed in her eyes. “You enjoy it too, don’t you, the fantasy of being Ivan?” There was no judgement in her gaze, only a stone-cold statement. Her dark raven hair, usually soft in its tresses, looked harder than usual.

Ivan felt a chill in his heart. “Do you like me better as Ada?” he blurted out.

Jasmine blinked, seeming confused. “Ada and Ivan are one and the same, are they not? We’re in this disguise together.”

He shrugged his shoulders, and tried to suppress his discomfort. “Another problem I was thinking of, is that we don’t have a horse and carriage anymore. I would rather not hire another carriage in the middle of the night or even wait until morning — ”

Jasmine interrupted playfully, “Lest we encounter another horrible driver?”

The two friends exchanged a knowing smile, remembering how they snatched the reins from a driver who was cruel to his horse. But their smile was fleeting.

Ivan took a look at the empty innkeeper desk, and went on, “Thus, I would like to ask Randy if we could ride in their carriage. We could pay them, of course, not that they have any need for funds. But since Randy seemed so eager to reward us for saving his master, giving us a ride would be much better than giving us money that we don’t need.”

Jasmine looked long and hard at him, then she smiled and nodded. “That sounds like a decent plan.”

Ivan was astonished at how quickly she accepted his proposal. But perhaps he had struck a chord when he asked her about the fun of the charade…They both bonded over a game of pretend.

They knocked on the door to Vermeer and Randy’s room.

Immediately, Randy opened it. His eyes were wide. “Is something the matter? Has Giles — ”

Ivan shook his head vigorously. “No, no.” He grimaced. “We wanted to share with you that we’re not actually the innkeepers. In fact, we were robbed by the real innkeeper, who has disappeared.”

Randy looked shocked, but in a soft voice, he replied, “No wonder. I thought you and your wife were more refined than most innkeepers. Such splendid clothing that only the aristocrats could afford. As for the real innkeeper stealing your belongings, perhaps I can help?”

Ivan exchanged a glance with Jasmine, who seemed calm and even impassive. Ivan said, “He took away our horse and carriage, but thankfully those can be easily replaced. However, there’s always the chance that Giles will arrive again with his allies, so my wife and I want to get away as soon as possible, rather than to risk hiring another carriage in the middle of the night.”

Randy wasn’t a slow man. He nodded. “Would you like to ride in our carriage?”

Ivan nodded eagerly and Jasmine smiled. “If it won’t be too much trouble,” she said, in a placating tone that she normally never used.

***

Perhaps Randy would have to travel much sooner than he would have liked, and Ivan apologized for the inconvenience. But Randy reassured them that getting far away from Giles was a good idea.

At first, Ivan worried that they wouldn’t be able to hide the location of Jasmine’s home, but she didn’t seem to care. She did have good bodyguards at her manor, anyway.

It was when Jasmine and Ivan landed back at the mansion, and waved goodbye to Randy, that Jasmine asked the uncomfortable question: “So, would you like to change back to your regular clothes, Ada? Or Ivan?” Her face was candid, but Ivan glanced away.

“I suppose I should change back,” he replied. “Lest the servants think you’ve brought home a strange man.”

Jasmine snorted. “Not that they have the right to tell me what to do. I can bring home anyone I like. Even Emmett can’t order me about.”

Ivan blinked. Somehow he had completely forgotten about Emmett, and he felt ashamed. But Ivan had been so occupied with Randy and Vermeer, Giles, pretending to be innkeepers, and of course, pretending to be Ivan and acting as Jasmine’s husband…

Jasmine tugged at his sleeve. “Come on, you can come inside and change. You can wear your disguise again some other time.”

It rankled Ivan — Ada to have to go back to her usual life, but she supposed she had no other choice.

It was in this state of mind that Ada burst into the parlor with Jasmine. Standing there waiting for them was Emmett, looking elegant as always with his lush brown hair. But he was also tired. “Where have you been all night, Jasmine? And who — ” Emmett’s eyes met Ada’s. “Oh,” he said.

The two stared at one another for a long moment, before Ada broke the silence with a cough. It felt strange to revert to her usual, higher pitched feminine voice. She gazed down at the marble floor, then looked up at him again. “Jasmine and I were lost and had to stay at an inn. Then we took a carriage, hoping to arrive here as soon as we could.”

To Emmett’s credit, he didn’t question why they didn’t wait till daylight to hire that carriage, though it was obvious Ada had left out many details of their story.

Instead, he nodded. “I see.” He glanced over at them with concern, then he asked, “Ada, do you mind if I speak with you in private for a moment?”

Jasmine widened her eyes. “What deadly secret can’t I hear about as well?”

Emmett grimaced at his sister. “Please, it won’t take long.”

Jasmine scowled at him, then tossed her head. “Fine. I’m going to my room to rest. Ada, you can come see me later after your tête-à-tête.”

Ada nodded. She felt a mixture of dread and anticipation as she watched her best friend stomp away down the hall.