“You’re not her.”

Often, when a person realizes that they have really, truly, and irrevocably fucked up, their body will kick into overdrive, flooding their system with a cocktail of adrenaline and various other chemicals in a desperate attempt to survive.

One of the side effects of this for the person experiencing it is that it can feel like time has slowed down around them, giving their racing mind that crucial bit of extra space needed to think of a solution before it’s too late.

Unfortunately for Anne, this extra bit of potentially life-saving time was completely wasted on her, because as soon as she heard those words and felt the adrenaline start to kick in, her mind went completely blank.

“Um… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Anne.

“It’s odd,” Eva cocked her head to one side. “I would have noticed right away if you were just a lookalike, but that is Anne’s body, isn’t it? How did you get in there? Where did you send her?”

“I didn’t get in anywhere,” said Anne, still going with blanket denial as her best tactic at this point. “Just because I’ve been going through some changes lately doesn’t mean I’m not the same person! I’m still me!”

Eva just shook her head. “No, you’re not.”

Anne was instinctively scanning the hallways for someone or something that would get her out of this situation. Maybe she could make a dash for the library to get Corvina’s help, but… maybe that would just put Corvina in danger, too, if Eva really was a powerful magician. Maybe she could grab a vase off of one of the decorative side tables, chuck it at Eva to distract her, and then run into a random nearby room and lock the door behind her. Or maybe the original Saintess could help her.

Wait.

The original Saintess had appeared, standing a few feet behind Eva. She looked like she usually did in the forest—her clothes ripped and stained, her feet bare and covered in blood, her long hair a mess.

“You fool,” she hissed. “You’ve ruined everything!”

“Am I dreaming?” said Anne, out loud.

“I can assure you, you’re not dreaming,” said Eva. She didn’t seem to have noticed the Saintess. “Although I can see how it would feel strange to be in another person’s body. Did you do it on purpose? Was it an accident? I’m not angry, I just want you to explain the circumstances to me.”

“As soon as you kissed that woman, I knew this would happen,” said the Saintess. “I knew everything would fall apart again. And now I’m being drawn back in, damn you!”

“You’re the one who brought me here!” said Anne. “I thought you wanted me to change things!”

Eva’s brows knit in confusion. “What? I certainly did not. Why would I ever want to change my dear Anne?”

“I did!” said the Saintess. She clutched her head like she was in pain. “Or I thought I did. The more you changed things the further away I drifted, and the further away I drifted the more confused I became. I kept cycling through thoughts and memories, losing more and more pieces with each repetition, becoming more disjointed, but still… there was the pull. There was always the pull. I couldn’t escape it. Then I thought… you couldn’t just change the story, you had to shatter it, destroy it completely, and then maybe I would finally be free! Free from the cycle. Free from the incessant watchers. But now… you took it too far. At the wrong time. Without the proper precautions. You let her see. And now it’s going to bounce back. She’ll drag it all back, force it into shape.”

While the Saintess was speaking, Eva was creeping closer and closer to Anne. Finally, she grabbed Anne by the lapels. “Why won’t you look at me?” she snarled. Anne did look at Eva, then, but she couldn’t help glancing back towards the Saintess, and when she did, the sudden anger melted away from Eva’s face as soon as it had appeared. Eva, still clutching Anne’s lapels, turned her head and looked directly towards where the Saintess was standing.

The Saintess vanished.

Then Eva let go of Anne, and Anne dropped to her knees.

“Wait, don’t go!” said Anne. “I don’t know what to do. Tell me what I should do!”

Eva glanced back down at Anne, her face an unreadable smile. “Go back to your lover,” she said. “I’ll handle the church. No need for you to worry about it. After all, you’re not the Saintess at all, are you? You never were.”

As Eva walked away, Anne heard the voice of the Original Saintess behind her say, “You could try asking my mother. Maybe she’ll help you. Although I doubt it. She never helps anyone.”

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Corvina felt like she was walking on air. Anne loved her back! And that kiss… she wanted to keep reliving the memory of that kiss forever. At least until she had the opportunity to experience another one. She wondered briefly if it would be weird to kiss Anne again immediately as soon as Anne got back to the library. That wouldn’t be too much, would it? She didn’t want to scare Anne away.

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She really hoped Eva wouldn’t try anything. But Anne seemed to think it would be okay, and she was trying to trust Anne’s judgment more.

With so many thoughts and feelings swirling around inside her, the last thing Corvina wanted to do was anything remotely practical. But despite recent events, she was still herself, and she couldn’t just let this kind of peace and quiet go to waste. Especially when there were pressing matters at hand.

So Corvina tracked down a pen and paper and began work on the ransom note.

The work was slow, as she was writing backwards and upside down in order to disguise her handwriting. When she had finished, the note read:

To His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Richard Wyernwolf,

I am writing to inform you that on the fifth night of the new moon, one of our patrols came across a hunting party near the region of Orrinshire. It is not generally our custom to accost simple travelers, but I’m afraid these travelers had wandered quite a ways off their path and into the Sacred Forest. I’m sure you understand that we cannot simply ignore that kind of intrusion so far past our borders.

As such, we detained this hunting party and in the process discovered that amongst the hunters was a man determined to be none other than your son and blood heir, His Imperial Highness, Crown Prince Sebastian Wyernwolf.

I would like to begin by assuring you that your son is quite safe in our custody, as are his companions. However, I’m sure you can understand why we are determined to keep him in our custody for the foreseeable future.

I promise that Prince Sebastian will be well looked after until such time as we can negotiate an equitable deal to return him to your side.

Until that time, please resist the temptation to send armies or agents to attempt to free your son by force. You are well aware by now that the geography of the Sacred Forest can be tricky for humans to navigate, and I cannot guarantee the safety of any of your people who attempt entry. Nor can I guarantee the safety of your son if you should launch a major assault against the Forest.

For the time being, it would be wise to view any threat to the Sacret Forest as a threat to your son.

If you value the continuation of the Wyernwolf bloodline, then I suggest you cooperate with negotiations. When you receive this correspondence, please send back confirmation that you have understood our terms. Then we can set up a time and place to hold a summit between our peoples.

I expect you will show me the respect a royal deserves, as I have shown you and your son such respect.

Awaiting a favorable response,

Prince Elyon Clearshot of The Sacred Forest

Corvina read the letter back to herself, satisfied that she had been able to capture Prince Elyon’s unique tone of voice well enough that it would be unlikely to arouse suspicions, even from someone who had corresponded with Elyon before. If the handwriting didn’t quite look like his, it would be easy enough to assume that a prince might dictate this kind of letter to a scribe rather than writing it out himself.

This should do just fine.

Corvina took another piece of paper and wrote a shorter note this time.

Ulrich,

Get this to the Emperor. Make sure the messenger looks exhausted upon arrival. Send someone with experience escaping from the imperial dungeon, just in case.

She didn’t sign this letter. Ulrich would know who it was from.

Corvina stood up from the table and went looking for a fireplace. She found one in the back wall of the library. It didn’t look like it had been used very recently, but it would do.

She struggled a bit to get a fire lit, but once there was a decent flame going, Corvina stood up and lifted her skirt, pulling out a small pouch she kept strapped to her thigh (just above the hidden dagger.) The pouch was full of a variety of fine powders. She took a small pinch of a green powder and sprinkled it over the fire. The flames turned a bright blue.

Then Corvina unsheathed the hidden dagger and used its razor-sharp edge to just barely prick the tip of her index finger, letting one drop of blood drop into the flames as well.

“Send this unto mine uncle,” she stated out loud in a clear voice. “Blood of my mother’s blood.”

Then she threw both notes into the fire and watched as they burned away.

Who needed true magic? If you were rich enough you could accomplish almost anything through simple alchemy.

“Corvina.”

Corvina turned around with a bright smile to see Anne behind her. Corvina ran up to her and threw her arms around her, kissing her again.

When she pulled away she noticed Anne wasn’t smiling. Instead, she looked pale and dazed, and a little bit frightened.

“Corvina…” said Anne, avoiding eye contact. “There are some things I need to tell you.”

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Meanwhile Agis was wandering the halls of the church in Longren, trying to find a familiar face. Then he saw a flash of blood-red hair in the distance.

“Eva!” shouted Agis.

Eva turned around. Her expression looked calm, but troubled. It was kind of unsettling that she wasn’t smiling.

“Eva, you’re okay!” said Agis, running up to her. “Zaos showed up at the rebel camp with that assassin earlier but neither of them could tell me what happened to you. They just said you disappeared! I was looking for Anne to let her know that you were still missing, but then I couldn’t find Anne. Maybe she went to that human estate with Corvina? But I guess that doesn’t matter that much now because you’re here! How did you get here?”

“I found my own way out of the forest, don’t worry,” said Eva.

“Oh… okay,” said Agis. “That doesn’t really answer how, though…”

“You should go back to camp,” said Eva. “And await further instructions.”

Agis stared at Eva, confused, but her face gave nothing away. “Are you sure?” he asked. “Isn’t there anything I can help you with now, though? Where’s Anne?”

Eva stared back at Agis for a moment. “Do you remember the first time you met Anne?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course,” said Agis. “How could I ever forget?”

“And all the years you’ve spent with her since?” said Eva. “All the moments you’ve shared together as siblings?”

“I mean, yeah.”

“Good,” said Eva, smiling again. “Just hold onto that. Continue to remember her. And I’ll call on you when she needs you.”

Eva walked away, heading in the direction of an abandoned wing of the church, as a baffled Agis watched her go.

“What in nature’s great bounty was that about?” mumbled Agis.