Quilla stared over the balcony, ignoring the cold. The snow on the ground reflected the moonlight, and provided loads of light to see with. She had watched one last sunset here for old time’s sake.

In remembrance of Garet.

But she was done now.

Attempts to dig out Dyle had failed. Even his appearance at the funeral had led to nothing. Just another disappearance.

She was fed up. Zandrue and Rudiger were hobnobbing with royalty, and she was stuck making no progress with the servants or anyone. And none of it was leading to any discoveries or solutions, and that wasn’t likely to change, so it was time to admit defeat and get out.

It was time to find Corvinian again.

She was leaving first thing in the morning. She hadn’t told Zandrue and Rudiger yet—still wasn’t sure if she was going to tell them.

No, she would. She owed them that much. They would understand.

Even if they didn’t, she was still going.

She needed to be near Corvinian, give him a chance to get to know her. To accept her. Gabriella had been right that she shouldn’t force him. He needed time to come to that decision on his own. But he could never make that decision if he was on the other side of the continent. So she would make certain she was near him.

And she was going to give Felitïa a piece of her mind.

It was a long journey to Quorge, so she needed to set out as soon as possible.

First thing in the morning.

For now, it was one last look at the life she was leaving behind—the life she’d never really had. It had been Garet’s life. While he was alive, she could have been part of it, but not anymore. However, there was a certain allure to imagining what might have been.

So she had enjoyed a sunset like they used to do together. She would lounge in the salon for a while, go to bed, and imagine his touch. Then tomorrow, it would be over.

Unfortunately, it was never quite that simple, was it?

It wouldn’t really be over. Part of tonight would be imagining walking away and never thinking about it again. But she knew she would think about it. She would think about it a lot, no matter how hard she tried not to. But that was okay. She’d learn to live with it in time. Especially once she had Corvinian in her life again.

There was someone—a servant probably—crossing the snow-covered garden below the balcony.

Her mind wandered back to Dyle’s appearance at the funeral yesterday. It had been doing that all day. Not surprising really. She was tired of these games he was playing. She would be glad to be gone from here and him—again.

But what if he followed? What if he was only here because of her? If...when she left, would he just show up in Quorge or any other place she ended up?

Surely not. He’d left her alone for nearly a decade. It had to be coincidence they were both here in the same place at the same time. Right?

The person crossing the garden had stopped and was waving. Waving at her?

She looked closer. Whoever it was was covered in robes and furs plus a hood. She couldn’t make out any details.

The individual beckoned at her, motioning for her to come to them.

Quilla backed away from the edge of the balcony, her heart pounding. Who the hell…?

Zandrue or Rudiger would just come to her apartments, or at the very least would make themselves known. It couldn’t be Rudiger, anyway. While size was difficult to tell at this distance, the figure was much too small to be Rudiger.

So who?

Dyle?

Gods, it could be.

She should find Zandrue.

But if Zandrue got involved, he might just disappear like he had yesterday.

Quilla approached the railing again. The figure was still there. Whoever it was beckoned again.

Going down on her own would be the height of stupidity. But maybe…

She raised her arm and beckoned to the figure. This might be the height of stupidity too, but at least she was in yelling distance of guards.

The figure regarded her, so she beckoned again. After a moment, the figure’s hooded head moved in a way that could have been a nod. The figure began walking towards the Palace.

Quilla rushed back inside and into the salon. “Marna!”

Where was the blasted girl?

“Marna!”

Marna came running into the room from the servants’ bedroom. She curtsied hastily. “My Lady?”

“Go find Zandrue and Rudiger. Ask them to come here in…” How long was an appropriate amount of time? “Ten minutes.”

“Yes, my Lady.”

“As close to ten minutes as possible, but not any sooner.”

“What should I tell them you want them for?”

“Just say it’s really important. They’ll come.”

Marna curtsied again and ran from the apartments.

Quilla took a deep breath. Then she took several more. Her heart was racing, and she needed to be calm. She was a coward at heart, and this was probably the most dangerous thing she had ever done. Why had she done it?

She waited by the doors, ready to open them as soon as whoever it was arrived.

A knock finally came sometime later. It felt like it could have been ten minutes already. But it couldn’t have been that long, could it?

She opened the doors.

Dyle stood there. He’d removed the fur and robes he’d been wearing outside and was now in Palace livery. But it was clear it had been him outside. There was still melting snow on his boots. He smiled at her.

Quilla stepped to the side and he entered. She closed the doors again.

“I didn’t think you’d let me back in here,” he said. “But I’m glad you did. Hello Quilla.”

She walked around in front of him and slapped him as hard as she could.

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He grimaced and placed a hand to his cheek, his fingers prodding lightly at his scar. “Do we have to go through this every time?”

She’d done that last time? Good.

Quilla strode over to the chaise longue and sat in it. He headed for one of the chairs.

Quilla shook her head. “No. You don’t get to sit.”

He stopped beside a chair and turned to face her.

“Now tell me what the hell this is about. No, first tell me what yesterday was about.”

“A combination of things,” he said. “Mostly, I wanted to see you.”

“So you dressed up as a fucking priest?”

He shrugged. “I did what I needed to do.”

“And why are you here now?”

“I wanted to re-extend my offer. You haven’t taken me up on it.”

“Did you really expect me to?” What offer?

He shook his head. “No, not really. Not right away.”

“Not ever.”

“In that case, I’ll be on my way. Sorry to bother you.” He shrugged and started to turn.

“No, wait!” It hadn’t been ten minutes yet, had it? Zandrue and Rudiger had to get here, corner him before he could get away.

He stopped and looked back at her.

“Where did you disappear to yesterday?”

He tilted his head and smirked. “Are you trying to stall me, Quilla?”

“I’m trying to find out what the hell you’re up to.”

“You’ve sent for your friends, haven’t you? That’s why your handmaid isn’t here right now.” He turned for the door.

Quilla jumped up. “You can’t just keep doing this!”

“Doing what?” He didn’t look back, just continued to the doors.

“Stalking me!”

He chuckled. “If I were stalking you, I wouldn’t be doing it in plain sight. You told me you’d think about it. I’ve just been waiting patiently for your response.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I wouldn’t…” She stopped.

Dyle stopped at the doors. He took hold of the handle, but didn’t open them. Instead, he looked back at her. “You don’t remember, do you?” He shook his head. “I should have realised. You were very drunk that night. But I don’t have time to repeat everything now.”

Quilla looked away from him, and silently cursed herself for giving it away. Though maybe this was the right thing to do. It was delaying him, after all.

He sighed and she looked back at him. “I made you an offer and told you I would be at the Bear Fountain every night at midnight if you chose to accept that offer. I will continue to be there. Come there—sober—and I will tell you everything you want to know.” He smiled and opened the doors, stepped through.

“Wait!” she called. “I’ll accept the offer! Just wait!” It didn’t matter what the offer was. If she could just delay him a little longer…

She ran to the doors, which he hadn’t even bothered to close behind him. She looked both ways down the hall.

Zandrue and Rudiger were coming up from the left.

There was no sign of Dyle.

“Sorry we were a bit long,” Zandrue said. “We were in the middle of something and—”

“Where did he go?” Quilla cried.

“Where’d who go?” Rudiger asked.

Zandrue, however, stiffened and began to look around.

“Dyle!” Quilla said. “He was here! He just now came out these doors! You must have seen him!”

Zandrue held up a hand. “Shh! Concentrate. It must be some sort of invisibility—like Felitïa does—but it’s just our minds being tricked. Clear you heads, concentrate, and look carefully.”

Quilla looked around. Clear her head? How the hell was she supposed to do that at a time like this? But she tried to calm herself and look around. Everything looked completely normal.

She found herself looking back to Zandrue more often than the hall.

“We’re probably too late,” Zandrue said eventually. “Shit!” She kicked the wall.

“I tried to stall him,” Quilla said, “but he guessed you were on the way.” What a screw-up! What an idiot she’d been! She felt like kicking the wall, too.

“How did you know to send for us?” Zandrue asked.

Quilla sniffed, fought back tears, and took a deep breath. She indicated the doors. “Let’s talk inside. I’ve learned something new you should hear, and I think I have an idea.”

* * * * *

“No. No fucking way. It’s too dangerous.”

Quilla stopped pacing and looked back at Zandrue. “There’s no other choice, Zandrue. I’ve made up my mind and you can’t stop me.”

Zandrue jumped to her feet, flinching briefly. “You have no idea what he’ll do when you get there.”

Quilla resumed pacing. “No, I don’t, it’s true. But if he wanted to kidnap or kill me or something, he’s had plenty of chances.”

“You actually think he’ll tell you anything?”

Quilla took a moment before responding. Was she sure? Not really. She had no idea what game Dyle was playing—and there was no doubt he was playing some sort of game. But she did believe he wouldn’t harm her. Maybe that was stupid, too.

She stopped by the fireplace. She should have a portrait of Garet put up here. She turned and looked back at the others. Zandrue was looking at her with tight eyes and rubbing at her chin with bruised fingers. Rudiger was fidgeting on the couch, but also looking at Quilla.

“Yes, I do. I don’t think he’ll tell me everything. He might just tell me lies, but he’ll tell me something, and something is better than nothing. We’ve been here for weeks and he’s been running circles around us. Maybe I can find out something useful.”

“Why don’t we all go?” Rudiger said. “Zandrue and I can stay out of sight, but nearby. We’ll listen in. If things go wrong, we can rush in to help.”

Quilla shook her head.

“Why not?”

Zandrue closed her eyes and lowered her head, shoulders slumping forward. “She’s right, Rudiger.”

“Dyle will suspect I’ve brought you with me,” Quilla said. “Even if you don’t go. The first thing he’ll do is look for you. If he finds you, he’ll leave. And that will probably be the last chance we have.”

Zandrue approached the fireplace and put her hands on Quilla’s shoulders, looked her in the eyes. “Are you sure about this?”

Quilla nodded. “If it were you, wouldn’t you do it?”

Zandrue broke eye contact. “Yes, I would, but I can use a sword or bow. I know how to fight and defend myself. You don’t.”

Quilla shivered. If Dyle attacked her or anybody working with him did… But like she’d told Zandrue, he could have done that already. There was no point dragging her out to the Bear Fountain when he could just kill her in her sleep. “You’re right. But I want to do this anyway. So yes, I’m sure.” She hoped Zandrue didn’t take her shaking for being uncertain.

Zandrue nodded. “All right, but come see me as soon as you’re done. It doesn’t matter how late.”

Quilla suspected she would have done that anyway. “I will.”

Zandrue pulled her in close and hugged her. “Be careful.”

“I will.”

Zandrue let go of her. She walked towards the wine pitcher sitting on the table against the wall. “We’ve got a couple hours before you need to go, so in the meantime, Rudiger and I are going to give you some pointers, just in case.”

Quilla nodded. “All right.”

Zandrue picked up the pitcher and poured three cups. “And one cup of wine. You’re very tense at the moment, and you’ll need to be calm and relaxed for this. Just one though.”

“Don’t worry,” Quilla said. “I have no intention of getting drunk again.”

Zandrue smiled and held out a cup to her. “Then let’s get started.”