Chapter 36: Chapter 35

Lena, Rosetta, and I glanced toward each other before looking back to Camilla. There was one question on each of our minds. How?

Saying that I needed to escape from the Praevus’s clutches was one thing, but how could we actually pull it off? He had the town surrounded in a search for smugglers, and assuming that what Rosetta had heard was correct, no one was being allowed in or out. On top of that, Camilla was no doubt being watched. It was clear that he was expecting her to try something like this, his suspicions already raised. While I trusted that Camilla was a capable sorceress, what good would that be against a man with so much power whose life was focused around keeping the Marked of the world in line? 

But even more than all that, there was one more important detail to be mentioned. 

“Lena and Rosetta are coming with us.” I stared firmly into Camilla’s eyes, not willing to back down. 

Camilla frowned, pausing from answering to give my assertion a moment’s thought. I'd expected her to outright refuse, but she seemed to at least be willing to consider it, to my relief. Her gaze flickered across the three of us, and I couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking. Was she considering whether they would slow us down? Or figuring out how they could potentially fit into whatever plan she had been developing? Did she wonder what might happen to them if we were to leave them behind? 

I certainly was at this point. Along with my father. I hadn’t truly taken the time to pause and think of what could happen after I left. The Praevus would certainly be furious with our escape. Would he take it out on our loved ones? Would he attempt to use them as hostages? And would he believe it when they told him they knew nothing about my curse?

A brief moment of silence passed, and I said, “If they’re going to be in the know and be helping in planning this, they deserve the option to come along.” I glanced over at both of them, and Rosetta gave me a thankful smile in return as she reached over to grip my hand. Lena sat still with an uncharacteristic look of resignation. 

But what about my father, an insistent corner of my mind whispered. I couldn’t just abandon him here, could I?

“Taking all three of you along with me will make this significantly harder, if not impossible,” Camilla said after her period of consideration. “If I’m being honest, I don’t truly feel confident that I could even manage an escape by myself as things are. I am not optimistic about my and Pearl’s chances. There is still some risk to it, but I believe it would be safest for the two of you to stay here.”

“If I may speak my thoughts for a moment,” Rosetta requested, beating me to a response. “I’ll admit that I’m quite reluctant to do this, for numerous reasons. It doesn’t, as you mentioned, seem to be the safest course.” Her eyes glanced over to me, and I wondered if she was now changing her mind. “But I also have a few selfish reasons of my own for considering it.” Her gaze then shifted to Lena, who, still in her despondent mood, glanced back. “Were we to stay here, Lena and I could never truly be together. She would marry, have children, and I would be left forever off to the side.”

Lena blinked and opened her mouth to respond. But before she could, Rosetta leaned slightly over my lap, her hand reaching out to tightly clutch her lover’s. She continued, “I know you do not wish to believe it, love, but it is true.”

“I — no, I wouldn’t. You—“

“You would have a family. Children to take care of, a husband to sleep with at night. You would have an entire town to manage, in fact.” Lena shook her head in denial, but Rosetta went on, unfazed. “I’m sure that you would still love me, but… I want more, as selfish as that is of me. I don’t want to just be the maid you occasionally sneak off in the night to visit.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you,” she muttered weakly. 

Rosetta smiled and then turned back to Camilla. “And I don’t want her to marry that disgusting slime of a man that she’s engaged to either. I’d be much too tempted to slit his throat while he sleeps when he inevitably laid a hand or finger on her. So despite the danger that it would pose to all of us, and as selfish of it is of me to ask, I want us to come with both of you if you will have the two of us.” Rosetta stood up from her chair and gave a deep curtsy. “M’lady.”

Camilla stared at her, the dark shadows of her dress rolling across the floor and atop Rosetta's feet. Silence met the room as the maid held her curtsy, heedless of the discomfort from it. With a look that could be considered a domineering glare, Camilla was surely going to reject her. I held my breath as the temperature of the room seemed to almost cool just from her gaze. 

Then her lip twitched, and her composure cracked as she let out a groan. Leaning forward, she pressed her face into her hands. “Fine. Fine,” she muttered out, the sound muffled through her palms. When she looked back up to the three of us she grumbled and said, “Sit back down. How am I supposed to say no to that?” 

Rosetta gave her one final nod before sitting back in her seat. I was brimming with excitement, almost unbelieving that this was truly happening. 

“Yes!” I pumped my fist up into the air, and the sorceress raised an eyebrow.

My lips cracked up into a smile. Beneath all the posturing and the intimidating looks, was Camilla really just a softy at heart? I wouldn’t have believed it a week ago, or perhaps not even a day or two ago, but now it was becoming so much clearer. I was seeing her in a new light. She really wasn’t the cold-hearted sorceress she made herself out to be, at least not entirely. Instead, she was a woman with a gentle soul dealing with the traumas of her past — someone in need of the love and affection of others. It was clear she didn't get nearly as much as she needed or deserved. 

Lena let out a sigh to my left. “I suppose we’re actually doing this then, despite how insane the whole thing sounds.” 

I gave her a bright smile, feeling as though I might start floating up off of my chair if my excitement rose any higher. 

Her fingers tapped along the chair’s arm. “That still doesn’t explain exactly how we’re going to pull this off. I don’t suppose you have any magic up your sleeves that will turn the four of us invisible and untrackable, do you?” she asked the sorceress.

“Unfortunately not,” Camilla said dryly. “I have some control over the shadows around me as you’ve seen, but nothing that will extend very far beyond my body. Our options consist of trekking through the forest and hoping they can’t track us, taking horses and going by road, or slipping onto the train. All of which are notably terrible and guaranteed to fail so long as the Praevus is here and able to send men after us. With this many of us, we’ll be easy to spot and follow, and won’t even make it out of the town before we’re stopped. The best option of the three would be to slip onto a train without anyone seeing us and then hop off of it somewhere along its journey back to the capital. It holds its own variety of problems, notably that it will be near impossible to sneak onto it, but it’s still our best chance of losing pursuers. What we really need is a distraction.”

“A distraction?” I asked.

Camilla nodded. “Something to keep the Praevus and his men occupied and unable to notice or follow us when we're making our attempt. And I’ve been unfortunately struggling to think of something that could work.”

“Hmm,” I hmm’d. 

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This was a lot like several of the books I’d read over the years. Outwitted and limited on options, the main character ends up in a situation where they need to somehow outsmart the story’s enemy or fall to them. They had to think outside of their normal bounds, move a bit out of their comfort zone, and find a solution just insane yet brilliant enough to work. Unfortunately, many of the solutions used in these stories weren’t so likely to work for us. We didn’t have a convenient mountain of rocks to cause a rockslide, or an unassuming character who by showing a bit of kindness to, becomes a powerful ally. We didn’t have a secret army or weapon, no deep pit for the Praevus to fall into, or a way to have a one-on-one showdown. We didn't have an important feat that the man would never believe us capable of reaching. 

“Could we… have a monster drawn into the area to distract him?” I mumbled, barely realizing that I’d spoken the question aloud. 

“No, that’d be far too dangerous,” Camilla responded, somewhat offhandedly. “And there are other issues with the idea. I wouldn’t be able to easily sneak out to find one in the first place, given the town being surrounded and closed off. Not to mention that my absence would be quickly noticed and the difficulty in finding it. Then, it would only be a temporary distraction. Once it was killed, we’d be right back to where we are, the sentinel’s easily able to track us. We need something a bit bigger, or at least, something that he will prioritize over us for days rather than hours or minutes.”

My cheeks reddened. Right, it was a silly idea. Of course it was. 

“I’ll be honest, I have little idea what to do either,” Lena admitted. “I struggle to think of what the man might prioritize over finding the two of you, besides perhaps another more dangerous individual.”

“The smugglers!” I blurted out. “What about them? Isn’t that what you’re all here for in the first place? The reason he’s here?”

I stared at Camilla, and she gave me a small smile. Leaning forward she reached out a hand to ruffle my hair, and I pouted. “I’ll admit, contacting them and possibly working with them isn’t a terrible idea. It’s something I’d been hoping to do in secret since I arrived here, but… I have no idea still how to do so. The Praevus and his sentinels have been careful with what information they’ve allowed me to see, and even they have been having a bit of trouble identifying the smugglers, from what I’ve gathered.”

“What have they had you doing?” I wondered aloud. 

Camilla snorted. “Mostly busy work to keep me from poking my nose into things. Though after the Praevus arrived, he’s had me helping them scout and patrol circles around the town. I imagine he’s hoping to bait me into running, giving them an excuse to take me down.”

“Umm,” came a hesitant voice to my right. We all turned to stare at Rosetta, who was looking increasingly nervous all of a sudden. “I may know of someone,” she continued in a soft voice.

“Truly?” Camilla asked, the clear surprise in her words reflecting that of my own. How did Rosetta of all people know some kind of smuggler?

Lena, I noticed, stared across me, her eyes narrowed in part disbelief, part suspicion. “Rosey, you can’t be serious.”

“Look, I didn’t say I was one myself, just that I knew someone.” She fidgeted in her seat as the three of us continued to stare.

“You didn’t think this might be something I might wanna know about, considering our relationship and my future status as the wife of the town Reeve?”

“He’s my uncle,” the maid whispered out in defense. 

The redhead glanced away in thought, before saying, “The blacksmith?”

“He’s a really nice man,” Rosetta insisted. “He babysat me a lot before him and his wife had their own kids. There was no way I was gonna rat on him and risk him getting in trouble.”

 Lena rolled her eyes, and I elbowed her. “Be nice. The sentinels are probably planning to execute them all if they can find them.”

“And he’s barely involved in it,” Rosetta continued. “I don’t want him to get hurt or die, alright? He’s family. I would have told you eventually when I was sure of how you’d react. I’m really only telling all of you this now because we need the help and I believe I can trust all of you with this,” she muttered. 

“Alright, I’m sorry.” Lena reached across me and rested her hand on Rosetta’s leg. I really should have made these two sit beside each other when we sat down. I was starting to feel a little awkward stuffed between them. “Given all the secrets I’ve been keeping lately, I really don’t have any room to complain. I’m glad you felt comfortable with telling us.” She smiled and Rosetta smiled back, still with an edge of nerves lingering in her gaze.

“Thanks.”

Camilla spoke up, interrupting their small moment. “I hesitate to involve a bunch of smugglers in this, though I suppose it won’t hurt to at least gather some information about them. Perhaps we’ll learn of something useful.” She hummed and then bit gently at her lip. “Now we just need to reach out to him while making sure we stay discreet,” Camilla said, a look of thoughtfulness crossing her face as a clawed finger rubbed underneath her chin. “As well as what we will tell him about our situation. Obviously, we need to keep Pearl’s little secret to ourselves, but we need something to tell him if we want to learn anything of them in return.” 

“Well, I’ve been wanting to get a couple of daggers made,” Lena said with a shrug. “And he’s Rosetta’s uncle. I figure that should work well as an excuse for the two of us to go meet him, at least, and shouldn’t raise much suspicion. The Praevus only needs to speak to me or almost any other member of the household to learn about my sword and dagger lessons. It’s a fairly open secret by this point.” 

Camilla smiled devilishly. “Well, I suppose we have the beginnings of a plan then.”

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