Daphne

Daphne doesn't stop walking down the castle hallway, even when Violie shouts after her.

Tomorrow, she will see her mother again.

Just weeks ago, the news would have been welcome. Daphne wanted nothing more than to run into her mother's arms, desperate to fulfill the conditions the empress placed on her love, desperate to be exactly the person her mother wanted her to be, desperate for her approval and the pride the empress dangled like a carrot, always just out of Daphne's reach.

Now, though, the thought of seeing Empress Margaraux—of being seen by her mother—fills Daphne with dread. She knows that the empress will take one look at her and see all of her betrayals and her failures as clearly as if they were spelled over her skin.

Daphne was meant to be driving Friv to a civil war that would weaken it so the empress could conquer the country with ease. She was meant to kill Leopold as soon as she discovered him, and his younger brothers, Gideon and Reid, along with him. She was meant to be her mother's most loyal spy and saboteur, helping her take over the continent of Vesteria and return the Bessemian Empire to its former glory. She was meant to be proving herself a worthy heir to that empire.

Instead, Daphne found herself working with the Frivian rebels and King Bartholomew to make Friv stronger. She not only let Leopold live but helped to keep his brothers safe and out of her mother's grasp. Daphne turned against her mother and joined with the people who were supposed to be her enemies, and her mother will never forgive her for it. Daphne knew this—she was aware of her actions and the cost and she does not regret anything, but the thought of being in her mother's presence again causes a thorned vine to tighten around her heart.

A hand comes down on her shoulder and Daphne whirls around, fist clenched, prepared to strike, but when she sees Violie's concerned face, Daphne shakes her head, focusing on the most pressing issue at hand.

"You and Leopold will leave as quickly as we can manage it," she says, shrugging Violie's hand off and turning to start walking again, this time with a purpose. She takes a left down the corridor that leads to the guest wing where Violie and Leopold's room is.

"We're expected to run?" Violie asks with a harsh laugh, falling into step beside her. "You can't be serious."

Daphne grits her teeth. "What is it you imagine will happen if my mother arrives to find you here, pretending to be Sophronia?" she asks, her voice dripping with derision. She isn't angry with Violie, not really, but Violie makes a perfect target for the panic roiling through her, and for her part, Violie takes Daphne's temper in stride. "Do you think she'll call you her daughter, go along with this charade that you're truly Sophie?"

"Honestly?" Violie asks. "Yes, I believe that is exactly what she will do."

Daphne stops short, turning to look at Violie in shock.

"What is the alternative?" Violie presses on. "That she calls you a liar? Accuses you of supporting a person who, in her version of events, was responsible for the coup that killed the real Sophie?"

When she says it outright, Daphne recognizes that she has a point.

Violie continues. "She can't say any of that without implicating you, and right now, she needs you to take Friv."

Daphne nods slowly. "I finally married Bairre," she says, less to answer Violie and more to give voice to her thoughts. "She's one step closer to getting what she wants, but she still needs me until Friv is hers for the taking."

"Exactly," Violie says. "And she isn't coming here to destroy either of us, not yet. She's coming here because she knows that whether or not Sophronia is truly alive, she has lost your allegiance. She's coming here to get it back."

The idea knocks Daphne off-kilter. For as long as Daphne can remember, her mother has held all the power—something Daphne didn't mind, unlike Beatriz. Daphne was always content to follow her mother's orders and dance to any tune she decided to sing for the chance of some slim scrap of approval, and the secondhand power that came along with it. The thought of her mother arriving on her doorstep to woo Daphne back to her side is as ludicrous as it is terrifying.

After all, it's one thing to stand against the empress from hundreds of miles away, through underhanded plots and secret alliances. It is going to be another thing entirely to stand in her mother's presence and disobey her. Daphne feels sick.

Violie must see it in her expression, because she looks at Daphne half with annoyance and half with pity—Daphne isn't sure which is worse.

"We'll have to proceed carefully, then," Daphne says, straightening her spine and fixing her gaze straight ahead. "And we can be assured that she isn't coming alone—she'll have her spies and her assassins with her, and I think we know better than to underestimate what she's capable of."

"We'll need to meet with Lord Panlington," Violie says, as if reading Daphne's mind. Lord Panlington, Cliona's father, is the head of Friv's rebel faction, which has been working to dethrone King Bartholomew and do away with Friv's monarchy altogether, returning the country's rule to the individual clans who governed two decades before. Though until recently, Daphne considered the rebels her enemies, who could occasionally be useful, she and Lord Panlington not long ago made an alliance that Daphne still doesn't understand the depth of.

But even if she doesn't trust Lord Panlington, she knows they have a common enemy in her mother.

"And you," Daphne says to Violie, "will need to leave, with Leo."

Violie scoffs. "I just told you—"

"My mother may not reveal your ruse in front of everyone, but she is still claiming, at least publicly, to be ruling Temarin only temporarily until Leo or his brothers are found. She ordered me to kill all three of them already, and just because I failed in that doesn't mean she'll have simply given up. And as for you—suffice to say my mother has done away with enemies who have made themselves far less of a nuisance to her than you have."

"I can handle anything your mother sends my way," Violie replies coolly.

Daphne shakes her head. "And can Leo?" she asks.

Violie is quiet for a second. "He's been training in sword fighting with Bairre and he is improving." She sounds like she's trying to convince herself as much as Daphne. They both know that the only fighting Leopold was meant to do in his life was with blunted swords and opponents eager to let him win, and it will take more than a couple of weeks to improve that. When Daphne doesn't reply, Violie sighs. "Fine, yes, you're right," she snaps.

Daphne pauses, her mind turning. "It would be very suspicious if you fled now, after you've received word that your beloved mother is coming to see the daughter she believed dead," she says. "My mother loves a good spectacle. She'll want a public reunion, with tears and embraces."

Violie shudders but then nods. "I can do that."

"Knowing my mother, she'll doubtless whisper some warning in your ear during the performance," Daphne says before pausing and glancing sideways at Violie. "She knows your own mother is a weak spot; I don't doubt she'll use that against you."

Violie nods, but her jaw is tight. Daphne knows that Violie's mother is ill—so ill that the hope of healing her was what led Violie to become the empress's spy in the first place—but beyond having told her that, Violie doesn't speak of her mother.

"You and Leo can stay a day, maybe two, before you leave. In secret to ensure that you aren't followed. I'll come up with a story to explain your absence."

"And where would you have us go?" Violie asks, resigned.

Daphne doesn't speak for a moment. "Something is wrong with Beatriz, I know it," she says. "And I also know that my mother's behind it. Stay long enough to see if she tips her hand and gives us some idea of where Beatriz has gone. If anyone can find her, I trust it's you."