LILY was walking to practice the next day when she was intercepted by Madela Yath.

"Yes, Madela?" She said, raising her eyebrows. Were the Gongjensu finally going to summon her?

Madela pressed her lips together. "Come to the meeting place tonight. Midnight. Bring no one."

She nodded quickly as Madela walked away, back in the direction of her shop. So, they were calling her. But for what?

Was it something to do with Hosun? She hoped not. She would never be able to betray him, never.

Lost in her thoughts, she hardly noticed when she reached the training fields. It took Vena waving her hand in front of Lily's eyes for her to snap out of it.

"Are you alright?" Vena asked. "You seem preoccupied."

Lily shook her head. "Just...thinking about last night. Where's Iri?"

Vena shrugged. "Late, I guess. So's Ada."

"And Venix?" Lily asked, glancing around. She didn't see Vena's twin anywhere.

Vena snorted. "He overslept, so I left without him. He should be here anytime soon."

Sure enough, a few moments later, Venix came running in, his hair disheveled and face bright red.

"I made it...on time!" He panted, leaning over and placing his hands on his knees.

"Congratulations," Vena said dryly.

"Oh, hush," Venix said, putting his lunch box down, under a nearby tree. "As long as the Colonel knows I'm not late, I'm fine."

"Ada and Iri might not be, though," Lily murmured, watching as the Colonel began roll call.

Venix's face became worried. "Where are they?"

"Late," Lily said, glancing at Vena. "I hope they're alright."

Vena bit her lip, glancing in the direction of their houses. "I'm sure they just overslept—just like you, Ven."

Venix huffed, though his face still held traces of concern. "It was a one-time thing, Vena."

Vena scoffed. "I can count about a hundred times you've overslept—"

The Colonel's voice, which had gradually been increasing, but her off with a "Venix Mendiaz!" Then came Vena's name.

Ada's name passed. Lily answered her own, and then Iressa's came. The Colonel was not happy to see them missing. Lily shivered to think of the shouting the two would receive. If they showed up.

"Should one of us go and check on them?" Venix asked.

"No, they're right there," Vena said, her eyes fixed on two rapidly-approaching figures.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief as Ada and Iressa ran up, both breathing hard.

"What happened?" She and Venix asked in unison.

Ada bit her lip. "I didn't sleep well, so I didn't get up early enough."

"Ha! You see, Vena!" Venix exclaimed, turning to his twin.

Lily watched as Ada glanced up, and saw the dark smudges under her eyes. "Why didn't you sleep well?"

Ada gave her a small shrug. "Nightmares."

Lily bit her lip, nodding. She could understand. "Iri, you?"

Iressa shook her head. "Same."

Lily grimaced in sympathy, about to say something, when a booming voice interrupted them.

"Why were you late?"

She exchanged a distressed look at Vena as Colonel Ulima marched towards them. The soldiers around them stopped sparring and watched as well.

"Oh, no," Vena whispered, hiding behind Lily.

"What is it?" Lily asked.

"Soldier Hamat. He's watching me. This is so humiliating," Vena said.

Despite everything, Lily almost laughed. "It's not you who was late, so don't worry."

The Colonel reached them and put her hands on her hips, staring down Ada and Iressa.

"Apologies, Colonel, but—we overslept," Ada said, wincing a the Colonel's face grew angrier.

"Overslept?" The Colonel said. Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"We didn't sleep well," Iressa explained, biting her lip.

The Colonel turned to Iressa examining her face. Strangely, she didn't seem angrier. "Don't do it again. And stay for half an hour extra."

She stalked away, Lily blinking at her. For Colonel Ulima, this wasn't that harsh of a punishment.

Still, Venix scowled. "That thorn. She couldn't give you an exemption, just this once."

Ada gave him a smile. "It isn't that bad. Remember that soldier—the one she made do ten laps around the whole field because he was late? We were lucky."

Iressa nodded in agreement.

Venix exhaled, shrugging. "I suppose. You'll have to stay back, though."

"We'll be fine," Iressa said dryly, "We're adults."

Venix rolled his eyes. "Fine, adult, spar with me then?"

Iressa snorted. "Fine. After we warm up, you'll be surprised."

"You still won't be able to beat me," Venix said cockily.

"We'll see." Iressa smirked.

***

"I beat you!" Iressa crowed, sitting down near their lunches.

"Two times," Venix reminded her, crossing his arms. "I won the majority of our matches."

Iressa shrugged. "I'm improving, though. And I'm much better than you at archery."

"I won't deny that," Venix said, putting his hands up. "But I'm going to switch partners now. You're too predictable. Lily?"

Lily shrugged. "Alright."

Iressa's mouth dropped open. "Predictable? You thorn, you—" She began whacking him on his back. Venix covered his head with his arms. "I'll show you predictable!"

"Mercy!" Venix cried. "I apologize!"

Iressa huffed, ceasing her attack on him. "You better not do it again."

The others laughed as Venix crept away from Iressa. "I won't!"

"Good," Iressa said, grinning at him triumphantly.

Venix rolled his eyes and took a bite of his food, making a face. "Vena, what did you put in this? It tastes awful."

Vena scowled. "I didn't put anything. You made it yourself, you must have put something."

Venix made a face at her and got back to eating.

When their break was over, Lily paired up with Venix. "Let's try those new drills the Colonel showed us the other day," she suggested.

Venix nodded and lifted his sword, wincing.

"What's wrong."

He grimaced. "I think I ate too much."

Lily laughed. "That's your own fault, you know. Do you want to wait for a few minutes."

He shook his head. "Colonel will have our heads if we wait. Come on, I'll be fine."

Lily shrugged. "Just don't vomit on me, and we'll be fine."

***

This time, Lily woke up on her own. She'd told Adrian about her being called, but that she had to go alone. He wasn't happy with it, but he'd agreed.

After a haunting nightmare that she couldn't quite remember, her senses were on edge as she crept through the trees.

Every small sound felt like someone was following her, every hoot of an owl startling.

She reaching the large tree and jumped through the hollow, not quite sure what she was going to see when she hit the ground.

She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the utter lack of light. She could just make out a figure in the darkness.

"Hello?" She called out.

"Jade-Lily Bo'ehr?" The voice was unfamiliar, smooth and silky—and if she wasn't quite wrong, had a Tsuchengko accent.

"Just Lily now," she said, her head spinning. Had she heard wrong?

"Ah, I see," the voice said, the tone pleasant. Like this was a normal conversation. It was a woman—and definitely from Tsuchengko.

But why was there a Tsuchengkan here, to see her? It didn't sound like anyone she knew. And why would a Tsuchengkan woman come all the way to Arrian, just to talk to her?

"You were the General's wife, correct?"

Lily nodded, even though she knew the woman probably could see her. "Yes."

"Tell me, Lily," the woman said, taking a step closer. "Did you love him?"

Lily shifted uneasily. If she admitted she did, they'd become suspicious. "We were...comfortable with each other."

"Comfortable. That's all?" The woman asked, her voice soft, yet clearly heard.

"Yes. We weren't married for that long," Lily said, her heart rebelling at the lies. She'd loved Hosun more than anything—but she wasn't about to tell the Gongjensu that.

"So, you're fine with betraying him? And your country?"

"Tsuchengko isn't my country anymore. And the General is no longer my husband," Lily said, her heart thudding.

"They exiled you, didn't they?" The woman said.

"Yes," Lily said, unsure of where this was going.

The woman let out a sigh. "We are the same, you and I."

Did that mean she had been exiled as well? Lily hadn't heard of any exiling in the near past, and the woman sounded about her own age.

"You were exiled?"

"Yes," the woman said, taking another step.

"I—I didn't hear of any exiling," Lily stuttered, fighting the urge to step back.

"They covered it up," the woman said. Lily could make out her shrugging.

"Oh," Lily muttered. "Um, why was I summoned?"

"I just wanted to talk to you, Lily," the woman said. "There's nothing wrong in that."

"Why travel all the way here?" Lily asked. Maybe she could find out where the woman had been.

The woman let out a light laugh. "Who's to say I travelled? Who's to say I wasn't already here?"

Lily swallowed. "Well, then, why did you want to talk to me?"

"Because we—our stories—are very similar," the woman said, taking another step ahead. "I wanted to get to know you. We have both had great injustices done to us."

"Yes," Lily said shakily. "What happened to me was injustice. But what happened to you?"

The woman let out a breath. "You know how it is, don't you, Lily? You break a Law, you get exiled. These people really have no mercy, do they?"

"Which Law did you break?" Lily asked, clenching her fists.

"Same as you, just a few others," the woman said, her tone still light.

"You used a weapon?" Lily asked.

She could see the woman nod now, hair dark as the shadows surrounding them. "Do you know what I wanted to do with it?" She leaned forward. "The same as you." Her voice turned dark.

"Murder."

Lily sucked in a breath.

The woman leaned back, her tone becoming light again. "But I failed." She clicked her tongue. "But you killed in the defense of your husband, didn't you?"

"It—it was instinct," Lily stuttered. "I had nothing against Hosun or Tsuchengko then."

"Nothing?" The woman hissed. "Nothing? Not even those ridiculous Laws, forbidding women to use weaponry. Letting women be lesser to men, every time? Men are the heirs, men are the pride of the family—you had nothing against that?"

Lily did take a few steps back. "Not—not then. I see the folly of it now."

The woman scoffed. "Of course you do. You were exiled for breaking one of those ridiculous Laws. And even after your exiling, the King didn't change those Laws, did he?"

"No," Lily said, desperately wishing she had a weapon. "He should have."

"The King," the woman snapped. "Should have done many things. He has failed the Tsuchengkan women, over and over."

"I agree," Lily said, trying her hardest to keep her voice from shaking.

"Do you?" The woman said, sounding pleasant again. "Then we really do have much in common."

"I—I suppose we do," Lily said, biting her lip.

"Tell me, Lily, are you committed to the Gongjensu?"

"Yes. I want to see Tsuchengko fall," Lily said, willing anger into her tone.

"So do I," the woman said, "But not all of Tsuchengko. Not the innocents. We won't kill those."

Lily almost raised an eyebrow. The Gongjensu had already killed so many innocents.

"Who will you kill?" She asked, fear creeping into her.

The woman shrugged. "The royal family. The nobles. People who could have changed the Laws, but didn't."

Like Hosun.

Lily felt nauseous. She didn't want to think of Hosun dead.

"You will help us, won't you?"

"Yes," Lily said quickly.

"Good," the woman said.

Lily's dread only grew as she asked the question she'd been thinking this entire time. "Who are you?"

There was a short silence, and then the sound of something striking something else. A match flickered to light, illuminated familiar Tsuchengkan features—pale skin, almond eyes, raven hair. This woman's face was delicate, and Lily thought that she'd seen her before—

"Gloria Sovranus. Pleased to meet you."

BOOM! (I was way too excited for that)

Honestly, how many of you guessed that?

I was so excited for this. I've dropped a few hints here and there, do you remember who she is? Go back and try to look for her, I guess!

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