Early the next morning, Bishop Geist stumbled out of the portal in the city cathedral, placing her hand against a wall to brace herself.

She was exhausted. Eva had insisted on asking more and more questions about that old ritual, which Cerelia barely knew anything about anyway. It was almost enough to make her regret asking Eva to change the design of the portal so that anyone could operate it if they knew how to.

But no, it was a good thing that Cerelia had been able to check in. It was clear that Eva was becoming less and less stable. Eva had never been exactly normal in the way she viewed the world, but up until now that had been useful. Cerelia had figured out early in the girl's life how to steer her thinking and direct her energy in productive ways. The girls' perspective was narrow, yes, but that just made her easier to direct—like a horse with blinders on. Once you set her on a course, she didn't get distracted.

But if Eva was becoming less controllable, then she could very quickly become a liability. Like a horse that spooks at nothing and overturns the cart, spoiling the cargo.

And there was only one thing to do with a useless work horse.

Much to her surprise, when Cerelia arrived back at her office, her aid was standing to attention outside the door.

"Your Eminence." Sister Beatrice curtsied. "A visitor arrived for you a short time ago. I sent someone to find you, but you were not in your chambers."

This last sentence was spoken without judgment or curiosity. It was a simple statement of fact. Cerelia approved of this. Beatrice had only survived this long as the Bishop's aid by demonstrating that she knew how to show proper discretion.

Which made it all the more notable that she had shown someone into Cerelia's private office without Cerelia's presence or permission. The visitor must be someone very important indeed. There were very few people whose rank would demand such treatment, and only one who was likely to have cause to visit her directly.

"Very well," said Cerelia. "You may be excused."

Sister Beatrice curtsied again and walked away.

As expected, Cerelia found Grand Duke Marshal waiting for her, sitting stiffly on the chair in front of her desk. He rose to his feet when the Bishop entered the room.

"Just how long were you planning on keeping me waiting?" he asked in a haughty tone.

"My apologies," said the Bishop with a gentle smile. "I was called away on urgent ecclesiastical business. I have only just returned. Please, sit. Tell me why you've come."

Marshal shook his head. "There's no time to sit. You must come with me immediately."

Cerelia tilted her head to one side. "Why?" she asked.

"The Emperor has called an emergency council," said Marshal. "It would appear the heir to the throne has gotten himself kidnapped by elves."

Anne and Corvina stayed in bed long after the sun had risen.

There were a lot of important things that Anne could be doing or thinking about, but right now she didn't want to do or think about any of them. Right now she wanted to focus on the experience of holding Corvina in her arms while they drifted in and out of sleep together, bathed in the warm light of morning pouring in through the windows.

At one point, Corvina opened her eyes to find Anne staring at her. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth and Anne felt her heart melt again for the thousandth time that morning.

"You look so serious," murmured Corvina. "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about how real you are," said Anne.

Corvina raised an eyebrow quizzically. It was adorable.

"I mean, I think I just realized that on some level I've still been thinking of this world as fictional. I've held everything at arm's length and mostly just let myself be dragged along by circumstances because deep down I didn't think any of it mattered that much because it's not real. Not real real. But now..." Anne slowly ran her hand up and down Corvina's bare arm, which was sticking out from under the covers. "Being next to you like this... being able to touch you, and smell you, and taste you..." Anne leaned over and kissed her. "It just really struck me how real—how physically, actually real this all is."

Corvina was blushing again. She hugged Anne close and buried her face in the crook of Anne's neck to hide it. Once again, adorable.

"I don't know how you can say stuff like that with a straight face," said Corvina.

Anne laughed and Corvina laughed with her. It was the sound of joy.

When they finally got up it was almost noon. Helen had thoughtfully brought a new suit for Anne and left it folded neatly outside of Corvina's bedroom door, but she didn't enter to help them dress. Instead, they helped each other.

"You really should give Helen a bonus for handling this so well," said Anne, as she buttoned-up the back of Corvina's dress.

"I already pay her a very high salary compared to most maids," said Corvina. "You know the kind of life I live. Her discretion is expected as part of the job."

"Still," said Anne.

Corvina smiled again. "Yes, you're right," she said. "Perhaps I should grant her some time off as well."

There was a brief, peaceful moment of silence, and then Corvina added, "You know, I believe Helen is interested in your brother Agis."

"Agis?" said Anne, a little surprised. There was no such romance in The Foundling's Wings but also... what did that matter anymore? "Good for her, honestly," said Anne. "Agis is fun. Do you think we should try to set them up?"

Corvina shook her head. "I get the impression that things will progress naturally on their own."

Anne nodded, thoughtfully, buttoning the final button. "Alright, done," she said.

Corvina stood up and walked over to the mirror where she looked herself over. "Well done," she said. "Everything seems to be sitting right. This dress can be kind of tricky, too."

"Do you want me to help you with your hair and makeup, too?" offered Anne.

Corvina quirked an eyebrow at her. "Do you know how to apply makeup?"

"Well... a little," said Anne. "I was never very good at it, though."

Corvina laughed a little. "Don't worry," she said. "I can do it myself."

Anne sat back down on the bed while Corvina sat at her vanity and began the process of putting on her face.

It was probably a good thing that Corvina had turned down her offer of help. Anne's limited experience had been with modern cosmetics, and so she probably would have been even more useless with these old fashioned applicators or whatever.

"Remind me," said Corvina, carefully applying a slight red tint to her cheeks. "What was the next big event in your prophecy? Or in the novel, I mean."

"Um... the war with Quellinia, I think," said Anne. "But if we've successfully prevented Sebastian's assassination, then that will never set off a shadow war in the capital, which should mean that Quellinia never has a cause to declare war."

Corvina nodded. "Then we can probably postpone worrying about that for now," said Corvina. "Which means our most pressing problem right now is... what to do with you?"

"What do you mean?" asked Anne.

Corvina turned to look at Anne. "I don't think Eva will allow you to continue as the Saintess, now that she knows the truth about you. We can't even be certain that she won't try to hurt you, and her magical powers make her potentially very dangerous. But even aside from that, you'll need to find a new role in society to occupy if you can't return to the church."

"Oh shit, you're right," said Anne. She thought hard. "I could be your maid, maybe? You said I did a good job of helping you with your dress."

Corvina smiled, but then she shook her head. "As much as I'd love to keep you so close to me, you're too recognizable as a public figure."

"Then I guess I could return to the Sacred Forest," said Anne. "And claim my rights as a princess or whatever. Elyon showed me how to get to the elf city if I ever need to. You could come with me."

Corvina shook her head again. "That would be a good option for you, but I can't just leave. There are too many people depending on me. And I don't know what my father would do without me to guide him towards less extreme actions. He's bad enough as it is."

"But if I go to the woods and you return to the city, then when will we ever get to see each other?" asked Anne.

"I don't know..." said Corvina. "But it's hard to see a way forward that will allow us to stay close to each other... Physically, I mean."

This statement hung heavy in the air. It was what they had both known,but didn't want to acknowledge. It was why they had resisted getting out of bed for so long. They didn't know when they would have another chance to be together like this again.

That would have been true even if Anne wasn't the Saintess, or even if she somehow miraculously stayed on good terms with the church. After all, it's not like they would be able to make their relationship public.

It was one thing for two young women, even public figures, to be close friends. But in this world, the only type of romantic relationship that was considered socially acceptable was within the institution of marriage, and the Wyernwolf empire didn't recognize same-sex marriages.

It might be possible to allow a few people close to them to know the truth, but if too many rumors spread about Corvina and the Saintess, it could be extremely dangerous for both of them, but especially for Corvina. And Anne didn't want to put her at risk like that.

So they couldn't openly share a room anywhere, and they would have to act carefully in public to avoid suspicion.

As a reader, Anne had always appreciated fantasy stories that at least semi-realistically portrayed homophobia. To her, homophobia was a big part of her life experience as a lesbian, so when it just removed from the narrative altogether it left the whole thing feeling rather shallow and hollow. She understood why other LGBT people wanted a more escapist sort of fantasy where homophobia didn't exist at all, but that sort of thing just didn't connect with Anne at all. She wanted stories that felt more authentic than that.

But now, as an actual character in a fantasy novel, Anne really wished she was living in a more escapist fantasy setting instead. This sucked.

There was a knock on the door and Helen poked her head in nervously. She looked relieved to see that they were both fully dressed.

"So sorry to disturb your time together, but Lady Justine is asking to see Corvina. She'd like you to join her for lunch."

"Understood," said Corvina. "Just give me a moment to finish my makeup."

"I can help you with that, my lady!" said Helen, letting herself into the room. "It will be much quicker that way. You always take so long when you do it yourself."

And just like that, their alone time together ended, with nothing solved and no guess as to when they might be able to spend time together like this again.

But they had a bit of time left before it was truly critical to make any decisions. They would have time to talk again later, at least. They would figure it out.

Across the town of Longren, in her secret lab in the abandoned wing of the church, Eva had just figured it out.

She took a step back to survey her handiwork. It was a large circle drawn in white chalk with strange symbols dancing around the circumference.

Normal magic didn't usually require this sort of externalized symbolism, but this was an ancient form of magic, and it drew on a slightly different power source than any of the standard forms.

There was only one last component that she needed.

It was time to bring Anne home.

Author's Note:

Thank you for your patience while I've been gone on hiatus! Unfortunately, I'm still feeling really burned out (I also struggle with seasonal depression so winters are just hard for me in general), so I'm going to be switching to every other week for updates for now.

The good news is WE REACHED OUR INK GOAL FOR THE ORIGINAL VILLAINESS BONUS STORY! Thank you so much to everyone who donated! I'll begin working on this side story very soon and post a bonus update with it as soon as it's done.

In the meantime, if you want early chapters and/or access to my second novel, The Warmonger Duchess and Her Female Husband, you can support me on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/TeddyAsplund

You can follow me on Twitter here:  https://twitter.com/teddy_stonehill

And you can join the new Bastards' Club Discord server here: https://discord.gg/WWv8e6KpUG

Thank you for reading!