Mouse stood with one foot on the step of the carriage, using one arm to brace herself on the door and the other to shield her eyes from the sun.

  “Alright, Mouse?”

  Mouse frowned at the grey-eyed guardsman who had just ridden up from the front of the line.

  “What is happening?” she asked. “Why have we stopped?”

  Bo glanced forward a moment, uncertainty dancing in his eyes, before turning back to Mouse.

  “The road’s been flooded,” he said. “We’re looking for a way around.”

  Mouse sighed in disappointment. Going around meant going back, and that meant their journey would be even further delayed than it already had been. Their troubles had begun with a cracked wheel and a lame horse, and this was on top of the fact that they were moving at a considerably slower pace slower than that by which they had come; their numbers were far greater now, and though Mouse was proud of the part she had played in seeing that the Empress’s missing knights were returned, she was somewhat less pleased by how much longer it would take them to reach the capital.

  “What is happening?” Agatha’s voice came from inside the carriage as she leaned across the bench. “Why have we stopped?”

  Mouse ducked inside the door, pulling it closed behind her as she sunk into her seat.

  “The road’s been flooded,” she said. “They’re looking for a way around.”

  Agatha stuck out her lip, plucking a mallow from the seat next to her and tucking it up with the others she had gathered from their floor that morning into the braid that formed a golden crown around her head.

  The mallows had been left there as a gesture from Sir Frederick, a parting gift to Agatha—or at least that is what Mouse had decided to tell herself. She could not accept any other truth. And though her mind had instinctively gone to the little page girl standing at her door with a mallow in her fist, to Johannes’ purple cheek as he held out a pink-tipped flower to her, Mouse refused to acknowledge that any of these things might be connected. It was all coincidence, a misunderstanding. She was not the mallow of Toth; she was simply Mouse.

  After some time, the carriage lurched forward, springing into motion once again as the caravan slowly turned back northward. They would have to go by way of Hallovie, Mouse suspected, passing directly through the town until they could circle back to the main road somewhere past the point where it had been flooded. How far they were, it was difficult to say, but judging from how long they had already been on the road and how small the rise of the Fjaelles had become, it was like to add at least half a day to their journey.

  Mouse looked out the window as the carriage bumped along the uneven road, rutted here and there where wagon wheels that had sunk into the rain-softened earth were now memorialized in the hardened dirt. She counted the furrows in the earth, watching the green, grain, and fallow fields turn into a dense wood before turning back to field again.

  Across from her, Agatha sat with her head resting against the door, drifting in and out of sleep as her head rocked from side to side with the movement of the carriage.

  Mouse had managed to bring the girl around to reason, at least for the time, explaining that the most likely means of throwing off her engagement to Lord Hildimar, and therefore the best course of action, was not to run away, but to return to Kriftel and there court the Empress’s favor. “If Sir Frederick is willing to forgo a dowry,” she had explained, “the match may prove a better investment than your marrying Hildimar. Make yourself agreeable to the woman, and with any luck, her sense of economy will do the rest.”

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  Though Mouse had congratulated herself on such a plan, she now felt a sense of responsibility toward it. If the thing were to fail, she would have herself to blame and forever carry the guilt of Agatha’s unhappiness.

  On the other hand, if it were to succeed, that meant there may be a chance for Mouse’s happiness as well. For somewhere in a hidden corner of her heart, she clung to the hope that one day, when her duty had concluded itself, her usefulness to the court worn out and her presence more a burden than a convenience, she would travel north across the narrow sound and be united once and forever with the Foilunder. It was silly, she knew. No one married for love. But if there were one foolishness she were to allow herself, this was the one she had chosen.

  She looked at the golden-haired girl slumbering across from her, her brow furrowing in dream as a murmur escaped her lips, and wondered where she was right now. Did she go somewhere in dream as Mouse so often did, somewhere that smoke rose from the chimney of a great stone house while a voice drifted on the breeze singing words she did not know?

  Mouse reached into her pocket, taking out the small wooden box and lifting the lid. Inside, the glass vial shimmered, the sunlight spilling in through the window to reveal the rich violet hue of the dark liquid inside. A gift, the maid had said, but one meant for the Empress or for Mouse?

  Mouse watched the shifting hue of the dark liquid in the vial as a cloud passed overhead, momentarily blocking out the sun. It was beautiful but changeable, dark and dull one moment and glimmering the next, as if concealing some sort of hidden threat. She was tempted to unstop the lid, to pour out a drop and dab it onto her cheeks as the maid had suggested, but she was afraid that the moment she did so, the carriage would pass over a stone or through a puddle, and the contents of the vial would be lost.

  The carriage was now headed back in the direction of Pothes Mar, the Fjaelles growing taller rather than shrinking, and the earth growing more lush. Mouse had been glad to leave the place, her one regret being that she did not feel she had made adequate amends with Sir Conrad. She felt just as sorry for the knight as she did for the boy, and she made a solemn promise to herself that she would do whatever she could to help little Leopold, should help ever be required.

  After an hour or two traveling back the way they had come, the caravan once again came to a stop, before taking up a road that turned eastward. The sun was behind them now, but they were riding away from the Fjaelles, meaning their light would last longer. Mouse closed the little wooden box, tucking it into her pocket, and leaned her head back, closing her eyes. And scarcely before she knew it, she found herself once again on Kingfishers’ Bridge, watching the blue water of the mighty Manau flow beneath her. She leaned forward, resting her arms on the low stone wall of the bridge and gazed into the milky blue water.

  Her heart felt heavy and sad as she stood there, though she did not know why, and as she watched the river course below her, she felt the crushing weight of an irrepressible loneliness. She did not bother to look across the bridge for the great stone house. She did not listen for the sound of music. She simply stood there looking down into the water. How sad it was, she thought to herself, to be a little mouse so frightened and alone in the world, so timid and helpless. She reached behind herself, to grab her tail for comfort, but she could not seem to find it. It was in that moment when she was distractedly grasping for her tail that someone crept up behind her and gave her a great push.

  Mouse felt her body lurch forward as she woke with a jolt. Her heart pounded fiercely in her chest as she looked around, reorienting herself to reality. She was in the carriage, she realized, and it had once again come to a stop.

  Agatha blinked drearily from the other side of the bench, stretching out her arms as her mouth opened into a yawn.

  “What’s happened?” she asked sleepily as she drew back the curtain. “Are we there?”

  “I do not think so,” Mouse said, craning her neck as she peered out the window. There were a few small buildings scattered outside, but not the kind that stood on the grounds of Kriftel. No, they were decidedly not at the capital, but where they were was more difficult to say. Mouse opened the door, poking out her head to try and get a view of the road ahead, before pushing it open a bit wider, just enough so that she could wedge her shoulders out.

  “Get back inside!” one of the guardsmen suddenly barked, causing Mouse to start and nearly lose her balance. “And keep the door shut!”

  Mouse quickly ducked inside and fell back into her seat, pulling the door closed behind her. Agatha looked at her wide-eyed, clearly just as alarmed as Mouse by the guard’s unexpected outburst.

  Mouse stared out the window, that funny feeling once again tugging at her—the chill about to set in, the dog about to bite.

  “Agatha,” she said quietly, her mind returning to the flooded road that had diverted them here. “When is the last time it rained?’

  Chapter changes and summaries.

  Chapter 30: After speaking with Sir Hugo, Mouse returns to her room where she is intercepted by a page and called upon to dine with General Ralist. Mouse prepares herself for the ordeal by recalling to mind the words of the Foilunder: "The jewel of Aros is forged with strength, and no man is her equal."

  Chapter 31: The supper to which Mouse is invited (previously alone with Sir Conrad) is attended by General Ralist, Sir Conrad, Lord Batton & Sir Chelcy, the latter of whom are friends of the General. Throughout the course of the supper, the General demonstrates exceedingly rude behavior and expresses a clear dislike of his ward, Lady Signy. Mouse tries to calm her agitated nerves with wine but finds herself growing increasingly irritated. Eventually, she becomes so angry with the General's belligerence that lashes out, accusing him of siphoning men from the Empress’s service despite having little evidence to back this claim. The General appears uneasy, signaling his guilt to Mouse, but responds in kind by demanding to know when those soldiers and laborers he sent as part of the efforts to help rebuild the Chatti lands will be returned. Mouse is flustered by this question and makes a quick escape. Following the supper, Sir Conrad asks to speak to Mouse alone.

  Chapter 32: Mouse breakfasts with the General's children. She wallows in regret over her behavior the night before, admonishing herself for allowing herself to be provoked to anger. She realizes that it is now crucial that she finds evidence for her accusation against the General. Maria, the General's third eldest, demonstrates the children's immediate fondness for Mouse by reciting for her one of her favorite tomes. During the breakfast, the reason for Sir Conrad's interview with Mouse the night was before was to discuss the future of little Leopold, the General's second eldest son. During the course of the joust that afternoon, Mouse decides that she will charge Cedric with investigating "the case of the Empress's missing knights." Attended by Sir Conrad, Mouse sees a striking familiarity in his features that leads her to suspect the reason he has such an interest in the General's son, Leopold.

  Chapter 33: At banquet, Mouse reflects on the Empress's economic contributions to the Empire, resentful that men like Ralist seek only to discredit her on account of her being a woman. She exchanges small talk with Lord Batton, who seems little influenced by the General's opinion of the Empress. Mouse has been corresponding with the Empress by letter. She is told that she is not to leave Pothes Mar until all the men formerly in the Empress's service have been assembled. She is also told to bring back Bertram, the General's eldest son and heir, to the capital, as a "hostage" to ensure his father's good behavior. Lastly, the correspondence informs Mouse that she was not the intended recipient of the letter reading "Adalbert's scythe, Yndis vale," leaving her to wonder if the letter was delivered by mistake, or was perhaps sent with the design of being intercepted. After supper, Mouse is taken by the children to see a puppet show that tells the story of Sir Sigfrid and King Ceadda.

  Chapter 34: Mouse prepares to leave Pothes Mar. She feels she has achieved a certain degree of success, having gather some fifty of the Empress's missing knights. However, she still feels ashamed of the way she acted toward the General and is eager to leave. She decides that upon her return to the capital, she will tell Ludger she wants to keep living her life the way she always has, as lady-in-waiting to the Empress, and nothing more. Agatha appears and declares that she is going to run away and marry Sir Frederick, a scheme which Mouse is determined to dissuade her from. At a grand banquet, Mouse says her goodbyes to Sir Conrad and Lord Batton. On her way back to her rooms, she is given a vial of nightshade, a beauty tincture gifted her by Lady Signy. Mouse has an uneasy sleep that night, and when she wakes, the floors of her room are covered in white mallows.