Lyz took a slow sip of her drink, watching the courtyard through the open doors.
"She's not exactly being a great team player."
Andrew glanced at her.
Lyz shrugged.
"She keeps me close enough to be useful, but not close enough to know anything that actually matters."
"And you're surprised?"
Lyz lowered her glass.
"We're working toward the same thing."
"Are we?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"You know what I mean."
Andrew leaned back.
"No."
His voice was flat.
"I know what you're telling yourself."
Lyz gave him a humorless look.
"Very insightful."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
She set her glass down.
"Harry trusts me more than he trusts most of the people around him. If Annabella gave me a little more room, I could get information we actually need."
Andrew snorted.
Lyz's eyes hardened.
"We don't have the luxury of keeping secrets from each other."
Andrew slowly stood.
"She isn't keeping you out because she doubts your abilities."
"Then why?"
He looked at her for a long moment.
"You really want me to answer that?"
"Yes."
"Fine."
He picked up his coat.
"Because you're never getting that place beside her."
Lyz went still.
Andrew continued.
"It's already taken."
Her jaw tightened.
"This has nothing to do with that."
"Of course."
"I'm talking about the mission."
"Of course you are."
Lyz stepped closer.
"I want the mission to succeed."
Andrew studied her.
Then he shook his head.
"Play your part."
He turned toward the door.
"Take whatever she gives you."
"Andrew."
He stopped.
He didn't look back.
"Just don't confuse being useful with being loved."
Then he walked away.
Lyz remained where she was.
Her fingers slowly tightened around the edge of the table.
She wanted to call him back.
Tell him he was wrong.
Tell him he didn't understand.
But the words wouldn't come.
Because somewhere along the way, the mission had stopped being the only thing she wanted.
And now that she'd finally admitted it to herself, something inside her had become frighteningly restless.
She wanted that place beside Annabella.
And she no longer knew how far she was willing to go to get it.
Andrew reached the Sagan village the following morning.
He found Rea already training.
She was drenched in sweat, her hair tied back, her practice blade cutting through the air with vicious precision.
Strike.
Pivot.
Block.
Strike.
She didn't slow when Andrew approached.
He waited.
She finished the sequence.
Then started another.
"Annabella's plan is ready."
Rea's blade stopped for half a second.
"The extraction?"
"During the wedding."
She resumed.
"George first?"
"That's what she designed it for."
Rea's eyes flicked toward him.
"And her?"
Andrew hesitated.
That was enough.
Rea stopped.
"What?"
Andrew exhaled.
"She's not the same."
Rea waited.
"How bad?"
Andrew rubbed the back of his neck.
"She doesn't smile anymore."
A beat.
"She doesn't banter."
Rea lowered the blade.
Andrew looked at her.
"She's become cold."
"Cold how?"
"Like she's already decided how everything ends."
He swallowed.
"And everyone else is just finding out."
Rea's expression hardened.
Andrew continued.
"There's something frightening about her now."
"Almost murderous."
Rea's mouth twitched.
"Doesn't change a thing."
Andrew frowned.
"Rea—"
"I'm getting her out."
He stared at her.
"It isn't going to work."
Her smile disappeared.
"You haven't even heard the plan."
"I don't need to."
Andrew stepped closer.
"There is too much at stake."
"If she left herself out of the extraction, then she knows exactly what we're dealing with."
Rea gave a quiet, almost amused laugh.
"I know my way around impossible."
She lifted the practice blade.
"My existence is impossible."
Andrew stared at her.
"You say that like we're going to walk into the wedding, pick her up and stroll out."
"We could."
"No."
Rea smiled faintly.
Andrew's patience snapped.
"Rea."
She looked at him.
"Listen to me."
She did.
"The wedding is our opening."
"One opening."
"The guards will be everywhere. The High Priestess will have people watching the estate. Every house loyal to Charles will be there."
He pointed toward her.
"And Harry will be there."
Rea's expression didn't move.
"If we miss that window, we don't get another."
"I know."
"No, you don't."
His voice rose.
"Because George isn't..."
He stepped closer.
"He's our last chance."
Rea said nothing.
"And you're still thinking about her."
Her eyes flicked toward him.
Andrew laughed once, bitterly.
"Of course you are."
He dragged a hand through his hair.
"You actually think you can get both of them out."
Rea didn't deny it.
Andrew stared at her.
"You're going to get all of us killed."
Silence.
Then Rea smiled.
"You've known me long enough to know I'd rather die than leave my wife behind."
Andrew's face tightened.
"This isn't some romance novel."
Rea's smile faded.
"People are going to die."
He pointed toward her.
"Are you willing to risk that?"
Rea said nothing.
"George."
His voice cracked slightly.
"Annabella."
A beat.
"Shawn."
Another.
"And me."
He swallowed.
"Are you willing to risk all of us for your dream of a happy ending?"
Rea's eyes hardened.
"Don't call it that."
"What should I call it?"
Andrew gave a bitter laugh.
He shook his head.
Rea stepped toward him.
"So what if I throw everything away for Annabella?"
Andrew stared at her.
"She is everything to me."
Her voice was quiet now, but unwavering.
"I'll save my grandfather and my wife. I'll get them back to my grandmother. And then I'll find a way to fix whatever comes after."
Andrew's expression twisted.
"You hear yourself?"
"Yes."
"Do you really?"
He stepped closer.
"You keep saying you'll find a way."
His eyes burned.
"As if the rest of us are just details you can solve later."
Rea's jaw tightened.
"I've survived worse."
"And that's exactly the problem."
Andrew's voice cracked.
"You think surviving something means you were right to risk it."
Rea stared at him.
Andrew shook his head.
"I've sacrificed too much for you already."
His voice dropped.
"I buried the love of my life."
Rea's expression changed.
"And I gave up my revenge for you."
He looked away for a moment.
"When Helene died, I wanted Sylvester dead."
His jaw clenched.
"I wanted nothing else."
Rea said nothing.
"Then your grandfather came to me."
Andrew looked at her.
"He told me to stay alive."
His voice softened.
"He told me that if I wanted revenge, I could have it later."
A bitter smile touched his mouth.
"But first, I had to protect you."
Rea's eyes lowered.
"You were a baby."
He shook his head.
"Your mother had just died. I was literally all you had left if George and Allegra fell."
His voice became rougher.
"Your grandfather handed me my reason to keep breathing."
Rea swallowed.
"Don't put that on me!"
"I didn't! and I will never blame you!"
Andrew looked away.
"You think I didn't dream about putting a blade through Sylvester's heart every damn night? And somehow..."
He laughed quietly, without humor.
"Somehow, years later, I fell in love with his precious daughter."
Rea's eyes lifted.
Andrew met them.
"Yeah."
His voice broke slightly.
"I love Annabella."
The admission seemed to change the air between them.
Rea stared at him.
Andrew continued.
"I tried not to."
"I know what she is to you."
He touched his chest.
"So I buried it."
"Right here."
Rea's expression tightened.
"Because she's yours."
Andrew stepped closer.
"I told myself that I could deal with it andbury every selfish thought.But so often I wondered what it would feel like if she looked at me the way she looked at you.""
His voice shook.
"I told myself that if I couldn't have her, then I could at least protect the person she loved most."
He shoved her backward.
"You."
He swallowed.
"It is always about YOU."
Rea's eyes glistened.
His expression hardened.
"And now you're asking me to stand here and watch you gamble all of it away."
Rea's face changed.
"I never asked you to do that."
"You don't have to."
Andrew's voice rose.
"You just do what you always do."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You decide."
He spread his hands.
"You decide what's worth dying for... for everyone."
Rea's eyes flashed.
"It is my life... don't you forget."
"No. Ours as well"
She stepped forward.
"Everyone keeps telling me to accept losing people."
"You think I don't know what losing people feels like?"
Andrew's voice thundered across the training ground.
Rea didn't flinch.
"I know exactly what it feels like!"
She swung a punch.
Andrew caught her fist.
"Then stop acting like you're the only one who gets to choose."
Rea ripped her arm free, headbutting him.
"You want me to leave her!"
"I want you to understand what you're risking!"
"Her safety?"
"Everyone's!"
Rea swung again.
Andrew blocked.
Rea struck his jaw.
Andrew struck her ribs.
She recovered immediately and came at him again.
Strike.
Block.
Pivot.
Andrew dodged and twisted.
Then they stumbled.
Andrew grabbed her arm.
She elbowed him in the ribs.
He staggered.
Rea kicked his knee.
Andrew went down hard.
He swore and pushed himself up.
Rea stood over him, breathing hard.
"You think I don't know the risk?"
Andrew wiped the corner of his mouth.
"You don't."
"I know exactly what I'm doing."
"No, you know exactly what you fucking want."
Rea's eyes burned.
"What's wrong with wanting something?"
"Nothing."
He rose.
"But wanting something doesn't make you entitled to it."
She shoved him.
Andrew stumbled back.
"Don't."
Rea shoved him again.
"You don't get to tell me what I'm entitled to."
Andrew shoved her back and held her collar
"Then stop making me choose between being your uncle or doing all in my power to protect our realm."
Rea froze
Andrew's grip on her loosened.
"Because I already made that choice once."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"And I'd make it again."
Rea stared at him.
Andrew released her.
She stepped back.
He looked exhausted.
"So what?"
Her voice trembled.
"So what do you want me to do?"
Andrew said nothing.
Rea's eyes filled with anger.
"Leave Annabella?"
Nothing.
"Let Harry take her?"
Silence.
"Save George and abandon the woman I love?"
Still nothing.
"Tell me what you want from me!"
Andrew looked at her.
Rea stepped closer.
"What else can I do?"
Her voice cracked.
"Tell me."
"What else do I have to sacrifice?"
"What else do I have to lose?"
Andrew didn't move.
Rea's eyes were wet now.
"What do I have to do to be worthy of my happy ending?"
The question broke something in him.
Andrew's face tightened.
For a moment, he looked like he might answer.
Instead, Rea's hand struck his cheek.
Andrew turned with the force of it.
Silence.
Then he looked back at her.
His lip was bleeding.
Rea stared at him.
Andrew slowly wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
He looked at the red on his fingers.
Then back at her.
"Think."
The word was quiet.
Almost gentle.
Rea's anger faltered.
Andrew looked toward the estate in the distance.
"Think about what happens if you fail."
"I am."
"No."
He shook his head.
"You're thinking about what happens if you succeed."
Rea went still.
Andrew's voice softened.
"That's not the same thing."
The words settled between them.
Rea looked away.
Her breathing slowly steadied.
Andrew lowered his hand.
"You're not wrong for wanting her."
A pause.
"You're not wrong for wanting your family."
He swallowed.
"But wanting all of them doesn't mean you get to pretend the price doesn't exist."
Rea said nothing.
Andrew turned away.
Then Rea spoke quietly.
"I have a plan."
Andrew closed his eyes.
"Of course you do."
"Trust me."
A tired laugh escaped him.
"That's becoming a very expensive request."
Rea reached for the water skin.
Andrew watched her.
She poured the water over her face.
Cold water ran down her hair and jaw.
She spat out the mouthful that reached her lips, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and handed the skin back.
Andrew caught it.
His eyes narrowed.
"Can't you think about anybody but yourself for once?"
Rea didn't answer.
She picked up her practice blade.
Andrew waited.
She turned.
And walked away.
"Rea."
Nothing.
"Rea!"
She kept walking.
Andrew stared after her.
His shoulders sagged.
He closed his eyes.
"Of course."
A bitter laugh escaped him.
"Just another tragedy I have to survive."
Rea stepped back onto the training ground.
The wooden blade came down.
Crack.
Andrew opened his eyes.
Another strike.
Crack.
He looked toward the sky.
"Gods help the rest of us."
Behind him, far from the training ground, Lyz was beginning to understand the same thing.
The mission was moving forward.
But she no longer wanted the same thing everyone else did.