Theonis’ heart was pounding. He needed to tell his friends that Alymer was here. They were all in trouble. But as Theonis reached his friends, Nikoris was there with them.

“There she is,” he said, grinning. “We’re all here. Follow me.”

Theonis nodded and fell in line behind the others. He was shaking. Myrova raised an eyebrow.

“He’s here,” Theonis whispered. “Aylmer is after the artifact too.”

Myrova nodded and her eyes started to glow with a blue aura. After a moment, the others in the group tensed up. Then Theonis heard Myrova speaking in his head.

Dimileios isn’t surprised, she said. A party would be the best time to break in, with the doors open and everyone distracted. Kateni and I are going to be on guard. We shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

Theonis sighed and nodded. He was still shaking a little bit as Nikoris took them through the house. The group stopped in front of a set of double doors. Nikoris pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked them before swinging both doors open.

This wasn’t a small room; it was bigger than the captain’s quarters on the Polaia. Shelves lined the walls and pedestals filled the center of the room. There were dozens upon dozens of different artifacts in here. What exactly were they looking for?

“Marvelous, isn’t it?” Nikoris asked, grinning at Theonis. He walked over to a back shelf and gingerly picked up a large metal slab that was covered in inscriptions Theonis couldn’t decipher. Turning to Satiria, he said, “This is the map that I was telling you about.”

That was a map? It didn’t look anything like Lias’ maps. Theonis had no idea how anyone was supposed to read that. Satiria didn’t seem to have that struggle. She took the slab and set it down before pulling a notebook off of her belt.

Myrova and Kateni were standing in the doorway, facing out into the house. Both looked tense; Kateni had one hand on a sword hilt. Nikoris had turned away from Theonis and started talking to Dimileios, who looked uncomfortable with the conversation. Theonis wasn’t sure what to do. He moved to stand between Kateni and Myrova, who didn’t turn to look at him.

“How are you holding up?” Myrova asked.

“A little nervous,” he admitted.

“There’s no need to worry,” Kateni insisted. “Even if Aylmer knows where we are, there’s no way he’ll be able to get past us. We’re perfectly safe.”

“That’s not why I’m nervous,” Theonis said, rubbing his arms. “I don’t really know how I feel about Aylmer. Something about him just makes me feel… so good in ways that I don’t ever really feel. He’s just so calm and in control and I love the attention he gives me. But then he opens his mouth and he’s a bastard. It’s just… very confusing.”

Myrova glanced over at Theonis and held out her hand. He stared at it for a moment before taking it. She gave him a little squeeze for emotional support.

“I really enjoyed dancing with you,” he said.

“So did I,” Myrova replied, smiling sadly.

Quietly, Theonis continued, “Tonight has been a whirl of emotions. Everyone keeps treating me like a girl, and it’s really exciting. But I know that it’s not real and I know you said I could keep wearing dresses if I wanted to but I don’t know if that’s enough for me. It just feels like something is wrong with me and I’m never going to be happy with the way things are.”

Myrova sighed.

“I didn’t want to do this tonight,” she said, “but I have to know. Theonis, do you actually want—?”

“Theonis?”

The three of them turned to look at Nikoris, who had walked closer to them when their backs were turned. He looked confused, but his expression quickly shifted to anger. Theonis gulped.

“I see it now,” Nikoris said darkly. Turning to Dimileios, he asked, “So all this time you meant to deceive me in order to get what you wanted?”

“It’s not that simple,” Dimileios said, but Nikoris wasn’t listening.

“All of you have been lying to me,” he snarled. “Masquerading this boy for a young woman in order to trick me into letting my guard down. Well I want you all out of my house, now!”

Satiria stood up and walked over to stand by Dimileios, who looked very nervous.

“Nikoris,” Dimileios said softly, “I understand that you’re angry, but I’m sure if we talk this out—”

“I don’t want to hear another word of it!” Nikoris snapped. “I’ve had enough of—”

A bright light flashed in the room, blinding everyone for a moment. When Theonis could see again, the metal slab was floating in the air. It flew through the open door and came to a gentle stop in the arms of a white man in a blue suit.

Aylmer. Next to him was his second-in-command Eiscilla, holding a small wooden stick that was glowing with an orange aura. Surrounding them were four men all armed with swords.

“Thank you for making this easy for us,” Aylmer said, before turning to run.

Myrova and Kateni took off after the group, with Theonis right on their heels. The chase took them around several corners before they could get close enough. Myrova held up her hands, which started glowing with an orange aura. Theonis could see Aylmer struggling to hold onto the slab.

Then Eiscilla pointed the little stick over her shoulder and cried out a word Theonis didn’t recognize. As the stick flashed orange, Myrova was knocked off her feet and sent sprawling. Theonis stopped to help her back up while Kateni kept pursuing.

“Thank you, but we can’t let them get away!” Myrova declared, sprinting after everyone else.

This was a big house, and there were several guards posted at the entrance. Aylmer was taking an indirect route to escape, and at points had to slow down to remember where he needed to go. That gave his pursuers time to catch up.

“Hold them off!” he cried at one point, running ahead with Eiscilla.

The four armed men each drew their swords. Kateni came to a halt and drew her two curved blades. Theonis and Myrova stopped right behind her.

“Keep following,” Kateni said. “I’ll handle this.”

“But—”

“Go!”

Myrova created a green barrier around herself and Theonis and charged them between the armed men. Aylmer and Eiscilla were far enough ahead to be almost out of sight. Theonis was grateful for Kateni’s training; there was no way he’d be able to keep up without it.

He saw Aylmer glance behind him at the two of them before turning to say something to Eiscilla. She slowed down and turned to face Theonis and Myrova, brandishing her little stick. Myrova’s hands glowed red before a stream of fire shot out of them. Eiscilla countered with a barrier, again shouting something that Theonis didn’t understand.

“Do not let Aylmer get away!” Myrova ordered. “I’ll keep her busy.”

By the time Theonis reached Aylmer, he had found a large window and was heaving himself and the map over the windowsill. He gave one last look at Theonis and leapt out, taking off across the lawn. Theonis cleared the window in one smooth motion and summoned up one last burst of speed to catch up with Aylmer.

Aylmer was fast, but even in a dress Theonis was a little faster. He reached out, grabbing at Aylmer’s coat. After a few swipes, Theonis managed to latch on.

He pulled as hard as he could. Aylmer went sprawling, the map flying out of his arms and landing in the grass a short distance away. Theonis tried to pin Aylmer down with his knee, but Aylmer managed to throw him off and get to his feet. With a grunt, Theonis rammed into Aylmer, who took a few steps back but didn’t fall over.

The two grappled. Now Theonis was going to see if Kateni’s training in unarmed combat was going to be any useful. He kneed Aylmer in the gut, causing him to double over but not to break his grip. Aylmer started kicking at Theonis’ shins, trying to get him to topple.

Unfortunately, Aylmer was bigger than Theonis, and probably even more well-trained to fight. He also wasn’t being hindered by a dress. He rammed his fist into Theonis’ gut and grabbed him by the collar, throwing Theonis over his shoulder. Theonis hit the ground hard and called out in pain. Before he could get up, Aylmer had brought his foot down on Theonis’ stomach.

“You can’t stop me, Theonis,” Aylmer huffed, stepping away.

Tears welled up in Theonis’ eyes. He sprang to his feet and charged at Aylmer, catching him off-guard and knocking him to the ground. Theonis rammed his fist into Aylmer’s head, again and again until Aylmer stopped struggling.

Somebody strong grabbed Theonis by the collar and pulled him away. Theonis found himself being held tightly by two of the men who had been guarding Aylmer. He struggled and shouted and frothed at the mouth, but couldn’t break free of them. Aylmer slowly climbed to his feet, holding his head in pain.

“Knock them out,” he instructed, fishing in his coat pocket for something.

Theonis was pushed to his knees. One of the men grabbed him by his hair and thrust his head toward the ground. There was a burst of pain and then everything got dark really quickly.

After what felt like just a few seconds, Theonis opened his eyes and sat up. His head was pounding. Something was sitting in the folds of his dress; a sealed envelope. There was something small and hard inside.

“Theonis!”

He shoved the envelope down the front of his dress and glanced over. Myrova was running up to him, her own dress torn and singed in places. Theonis looked down at his own, similarly torn but covered in dirt. It was ruined.

“I wasn’t able to stop Aylmer,” he muttered, hanging his head.

“That doesn’t matter,” she insisted, kneeling down next to him. “As long as you’re okay, it doesn’t matter that he escaped.”

They had to get out of there quickly. The group reconvened, this time with Lias, in the meeting room on board the Polaia. Everyone was silent for a while. Dimileios had evidently joined Kateni in her fight, preventing her from being completely slaughtered by the four swordsmen. His suit was torn and bloody, but it was nowhere as bad as Kateni looked. Both had needed Myrova’s magic to heal them up after the fight, and Theonis suspected that Kateni would be bedridden for at least a few days judging by the sheer amount of blood covering her suit and how pale she looked.

“I didn’t have time to get all the data I needed,” Satiria admitted quietly.

“So we’re no closer than we were before,” Lias muttered.

“That’s really not helpful,” Myrova told him.

“It’s my fault,” Theonis said, eyes watering. “I should have stopped Aylmer somehow.”

“It’s not your fault,” Dimileios said. “You aren’t to blame for things going awry.”

“It’s not as bleak as it appears,” Satiria said. “I did get quite a bit of raw data. It’s enough to extrapolate what we need if we can get access to the library at the academy I used to study at.”

“We’re never going to find what we’re looking for,” Lias said, throwing his hands up.

“I’m confident in my abilities,” Satiria replied acerbically.

“We all need some rest,” Dimileios said. “Being at each other’s throats isn’t going to help us in any way. We were outmaneuvered tonight, but we’re very good at what we do. Making up for this loss won’t be too difficult. If you’ll excuse me…”

The group filtered out one at a time, until only Myrova and Theonis were left.

“Do you want to talk some more before bed?” Myrova asked. “I know we were in the middle of an important conversation when we were interrupted.”

“Actually, Myrova, I want to go to bed. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry, Theonis. Just… come find me when you want to continue talking about it.”

He nodded, but didn’t look her in the eye. The door opened and both turned to see who entered. It was Polithea, staring at them with wild eyes.

“What happened?” she asked, stepping into the room. “You both look so beaten up.”

“We’re okay, Polithea,” Myrova said, “I promise.”

“Are you okay?” Polithea asked Theonis.

“I’ll be fine. And I’ll have enough time to recover anyway. But for now I just want to sleep.”

Polithea surprised Theonis by giving him a big hug. He leaned into it, tears welling up in his eyes again. When she pulled away from him, Myrova gave him one as well. Theonis tried to smile as he said goodnight.

Once he was safely back in his room, Theonis slowly started stripping out of his dress. He felt absolutely awful. No matter what anybody said, Theonis had messed up so badly tonight. Myrova and Kateni had trusted him to take care of Aylmer, given him the easiest task while they dealt with the difficult opponents, and he couldn’t do it.

Now in his undergarments, Theonis took off his earrings and bracelets, dropping them on the bedside table. What was he even doing here? He didn’t know what his place on the team was. Everyone else had a role, but he just seemed to be there to take up space. How worthless could he be?

“I really do look like a girl,” he mused, looking down at his body.

Even in undergarments, especially in women’s undergarments, Theonis’ body was indistinguishable from a girl’s. He was so soft and smooth and curvy. His breasts were small, but they were there, very visible. It was no wonder people kept mistaking him for one.

And he liked that so much. Theonis enjoyed being mistaken for a girl. What did that even say about him? How could he go back to acting like a man in his everyday life when he preferred the pretend identity he had stumbled into?

Theonis fell back onto the bed, wincing when something hard on his head hit the pillow. He pulled the silver hair clip free and inspected it in the dim candlelight. It really was beautiful.

Opening the drawer, Theonis placed the accessory next to his other treasures. It would be safe there. He could return the other jewelry to Dimileios to do whatever he wanted with them. But Theonis was going to keep the hair clip. Maybe one day it would be a reminder of just the good parts of the night—being seen as a girl and getting to dance with Myrova—without also being a reminder of his failures.