Lotte leaned out of the alley, pulling her hood tighter around her head. No guards around. She stepped out into the afternoon sunlight and ran up to Herbert’s front door. Lotte kept knocking until the door opened and she could push her way inside.

“Hey, Herbert,” she said, throwing her hood off and grabbing him in a hug.

“Lotte!” he cried, returning the gesture. “What are you doing here?! Your parents said—”

“My parents don’t know I’m here, yet,” Lotte cut him off. “Is Regina home?”

Regina’s voice replied, “She’s in the bedroom!”

Lotte detached herself from Herbert to hug Regina as she walked through the doorway.

“Is it safe for you to be here?” Herbert asked.

“Safe enough. I didn’t get caught, did I?”

Regina added, “Where’s Alena? Is she alright?”

“She’s gathering more people. That’s actually something I want to talk to you about.” Lotte turned sober. “The Resistance needs a temporary headquarters. We’re launching a mission to save the captured leaders before they can be executed. Can we use your home for the day?”

Herbert’s expression fell a little and he exchanged a glance with Regina.

“That’s a lot to ask,” he told Lotte.

“I know that it is,” Lotte replied. “If there was anyone else I could trust, I would go to them.” She paused. “Also, I told Alena to send the people she found this way, so I was actually really hoping that you would agree.”

Herbert couldn’t help but grin as he rolled his eyes.

“If that will help,” he said, “then I’m willing to let you have my house for the day.”

“Thank you, Herbert.”

Regina added, “If there’s anything else you need from us, Lotte—”

“That’s all, actually,” Lotte insisted quickly. “I can’t ask either of you to do more than that. It’s risky enough being associated with the Resistance. If one of you got hurt, I’d never be able to live with myself. That’s not even considering how it would fall on other people to help with baby Senta.”

There was a knock on the door. Lotte held up her hand to signal that everyone should be quiet while she listened. The knock was indeed the signal that Alena and Lotte had agreed on. Zisald stuck their head through the wall and pulled it back in before nodding at Lotte. She opened the door and ushered in a man with curly black hair.

“Hello,” Dovid said, dusting himself off and smiling at the small group. “I’m a little peckish. Is there any bread?”

Realizing that they were about to have a fair amount of company, Regina and Lotte took to the kitchen to prepare a snack. Lotte picked up a knife while Regina grabbed a few apples.

“You’re taking a huge risk for these people,” Regina noted. “You’re lucky that bastard didn’t throw you in prison right away alongside them, especially if what Herbert has told me about his infatuation with Alena is true. It’s admirable that you still want to save them instead of taking the easy way out.”

Lotte started chopping apples, replying, “It really wasn’t a difficult choice. We were fighting Torben in order to help people. After a while, that just became second nature.”

Herbert, walking up behind them, added, “At least with your magic you’ll probably be safe. Just don’t put yourself or Alena into any more danger than you have to be, okay?”

There was another knock at the door and Zisald confirmed it was safe. Herbert took over Lotte’s role at the counter as she went to answer it. A man with a strong nose and a few days of stubble walked in. When he saw Dovid at the small table, Hasso visibly relaxed.

With Lotte’s help, snacks were ready by the time of the next knock on the door. A woman with brown skin and blue eyes slipped inside and hung up her cloak before collapsing onto the couch. Lotte brought Roshni a small cup of wine.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’ve had an awful day.”

“How’s Alena doing?” Lotte asked.

“She seemed a little stressed, but that’s to be expected with what we’re planning.”

Lotte nodded, sighing.

Baby Senta started crying from the other room. Regina pulled herself away from Herbert to head to the bedroom. She returned with Senta in her arms.

The next person to arrive was a very young woman with bright green eyes.

“Hello, Irma,” Lotte said.

“Hello, Lotte. Alena said that she only had two more people to gather.”

Lotte sat down at the table and started drumming her fingers on the table. Everyone was getting a little impatient. They were running out of time. Where was Alena?

“Can I hold Senta?” Lotte asked Regina.

“Oh, of course.” Regina gingerly passed Senta over to her. “Keep her head up.”

Senta eyed Lotte with a hint of curiosity. Lotte cradled her gently, wondering if she could really make this town a better place for her. What kind of world was Senta going to grow up in?

The next person to arrive was a tall man with freckles. Kurt greeted everybody as he entered. Then he leaned up against the wall and pulled a pipe out of his cloak.

Evening was well upon them by the time the final knock on the door came. Alena entered with a tall man in guard armor. Everyone tensed up until Alena assured them, “This is Claus. He’s our insider. The plan only works as long as he’s with us.”

Lotte returned Senta to Regina and ran over to kiss Alena. Alena returned the gesture, then pulled away to examine the small group. She frowned.

“I wish we had more people,” she muttered.

“Is there no one else we can recruit?” Lotte asked.

“There’s no time,” Alena said. “And these are the only people that I know for sure that I can trust.” She turned to the homeowners. “Regina, Herbert, it’s good to see you two again.”

“Hello, Alena,” Regina said. She told baby Senta, “Say hello to your aunt, Senta.”

Senta replied with a cooing noise before Herbert asked Alena, “Is there anything more you need from us?”

“No, you’ve done more than enough,” Alena assured him. Turning to the rest of her crew, she said, “Let’s get started, shall we?”

“Alright,” Kurt said, peeling himself away from the wall. “The plan is pretty straightforward. We’ll split into groups to infiltrate the prison from several different angles. One group will make a distraction while the main group heads for the cells holding the prisoners.”

Roshni asked, “Claus, do you know where they’re being held?”

“I do,” Claus admitted. “It’s a high-security area. It’ll take a lot to get all the guards out of there. Getting a person or two inside won’t be too difficult. The challenge will be getting everyone out without raising any alarms.”

“They might be injured, too,” Lotte said quietly, remembering her own time in confinement.

“It’ll take a big distraction to get all the guards out of there,” Alena added. “And it would be better to get them out of the prison altogether instead of forcing them to another section of the prison.”

“What did you have in mind?” Hasso asked.

“We’re thinking too small,” Alena told him. “Roshni told us on our way here that you wanted to free the leaders and help smuggle them out of town, right?”

“Right…”

Alena continued, “That’s not good enough. This is going to be our last chance to strike at Torben in a meaningful way. We have to take the opportunity.”

“No,” Irma said, shaking her head. “It’s too much a risk. Even trying to save the prisoners is going to be dangerous enough.”

“I have to agree,” Kurt said.

Hasso nodded, adding, “Simply getting to Torben would be nearly impossible, even with Lotte’s magic on our side.”

“We have to try,” Alena insisted, glancing between everyone. “What happens if we don’t stop him? He’ll use the breakout as an excuse to further empower the town guard to harass people and sniff out opposition. It will be nearly impossible to fight him after this if we don’t stop him.”

“Alena is right,” Claus said. “Torben is going to ruin lives if he’s left free. And he’s determined to go after vulnerable people, people like my own sister. Margarete, whom some of you have even met. The fact that I’m in the guard isn’t going to protect her when he decides what to do with her. I’m willing to do anything to protect her.”

“And I’m in danger, too,” Dovid said. “I wasn’t born in this country, and my religion isn’t exactly celebrated here. I’ve always been treated like some kind of shifty, untrustworthy scum. Torben seems like the kind of person to take advantage of that.”

Roshni nodded, adding, “I stand out even more than Dovid does. People are always talking behind my back about how I’m an invader, even though it was your country that colonized mine. I didn’t feel safe here before Torben took over, but the whispers have only gotten louder since then. Can any of you really say that the outcome will be better for people like me if we don’t stop Torben now?”

Nobody said anything.

“Alright,” Alena said. “Then we’re all in?”

There were nods and murmurs of agreement from the group.

Alena continued, “Claus and Lotte will sneak into the prison to break the prisoners out. Kurt, you have the most experience with the various guards who are still sympathetic to our cause. Round them up. Dovid, Roshni, you’ll travel to the districts with large immigrant populations while Hasso, Irma, and I go to the poor districts. Our goal is to start a city-wide riot that will draw the guards’ attention away from the Prefecture Estate and the prison. I’ll meet up with Lotte, Claus, Kurt, and our own guards and we’ll confront Torben inside. Any questions?”

There were a few details to iron out, but it seemed that everyone was on board with the plan. Lotte said goodbye to Herbert and Regina, promising to return safely, then kissed Alena one last time before heading out with Claus.

The prison was a large stone building in the south of Marusta, surrounded by an old stone wall. Four guards stood outside the front gate, which was fortunately open. Lotte fell behind Claus, keeping her head down as they approached the front gate.

Claus stopped and saluted the guards outside, declaring, “We were summoned by the commander.”

“Very well.”

Claus strolled on in, Lotte following with her head down. It was only another minute before the front doors opened and they were inside. She glanced around, spooked by the harsh shadows cast by the flickering torches along the wall.

“How are you doing?” Claus whispered.

Lotte stared at one of the cells they were passing, where an emaciated man was leaned up against the wall staring at nothing with glassy eyes.

“Bad memories,” she replied quietly.

“We won’t be here for long,” he assured her.

All the guards here were carrying weapons. Lotte was sure that, at any moment, they would close ranks around the two and drag her back to her cell in the Prefecture Estate. She clenched her hands tightly; Lotte was shaking.

As they passed through a small door flanked by guards, Claus whispered, “This is the section. The prisoners should… be…”

Claus had slowed to a stop. Lotte stepped out from behind him to see what had caught him off guard. Her heart sank to see the four guards waiting for them, weapons drawn, led by a guard with cold gray eyes.

“Torben thought that something like this might happen,” Manfred said, signaling for his guards to step forward. “But, honestly, Claus, I thought you knew better than this. What’s going to happen to your poor sister when your head’s on the chopping block?”

“You don’t need to do this, Manfred,” Claus said while Lotte sharpened her nails into claws.

Four guards, all armed. Could she take them on? If just one of them got a hit, Lotte wouldn’t be in any condition to confront Torben later.

Manfred smirked and drew his own sword, replying, “You don’t seem to really understand this situation. Though, now that I think about it, the guard would not look good if anyone learned you had betrayed us. I think I’ll just put you down now.”

Lotte sprang, throwing a ball of fire at one guard and ramming into another. One guard tried to bring his axe down on her head, but Lotte grabbed onto the shaft and sent a surge of magic into it, causing it to disintegrate before kicking him in the stomach.

One guard was still on fire. Lotte slammed her hand onto the forehead of the downed guard, putting him to sleep with a small surge of magic. Another guard pulled her off of him and wrapped his hands around her throat. She spat in his face and he pulled away, acid hissing as it burned away the skin. The last guard started swinging his axe. Lotte condensed the water in the air into ice on the ground, causing him to slip and fall. She was just barely able to dodge the axe as it hit the ground next to her.

It was easy to knock out the two incapacitated guards. The final guard, who had been on fire, had taken his shirt off and was charging at Lotte. She grounded herself to the spot with her magic and took the hit, the guard yelping in surprise when she didn’t yield. Lotte did curse silently, though; that blow had hurt. She placed her hand on his head and rendered him unconscious.

Claus was caught in a sword fight with Manfred, and was losing. There were a few cuts in his armor and he was bleeding from the cheek. Lotte ran forward and elbowed Manfred in the kidneys, bringing him to his knees with a pained cry.

“You bitch—!”

Manfred fell to the ground as soon as Lotte had brought her hand to his head, then ceased to move.

“Is he dead?” Claus asked.

“They’re all just unconscious,” Lotte promised.

“Good enough. Can you stop bleeding?” When Lotte nodded, Claus stepped forward and dragged the blade of his sword through Manfred’s calf. “That should stop him from rejoining the fight later.”

While Lotte sealed the surface of the wound so Manfred wouldn’t bleed out, Claus took the keys and started unlocking the cells.

“It won’t be safe to get them out of here until the riot starts,” Lotte reminded Claus.

“I’ll watch over them until then,” came the voice of Ursel, who stepped out of a cell dirty and in tattered rags with her head up high. “Where’s Alena?”

“She’s preparing for our attack on Torben,” Lotte replied, standing up.

“Go be with her,” Ursel said. “She needs you.”

Lotte nodded and pulled her hood back up. She and Claus left the wing and headed toward the prison entrance. The rest of the guards in the prison were running around, noticeably tense. The riot must have started.