While everyone else scrambled around trying to find new clothes for the Saintess, Eva stepped aside to gather her thoughts. Why was Anne acting like this? After all these years...

Eva had entered the church at 8 years-old. The Church of Coris in Longren usually took in abandoned newborns, but Eva's parents had waited until she was a bit older to abandon her on the doorstep of the church.

The other children had been raised together and weren't sure how to respond to an outsider. For her part, Eva had just lost everything—even her family name had been taken from her, replaced with the name Coris like the other foundlings—and she was angry. Whenever the other kids tried to approach her, she'd snap at them like a feral dog. Eventually, they stopped trying.

Eva settled into a routine of eating, studying, and playing alone. She thought it was fine that way, and her anger settled down from a blazing fire to a burning coal in her heart.

As Eva grew used to her new life in the church, she began to pay closer attention to those around her, and she noticed that there was another girl who was always alone.

Anne was around the same age as Eva, but she was several inches shorter and significantly more delicate. She had a mop of curly brown hair and big blue eyes that always looked like they were about to cry. And she was an elf, an apparently unforgivable sin for which the other kids bullied her relentlessly.

It pissed Eva off how meekly Anne took it when the other kids tormented her.

If you would fight back a little they'd leave you alone, thought Eva, who had bit one of the other kids on her first day in the church.

One day, Eva was walking back to the dormitories in a particularly sour mood. She had fallen asleep during lessons, and the cleric teaching the class had held her back to lecture her about it. As she passed a small courtyard she heard a scream and went to investigate. A group of four kids had surrounded Anne. They'd pushed her to the ground and were all pulling on her hair and ears, calling her names.

Here was Eva's opportunity to take her bad mood out on someone who deserved it. She stretched her shoulders and went to work.

The bullies didn't last long. Soon they were running away with cries about how they were going to tell the clerics. Eva didn't care, but she wished the fight had been more interesting, at least.

Eva turned to give Anne a hand up. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Anne shrunk away from her, fear in her eyes. Eva was annoyed by that, but then she realized that she was still glaring. She'd been glaring a lot since she arrived at the church. But Anne, with her wide eyes full of tears, didn't look scary at all. She looked just like a frightened puppy. Despite herself, Eva's heart was moved, just a little.

Eva took a deep breath and softened her expression into a gentle smile. She held her hand out to Anne again. "It's okay," she said. "The bullies are gone now. I won't hurt you, I promise."

Anne's eyes, still full of tears, brightened. Instead of taking Eva's hand, she launched herself into a hug, knocking Eva to the ground.

It had been a really long time since anyone had hugged Eva.

After that, the two girls were inseparable. With Eva around, the other kids were too scared to bully Anne, and with Anne by her side, Eva didn't feel so angry anymore. As Anne opened up and gained a reputation for being a bright, friendly girl, Eva began to fade into the background, gaining a reputation for being quiet and studious. Everyone forgot how they had once been scared of anti-social redhead.

But still, Eva never made any close friends other than Anne. She kept herself apart from the others, continuing to spend most of her time studying alone, reading more-and-more obscure tomes from forgotten corners of the monastery.

One day, a couple years later, Anne and Eva were back in that courtyard again, chatting about this and that.

"Are you excited for the aptitude test next week?" Anne asked. "I still can't believe one test will determine what we have to study from now on. What do you think it's like? I can't believe they won't tell us anything about it beforehand."

Eva shrugged, a gentle smile on her face. "It's supposed to test our natural abilities. If we studied for it that would skew the results."

"Still..." said Anne, watching the sky. "You know what? Bailey told me earlier that she heard from one of the older kids that there's a part of the test designed to see if you have magic or not! Apparently it's been ages since anyone had any, but they still test for it just in case. I guess if anyone was able to do magic they'd be a really special person, huh?"

Eva frowned for just a moment. Then she smiled her gentle smile again. "Anne," she took Anne's hands and Anne turned to look her in the eyes. "I'm about to say something important, so I need you to listen to me, okay?"

"Okay..." said Anne.

"You're already someone special, whether you have magic or not, and I'm going to do my best to make sure everyone else sees how special you are. But when you're special, it makes you stand out, and standing out can be dangerous. And you're so naive you don't always see how dangerous things are. Remember when we went swimming in the lake and Jason told you there was a secret treasure hidden at the bottom and you almost drowned trying to—"

"Please stop bringing that up!" shouted Anne, blushing bright red.

"No, it's okay, because I was there to save you that day! And I'll always be there to save you. So I want you to just do whatever it is that you want to do and live a happy life the way you want to live it without worrying about anything too much. Because I can worry for you. But I need you to trust me, so if I ever say 'this is serious' and ask you to do something for me, I want you to do it, no matter what, no questions asked, okay?"

Anne looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay!"

"You promise?"

"I promise!" said Anne. "If you ever say 'this is serious' then I'll do what you ask. You're always looking out for me, so I'm sure you'd have a good reason if you ever asked me anything like that."

Eva sighed in relief. Anne was going to be special. Eva was going to make sure of it. And Eva was always going to be by Anne's side, forever.

Since becoming friends with Anne, the anger in Eva's heart had calmed from a burning coal to a few glowing embers. But Eva knew that if she ever needed to, she could stoke the flames again.

---

Coming back to the present, Eva wondered again what could have caused this sudden change. It had been years since Anne and Eva had disagreed over anything significant. Was this strange behavior the influence of the capital? Could one party with the wicked and decadent nobles of this city change a person so much?

Still, Eva always wanted to let Anne have her way, within reason. She wanted Anne to live the kind of life she wanted to live. Could this be something Anne had wanted for a long time, but never been brave enough to ask for? Even if it was just a sudden whim, it was still nice to see Anne being a bit more open and bold about her desires. Even if they were slightly ridiculous desires. It had been a while since Eva had seen Anne this energetic. And Anne's happiness was the most important thing, after all.

Still, there were limits. Eva stepped back into the fray to make sure this whole thing didn't go too far.

"I guess this will do," said Anne, examining her new outfit, once everything had been settled.

Anne was wearing a pair of dark pants with a white button-up shirt. On top of that she wore a stole around her shoulders to show her status in the church. It was made of a blue silk and embroidered with a tree, the symbol of the church, in golden thread. Anne had fought against the stole, but Eva had really had to insist on that point. Anne had to wear something to show people she was the Saintess, so they knew to treat her with the proper awe and respect.

"Now we just need to add a veil on top to hide your ears," said Eva.

"Absolutely not," said Anne.

"Please, Anne, you need to hide your ears," Eva pleaded. "I think it's great that you're trying to express yourself more, but if people knew you were an elf it could be very dangerous. Both for you personally and for the people of the rebellion who need you to support them."

Anne looked unconvinced. "I won't wear a fancy veil," she said. "But if you find me a simple hood or something, I'll wear that."

"Thank you," said Eva. "I promise I'm only trying to look out for you. I'll send someone to fetch a hood right away and then we can be on our way."

"We?" said Anne.

"Obviously I'll be accompanying you," said Eva. "The Saintess can hardly be expected to go anywhere without a retinue."

"The invitation was just for me," said Anne. "The tea is just going to be me and her. 'I cordially invite you to a private tea.' That's what the invitation said."

"You really think Lady Corvina won't be surrounded by maids and servants? If I claim to be your attendant no one will even notice me. I'll be part of the background, just like the other servants. And it's far too dangerous for you to be alone with that woman."

"But it's possible she might not speak freely if I'm not alone!" insisted Anne. "If Lady Corvina is too on guard then I won't be able to gather as much useful information for the rebellion. Or I won't be able to get her to trust me at all, and you're the one who wanted me to seek noble allies!"

Eva couldn't find a good reason to disagree, although when she'd suggested finding noble allies she certainly hadn't meant Lady Corvina Wyernmal, the most dangerous woman in the country.

"Dear Saintess," said Eva. "I wonder, do you remember the promise you made me when we were children, just before we took the aptitude test?"

"Of course!" said Anne, suddenly looking nervous. "Um..."

Eva sighed. If she just said the words 'this is serious' then of course Anne would listen to her, even if she didn't want to. But no, it wasn't the right time to use such drastic measures. Anne should be allowed to explore the world a bit more and make her own decisions, even risky decisions. And if it turned out that Anne was walking down the wrong path... Well, Eva would be there, with a new path already prepared for her, ready for her to follow.

"Very well, then at least take Lord Agis with you," said Eva. "For your own protection."

"I told you, the invitation's just for me!" said Anne.

"He'll follow you at a distance," said Eva. "No one will know he's there."

"I am very stealthy," said Agis.

Anne, who hadn't noticed Agis approaching behind her, jumped several feet in the air.

"See?" said Eva, smiling. "He won't disrupt your tea at all. You can rest assured that Lady Corvina will have no reason to distrust you, and I can rest assured that you'll be safe."

Anne sighed. "Fine, but we need to leave now or I'm going to be late."