After her dreadful discussion with Finn, Roche stayed far away from the infirmary. She received updates on the prince's health from Kai, who was run ragged as he tried to care for his friend. The days crawled by, stretching into weeks and then months. Roche sank into her duties as a maid by day. By night, she leaned into the flickering candles beside her bed and read from the spellbook Verita had gifted her, testing various incantations until she physically could not anymore.

It was exhausting. Too often, Tigris would make a slightly concerned quip about the shadows that had formed under Roche's eyes. But Roche couldn't let herself rest, couldn't let the anxious energy fade from her body because Circe's warnings rattled in her ears constantly. Even after months, it was hard to believe that the princes could fathom the idea of harming Tigris. Roche had kept a close eye on both princes. Aodh was as fiercely loyal as he'd always been. If anything, he'd become closer to his sister after the duel with Harold. Finn was just as devoted. He hadn't mentioned any of his visions since the duel, but he watched Tigris with an almost pensive look to his eyes, like he feared for her.

Roche couldn't bring herself to ask him about it. She and the prince still spoke regularly, discussing books, fighting, food, and all the things they used to speak about. Everything seemed fine.

Everything was fine.

Still, Roche could sense a kind of reticence in Finn's words when he spoke to her. He was friendly, but guarded. She knew he remembered his almost drunken pleas for her to confirm that he hadn't gone insane, and she'd all but told him that he was. She'd broken his trust in her.

Roche swallowed a lump of regret. She knew he would never understand that she'd kept him in the dark for his own safety, but that didn't make his aloofness any less painful. As awkward and chafing as it was, Roche was willing to live like this if it meant keeping her friends safe.

For many months, Roche lived that way. It all changed the day she decided to try and save one of her own.

-------

Tigris groaned loudly in her bed, curling up into a ball when Roche entered her chambers.

"Wakey wakey, princess!" Roche greeted dully, throwing open the curtains. There was a knot of pain currently coiling her midsection. She had been up all night practicing a new shielding incantation, missed breakfast, and had her period come in that morning. All in all, Roche was not having a good day.

The muscles of her midsection tightened sharply. Roche clenched her jaw. Tigris was still in bed.

"C'mon, princess. You have a lot to do today." Roche insisted, pulling away some of Tigris' sheets.

"Later," Tigris grunted, curling up tighter. Her brow was sweaty and her skin was flushed. Roche instantly dropped her cheeriness for concern.

"Are you sick?" Roche asked, setting down the breakfast platter on the study with one hand as she checked Tigris' forehead with the other.

Tigris smacked Roche's hand away. "Cramps," Tigris muttered.

Ah. Roche nodded sympathetically. "I'll ask Leinos for some pain elixir. Try to eat something."

Tigris muttered something obscene and turned around in her bed. Roche quickly left the room before the princess could throw something at her.

Leinos had the princess' elixir ready in a few moments. He gave Roche a vial as well at her request. Roche downed it, frowning when her pain only dulled slightly, a throb still knotting like a ball of snakes deep within her. Roche wished she could use healing incantations on herself.

The idea struck her as she handed Tigris the pain elixir. Perhaps both of them didn't need to suffer today.

"Emminalget llanosus." Roche murmured. Instantly, her own pain nearly doubled.

"Wow, Leinos deserves all the gold in the world, I feel great!" Tigris exclaimed as she uncurled from her bed, "Did you cancel my plans for the day?"

Roche spat out something unintelligible as she folded over the stack of clothes she was sorting through. Using her inkblood had sapped more of her strength than intended.

"I hope not. I feel fine to do them." Tigris continued, oblivious to the way Roche was hunched over, vision swimming. The princess slipped on her training clothes from the day before, popping her breakfast sandwich into her mouth. "Make sure to have the laundry done by the time I get back, all my clothes smell like the stables and I have a meeting this afternoon."

Roche watched the princess leave as she collapsed onto the bed, wondering why she even bothered protecting such an oblivious brat.

-------

Roche was tired enough that she didn't even bother trying to use her inkblood to do her chores. She slogged her way through the day. She remained in an inattentive haze that didn't focus until the end of Tigris' meeting with the king and his council.

"For the last order of business today," Aodh read off a long piece of parchment, "We have reports from the patrol knights that a librarian and his scribe have been spotted entering the lower town."

The king straightened instantly, his face going cold. Murmurs burst out amongst the gathered councillors standing in groups around the throne.

Roche furrowed her brow in confusion as she turned to Verita. "A librarian like you? What's wrong with that?" she asked.

Verita's jaw ticked like she desperately wanted Roche to shut up. "I was granted permission by the king to regulate the distribution of sanctioned books. Any other librarian doesn't have such permission. There are entire groups of literary enthusiasts, called librarians, who follow the old rules of literature distribution. They believe all books and texts should be freely shared. They stick together in groups called covens and train their children, called scribes, in the art of literature reproduction and distribution." Verita explained tightly, her face blank.

"That doesn't sound terrible." Roche murmured, watching as the royals' faces darkened.

"Many of them have inkblood. They consider it sacred." Verita gritted out.

Oh. That explained why the king looked so red faced.

"They must be found immediately and burned." Romulus declared coldly, gripping his armrests.

Tigris frowned from her spot on the dais. "The report suggests they were just passing through for food and medical supplies for their coven. Is a pyre necessary?"

"When you rule, daughter, you will understand the need to burn every last trace of inkblood filth." Romulus spat, his face twisted with disgust. Roche was careful to keep her expression blank as Tigris conceded with a curt nod.

Finn straightened in his seat almost regally. He kept his eyes carefully away from Roche, and the maid couldn't help but feel a small pang.

"But sire, the librarians coven have always been a peaceful group. They haven't entered the city in years. I highly doubt the librarian and his scribe mean any harm." Finn protested. Behind him on their elevated seats, Tigris and Aodh exchanged a look as Romulus managed to redden further.

"You can't trust inkblood, Finnegan. It is a corrupting substance." Romulus chided.

Finn frowned. "All they do is exchange books. Besides, would you really burn a child?"

Roche bit back a wince at the way Romulus' face instantly twisted with fury.

"That is no child. Books fuel these foul inkbloods in an unimaginable way. They are no longer human, they are monsters. Don't forget that it was inkblood that turned your uncle against us."

Tigris stiffened almost imperceptibly on the throne while Aodh's eyes narrowed with confusion. Finn blinked with surprise. It wasn't often that the king discussed his bloody feud with his brother that had led to the inkblood ban in the first place.

Finn recovered his wits quickly. "But-"

"I will not be hearing anymore of this." the king snapped, icy blue eyes narrowed to slits. He twisted on his throne to glare at Finn, who balked at the ferocity of the king's voice, "If you question my judgement again, Finnegan, then there will be consequences. I've been very lenient with you."

Finn's mouth snapped shut and his cheeks turned bright red as the court began to murmur and titter. His eyes darted to Roche and then away, as if her gaze pained him.

Roche's stomach flipped. There was a time, once, when Finn looked at her for silent support. Now, it seemed as if he couldn't stand to look at her when he needed a friendly face.

"We'll have patrols scouring the lower and upper towns around the castle. The inkbloods cannot have gone far." Tigris assured the king. Romulus nodded in response, easing back onto his throne.

"In that case, I'd like to move onto the grain store reports that have come in. I expect we'll need to strike another trade deal with Shulta soon to survive the winter comfortably."

The council meeting stretched on, but Roche's eyes lingered on Finn. She'd broken his trust in her. The one person her age who knew about her inkblood couldn't bear to look her in the eyes.

Roche waited for their eyes to meet again, hoping she could convey her apologies through a single glance.

Finn never looked back at her.

A/N: Sorry for the late update today! This chapter's a bit of exposition for what's to come, but the next one is going to be a bit more action-y, so stay tuned!

Happy reading everyone!