She opened her mouth to reply, but the words never came. Instead she went quiet, looking in on herself and sighed. Her dearest friend, her lover, by her side. Softly, she smiled, trying to decide between anger for the people who had ruined their lives and the desire to restore what they had lost.

The court ended without her giving Shinsou an answer. She left everyone, and went into the kitchen gardens of the fortress, to a place where her mother's remains had blessed the grounds for some years. Thinking about her daughter, who played somewhere in the tunnels beneath her feet, followed by her governess and teachers, philomel considered life and all its goodness. How could the world move forward? Was Arius really that great a danger?

The answer to that came in a missive and the horn of an arrival to their sanctuary. A rider came fast up the angled pathway, in full view of the guards, tracked by crossbow point. They came through the gate, feverish and gasping, revealed to be one of their own. Shakily, they handed Philomel a scroll directly from horseback as the faun strode into the sunlight. There was an inhale. There was a silence.

She unfurled it, slowly, and read.

And found out the dreadful truth -

Arius had already left Corone.