They managed to get through the rest of the ball and then returned to their quarters. It was a tense thing, with eyes darting toward every dark corner and hands resting on weapons. Even once they were back at the small diplomatic quarters they didn’t dare speak until every room had been searched and Ollie created a noise barrier for them in the parlor.“Marcus, keep watch out the window,” said Michael as he tore the peace knot off the hilt of his sword. “Pyotr, go and get our armor and weapons just in case.”The two of them nodded and did as they were told.He looked at Shreve. “She didn’t know who I was.”He nodded at that. “Good. That means we still have a chance. I spent some time taking the temperature of how the alliance was received. Almost everyone was too surprised to have an opinion on it, or they were waiting for the chips to fall. Based on what Bayle had told me the King had been growing more and more isolated as the coup gained support, but I worry that this latest development could cause defections. Bayle has indicated tight control, but the more surprises there are the worse things could be.”“I’m more concerned about what it means for our deal,” said Marcus looking out the window. “The agreement was an assassination for takers, diviners, and support. Even if Bayle hasn’t flipped on us, will he be so willing to give us those resources with rift monsters gathering force?”“I only sense six rifts near the border,” said Michael. “They could be closed quickly enough that it shouldn’t impact the timeline too much. Their diviners and takers won’t matter as much once they’re closed.”Shreve shook his head. “We should be prepared to leave.”“Why?” asked Ollie.“If Bayle doesn’t reach out to us before dawn we can likely assume that his plans have failed and we have no reason to follow through on a regicide if we can’t get the agreed to reward out of it.”He let out a deep breath. “I need to (...)