And there they were. They made an unusual assembly in Trillagla's back alleys, but no one stopped to pester them. Even the soldiers didn't bother with this part of town and Jed had enough allies to protect them from the other folk. He was the only one comfortable here, leaning against a wall with one hand casually intertwined with Valina's. The slave girl stood beside him, continuously glancing about, in case trouble was sneaking up on them. Mridina sat nearby, her fancy dress and hair replaced by ordinary slave clothing to conceal her identity, watching them nervously. And Rachel seemed ready to flee at the slightest sound.

The risk of danger was great, despite Jed's assertions that soldiers didn't come this way. The Lord had gone on another hunting trip, but if something lured him home and he found his future wife missing... Valina didn't want to think what would happen to them then. She'd leave the worrying to Rachel and Mridina, who seemed to be experts. Besides, hadn't Bella taken a big risk, so many years ago? If they were going to help her, they'd have to be willing to take risks themselves.

And they were going to help her.

"So you two are sisters?" Jed asked, still incredulous. He hadn't believed it when Valina told him and his expression still looked skeptical.

"Can't you tell?" Mridina grinned. With their hair pulled back similarly and the matching dresses, the resemblance was clear.

"Amazing." he shook his head, cursing softly. "I've been interacting with the sister of the future Lady of my land. You could have had me executed at dawn!"

"Tempting, but I wouldn't do that." Valina had to laugh.

"Besides." Mridina's serious tone brought them back to reality. "It's not like that."

"I'm still confused." Rachel shook her head. "You're the Lady... but not the Lady?"

"It's a long story." said Mridina, and she began to tell it. "I was five years old when Bella and I escaped from home, on a raft...."

The tale still amazed Valina, even though she'd heard it all the night before. Mridina told them about the daylong trip up the water and how Bella told stories to pass the time. Then, it seemed like nothing could go wrong. But then they landed in Trillagla.

"I thought the city beautiful." Mridina gave a shy smile. "I'd never seen anything like it before. But then the soldiers came."

The soldiers, Mridina reported, had come to investigate a random woman and little girl washing up on their shores. They quickly figured out where Bella and Mridina came from. It didn't take long, then, to guess why the two had fled.

"They knew one of us had the blood line. They decided it had to be me, because why else would Bella bring a child with her. That's when they had their idea."

"Why not just kill you?" Rachel interrupted. "I mean, not that I want you to die... but...?"

"Some of the people on shore had started saying how cute I was. Besides, the Lords and soldiers are a haughty lot. They weren't really worried about Queen Deeva's heir or the prophecies. They're so confident in their powers that they figure they can stop any threat. So rather than rile up the people by killing me right there and to fulfill their own amusement, they decided to keep me." Mridina explained.

"Fools." Jed grinned. "Which is good for us."

"Well, they didn't just let me go free..." Mridina cautioned. "They decided to raise me to be the Lord's wife. What greater way to mock the prophecies than to force Queen Deeva's heir to bed with the Lord."

"Why not kill Bella, then?" Rachel was still confused.

"To control me." the young woman sighed. "Ever since then, they've held Bella over my head. If I don't obey them, they'll hurt her. When I was a child, I was always told that my behavior had gotten Bella whipped and how Bella must hate me by now. Nowadays, it's still the same. The Lord just says 'Brick house' to threaten me, when he's considering going after her."

"Did you ever get to see Bella?" Valina wanted to know.

"No, never." Mridina shrugged. "I've no idea if she's even still there. Or if they killed her long ago."

"We think she's still there. We went to the house the other day." Jed reported. "It's heavily guarded. They wouldn't keep it like that if they'd murdered her."

"Did you see her?!?!?!"

"No." Jed shook his head. "Not yet. But we will when we get her free."

"We're going to get her free?" Rachel raised her eyebrows. "How in the world are we going to do that?"

"Not sure yet. But we are going to get her free." he replied.

"Hurry up, then." Mridina suggested.

"Why?" he studied her for a moment, clearly concerned by her urgent tone.

"Because." the young woman smiled. "I'm going to tell the Lord that I won't marry him."

"You're going to what?" Jed stared.

"Mridina, are you sure that's a good idea?" Valina added.

"I've been submitting to them for way too long." came the immediate response. "And I'm tired of it. Besides, the Lord isn't all bad. I'll just tell him that we need to get to know each other better - that we need to be together for a reason other than because they're holding Bella in prison."

"But Mridina... The Lord might not be all bad but he's not all good either... What if he...?" Valina let her voice trail off, worriedly.

"That," said her sister, "is why you need to get Bella free soon. I worry about her. I don't worry about me. Tonight, I'm going to tell the Lord that I won't marry him."