After everyone departed, Lena and Isabel turned and saw that Anika had already left.

  Lena frowned toward the path leading back into the east wing.

  “Oh no… you got some ‘spining to do, Anika.”

  She grabbed Isabel’s hand and tugged her along.

  “Come on.”

  They moved quickly through the corridor, the stone still holding the echo of the ceremony they had just witnessed. Neither of them spoke during the walk. Isabel looked unsettled. Lena looked angry.

  They reached Anika’s chambers and knocked.

  Inside, Anika closed her eyes briefly and sighed.

  “Here we go,” she said quietly to herself.

  Then she spoke aloud.

  “Enter.”

  The door opened sharply as Lena pushed her way in, Isabel following somewhat sheepishly behind her.

  “What the hell was that?” Lena demanded immediately. “What other twilight zone shit am I gonna see around here?”

  Anika stood beside her desk, composed, hands resting lightly against the back of her chair.

  “It was… a ceremony.”

  “FOR WHAT?”

  “Lena… please,” Isabel murmured.

  Then Isabel straightened, trying to keep her voice measured.

  “What was that? Kneeling. Colrs. Kissing each other. A daughter and mother standing in front of the entire staff like that?” She exhaled in disbelief. “Is everyone else so blind around here not to wonder why the hell that is just a little… I don’t know… what’s the term…”

  Lena paused dramatically and tapped her chin.

  “Oh yeah. That’s right. FUCKED UP.”

  Isabel immediately wished the floor would open beneath her.

  Anika simply stared at Lena.

  “Lena,” she asked calmly, “how long have you been here again?”

  Lena scoffed.

  “What difference does it make? A little over six months.”

  Anika exhaled and sat down.

  “Okay.”

  She gestured toward the two chairs across from her.

  “Please sit.”

  They did. Lena folded her arms across her chest, still radiating irritation. Isabel sat more carefully, her posture restrained as she listened.

  Anika began to speak.

  “Listen—”

  “NO! You listen!” Lena leaned forward. “I want answers. First I had to patch up Genevra after the Mistress turned her face into sagna. Then there’s Isabel here who was vioted out of her mind by whatever dipshit that was at that party. Then two new women show up and suddenly they’re getting colred like pets in the garden. What is that?”

  Anika’s tone changed instantly.

  “Ms. Caruso… enough.”

  The authority in her voice shut Lena down immediately.

  “Yes ma’am....... Sorry.”

  Anika took a slow breath.

  “Now,” she said, “let me expin.”

  The room settled.

  “What you witnessed was not ownership. It was not ensvement. And it was not humiliation.”

  “It looked like it,” Lena muttered.

  “It looked dramatic,” Anika replied calmly. “But it was deliberate.”

  She folded her hands together.

  “The ceremony marked alignment. Camille and Liora were not being cimed like property. They were affirming their pce within the Circle.”

  Lena frowned.

  “So Camille kneels to her own daughter and that’s supposed to be normal?”

  “It is not about kneeling to her daughter,” Anika said. “It is about acknowledging what Liora has become.”

  Isabel leaned forward slightly.

  “So it was a transfer of power?”

  “No,” Anika answered. “It was recognition.”

  “Recognition of what?” Lena pressed.

  “That the dynamic between them has changed.”

  Silence settled for a moment.

  Lena shook her head.

  “It looked like surrender.”

  “It was not surrender,” Anika said evenly. “It was positioning.”

  “Positioning how?”

  “Liora stepped forward. Camille stepped inward. They met at the same level.”

  Isabel blinked.

  “The same level?”

  “Yes.”

  Lena leaned back in her chair.

  “That didn’t look equal.”

  “You are interpreting kneeling as inferiority,” Anika replied. “Here it can also mean acknowledgment. Camille acknowledged that Liora now stands beside her within the structure of the estate.”

  “So they’re equals now?” Isabel asked.

  “In the eyes of the estate, yes.”

  Lena let out a slow breath.

  “That’s… a hell of a way to announce it.”

  “The Circle does not fracture when hierarchy changes,” Anika said calmly. “They seal it.”

  Silence settled again.

  After a moment Lena spoke.

  “Are you part of it?”

  Anika met her gaze.

  “I am not a Sister. But I am adjacent. I have been for a long time.”

  Lena turned toward Isabel.

  “What about you?”

  Isabel flushed slightly.

  “Not directly,” she admitted. “Although I know more than most. I’ve been through more than most.”

  She stopped herself before saying anything else.

  Anika looked back at Lena.

  “Lena.”

  Lena held her gaze.

  “After the events of the past few months, and your involvement in them, you are adjacent too.”

  Lena blinked.

  “So that’s the cost?” she asked sharply. “My silence and acceptance? They pay my tuition, use me for my skills, and I turn a blind eye?”

  Anika shook her head.

  “No blind eyes here. Your eyes are completely open. Otherwise…”

  She paused.

  “…you wouldn’t be here right now asking these questions.”

  Lena scoffed slightly.

  “So what? I just carry on around here? Pretend I didn’t see what I saw with Genevra? With Izzy?”

  “Yes,” Anika said evenly. “And be ready to act when they need you.”

  Lena’s shoulders lowered slightly.

  “Look… I just don’t like seeing people hurt unnecessarily or treated like sves.”

  Anika held her gaze steadily.

  “Then you have nothing to worry about. Camille and Liora freely chose this path. They could leave anytime they want. No questions.”

  A brief pause followed.

  “And when it comes to Genevra,” Anika added, “I know the Mistress warned her. I hate to say it, but she pyed with fire and got burned.”

  Lena’s jaw tightened.

  “Fine.”

  Anika inclined her head.

  “Is there anything else?”

  Lena stood, Isabel rising beside her.

  “No. I guess not.”

  They headed toward the door.

  “Lena.”

  They both turned.

  Anika’s expression had hardened.

  “I am going to forget this conversation ever happened.”

  Lena’s face fell slightly.

  “Riiiiight…”

  Lena and Isabel stepped out into the corridor and closed the door behind them.

  Isabel leaned back against the wall and pinched the bridge of her nose.

  After a moment she exhaled and said quietly,

  “I swear… every time I think I understand this pce… it just gets stranger.”

  Lena gnced down the corridor and shook her head.

  “Yeah,” she muttered.

  “Welcome to the estate.”