And now for a couple of Meanwhiles.

Meanwhile, at the Royal Palace, King Victor received a late night briefing from his most trusted knight, Sir Neville. He had fought too hard and too long to assume that danger was over while there were still loose ends, specifically, his brother's whereabouts.

"Any word, Sir Neville?"

"None, Your Highness. Since the defeat at Night's Ridge, we've seen neither hide nor hair of Robert or that vile wizard."

"Something isn't right. It's not like Robert to hide away and lick his wounds. And heaven knows what kind of grudge Ivan is holding. My brother won't give up until he's dead, or I am."

"Some say you should have done away with him when you had the chance, just as they said your grandfather should've fed Ivan to that dragon." Neville dared.

"Could have, should have, would have were I not striving to be a merciful king. But look at the chaos I plunged my kingdom into! I hoped to preserve my soul, but instead of punishing one man, I punished an entire country. I do not know if I will ever sleep a night through again."

"Perhaps we should put off the celebrations until we know more."

"No. The people need this. They deserve it. My Queen and I have waited to be reunited with our daughter for too long, as have my brothers and their loved ones. No, we shall repay the people's faith and sacrifice with reason to hope for a lasting stretch of peace. But make no mistake, we shall not let our guards down for a moment."

*****

Meanwhile, deep in the burnt out woods, before Raven's Brook was swallowed by the Innit River, Robert's twelve remaining soldiers sat on felled tree trunks, hunched around a campfire. They were not his best soldiers, your standard brutes and bullies, really, but the best looking of those who'd seen battle. They had all their limbs, all their teeth, and all their hair. The last was more of a bonus than a requirement. They'd been handpicked by Ivan for his turn at the grand plan, but it didn't feel like an honour. How were they supposed to explain what they were doing in that abandoned cottage every night without becoming the laughing stock of the veterans back home? The ones who'd fought in battles the old way. The hard way. Like men. Like one armed, one-eyed, toothless men. A hornet buzzed around the fire, unbothered by the smoke or swatting of the humiliated mercenaries.

"This whole thing ridiculous," one grumbled.

He was quickly hushed by another. "Quiet, idiot. Ivan could be anywhere."

"Or anything," his log mate added.

"This isn't how you win a war!" the first continued, kicking dirt into the fire which sparked in defiance.

"Let's face it. We's already lost the war. This is how we outsmarts them with stragedy."

"Robert will be a king's fool before he's ever king."

The thick shadow of Robert spread over the firelight, oozing menace. The men who saw him first knew he'd heard the insult and went quiet. That hornet finally stopped buzzing too. It landed on a free spot of a log, Ivan's yellow eyes glowing from its head.

"Do go on, Archer," Robert said behind his grousing soldier.

The others leaned as far away from the dead meat as possible.

"Sire, don't listen to him," his friend said uncomfortably. "He's just battle-tired like we's all are. Lost a lot of good men in a short amount of time. Some still owed him money."

"So you feel justified in your complaints?"

"Not me. I still owed most of them money, so all's fair et-cetty-era."

Robert tsked. "The good ones never make it, but we can't live in the past. At least, most of us can't."

That was Ivan's cue to return to his spindle-like form. Let me tell you, any man able to watch those crispy parchment wings fold back into his body and not toss his fireside beans was a man who had already seen too much.

"It seems to me," Robert continued, "that Ivan's way is working beautifully."

"You're too kind," Ivan said serenely.

"Should've done it your way years ago, but how rude of me. I interrupted what you were saying, Archer. Something about being the king's fool, I believe."

"I misspoke," Archer said, unconvincingly, I might add. "I am the fool. You are superior in all things, while I am nothing but your servant. It's not fighting I'm tired of, but this magic is unnatural stuff. Damn, my soul, it's not to be trusted." Here he boldly gave Ivan a stink-eye. The soldier beside him wisely moved down a seat.

Robert sighed and tutted. "Then you do not trust me, and therefore I cannot trust you, and if there is to be no trust between us, well..."

"Sire, I was only –"

"About to stick your hand in that hornet's nest over there? Good idea."

He cast his eyes to a deceptively quiet nest hanging from a dead tree like a puffed, charred fruit. Archer squeezed every muscle in his body trying to hang onto his log.

"But...but.."

"Unless you would rather your tongue?"

Ivan scooped the night air with a long finger and his dark magic compelled Archer's body to rise. The soldier's stiff arm floated upward and pointed to the nest, leading him against his will in a slow, wild-eyed walk to the tree.

"It so hard to find good grovellers these days," Ivan said, his twirling finger still carrying out his spell.

The others averted their eyes once Archer began to yelp, concentrating their attention on Robert.

"The rest of you remember, I need you looking your handsome, charming selves tonight. That means if you're going to fight, do it before you get dressed for the cottage, and no hitting above the neck."

*****

The light in the fortress corridors was as dim as an unattended altar. Silence was broken by the measured clacking of dainty footsteps, followed by the scrape and slap of Lucy's foot getting stuck in the sheet of her ghost costume and her two palms smacking the stone floor. She hissed through her teeth to keep the girls' presence secret, but Marilyn's squeal of surprise and pity echoed loudly enough to blow their cover. Katherine and Ginger shushed her with dirty looks instantly. Lucy might have too, but her head was still bent to the floor under the resisting fabric her own hands held down in place.

At last count, Lucy had only two elbows, yet the three princesses attempting to lift her were each convinced they held one through the sheet. Lucy only rolled over helplessly like a boiled dumpling. "I told you the sheet was too long," she whined quietly.

"Nonsense," Katherine whispered. "It's the same size it always is."

"And I tripped last time too," Lucy said, wriggling free of her cocoon. "How come Rosalind is never the ghost?"

"Because ghosts don't flash their knees," said Ginger, helping her up at last.

"Fine, but how is it I'm always holding the short straw?"

"You always hold all the straws," Marilyn said.

"You've got to stop shoving the short one down into your fist," Ginger said.

"Give the sheet here, I'll do it," Katherine said. "I've got sturdy ankles." She threw the costume over her head and aligned its cut out eyes with her own.

They stepped lightly down the hall until they were just outside the room with the blue door.

"Why do we need four of us anyway?" Lucy asked. "I had to take my curls out before they set."

"One for the ghost, one for the look-out, and two for the look-ins," said Ginger. "Can't send one girl alone in a room with two men in their night shirts. What if they jump out of bed?"

"Mostly they just pull the blankets over their heads," Marilyn said like it was a bad thing.

Katherine had her hand primed on the door handle, ready to spring into action. "Get ready, ladies."

"Wait," Lucy whispered. "Am I a look-out or look-in?"

"You be the look-out, then," Ginger said. "Can't risk you tripping over a chamber pot."

"One...two..."

"Wait!" said Marilyn. "Which way do we run after?"

"We run back to the room, and you wait here to trip them in case they come out."

"Really?"

"No, not really," Ginger snapped. "Back to the room."

"All right?" Katherine said impatiently. "One...two..."

"Wait," Ginger said. "Who had the shilling on Francis screaming first?"

"Judy," the others said.

"Well, that'll be easy for the rest of us to split. Okay, Katherine, do your stuff."

On the count of three, Katherine opened the door, slowly on purpose, so that the wood had a chance to groan against the hinges. She raised her arms dramatically, filling out the frame, then she entered on tiptoes to give the appearance of gliding.

"Boooooooo. Booooooo, I say."

Danny and Francis appeared to be fast asleep in their beds, Francis on his stomach and Danny snoring on his back. Neither stirred.

"WoOOoOOooo!" Katherine continued, sweeping around to Francis' side while Ginger and Marilyn watched from the hall.

When Francis didn't move, she let her sheet graze the exposed cheek smooshed against his pillow.

She arranged the trembling notes of her voice into a terrible chuckle, but there was no response. She looked to Ginger and shrugged. Ginger pointed to Danny's bed.

She swirled around and came to the foot of Danny's bed where she rolled up the covers and tried yanking a toe. Nothing. Fortunately for Danny, it wasn't his injured toe, or he wouldn't have been able to maintain the ruse that he was dead to the world and not, in fact, wide awake and concentrating on his snoring.

"Booooo," Katherine tried closer to his face. She tried "woooo"ing next, then "ah-ooo"ing. Then she bent right down next to his face and tried to beat his ear drum with a crazed cackle.

"Oh, Ginger! You do care!" Danny growled amorously, as though doing a little wooing of his own in a dreamful state. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, nuzzling her sheet.

"Let go," she protested ghostly.

"My, what strong arms you have. The better to get carried away."

"This is outrageous!"

"I don't like to make promises on a first date, unless it's a promise this'll be the best first date you ever had," he said, squeezing her tighter until she wriggled herself into a head lock.

Marilyn let an envious, "Golly!" slip.

"You cad!" Katherine hissed. "You...you octopus!"

"Octopus? Have I got a sucker for you! Give us a kiss."

Danny finally let Katherine twist from his grip and hugged himself, still puckering up.

"Retreat!" Ginger ordered in a hoarse hush, just as Katherine was about to pull Danny's pillow out to smother him.

"Maybe I should try," Marilyn offered.

"Maybe next time I'll play the tooth fairy and knock out one of his bucks!" Katherine said, rolling up her sheet like sleeves.

"C'mon," Ginger said, pulling her into the hallway. "They're down for the count, which means we can get going."

"What'd I miss?" Lucy asked.

"Katy was almost the catch of the day."

"Oh, shut up."

"She's got a new squeeze."

"You've got to sleep sometime too, you know," Katherine warned her.

"But not yet," Ginger said with an excited skip.