Ina's heart was pounding in her chest, but she tried her best to keep her expression cold and indifferent. It was easy enough to do after years with her father. Growing up, whenever he would detect a hint of dissent from her, he wouldn't hold back from punishing her. So she learned from an early age to hide behind an emotionless facade.

But it was difficult now as she marched a bound and gagged Alice towards the camp of the Black Swans. Though they had gone over this plan multiple times, she was still terrified that something was going to go wrong. And if something went wrong and Alice was killed—

Shaking her head, Ina focused on the task at hand. She couldn't think about that right now. If she did, she wouldn't have the strength to go through with it, which would mean that Ace would die.

And that was just as unacceptable as Alice dying.

They were within sight of the camp now, so Ina tightened her grip on Alice's wrists and pushed her forward. Alice stumbled but managed to keep from falling flat on her face. She looked over her shoulder and glared at Ina. It cut Ina straight to her heart, but she reminded herself that it was all a ruse. Alice was only acting to make this more believable, just like she was.

Still, to see her sister look at her with the same cold venom that everyone else did made her want to cry.

Once they entered the camp, it didn't take long for members of the Blacks Swans to appear. With weapons at the ready, they advanced on them, but Ina held her free hand up in the air, keeping her other one firmly on Alice.

"Ina?" said a lanky, balding man. Ina recognized him as Linley.

A woman with a face full of freckles guffawed as she lowered her sword. Bells. "You have got to be kidding me. You're actually going to show your sorry face around here after defecting?"

Ina resisted the urge to shrink back. Being surrounded by all of these familiar faces caused panic to claw at her chest. These were the men and women from her childhood. The ones who had treated her with the same disdain as her father and the Swans had. Based on the way they were looking at her now, they likely still felt the same way about her as they had all those years ago. It made her wonder if there really was something wrong with her. How could she be hated by so many different people? Even as a child? Maybe she really was as worthless as they all said.

But as she tightened her grip on Alice, she remembered the way both she and Ace looked at her. With warmth. And tenderness. And love. It was the same way that Alice's mother had looked at her.

No, she wasn't worthless. To the people that mattered, she was irreplaceable. Just as they were to her.

Which was why she was here.

"I want to come back," she said.

There was silence as the group stared at her for a long moment before bursting into laughter. It made Ina's stomach twist, and she wanted run and hide in the shadows, but she kept her feet firmly planted on the ground. This was nothing new. She had expected this.

"I'm serious," she said, raising her voice to be heard over their cackling.

A tattooed woman with a shaved head approached and smacked her on the shoulder. "Oh, I'm sure you are," she said in a nasally voice. It was only when she spoke that Ina remembered her. Cinder. "We just think it's funny that you actually believe we'd let you back in after you tried to betray us to the Swans."

"I was young when I went to them," Ina said. "Young and confused. I thought the Swans would welcome me into their ranks. But I was wrong. They hate me."

"Can you blame them?" Cinder said as she crossed her arms over chest and looked Ina up and down.

Turning her eyes downward, Ina fought back the familiar pain that came with every rejection. "No. I can't."

"So what makes you think we'd want a reject from the Swans?"

"That's why I brought her." Ina pulled Alice in front of her. "I captured her from the Swans myself. I thought that if I could prove to my father that I'm on his side, maybe he'd consider taking me back."

Bells snorted. "We know you didn't capture her from the Swans. You were with her and her little husband at the tavern."

Ina turned her cold gaze on Bells and was slightly pleased to see her take a step back. "That was part of my plan. I was luring them into a false sense of security before I slit Ace's throat and brought Alice to you."

Even saying such a thing made Ina's stomach turn, but she did her best to hide it from them. "Well, we beat you to it," a stocky man Ina didn't recognize said.

Raising an eyebrow, Ina glanced from Alice to him. "Really? Because Alice is here in my possession and not yours. So it looks like where you failed, I succeeded."

Cinder, who was still standing by her, narrowed her eyes. "For someone who's supposed to be groveling for forgiveness, you sure are cocky."

Ina schooled her face once more and turned her eyes downward. "I'm sorry, I—"

Something hit the back of her knees, taking her by surprise and knocking her to the ground. Before she could attempt to right herself, the group of thieves grabbed her by her arms and legs, holding her tight. She struggled against their hands, but they were too strong for her. Panting, she watched in horror as Cinder and a tanned man with a scar running down his cheek took hold of Alice.

"We're not stupid, Ina," the tanned man said with a bafflingly charming smirk. In that one expression, his name came to her mind: Tomcat. "We know you and Blondie here are working together."

He gave Alice a shake, and she mumbled something from behind her gag as she glared at him.

"But it doesn't matter," Cinder said cheerfully. "Because you still brought her to us all nice and gift-wrapped. So now we'll deliver her to the Boss and then dismember and disembowel you."

They all burst into laughter again, but it faded into the background as Ina watched Cinder and Tomcat drag Alice off towards her father's tent. Abandoning her intentions of keeping up the facade, she cried out and fought against her captors, but they held her tightly as one of them pulled out a long, jagged knife. With a vicious grin on his face, he gripped the weapon and drew back his arm, aiming for her throat.

But then he gave a grunt and stopped, his eyes wide with surprise. There was a hiss of metal as he fell to the ground, revealing the weasel standing behind him. There was a bloodied sword in her paw and a grin on her face. Her whiskers twitched as she glanced at the others still holding Ina.

"I'm feeling a tad miffed that I wasn't invited to this little reunion," Norine said.

The others looked from her to the prone body of their fallen companion and then back to her. She quirked an eyewhisker and tilted her head.

"What? You're not happy to see me?"

Linley, who was holding Ina's right arm, clenched his fist so hard that Ina winced in pain. "Looks like we have two traitors to dispose of," he snarled.

Norine raised her sword, ready for them to come at her, but before they could take a single step, a cry came from the bushes. All at once, the Swans emerged from the shadows, led by Bill. Their weapons were raised as they charged, and the Black Swans scrambled to defend themselves with their own swords and knives.

Norine backed away, and Ina managed to slip out of the grasp of her former tribe. She hurried to Norine's side and watched in amazement as the Swans gained the advantage over the Black Swans. Metal clashed against metal, blood stained the ground, and the grunts and cries of the battling thieves filled the air.

"That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?" Norine asked Ina.

Shaking her head, Ina couldn't keep a smile from tugging at the corner of her mouth. "No, it wasn't."

"What about Alice?"

At the mention of her sister's name, Ina took a shuddering breath. "That didn't happen exactly as planned, either. But she made it clear that once she was taken to Dodgson, we were not to interfere."

"Should we at least go follow her to make sure she'll be all right?"

"No. She made it clear that we need to stay behind."

"But—"

"We have to trust her. Afterall, she's our Queen."

Norine's whiskers twitched and she turned back to the battle before her. "So what do we do?"

Pulling out her daggers, Ina gripped them tightly and readied herself to leap into the fray. "We fight."