Alexandra's hands went cold.

She was not nervous: not in the very least. Her hands were cold with excitement. In the wildest of dreams, she wouldn't have thought that Ethoris would reappear in her life at this point. At possibly the best part. And if they were helping Losiane, they were a clear foe. For all she knew, Aunt Sabel had outlived her husband and was now the single-handed Queen of Ethoris. Which meant that Alexandra was again at war.

'I didn't know that,' Liam shrugged, but he was only sarcastic.

'Does that mean we are marching to Ethoris and burning it down?' Alexandra asked, expectantly.

'We need spies there,' Daniel continued, ignoring her. 'Any volunteers?'

'But we've all got six months of Supervisory,' Alexandra pointed out, this time far from excited - because she did not want to go to Ethoris. That was one thing she wouldn't survive, and she knew it.

'But that can be overruled,' Liam offered amiably. She shot him a quick you're not helping things look, and flitted her eyes over to Watson. He was slumped against his chair in an unnatural pose. He was smart enough to not make it obvious - but Alexandra realized that he didn't think much of Liam.

That's because Liam made Diana look like a fool - or a misbehaved kid. She thought to herself, Diana did act like a kid - even when she's the eldest of us all.

Suddenly, Watson looked right back at her. 'And, Mabel has been there - to Ethoris - haven't you?' he questioned. Had he not worn that innocent look, Alexandra would have throttled him.

'Has she, now?' Liam raised his brows. He never missed a single chance to bully her. 'What was it like, then?'

'Er,' Alexandra fumbled, 'like twenty years back? Crowded ... uneven ... nothing like anything.'

The way everybody stared at her upon the last line, was funny - except for the tensed bead of perspiration trickling down her temple.

'Crowded, uneven, nothing like anything.' Kane repeated.

'Crowded, uneven, nothing like anything.' Mark nodded.

'I was seven!' Alexandra exclaimed. 'What all do you want me to know?!'

'Let us take crowded, uneven and nothing like anything.' Liam offered again, 'But that isn't helpful. Ma-bel going to Ethoris won't be helpful either,' he pronounced Mabel like it was a foreign language. Alexandra realized that "Alexandra" simply sounded so much better. 'On the other hand, I do know of another country. A close ally of Ethoris, where we need a spy.'

'And which is that?' Diana asked him, for once interested.

'Doveland.'

'Right, it is.' Diana nodded, nonchalantly.

'Say that again!' Alexandra exclaimed at the same time, pushing her chair behind.

They were all looking at her again. And this time nothing was funny. If Doveland was allied with Ethoris, or sold to Ethoris - Alexandra did not care. But she could not go there. Liam was supposed to know that. Liam was the only one who knew that!

'Dove-land,' he repeated calmly. 'Sit down.'

'I won't go to Doveland!' Alexandra exclaimed, with no mind to sit down.

'Why not, Mabel?' Kane asked her, frowning. 'You are Dovish.'

'I know tha-'

'If you killed your brother, Agents, would you let everybody know of it?' Liam interjected, coolly. They turned to him, 'Sit down, Agent Mabel and talk of more pressing matters.' he continued, as Alexandra understood the cryptic warning. But the alternative was to go to Doveland - where she was a criminal. On one side there was a well, on the other - a cliff. She had to choose what to jump off - but of course, Alexandra would have preferred to just stay where she was.

For then, she sat down.

'Thank you,' Liam nodded. 'Now, we were on brother. If I am not mistaken, the late Ethorian king had a brother.'

'Whom he killed for the throne,' Daniel nodded.

But Alexandra was not listening. Her mind was a hundred miles away from the Supervisory Centre. How could she go back? How could she step back in Doveland?! One by one, the worst memories of the place tumbled down. She spent the next hour convincing herself that Doveland was the worst place on the planet - even above Ethoris - and that she was not going there. After midnight, it was her nightshift in supervisory. She was making a run for it before dawn - when she would be alone. She was going to just stay long enough to scribble out a resignation note.

After what felt like a week, everybody rose. Alexandra, who had not heard a word of anything, rose too - just to see them through the door.

Watson and Diana took for the exit at once, deep in conversation. They could be deep in conversation within a second. Mark got up, and gestured to Liam in an after you manner.

'I think I will have another word with Agent Mabel, here.' Liam replied. To which, Mark looked right at her in a way that read, want me to stay back? But Alexandra shook her head with a small, forced smile. Three daggers were handed to her to polish - a disadvantage of being a junior and the fact that Watson was no good at polishing. The last to leave was Kane, who had been having a last minute debate with Liam over whether there were eleven Divided Kingdoms or nine. It followed to the door - Liam held it open for the Agent, spoke a few conclusive words and shut it back.

Alexandra didn't waste time - she was already looking for a quill to write her resignation letter with.

'Searching for this?' Liam asked her, holding up a quill.

'Thank you,' she replied, extending a hand for it.

'If you want to resign, I won't stop you - but really Alexandra, it's not worth it.'

'Going to Doveland and getting executed - is not worth it either.' She replied, 'I don't know why in the world you want me to go there - but, since nobody else does, I need to care about myself.'

'So-'

'You should know, Sir, I didn't limp all the way to Vedessa - half-dead - just so that a narcissistic king would make a toy out of me!' Alexandra shot at him, panting as if she had run a mile - and the fact that Liam was not smiling anymore didn't settle as the type of reaction she had wanted.

'Doing this is not as easy as sitting in a castle and watching! You don't think I've got a life? Just because I am exiled - and am living in Vedessa - I do not become your slave!'

When she stopped speaking, there was a different kind of silence in the room. Just to break it, Alexandra tossed all the daggers on the table. When the clatter's echo had ceased, she shook her head.

'And I am not going where I do not wish to go!'

She wished it had been the other way round. That she could have been in Liam's place, and Liam in hers. She could have then shown him what it truly felt like. And if a small part of her mind argued that it was impossible for a woman to be in Liam's place - given the society they lived in - that part was steadily silenced, as usual.

'See, Alexandra,' Liam replied, sitting down in the chair previously occupied by Mark, 'it is in Vedessa's favor that you go to Doveland - a place you know and can work well in. Especially now, when the Espionage itself is expecting a war. This is not my choice - and you can choose not to go Doveland. However, that is not how the Espionage works. There is no "wish" here. If you simply do not wish to go to Doveland,' he straightened up and pushed the quill across to her, 'write that letter. But if there is a logical reason behind it - which I cannot counter - please enlighten me with it.'

'Logical reason?' Alexandra gaped at him, 'Logical reason?! I am exiled from there - and you ask me for a logical reason?!'

'Was it foolish to ask?' he questioned, maddeningly calm. 'I beg your pardon, for after all, I am only a narcissistic king who watches from a castle. But pray tell me,' he began leaning forward, 'did you not know, on the night of your exile - that crossing the border from Doveland to Vedessa - through the forest of Elpis, was illegal?'

'What is this now?' Alexandra demanded. In all her years of exile, she had not thought of that forest - how was it of importance in this matter?

'Don't tell me you don't know,' Liam stared at her, now more serious than before. 'No common man was to enter that forest. It was the agreement we reached with Doveland - because we shared that-'

'That forest with Doveland.' She hissed back, 'I know.'

Liam shook his head, a little remorseful, 'I never meant to bring this up as if I've done you a favor. But since we were not on hostile terms, the only bit of border left unguarded was the Forest of Elpis. The reason there was no armament at the border.'

Alexandra stood still for a second, watching Liam sorry eyes. They were so beautiful even when sad. She wished she could just sit and watch them for an hour... but words tumbled out. 'I did not even realize when I crossed it...' Alexandra managed, astonished. That realization had occurred to her in a flash. Commoners found in the Forest in Elpis were punishable by death. And the area was too dangerous to stationed in, too wild and uncontrollable. Rather than losing men, the kingdoms had found keeping an unarmed border - a better alternative. But only on the condition that nobody trespassed. Alexandra had trespassed - and that she had come alive out of it - was a big deal.

'You didn't realize when you crossed it, and then a narcissistic king came along and made a toy - a slave out of you. Doveland's guards never saw you cross the border which was why they deduced that you had entered the forest. And Vedessa grants the death penalty so they had no way to think otherwise,' he walked over to her and put a gentle hand to her shoulder, 'You're dead to them, Alexandra. You're dead to everybody but me. And I'm sorry to tell you that even a narcissistic king can care for somebody other than himse-'

'You don't need to say that again and again.' Alexandra interjected, feeling lightheaded. Guilty was an understatement to what she felt - and it was much worse with Liam repeating it a hundred times.

'Pardon?' He asked, leaning in.

'You don't need to say that again and again.' She said, looking down - and feeling the heat she was emitting. And had he just said that he cared for her? Cared? Was that... meant to platonic?

'But I was only making sure I remember. In any case, when you crossed that non-existent border, Alexandra, why did you think you were safe beyond Doveland? Because nobody knew you?' He asked.

Alexandra could see where he was headed.

'Everybody in Doveland knows me on sight, Liam. And that is why I cannot go there - I am - infamous.'

'That was ten years back.' He replied, cooly, 'A lot has happened since then, including your enslavement - nobody knows you there now. They hate you, yes they do - only, they won't recognize you now.'

'And why is that?' she asked, 'Have I grown horns?'

Liam shook his head, 'Look into the first mirror you find, and you will know. I don't think I can describe you aptly, because after all, I am only a Narcissus.'

'When somebody gives you constructive feedback, Liam, you take it and improve - instead of repeating them for the rest of eternity!' she exclaimed, amazed at how many ways he could find to bring the same thing up - and repeat it with evident pleasure.

'So I am Liam again, and not "Sir" anymore?' he asked - and perhaps Liam had time he could waste, but Alexandra was very sure that if Master George found out that she had been doing anything other than correspondence - he would put her in Detention with Kane.

'You might as well schedule tomorrow your way and do whatever you want. It is not the same with me - excuse yourself right now.' It didn't occur to her even once, that she should have apologized - or in the very least, not asked him to "get out" so calmly. But Alexandra was scared - if Liam stayed long enough, and succeeded in getting her comfortable - it would not take her longer than an hour to confess every single thing about her feelings to him. It was simply better to remain formal.

'I will,' he nodded, getting up. 'But tell me, are you going to Doveland?'

It was the simplest thing to ask, but Alexandra coloured as if Liam had asked for her hand. When the topic of Doveland came up, all formality was ruined between them. 

'I - am, well - gracing them.' She replied, almost leaning against the door.

'And do I really treat you like a slave, Alexandra?' He was so close that a Alexandra could see the brown rims of his irises. Sparkling. Like the purest mountain lake.

And something was shaking from anticipation within her. Anticipation for what, Alexandra didn't know. The waters were getting too dangerous. Something strange was happening. Before anything could progress, she grabbed the doorknob. 

'No,' Alexandra replied, flaming. She pulled the door open, 'No, I was demented when I said it.' and Liam nodded, stepping over the threshold. He looked a little red himself, but was so calm that it was impossible to make out anything. 'I was not thinking straight. I still can't think very straight - but-'

'But you really meant the part about Narcissistic?'

'I did,' she nodded and shut herself inside. 

She realized she had come so near to baring her feelings out - that if Liam thought about it seriously, he would surely realize that something was amiss.

On the other hand, if she was going to Doveland - for which she certainly had a bit of curiosity - Alexandra didn't need to think much about it. She didn't need to think much about Liam - which until now, had been impossible.