Much to her surprise, Anne actually ran into Eva in the square outside the palace. It looked like she was heading back towards the cathedral.

Anne ran a little to catch up to her and grab her shoulder. “Eva!”

Eva turned, looking surprised. “Saintess! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, well,” Anne rubbed the back of her head a bit sheepishly. “After tea with Lady Corvina, the Crown Prince suddenly called me to have tea with him, too.”

“The Crown Prince?!”

“Yeah, he’s right over there,” said Anne, pointing.

Prince Sebastian was standing a few feet away, flanked by a couple of royal guards. When Eva and Anne looked back at him, he waved with a smile.

“And where is Agis?” asked Eva.

“Right here,” said Agis, suddenly appearing behind Eva. “I thought it was better to lay low with the human prince around.” He glared at Sebastian.

“Hey!” said Prince Sebastian. “I don’t know why you’re saying the words ‘human prince’ with that tone, but I don’t appreciate it!”

“Well I don’t appreciate your people oppressing my people!” said Agis.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” said the Prince. "What people?"

Agis was still wearing his hood that covered his elf ears.

“Who are you anyway?” asked Prince Sebastian.

“I’m Anne’s brother!” said Agis. “And she doesn’t need any hateful human princes hanging around her, so you can just go back to your dumb palace right now.”

“Why, I never!” said Prince Sebastian. “I’m not hateful! I just want to be her friend!”

It was like a chihuahua fighting with a pomeranian.

“Shut up, both of you!” said Anne. “Or neither of you will get to come with me!”

Eva cocked her head inquisitively. “Come with you—?”

“We’re actually on our way to the Artisan Quarter to meet an alchemist named, uh, Edrea Baines,” said Anne, patting down her pockets. “I have her address written down somewhere…”

“The Artisan Quarter…”

“I’ll explain later, but you can come along if you want.”

Eva looked around at the strange bunch before coming to the obvious decision.

“Of course I’ll come with you,” said Eva. “Someone is going to need to do damage control.”

#

Edrea Baines was one of the most skilled alchemists in the capital, although her shop was still small. It was tucked away in a small alleyway in the twisting and turning avenues of the Artisan Quarter, which was hard to navigate through at the best of times.

By the time Anne and her group had managed to find the shop, Edrea was already locking up for the night. Anne was exhausted from the walk over, partially because Agis and Sebastian had spend the whole walk bickering and trying to get Anne’s attention while she mostly tried to ignore them. At least they had managed to catch Edrea before she left.

Edrea Baines was a short and stocky woman, with ordinary dusty blonde hair and plain clothing. Her face showed her age and her expression showed her hostility as she barely glanced at Anne’s group. “Shop’s closed,” she said, matter-of-factly, turning away again.

Eva pulled off a perfect curtsy. “Madame, we do not wish to disturb, but I think you will find this is something of a special visit. I am pleased to present to you Anne Coris, chosen of the Goddess, the Saintess.”

Anne did her best to make a saintly face as she was introduced.

Edrea’s expression changed instantly from hostility to awe. She looked from Eva, to Anne, to Eva again, to Agis, and then to Prince Sebastian and his escorts.

“Wait,” said Edrea. “Is that the Crown Prince?”

“Nope,” said Anne, who didn’t really feel like explaining why he was there. “Everyone here is part of my retinue. But I just wished to have a quiet conversation with you.”

“Why me?” said Edrea.

“I’m trying to get to know the ordinary people of the capital,” said Anne. “So that I can be a better servant to them. And I heard that you were very faithful, so I would like to hear your views on various things.”

“Of course! Of course, anything for the Saintess!” Edrea looked around, flustered. “I supposed you can come into the shop after all, then,” she said, unlocking the door and ushering everyone inside.

The shop was small and crammed full of shelves covered in bottles of various shapes and sizes, filled with liquids of various colors and smells. It was overwhelming to the senses. Edrea hurried to the counter, where she began to tidy up and push various papers and packages out of sight. Anne tried to subtly catch a glimpse of what some of them were but couldn’t catch anything.

“I do try my best to attend church regularly,” said Edrea, as she tidied up. “And of course I give what I can spare to the collection plate. I know being pious isn’t necessarily the popular thing these days, but I’ve always said it pays to pay attention to your immortal soul now and then.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said Anne, smiling serenely. “That’s the exact topic I wanted to talk to you about.”

“My—my immortal soul?” asked Edrea, looking freaked out.

Anne nodded. “I’m preparing a sermon on the topics of confession and forgiveness and their benefits to the immortal soul. Do you have any thoughts?”

Anne was watching her response closely.

Edrea gulped. “Well, of course, I—”

Crash!

Prince Sebastian had knocked a jar off a shelf and it was smoking slightly.

“Get back from there, that’s dangerous!” shouted Edrea, running back from behind the counter. The Prince’s guards dragged him away as Edrea grabbed some other things from the selves to try to neutralize whatever dangerous chemical had been knocked over.

“That was such a stupid move,” said Agis. “I can’t believe human prince’s are so clumsy.” He smugly leaned one arm against a shelf and it slowly tipped over. There were several more crashes.

“Get out! Get out!” said Edrea, shooing everyone out of the shop.

After everyone was safely back out in the street, Edrea sighed and leaned her back against the door.

Anne bowed slightly and said, “I’m terribly sorry for all the trouble my retinue has caused.”

Edrea shook her head. “If I leave it overnight, the various compounds will have stabilized enough to make it safe to enter again… probably. Unless the whole shop just blows up. But there’s a reason no one lives directly above and alchemist’s shop.”

“Please send any necessary repair bills to the church,” said Eva. “I’ll make sure they are taken care of.”

“I apologize again and thank you for your time,” said Anne.

“Wait, before you go,” said Edrea. “I… may not have any useful thoughts on your sermon, but can you tell me a bit what you plan to talk about? Is confession so important? Is it so wrong to keep secrets?”

Suddenly Anne could feel the rapt attention of everyone in the alley. The Prince, Agis, Eva, even the guards all seemed pretty intent on what she was about to say.

Anne chose her words carefully. “I don’t think secrets are bad, necessarily. After all, people have all sorts of reasons to keep secrets, including some very good reasons. But if you have a secret that could hurt other people… I think it’s better to tell someone about it.”

“Even if you could put yourself in a dangerous position by telling it?” asked Edrea.

“You just have to choose the right person to tell,” said Anne. “So that they can save you, too.”

Edrea looked like she was about to say something, but then she decided against it. She clutched the fabric of her skirt, looking down. “Thank you, Saintess. I’ll consider what you’ve said.”

As they walked away, Anne smacked both Agis and Prince Sebastian on the head. “Stop causing trouble, you two!”

“He knocked something over first!” said Agis.

“He knocked way more stuff over!” said the Prince.

“Enough!” said Anne. “Next time you guys come with me somewhere, you’re not allowed to touch anything, got it?”

“Got it,” they both said, looking dejected.

The Prince’s guards looked distressed and confused, like they weren’t sure if a Saintess was allowed to smack a Prince, but after Anne glared at them they decided it was best just to stay out of it.

“That was very impressive, dear Saintess,” said Eva, locking her arm around Anne's while they walked. “You’ve seemed so nervous and uncertain lately. It was nice to see you being so collected and dignified.”

“It’s just because I was following Lady Corvina’s instructions,” said Anne. “That’s what gave me the confidence that I was saying the right things.”

“Lady Corvina…” said Eva, her expression darkening. “Regardless, now that we’re doing with that, can you please explain to me why exactly we were doing this?”

“Yes, of course. I have a lot of things to tell you, Eva,” said Anne. “I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting strange lately, and I’m sorry for not telling you why. The truth is, something happened recently, a bit before we came to the capital. Something that changed everything. You see, I received a prophecy…” Anne looked around at the small, cobblestone street, lit up orange in the late-evening light. Who knew who could be listening from nearby windows or alleys? After all, The Foundling’s Wings was a world of schemes and political intrigue. “But I can’t explain it here. When we get back to the cathedral, I’ll tell you everything.”

#

But by the time they parted ways with the Prince and arrived back at the cathedral, someone else was waiting for them.

It was a middle aged woman wearing cleric’s robes and wire-framed spectacles. She curtsied and held out a piece of paper. “Saintess,” she said. “I am Sister Beatrice, the Bishop’s aid. She sent me with your schedule.”

“Shit, I forgot,” said Anne, taking the piece of paper.

“You were expecting this?” asked Eva, watching the aid warily.

“Yeah, the Bishop came by to greet me this afternoon and said she would send someone with the schedule later.”

“What?!” said Eva. “Bishop Geist spoke to you directly?”

The flash of anger that showed in Eva’s eyes made Anne take a step back. She hadn’t known Eva could make that kind of expression.

“We only spoke briefly…” said Anne.

“I will take my leave,” said Sister Beatrice, bowing briefly and disappearing down the hall.

Eva was biting her thumbnail and pacing back and forth while muttering to herself. “I have to go and— No!” Eva took a deep breath and a calm seemed to wash over her. She smiled her usual smile. “Before any of that, Anne, dear Saintess, why don’t you tell me about this prophecy?”