After Historia's quick-witted and perfectly snippy "Arrest you? That depends on your conduct", Zoë's family members relaxed a fraction. Well, that was interesting - Zoë had thought her father quite incapable of a guilty conscience, but for a moment, he had looked truly rattled by the Queen's sudden appearance. Begged the question: What was going on here?

Keeping up her regal act, Historia explained haughtily that she wished to stay at Hange Estate for only a few days in the process of visiting several of the exiled noble families. Accepting this without further questions, Zoë's father briskly ordered his house staff to ready adequate rooms for the royal guest and make space for her retainers in the guard quarters. Freddie personally escorted the Queen out, throwing her avid glances from the side. When she bestowed one of her sweet smiles on him, Freddie got so flustered he almost fell over his own feet. Who could blame him, even in a dusty riding costume and unkempt hair, Historia looked like a sunbeam come to earth to grace weary mortals with her presence.

"Go and settle down in your quarters," Zoë told Armin and the others who were gaping open-mouthed at the wanton riches on display everywhere, "keep your heads down and be careful. We'll talk later."

"What is Captain Levi doing here already?" Eren whispered to her, eyeing the man in question suspiciously.

"That's what I mean to find out," Zoë answered grimly, turning around to glare at Levi. Coolly sipping his tea like his presence in this sitting room was an ordinary thing, he had the air of a model soldier from a picture book. Hair: immaculate. Boots: shined to perfection. The leather on his harness: freshly oiled. Ascot and trousers: almost blindingly white. Shirt: not a wrinkle.

It made no sense to her. Unless… but no, it was impossible.

"We'll insist that we want to stay in one room," Armin said. "With the six others next to us."

Zoë nodded. Good thinking - the closer together they stayed, the better. "They will want to separate men from women," she cautioned, "this is a very traditional household. If that happens, invoke the King's Law of 799 - it's about the equality of men and women in the military and has been used before to thwart attempts to treat women differently."

"Oh," Armin's eyes grew big. "The things you know, Commander!"

Well, sorting thousands of documents into place was good for something at least.

"Make sure to report to me immediately if anything seems amiss," Zoë told Armin, who nodded briskly.

"Let's go, Eren," Mikasa said and the whole group disappeared through the door into the great hall, where a servant offered to show them to their quarters.

"What happened to your eye?" Council Hange stood right behind Zoë, startling her.

"What do you care?" she snapped at him, hating how proper and groomed he looked, as if mocking them in their windswept, travel weary state. "And you will address me properly as Commander of the Survey Corps, Council Hange. This is not a courtesy visit. All the soldiers here, including Theodor Treibel who is waiting outside, are under my command."

Her father snickered briefly before he sobered under her death stare. "I understand. Let me tell your mother that you are here. I hope the news won't overwhelm her poor nerves. And you…," his face briefly contorted into the semblance of a smile when he turned to Levi. "We'll talk later."

With that he walked away, bellowing commands at servants in the hall outside. Only her, Levi, and her Grandma were left in the sitting room now. She hadn't seen her father's mother in more than a decade - frankly, Zoë was surprised the old dragon was still alive. A staunch traditionalist, Granny Clothilde had never approved of Zoë's life choices.

"Grandma," Zoë addressed her curtly, "I need to speak to Levi. Alone."

"Who is this manly woman in uniform addressing me so informally?" Grandma frowned at her with decades of practice expressing displeasure down the length of her nose. "Are we at war again, Elior? It's only then the military dares yap like this."

"Always at war, My Lady," Levi said, discreetly withdrawing his hand from her incessant patting. "So many enemies, it never ends."

Zoë stepped closer to the sofa, finding her temper rather short. Would he cut this crap already? "You. Me. Out there," she gestured to the balcony. "Now!"

Levi carefully put down the tea cup. "Tch," he scoffed. "If we must. Where can I put this…"

He lifted the fluffy white fur ball from his lap with both hands, turning it to and fro in the air to have a better look at it. It jolted awake and began yapping hysterically.

"You can give Pomfrey back to me," Grandma Clothilde beamed at Levi, "isn't it wonderful how he took such an immediate liking to you, Elior?"

"Oh yes, wonderful. But what the fuck is it?"

"It's a dog, Levi," Zoë frowned.

"A… dog?" Hastily he dropped Pomfrey into her grandma's lap with a horrified expression. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's a dog. But who is Elior?"

Levi got up to wipe his hands on his trousers. "I am Elior."

"What?"

"Ask her. She insists that's my name."

"Grandma," Zoë confronted the old woman who was fussing over poor, mistreated Pomfrey. "Who is Elior?"

"Our lucky charm, dearest." She smiled at her dreamily, "don't you know?"

Lucky charm? She heard Levi snicker. Aggravating piece of shit more like! She stomped over to the glass door that led out onto the veranda and ripped it open with so much force, the glass moaned unhappily. She might have stopped to enjoy the spectacular view under other circumstances, but the only thing she noticed were a few gardeners tending to the roses a distance away and what looked like a kitchen maid picking some herbs from a patch near the house. Angrily, Zoë turned around to face Levi who had stepped out behind her.

"What the fuck, Levi," she confronted him. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for your arrival. Took you dawdlers long enough."

"That's not what I'm asking! I want to know why you are sitting all chummy in my father's mansion like you're the best of friends. Do you understand how worried I was?"

His brows creased. "Worried? Why."

"Because you suddenly disappeared! I didn't know what happened to you."

"Tch, and what did you think happened to me? That I was kidnapped by bunnies for a romp?"

They were clearly not getting anywhere in this conversation even though Zoë did not fully understand why Levi was at his worst with her right now. He couldn't still be that angry about the marriage stuff?

"How did you even know where Hange estate is?" she voiced her suspicions.

"I didn't know precisely."

"So they brought you here? As a guest?!"

"Yup."

"Are you enjoying this, Levi?"

"Quite."

She took a deep breath. Then another. "Are you still working for my father? Is that it?"

Something in his eyes changed and the air between them suddenly became loaded. "What if I am?"

"I don't believe it," she hissed, "You beat up his House Guards right in front of me and you got sued afterwards!"

"Could be a ruse. To fool you, Commander."

"Fuck, Levi. Do you want me to throttle you?"

He tilted his head to the side and his eyes moved down her body with hot intensity. "That could be fun," he drawled and she had to suppress a very unwanted, languorous shiver. "Though maybe I'd like to throttle you instead. How much could you take? When would you beg me to stop, Commander?"

She took another deep breath. Steady now. He was just trying to rile her up, for whatever devious reason. "Basil's face… or what's left of it, was that you?"

"You recognize my handiwork? Yes, the bastard threatened to kill me so I jumped and took him off his horse. It was dark, I was certain the others wouldn't shoot at us for fear of hitting him instead of me."

"Levi," her head was beginning to pound. "Why did you meet Basil out there?"

"That's the interesting part of the story, Hanji." Levi looked to the left and right, then bent forward, dropping his voice very low. "They have things that fly in the sky."

She jerked back to stare at him. Had he lost his mind?

"It was hard to see exactly but they are big. Like…," his eyes went to the garden, "... like the distance between us and the gardeners who I am certain are eavesdropping on us."

"Things that fly in the sky?"

"I spotted those things last night while checking on the outrider teams, they were moving quite fast. I followed them but then bumped into Basil and his men. I wasn't careful, I should have noticed them."

"Were they the ones flying them?"

"I can't say for sure. The flying things disappeared while I bashed his face in. Sadly, your brother intervened before I could kill Basil. He seemed less reluctant to risk shooting Basil instead of me."

So Freddie had been there too. Were these flying things the explanation for her father's show of guilt earlier?

"What could it be?" She mused. "Some sort of weapon? Or… could it be the invaders?"

They had ships that could cross the huge salt lake called the ocean. Maybe they also had things that could fly in the sky? Hm... her mind began to sift through a range of explanations and she felt excitement surge. Before she could get lost in thought though, she forced her eyes back on Levi again.

"This doesn't explain why you're lolloping around at Hange Estate like you're part of the furniture. If they have such a secret, why are you still alive or not at least in custody?"

"Maybe I lied?" Levi dropped his voice again as he threw another look at the gardeners.

"To me?" The words escaped her before she could check herself. But why try and hide it. Levi's behavior was suspicious as fuck and he knew it.

"That would make a lot of sense, wouldn't it," Levi said grimly.

"You are not working for him, Levi," Zoë pressed out. "I know you aren't, so stop this charade at once. And if by any chance you are trying to fool him… don't. He will not believe you."

"Are you sure?" his grey eyes were guarded when he looked at her.

The problem was, she wasn't sure about anything right now. Her head was spinning, her throat was burning like she had screamed for hours. It crossed her mind that she might have underestimated her father and if that was the case… She had come here with the Queen and their two only Titans, hours away from any reinforcement. It felt like the ground was shifting underneath her feet. Everything is shifting again, a hard voice echoed in her head, but there's only death and destruction, death and destruction, what am I to do? Her legs buckled when the world tilted to the side.

Levi caught her arm, hard.

"Hanji," he hissed at her. "Get a grip."

He put both his arms around her to steady her and cursed as he struggled to put her back on her feet. How warm he was, how solid, how much she just wanted to rest in his arms. She was so, so tired when so, so much was needed of her. With his help, she found her footing again. As soon as she felt stable enough to stand, she disengaged herself hastily.

"I don't want you to pretend you work for my father again," she hurled at Levi who quickly hid his concern for her behind a displeased face. "It's too dangerous."

"Oi," he flicked something invisible off his immaculate uniform. "Hold your fucking mouth, Hanji. There are ears everywhere."

"We shouldn't have come here," she felt foolish and bitter, like she had walked into a trap that hadn't even been readied yet.

"I told you to get a grip," he snapped. "Spare me any of this insecurity-crap and use your shit for brains. This is what the Survey Corps is all about. We go into unknown territory. We explore it. We learn. We turn it into a benefit for humanity behind the walls. Do you fucking hear me?"

Zoë stared at the furious little man before her until her head cleared a little. Yes, she heard him. And he was right. Of course he was. She nodded slowly.

"Good," he growled. "I am sick and tired of this shit."

"Be careful," Zoë said, feeling such an urge to hug and kiss him she had to ball her hands into fists so they wouldn't just grab him. "And don't do this again. Ever. I don't want to wonder whether you're lying in a ditch somewhere with a broken neck."

"Go and take a bath," Levi wrinkled his nose in disgust, "you stink of horse shit and vomit."

"Up yours, Captain Levi," she smiled at him, already feeling a little better.

"Don't tempt me," he growled. "They'll be watching us very closely."

###

After Hanji had tottered up the stairs, Levi swiftly and silently made his way to the library that he had spotted earlier, expecting to be stopped any second. But nobody seemed interested in his whereabouts, the servants were busy elsewhere and the guards were probably strutting around downstairs to demarcate their territory.

He was trying not to worry but he was failing. Hanji wasn't doing well at all when she needed her wits about her more than ever. Levi wasn't sure whether it was the huge pile of shitty stones around them that affected Hanji or if her condition had simply taken a turn for the worse since he had last seen her. No mistake about it, riding out on an expedition expecting to be slain by Titans felt far less precarious than being here on Hange's territory.

Council Hange was far from stupid. So of course he didn't trust Levi one bit. Serendipitously though, Queen Historia had corroborated Levi's story earlier in the drawing room. This morning, having to make a quick decision while a cocked gun was pressed against his head, Levi had sworn by all that was holy hat he had ridden ahead of his party to warn Council Hange for old times' sake: Queen Historia was coming to identify who was a loyal royalist among the noble families, meaning to topple the military rule and end her sham regency with their help. It had sounded like a load of bullshit to him and frankly speaking, Levi had expected his brains to splatter across the marvelously clean marble floor at any second, but then the weird old woman had appeared, crying tears of joy at the sight of him.

Council Hange had reacted with annoyance, but had mellowed quickly when the old woman's tantrum had worsened. Weird as it was, the shrewd politician seemed to have ample regard for his demented mother - or was it fear? Whatever it was, killing her "Elior" in front of her was out of the question and so Levi had walked free, had been treated like the King himself, and after being cleaned from head to toe, he had been put in the drawing room with her.

Levi rubbed the hand the old woman had fondled with such stubbornness. Elior? Why did that name seem so damn familiar? It freaked him out.

The library, a spacious room with heavy red curtains and three walls of high bookcases, proved to be empty. Even though it was summer, a fire was burning in the grate. He had noticed the sliver of a girl running around this huge mansion lighting and tending to all the fires this morning. She had gotten a huge fright when he had nodded his thanks at her, obviously used to being invisible. But she had the haunted eyes of an Underground orphan, how could he not notice?

The library smelled musky, not unpleasant. He had come to find the red book, the one he called "the Ackerman revelations" in his mind. At the time Council Hange had shown it to him, he had not understood a single thing. Now he would understand. The experiments. The serum. Obedience. A bloodline that was able to… to...

His brain hit a wall and Levi froze.

"Fuck," he swore under his breath. This wasn't the first time this happened. A gap in his memories, or rather, a barricade. It felt like proof that someone had tampered with his mind and he really did not want to be reminded of that in a house that smelled faintly of lilac and starch. He had to believe his mind was his own, had to. And yet, the mere presence of Council Hange put him on edge. What if he really knew the key to his mind? What if Hanji's health issues were his fault? If you sully this sacred bond, you will lose her. But… he couldn't lose her. He'd rather die.

Pushing aside these nagging fears, Levi quickly searched the bookshelves. There was an impressive selection of forbidden books that Hanji would go gaga over - but those books were probably not forbidden for people who had never been mind-wiped in the first place.

Like Council Hange. Like Granny Clothilde.

She had to be at least eighty, maybe even older. Not old enough to witness the erection of the Walls. Not even old enough to know King Fritz personally. But maybe old enough to know something about the Ackermans…?

Levi searched the bookcases from one end to the next and back, but there was no red booklet. Was he surprised? Not really. Maybe there had never been such a book. The state he had been in all those years ago in Council Hange's office… he could have shown him anything, he could have whispered things into his ears and he would have believed them.

Well. He'd go down to the guard quarters to check on the brats next. Then on Annika. He also hoped to identify the guard who had intruded into the Royal Gardens not too long ago. It had been too dark to see his face, but Levi's sense of smell was keen and he should at least be able to narrow it down to a few when combining that to the memory of the man's overall size. Then it was probably time for dinner. And then… he took a book from the shelf. This one would be of interest to Hanji, he thought. It contained all kinds of drawings of machines he had never seen in his life. He'd take it to her after dinner. Maybe they could talk a little. Maybe a kiss or two… or not.

Levi grunted.

If he wanted to convince Council Hange he was still working for him, he absolutely had to stay away from his daughter.

###

Zoë insisted on using a guest room near the Queen and not her old childhood room in the family wing. This was not her family anymore. She was disowned and happy with that. She hated her father with great conviction. Freddie was a different matter but he clearly was in on whatever her father was planning so she better steel her heart against him too.

A bath was prepared for her and she insisted on washing herself, wanting to be alone. The warmth of the water did her some good, unknotting the tense muscles in her neck and shoulders. The fragrance of the soap was soothing, evoking memories of an early childhood out here in the country, when Grandpa Franz had still been alive. He had been the one to teach her how to ride, she recalled. Or had it been that other man… a groom, she didn't remember his name, just that he had had a pleasant voice full of laughter.

Zoë was fully dressed again and was just drying her hair with a towel when there was a brisk knock at the door. Oh… could it be Levi?

"Yes?" she called out, her heart beginning to beat faster.

"Zoë?"

It was her mother - who started crying as soon as she set eyes on her.

"Oh, Mamma," Zoë said, rushing towards the frail looking woman, "not that again. Stop crying."

"My poor child, my poor child," her mother sobbed, sagging against her.

Right. Zoë had not put the eyepatch back on yet - of course her mother was shocked to see the scarred eye. Zoë looked up at the maid who was trailing behind her mother for help, wanting to deposit the limp little body into her arms… and gasped.

"Esmelda?!"

"That's… no longer my name," the girl from the Underground said quietly, a small smile playing on her lips, not a trace of an accent left in her cultured voice. "I'm Sarah now."

"What the…," Zoë deposited her mother into a pink armchair and stared at the girl who had saved Theodor Treibel's life. In another lifetime. Now she was a victim of the Peonage Law, which allowed noble families to use people for whose medical treatments they paid as servants for life.

Esmelda looked well though. Very pretty actually, with shining hair and rosy cheeks, dressed in a lavender frock. Not just a maid. A companion to her mother?

"I don't know what to say," Zoë stammered, "how are you doing?"

"I'm well, thank you, Miss Hange," Esmelda curtsied and smiled again. "Thank you so much for looking out for me."

"Levi is here too," Zoë blurted out, "he'll be thrilled to see you!"

"I know," Esmelda smiled prettily. "News travels fast at the estate."

"Zoë, dearest," her mother demanded her attention, "are you coming back to us?"

She grabbed her eyepatch from the vanity table and put it into place before facing her mother.

"What do you mean, Mamma?" she asked patiently. "I'm the Commander of the Survey Corps now. I'm no longer a part of this family."

"Is it that man?" her mother sniffed into her artfully embroidered handkerchief. "Is he the reason?"

Zoë took a seat in the other pink armchair across from her mother and blinked at her in confusion. "What man, Mamma?"

"That small man with the black hair," Mrs. Hange pouted. "The Ackerman."

Huh. "What has Father told you about Levi, Mamma?"

"Your Father?" her mother laughed bitterly. "He tells me nothing. But Sarah here does," she looked at Esmelda and her eyes lit up. "Sarah and the others."

The others? Servants from the Underground?

"I shall speak to him," her mother said, sounding determined. "He will understand."

"Understand… what exactly?"

Her mother sighed. "That he should not play with your heart. They always meant trouble, the Ackermans. I don't quite know what it is about them that turns us Hange women into such fools. Just look at the Dowager Duchess Clothilde!"

"She calls him Elior," Zoë found her heart pounding.

"The poor soul," her mother sighed, wiping at her eyes again.

Was Elior the poor soul or her grandma? Zoë fidgeted on her chair but no more information was forthcoming.

"Elior was an Ackerman?" she asked impatiently. "Someone Granny knew? Is he still alive?"

"Oh no," her mother answered, frowning a little. "No, he must be dead."

"And Grandma Clothilde was in love with that man?"

Her mother stiffened. "I wouldn't know such a thing."

Zoë groaned. Getting information out of her mother was harder than getting information from a prisoner under torture. "Mamma, what do you know about the Ackermans?"

To Zoë's great surprise, her mother blushed. Interesting.

"You… too?" she asked, flabbergasted.

"There always used to be at least one Ackerman on the estate," her mother looked at her lap and began pulling her skirts in order. "Don't you remember?"

Zoë shook her head.

"Yes, you were very little," her mother sighed. "An Ackerman for luck, that's the saying among the noble families. But luck is such a fickle thing… I know they had a different use, maybe protection? But now they're all gone."

"Because King Fritz had all of them hunted down and killed," Zoë said. "Do you know why?"

"No," her mother lifted her eyes to her face. "No, I know nothing. But maybe he didn't want them in the hands of the noble families? You know how men are all about power, power, power."

A gong sounded below.

"Is it time for dinner already?" her mother smiled. "Let Sarah do your hair, Zoë. I will wait for you."

An Ackerman for luck? Maybe the nobles had never been that loyal to King Fritz and his Walls scheme, Zoë thought, taking a seat in front of the vanity table so that Sarah could do something with her hair. What if the threat the King had commanded had been the Ackermans? And what if the nobles had found a way to win the Ackermans for themselves, thus breaking the threat?

"Let me sit next to Granny Clothilde at dinner," Zoë said casually. "I haven't seen her in such a long time."

"If you promise to sit with me after dinner, child," her mother smiled sadly.

"Of course, Mamma," Zoë said, watching in the mirror how Sarah struggled to bring her hair up into a semblance of a coiffure.

Not such a bad idea to come here after all. Not bad at all.