One day early, because you are all amazing!

Song Suggestion: The Black by Natasha Blume

Maven

"She's beginning to slip. You should take advantage."

With a huff, I throw down the papers I was reading.

"Do you take joy in this?"

"What do you mean?" Mother asks.

"Annoying me."

"Not my fault, I'm just in your head remember?"

"How could I forget," I say, rolling my eyes. "And I'm not taking advantage of Mare. I'm not going to let you screw this up again."

She sits in one of the chairs of my study. She wears the same mourning clothes that she wore the day I sent Mare to the Bowl of Bones.

"Oh, please. Stop pretending you have a chance. You screwed that imp too many times to count. Literally. If you think you can earn her trust again, you're crazier than what I made you."

"Do you really think I'm that stupid? That I'm that incapable of making my own decisions? You are the reason I lost her in the first place."

"Still blaming me, I see. Is that why you never promised her 'no feelings'? Yes, I noticed that little detail."

"I won't make a promise I know I can't keep."

"But does it really change anything? Before she left she told you the exact date and time she would return - something she's never done before now."

"And?"

"If she's beginning to make small mistakes like that then you should keep an eye out for more. I'm sure sleeping with you wasn't part of the plan either. Do what you did last time and let her fall all the way to the bottom."

MARE: 4 Days Before the Wedding

"Are you going to continue to pace or did you ask me to your office to admire the decor?"

Davidson stops in his tracks and just looks at me with a blank expression. Once I asked Alex if she was able to read him. She said she's known him long enough so she can. Just give it time.

"We have a problem."

I remained composed but for a moment I think he knows what I've really been doing with Maven.

Relax, if Davidson really knew anything you'd know it.

I know. I'm not that dense.

"And that is?"

"Apparently," he reaches into his desk drawer and pulls out an envelope and slaps it on the desk. "You're going to the wedding."

"What?"

"That," he's says pointing to envelope. "Is a formal invitation to the wedding, signed by Evangeline Samos herself."

I sit there, stunned. This can't be happening.

"So what do we do?"

"You have to go. Refusing would be insulting."

"But what about the plan? We've come too far to turn back now."

"And you need an alibi."

"Everyone was supposed to believe I'm here with my family. An entire nation away."

"An everyone will point the finger at you. The ex-girlfriend. The red girl who could never understand silver politics."

I could see the story they will tell. And only half of it will be true.

"If only Nanny were alive," I say. She was a brave and silently I curse Cal. "She could've been my stand in and nobody would know the difference."

"Which is why you need Jared," I hear a familiar voice say.

I turn to see Riley standing in the doorway.

"I'm guessing that's why I'm here. You need him."

"No, Alex. I didn't. Your husband has given so much to the cause. I asked you here for another reason."

"And that is?"

Davidson looks to me and then looks to Riley.

"The wedding will take place at the Lerolan Estate. Because it's such a high profile event it gives me an excuse to bring extra security. The plan I was able to come up with was you get Mare in and out before anyone notices she's gone."

"That won't work," Riley interjects "It will still be suspicious. And suspicions will only further our ties with the Rift. We need to seal them."

"Well, I'm at a loss," I say speaking up for the first time since Riley entered. "You guys make the plans, I just follow them. At least I try to."

Riley sighs and crosses her arms, "I'll talk with Jared and ask if he's okay with it. He can shapeshift into, Mare, and it will give her the alibi."

"I don't know if that will be enough," Davidson says. "If Jared is going to be parading around as Mare, what happens if someone comes to talk with her. Then it all blows up in smoke."

I smile at the pun, but only for a moment. He's right. There isn't anyone who knows me well enough. At least no one we can involve. No one except…

"Alex."

Davidson snaps his attention to me. And this becomes the first time I'm able to read him. He looks at me as if I just slapped him or I've gone insane. Most likely the latter. "No, I won't involve her."

"Alex knows every part of my mind and memories. She's the only one who does. She will know what to say."

Riley nods her head. "She's right, Davidson. We can use the coms if you want. Alex will be able to hear everything and communicate without having to be anywhere near the estate. We have to stop treating her with kid gloves."

I nod in agreement. "This is the cleanest way, Davidson."

He turns away, putting his hand on his hips in thought. Then he runs a hand through his brown hair and faces us and nods. "Alright, I'll talk to Alex. Riley you talk to Jared. And Mare," he nods to me. "How are you with your dagger."

"I hit the mark nine times out of ten. But I'm confident I'll be ready for the wedding."

"You better be. We all need to be. Bringing down nations isn't easy. And impossible without sacrifice."He looks at Riley and me in turn and I briefly wonder what happened to Jared.

And I think about Alex, a girl barely a year older than my sister. The whisper who's had little contact with the outside world in the past few years.

"I'm not afraid to die," I say. "As long we end this, it'll be worth it."

The silvers use to have every reason to underestimate us. Now it will be their downfall.

ANALYSIS

So you may be wondering..."What?"

So I left parts out of this chapter for a reason. So if you caught the fact that Mare needs an alibi, then you know something is going down at the wedding.

Something big. And you all know, I love my foreshadowing, so…

So in case, you're confused. Riley is the teleporter that helps get Mare to the balcony of Maven's chambers. She is also a young mother and she's married to Jared, a shapeshifter.

I left out parts of the discussion for a reason. One: because it's a surprise. Two: They all know what the plan is, so why do they need to repeat it?

As for what they have planned for the wedding, you'll just have to wait and see. ;)