Eventually, the party let out, with the guests leaving carrying little paper cones filled with fried vegetables. Katarina's idea of a party favor aside, the gathering had been a successful in Maria's opinion. They had finished with at least a reasonable plan to extract from the capital and enter La Sable, and while Maria wasn't completely happy with the latter, Sadako had agreed to lead them through what she remembered of the paths, although she was clear she didn't remember it all that well.

Which was why Maria needed to return to her estate.

Before that, however, there was the expected nonsense.

"Lady Katarina!" Lady Mary cried as the door finally opened to start letting people out, and she was finally able to enter room. Maria hadn't seen her when going out to consult with Sadako, but it appeared that the woman had finally gotten word that Katarina had been holding another gathering. As predictably, Sophia and Keith were right at her heels. "Why didn't you invite me?"

"Us," Sophia corrected.

"Right, us, whatever. You stay right there, Maria Campbell!"

Maria sighed, but stayed put as the rest of the knights glanced towards them in the course of their egress. She subtly waved them on. There was no need for them to interfere here, and they would need all the time they had to start making their own exits from the castle.

"Oh, hi everyone!" Katarina said cheerfully. "What are you all doing here?"

"Looking for you, of course, Lady Katarina!" Sophia exclaimed as she also eyed Maria suspiciously. "Why didn't you tell us you were having some kind of party? We could have joined you!"

"Oh, I was doing a favor for Dame Maria," Katarina said, and it was all Maria could do to NOT immediately close the distance between them to slap a hand over her squire's mouth.

Sophia, Keith and Mary turned to direct suspicious stares at the knight. She just raised an eyebrow at them. "What kind of favor?" Lady Mary asked.

"Oh, she asked me to help her make new friends," was the happy, guileless reply. Katarina leaned forward and lowered her voice in what she probably was a quiet whisper that Maria couldn't hear, and was actually just Katarina speaking in a slightly quieter but still perfectly audible voice. "Maria doesn't really have any friends outside of us, you know, so she really needs more friends."

The three stared at Katarina, then turned towards Maria, who was glaring at her squire with an offended look.

"Well… I suppose that makes sense," Lady Mary said, making Maria turned her offended look towards the marchioness-at-heart. "But then why weren't we invited?"

"But you were already friends with her, though?"

"…" The three stared at her again, then sighed. "Big sister… just because we're already her friends doesn't mean you didn't need to not invite us."

"Besides, you were there!" Sophia exclaimed.

"Of course. Someone needed to introduce Maria to everyone," Katarina said brightly. "That's the protocol, isn't it? Someone needs to introduce Maria to them, because she can't just walk up to them by herself." She sighed. "Which is really stupid, but that's how it's written in mom's book."

"The writer of the 'The Noble's Proper Etiquette Reference and Manual of Propriety and Action' is completely unknown," Maria said.

"It's obviously mother!"

The three seemed to forget about Maria at that point as they dragged Katarina off to have dinner, leaving Maria free to begin making her arrangements to slip out of the castle. Sadako had already returned to the room with Lasciel after confirming that she had some familiarity with the smuggling paths between Sorcier and La Sable, although she was candid about the fact that her knowledge wasn't complete. However, she also knew where there were other with that information…

By the time Maria returned to her room, it was already packed, the three maids having worked swiftly. Katarina's weapons were packed, as were Maria's, the trunks standing in the sitting room ready to be carried out. Shana was also fully dressed and ready to travel, her copy of 'The Noble's Proper Etiquette Reference and Manual of Propriety and Action' in her hands.

"Maria," Anne said. "We are ready to depart at your command. However, I need to speak with you in private for a moment."

Maria blinked in surprise, but nodded. "Very well. Lasciel, please take care of bringing the trunks down to the carriage. We will only be a moment."

"Yes, my lady," Lasciel said with a bow that Sadako echoed.

Maria led the way to the bedroom, Anne following her and closing the door behind them. "What is the matter, Anne?"

"Please do not bring Lady Katarina with you, Maria," Anne said.

Maria paused, turning to stare at the maid. "What?"

Anne bowed low, bending at the waist until her upper body was almost parallel to the ground. "You are clearly planning something, Maria. Something dangerous. Sadako told us that you want her to guide you into La Sable through smuggling paths. Please, I beg you… do not bring my lady with you. She is not ready."

For a moment, anger burned inside Maria again, holding herself stiffly. "Do you also think she is unsuitable to be a knight?"

"No," Anne said, still bowed. "My lady can become anything she wants to be." There was a quiet pride in her voice, one that quenched the anger Maria was starting to feel. "But just because she can does not meant she is ready. So once more, I beg you… please do not bring my lady with you. She isn't ready."

Maria stood quietly as she Anne continued to keep her head bowed. Finally, she said, "When will she be ready, Anne? When will she be ready, that you will not plead for her?"

Anne was silent, her head still bowed. Finally, she said, "I don't want her to be hurt, Maria. Please, don't let her be hurt."

Stepping towards the maid, Maria gently placed a hand on her shoulder, nudging her upright. "I will do what I can, Anne," she said softly. "However, as you said, Katarina can become anything she wants to be. And she wants to be a knight. One who faces danger and battle in the defense of others. Would you have her abandon what she wants to be for your sake?"

Despite Anne reluctantly straightening, something about her was slumped tiredly.

"I'm sorry," Maria said, knowing how inadequate the words were.

Wordlessly, Anne turned and left the room.

Maria feared that Anne would make some attempt to do… something. All she'd need to do was to send word of what she suspected to Katarina's entourage, and at that point… well. However, she did nothing of the sort as they all proceeded down to the gate where they would be loading her carriage. While Anne's face was as impassive as ever, there was an air of resignation to her.

She was still relieved to find Katarina waiting for them at the carriage, still wearing her formal armor. Of course, she was chatting to everyone present, but that was to be expected. Maria wondered how she had managed to extricate herself from Mary, Sophia and Keith, as they didn't seem to be nearby.

For some reason, those present stayed ell away from her carriage as it approached, and the servants who loaded the trunks onto the roof seemed strangely reluctant to do so. She had no idea why. Her horses were quite mild-manner and docile…

…

Huh, she really needed to know what her horses' names were.

The maids and Shana quickly entered the carriage. Sadako had her head bowed the entire time, not looking at the nearby men, and only Maria's experience with her maid let her know that the Ashina woman was moving with almost unseemly haste. Shana held her hand, saying something low and comforting in Ashinago until they both disappeared into the vehicle.

"Come squire," Maria called out as she entered the carriage herself. With six people inside, it would be at comfortable capacity, although they could fit in two more people with discomfort.

"Ah, coming Dame Maria! Sorry everyone, I need to go! See you all later!"

"Good bye, Lady Katarina!"

"See you later, Lady Katarina!"

"Thank you for the snacks, Lady Katarina!"

Katarina happily climbed into the carriage and settled down on the bench as the door closed behind. With a jolt, the carriage started moving.

"Thank you for obfusca—not revealing the reason that we were meeting with everyone," Maria said once they were out of the castle grounds. "I'm sure it must have been difficult for you to lie everyone like that."

Her squire gave her a confused look. "I didn't lie to anyone. Lying is wrong," she said virtuously.

Maria blinked at her. "What?"

"Well, aren't you going to make friends with them?" Katarina said, tilting her head. "I mean, you're asking them to go do something with you. They're not your friends now, but it seems kinda wrong to not make friends with them when they're doing this with you. Besides, you do need friends, remember?"

"I already have friends," Maria pointed out.

"So? Having friends is like having food. A lot is great, and when you have people over you can share!" She clapped her hands together. "Now, I don't want to lie to my friends, so as your friend, on the way to La Sable I'm going to make sure you make as many friends as possible."

"That will be unnecessary, my squire. A knight doesn't need friendship to work together."

"Who had to come to me because she had so few friends she didn't know which knights to ask for help?"

"…"

"Exactly!" Katarina said cheerfully, and Maria noted she wasn't even smug. "Come on, what's wrong about making friends? Friends are great! You can eat together, read together, farm together, go to parties together, have fun together…"

"Enough, my squire," Maria sighed. "I understand, and will not argue your point." Well, she supposed that while all those knights were only defending Sorcier as befits their oaths as knights, that they were doing so according to her direction required that she prove she was a capable leader beyond being appointed by the king to undertake this mission. After all, given how she was publicly known to be affiliated with the princes, it was not outside the realm of possibility that she was given this appointment out of royal favor instead of capability.

"Yes! Ooh, you're going to make so many friends, everyone is always really nice and very good at knighting, so you'll have all sorts of things to talk about!"

Maria just nodded, keeping an ear as Katarina started espousing all the positive traits of all the knights who had agreed to join Maria on her mission—both from Sorcier and foreign countries—as she contemplated the vow she was about to break.

…

Huh, why did she feel like she was forgetting something?

…

Eh, it couldn't have been anything important if she can't remember it

She paused, took a moment to use a trickle of Dark Magic on herself to bring forth her memories, and confirmed there was not, in fact, something she had thought she needed to do but didn't. She'd remembered to leave a message with Rafael when she had requested the use of Sora through Larna Smith, as she didn't want him to worry about her absence, after all. Satisfied, she leaned back and allowed herself a moment of rest. Soon, she would be worrying about trying to sneak a large number of people across the border of La Sable. For now, however… she was going back home.

Two Days Later…

"It finally happened!" Mary declared, slamming her hand on the table as she looked upon whatsisname, Alan, Sophia, Keith, and a tired Nicol. "Maria has finally shown her true colors and kidnapped Lady Katarina for herself!"