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these proportions to get you to propose.”
    “I was scared you might refuse.”
    Belinda gave him a significant look and he had the grace to blush.
    Trelawney said nothing for a few minutes before he mused further on the subject.
    “Or it might just be my talent in play. Daisy has it in much greater quantity than I and it will be good to compare notes with her. Rest assured, if something of such magnitude is about to happen, she will have already put all the pieces in the right places to give us the best chance to succeed.”
    Belinda shook her head. “I don’t agree, it doesn’t concern her or Laura and her talent is specific to her friends. At best she will have protected them.”
    “They are coming to the wedding so it will concern them. I am not a complete fool, my love.”
    Belinda went back to her knitting with a smile playing at the edges of her lips. It was good to be directing events rather than merely reacting to them again. The contents of that folder were explosive and things were finally coming to a head.
     
    Laura had been confined to her room by Captain Trentwood that morning. He had ordered the Officers Mess to provide her with only bread and water for the next week. However, a full breakfast arrived at her room, courtesy of Sergeant Wainwright and his men. Laura was far from happy though. About the only pleasure she got these days was from walking around the barrack grounds and now she could not even do that.
    “We have invitations to a wedding,” Daisy said excitedly as she entered the room.
    Laura sighed. “Why look? Sir Anthony has shown no willingness to let me travel, regardless of my present situation.”
    Daisy beamed at her friend. “That’s the whole point. This arrived by telegraph from MM3. Sir Anthony has already authorized it. We are going to Sir Ernest and Belinda’s wedding.”
    Laura could not stop the smile from forming on her face. Then she looked bleak. “I have absolutely nothing to wear.”
    “Then we shall go shopping. I shall tell Trenchbrain that if you turn up to a wedding in front of Queen Victoria in poor clothing it will reflect badly on the army and thus on him. He cannot afford to risk upsetting his superiors.”
    “The Queen will be there? What about the Prince of Wales?”
    Laura got on well with Bertie and he had even invited her to visit him in Buckingham Palace when they last met. The events in Scotland had put paid to that, but she still hoped to see him again.
    “I don’t know. Prince Albert will certainly attend. It will be the biggest wedding of the year and I cannot imagine why it is being held in St Giles rather than St Paul’s.”
    Laura slumped on her bed. “The last time I saw Bertie I was with Tom. You know what the army does with Healers, Daisy. It sticks them on the front lines of the worst battlefields so they can keep the battle going. He could be in the Crimea and the newspapers are full of lists of the dead.”
    Daisy shook her head, but said nothing. Laura could not be told where Tom was. It would change how she behaved.
    “He might be somewhere else entirely,” Daisy said cheerfully. “You know how Healers get commandeered from the front lines to look after important Generals. He could be having the time of his life.”
    Laura sat up and looked at Daisy. “Should I do it? They asked me to go to the Crimea and use my talent to end the war. Doing that might save Tom.”
    “They have other Class A’s.”
    “All busy elsewhere. The opposition in Parliament has been clamoring for Military Magic to intervene and Lord Palmerston has claimed that all who are available have already been dispatched. And there is also the revolt in Brittany.”
    Daisy squatted in front of Laura and took her hands. “If you go they will expect you to kill thousands. Sabotage their weapons so they blow up in their faces, still the enemies hearts, kill their horses, and turn their provisions to dust. If you are up to doing all that, I will support