The convoy rolled out the estate gates smoothly, and its iron doors closed behind them, sealing Margaret and the rest of the household safely inside.
Lilian turned in her seat to watch through the rear window as the estate disappeared in the distance. The thought of separation pressed against her chest with uncomfortable intensity.
"It feels wrong leaving her like that," she said finally, her voice quiet enough that only the princes would hear.
"Your mother is safer there than anywhere else in Europe right now," Adrian said beside her, his tone somehow managing to be both reassuring and pragmatic.
"That's not what I meant," Lilian said.
Lucien, occupying her other side with his characteristics sprawl that somehow didn't encroach on her space, tilted his head to study her face. "Then what do you mean?"
Lilian struggled to articulate the wrongness. "It feels like I'm walking into something that could explode at any moment, and she's completely unaware of what we're really doing."
