Sitara looked up from where she sat at a simple wooden table in the corner of the kitchen in the keisara's apartments. When the cook, a heavyset woman with graying brown hair, stepped into the room, her face, usually creased with laugh lines, looked solemn. Sitara began to stand, but the cook waved her back down.

"I am not summoned?" Sitara asked.

"Not yet." The cook fetched a pot of water that had been simmering over a small fire, along with fixings for tea. "Sentinel Felix left a moment ago, but the emperor said he wished some quiet time alone with his wife."

"Of course."

While they waited for the tea to steep, the cook said, "I can still hardly believe it. If our lady herself can be attacked, and in her own quarters, none of us are safe."

"It’s terrifying."

Sitara was terrified, more than ever in her life. She could barely contain the constant urge to retch. Only the fear that one of the healers might then offer to help gave her the strength to force an outward appearance of calm. If Ithai could detect her tampering with the keisara's mind, what might they discover if they touched Sitara with their power?

As soon as Ithai had realized someone had been tampering with Fideima's mind, she had sent Sitara to fetch the emperor. Felix, a senior sentinel, had come with him.

Sitara tried to keep her mind void of thought around him. She wanted to wrap herself in illusion, but he would know. She suspected he could read her mind if he wished, and she focused on not giving him any reason to want to.

If only Bajaran had taught her more about the full range of sentinel powers. He had begun her training, but she barely understood the basics. She knew the specific skills required to fulfill her task, but little else. Her ignorance might prove her destruction.

The emperor's fury upon learning his wife's mind had been tampered with had terrified Sitara. She expected to be confronted at any moment, and it was clear the emperor would reserve the worst possible tortures for whoever was found responsible.

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She couldn’t even run, or they would discover her all the sooner. Her greatest defense had always been a façade of sweet innocence, so she clung to it with all her might.

Sentinel Felix, a fat, jolly fellow, had examined the keisara. Ithai had hovered nearby, muttering to herself that he had all the deftness of a mule ox. After confirming Ithai's findings, he stood with hands raised, fingers spread wide, and eyes closed.

Sitara felt his will slip around her as he scanned the area. She struggled to calm her racing heart, focusing on her worries for the keisara's well-being.

Felix found nothing, but the emperor demanded he erect magical shielding around the keisara's apartments. He also ordered Felix to alert the sentinels to begin a search for the secret attacker.

Then he had dismissed the cook and Sitara, who was all too glad to leave. The last thing she wanted to do was face the keisara. She was surprised to feel hot shame mingling with her fear of discovery. The thought that soon the keisara might know she had betrayed her made her want to swoon.

The emperor had also ordered all of the other servants away from the keisara's apartments with strict orders to mention nothing of what they might have heard or seen to anyone, on penalty of death. So stern was the emperor that Sitara expected he would be obeyed. Thus he had robbed her of even the hint of a scandal.

Sitara nearly laughed at the foolishness of the thought. Any moment she would likely be discovered, tortured, and executed, and she was worried simply that scandal had been averted. If only Bajaran could know that she’d tried. A tear slid down her cheek despite her efforts to restrain it.

The cook noticed and placed a gentle hand over hers. "Now don't worry yourself, dear. They'll find who did this."

Sitara managed a weak smile.

They drank their tea in silence for a few minutes and it helped calm Sitara's overwrought nerves a little. The cook set down her empty cup. "With all the terrible things happening, I almost forgot. Sentinel Felix has shared some good news."

"I would love some good news."

The cook leaned forward. "Word came just today that the traitor, that sentinel Bajaran, died attacking Antigonus."

"What?" Sitara gasped.

"Didn't you hear, dear? There's been rumors for days that Antigonus was attacked somewhere in Hallvarr. Harafin himself led the relief party."

Sitara's thoughts whirled so fast, she couldn't think. "What did you say about Bajaran?"

"He's dead."

The world tilted around Sitara as screaming agony exploded through her mind. She toppled from her chair and her head struck the tiled floor.

Oblivion took her.