Zandrue gave her cup a gentle shake and watched the wine swirl about. She should really stop drinking this stuff. It would be a sure-fire way to avoid being drugged.

“In the right light, you can see all kinds of different patterns in the wine,” Ardon said. “It can be easy to get lost in those patterns, especially when you’re in need of distraction. Unfortunately, the light in here isn’t the best.” He was sitting in his usual place at the desk in the study cabinet.

Zandrue was sitting across from him. She had filled Ardon in on everything that had happened and a whole lot more. He’d had questions about every last detail, often on things she couldn’t fully remember. For the last few...minutes? Yes, it must have been minutes now. For the last few minutes, they had been silent, and she had been staring at her wine.

She was pretty certain there were still people downstairs. Captain DeSeloön and his men had arrived soon after she’d passed out. Rudiger had woken her. They’d bandaged her shoulder while she was still out. It had been at least an hour now since they had removed Laänne’s and Edmon’s bodies. Zandrue was uncertain what they were doing now. She should probably head down there and find out.

She put the wine glass down on the table. Her shoulder ached.

Ardon took a quick sip of his wine, and then put it down as well. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You couldn’t have known.”

“Yeah, sure.” She could kick herself. She’d let herself get too distracted. She’d started enjoying herself, enjoying the singing and the drinking, even the company. Sure, she’d even started wishing it was over, but that was still distracted. She had completely missed the Darker right beside her the whole time. She could have known, if she had just been paying attention.

Ardon stood up and offered his hand. “Shall we return to the others downstairs?”

Zandrue sighed. She picked up the wine glass again and downed the contents in one extended gulp. Then she stood up. “Right.” She ignored Ardon’s hand and went straight to the stairs.

In the salon below, Captain DeSeloön and a few guards were questioning Marna and the other handmaids by the main door. In the centre of the room, nearer the stairs, Rudiger and Gabriella sat talking. Just past them, Tianna was sobbing into Annai’s shoulder. Annai hadn’t been here when Zandrue and Ardon had gone upstairs, and Tianna had still been unconscious.

As she walked towards them, Rudiger rose and met her partway. She squeezed his arm as she passed him. She was fairly certain he frowned, but they would have loads of time together later. Right now, she wanted to talk to Tianna.

She sat beside Annai and Tianna. Annai smiled at her, and Tianna looked up. “Oh Zandrue!” Tianna wailed and threw her arms around her. She proceeded to sob into Zandrue’s chest and shoulder—the injured one. Zandrue just held her as best she could, trying to ignore the pain from her shoulder. There were tears in Annai’s eyes the whole time, but she did nothing other than give Zandrue occasional encouraging smiles.

After several minutes, during which time Rudiger and Gabriella moved over to sit near the other three, Tianna sat up and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just, I...I’ve known Laänne my whole life. I can’t believe she’d do something like this.” She sniffled and Annai squeezed her hand.

Captain DeSeloön approached them, bowing to Annai and Gabriella. “Your Highnesses, my Ladies, my Lord. We are finished here for now. I must go now to make my report to their Majesties. There will be two Kingsguard just outside the door if you need anything.”

Annai and Gabriella exchanged glances. “Thank you, Captain,” Annai said. “We appreciate everything you’ve done.”

DeSeloön bowed again, backed away, then left the apartments with all but two of the guards. Those two bowed, and at a nod from Annai, stepped through the door and closed it.

Zandrue looked around, wondering where Ardon had got to, but there was no sign of him. He must have left. She motioned to Marna.

The girl came over and curtsied.

“Marna, would you be so good as to get us some food and drink. After that, you and the others can have the rest of the night off. Do something relaxing.”

Marna curtsied. “Yes, my Lady.”

As Marna scurried off, Annai said, “You’re giving them the night off? This is a time when we need them the most.”

Zandrue looked Annai square in the eye. “They’ve had a terrible fright, Annai.”

“Yes, and so has Tianna. A much worse one.”

“Personally, I wouldn’t have even asked them to do this one task,” Gabriella said.

Annai shot Gabriella an angry glance.

“Either way, Annai,” Zandrue said, “Tianna has us. My handmaids only have each other. They deserve some time to recover.”

Annai gaped for a moment, but then looked away. “Very well. Perhaps you’re right. It just seems like something…” She paused, then shook her head. “Never mind.”

Over the next little while, two of the handmaids went to collect food and more wine, while Marna poured everyone wine from what was already in the apartments. Tianna rested her head on Zandrue’s shoulder and cried softly a little more. Annai continually wiped tears away from her own face and tried to pretend she wasn’t crying. Once the handmaids had returned with some food—some boar flavoured with oranges from the orangery, and more bread and cheese—the handmaids withdrew.

“There are some things we should talk about.” Just a couple days ago, Zandrue would have never believed she would be about to let Annai in on what was going on, but it was time to come clean about things. She was reasonably confident that neither Annai nor Tianna were Darkers—and if they were, they probably already knew most of what Zandrue had been up to anyway. She and Rudiger needed allies. More importantly, they needed the King and Queen on their side, and Annai was the only one with any chance of convincing the Queen.

“Rudiger’s filled me in on some of it,” Gabriella said.

Annai frowned. “And I overheard some of it before Tianna woke, and what I heard seems...well, I don’t know what to think of it. Darkers coming and going from the Palace at will?”

Tianna gasped. “Darkers?”

Zandrue stroked Tianna’s hair. “Didn’t they tell you Laänne was a Darker?”

Tears formed in Tianna’s eyes. “Yes, but...there are more?”

Zandrue wiped Tianna’s tears and nodded.

“That’s the part I find difficult to believe,” Annai said. “It’s virtually unthinkable that there was even one—and Laänne of all people—but more?”

“There are at least three others,” Zandrue said. “Probably more. Whether you like it or not.”

“And how do they get in and out?” Annai asked.

“Don’t know for sure,” Zandrue said. “Probably with inside help.”

“Like Laänne’s,” Gabriella said.

Annai crossed her arms. “Then with Laänne gone, it should be possible to root them out.”

“It would nice if it were that easy,” Zandrue said.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Annai said.

“Laänne just didn’t have the influence. She had your ear, Annai, but did she ever ask you for any special favours?”

Annai thought for a moment. “Once in a while. What sort of special favours would she need?”

“It could be anything along the lines of asking you to move some guards away from a specific location, or maybe ask for a change to the watch schedule. Maybe she asked you to give a job to someone, like to recommend them as a Palace guard or any kind of servant job or even a handmaid.”

Annai put a hand over her mouth as Zandrue listed the options. “Oh gods. She did ask me to give some work to a few Eloorin she’d taken pity on a few months ago. Are you saying they’re Darkers?”

“Not necessarily,” Zandrue said. “It might have been an innocent request, though I doubt it. You’ll need to let me and Rudiger know who they were so we can look into it.”

“Why you? I should give that information to Captain DeSeloön. He’s in charge of security. He should look into it.”

“Yes, tell him too, because he already knows what Rudiger and I...and Quilla...have been up to.”

Tianna sat up, letting go of Zandrue. “Quilla?”

Annai’s eyes narrowed. “Just what have you been up to?”

Zandrue took a deep breath. “We’ve been investigating the Darkers since we got here. One of them—one we’ve met before—made contact with Quilla the first night we were here. Since then, we’ve been looking for him, and whoever has been helping him. Quilla has now managed to infiltrate them. At least, we think she has. We’re not entirely sure. We hope she’s all right.”

“But Quilla was banished,” Tianna said.

Zandrue nodded. “That was done so the Darkers would accept her coming to them.”

Tianna began to shake. “Are you saying...the fight...you and her, you…?”

“That was an act. I didn’t expect you to get involved, Tianna. You were just supposed to be a witness. You and Laänne. I didn’t know she was a Darker at the time. Quilla was going to physically attack me, and you were supposed to witness it and hear the awful things she said about Annai. Word would get back to the Darkers in the Palace and they…”

Zandrue reached out to Tianna, who recoiled, backing into Annai, who put her arms around her protectively.

“You used me?” Tianna said.

“No, not exactly.” Zandrue couldn’t make eye contact with her. “I was just...yeah, I suppose I did use you.”

“You could have told us,” Annai said.

“Really? You’re still sceptical now, Annai. You’d never have believed me. You didn’t trust me.”

“And you expect me to trust you now? You gained our trust and now drop this on us?”

“Honestly, I wasn’t...that is…” Zandrue bit her lower lip. The warmth of a tear tickled her cheek. “It wasn’t meant…”

Annai stood up, helping Tianna up with her. “Congratulations, Zandrue. You pulled one over on me. On us. You’re Felitïa’s best friend, and you’re as bad as she is. How the hell I thought we could be friends, I don’t know.”

“It wasn’t a lie,” Zandrue said. “I loved the time we spent together. The music, the singing, everything. I honestly consider both of you my friends. Dear friends.”

“Friends don’t use their friends,” Annai hissed.

“Annai, give her a chance to explain and apologise,” Gabriella said.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Annai shot a glare at Gabriella. “Stay out of this, Gabby. This has nothing to do with you.”

Zandrue wiped her face with her sleeve. “Please, Annai, let me explain and ask forgiveness.”

Annai scowled and looked away. “I don’t know.”

Zandrue held out her hand. “Tianna?”

Tianna turned her back to Zandrue and clutched at Annai’s arm.

Rudiger stood up. “Can I just point out that, whatever else Zandrue’s done, she’s saved both your lives. If she hadn’t been there when the dogs were let out—and that was Laänne who did that by the way—if she hadn’t been there, you’d be dead, your Highness. And you, Tianna, if it weren’t for Zandrue, Laänne would have killed you today. She single-handedly held Laänne off until Gabby and I got here. So you want to talk about trust? I think she’s more than earned it.”

“When I want your opinion,” Annai said, “I’ll ask for it. For now, mind your own business.”

“He’s right though, Annai.” Tianna let go of Annai’s arm and turned around again to face Zandrue. “We didn’t trust her at first. She didn’t have any other choice than to be a little...duplicitous. Though I do wish she’d admitted things a little sooner.” She sat back down beside Zandrue. “Though I suppose that would have revealed things to Laänne.”

Zandrue nodded. “Though I didn’t suspect Laänne at the time. I actually trusted her.”

Tianna smiled and took Zandrue’s hand. “Then it was fortuitous, I suppose.” She put her other hand to her face. “Oh gods, she must have been the one who followed me the other day. Do you think?”

Zandrue shivered. Gods, should she tell Tianna the truth? Could she?

Tianna leaned forward. “Zandrue, you’re shaking. Are you okay?”

Zandrue nodded quickly. “Yes, I’m...I’m just…”

Tianna smiled. “It’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up over it. You can’t be everywhere to protect both me and Annai all the time. I went out in secret. You couldn’t have known.”

“It’s not that,” Zandrue said. “It’s just Laänne—”

Tianna squeezed her hand. “I know. I understand. Just thinking about her now makes me shiver. Annai, Laänne’s the one we should be angry with. She used us far more than Zandrue did. At least Zandrue wasn’t out to kill us and had a good reason for what she was doing.” She turned back to Zandrue again and took Zandrue’s other hand, brought them both together. “I forgive you, Zandrue.”

Gods fucking damn it!

There was no way to tell the truth now. She would just have to live with the lie. She had lied to numerous people before. Why was she choked up about this lie now? It wasn’t like she was lying to Rudiger or Felitïa… Shit. That was exactly what it was like. She’d allowed herself to get attached.

Tianna lifted both of Zandrue’s hands, bent over a bit, and kissed them. Then she slid closer to Zandrue and hugged her. “Everything’s going to be okay. I forgive you.”

“Thanks,” Zandrue whispered back with a slight grunt. “Just careful of my shoulder.”

Annai sat down beside them both. “All right. I suppose I forgive you, too.”

Tianna let go of Zandrue and hugged Annai. “Laänne betrayed all three of us. We need each other now more than ever.”

“You’re right, Tianna, but that means you, Zandrue, have to tell us everything you know about these Darkers. You think there are others? Who?”

Zandrue wiped away more of her own tears. “One of them is named Dyle Aderman. He seems to be their leader. He’s also Quilla’s ex-husband.”

Annai and Tianna gasped. “Quilla was married before?” Annai said. “Did Garet know?”

“Yes, he did,” Zandrue said.

“He never said anything,” Annai said.

Zandrue shrugged. “Why would he?”

Annai frowned. “Did you know about this, Gabby?”

Gabriella nodded. “Yes, I did, and before you ask, the reason no one ever told you is because we knew your reaction would be exactly what it is now.”

Annai put her hands to her chest. “What’s wrong with what I’m doing now? I’m just surprised. That’s all. I didn’t know this before.”

Gabriella rolled her eyes. “Uh huh.”

“It’s true!”

“Anyway,” Zandrue said, “he seems to be able to move about the Palace unseen, almost like he just vanishes from where he is.” She told them about the times he’d approached Quilla, the offer he’d made her, the incident during the funeral, and the attempts to track him down. Finally, she told them how Quilla had volunteered to pretend to accept his offer to try to get at the Darkers from the inside.

“I guess I really misjudged her,” Tianna said.

Zandrue forced a smile. “Honestly, Tianna—and I say this as a friend who cares for you dearly—but you need to stop automatically thinking things like that about Eloorin. You too, Annai.”

Annai’s jaw dropped. “Don’t you tell me—”

“Lidda Plavin was right about me,” Zandrue interrupted. “I am of mixed blood.” This was one thing they definitely didn’t need to know the exact truth about.

“Yes, but more Folith than Eloorin, right?” Annai said.

“Annai,” Tianna said, “she’s right. I promise I’ll try my best, Zandrue.”

Zandrue smiled. “That’s all I ask.”

Annai sighed. “Fine. I’ll try not to misjudge Eloorin.”

“I’m sorry I attacked Quilla,” Tianna said. “That wasn’t because she’s an Eloorin. That was because of the things she was saying about the two of you.”

“I know,” Zandrue said. “And honestly, it helped our case.”

“She really did a number on me though, didn’t she?”

Zandrue grinned. “Yes, she did.”

“So, Quilla has infiltrated these Darkers,” Annai said. “Do we know anything about any other Darkers than just this ex-husband of hers?”

Zandrue nodded. “Yes. We know of one other who is here in the Palace, a person of significant stature. That said, that person hasn’t been here long enough, so there has to be someone else as well. While Laänne obviously got some things from you, Annai, I don’t think she had enough influence.”

“Okay, fine,” Annai said, “but who’s the person you do know.”

Zandrue took a deep breath. “Lidda Plavin.”

Annai rolled her eyes. “Oh, good grief. That’s ridiculous. She’s not just a lady; she’s the ruler of an entire province. No Darker could ever get into a position like that. What sort of proof do you have?”

“She told me so,” Rudiger said.

Annai looked at him. “Excuse me? She just told you?”

“Pretty much,” Rudiger said.

“I know it seems unbelievable, Annai,” Gabriella said. “I’ve never liked Lidda Plavin, but I would never have suspected this of her, but I was there when she was taunting Rudiger. I didn’t hear exactly what she said, but she knew Laänne was trying to steal Rudiger’s sword, and she seemed to believe it was going to be brought to her.”

Annai gaped for several moments and made sputtered attempts at speaking before getting herself under control. “We have to tell people! We have to tell Mother and Father!”

“Do you really think they’ll believe us?” Gabriella said.

“Mother will! She’ll believe me!”

Gabriella shook her head. “Too risky. Let Lidda think she’s got you shaken. If we tip our hand now, and the Queen doesn’t believe us, we give Lidda all the power. That may be what she wants.”

“On the other hand,” Zandrue said, “we might not have any other choice. Lidda Plavin is going to need to do some clean-up work after Laänne’s failure. She’s going to be working extra hard for the King and Queen’s trust. If we don’t act now, we might not get another chance.”

Annai stood up. “She will believe me. She trusts me, and she knows I would never lie to her.”

“Has she forgiven you for Sinitïa yet?” Gabriella asked.

Annai’s eyes narrowed and her upper lip twitched. She looked about to speak, but then looked away. “No. I can still make her believe me though. I’m her favourite. I know it, and you know it, too.”

Gabriella sighed. “All right then.”

“I’ll go right now before Lidda Plavin has a chance to do anything.”

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Zandrue said.

“I’ll take guards.”

“You need someone you can trust,” Zandrue said. “Sure, take guards, but I’ll go with you too.”

Annai shook her head. “No, she’ll never allow you in. She hates you and doesn’t like that I’ve been spending time with you. Sorry, Zandrue, but you’ll make it impossible for me to convince her.”

“That’s fair,” Zandrue said. “Gabriella, will you go with her?”

“She doesn’t like me much either,” Gabriella replied.

“She really doesn’t,” Annai said. “She hates Gabby almost as much as she hates Felitïa.”

“I’ll go,” Tianna said.

Zandrue took Tianna’s hand. “No offence, Tianna, but I want someone with Annai who can fight. I know there’ll be guards with her as well, but I want whoever else is with her to be able to fight too.”

Tianna frowned, but nodded. “I understand.”

“I’d go,” Rudiger said, “but I suspect it would be the same problem.”

Annai nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

“What about Hang?” Zandrue asked Rudiger.

Rudiger shrugged. “I think he’s available now. I could get him.”

“Hang?” Annai asked.

“Alhang Merrin,” Rudiger said. “He’s one of the Kingsguard and a good friend of mine. I can’t think of anyone more trustworthy outside of this room.”

Annai nodded. “I think I know who you mean. He’s guarded me several times before. He’ll be acceptable. Mother won’t think twice about any Kingsguard with me.”

Zandrue stood up and approached Annai. “It’s settled then. Be careful, Annai. Things are bound to start getting rough over the next few days and weeks. If they realise you’re working with us...well, those dogs Laänne released. They were actually meant for me, it turns out. You were collateral damage. But next time, they’ll be for you, and they’ll try to do it when I’m not there to protect you.”

Annai straightened up. “I can manage.” She hugged Zandrue. “But thank you.”

Rudiger strode towards the door. “If you’ll follow me, your Highness, I’ll take you to Hang. We can fill him in on what’s going on, and he can go with you to the Queen.”

Annai nodded. “Lead the way, sir.”

When Rudiger opened the door, the guards outside snapped to attention.

“One of you, with us,” Annai said. “The other, remain here.”

One of the two guards fell into position behind Annai and Rudiger. The other closed the door.

Tianna came up beside Zandrue and took Zandrue’s hand. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Of course,” Zandrue said, trying to sound certain. “How ’bout we clean up the music sheets and see what we can do to make them work? Gabby—do you mind if I call you Gabby? Rudiger does.”

Gabriella shrugged. “If you want.”

“I don’t suppose you play harpsichord, do you?”

Gabby shook her head.

“Oh well, we’ll figure something out.” For now, it would be enough to distract Tianna for a little while. The truth was, Zandrue had no idea if Annai was going to be okay. The shit was about to hit the wall, and she had no idea how any of them would be when it was all over.