Three days after Cozbi and Tynan had left, I got a letter. It was from Cozbi.
𝕿𝖔 𝕬𝖘𝖗𝖆 𝕭𝖞𝖗𝖓𝖊, 𝖒𝖞 𝖈𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖆𝖓𝖙,
𝔇𝔲𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔢, ℑ 𝔯𝔢𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔩 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝕿í𝖗 𝖓𝖆 𝖒𝖆𝖎𝖗𝖓é𝖆𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖍. ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔬𝔶𝔞𝔩 𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔞𝔫 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔦𝔱𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔞𝔶. ℌ𝔬𝔭𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔡𝔦𝔣𝔣𝔦𝔠𝔲𝔩𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰.
𝕮𝖔𝖟𝖇𝖎, 𝕬𝖓 𝖙𝕬𝖗𝖉.
Cozbi, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩.
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A few days after when Myer returned, he went straight to the king's chambers. Coming back he was accompanied by his older brother and his wife. I stood in the doorframe of my room and noticing me, Sentia stopped to converse. Cian and Myer, who were so busy in talking seemed to not have noticed.
"Asra, right?" Sentia asked.
I nodded slowly, returning her pleasant smile.
"Do you have any work to do? I mean anything Cozbi assigned you?"
"Nothing," I said, 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨.
"Then join us for lunch. We're headed right there."
I looked on my right to see who were 'we' since Myer and Cian had left. Sentia noticed and added with a laugh, "I'm invisible between the brothers." There was no sign of offense or bitterness in her voice. I agreed to join her. I found myself feeling anxious as I entered the dining room with Sentia. I wondered if the others might object my presence. I couldn't help feel low about myself. To my relief, I was met with pleasant expressions however whatever the princes' conversation was about, suddenly quieted down. I tried not to take offense. Sentia sat next to her husband at the end of the table and I took my usual place next to Cozbi's which was empty. When Marcus joined, I was uncomfortably surprised to see him take Cozbi's seat next to mine. Since the start, they seemed to have fixed seats around the table. It wasn't a very big one; no match to the dining hall for the king and his noblemen and their wives. No one else in the room seemed to have any problem. Normal topics occupied everyone at the table and I found myself forgetting that I was sitting with royals. They seemed like normal kids with fancy table etiquette. Even I sometimes joined in and joked, which to my relief made everyone genuinely laugh.
The next morning, with nothing to do, I strolled along the hallways. The palace gardens were filled with snow so I couldn't go out. I didn't know if I was even allowed to walk around with no purpose like this. But recently the royals had seemed to like me more. As I tried to make sense of where I was, I realized the path I was on led to Myer's room. Unable to help myself I scurried silently until I was in front of his door. At first there was silence but listening closely I realized someone was talking in a hushed voice. The only words I could capture were: war, action and a rant about the nobles being unserious. I almost lost my footing when the door opened and an aloof looking Myer stood behind it. My heart leapt. Inside sat an older man and on the side of the bed was Marcus, looking uninterested in the serious conversation and suddenly curious about my sneaky presence. "Wow Asra, pleasant surprise," he said unable to hide the hint of mock in his voice.
"And unpleasant skills," Myer added.
Tynan would've been so disappointed. "Come inside," Myer said.
Timidly, I walked inside. Heat crept into my face and Marcus giggled with delight. Dismissing the old man, Myer turned to me. "Quite sneaky..." He said, trying to hide the laughter threatening to escape. He suddenly got serious once again. "I heard you'll be joining Cozbi back in her homeland, I guess I could ask you for a favour."
Hearing this, I sensed Marcus sitting up straight. My mind tried to think of what he might say. "Can you spy for me?" I froze, my pupils widening. "I trust Cozbi but not the her family. The 𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘯é𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘩 are cunning people. Using each other for sinister means. I'm sure Cozbi senses the same. I've seen the way you act, you seem like a wily person. I was lucky to have opened the door. I wouldn't have seen you if it wasn't for your flinch." Myer sounded impressed, but his words sounded like he was warning me about my lackings.
"Why me?"
"You'll be going there tomorrow, no? I feel like I can trust you maybe."
"Break his trust and he breaks your legs," Marcus attempted humour but suddenly the room felt darker and the air seemed heavier.
Myer raised his eyebrows, and I had no choice. "𝘛á, your majesty."
"Do not disappoint," Myer said with no effort to hide his threat. "And keep shut. I hope to hear from you, Asra."