After his footsteps faded away, Rishe could still hear the presence of people outside in the hall. She let out a deep sigh and turned to a box in the corner of the room, drawing out thick winter curtains. Delighted, she laid them on the floor and curled up on top of them. Not luxurious by any stretch, but still far more comfortable than sleeping rough when she was a knight. And more importantly…
At last, I can sleep!
She'd been fighting to stay awake before Theodore arrived—now that they'd spoken, she had no reason to bother. The headache and nausea were bad enough, but above all else, she was tired. So tired her whole body ached.
Rishe closed her eyes and fell asleep for just over an hour. It was a short nap, but it refreshed her mind. She hadn't completely recovered, of course, but she felt much better than she had before she fainted. As she stirred, she yawned.
Hmm, I think I still have… Yes!
She pulled out a hidden vial of medicine, enduring its bitter taste as she gulped it down. It was a temporary measure, but once it kicked in, she'd have more options open to her.
Next, she smoothly rolled up the hem of her dress, retrieving the dagger she had fastened to her thigh with a ribbon.
This is a good-quality knife. Elsie brought it to me from the slums—Prince Theodore must be their supplier.
Rishe pulled two gold hairpins from her hair. Accessories on most days, lockpicks on special occasions.
I'll have to thank Elsie and Kamil for their help later.
They had, after all, been the ones to supply Rishe the information on Theodore.
Dagger and her makeshift lockpicks in hand, Rishe stood up.
She'd confirmed before Theodore's arrival that the lock had been tampered with, destroyed from the inside. Normally that would mean the door couldn't be opened from here, but Rishe could deal with that.
I think it should be around here.
She knelt before the door, locating a small pinhole underneath the doorknob—a fail-safe in case the internal lock was broken. As she probed around with the golden pins, she went over her next moves.
I hope Elsie and Kamil are okay. They did just betray Prince Theodore, and the people around here adore him.
Her maid had been working for Theodore all along.
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Rishe had realized the possibility a few days ago when she'd received his letter. The false missive had been slid in under the crack of her door, which could only be done by someone with permission to enter the detached wing. At present, only Rishe, her maids, and her guards had that.
The night Arnold visited her, word had spread quickly. Clearly, comings and goings were watched, and Rishe learned that no one unknown had been seen. Which meant the person who delivered the letter was a maid or a knight. The knights were unlikely; they had been with her when the letter was dropped off.
That only left a maid.
Perhaps Theodore hadn't bothered to explain himself, just given the order. He had also most likely ordered silence—no mention at all that he had ever drafted a letter to the crown princess.
Reluctantly, Rishe began investigating her maids during the hours she spent making the nail polish. She looked at their backgrounds, searching for criminal records of anyone close to them. Among her maids, just one of them had any sort of shady history: Elsie.
All the new maids were from poor families, but Elsie was the only one who had grown up in the slums. Her character reference for her job had been offered by a church in the district. Nothing so strange in a poor girl being sponsored by a charity, but something about it still felt off to Rishe.
She needed answers; she needed proof.
Thus, she'd asked the knights to summon her when she felt unwell. This would be the moment Elsie would show her hand.
But the second Elsie came into the parlor, she burst into tears, saying, "Please don't worry, my lady. I'll protect you no matter what happens, I promise. I promise."
Her small body trembled as she resolved herself to betray her patron.
What Rishe had not been anticipating was a knight to say much the same thing.
"Lady Rishe, I swear I will protect you as well. I was truly touched by your plan to help the slums. Elsie and I will deliver you to a doctor."
He was one of the knights who had been paralyzed by poison during the bandit attack on their journey to Galkhein. Rishe knew from Arnold that he was from the slums and that he had struggled night and day to become a knight.
"Elsie, I don't care what kind of punishment he might inflict on us—we shall save Lady Rishe."
"Yes. Stay here, my lady. We'll—"
"No, wait. I have a request." Rishe cut in.
"If Prince Theodore has ordered you to do something to me, I want you to do it. Obey him."
"Why?!" They asked in tandem.
Their guilty shock told Rishe everything she needed to know. "Were you given any instructions, Elsie?"
"We were ordered to watch for a chance to take you captive, without any harm coming to you."
A strange order, Rishe thought then.
"I'm so sorry, my lady. Punish me any way you see fit."
"My lady! I cannot say the same for myself, but Elsie has done no wrong. Due to her situation at home, she cannot afford to disobey Prince Theodore's commands." Kamil wore a pained look on his face.
"Prince Theodore personally supports the slums, and everyone who lives there would likely do whatever it was he asked of them. To go against his orders is to go against the interests of your own friends and family—you'd be shunned. Elsie has nowhere to go."
"But, Kamil, that goes for you as well!" Elsie cried.
"I'm a knight, I no longer live in that district. And obeying this particular order would be a serious crime against our future princess."
Rishe listened to their exchange. "We should continue this conversation later. For now, let's go."
"Where?"
"To imprison me. Like Prince Theodore ordered."
Elsie and Kamil stared at her.
Blinking against her headache, Rishe turned over a paper she had used during her negotiations with Tully and wrote: I have gone to continue a discussion we began in the chapel.
Arnold was the only one who could interpret this. It had only been a week ago, and it would still be fresh in his memory.
After that, Elsie and Kamil snuck Rishe out of the palace and locked her up in this building on the outskirts.
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