Many questions were directed toward those servants who worked most closely with the royals. It seemed a matter of great concern with everyone as to the health of the relationships between both the king and queen and Alyssa and Max, and everyone seemed bewildered that the marriages appeared untroubled.
For twelve years they had experienced the prosperity of a kingdom ruled by true love, and no one could explain why the situation had changed. It didn’t take many nights of hearing them talk about their crown prince’s wife to realize Nikki was not alone in her feelings about her. While most of them were more respectful of her current rank than Nikki had been in our first conversation, they clearly felt a lingering ownership of the princess. She had once been just like them, and they would not forget it.
Or, perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that Alyssa had not forgotten it. The queen herself had only been born the daughter of a merchant, and she had already done much to help the commoners before Alyssa’s arrival. But the young princess combined her efforts for her people with a warmth and approachability that inspired love as well as gratitude.
Arcadia had become a strong people, bound together in unity, but it seemed that strength was now under attack from the inside.
“It didn’t used to be such smooth waters between the king and queen back when they were young,” one of the older women told me. “And the kingdom suffered for it. But we’re wiser now, and King Henry and Queen Eleanor lead us well. I can’t imagine what has brought this new unrest upon us.”
I bit my lip and stayed silent. But the guilt remained, even if the trouble predated my arrival. Because I couldn’t believe it was all a coincidence. Somehow Sierra was at the center of whatever web was being spun. I was certain of it. And by her deception, she had bound Eldon in that web. I was still determined to bring her down, whatever it took.
I had expected to hear other tales of bandits on the roads, or attacks on other royals, perhaps, but the reports varied widely. One merchant had discovered an entire warehouse cleaned out of its stored food supplies. And at least three townhouses in the Nobles’ Circle had been raided while their noble residents were away from the capital for the winter. The strange thing about the noble robberies seemed to be how little was taken.
But everyone agreed the most concerning—other than the two recent attacks—was the entire squad of guards that had gone missing and still hadn’t been found. They had been traveling north along the coast, toward the mountain range that separated Arcadia and Northhelm, and no one knew what had happened to them. I knew very little about Arcadia’s northern neighbor and couldn’t even picture the terrain.
A delegation from Rangmere—the kingdom to the east of Arcadia—had visited us in Eldon the previous year, wanting to discuss a potential trade treaty, but I had yet to meet any Northhelmians. The servants all assured me that Arcadia and Northhelm had excellent relations, and that there was no treacherous geography in the area that could have swallowed the squad whole. Captain Markus himself had apparently led five squads to investigate, but they had found no trace of the missing guards.
I couldn’t immediately see any connection between these events and Sierra, and I spent a number of days in the park mulling over the question from every angle. I included Arvin in my musings, when I could convince him to participate, but his strange brain—which usually seemed to perceive things differently from the rest of us—was no more able to see connections than my own.
Several times Philip appeared just as I was about to eat my midday meal, joining me without ceremony. I told myself Arvin and the geese were company enough, but I still found myself looking for him each midday.
After a week of gathering stories but no connections, I grew increasingly restless. I often saw Percy and Sierra riding in the distance, although I made no attempt to hail them again. I worried that if Sierra tricked Percy into marriage with her—under the guise of being me—his kingdom of Talinos might end up as angry with Eldon as Arcadia. Both kingdoms had accepted her because of the trust they had in Eldon, and I was still attempting to discover all the ways Sierra had broken that trust.
But it also scared me sometimes how easily I had fallen into the rhythm of my new life. I couldn’t bear the thought of Celine arriving in many months’ time to find I had done nothing but accept my fate.
I had been determined to prove to Sierra and myself that I was the true princess—and not because of an accident of birth. But some days it felt as if I was instead proving myself to be nothing more than a goose girl.
Driven to action, I seized on the opportunity of my first half-day break. Part of me longed to spend the morning in the servants’ bath house, soaking in a steaming tub, but I needed to take advantage of the free time.
Back before Sierra stole the handkerchief from me, I had been determined to keep it on my person at all times. I assumed that Sierra had adopted the same intention, but what if I was wrong? Now that I had the chance to look, I had to at least check.
I sat next to Nikki at breakfast, carefully steering the conversation to her role as a senior maid. She happily chatted away, boasting of the senior responsibilities she was given. It took some time, but I eventually learned that the younger members of the court were to visit a nearby beach during the morning and that Nikki was responsible for both Princess Giselle’s and Prince Percy’s guest suites.
She informed me that she intended to start with the princess’s suite because she never knew what state she would find it in.
“But you would know all about that,” she said, rolling her eyes.
I hid my irritation at hearing Sierra was giving me a poor reputation among the servants, calling a cheery farewell when Nikki left to fetch her apron for the morning’s jobs. But as soon as she was out of sight, I also left the dining hall, hurrying up the back stairs to where most of the servants had their rooms. I arrived just before she burst out of a plain wooden door, busily tying her apron strings.
Hanging back, I followed just close enough to keep her in sight. She made the task easy, moving swiftly through the palace corridors without glancing behind her. Dressed in my one clean palace uniform, no one stopped me or even noticed me. I had grown up with unseen servants all around me, and it felt strange to be the invisible one this time. I remembered wondering as a child if they hated it, but I found it strangely freeing. It was uncomfortable to know there were always eyes on you.
Nikki disappeared through the door of what was clearly a guest suite, but I didn’t slow, walking past down the corridor. Now that I had the location of Sierra’s rooms locked in my mind, I wandered aimlessly through the palace corridors. As long as I moved briskly and didn’t show hesitation, no one questioned my presence.
When I had given her what seemed enough time, and then extra time again, I returned to the suite. As I approached it from the opposite direction to previously, the door swung open, and Nikki emerged. I spun around, facing into a large vase of flowers on a plinth against the wall.
Reaching out blindly, I fiddled with the flowers, my attention focused sideways on the maid. Thankfully she didn’t appear to notice me, hurrying away with her head down and a disgruntled expression on her face. She had no doubt been held up in Sierra’s suite longer than she hoped.
As soon as she turned into another door, I resumed my progress down the corridor, slipping into Sierra’s sitting room as quickly as I could. Once the door was closed firmly behind me, I took a moment to look around.