“You know,” she said impatiently, “the Lanoverian delegation on their way to Northhelm. They arrived yesterday and spent the night here. Surely you heard about it.”
Now that she mentioned it, I had overheard some vague talk at the evening meal about the king and queen having guests, but I hadn’t paid it much mind. If I’d realized they were from Lanover, I would have been a great deal more interested. But I had sat alone the night before since many of the servants still seemed unsure of me. Unlike Nikki, their fear of my potential instability seemed to outweigh their curiosity.
“And they’re leaving already?” I asked, sudden alarm seizing me.
Nikki gave me an odd look. “They’re only passing through.”
Now I was the one grabbing at her arm, towing her along behind me. “Come on then! Let’s go!”
Two of Celine’s sisters had married Northhelmians and lived there now. Perhaps Celine’s parents, or her oldest brother, were on their way to visit them. If so, I could imagine Sierra had developed a nasty stomachache and retired to bed early yesterday because any of them would recognize me. Most of the Lanoverian royal family had made a lengthy stay in Eldon for Celine’s wedding.
This was a completely unlooked for chance to expose Sierra. And if it hadn’t been for Nikki, I might have missed it entirely. Clearly I should have been making more effort to mingle with the other servants.
We burst out into the bustling palace yard. People swarmed everywhere, preparing a line of carriages and a whole mass of horses. Servants and guards in Lanoverian colors mixed with the familiar Arcadian uniforms, loading carriages and issuing directions. I scanned the moving crowd, looking for familiar faces.
My eyes found King Henry and Queen Eleanor, the Arcadian rulers, standing at the top of the shallow steps down into the yard. An older woman stood beside them. I surged forward, Nikki trailing behind murmuring questions I didn’t hear.
But my steps slowed and stopped before I made it all the way across the yard. Now that I was closer, I could clearly see it wasn’t Celine’s mother, Queen Viktoria, who stood with the Arcadian royals. The woman was dressed as elegantly as any monarch, but there was more gray in her black hair, and her features were sharper. Her expression, too, was unlike the queen I remembered. She looked alert, like she didn’t miss a thing, despite her age.
“Who’s that?” I asked, unable to keep the disappointment out of my voice. “Where are the royals?”
Nikki pulled me back, out of the way of a groom passing with a horse. “One of the Lanoverian princesses lives in Eldon now, doesn’t she? I suppose you get lots of visits from them. But this isn’t a royal visit. That’s the Duchess of Sessily. The Lanoverians always send her to negotiate their treaties.”
“Oh.” I deflated, the excitement that had carried me here leaking out slowly and leaving me utterly flat. I had heard the name. She was supposed to be brilliant, and even Celine was a little afraid of her—which was saying something. But as the most trusted advisor to the Lanoverian throne, she had been left behind when the royal family crossed the seas for their daughter’s wedding. I had never met her.
The thought of Sierra’s relief only made the blow worse. I forced myself to give the crowd another look, in case I recognized some minor official, but I could see no familiar faces. Dejected, I started back toward the servants’ wing.
“Where are you going?” Nikki asked.
I turned back to her, remembering we were supposed to be observing the delegation’s departure.
“You’re an odd one, Elle,” the maid said cheerfully, and I hid my wince. My erratic behavior was hardly helping me to appear stable.
We stationed ourselves out of the way and watched as the carriages filled and the horses were wheeled into line. Nikki kept up a stream of comments on their uniforms, gowns, horses, and the rumors of how they had all behaved during the brief visit.
I let her words wash over me, making the occasional noise of agreement when it seemed expected. The duchess was the last to enter her carriage, and she paused before doing so, close enough for me to hear her final words with the king and queen.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I shall carry your message to Northhelm. If the missing girls have made it that far, they’ll be found.”
I stiffened, stepping forward to hear the rest of the conversation, but King Henry merely murmured his thanks and their final farewells. Nothing more of interest was said. Before I could step back, however, a tall, thin man in the clothing of a noble shouldered past me as he strode through the yard, unheeding of the crowd that filled it.
I stumbled, only just catching myself from falling, and glared at his retreating back. A clear look at him, however, revealed him to be older even than the duchess. My irritation subsided. Perhaps he hadn’t seen me, although he had seemed strong for his age.
“Don’t mind him,” Nikki said. “That’s Viscount Edgewaring. He’s a grumpy old man who thinks being Lord Chamberlain is just as important as being king.” She rolled her eyes.
I tried to find his back in the crowd, but he’d disappeared from view. “He seems very elderly for an official position like that.”
Nikki chuckled. “Do you want to be the one to tell him that? He’s had the role for as long as anyone can remember at this point, and I’m guessing he’ll have it until he collapses into his eggs one morning.”
I grimaced, but I couldn’t dispute that the Arcadian palace seemed to run exceptionally smoothly from everything I had seen. Either the old viscount had excellent assistants, or his age had yet to slow him down.
I said goodbye to Nikki and gathered the geese, my mind returning to the overheard words between the duchess and the king. The relief of knowing they were still actively looking for my missing friends balanced against the disappointment of the delegation. And I believed the duchess when she said that if they had made it to Northhelm, they would be found.
According to Celine, her older sister Celeste was the only one more brilliant than the duchess. Her marriage to the crown prince of Northhelm had removed her from the spy network she spent her youth building in Lanover, but she had no doubt become just as familiar with her new home by now. If only she had married Prince Max of Arcadia instead, perhaps my friends would already be found.
Chapter 8
I was still stewing on the sharp emotional turns of the morning when Philip joined me in the park. He lowered himself to the grass and unwrapped an identical lunch parcel to mine. I sat a few feet away and began to eat, my eyes jumping between him and the rest of the park. Now that he was here, I was worried that Sierra and Percy might not ride by at the right time after all.
“You seem twitchy today,” he said, after a few mouthfuls.
I forced myself to focus on him and smile. “Apologies. I’m just watching for my mistress. She takes a midday ride each day, and I like to check on her well-being.” I smiled sweetly, as if I hoped to find her well rather than my true desire for the opposite.
“You are most diligent…considering.” He gestured toward the geese, watching me nearly as closely as I was watching him.
“The world could do with some more diligence, don’t you think?” I asked.