In her room, Elda had withdrawn into the hidden niche. The niche wasn’t truly hidden, it was simply an alcove in the wall, tucked away in a corner behind a cupboard, large and deep enough to crouch in.

Elda had discovered it not long after arriving here. That day had been so overwhelming that she had hidden away in her room, in this very spot. Because of the odd shape of the room, and the way the cupboard stood in front of it, the niche was almost completely out of sight unless you were standing directly in front of it. When Miss Merinda came looking for her that day, she hadn’t walked far enough into the room and assumed Elda was elsewhere. Elda had been ten years old then. Since that time, a year and a half had passed. She remembered spending most of both her eleventh and twelfth birthdays in the hideaway. In the meantime, she had moved the cupboard to block the niche even more. After all this time, it was still the place she went to when she wanted to escape Miss Merinda or any other obligations.

That’s where she was now. The opening in the wall no longer seemed as spacious as it once had. She had pulled her knees up, and the side wall pressed into her back. Quietly, tears rolled down her cheeks.

Miss Merinda had known something, Elda was sure of it. The governess had nearly said something, had nearly confided in her, but then Elda had pushed too hard. Miss Merinda would have told her if only Elda had had more patience.
Patience.
Elda wiped a tear from her cheek. Then she wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees.

For nearly a week now, she had been treated like a stranger. Like a ghost. At first, Elda hadn’t thought much of it. The court members were often busy, and she suspected a celebration or event was approaching that required their attention. But when no word of such an event surfaced, Elda had begun to feel uneasy. If they weren’t preparing for something, then why were they acting this way toward her? Had she done something to make them treat her like this?

No, she hadn’t done anything. That became clear soon enough. When, for the third time, a conversation between maids or courtiers fell silent the moment Elda entered, followed by a hollow smile in greeting, she knew. They were talking about something and didn’t want her to catch on. The court girls were even worse, they didn’t even try to hide it. Just recently, while walking in the garden, Elda had heard them whispering. She could clearly hear her name, and when she called them out on it, the other girls looked at her with a raised eyebrow before resuming their whispering. When Elda tried to hear more of what they were saying, the girls snapped at her. “You’ll find out soon enough!” they had shouted.

Patience?
She’d had enough patience! Maybe at first she could fool herself into thinking it would all blow over, but not anymore. It wasn’t just the staff now, not just the court girls. Even her governess had started treating her differently.

Elda clenched her hands into fists. She was done with this. If no one was going to tell her what was going on, she would just have to find out for herself.

She was just about to get up when the door to her room opened. She held her breath and didn’t make a sound.

“Elda?”

It was Miss Merinda’s voice. From the niche, Elda could hear footsteps entering the room. Heels clicked against the stone tiles.
“Elda, my dear, are you here? I wanted to apologize for earlier.”

Apologize? Something truly strange must be going on if Miss Merinda was offering apologies to Elda. She remained silent in the niche and didn’t move a muscle.

For a moment, the room was quiet. Then came the sound of footsteps leaving.
“Oh, where could that child be?” Elda heard the governess say aloud before the door closed.

Elda sat in silence for a while longer. When she was sure the governess wouldn’t return, she crawled out of the niche. She smoothed the wrinkles from her dress with her hands. She had hidden and played dumb long enough. It was time to act, and she knew exactly where to start.

The castle garden lay behind Caer Twyrif. It was situated at the pointed edge of the cliff on which the castle was built, overlooking the two rivers that embraced the city like a natural moat. Along the northern edge of the garden, the rivers met and flowed onward as the mighty Dhur. A low wall with a parapet and a narrow watchtower on each corner enclosed the garden. Beyond the parapet was a drop of twenty meters, wall and cliff, down to the churning waters of the rivers below.

The garden itself was composed of neatly manicured hedges and rows of trees. Between the trees were carefully arranged beds of alternating flowers and herbs, laid out in a way that their combined scents created a pleasant fragrance. From every side of the garden, a path led to the center, and where the paths met stood a large fountain. Clear water splashed down onto the old white stone. At the top of the fountain, a crowned figure looked down at the visitors. Elda had heard stories, it was said to be the first king of Arnallan. Looking at it now, Elda found that hard to imagine. The king looked rather ordinary. Without the crown, you’d barely know he was meant to be someone important.

A fresh wind swept through the garden, carrying the sound of the churning river with it. It created a calming ambiance.

Elda followed the path toward the center of the garden. She expected to find the court girls there, and as she neared the fountain, she realized she was right. A shrill voice echoed through the garden.

There they were. Caelin, the tallest of them, sat on the edge of the fountain, twirling a blonde curl around her finger. She wasn’t the oldest, but she was the duke’s niece, so the others let her play the leader. Her bright blue eyes looked down on the others and hadn’t yet noticed Elda. Around her stood two other girls. There was Rowenne, with her sorrowful brown eyes that missed nothing. Elda had no doubt that Rowenne had seen her. Rowenne was the daughter of the commander of the Golden Bascinets. Her long black braids were pinned up above her head, but Elda knew that when loose, Rowenne’s hair reached nearly to her waist.

Ysalde was the smallest of the girls, but no less present for it. She was the daughter of a count, Elda believed, though she didn’t know much about her. Ysalde’s loud voice made her easy to hear from a distance, and it was her voice Elda had heard when she approached the group.

“Ysa, hush,” Rowenne hissed at Ysalde as Elda came closer.

“But don’t you want to hear what I have to say? You asked about it yourself. Ouch! Why did you hit me?”
Rowenne had given Ysalde a hard shove to warn her, but the smaller girl didn’t get the hint.

“I think Rowenne’s no longer interested,” said Elda, making it clear to both Caelin and Ysalde that she was there. She smiled at the girls as pleasantly as she could, while her fingers fidgeted nervously.

Now all three girls had their eyes on Elda. Their expressions ranged from frowns to raised eyebrows. None of them smiled back.

“Why are you here?” Caelin asked coldly. “I thought you had lessons with Miss Merinda.”

“The lesson’s over,” Elda lied. “I thought maybe we could talk for a bit.” She had barely finished her sentence before Ysalde responded loudly.

“What would you want to talk about?”

“Nothing important,” Elda said, still smiling, though the smile was starting to feel strained. “I bumped into two maids this morning. I think they were gossiping. Want to know what they said?”

“What did they say?” Ysalde asked eagerly. The look in her eyes already softened. It didn’t take much more than a rumor or bit of gossip to catch her attention, Elda knew.

“She doesn’t even know herself,” Rowenne said quietly. Her dark eyes bore into Elda with an intensity that made her feel like Rowenne could see every thought in her head. “That’s why she’s here,” Rowenne continued. “She wants to tell us what she heard and hopes we’ll explain what it means.”

“That’s not true!” Elda cried. How could Rowenne possibly know what she was planning? She took a deep breath and turned to Caelin.

“That’s really not what I meant,” she said, trying to keep her tone light and cheerful. “I just thought you might enjoy hearing what I overheard.”

“Alright,” Caelin said, eyes half-lidded. “Tell us what the maids said. But tell us something else first.”
Caelin’s gaze changed, there was a cruel sparkle in her eyes. “I heard you ran out of the classroom crying. What happened in there?”

Elda felt her stomach twist. She didn’t want to tell them what had happened with Miss Merinda, how she’d gotten so desperate and angry that she stormed off to her room.

“I don’t think you’ll find it interesting,” she answered at last.

“We’ll be the judge of that,” Caelin replied. “Go on. Otherwise, we don’t need to hear the rest.”

The three girls now stood across from Elda, all of them watching her expectantly. She didn’t want to tell them, but if she kept her mouth shut, they wouldn’t share anything either.

“Miss Merinda was too strict and she was mean to me,” Elda mumbled.

“What did you say, Elda? I couldn’t understand you,” Caelin said mockingly.

“That’s because she doesn’t speak proper Arnish,” Ysalde sneered.

What a stupid remark from Ysalde. Ever since Elda had arrived here, she had tried so hard to speak the right way. The Arnish dialect was full of melodic tones. Her own dialect, Daradalian, sounded much harsher. No matter how hard she tried, her origin was always audible.

“You heard me just fine,” Elda said firmly. “And I told you what you wanted to know. Do you want to hear what the maids said, or are you just going to keep throwing insults at me?”

“What’s that? I don’t understand you,” Ysalde whined. Caelin shot her a glare, her eyes flashing. Ysalde stepped back in alarm. Rowenne, who had remained in the background, shook her head at Ysalde.

“Well, go on. What juicy thing did you hear?”

Elda swallowed. In truth, she hadn’t heard much. She knew she’d have to exaggerate to keep the girls interested. If she made it sound exciting enough, they wouldn’t be able to resist, and then, maybe, they would tell her what they knew. That was the plan, anyway.

“So, I was walking down the hallway,” Elda began, “and two ladies were coming toward me. They were so caught up in conversation they didn’t even notice me. I could hear what they were saying. ‘Would he really do that?’ one of them asked. They were talking about the duke.”

“How do you know they were talking about the duke?” Rowenne cut in.

“Everyone’s been talking about the duke since word got out that he’s returning,” Elda replied quickly, surprised by how easily the lie came. She had only assumed it was about the duke. Determined, she pressed on before the girls could ask more questions.

“The second lady responded and said she was sure of it because she’d heard it herself. I don’t know from whom, but that’s not important. Then she went on and said that he—” Elda hesitated a moment, unsure how to phrase this part. A chill ran down her spine, but she ignored it.
“She said she’d heard what he planned to do with her. Not with the lady speaking, but with the person they were talking about.”

“The duke?” Ysalde asked in surprise.

“The duke isn’t a she,” Rowenne snapped irritably.

Caelin shot them a sharp look. “Let her finish!” she hissed.

Good, Elda thought to herself. I’ve got their attention. With a satisfied smile, she continued. “So the duke is planning something with someone.”

“With who?” Ysalde cried, desperate. Caelin gave her a shove.

“That... I don’t know,” Elda said. “When they saw me, they fell silent. I didn’t hear anything else.”

Ysalde looked disappointed, while Rowenne’s face remained unreadable. Caelin smiled playfully.

“I know who it is,” she said.

Elda and the other two girls all turned to look at her at once. A knot of unease began to tighten in Elda’s stomach. Softly, almost in a whisper, she asked: “Who?”

“Don’t you get it?” Elda’s stomach twisted at those words. “They were talking about you.”

Caelin’s smile no longer seemed playful to Elda. It was false. Cruel.

“But,” Elda stammered, “but why? What is the duke planning?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Caelin said, then burst into laughter. The other girls joined in.

“If you know something, you have to tell me!” Elda shouted, stomping her foot on the ground.

“Even if I wanted to,” Caelin said, locking eyes with her, “I wouldn’t be allowed. I’ve been forbidden to speak of it.”

Elda wanted to protest, but the girls were already walking away, still laughing. She was left standing there, alone in the castle garden. Her body felt frozen; she stood there for a long time.

What was the duke planning to do with her?