Of Whispers and Daggers ✓ [TLRQ #2]

Chapter 25.1 - Leavi

I keep my head down as I enter Courtier's Circle. I am technically allowed here if delivering a message, but I prefer to stay unnoticed, and I'm sure Aster prefers his spies that way as well. My heart thrums as I twist through the corridors. The few Ladies I pass notice me no more than they'd notice a shadow, but I still breathe easier as I turn onto his hall and knock.

When he answers, I slip inside. "Guess who has good news."

He raises an eyebrow. "Hopefully you, or else I'm left in a doubly bad position."

I slip the notebook from my pocket, hoping a find like this will lighten the shadows over his eyes. Lowering my voice, I read the letter in my best impression of Lady Riletta. "My dear friend Irrianet. You asked me to keep you abreast of any news among the High Ladies, which I am most obliged to do. Well, today I overheard something quite interesting! Aselle has great plans for the next Auditorium meeting, a chance to promote some real action that might finally end this terrible siege once and for all. Some of the Ladies worry, of course, that Prince Reyan will be unhappy with the proposal, but Aselle had such the clever solution! To quiet any outbursts he might have, she plans to ask him when, exactly, the reinforcements to end this dreadful thing will be arriving. There's no way for him to know, of course, which is exactly why we need to take action now and save ourselves! Especially after such the poor showing from the soldiers the other day. Not having an answer is sure to keep him quiet and give us plenty of time to propose and vote on our ideas. Please bear all this in mind as you help to aid our cause to end this dreadful war.

"With many thanks and thoughts sent your way, your humble servant of Jacqueline, High Lady Riletta Mesant S'Larsinn S'Maeliana of Maeleaux." I finish with an exaggerated curtsy.

His fingers steeple against his face. "Did she dictate that to you? How did you get all of it?"

I shrug. "She didn't fold the note." Most Ladies write in a swirling hand where words blend into one another and use folds that are as convoluted as their message is. Riletta, though, seems to think a seal was enough to conceal her tiny, neat handwriting.

"Well, better luck for us then. Thank you. I'll need to tell Reyan." He slumps into his armchair, and when he speaks again, his voice is musing. "'There's no way for him to know, of course...' No, we wouldn't know. They're the ones that are supposed to be calling their armies here." He scowls.

"But they have called for them?"

He leans on his elbows. "Some of them have. No one will be coming from Tiaeren, of course, but—" He bites his bottom lip. "Aselle, at least, is holding out so her army might be the strongest after the war." His hand fists. "The official story, of course, is fear of the Kadranians sweeping south, but if that were true, then I think she's smart enough to have sent assistance to the Tiaerens before the Kadranians got past the border." Bitterness laces his voice.