Sword and Mind

15

The two girls along with the queen joined Vinit along with a freshly arrived Nimshi in Rumah's great room. Pallu's father was decked in all the finery due a noblewoman's father and seemed as comfortable in the expensive clothes as he was his former, more common garments. All greeted each other with propriety as Baca fetched Deteon to tour the companions around the grounds. As soon as he began showing the gardens that surrounded the estate on three sides, the queen stepped beside Nimshi.

"May I speak with you, Master Nimshi?"

Neither of the Duchesses missed how he straightened and his eyebrows furrowed. "Of course, your Majesty ." He offered her his arm which she accepted as the pair began to lag behind the two girls, the painter, and the groundskeeper. Pallu and Rumah did not know what was discussed between the queen and her subject, but both their faces spoke of fear and pain. Several times they looked to the girls only to advert their gaze when they spoke again.

I'm not fur likin' it. They're lookin' like they've been talkin' 'bout somethin' awful.

Aye, but until they tell us we're going to have to guess. She paused thoughtfully. I don't think I've ever seen him look so pale.

Surin' ya're right. What 'bout her? She looks like she's relivin' her worst memory.

If it's magic they're talking about, then it has to be the king's death.

An' if'n they're not? Ya've seen 'em lookin' at us.

Pallu didn't want to know what they were discussing about her and Rumah if the pain on both their faces was any indicator of the subject. Pallu knew the queen had to have a stoic façade at all times, and her father was always stone-faced in the presence of anyone other than his closest friends and family. The blatant, uncontrollable spurts of emotions on both their faces was the most disheartening.

****

Pallu sat in her bedchambers eyes glazed in deep thought. More than six months had passed since the day she saved the queen's life. The physical absence of Rumah was strange at first, but after the first few weeks Pallu realized that she and Rumah were never truly apart. The thought was comforting.

Her hand absently thumbed through the previous Duchess's journal that had been locked away in the Labyrinth as she and Rumah had named it. From the servants, she knew the Duchesses were twins, and from the few entries she read, both Wyn and Reya were as close as to be expected from two people who knew each other before they were even born and created at the same time. A certain passage caught her attention. She put the book at a better angle as she read, not sure if her eyes were deceiving her. Her eyes widened when she reread the passage for the fourth time.

Rumah! Her mind verily yelled for her friend, and strangely she felt her thought blocked from Rumah's mind. Pallu's heart beat franticly in her chest as the implications of Rumah's mind being closed to her blared in her thoughts. Rumah!

Nothing.

Tears threatened to break over her eyelashes as she stood, eyes not seeing the world around her. "Rumah!" Pallu screamed mentally and vocally. Answer me, Ru!

At that moment, servants burst into Pallu's chambers, equal parts pale and flushed. "Milady, are you alright?" asked a young woman.

Pallu was visibly trembling, and tears rolled down her cheeks. Rumah, her mind whispered hoarsely.

As soon as the thought slipped out of her mind, Pallu felt something change inside her and an explosive, I figured it out, Lu! I did it!

"Lady Rumah is here, your Grace. She's just arrived. If my guess is right, she's just stepping out of her carriage now."