Neither Queen Aelga nor Torran spoke for a few minutes, and Idelle wondered if she could get out of the room without disturbing them. She took a few steps toward the hall, but then remembered that Queen Aelga had promised the young attendant that she would not be alone with Torran. Idelle wasn't sure how strict the rules were, especially for a queen, but her mind flashed with images of the young attendant, or worse, the old man from the night before-- Reynard-- bursting into the room and seeing Aelga's tears. For whatever reason, she had hid them until she was alone with her cousin, and Idelle wouldn't be the one to risk exposing the young queen's vulnerability.

She stood in place, near the door, glancing out every so often into the hall to make sure no one was coming. This gave Torran and Queen Aelga enough privacy. Or at least, the most they would get.

By now they had moved to sit on a couch, side by side, Queen Aelga's hands holding Torran's and her tears still slipping down her cheeks, but slower now. Her green eyes seemed even clearer through the tears, staring at Torran like he was the first signs of spring after a hard winter.

"It's been so long since I sent the letter for you! What happened?" she said, voice watery through her tears but not whining. 

Torran waved airily at his braced leg, and she noticed it for the first time. "Oh, Torran! I didn't know!" she said.

Torran laughed. "You couldn't know, it's not your fault. All it did was slow me. I'm here now, in one piece." He looped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She lay her head on his shoulder, tucking her feet in under her dress on the couch. Idelle felt a soft surge of heat to her cheeks and looked away. She knew it was ridiculous, but somehow she wanted to cough or in someway split them apart. They were cousins and grieving, and it made Idelle feel ashamed. She admonished herself and determined that she would do her best not to feel a thing at the moment.

After a moment of silence, Queen Aelga spoke. "I miss him so much."

"He loved you," Torran replied. "Whenever we met, he'd always talk about you at some point. How proud he was that you were growing up so pretty and smart. He always wanted to tell me how well you were doing with your studies, and how he kept having to find new tutors because you always outpaced them."

Queen Aelga giggled through a sniffle. "He always bragged too much on me. It made everyone think I was some beautiful genius, and now they're disappointed that their new queen is anything but."

Idelle heard more sniffles and glanced back to see that Queen Aelga was in a fresh set of tears. Her little rosebud mouth trembled and Idelle realized just how young their new queen was. She was still half a child, and yet she stood here now, her only brother freshly dead and the weight of a country at war on her sloping shoulders. It seemed cruel, and Idelle almost wanted to march out into the hall and demand that they find some other ruler. But they never could. Aengus hadn't yet been able to marry, and even if Queen Aelga did, her husband would only ever be a prince. She was the only heir, and that meant whether she could handle it or not, she was the Queen of Wynherst.

"No one's disappointed in you, Aelga," Torran said, though Idelle didn't think he had the right to make that assumption. "Now, I was told you weren't sleeping. You can't do that, not now that you're queen. Rest is important for good decisions and your health."

Queen Aelga sat up on the couch, rubbing at her eyes with hands that dimpled at the knuckles. "Whenever I sleep, I dream of Aengus. He walks into my room at his normal time and we play games and laugh. I hate waking up."

Torran sighed, placing a hand on her back. "Do you know anything of what happened to him? Father Ephraim told me a bit, that Aengus seemed to fall ill suddenly, but he did not know details."

Queen Aelga, her eyes trained steadily on the floor, her hands gripping her skirts, nodded. "He's right. Aengus had just finished talking with his advisers about the possibility of Glastonbex using Essenkirk to invade our eastern borders. He went to bed that night, as normal, but in the morning we found him in the inner ward. He was dressed only in his nightgown even though it was freezing, and..." She choked on her words, but Torran waited for her to find the rest of them. "He looked so ghastly. I've never seen him look like that. His cheeks all sunken in like a skull, and his skin was as gray as the castle walls. I don't think he saw any of us, really, because his eyes were so wild and never settled on anything. He burned with a fever that was almost too hot to touch, and he kept spewing out nonsense that made no sense."

Torran's eyebrows drew together, a look of disturbance crossing his face. "It wasn't a regular fever, then? Just from the winter air?"

Queen Aelga shook her head. "No. He was perfectly fine a few hours before, and he lost all his strength too suddenly. One moment he was swinging at anyone who tried to get near him in the garden, and the next he couldn't even stand or lift his hands. We carried him to his bed, and he... he died two hours later."

Torran exhaled in frustration, running a hand over his hair. "There's something wrong there."

"We all know what it was," Queen Aelga said, the first hints of anger in her voice. Idelle looked up sharply at this. What could the young queen mean? A mysterious fever like that was not normal, and she'd never heard of someone going from perfect health to death that fast before.

"It's probably the same as what I think," Torran said. "Glastonbex."

Queen Aelga nodded, her lips tight. "Their queen, that nasty Yseult. She wouldn't be above killing Aengus if she got the chance. She's hated him even more than before after he refused her marriage alliance."

Idelle stumbled, smashing into the door, her mouth agape. Marriage alliance? Had there really been talk of King Aengus marrying the Glastonbex Queen? Why, that would go against everything the Wynherst people fought for and believed in. Any child between Aengus and Yseult would boundless have magic, and Queen Yseult would not refrain from letting that magic into Wynherst through her people and her own use. It would be as bad as being conquered and forced to assimilate with those with magic. 

Queen Aelga looked up as Idelle righted herself, the sound of her smash into the door still echoing. "Who is she?" she asked.

Torran answered, "A soldier that I'm indebted to, twice over. She escorted me back from the southern front on the orders of Sir Hewe. It's all right, I trust her." He waved at Idelle. "Come over. You don't have to hide in the shadows."

Idelle, head down, embarrassment burning in her throat, walked to their side, but stood rigidly at attention. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping. I was keeping an eye out for anyone in the hall, but I couldn't help but hear... a marriage arrangement?" She couldn't keep the disbelief out of her voice.

Queen Aelga still looked at her warily, but Torran answered her as if she was just as much a part of their conversation as a nobleman or family member.

"Yes, when Aengus was first crowned after his father's death, Queen Yseult thought she might take advantage of a young and new ruler. She sent gifts and emissaries, offering peace in exchange for a marriage contract between them. It might have been a good offer, to end the years of war, but she didn't count on Aengus already knowing who she was and what she's done. She's ruthless and bloodthirsty. Her court is filled with betrayal and death. It's a well-known secret that she murdered her father and three sisters to become queen."

Idelle drew in a breath. "Yes, I've heard the same. Even her barons don't trust her, though they fight for her. They are kept on short leashes. Her family's death was also too mysterious. Like the king's. "

Queen Aelga looked at Torran. "You can see why we're certain that she was responsible for Aengus' death."

"But how would she be able to do it?" Torran asked. "It's hardly like she could walk into the castle and poison him."

"That's why I wanted you back," Queen Aelga said, her voice barely above a whisper. "We've heard no news of Glastonbex soldiers being spotted anywhere near Holmley. There haven't been any strangers visiting, and no one has been recently hired or added to his cabinet of advisers. Which means that only leaves the people we know. The ones who worked as agents for Yseult and killed my brother, they have to be someone in the castle. It has to be someone we trusted."