Idelle sighed. "I didn't want to believe it, but I think you're right. Someone told the Earth Druids where to be." She paused, wondering if she should say the next part. "Do you think they knew who Sir Hewe was? That he was important to the crown?"

Everyone nodded their heads enthusiastically.

"How would the Glastonbex troops know about Sir Hewe's travels, though?" Walliam asked.

"Reynard," Torran said, seemingly no longer bothered by their lack of evidence or the fact that Sabena had once been employed by Reynard's friend.

"The High Lord?" Sabena asked, eyebrows turning downward. "What makes you say that?"

Idelle filled them in on their suspicions, and then added her own information from the library. She hadn't yet had time to tell Torran on his own, so he took it in at the same time as her Guard members. Though nothing was yet solid enough to take it to Aelga, the clues were coming together.

Sabena frowned. "Couldn't it have been someone else who told the Glastonbex about Sir Hewe?"

Torran shook his head. "No one knew but Aelga's council, and only a handful of them. Reynard was included, and it wouldn't take much for him to send out a messenger if he knows the positions of the Glastonbex. Which he would know from all our war meetings."

Sabena, still looking unconvinced, folded her arms over her chest. Her eyes settled on Idelle. "Didn't you say that the queen let that little puppy dog roam free? Why couldn't he have been the one to rat?"

Idelle shook her head. "He's only allowed in certain areas of the castle, and he can't get out without someone knowing. He may not have an escort, but we're keeping a sharp eye on him. Besides, he wouldn't have known about Sir Hewe coming back, and he would have been missed if he'd been gone long enough to get out there to the troops."

Sabena exhaled, her shoulders sagging. "Reynard did a lot for my former employer. In turn, that kept me from the streets."

Idelle placed a hand on her arm. "I know you feel like you must owe him, but I hope we can trust you not to spread what we've said here. It could be dangerous to us all."

Sabena nodded. "I've heard enough to make me cautious. It is just a hard truth to swallow."

The conversation came to an end, and the group broke up to continue their day. Walliam and Sabena headed off to the barracks for their break, and Torran said he needed to be alone to work through Sir Hewe's death. They gave him pats on the back and embraces, hoping to somehow dull the ache, though knowing they never could.

By that time, the castle had awoken, so Idelle headed to Aelga's chambers in order to let her know of the news. She knew no one had told her yet, and she wanted to be the first. She might be able to phrase it so that suspicions could be raised without outright revealing them.

As she reached Aelga's sitting room, she knocked and opened the door. Normally, Aelga was sitting on the couches, embroidering or reading, but today the room was empty. Idelle cocked her head, but walked over to the bedroom door and opened it. Nothing. Heart speeding up, she walked to the dressing rooms which were also empty.

Something was wrong.

Idelle raced to every room, opening it up and peering inside to yet another empty space. No one was around, not even the stuffy old women Reynard had forced Aelga to take on as companions. It wasn't right. They should be in her rooms at this hour. She'd have no need to be out in the castle, and she wasn't supposed to break schedule without telling Idelle first.

Heart hammering against her ribs, Idelle raced back out into the hallway. She walked until she found the Guards who had been on duty, leaning against the wall. "Did Her Majesty leave her rooms?" she asked.

Annaura, an impressively tall woman, shook her head. "No, not that we know of. She went in there a few hours ago, and we've been patrolling the corridors. She didn't come by us."

Idelle exhaled in frustration. The Guard wasn't meant to hound the queen, as if she was some sort of prisoner, but they were a constant enough presence that she should have passed them if she had decided to visit someone or take a walk.

"If you see her, let me know," she said, before dashing off to check all the rooms that surrounded them. After turning up empty, she went to check the inner ward (also with no luck) and then to the page boys to inquire if Aelga had asked them to summon anyone for a visit. When they said they hadn't heard from her that day, Idelle's breath came short and fast. Aelga was missing.

She grabbed the attention of the oldest page boy again. "Do you know where Duke Torran is right now?"

The boy's face twisted up as he thought, and then he nodded. "I think someone said he went to the library."

Idelle thanked him and then raced back to the library. She pushed open the doors and almost immediately saw Torran, sitting on one of the log benches. He wasn't reading anything or doing anything but just sitting, and Idelle felt a bit bad about interrupting his quiet. He looked up at her with quizzical eyes, bracing for more bad news that he must have seen written all over her face.

"I can't find Aelga," she whispered, breathless. His head whipped up at this and he jumped to his feet.

"Where have you looked?" he asked, taking her arm and leading her back out into the corridors. There were only a few scribes in the library, but their conversation was not one that should be overheard by anyone.

"Everywhere I could think she might be in normal circumstances," Idelle said. "The inner ward, her rooms, the audience chambers, the water closet..."

"Where are her ladies-in-waiting?" Torran asked.

Idelle shrugged. "I can't find them either."

"All right, you take some of the Guard and search every room you can reach. I'll check on the ladies-in-waiting." Torran grabbed her arm before she could bolt off. "Make sure no one but your Guard knows what we're doing."

Idelle nodded, and then they separated to tackle their own branch of finding Aelga. Idelle gathered the Guard who were already in the castle, and after giving them a vague and quick brief on what was happening, had them split up and methodically check every room in the living quarters. Idelle herself made her way over the audience chambers and checked them. Everything turned up empty, and she had the Guards split themselves between checking the other rooms in the castle and heading over to the towers to check them. She met up with Torran almost a half hour after she'd first noticed Aelga was missing.

"Anything?" she asked, though she knew that the fact he was alone meant he had as much luck as she had.

"I talked to the ladies-in-waiting. They said Aelga dismissed them as soon as they made their way to her rooms for the morning. She said she was still tired and wanted to sleep in late."

Idelle chewed on her thumbnail, pacing back and forth. "Do you think Reynard captured her? What could he want?"

Torran shook his head. "I can't imagine he would make such a blatant move," he said. "I even checked with Queen Yseult's guards and they said she hadn't woken up yet. I checked and she was still sleeping in her bed."

"Do you think maybe Aelga got hungry and went down to eat something from the kitchens?" Idelle asked.

Torran chewed on his lip. "It's worth us looking into. Come on."

They made their way down to the kitchen area, heading through the back corridors to reach it. It was better not to let all the servants see the Captain of the Guard walking with the duke in such a determined manner.

Near the kitchens, Idelle was about to ask Torran if they should raise the alarm and get the regular guards to start restricting access to the castle, when she heard a thump from somewhere nearby. Stopping short, she held out a hand to halt Torran, and both of them listened. Another thump came from a small door just a few feet away at the end of a short hallway.

Idelle walked to it, Torran right behind her, and wrapped her hand around the handle. Holding her breath, she pulled it open, wondering if she'd be revealing Glastonbex troops or Queen Yseult, sneaking through the castle to murder and take control. But as the door swung open, smacking against the wall, and Idelle reached for her sword, the person who nearly ran into them was Aelga herself.

The door opened onto a set of stairs that wound themselves downward, and Aelga stood breathless and still on the last one before the landing at the door. A second later and she would have barreled into Idelle, and her eyes were wide because of it. If Idelle hadn't known her so well, she might not have known it was even Aelga. Her hair was a tangled mess and her cheeks and lips burned red. The gowns everyone was so used to seeing on the queen were replaced by a simple brown dress, like the kind the servants wore. Though she looked as if she had been hit by a wind burst and was dressed in servant's clothes, she did not look harmed at all. Still, Idelle grabbed her and pulled her out of the stairway. After, Idelle pushed by her and looked down the stairs, to see if any soldiers or Reynard himself might be behind her, but saw nothing. They merely terminated in another door that was closed and silent.

"What's behind that door?" she asked Aelga, already heading down.

"Nothing!" Aelga shouted. "It's just a servant's staircase that makes it ways to the kitchen. No one uses it anymore so I thought I could find some peace and silence..."

She didn't get to finish her sentence.

"What were you thinking?" Idelle demanded, her voice bordering on a yell. At the same time, Torran also asked a question.

"What is going on?" He was just as angry as Idelle.

Aelga hunched her shoulders, obviously embarrassed but also annoyed at their anger and panic. "I told you! I was just trying to find some time alone! Everyone's been buzzing around me like I'm some sort of flower and they're bees." She crossed her arms and almost pouted. "I wanted to spend some time doing whatever I wanted."

"Tell me, then!" Idelle said, running a hand over her face as the panic slowly started to ebb away. "I'm supposed to keep you safe. If you leave without telling anyone then I'll think you've been hurt or worse!"

Aelga chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes casting downward.

"Aelga, you scared us," Torran said, his voice getting gentler. "We just had word that Sir Hewe's platoon was ambushed. He was killed, along with many others, and then we couldn't find you."

Aelga looked up sharply. "Sir Hewe is dead?" Her voice broke. "Oh, Torran. I'm so sorry."

Torran brushed it off, though Idelle knew it was only so that he could keep getting through the day. Like when they were on the battlefield, grieving was put off until there was time. Soldiers could not break down, not when they had a job to do. And, though they were in the castle now, Torran still had much riding on his shoulders.

"Someone leaked their position to the Glastonbex," Torran said, revealing for the first time their suspicions. While Idelle knew he wouldn't reveal that it was specifically Reynard they were wary of, it felt a relief to let Aelga know of the danger.

"Who?" Aelga asked, surprise on her face.

"We don't know yet. Not for certain. But it's someone in the castle."

Idelle stepped in. "Which means that we need you to be more careful. If they are leaking information, it wouldn't be a step too far to imagine that they might somehow collaborate with Queen Yseult to harm you."

Aelga looked as if she was about to argue, but then, just as suddenly, she shook her head as if telling herself not to. She smiled at them. "All right. I'll be very careful."

"No more wandering off?" Torran asked.

"None."

With that, they felt satisfied enough to take her back to her rooms, via corridors not many people would be walking through. She looked a mess, and Idelle didn't want word getting out, but also the news of Sir Hewe's death seemed to hit her hard. It was just one more death around her. One more death linked to the throne she was forced to take in order to save her kingdom from ruin.