“Elowen! Have you been looking for me? I’m not staying, I just stopped by to change my clothes for something more appropriate for riding.”
“Where are you going?” Elowen asked.
“Just riding,” Sophia said in a voice that wasn’t natural.
“You mean avoiding Bertrand,” Elowen said bluntly, her voice lowered so as not to be overheard. “You’re right, he’s here. I’ve just seen him.”
“I need to be quick, then,” Sophia said, barely seeming aware of her agitated words. “I can’t let him corner me right now. I don’t want to face his anger or his questions.”
“And this is the same brother you thought I should marry?” Elowen said grimly.
Sophia lowered her eyes, her expression tortured. “I’m sorry, Elowen,” she murmured. “I don’t think that anymore. I…I wish I knew how to explain. I wish I understood it myself. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been taught to make excuses for him. I really did convince myself that it would be good for everyone if…”
She trailed off, taking a deep breath before looking back into Elowen’s eyes. There was steel in the round, gentle face.
“I’m not making excuses anymore. I don’t want to fight Bertrand, I know I’m not a match for him. But that doesn’t mean I have to help him.”
Elowen frowned. “Help him do what?”
A cheerful whistling announced the approach of a groom, and Sophia ushered Elowen toward the house. Elowen curtly told her guards to wait for her outside this time, then neither of the girls spoke again until they were in Sophia’s rooms with the door closed.
“Never mind my problems with Bertrand, they’re nothing to do with you,” Sophia said. “What did you want to speak to me about?”
“I need to see Simeon,” Elowen said at once. “I think he might know something about what’s going on with Theo.”
Her friend looked confused. “About the prince leaving? How would he know anything about that? He’s been locked in the dungeons since yesterday.”
Elowen searched her friend’s eyes. “Do you really not know why Theo left? Did we hide it better than I think, or have you just been distracted by Simeon’s situation?”
Sophia’s brows were drawn together in an alarmed question. “What do you mean? What don’t I know? I thought he left because the betrothal was sealed and he didn’t want to kick his heels here until a wedding date was set. I understand a lot of people have taken offense at that.”
“That’s not what happened at all,” Elowen said fiercely. “Theo’s brother spirited him away because Theo is gravely ill. It came on suddenly, after we drank the ceremonial betrothal toast, and both Prince Xavier and I suspect he was poisoned. There’s no medical evidence of it, though, so no one else will believe me, and that made Prince Xavier suspicious enough to remove Theo from a community he believes might be trying to kill him.”
Sophia’s face had frozen in shock as she listened, and for a long moment after this account, she stared at Elowen in silent horror.
“What is it?” Elowen demanded.
“You…you really think he was poisoned?” her friend whispered.
“Yes, I really do,” Elowen said. “And I’m sorry to grieve you, Sophia, but I can’t think of anyone more likely to do it than Bertrand. Maybe acting through Simeon, although I would hate to believe it of him.”
Sophia shook her head violently. “Simeon would never do it. But Bertrand…” She glanced nervously toward the closed door, then steeled herself. “Do you remember how Bertrand said that he discovered Simeon stole from him?”
Elowen nodded. “He was furious about it. More about that than the humiliation of Simeon’s treason, it seemed to me.”
Sophia swallowed. “Simeon didn’t steal from him,” she said. “I did.”
“What do you mean?” Elowen demanded.
“Bertrand only discovered the theft just before lunch, and he assumes Simeon took it before he got arrested. But I took it, not Simeon. And I did it today. I only just got clear before Bertrand returned, and that’s when he noticed.”
“You took what?” Elowen asked impatiently. “Sophia, what’s going on?”
Sophia drew a breath. “When I saw Simeon in the dungeons, it’s true that he told me to stay out of it, like I said. At least, he told me not to try to advocate on his behalf. But he did ask me to do one thing. I could tell he hated to ask me to involve myself, but it was clearly important enough that he needed me. He said that he’d seen Bertrand with a small, black, leather bag, and that it was imperative that I get it and hide it somewhere Bertrandwouldn’t be able to find it. There was no time to tell me why, the guards were coming around, and I had to get out of there.”
“Coming around?” Elowen repeated, her eyebrows raised. “What exactly did you do to get into the dungeons, Sophia?”
“Never mind that,” Sophia said briskly. “The point is, I returned home immediately. I don’t know where Bertrand was, but he wasn’t at the manor. I searched his rooms and I found the leather bag.”
