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“He was disguised as Bessie,” I said and swallowed hard.
“I let her in, thinking it was safe,” Zita said.
“She died earlier today. I was told to keep that information to myself, and look was happened.”
She frowned at me, but she didn’t speak her mind.
It didn’t take long before Rainier, Lucia, Dex, and Nylah were all in the hallway in front of my room, talking about what had happened.
Dex asked me questions. Nylah spoke to another servant, unraveling the spells on my room, talking about the spell of disguise that had been used.
I stared at Lucia.
She looked as concerned as the rest of them. Was she?
This couldn’t have been her. The attacker had looked like Bessie—it had been the same spell someone had used on me. Lucia was doing something wrong. She used her magic to stay in power. I was sure of it, but this attack had been something different.
Rainier and Lucia discussed getting the word out about Bessie’s death to stop another attempt. She’d been allowed into the palace because the other servants hadn’t known about her death. They’d thought it was her.
I listened in a daze.
Finally, after making sure I was safe and everything was okay, everyone dispersed. Only Rainier stayed behind.
“We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” he said curtly.
I nodded.
He turned and left without so much as another word.
Zita stepped into my room.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“He didn’t tell me he’s proud of me.” I stared down the hallway where Rainier had disappeared.
“Did you expect him to?” she asked.
I looked at her. “I fended for myself when there was no one else to help me.”
“You did good, Ellie,” Zita said. “But we don’t get medals for doing our job.”
“You call surviving myjob?” I cried out. “I was just attacked in my bed! And now that you know about Bessie… It wasn’t the first time today that someone tried to kill me.”
Zita only nodded.
I had learned to stand up for myself, and I was more confident than ever that I could look after myself.
I’d hoped Rainier would see it, too. But he was detached and business oriented. This needed to be solved, and nothing else.
“You’re emotional, and with good reason. You should rest. Everything will look different in the light of day.”
“Will the target be gone?” I snapped.
Zita didn’t answer.
When I turned back into my room, the disillusion hit me. I was just a warrior, one of many. To Rainier, I wasn’t special. In fact, it seemed like I was bringing a lot more trouble to the palace than there’d been before. I’d hoped I was someone special in his eyes, but it was a wake-up call. I was just a human, coming from a small village. Inconsequential. If I disappeared tomorrow, Rainier’s life would continue without a hitch.
I had to stop looking for something more when there wasn’t anything to be found.
