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Theodore awaited her at the garden's center, his figure a steadfast oak in a grove of uncertainty. As siblings, they shared the same eyes that mirrored the stormy seas, but where Eloise's gaze often danced with laughter, Theodore's held a depth of solemnity.
"Teddy," she greeted him, the childhood nickname slipping out in a moment of vulnerability. The sound of it seemed to break the ice of formality that her fears had built.
"Ellie," he replied. He took in her disheveled appearance— a rare sight for the meticulously poised princess— with a brother’s discernment.
"Walk with me," she implored, leading him toward a secluded alcove.
Under the guise of casual sauntering, Eloise unfolded the parchment that had set her world askew. "Look at this," she said.
Theodore studied the letter, his expression shifting from bewilderment to dawning realization. "This is addressed to Bernard," he murmured, the weight of implication anchoring his words.
"Yes," Eloise replied, her lips a tight line. "And it suggests his hand may be stirring the cauldron of dissent. He could be behind Nicole’s kidnapping!"
"Bernard has always been ambitious," Theodore mused, handing back the letter. "But treason? It's a huge leap from the man we know. He cannot fake the way he looks at you when he doesn’t think you’re looking."
"Which is why I am adrift in a sea of doubts," Eloise confessed, the humor that once buoyed her spirits now drowned by the gravity of her predicament.
"More information is needed before we jump to conclusions," Theodore said. "We have to be careful, Ellie. If these accusations are true, we're not merely discussing the fate of a marriage, but the fate of two kingdoms."
"Then you'll stand with me?" she asked.
"Always," he affirmed with a brotherly squeeze of her hand. "We need to proceed with caution. And stealth. Definitely stealth."
"I shall endeavor to channel my inner espionage heroine. Although, I doubt even she faced such a tangled web."
"Remember, Ellie," Theodore added, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards, "it's always the quiet ones you need to watch."
"Quiet like Bernard, or quiet like the librarian who turned out to be a secret agent in The Lurking Scholar?"
"Perhaps a bit of both," he chuckled.
Eloise was sad to see her brother leave. Nothing was making sense in her world!
Eloise's fingers danced over the spines of ancient tomes lining the library's secret alcove, a clandestine meeting spot she and James had agreed upon.
"Remember," James murmured, pulling a map from within a hollowed book, "the eyes of the court are curious. We must be the shadow that moves unseen."
"Shadows with an appetite for intrigue," Eloise quipped, a smirk playing on her lips despite the gravity of their task. "We'll gather the crumbs of truth without raising an alarm. Like mice in a pantry."
"Quite poetic,” James retorted with a chuckle. “I do hope we’re a bit scarier than rodents!”
Their plan unfurled like the map before them, each location marked as a potential rendezvous for the dissidents. They would send people they knew they could trust to serve as spies, so they could be certain of Bernard’s intentions.
"Every nod, every lingering glance," Eloise recited.
"Yes," James replied, his eyes narrowing. "And Bernard...I think you should talk to him about it. I cannot believe he’s part of this.”
"Bernard," she sighed, the name now a cipher unto itself, a puzzle she yearned yet feared to solve. "You’re right. I think I should trust him, but I need to understand his reasoning first!”
With their alliance sealed, Eloise returned to the labyrinth of corridors that made up the palace, her senses heightened. At dinner, she watched Bernard trade barbs with courtiers, his laughter too hearty, his smiles a shade too rehearsed. She cataloged each interaction, filing them away to dissect later under the cover of night.
"Is everything all right, Eloise?" Bernard asked, his gaze locking onto hers across the ornate table setting.
"Never better," she lied smoothly, dabbing the corners of her mouth with a napkin. Her heart hammered against her ribcage, a prisoner to her duplicity.
"Your cheeks are flushed. A sign of good health or a mind preoccupied?" King Phillip inquired, peering at her with a grandfatherly concern that tugged at her conscience.
"Perhaps a bit of both," Eloise deflected with a grace she scarcely felt. "The change of seasons always ignites a fire within me."
