Rishe had realized the possibility a few days ago when she’d received his letter. The false missive had been slid in under the crack of her door, which could only be done by someone with permission to enter the detached wing. At present, only Rishe, her maids, and her guards had that.
The night Arnold visited her, word had spread quickly. Clearly, comings and goings were watched, and Rishe learned that no one unknown had been seen. Which meant the person who delivered the letter was a maid or a knight. The knights were unlikely; they had been with her when the letter was dropped off.
That only left a maid.
Perhaps Theodore hadn’t bothered to explain himself, just given the order. He had also most likely ordered silence—no mention at all that he had ever drafted a letter to the crown princess.
Reluctantly, Rishe began investigating her maids during the hours she spent making the nail polish. She looked at their backgrounds, searching for criminal records of anyone close to them. Among her maids, just one of them had any sort of shady history: Elsie.
All the new maids were from poor families, but Elsie was the only one who had grown up in the slums. Her character reference for her job had been offered by a church in the district. Nothing so strange in a poor girl being sponsored by a charity, but something about it still felt off to Rishe.
She needed answers; she needed proof. Thus, she’d asked the knights to summon her when she felt unwell. This would be the moment Elsie would show her hand. But the second Elsie came into the parlor, she burst into tears, saying, “Please don’t worry, my lady. I’ll protect you no matter what happens, I promise. I promise.”
Her small body trembled as she resolved herself to betray her patron.
What Rishe had not been anticipating was a knight to say much the same thing. “Lady Rishe, I swear I will protect you as well. I was truly touched by your plan to help the slums. Elsie and I will deliver you to a doctor.”
He was one of the knights who had been paralyzed by poison during the bandit attack on their journey to Galkhein. Rishe knew from Arnold that he was from the slums and that he had struggled night and day to become a knight.
“Elsie, I don’t care what kind of punishment he might inflict on us—we shall save Lady Rishe.”
“Yes. Stay here, my lady. We’ll—”
“No, wait. I have a request,” Rishe cut in. “If Prince Theodore has ordered you to do something to me, I want you to do it. Obey him.”
“Why?!” they asked in tandem.
Their guilty shock told Rishe everything she needed to know. “Were you given any instructions, Elsie?”
“We were ordered to watch for a chance to take you captive, without any harm coming to you.”
A strange order, Rishe thought then.
“I’m so sorry, my lady. Punish me any way you see fit.”
“My lady! I cannot say the same for myself, but Elsie has done no wrong. Due to her situation at home, she cannot afford to disobey Prince Theodore’s commands.” Kamil wore a pained look on his face. “Prince Theodore personally supports the slums, and everyone who lives there would likely do whatever it was he asked of them. To go against his orders is to go against the interests of your own friends and family—you’d be shunned. Elsie has nowhere to go.”
“But, Kamil, that goes for you as well!” Elsie cried.
“I’m a knight, I no longer live in that district. And obeying this particular order would be a serious crime against our future princess.”
Rishe listened to their exchange. “We should continue this conversation later. For now, let’s go.”
“Where?”
“To imprison me. Like Prince Theodore ordered.”
Elsie and Kamil stared at her.
Blinking against her headache, Rishe turned over a paper she had used during her negotiations with Tully and wrote: I have gone to continue a discussion we began in the chapel.
Arnold was the only one who could interpret this. It had only been a week ago, and it would still be fresh in his memory. After that, Elsie and Kamil snuck Rishe out of the palace and locked her up in this building on the outskirts.
✦ ✦ ✦
Prince Arnold should know from that letter that I left the palace of my own free will. Meanwhile, Prince Theodore believes he’s successfully captured me. Neither of them will find fault with Elsie or Kamil.
Back in the present, she felt one of the hairpins come up against something heavy. She flipped it up and heard a click. Rishe stood, easing the door open, pausing to listen to the men talking on the other side.
“Does one noblewoman really merit this heavy guard? It’s Prince Theodore’s orders, but surely three of us would suffice.”
Rishe steadied her breathing, taking care so that the men wouldn’t notice her.
“That lady knows how to use a sword. I think Prince Theo’s more concerned about us than her.”
“She can’t do anything through a locked door! There’s five of us here, six on the second floor, and ten more posted outside, no? That’s way too many people if you—agh!”
Rishe threw the door open and kicked the man behind the knees.
The man lost his balance, falling just as Rishe swung her sheathed dagger against his neck. With a short grunt, the man collapsed, unconscious.
“Wh-what the?! What’s going on?!”
“Hey, the woman got out!”
“But that’s impossible! We locked—”
“Shut up and grab her! He ordered us to be gentle, but we have no choice—we gotta tie her up!”
Rishe bent back and grabbed the hand grasping for her collar. She jabbed an elbow into the pit of the guard’s stomach. He let out a croak like a dying frog, staggering back several steps.
“Urgh…”
Weak. Rishe analyzed her own strike and took a step back to gain some ground. Her current body simply wasn’t strong enough. Any martial arts she did would have to use the enemy’s speed and power against them.
Emboldened by her hesitation, the men drew their swords. Quite an escalation, considering she’d kept hers sheathed.
“Let me pass,” she said.
“Be careful!” one of the guards warned. “This lady’s tougher than she looks!”
“Don’t be stupid,” snapped another. “It’s four against one! She can’t fight us all at once.”
Rishe’s request was polite, but they appeared unwilling to accede to it. On the contrary, they were planning a coordinated attack. A stupid strategy in such a narrow hallway.
Rishe stood at the ready, parrying a swing from her right. He was being incautious, and a hit in just the right place unarmed him, his sword flying and sinking into the wood of the door. The man was overcome with shock. Rishe used that opening to hit him with the pommel of her dagger.
“Khrgh!”
Rishe pushed him away, dodging the other three. She waited for an opening and drove herself against the man’s chests, slicing down his face with her still-sheathed dagger. The area between the eyebrows was a tender spot. A strong hit there could kill a man, but Rishe didn’t need to worry about that with her current musculature. The guard didn’t even scream before he thumped to the ground.
“What the hell is going on?! She’s just some noblewoman with a couple of moves!”
“How dare you make fools of us!”
No sooner had she dodged one man’s swing than another blade came at her from the other side.
Dual wielding! She blocked the blow with her dagger, her hand going numb, but it was nothing compared to Arnold’s attack. Without a moment’s delay, Rishe drew back her dagger, pivoting adroitly, putting the force from the rotation into her kick.
“Guh!”
She slammed the heel of her shoe into the man’s face.
“Th-this can’t be happening.” The final man’s voice trembled as he faced her.
Rishe paid him no heed, finally drawing her dagger from its sheath. The man squared up, still shaking with rage.
Rishe didn’t point her dagger at the man. Instead, she grabbed at her dress and plunged the blade into the skirts, tearing a long slit into the side. Rishe stood before the astonished man and smiled. There. That should make movement easier.
“Let me make a suggestion,” she said. “Give up now.”
The man grunted. He was one of Theodore’s soldiers—he couldn’t disobey. She had no choice but to take care of him. Leaving him unconscious, she sighed.
He said that there’s six on the second floor and ten more on the ground.
Rishe descended the stairs, leaving five fallen men in her wake.