Ederra had never felt such a strong tidal wave of relief as when she and Tahni were deposited in front of the dark and ominous Tzeru manor. Minister Sebek had elected to remain in the carriage, hoping to reunite with Captain Efandico once he reached the vicinity of the stables.

"One of the finest fellows who never served," the old man had pronounced. "He had three older brothers who enlisted and were subsequently killed within the first year of the Second Aldrean War. Having gone through such an unspeakable tragedy, his mother would not even hear of letting her last surviving offspring out of her sight. So home he stayed, though the bloodsoaked fields called dearly to his heart."

Ederra knew that she should have been impressed, but after such an introduction all she could surmise was that the esteemed captain must have definitely known of his master's treasonous schemes, no doubt aiding and abetting him at every turn. So here was another person she had to be wary of.

Sighing, she turned to regard the house that was supposed to host them for the duration of the event, but there was no need for a detailed analysis since one good look was enough to tell her everything she needed to know.

It was the sort of building she used to picture every time she picked up one of the cheap horror novels her father's under-butlers used to smuggle inside the house. Her father's war on fiction was reflected in the poor offer their library had had, since any work that was even remotely entertaining was properly ousted to make room for interminable tomes no sane human would ever read by choice.

Alas, Ederra had survived her formative years with barely any lingering trauma, and had naturally grown skeptical of narrative tropes, welcoming them when she needed a true escape, but doubting that they could actually exist in real life.

Now, however, she was more than ready to believe. The manor before them was a tall Red Century chateau with garish expansions on both the east and west wings reminiscent of the continental style popular some five decades before. The glass-paned windows on the original structure were narrow and numerous, no doubt making a daunting cleaning project for the countless staff necessary to maintain such a behemoth, while the outer walls were bereft of decorative elements, with drain pipes carefully concealed behind raised ledges. But when one tilted one's head upwards to glance at the bloated roof, any pretense at modesty was swallowed up in the veritable maze of spires and turrets, most of which served no practical purpose whatsoever. Their shiny golden hue contrasted heavily with the dreariness of the gray stone walls, as well as the more demure lateral wings, which ceased some two levels below the central structure.

"Attari preserve us," murmured Ederra. "That's dreadful."

"Right? They say the old queen died here."

Turning to regard her friend, Ederra found her still frowning down at her new green dress. Despite its uneven coloring and hue, it paired well with the young woman's complexion and her desire for freedom of movement.

"She can't have been the only one. The entire house might have just been built to serve as a crypt."

Tahni chuckled as she straightened her sleeves.

"No doubt replete with a handful of vengeful poltergeists."

"Naturally. We're not going inside, I hope?"

They both stared at the dark upper levels with mounting concern, until a few profane shouts broke the spell and redirected their attention towards the eastern annex, where a handful of liveried servants were struggling to lift up a voluminous dining table, their combined efforts proving barely sufficient to support the massive load. Just as the women watched on with interest, one of the side doors burst open and revealed their colleagues struggling with similarly bulky chairs. Upon seeing the difficulty the others faced, they promptly abandoned the chairs and moved to help with the table.

"I'll take that as a no," said Tahni. "They're probably setting things up in the gardens."

"This thing has gardens?" asked Ederra skeptically. "I don't see how any flower could put up with such an oppressive environment."

"I suppose we'll soon find out. But let's take the other way."

They walked towards the western wing, their unhurried steps seeming unaccountably loud on the gravel path surrounding the mansion.

"I thought it was going to be colder," commented Tahni. "Given that we're technically inside a forest."

"The house definitely looks frigid, but we might actually have a nice day if we stay outside."

"A nice day?" chuckled Tahni, pausing to kick a pebble up the road. "What an optimist you are."

"I'm not about to drop onto the ground and start wailing in despair. That would be pointless."

"Right. Let's save that for when Father finds out about Meyo."

Ederra waited a long moment before responding, looming house and crisp fresh air quite forgotten about.

"Do you suppose he knew?" she asked quietly.

"Who?"

"Your brother. About what your father plans to do."

Her friend stopped abruptly and frowned at the neatly trimmed hedgerow at the side of the house.

"You know," she said, "if Steppo knew, that would be the greatest plot twist of all time. But no, I don't think Father told either of them." She sighed before adding sullenly, "Just like he didn't tell me."

"It's for the best. This way you've got plausible deniability."

"If there's one thing I have, it's a damned weird family. Why couldn't any of them be normal? And why does Father insist on keeping up this charade of sucking up to the king when he's never done it before? It makes him look more suspicious. I say backstab the bastard and get it over with."

Ederra's eyes widened and she whirled around to grasp her friend by the shoulders.

"Shhh!" she urged in an angry whisper. "Do you want everyone to find out?"

"Find out what?" retorted Tahni, blinking innocently back at her.

Ederra sighed and let her go.

"Let's just get through today," she murmured.

They started down the path again, mindful of every noise that might betray wicked eavesdroppers, but it was all deceptively quiet. The darkened windows of the estate's ground floor, the solitary caw of a raven punctuating the unnatural stillness, and the wide gravel walk bordered by a mighty fence on the left and lifeless shrubbery on the right hardly inspired any feeling of warmth or life in general. Hopefully, the rumored spies would have more important assignments than keeping tabs on targets as inconsequential as Tahni and Ederra.

It took them a good five minutes to reach the northern side of the manor house and the surprisingly well-tended lawn stretching beyond it. There were no actual gardens to speak of, if one didn't consider the pitiful herb bed, the few washed-out flowers growing around three pavilions, as well as the shoulder-height hedgerow doubling the fence surrounding the entire area. Ederra felt chilling beads of sweat break out on her forehead, having suddenly gotten the impression that she was trapped like a sheep in a pen, but if she squinted, she could just about make out another gate in the distance, no doubt leading out to the hunting grounds.

"Look," urged Tahni, plucking at her sleeve and tilting her chin towards the largest of the three pavilions. Ederra did so and spotted a group of maids flocking around the railings, carrying trays laden with tea sets and saucers.

"Those might be for us," said Ederra.

"There's only one way to find out."

There were no footpaths in sight, and so they had to walk directly across the lawn, their thin-soled shoes sinking unpleasantly into the moist soil. Ederra lifted her skirts enough to avoid an embarrassing staining experience, but Tahni simply forged ahead, eager to discover what was in store for them.

When they reached the pavilion, the servants had just quit it, leaving behind a welcoming aroma of freshly baked biscuits.

"Food!" exclaimed Tahni, jumping onto the platform and heading straight for the tables of victuals and beverages. Ederra followed carefully, taking in her surroundings and doing her best to ignore the enticing aromas. It had been a long-standing creed of hers never to partake of food and drink at public occasions unless absolutely necessary, given how easy it would have been for someone to tamper with them. Indeed, the history books were filled with accounts of vicious betrayals and unexpected poisonings, and since these tales were among the only interesting ones she could find in her home library, she might have overindulged and grown just a little bit paranoid.

"They've got sorbet!" announced Tahni triumphantly.

Ederra's smile froze on her face as she regarded the interior of the pavilion once more and finally spotted the lonely figure bent over another table right across from them. She'd been previously concealed by a large mug tree but now that Ederra had moved closer to Tahni, she both saw and recognized the other woman.

"I'm taking some of these home," whispered Tahni when Ederra drew alongside her by the table.

"The biscuits?"

"No, the teaspoons."

"There's someone else here."

Tahni abruptly stopped piling ginger cookies onto her plate and surreptitiously looked over Ederra's shoulder.

"Who's that?" she whispered.

"Druelle Odarsi. You remember, the one who crossed Channa's lake on foot?"

"What do you mean, on foot? Are you telling me that I could have done the same, with none of that ridiculous balance beam routine?"

"You wouldn't have wanted to. Her actions turned her into a prime target for the others."

"Meaning she's just too good."

"Daring, irreverent, creative... That is all to say, a threat."

Tahni pursed her lips and dropped one final cookie onto her plate.

"I suppose I'll have to forget about the teaspoons for now," she murmured sullenly.

"I don't think she's paying us any mind, but it's probably for the best anyway."

They drifted closer to the railing by the stairs, Tahni munching on the sweets and Ederra doing her best to mask her staring at the third woman. She appeared engrossed in writing a letter, and since there were no benches or chairs, she'd had to settle for bending over a table.

"Have you noticed that it's a bit too quiet?" inquired Tahni, just as they heard a strangled cry in the distance. Turning curiously, both women saw the veritable army of servants struggling with that same table from before, with one of them abandoning the task in favor of clutching his foot and swearing loudly.

"Are they actually going to carry that all the way across the lawn?" asked Tahni incredulously.

"I hope they're not bringing it here."

"It wouldn't fit even if they did."

They continued to watch the men's valiant efforts as they indeed brought the table out onto the lawn, steering away from their pavilion in favor of pursuing the shortest way to the other gate.

Just as they resigned themselves to this peculiar kind of entertainment, a tall figure stepped away from the gravel walk and headed straight for them. Ederra and Tahni switched from quietly commiserating the servants' struggle to instead focus on the new woman.

The first thing Ederra noticed was that she was a noble, and the second, that she was unaccompanied. Druelle didn't seem to have anyone with her either, which was more than usual given the veritable regiments of attendants present at the previous challenges. Her palms started itching and she flattened them against her thighs, struggling not to clutch her skirts and reveal her discomfort. Was she not supposed to accompany Tahni for this particular event? Minister Sebek would have surely protested if that were the case. Or was he so absorbed in his own dealings that he'd completely lost touch with how certain things were done at court? And where was lady Belis's input in all of this?

To distract herself from these clamoring questions, Ederra tried studying the approaching woman's dress. One might have initially felt inclined to call it a plain garment, given the simple cut and lack of decoration, but that would have meant dismissing how well the dress fitted its wearer, accentuating all the right features and directing one's attention towards the woman herself. There was no point in sugarcoating reality: she was incredibly well-built and carried herself with the self-assuredness of someone who was clearly aware of the fact.

Right by her shoulder, Ederra heard Tahni's soft growl an instant before she also recognized the woman.

"Reyoma Tersi," grumbled Tahni through clenched teeth. "Strutting like she's queen already while plotting to off her competition with no witnesses."

"There are plenty of witnesses," protested Ederra.

"I doubt it would matter. She'd find a way to convince everybody that she was innocent all along."

Ederra was just about to ask her friend whether her dislike stemmed from something more than the events at the Golden Glade the day before, but Reyoma had drawn too near and would soon come within earshot.

Tightening her grip on her dress despite her best efforts, Ederra tried to at least school her features into impassiveness, while Tahni abandoned her plate of biscuits and crouched grumpily over the railing.

"Good morning," trilled Reyoma as she reached the pavilion and stepped onto the platform. She wore a bright smile revealing perfectly aligned white teeth, and Ederra couldn't help but remark upon the elegant simplicity of her hairdo. Her glossy dark locks were twisted into a traditional Kassi crown, with the pins holding them tucked neatly out of sight.

"Good morning," she replied hastily, followed a second later by a begrudging Tahni.

Reyoma swept her gaze across the pavilion as if it were a lavishly decorated banquet hall instead of a modest space with no seating arrangements.

"Is that a wedding dress?"

Ederra felt as if a bucket of ice-cold water had just been poured over her, drenching her from head to toe in acute fear. She stood rooted to her spot, half turned to regard Reyoma, and yet not seeing her anymore as she scrambled to come up with an excuse for Tahni's attire. It took her a few interminable seconds to start questioning how the other woman had recognized the green riding habit's original purpose, and an even longer time to register the battle of glares currently being waged between Reyoma and Druelle Odarsi.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Druelle tartly, dismissing her rival and turning around to once again focus on whatever she happened to be writing.

"But of course you do," replied Reyoma, "it's the handfast pattern worn in the Abraski mountain villages in the west. A tailor friend of mine had several requests from a family with four daughters, and he showed me two of their wedding dresses. And your mother's from there too, so of course you'd follow that tradition." She wagged a finger at a frowning Druelle. "Cheeky, cheeky," she admonished.

Huffing in indignation, Druelle put the pencil away and started gathering up the sheets of paper she'd written, crumpling some in the process.

"But even a wedding dress pales in comparison to what some of the others are wearing," continued Reyoma.

"They're here?" blurted Ederra before remembering that as an attendant, she wasn't supposed to draw attention to herself.

Reyoma turned to regard her with daintily raised eyebrows.

"Why, of course. They're at the gates, raising an unholy ruckus over nothing." A slowly blooming smirk changed the entire cast of her features into something far more sinister and Ederra found herself fighting to hold back a shiver.

"Did you have something to do with this new policy?" she inquired in a sly tone.

Ederra blinked and looked to Tahni for assistance, but her friend was stubbornly staring straight ahead, jaw tense and fists clenched.

"What policy?" asked Ederra carefully.

"Why, you haven't been informed? Although, if it's just been the two of you since the beginning, there wouldn't have been a point."

"Informed of what?" demanded Tahni, not even bothering to play at being friendly.

"It's like this," said Reyoma. "A new directive has come from the High Chatelaine herself that no ladies are allowed onto royal properties with more than one attendant." She then startled Ederra and Tahni both with a decidedly unladylike snicker. "You can imagine what a terribly unpleasant situation this is for all who rely on others for everything they do!"

"I seem to remember you having a sizable entourage as well."

"Why, yes," admitted Reyoma. "Which is why I couldn't decide and so went ahead by myself. Just like Druelle here."

The other woman didn't turn around this time, instead concentrating on arranging her letter so that it would fit inside a too small envelope.

"Oh, there's tea!" enthused Reyoma, almost sprinting to the nearest table. "Why didn't you say so?"

"You're so full of yourself, I didn't think you'd need it," muttered Tahni.

Ederra watched the other woman pour herself a cup, then crane her neck as if searching for something. Fears and risks aside, Ederra would clearly not be getting a better opportunity, so she reached for the hidden pocket at the back of her dress.

"What sort of tea would you like, my lady?" she asked out loud.

Tahni frowned and glanced at her in confusion.

"What? I don't-"

She grunted as Ederra elbowed her in the ribs.

"I'll prepare it at once," said Ederra, then leaned in closer and whispered urgently:

"Distract her."