She made an exhaustive search the next day. Pulled all of her dolls and toys out of the ruby trunk, cringing over the rolled letter at the bottom. She replaced the toys one by one, burying it. Laina was not there.

Maelyn had few callers that day, giving Arialain more time. She took her bedchamber apart, opening every drawer, hoisting up the mattress, peeking under the wardrobe cabinet. Next, she checked the places in the castle she visited often: the dining hall, the library, the privy. She walked the corridors and climbed the stairs, taking routes she normally used through the castle.

She combed the entry hall, though she already knew Laina wouldn't be there, behind the snarling bear statues, or inside the window niches. While searching the east corridor, she caught a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen, warm and sweet. Heidel was baking her lumen bread. She planned to serve it at supper and the anticipation kept her in high spirits. Arialain could hear humming as she passed the kitchen door. She might have been excited too, were she not so miserable about the doll.

She had to find her. That doll was not only her favorite, it had been with Arialain since birth. A gift from her parents—her real parents. It was supremely important no one else had that doll, and even more so, that they did not remove the doll's dress.

Doom! Doom! Doom!

Arialain ground her teeth and spun around. She had no time for this! She marched back to the door and yanked the ring with both hands, annoyed to see Willow was back.

"Yes?" she barked with more impatience than she intended. Willow looked taken aback. "Uh... here to see Princess Maelyn?"

"She's busy, come back later." Arialain shut the door. Yes, it was rude, but she didn't care at the moment. How was she going to get rid of him? Maybe if she offended him more, he would just stop coming. But that seemed unlikely. This was going to get her in trouble when Maelyn found out about it.

Half a day wasted and she hadn't found the doll. Arialain now turned her attention to those parts of the castle she seldom visited, like the royal treasury. She found Jaedis sitting before an open ledger and a set of scales, working on the money.

"Have you seen Laina?" Arialain asked. Stacks of goldens and silvers rested upon the large desk, yet Jaedis did not look pleased. She shook her head slightly and glanced up at Arialain. "Sorry—what?"

"Have you seen Laina?"

"Lost her again?" Jaedis picked up a few more goldens and slipped them into a leather coin purse on the table. Preparing to go out, it looked like.

"It doesn't happen that much," Arialain said resentfully. Jaedis once had a favorite doll she dragged with her everywhere. She should be more understanding.

"Haven't seen her in ages." Jaedis slapped the ledger shut and stood up. "Did you try the forest? The places you sneak off to with your lover boy?"

Arialain flinched. "I haven't taken her out of the castle."

"Check anyway." Jaedis picked up the coin purse and attached it to her belt. "I'd help you look, but I'm meeting my friends at The Cavalier. It's Steeple Hat night." Which explained the tall, cone-shaped headdress she wore, complete with ribbons to tie under her chin.

"Does Heidel know?" Arialain asked. Heidel got very crabby when a sister missed supper without telling her. "You know she's serving that lumen bread tonight."

"Save a piece for me! And yes—I told her." Jaedis left the treasury with Arialain and locked the door with a heavy key. Her long sigh was uncharacteristic.

"Something wrong with the money?" Arialain asked.

"Don't worry about it." Jaedis turned up the hall in the opposite direction. They all said that to Arialain. As if she couldn't handle the explanation of a simple problem. She was always a child to them. Always.

She checked the bedchambers, one by one, forgetting that her mother's old room now belonged to the displaced Shulay. Arialain gasped. Of course! Shulay had probably hidden Laina as her revenge for the cow prank. She was probably here, in their mother's chamber, a room seldom visited or disturbed. Well, Arialain was going to find her.

She had opened only two drawers when a sharp voice stopped her. "What are you doing?"

Arialain turned around. "Looking for my doll."

"Your what?" Shulay stood with blazing eyes inside the door.

"You know what I'm talking about. Where'd you put her?"

"I didn't put her anywhere. I don't have her."

"That's a lie!"

"It's not. Now get out of here before you ruin everything again. Pearl is miserable, I just checked on her. She needs to be outside!"

"Well, figure it out! I'm not sorry." Arialain steered herself around Shulay and out of the room. She felt a little bit sorry for Pearl, but not for Shulay. She had sounded truthful when she denied having the doll, but she couldn't be trusted. She was crafty with words.

Arialain didn't know what happened. She and Shulay had once been best friends, around the time they were both nine years old. Shulay was only four months older. But in the past few years, they had drifted in different directions, first showing indifference toward each other, then animosity. Yet Arialain could not remember any event that triggered it. Maybe this was another stupid part of growing up.

She stopped at Ivy's room and peeked inside. "Have you seen Laina?"

Ivy had jumped when Arialain popped the door open. She was sitting at her writing desk and appeared to be writing a letter. She turned to Arialain with unfocused eyes. "Oh... uh... Laina? No—haven't seen her." She looked down at her letter again.

"Who are you writing to?" Arialain asked, merely curious.

"No one." Ivy flipped the sheet over. "Don't worry about it."

There it was again. Arialain pulled the door shut, angry tears on her horizon. She was so tired of them all. There had to be a way to change things, change them drastically.

Doom! Doom! Doom!

Of course! Arialain headed downstairs, passing Briette, who had not seen the doll. She carried an absurdly long duster, using it to remove cobwebs from the ceiling corners. And looked happy doing it. The caller at the door knocked so persistently that Arialain knew who it was before she opened it.

"Ah! Little Ari. How are you, sweetness?"

Sir Brunner. One of Coralina's... male friends. Sir Brunner looked like a storybook knight, being tall and broad and handsome, with a daring smile and a square jaw. He came from Lumen Fortress, a stronghold near the kingdom's border. A place where they both housed and trained knights.

She opened her mouth, but the questions she longed to ask died in her throat. "I'll get Coco," was all she said, and walked away blushing. Her head only came up to Sir Brunner's ribcage. How could she ever ask about becoming a knight?

Coralina was in the ballroom, on a stage built across the far end of the room. She held the script and walked to-and-fro, working out various scenes from her play. She made silent gestures and her eyes shone because Coralina loved her work. It wasn't fair.

"Coco?" Arialain's voice echoed in the empty ballroom. "Brunner is here."

"Oh!" Coralina grinned and dropped the script on the stage's corner. "Is he waiting outside?" She hurried down the steps on the righthand side of the platform.

"Yes. Have you seen Laina, my doll?"

Coralina laughed. "I don't have time to keep track of your playthings, Ari." She flounced out of the ballroom, fluffing her black curls as she went.

Arialain moved to the steps of the stage, weary. She had no heart to search anymore. Coralina had left the script within reach and Arialain dragged it into her lap, reading just to distract her mind. It was a good play. Coralina, for all her silliness, knew what she was doing. The scribbled-in stage directions looked creative and fun. Within minutes, Arialain found herself engrossed, almost smiling as she read the scenes.

A sudden crash made her jump. Was that in the kitchen? Arialain stood up, wondering if Heidel had dropped something, but the smashing continued. Arialain dropped the script and ran to the kitchen, throwing open the swinging door.

"Heidel?"

"It was right HERE!" Heidel seized a collection of wooden spoons off the worktable and hurled them across the kitchen. They crashed against some hanging kettles in a storm of metallic fury. Arialain cringed and covered her ears.

"Was it YOU, Squire?" Heidel demanded of a large hound lounging before the cook fire. "I thought I trained you to take only scraps!"

"What happened?" Arialain asked.

"My lumen bread is GONE!" Heidel gestured with both hands at a bare spot on the worktable. "I took a slice up to Ivy! Talked to her for maybe... ten minutes. Came back down here and the bread was gone!"

"Well, who would have taken it?" Arialain asked.

"Maybe YOU?" Heidel stepped toward her, cheeks flaming. "You've been awful sneaky lately. Did that boy of yours convince you to take my lumen bread?"

"What!" Arialain cried. "What would I do with your bread?"

"EAT it!" Heidel cried. She leaned on the worktable, exhaled, and seemed to collect herself. "Alright... fine. That wasn't rational. You're not big enough to finish off a raisin. You think Shulay is doing this, one of her pranks?"

Arialain shook her head. Yes, Shulay loved to prank all her sisters. Last month, she had replaced all of Coco's shoes with identical pairs of a smaller size, convincing Coco her feet had stretched overnight. That was funny. But she wouldn't do something this cruel.

"And I'm sorry to ask, but have you seen my doll?" Arialain asked.

"Your doll?" Heidel sounded disgusted, as if she had bigger things to worry about.

"Laina," Arialain said glumly. "I kept her in my trunk, but she's gone. I've looked and looked." She wiped her tears, now falling freely, released by a day of frustration.

Heidel's expression softened. "The doll in the gold dress?" She would know the importance. When the king had adopted his nine princesses, they had come to Runa without parents and without possessions. Except for Arialain. She had been found with the doll.

Arialain nodded.

Heidel took several deep breaths and patted Arialain's shoulder. "I haven't seen it. But I'll help you look."

"Oh, will you?" Arialain clasped her hands. "It's very important!"

Heidel nodded. "Good! We'll make a bargain. I'll help you find the doll. And you can help me murder whoever stole my lumen bread."