As I was restocking the shelves with fresh towels, I heard the door to Helian’s bedroom slam loudly behind me. The vibrations caused the empty shampoo bottle to fall over, and it cracked when it landed on the bathroom tiles.

  Lunch went well, then. Knowing Helian, it would be best for me not to say anything until she started the conversation. She probably wanted to be alone and think.

  “Rosa.”

  Helian had crept up behind me without my notice. That shouldn’t be possible. “Yes, Lady Saintess? Be careful of the floor, there’s some shampoo from the broken bottle and I wouldn’t want you to slip on the tiles.”

  “What have you been hiding from me, Rosa?”

  This was a problem. Lying to Helian is easy when she’s not serious about the question she’s asking, but I had the feeling she was determined to extract answers from me this time. “You’ll need to narrow it down, Saintess Helian. I have many secrets.”

  “I’m not joking with you, Rosa. Why are you and Frost keeping things from me?”

  Frost had let something slip, it seemed. Or perhaps Helian’s interrogation had made it unavoidable. In either case, I would have to pierce the veil slightly. “Lady Helian, I am and will remain your loyal lady-in-waiting. But there are some things that can only be said to a duchess, or to a duchess’s heir – not to a saintess or to a duchess’s daughter-in-law. It brings me no joy to keep things from you, and I’m sure the same is true of Lady Frost.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “You’re not answering my question, Rosa.”

  “I can’t answer that question directly. If you ask other questions, I may be permitted to answer those.”

  “Permitted? So, you answer to someone other than me?”

  “The duchess, as she hired me and rules over this territory. But her aside, I also have a responsibility to my family. If I were to breach their trust carelessly, lives might be forfeit.”

  Helian was visibly confused despite her anger. “Are you serious?”

  I nodded. “Quite serious. If it makes you feel any better, some of the secrets your wife keeps are things I’m not allowed to disclose to either of you. She figured them out herself, which put me in something of a predicament. But thus far she has kept silent, which keeps her head firmly attached to her shoulders and the three of us out of trouble.”

  I shouldn’t have been so honest. Helian was now visibly alarmed and, it seemed, slightly disoriented. I rushed over to stop her from falling and held her tight as she kneeled on the ground. “Lady Saintess, calm down. Everything is going to be fine.”

  “You just said she could die, Rosa! And that we’d get in trouble if you told me! Did I put Frost in danger by introducing you to her? Why would Solana even leave me in your care? What did we do to deserve this? I don’t even understand how you’ve managed to keep important secrets all this time, with how you always…”

  Realizing something, Helian looked up at me. “You’re a fake. You act like that to trick me. Do you only put on that show when I’m watching? Have you all been laughing at me?” She was crying.

  I pulled her closer and hugged her. “Helian, no one is laughing at you. We all care about you very much. I… am not at liberty to explain, but please believe me when I say that no one here at the estate is trying to trick you or do you wrong. We want the best for you. The secrets we’ve been keeping aren’t related to you, and your wife was caught up in this by accident. We’re keeping secrets so you can remain safe.”

  Helian nodded, and I felt her presence disappear.