Elspeth grimaced bitterly at the name of the nursemaid who had very nearly managed to turn her into a spoiled, unmanageable monster—and came close to eliminating any chance of her being Chosen.

“Why? You caught her red-handed in conspiracy to keep me from ever getting to be Heir,” she replied with a mixture of amusement and resentment—the amusement at Talia’s reaction, the resentment reserved for Hulda. “Sit, sit, sit! I’m hungry, and I refuse to have to crane my neck up to talk to you.”

“You—you aren’t angry at me?” Talia asked, taking a seat beside Elspeth on the worn wooden bench. “I wanted to tell you I was responsible for her being dismissed, but, frankly, I never had the courage.”

Elspeth smiled a little. “You didn’t have the courage? Thank the Lady for that! I was afraid you were perfect!”

“Hardly,” Talia replied dryly.

“Well, why not tell me your end of it now? I just got it secondhand from Mother and Kyril.”

“Oh, Lord—where do I begin?”

“Mm—chronologically, as you found it out.” Elspeth seized a mug of fruit juice from a server and plumped it down in front of her seatmate.

“Right. It really started for me when I tried to get to know you. Hulda kept blocking me.”

“How?”

“Carrying you off for lessons, saying you were asleep, or studying, or whatever other excuse she could come up with. Catling, I was only about fourteen, and a fairly unaggressive fourteen at that; I wasn’t about to challenge her! But it just happened too consistently not to be on purpose. So I enlisted Skif.”

Elspeth nodded. “Good choice. If there was anybody likely to find out anything, it would be Skif. I know for a fact he still keeps his hand in—”

“Oh? How?”

Elspeth giggled. “Whenever he’s in residence he leaves me sweets hidden in the ‘secret’ drawer of the desk in my room. With notes.”

“Oh, Lord—you haven’t told anybody, have you?”

Elspeth was indignant. “And give him away? Not a chance! Oh, I’ve told Mother in case he ever gets caught which isn’t likely—but I swore her to secrecy first.”

Talia sighed in relief. “Thanks be to the Lady. If anybody other than Heralds found out . . . ”

Elspeth sobered. “I know. At worst he could be killed before a Guard knew he was a Herald and it was a prank. Believe me, I know. Mother was rather amused—and rather glad, I think. It can’t hurt to have somebody with skills like that in the Heralds. Anyway, you recruited Skif . . .”