Ren didn’t share details about her hunch. She said she wanted to wait until she was sure. But she’d mentioned she was heading to the servants’ quarters…

“Rozalind, I’ll be back soon,” Akeylah called over her shoulder. Then she joined the flood of menders who raced from the nursing wing. Together they hurried through the halls, past curious onlookers and Talons sprinting in the same direction.

By the time they reached the maids’ chambers, the doors had been secured. The menders parted for Akeylah, whispers preceding her as they recognized the acting regent and sank into curtsies. At the entrance, Akeylah found a pair of Talons at attention.

“Good news, my lady,” one Talon said in a voice like gravel. “We’ve apprehended the traitors.”

“Who?” she asked, head swimming, still thinking about Ren’s hunch. About the heir.

The Talon frowned. “Lady Florencia, of course. As well as Lady Zofi, who it seems has disobeyed your late father’s wishes and returned despite her banishment.”

“We believe they may have been colluding,” another Talon spoke up. “In the attacks on your father and Queen Rozalind.”

“We have this maid to thank for her quick, heroic actions.” The first Talon stepped aside, and Akeylah locked eyes with a girl she recognized.

Audrina. The girl she’d found in Ren’s chambers. Who had walked with Akeylah to the baths that fateful day, when Ren nearly died. When the heir attacked.

Suddenly, the pieces clicked.

She could still hear the heir’s voice. Saying she knew how to clean up Kolonya’s messes. What if she meant that literally? She’d been stuck down here like Ren, acting the servant, when really…

Akeylah replayed the day Ren nearly drowned in her mind. She’d knocked on Ren’s door, startled Audrina out of bed. She thought she’d interrupted Audrina’s nap. Instead, she realized, she must have walked in on Audrina in the middle of her curse…

Today, Audrina looked even more tired than she had that morning. Unlike that day, however, a tiny smile played at the edges of the girl’s mouth. Barely noticeable. Gone the longer she held Akeylah’s eye.

“I saw them creeping through the corridor,” Audrina said to the Talons, though she kept her gaze on Akeylah. “I recognized Ren—excuse me, Lady Florencia. She used to be my friend; I never thought she’d do something like this.” Audrina’s voice trembled, frighteningly convincing. “I told her she should turn herself in. That’s when she and Lady Zofi attacked me. I didn’t know what to do—I just grabbed the bellpull…”

“You did the right thing,” the second Talon reassured her in a friendly tone.

“Where are my sisters now?” Akeylah asked. It took every ounce of self-control she had to maintain an even-keeled tone.

“In the dungeon, my lady. Sleeping off the effects of the low-dose phantasm venom we used to capture them.”