“Or else … what, dear?” Lady Elianora raised one eyebrow inquiringly, her tone gentle. “Are you really going to attack your own grandmother?”

Rosalind swallowed visibly, but her sword didn’t waver. “You attacked us before. Cordy told us.”

“And you still trust her to tell you the whole truth?” Lady Elianora clucked disapprovingly.

Rosalind traded a quick, startled glance with Giles.

“That’s what happened!” Cordelia found her voice at last. “You can’t pretend you didn’t put us all to sleep and pile us into that awful chest.”

“It was a cedar chest, actually, and a very fine one, too. It’s not as if I had any guest beds to spare in that pathetic little hut, did I?” Lady Elianora’s nostrils flared with distaste. “Your mother’s treacherous misbehavior saw me expelled from court with all of my greatest treasures confiscated. That chest was by far the most comfortable resting place that I could have given any of you! And yet …” Her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t stay inside, did you, dear? You somehow woke up and escaped—only you. Haven’t Rosalind and Giles found themselves wondering how that could have been?”

“It was because I didn’t trust you.” Cordelia gritted the words through clenched teeth. “Connall told me that was why the spell couldn’t hold me as long as it held the others.”

“Oh yes, you were remarkably untrusting from the beginning—which was quite unlike the others. I noticed how different you were straightaway. I’d guess that they must have seen it, too, by now. Haven’t you, my dears?” Lady Elianora tilted her head, her voice confiding. “Surely there’s been something just a bit … off … about your unfortunate sister from the very beginning. Little hints you might not have even let yourself understand, like—”

“Enough!” growled Rosalind. “We won’t stand here and listen to you insult our sister.”

Cordelia let out a shuddering breath of relief …

“No.” The word fell from Giles’s lips like a heavy stone into the shadowy space between them. “I want to hear Cordy tell us the truth herself—and I’m not waiting any longer.”

Cordelia couldn’t remember a single day of her existence when she hadn’t looked into Giles’s dreamy blue eyes and known—no matter how much they might bicker along the way—that she was absolutely accepted by him.

Now, her sweet, impractical triplet brother looked at her as if she were a dangerous stranger … and he took a step away from her. “I want to trust you with the truth,” he said quietly, “but Grandmother’s right. I can’t.”

“Giles?” Rosalind frowned, her sword lowering. “What are you doing?”

Between them, Lady Elianora didn’t say a word … but Cordelia could actually feel her smile.