"I know someone in the king's household who could tell us!"said Deimos.

"Only what exactly do we need to know?"Phobos pointed out.

"Um…well, everything."

"But we have to start somewhere. Everything there is about the Earl of Jarl himself? There might be something about him or his daughter, or wife, or any other relatives he has that might not be very pleasant."

"Wait!"Deimos exclaimed. "We should start by finding out if the earl's daughter still is his mistress."

They looked at each other uneasily. It wouldn't do if they had sounded so confident.

"She might not be. And Her Majesty may be right."Deimos continued. "He may just keep more than one mistress, too. We'd have to dig them out one by one and have them banished from court."

"If he's anything like Her Majesty's father, then there might not be absolutely anyone left at court."said Phobos. "Not from the most noble lady to even the lowliest laundress or scullery maid."

"Mama would still be there!"Deimos said indignantly.

Their mother had also been Rei's governess.

"Well, she would, but you know what I mean."

"What a stupid and idiotic thing to do, Izolda!"Eckert yelled at Izolda. "To be stirring up trouble!"

Izolda dismissed her ladies.

"She'd have found out anyway. Sooner or later. Better sooner, I say."she answered.

She was only sorry that Rei had not been upset enough to have clawed the girl's eyes out then and there. Izolda could certainly tell that she was angry enough. It seemed, however, that she was too well bred to have done such a thing. It didn't look like she would make a fool of herself.

"Now how are we going to solve this problem!"

"I don't see how there is any problem."said Izolda. "Like I said, she would have found out anyway. It's not like it's possible to keep secrets here."

"I would have preferred she found out later than sooner. I'm sure Jadeite will think so, too! He's not exactly thrilled that she's been upset since the ball, you know. And that was when you told her. Do you have any idea that you might just get us banished from court!"

At this Izolda turned.

"What?"

That was something that had never occurred to her.

"Let's hope she doesn't think to tell Jadeite that you were the one who pointed her out. If she doesn't say anything, perhaps it will seem as if she found out through gossip. Then it wouldn't make any difference, let's hope. If my cousin thinks you're deliberately stirring up trouble, we might consider ourselves lucky if we're only banished from court."

Banished from court?!thought Izolda. What Eckert said might just be right. She had been very stupid to have acted as she did. Now she really wished she had said nothing. What if Jadeite did find out that she was the one who had pointed the earl's daughter to Rei? She told herself that she would definitely find a way to fix this.

"How long do your and Izolda's quarrels last?"Jadeite asked Eckert.

Eckert would never tell Jadeite what Izolda had done.

"I guess it depends on what it's over. And some have lasted quite a long time, and others haven't."he answered.

"Then I might have a better idea if I knew what it was about."he looked puzzled.

"That might just be something you will never know."Eckert told him. "I've been married longer, and I still haven't!"

He certainly hoped Jadeite would never find out.

"Those ladies of hers, Phobos and Deimos,"Jadeite remembered. "They might know."

"No!"Eckert stood up.

Jadeite stared. It wasn't like Eckert to look so upset at all. His goblet hit the floor, and he stood up.

"I mean, er, no."Eckert sat down again. "I don't think that's such a good idea. They might not know anything, or if they did, they wouldn't be likely to say anything. You just wait a little longer, and she'll get over it."

At least he hoped she would get over it soon. And that those girls, or anyone for that matter, didn't know how she had found out.

Izolda walked to Lady Jarl's rooms. Lady Jarl was surprised to see her.

"Lady Izolda!"

"I'm here because I want you to join my household. I will offer you the post of one of my handmaidens."she said.

Lady Jarl stared. Just like that?she wondered. She had inherited her position at court from her mother. Her mother had served the old queen. When the king had married, she had hoped to join the new queen's household, but she had not been chosen. Others had been chosen, but she hadn't.

"I know you would have liked to serve the queen instead. Who wouldn't? It's obvious, however, that that isn't going to happen. At least not anytime soon. I am going to dismiss one of my handmaidens and give you her position."

"You're dismissing someone? For me?"

"Yes."

This rankled Izolda. She was only allowed a certain number of attendants. As queen, Rei was allowed as many as she liked. But dismissing someone for this girl would be to her advantage.

"You might even be able to win the king's favor again, you know."

At this Lady Jarl turned to give Izolda her full attention. After a few minutes, though, she shook her head.

"No, Lady, you know that's not so. Not since he became king. He did make that quite clear. I was his mistress when he was still crown prince, but after he became king,"she sighed. "He basically dismissed me. You know that as well as I, and everyone else does."

"I can promise you, that soon you'll be back in the king's favor."

Lady Jarl stared at her.

"You know men never remain faithful."Izolda told her. "You would just have to bide your time."

"I just heard that a little earlier, that Lady Izolda was seen coming out Lady Jarl's rooms."

"Hmm?"

Phobos was arranging Rei's correspondence, and Deimos watched, having just returned from the quarters where the maids of honor slept. Deimos grabbed the pen from her hand to get her sister's attention.

"Now I'll have to start this all over again!"

"Yes, well, now that I've gotten your attention, that Lady Izolda was visiting Lady Jarl."Deimos repeated.

"That doesn't bode well."said Phobos.

"No, it doesn't. Those two together can only be up to no good. Only what would that no good be? Oh, and I did find out something else. You see, she wasn't his only mistress."

"That could only have been to be expected."sighed Phobos. "And eventually, I guess Her Majesty will find out. Still…but perhaps she won't take it as bad as she did the first time. It was surprising. But did you find out if any of the others are still here? At court?"