This chapter is set immediately post Queen of Attolia.

Ileia was confused and disappointed with herself for being so. It should not be a thing of wonder that her queen was smiling as they dressed her for the day.

As a general rule, Ileia was happy when Attolia was pleased. However, she knew her queen. Visible smiles from her had always been quite rare when she wasn't wearing them for the court. These past weeks since her engagement to Eugenides, Attolia had abandoned her normal reserved demeanor for temperamental outbursts. It hadn't been pleasant to be on the receiving end of her sudden eruptions of frustration, but none of her attendants begrudged her (though Ileia was sorry to see Chloe go).

Though that emotion had been unusual, it had also been understandable. What Ileia did not understand was why it had stopped. She knew the queen was relieved Eugenides had awoken after whatever had occurred the night all the windows shattered. The security that the marriage treaty would go through, however, did not seem like it should outweigh the prospect of marrying the Thief of Eddis by such a degree that the queen would smile.

Ileia exchanged glances with Aglaia as they brushed and braided the queen's hair, and she saw her curiosity reflected in her friend's eyes.

The same masked confusion appeared in Elia and Iolanthe's faces as they brought in the clothes Attolia would wear that day, and in Imenia's as she and Phresine dressed the queen. Luria was visibly taken aback when she brought in the breakfast tray. The queen raised an eyebrow at her, but reacted no further than that, which was also a contrast to her recent distemper.

Phresine, being the oldest and the most daring of Attolia's attendants, was usually the one Ileia relied on to ask questions when the occasion arose, but today Phresine did not seem inclined to. In fact, when Ileia managed to catch her eye, Phresine only smiled and didn't look puzzled at all.

Finally, Ileia decided that someone had to ask, and that apparently that meant she had to.

"My Queen," she began cautiously, "have you received especially good news this morning?"

Attolia looked up in slight surprise. She hesitated for a moment and then said, "I am told that Eugenides will make a full recovery. His heart is—extraordinary."

Ileia had not known Eugenides heart was ever suspected to be in danger, but she supposed that it was good that it beat true. The queen's answer still didn't clear up her confusion, but it wasn't her place to ask further.

As Attolia led the way out of her chambers, Ileia fell into step beside Phresine.

"You've figured it out, haven't you?" she asked the older woman in a low voice. "Why the queen is so happy this morning."

Phresine smiled and nodded, but all she said was, "And you've got the means to as well. I told you when Eugenides first arrived and we were planning how to make the best of it for our queen: watch them well, and see that he treats her right."

Apparently everyone had decided to speak in riddles this morning, Ileia thought, but she knew it would be no more worthwhile to press Phresine for further details than it would have been to try to do the same with her queen. Phresine and Attolia's answers didn't even seem to match—if the queen was smiling because Eugenides had recovered, it didn't seem likely that she would also be smiling because her attendants were trying to keep him from spending more time than necessary with her.

Nevertheless, Ileia decided to watch all three of them—Attolia, Eugenides, and Phresine—closely and figure out what in the world was going on in the Megaron this morning.

When the queen arrived to visit Eugenides, he was sitting propped up in bed but not looking dangerously pale anymore.

Ileia pushed a chair to his bedside and Iolanthe adjusted the cushions before the queen sat down. Ileia darted a glance at Phresine, but her face provided no clues.

Ileia felt Aglaia and Elia stiffen on either side of her. Looking back to the bed, Ileia could see why. Eugenides had taken the queen's hand. Normally this would have been Ileia's cue to join the others in glaring at the Eddisian interloper. Instead, she looked at her queen's face, and suddenly, she understood.

To most observers, Attolia's face wouldn't reveal much, but Ileia and the queen's other attendants spent more time around her than anyone else. They saw the masks she wore for the court, the masks she wore for them, and, very occasionally, her unmasked emotions. They had spent years learning what subtle cues meant that their queen was angry, unhappy, or pleased. Ileia had always been especially attuned to the queen's rare signs of genuine pleasure, doing her best to increase them.

What Ileia saw hidden in the queen's face now was pleasure like she'd never seen her exhibit before, and more than that, love. Mind reeling, Ileia glanced at Eugenides and saw him smiling unguardedly back at Attolia while still holding her hand. In that moment, Ileia was convinced that, absurd as it would seem to anyone who hadn't seen it for themselves, Eugenides knew what the expression on Attolia's face meant and that he loved her back with all his heart.

She nudged Elia, who was still glaring at Eugenides, and when her friend turned to look at her, darted her eyes to the queen's face and back. Elia gazed at the queen for several moments before turning back, eyes wide. Ileia nodded.

Slowly, unobserved by the queen and the king-to-be, the realization trickled through the room. Luria looked like she might fall over at this unexpected happy ending, and Imenia seemed to be holding back tears of joy.

Only Phresine didn't look surprised, and Ileia thought back to her words, watch them well, and see that he treats her right. Apparently all their buffering measures hadn't been so necessary after all. All they'd needed to do was see.