"I don't understand Agatha." mutters Tedros, sitting cross-legged on his bed in his undershirt. "I don't understand a thing about her."
Beatrix bites her tongue from where she and Dot are tidying the vanity.
"Like what?" she asks tentatively.
Tedros scratches at a stain on one of his gloves. Beatrix can't help but think that, sitting sulking on his bed, as barefoot and dishevelled as he is, he looks his age. Maybe even younger.
"Where do you want me to start? The veil? The gloves? The terrible relationship with her mother? Her... cousin?"
"Odd choice to bring a cousin with her, don't you think?" asks Beatrix innocently.
Tedros shoots her an irritated look.
"Bea, I'm not completely stupid. Sophie has the royal surname, is the spit of Vanessa, and she nearly blurted out the whole thing before Agatha stopped her. A bastard sister for sure."
"She could be lying to make you like her more." points out Beatrix. A little reverse psychology never hurt-
But Tedros just rolls his eyes.
"No, Agatha was too quick to shut her up. Plus, neither Vanessa nor Prince Stefan have- or had- any siblings. Whatever. She's wasting her time, Agatha is the one with the political advantage." he frowns. "And then-"
"Oh, there's more?" snorts Beatrix.
"The magic I can sense off her." Tedros leans forward eagerly. "That's weird."
"I thought you said it was all weird." says Dot.
"Well, it is, but that's oddest. What's all that about? You two serve her, don't you know-"
"No." Beatrix lies calmly. "And even if we did know, we wouldn't be allowed to tell you. We haven't told her about you, have we?"
"...no."
"Besides, haven't you developed a bunch of your own conspiracy theories about her?"
Tedros squints thoughtfully. Dammit. Beatrix hadn't meant for him to start reeling them off-
"Well, at first I thought it was residue from Vanessa. She reeks of it, and even though my senses have been dulled since… you know, the coronation, I can still tell she's taking appearance magic. So I thought maybe it was just that Agatha being in close proximity to Vanessa made it linger, but now it's clear that they hate each other, and avoid one another as much as possible. So I don't see how it can be leftover from her."
"You think they hate each other?" asks Dot.
"Surely you've noticed that the second they're not being directly observed, Vanessa is glaring at her, and Agatha is making snippy remarks under her breath?"
"... fair enough."
"Anyway, I was with Agatha for several hours and it didn't lessen or weaken, so it's got to be from her."
Beatrix is starting to get nervous. She's never known Tedros to be this observant of well… anything, before. Ever. While she doesn't think he's going to be able to make the leap to fire spirit, it's highly likely he's going to either get the wrong idea, or get dangerously close.
At least he's interested in her-?
"And then," continues Tedros emphatically. "I thought maybe she had some kind of medical condition they were treating with magic, which maybe accounts for the veil, but apart from the fact her voice is kind of rough and she coughs sometimes, she seems pretty healthy. Also, I asked her, and she brushed me off. Which doesn't necessarily mean anything, but still."
Beatrix frowns out the window. She's yet to convince Callis to tell her what the deal with Agatha's breathing is, because, sometimes, it does just seem to pack up. But she feels Tedros is right; apart from being on the skinny and pale side, Agatha doesn't seem any worse for wear.
"So," Tedros says decisively. "You know what I think?"
Please be wrong, please be wrong, please be wrong-
"I think she's done a similar thing to Vanessa- you know, with appearance magic? And it's either gone wrong, or worked too well."
He's wrong!
Wait, he's really wrong-
"Um." said Beatrix. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I can sense really strong magic." says Tedros impatiently, like it's obvious. "And both she and Vanessa have it on them. So it makes sense that Agatha's would be for a similar reason to Vanessa's right?"
"Er, I suppose-"
Beatrix shoots Dot a nervous glance. Dot, stood behind Tedros, shrugs helplessly.
"But why would she wear the veil if it had worked?" Tedros leans forwards conspiratorially. "So, I think that it's either gone wrong, and made her look really weird, or it's gone way too well, and she's so beautiful they're worried she'll get kidnapped or something."
Beatrix stares at him. She gets the impression that Dot is trying not to laugh, given she's biting her knuckles. He does look comically earnest.
"I mean, I suppose you could be right." Beatrix says weakly.
His face falls.
"You don't know?"
"I already told you that I can't tell you anything!" Beatrix snorts. "Even if I could, I'm not sure myself."
That's not totally a lie. She hasn't been told what happened to Agatha's face, but she's pretty sure the scarring isn't magical. More like something sharp.
"Would that be an issue?" Dot asks, tossing a perfume bottle from hand to hand. It sounds innocent enough, but Beatrix can see her gaze has suddenly turned flint-sharp. She gets like this, from time to time; aggressively defensive of people. It's admirable that she's already deemed Agatha worthy of it, but doesn't necessarily bode well for her relationship with Tedros, if he answers wrongly…
Tedros just blinks, though.
"Which one?"
"Either." says Dot.
Tedros shrugs.
"I don't care, to be honest. I'd just like to be sure she doesn't hate me, because that'd just be awkward."
"I don't think she hates you." says Beatrix, relieved. Even as she says it though, she realises she's not entirely convinced.
Tedros pulls a face.
"Well then, I wish she'd show it. If you ask me, it looks like she hasn't made up her mind. One minute she's fine, the next she's closing off-"
He shuts his mouth so fast Beatrix hears his teeth click together. She and Dot follow his gaze-
And find Callis stood in the doorway, watching them with an unreadable expression.
Beatrix swears internally. How long has she been there?
"Apologies, your majesty." she says smoothly. "I was looking for Dot or Beatrix, I need help with something."
Beatrix sees her eyes flicker to the fireplace and gets the hint immediately. They probably need to smuggle burnt sheets out for replacing again. She really wishes Agatha would wear gloves to bed like Tedros does.
Then again, maybe Tedros shouldn't.
"I'll go." says Dot brightly. "With your permission, Teddy?"
"Of course." says Tedros quickly.
To be fair, it wasn't as if they'd been doing anything beside gossiping, anyway.
Dot departs with a cheerful wave, which says she knows exactly what just happened and thinks it's hilarious. Callis doesn't change her expression at all.
Tedros swears loudly the second they're gone.
"I'd forgotten that Callis is technically a servant. She can go wherever she wants." he groans. "She'll go and tell Agatha what we were saying, won't she?"
"I don't know if she will." muses Beatrix. She gets the impression that Callis is deliberately not meddling in the relationship- or lack of- between Tedros and Agatha.
"She will." sighs Tedros. "She definitely hates me."
It was hard to deny, though, that Callis didn't seem to have much love for Agatha's betrothed.
Beatrix makes a vague noise of acknowledgement and doesn't reply. She glances out of the window at the sinking sun, then over at Tedros, fidgeting on his bed. The room is colder than it had been before Callis arrived.
"Let's go for a walk." she offers. "You need to get rid of some energy before the sun goes down completely."
They don't get far.
They're only just into the East Wing before Tedros stops dead, Beatrix nearly walking into his back.
He peeks down the next corridor and groans.
"Vanessa and her maids. Hide."
"Wouldn't it be easier to just walk past them-"
Tedros isn't listening, bundling her through the closest door, which turns out to be a disused sitting room. He closes the door and puts his ear to it.
"Why do you want to know what she's saying so badly?" snorts Beatrix, but despite herself, she follows him to the door, and cracks it open just a little.
The sound of Vanessa's heels clicks down the hall, and her voice comes into earshot;
"- it appears that Sophie told her, in a moment of anger, about my original intentions to disown her. Of course, she knows I can't do it now, not with the wedding-" she huffs, irritated- "but I suppose it might keep her quiet for a bit, if she knows."
"Were you going to do it?" asks one of the maids.
"Oh, yes." says Vanessa. "She was terribly hard to deal with in her early teen years. Obviously, all these questions surrounding her… well, she's more trouble than she's worth, isn't she?"
She and the advisors laugh.
Tedros and Beatrix frown at each other. They both know Vanessa has no love for Agatha, but neither have heard her openly disparage her like this before.
"I'm surprised he hasn't called it off, really." Continues Vanessa. Beatrix, peering through the very slightly open door, can see her examining a portrait to the left of them. "She's had a terrible attitude about the whole thing, and she's probably picking fights the second my back is turned."
Beatrix raises her eyebrows in question at Tedros, who thinks for a moment, then shakes his head.
Not all the time. He mouths. Beatrix rolls her eyes. So some of the time, then.
"And then there's the issue of the veil." Drawls Vanessa. Beatrix grimaces to herself. Tedros's eyes widen. Is he about to find out-
"Is she planning on telling him before the wedding?" Asks a maid.
Vanessa laughs.
"Of course she's not. She'd die of shame, and she'd be right to do it. Sophie and I have been making bets on how long the marriage will last, and Sophie thinks that he'll leave her at the altar, the second the veil is off. I must admit, I think I'm going to lose some money to her."
They all laugh. Tedros and Beatrix look at one another, appalled.
"His court has been asking around, about portraits of her." Says someone. Vanessa snorts.
"They're wasting their breath, she's never had one done. I did offer- I said I'd put it up in the Entrance Hall for everyone to see- but she refused me. Don't say I didn't try, hm?"
They laugh again, and start to move away.
Beatrix is white-knuckled with anger, at this point. Tedros just looks confused.
"I'll see how it goes." Vanessa says, voice fading. "But personally, irritating as it is, I'd prefer it if they remained at odds, like they are now. Otherwise, I might have to… intervene."
Whatever the maids say in reply is lost in the fading sounds of heels and rustling skirts.
The second they're gone, Tedros loses his balance, and he and Beatrix tumble out of the door and land on the rug outside.
"What the hell was that?" Splutters Tedros.
"You said you thought they hated one another."
"I did! But that… that was just cruel."
Beatrix, who rather thinks they've just seen Vanessa's truest colours, opens her mouth to comment-
There's a noise at the end of the corridor, and both of them spin.
They're just in time to see the hem of a black dress snap around the corner and disappear.
Agatha.
Following her mother. So, presumably, she had heard everything they'd just heard.
Swearing, Beatrix staggers to her feet.
"Was that Agatha?" Tedros splutters, following her lead.
"I think so."
Tedros looks stricken.
"But that means she'll have heard-"
"Everything." Sighs Beatrix. "Unfortunately, I don't think it's the first time she's heard it."
"But we heard it."
"And that's no doubt why she ran off."
Tedros looks worriedly after Agatha.
"Maybe we ought to follow-"
"No." Beatrix says sternly. "There's no way she'll want to talk about it."
"But we could-"
"Trust me, Tedros." Says Beatrix firmly. "Don't follow her. I'll go and see her later."
She's glad he values her as a friend, not a servant, because he could have quite easily commanded her to come with him, and done it anyway.
But he always seems to forget he can do that.
"That's terrible!" Bursts out Tedros a few minutes later, kicking the door to his rooms open. It's clear he's been struggling to hold in any comment. "Why would Vanessa say something like that?"
"Looks like your theory has some weight behind it." Sighs Beatrix. No use denying it. Better to steer him in a partly right direction than a completely wrong one.
"But which one? She could have meant either. If she was willing to put her portrait up-"
Beatrix, who thinks that was probably just cruelty disguised as kindness, shrugs.
"I don't know."
"No wonder Agatha's so hostile." Says Tedros sadly. "Do you think Sophie really said that?"
"Yes." Says Beatrix, without hesitation, because she knows she did. That fight was parrotted word-for-word in the servant's quarters about two hours after it happened.
"Oh." Tedros rubs his face, visibly agitated. Beatrix grimaces at the brown-ish stains on his gloves. "What the hell am I supposed to do, Bea? No wonder she's rebuffing me, if they're telling her things like that!"
Beatrix looks warily at the frost on the windows, which hadn't been there when they'd left.
"Try and prove you're not taken in by Vanessa." she says slowly. "Make it obvious you're on Agatha's side, not her's."
Tedros nods.
"I need to think of something I can do at the tournament, it's the first public event since she arrived, so-"
He turns towards the sitting room table and his face crumples.
Another goblet has been deposited there, steaming faintly.
Beatrix grinds her teeth. He's already had one today, and there's no need for a second, not when it has the effect it does...
"Don't drink it." she urges.
Tedros looks helplessly at the frosty windows.
"I should."
"Don't be stupid." snaps Beatrix. "Don't drink it."
"But Weatherford said-"
"Weatherford's a meddling git!"
"Good to know you think so highly of me, Beatrix."
The two whirl to find Weatherford stood in the doorway, watching them mildly. Beatrix grits her teeth. If he expects her to apologise, he's got another thing coming-
But he doesn't. He just smiles sadly.
"Besides," he says. "Who are you to stop the King?"
Beatrix turns back to find Tedros picking up the goblet, but she can see his hands shaking.
"Why are you bothering with a second one?" demands Beatrix.
"Well," shrugs Weatherford, "We had some left from showing it to Queen Vanessa."
Panic seizes Beatrix.
If Vanessa knows what it does, then she's going to want to give it to-
"Permission to go to see Princess Agatha?" she asks Tedros. With some effort, Tedros swallows his mouthful and shrugs.
"If you like."
Weatherford draws himself up.
"I don't think that's a good idea-"
"Who are you to stop the King?" mocks Beatrix, and elbows him out of the way on her way out.
She runs the entire way, and by the time she bursts into Agatha's sitting room, she's worried she's too late-
But Agatha is too suspicious of Vanessa for that.
She finds her stood by the table, staring apprehensively at the still-full goblet, and sags in relief.
"Don't drink it." she coughs.
"I don't take food from my mother." says Agatha coolly. Beatrix can't help but notice she's veiled herself again.
"Good." Beatrix snatches it and marches into the bathroom to throw it down the sink.
"What is it?" demands Agatha, following her. "How do you know what it is?"
"It's what you saw Weatherford give Tedros this morning. You don't want it."
"What is it, some kind of medicine?"
Beatrix grimaces.
"Something like that. I believe your mother thought it would be beneficial for you to have it, as well."
"I'll keep my distance from it, then." There's a note of tension in her voice. She must have seen them earlier, then.
"Do." Beatrix shakes her head. "How do you put up with her?"
"Have to, don't I?" says Agatha teresely. Beatrix looks sadly at her.
"You mustn't believe that witch. You're perfectly good-looking, Agatha-"
"Don't, Beatrix." snaps Agatha, beating her hands down as she makes a grab for her veil. "Instead, answer me this. What does Tedros know?"
"Not a lot." Beatrix tells her. "He's got his own theories, but they're not right. Your mother didn't say much he didn't already assume."
"So he knows-"
"No, he thinks you'll be an extreme either way." interrupts Beatrix. "And he can't work out which one."
For a second, Agatha just looks at her.
Then she bursts out laughing.
"He thinks I could be beautiful? Bless him, he's going to be so disappointed-"
Beatrix grits her teeth. She hates how Agatha always does this.
"I don't think he cares either way."
Agatha snorts.
"Admirable attempt, but he definitely does. You know how much time he spends looking at himself."
"That's different." says Beatrix.
"How?"
She can't tell her how.
"...Hard to explain." she says vaguely.
"Hmm." Agatha doesn't sound convinced. Not surprising, given her lack of explanation. Beatrix tries to change the subject;
"He hasn't guessed a thing about your magic, though."
"Oh." Agatha considers this. "Well, that's good. I suppose that's a dealbreaker, too."
Beatrix wonders how Callis hasn't broken down with the effort of trying to convince this girl that not everything about her is appalling.
"Listen," she says. "I'm not going to try and solve all your problems for you, because, frankly, you're both perfectly capable of doing it yourselves. But I'll tell you that he's desperately trying to think of a way to tell you he's on your side."
"He could just… tell me."
"Yes he could, but he's not like that." says Beatrix impatiently. "He overcomplicates. It doesn't matter. Point is, he's not fond of Vanessa either, so if you're going to be able to curb her influence at all, it might be worth actually being nice to Tedros, who currently thinks you hate him."
"This… sounds like you're trying to solve all my problems for me."
"Listen, woman!" barks Beatrix. "You can't hate him! He's not done anything wrong!"
"I don't!"
"Then prove it!"
"I'm going to!" says Agatha desperately. "I'm going to, but I just-"
"No buts! Curb that tongue of yours, for god's sake, or at least direct it so you're not just arguing with him-"
"What are you, my mother?"
"I'd hope not." says Callis wryly from the doorway. "That would make things even more complicated."
Beatrix wheels to her.
"Tell her-"
"I have told her, and I believe she did intend to listen."
Agatha mutters something bad-temperedly. Callis snorts.
"I think she actually developed her own intention to do it herself, though."
"Well, hooray for that." grumbles Beatrix. "Next step, actually showing it. Maybe at the celebratory tournament in a few days."
She's met with silence. Beatrix frowns.
"What?"
"What's a tournament?" asks Agatha.
Beatrix stares at her.
"What's a- you don't have tournaments in Gavaldon?"
"Like… game tournaments? Chess?"
"Um, no. Jousting. Things like that."
"Jousting?"
Oh my god, they don't know what jousting is-
"...you," says Beatrix slowly. "Are about to get an immense culture shock."
Callis and Agatha look apprehensively at one another.
Beatrix brightens immediately.
"Actually, it's a perfect opportunity. You can ask Tedros all about it, he's competing."
This is perfect. He'll come back from his match all tousled and sweaty and, presumably, victorious. Agatha will coyly ask him to explain it to her, because it's not the done thing in her country, and she doesn't quite understand this bit, and because it's so loud they'll have to sit close together, and then-
Beatrix is brought back to earth by the voice of the person who has never done anything coyly in her life.
"He's competing?" asks Agatha apprehensively. "What does he have to do?"
Beatrix grins.