Jonathan sat nervously in a council meeting with his father, Duke Roger, and twenty of the other highest-ranking officials in the land to discuss a dizzying agenda of issues facing the kingdom. Jonathan tried to pay attention, but his thoughts were with the expedition on the other side of the palace.
Alanna was dressed in the same maid's outfit she had used before with the same stack of linens. George wore a palace man-at-arms uniform that he already owned (Jonathan and Alanna decided not to ask why). Myles led them through the halls giving an animated lecture about the history and significance of clean linens. If anyone did pay attention to George and Alanna, it was only to give them sympathetic looks as they appeared trapped by the eccentric nobleman. Faithful trailed along at a distance.
When they reached Duke Roger's room, Myles picked up Faithful, walked a little ways away, and immediately appeared absorbed in telling the cat about the historical importance of cats in religious literature.
George tried a lockpick but instantly dropped it as it turned white-hot and melted. Alanna gave the next try, forcing her gift in and exploring Roger's spell on the lock. She staggered a little with the effort, and George braced her against him while trying the lock again. This time it opened easily under his expert hands.
Once inside, they quickly found what must be the door to his workroom.
"This one may be spelled even more strongly," Alanna whispered.
"Just the lock and door, or the hinges too?" George asked.
Alanna grabbed the ember stone. "Just the door and lock."
"I love it when they make that mistake," George said and immediately set to work popping the hinges.
The thick, heavily spelled padlock kept the door from falling off entirely as George and Alanna entered the room.
Myles continued his loud lecture on linen history as he led George and Alanna right past the room where the council meeting was being held. Jonathan recognized the signal and slipped quietly. The lords barely noticed his exit as they debated using treasury funds for sanitation infrastructure.
"You should see it for yourself," Alanna said quietly as Jon walked past them. "The doors are unlocked."
"Sir Myles, might I take that maid from you?" Jonathan asked. "I suddenly find myself in dire need of clean linens."
"Of course, your Highness," Myles said.
"You know what it is, don't you?" Alanna asked as she and Jonathan looked at the fountain in Roger's workroom with a half worn-away doll resembling the Queen just next to it.
Jonathan nodded.
"There's this too," Alanna said as she gently unwrapped a package containing several other wax figures.
Jonathan felt so many things click into place as he stared at his own image in wax form.
He blew out a long breath. "Thank you for this. Can you get out on your own?"
She nodded, then hugged Jonathan fiercely. "I'm so sorry, Jon. I know you loved him."
"I love Mother more." He returned the hug and handed her her stack of linens.
"Good luck," she said, then left him alone to do what needed to be done.
Jon took a deep breath before walking back into the meeting of noblemen. He walked straight to his father, set the items he carried carefully before him, and then stood at attention.
The room quieted immediately as they all noticed Jonathan's antics.
"What is this, Jonathan?" Roald demanded.
Jonathan stood and spoke loudly and clearly, "I have discovered a grave crime against my Mother, the Queen, and our family. I have just returned from Duke Roger's rooms where I found this figure of Mother under steadily flowing water, and these figures wrapped in a veil."
He unwrapped a small package to reveal wax figures of himself, King Roald, Duke Gareth, Sir Myles, and the Provost.
"Will you explain how this magic works, Your Grace, or should I?" Jonathan asked, turning to his cousin. "Shall I tell them how the fountain in your workroom slowly wears away her life while you kept those who could stop you blind to your machinations?"
"This is outrageous!" Roger sputtered. "Prince Jonathan, surely you are deceived, and this is all an elaborate ploy against me!"
Duke Gareth yelped suddenly after pinching the arm of his wax likeness. "These are no fabrications!" he cried.
"Lord Provost," Jonathan said, "would you and your men investigate the Duke's workroom?"
The Lord Provost got up and bowed to Jonathan and the King.
Duke Roger looked for a friendly face and, finding none declared, "I demand my rights! I demand a trial by combat, myself against my accuser."
Roald grew immediately angry. "The future rulership of this kingdom will not be determined by such a contest!"
The King glanced over at Gareth, who gave a slight nod.
"You may have the combat, but you will face my Champion, not my son."
Roger paled. He was good, but Gareth was better. He searched for an excuse or a way out, but no ideas came. He set his jaw and responded, "Very well. My success will prove my innocence."
"The combat shall take place tomorrow at noon in the Great Hall," the King declared.
The Provost returned just then with gift-suppressing manacles for the Duke. Roger was indignant, and the King started to stop the Provost, but the Provost held firm.
"Your Majesty, we will leave the Duke the run of his chambers, but if what the Prince says is true, you cannot give him free rein to get up to new tricks in the night."
The King still didn't look happy, so Jonathan spoke up, "I concur with the Lord Provost. And for that matter, he must remain in a gift-suppressing manacle for the duel."
"I am not to be unfairly disadvantaged!" the Duke snapped.
"I consent to wear a manacle as well," Gareth said placidly.
"Then it is decided," the King said.
George and Alanna decided they probably could sneak in to watch, but it would be wiser not to.
"Either way, we've won," Alanna told George as they sat in a pub near the palace. "Even if Roger kills Duke Gareth, they'll never fully trust him again. It will be awful if Gareth loses, though. He's a good man."
They didn't have long to wait. Not twenty minutes after the noon bell, Myles burst into the tavern. As soon as he spotted them, he shouted, "Gareth won! Roger is dead."
The whole tavern immediately pressed him for details, and he found himself recounting the five-minute-long duel for everyone present. "They're both master swordsmen, but it's true what they say about Gareth. Roger was far more aggressive, but Gareth waited patiently for his chance, and when he saw it, his cut was so smooth, I almost missed it. Right through the stomach. One minute the Conte Duke was the picture of health, and the next a bloody, lifeless mess on the floor."
When the other patrons finally left him alone, Myles joined them for a drink.
"To Sir Gareth and his sword!" Alanna toasted.
"To Alanna and her wits and George and his tricks!" Myles said, raising his own tankard.
"To the vital historical significance of clean linens!" George finished.
They clinked glasses and spent a very jovial hour reveling in the demise of the Duke.
"Father won't change his mind," Jonathan fumed. "He says he's grateful for your part in saving Mother and unearthing Roger's treachery, but he isn't happy with our methods. When I asked if he would have let us go forward if I had asked permission, he was silent. He knows full well we had no choice in our methods! Finally, he told me that my loyalty to you was admirable but misguided and that no matter how impressive you are, he won't change his mind."
"Thank you for trying, Jon," Alanna said sadly.
"You've saved me and now Mother. You revealed high treason. You're worth ten of any other knight we have!" Jonathan said as he paced.
"That she is," George agreed.
Finally, Jonathan stopped pacing and sat next to Alanna. "Come to Court with your brother. Maybe we can figure out something if you're already there. Maybe not your shield yet, but something."
"Alright, I will."
"Good. I have to get back. There's so much happening now with Roger gone, but I had to tell you. I'll come back to see you when I can."
He swept out of the room, leaving George and Alanna alone.
"Just like that, you're going?" George demanded.
"I guess so," Alanna replied.
"Months of agonizing, and Jon says one word, and you snap to a decision?"
"Yes. Prince Jonathan, who I have sworn my life and obedience to on multiple occasions, gave me an order, so I'll obey. I thought you knew that's how this works."
"And so you'll go back into that den of pretenders who can't even appreciate you when you save their Queen? My people appreciate you when you haven't don't half so much for them. Choose me, Alanna. Choose the future that I can offer you."
Alanna looked at the floor. "It isn't just Jonathan. I had already decided to go back to the palace." She looked up at him and continued, "I'm so tired of lying about who I am. That 'den of pretenders' is the only place where I can stop pretending. But that doesn't mean that I'm giving you up."
George shook his head. "So I'll be your kept thief on the side."
"That isn't fair, and you know it!" Alanna shot back. "Nothing needs to change between us. I don't want it to!"
"It will, no matter what your intentions. You know it as well as I."
"I love you, George," Alanna whispered. "That still terrifies me, but I love you. And I'm fully willing to do what it takes to make this work. I'm just not willing to give up who I am or the vows I've made to Jonathan."
George looked at her, torn between clinging to anger and accepting the gift she had just offered him.
"Lass," he said, finally taking her into his arms, "I'm yours, no matter how difficult you make it for me."
"I'm yours, too. I have to be Jonathan's first, but that doesn't mean I'm not yours."
