Raymond stood before his mother, face beet red and veins bulging. "That women tried to have Emily killed, and now you want to reverse her banishment? Do you have any care for the face of the royal family?"

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Must I explain again the reasons why the charges are suspicious? The investigator has confirmed that there was no overlap between items that are provably Alice's and items that were incriminating."

"But they all saw Alice there. Even the inn keeper confirmed that she was the only one to enter that room."

"Did they? Her hair and eye colour are rare indeed, but hardly unique. I don't doubt that I could find someone sufficiently similar to give a matching description if I searched the capital. Indeed, that is how these things are normally confirmed, by placing the suspect in a line up along with people of matching descriptions, and asking the witness to pick out who they saw. Which we now can't do, because you insisted on punishment before confirming it was warranted. In fact, would I not be correct in assuming that you yourself do not fully believe in Alice's guilt, and that it simply formed an excuse for you to convince your father to be rid of her?"

"How... How dare you. What are you implying?"

"I am not implying anything. I simply mean what I said." Isabelle was deeply frustrated. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that the combination of Raymond and Emily must not be permitted to ascend the throne. The damage to the kingdom would be immense. Isabelle had to admit that even the combination of Raymond and Alice was looking like a risky choice. At the time of their engagement she justified Raymond's behaviour as that of a small child who didn't know better, and that he would eventually mature. That hadn't happened, and Robert was clearly better suited to be king. Robert's fiance Kari was inoffensive enough, but she was a princess of Ofbar, a foreign kingdom, and that sort of foreign influence on Slandhaile's politics would be unwelcome even if they were currently on friendly terms. If only she had had Alice betrothed to Robert back then... Still, it was too late for regrets, and Robert should be capable of keeping Kari's influence in check. As long as Alice's innocence could be proven beyond doubt, she would at least be able to use that as an excuse to disinherit Raymond.

Isabelle's train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door. Permitting entry, a soldier walked up to Isabelle and whispered in her ear, before leaving. Isabelle sighed. "Well, that confirms it then. At the time 'Alice' was conspiring with the assassin in the tavern, she was also apparently present in the academy library, witnessed by two teachers and a dozen students, all who know her personally and would not have mistaken her face. I must say that her ability to be in multiple places at once is quite extraordinary. Furthermore, she reported personal items stolen last week. The list of reported items was quite familiar." She smirked as Raymond blanched at the news.

Isabelle didn't add the extra bit of information that the soldier had shared, that no-one remembered seeing anyone matching Alice's description at any city gate or carriage stop. The servants at the Sandoval capital residence had claimed that she had fled the evening before. It was possible she was disguised, but why would she have done so? No-one was pursuing her. She may simply have not been noticed, but that was unlikely given her conspicuous appearance. There was another possibility: Was she still hiding out in the capital? From what Isabelle had heard about the ball, Alice knew well that the evidence against her was suspect. She would also obviously have known her own innocence. Was she laying low, waiting for her name to be cleared? Isabelle considered sending out town criers to get her to make contact, but what would she have them say? Publicly announcing that the king had banished a subject unjustly was not an option. But truthfully, getting Alice back now would be... inconvenient. There would be no reconciling her with Raymond after this, nor could her engagement be switched to Robert without gravely insulting a neighbouring nation, the implications of which she didn't want to contemplate. Even if she was pushed into an advisor role, after her very public banishment then her continued presence in the capital would say everything that the criers wouldn't.

No, it was unfortunate but for the sake of not weakening the royal family the banishment must stand. She wouldn't be able to hide the injustice from Lucy and Denis, and Lucy would certainly be upset, but Denis would keep her quiet if suitably compensated. Alice herself would be the biggest problem, if she truly was still in the royal capital. She could pop up and wreak havoc at any time. Isabelle turned back to Raymond. "Congratulations, you have won. Make sure you and Emily are ready to receive a summons tomorrow morning. Until then, get out of my sight."

Raymond smiled in bliss as he left the room, a view Isabelle considered truly disgusting. Left on her own, she began to draft a message for the criers which Alice would understand, while sounding innocuous to anyone else. She also drafted a note to the gate guards on how to deal with Alice when she showed. While it was true that there was no avoiding Lucy discovering the unjust banishment, she must never discover this. She must always be led to think that Alice had left the kingdom, and was living a happy life elsewhere. Isabelle felt a little sorry for the girl. Such a waste of talent, through no fault of her own.