As much as Elise would like to reach the archives as soon as possible, she knows that running will only draw unnecessary attention to herself, and she’s decided she’s already had more than enough of that for one day. Instead she opts to merely walk at a somewhat hurried pace, enough that it looks like she has places to be, but not so fast as to look unprofessional as a member of the staff.

 

Unfortunately, she’s so focused on appearing inconspicuous that she’s barely paying attention to her surroundings, with several people hearing her mutter something under her breath about how fast she was walking before almost colliding with them. Luckily, news of what happened this morning was already common knowledge, so everyone assumes she’s simply still a little out of it as she makes her way to her destination. She somehow manages to make it there without any major incidents, and is greeted with a familiar voice after walking through the doors.

 

“Hey! Glad to see you’re feelin’ better!” Tori calls out from a desk in the middle of the room that’s covered in books and records. Elise’s face lights up upon seeing the princess wave her over.

 

“Thank you for your help this morning, princess.” She begins. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

 

“Oh?” Tori raises an eyebrow before she returns to whatever she was writing before Elise entered. “Let me finish this first, just need a sec.”

 

The princess finishes writing a sentence before putting the quill down and sliding the parchment towards Elise. At the bottom of the sheet is a message:

 

Careful, someone could be listening

 

“So, what’s up?” Tori asks with a relaxed smile.

 

Elise nods, and takes a moment to consider how she wants to go about this. Tori’s right, they can’t be too careful when talking about this sort of thing in the common areas of the castle.

 

“Yes, you see… I wanted to make sure preparations for tomorrow’s tournament were going well.”

 

“Fair enough. It’s a big event, after all.” Tori leans back in her chair. “Not really in charge of the planning myself, that guy from yesterday’s handlin’ it, but if there’s somethin’ specific you’re worried about I can pass that on.”

 

“Well… I simply wanted to make sure that the stadium would have enough seating for everyone. I’ve heard that the queen and Sir Percival were both planning to be there, you see, and it would be a shame if the people running the event were unprepared to welcome them.”

 

“I see, I see…” Tori nods thoughtfully. “Anythin’ else you wanted me to pass on?”

 

“No, that’s all.”

 

“Right, well I’ll let him know. Thanks for the heads up, Elise.” Tori gives a thumbs up.

 

“Of course, your highness.” Elise says with a satisfied smile, glad she was able to find some way to contribute.

 

The maid can breathe a little easier now, and takes a moment to look at everything scattered across the desk.

 

“What have you been working on here?”

 

“Oh, this? Been reading through financial records, how much the castle has been collecting from the townsfolk as tax and all that. Figured it’d be good to know where things are at so I can start making changes when I take over.”

 

“Right, you’ll have to manage these matters soon, won’t you?” Elise is impressed that Tori has even had time to think about this sort of thing between the competition tomorrow and planning how she’s going to make sure the coronation is carried out smoothly, let alone study it to the extent she already has.

 

“Well, won’t be doing it all by myself of course, there’ll be people to help with that sort of thing, but I wanna make sure it’s all being done properly.”

 

“Indeed…” Elise can’t help but feel a little deflated, she had assumed that all the work the princess had been putting into her physical prowess and leadership skills would leave an opening for her to learn to handle the administration focused and intellectually taxing aspects of ruling once they were both queens, but it would seem that Tori has already surpassed her in these field as well. But if that’s the case, what would Elise be doing once she becomes queen? She scans over the contents of the desk once more, wondering whether she’d even be able to understand a lot of what’s written within the documents, when she notices a particular book that seems to stand out, and picks it up.

 

“What is this book doing here?” She asks, opening it up. This book seems to talk about myths and legends from various kingdoms, Elise isn’t sure why it’s mixed in with all these financial records.

 

“Oh that?” Tori says with a chuckle. “Just some light reading for when I need a break, this ain’t exactly the most excitin’ work.”

 

“I suppose I can’t blame you, I’m not sure I would have been able to read through all of these if I was in your shoes.”

 

“Yeah, lot of work to do when you’re the queen. But hey, all part of the title, right? Best to start doin’ what I can now.”

 

“Of course, and do let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

 

But someone else enters the archives before Tori has a chance to answer, one of the women from her mercenary group.

 

“Oi, Boss!” She calls out, jogging over. “Got some big news for ya!”

 

“Oh, what’ve we got?”

 

“Was just like you said, boss. You see…” The mercenary starts whispering into Tori’s ear, who listens attentively as a smirk starts to form on her face.

 

“Well then… It’s all there?”

 

“All ‘e had left, yea.”

 

“And he’s still in town?”

 

“Seems like ‘e’s gonna be ‘round for a while at least.”

 

“Well let's not waste any time just in case.” Tori says, getting up from the desk. “Sorry to leave so soon Elise, a smithy in town has offered to make me and my mercs some new gear, gotta run into town and seal the deal. It’ll be a good chance to go around remindin’ everyone about tomorrow too, want as many people as possible there to see my crew in action. Not sure when I’ll be back so don’t feel like you hafta wait for me, ‘kay?”

 

“Of course, I have other duties I can attend to.” Elise is somewhat disheartened to have her time with Tori cut short, but it’s not like she didn’t know that their private time would be somewhat limited this week. Once the throne is secured and the council isn’t breathing down Tori’s back they’ll be able to spend more time together.

 

“Thanks for understandin’. Probs won’t see you ‘til tomorrow, so make sure you get some rest tonight, yeah?” Tori starts to follow her mercenary out of the archives.

 

“I will, we wouldn’t want a repeat of today, after all.” She replies with a bow.

 

“Oh, and Elise.” The princess stops one last time, and turns back to her maid. “The competition isn’t happening till the afternoon, so I’ll be sleepin’ in tomorrow if that’s okay with you.” She says with a wink before departing.

 

“Of course, I’ll make the necessary preparations.” Elise does her best to mask her grin, even if today didn’t quite work out, she’s glad she has something to look forward to tomorrow.

 

---

 

Not too long later, on the highest balcony of the castle, Queen Izabelle quietly watches the town below as the sun sets. Only when someone approaches from behind does her gaze move elsewhere.

 

“Did you do as I asked?” She asks coldly.

 

“Y-Yes, your majesty...” The man nervously replies. “I followed your orders to the l-letter.”

 

“Then what do you have to report?”

 

“I-I’m… I’m afraid there’s not much, your majesty. Everything came back clean.”

 

The queen turns around with fury in her eyes. “What do you mean it came back clean? This is just one of many reasons you’re not on the council, archbishop. Must I have Sister Elizabeth step in to handle the matter?”

 

“N-No your majesty, I swear I double checked everything! There’s no need to bring Elizabeth into this!” Archbishop Samel explains, sweating bullets.

 

The queen’s eyes narrow. “Are you sure you did everything right?”

 

“Y-Yes, your majesty, I’m certain! I brought the princess to the tailor and had her stand on the platform that Professor Levenne installed that device in, the device started studying her and I wrote down all of the runes that appeared on the side of the platform.”

 

“And what did the runes say?” Her piercing gaze not leaving the man.

 

“That’s just it y-your majesty, they said that everything was normal, there wasn’t a trace of magic on the woman!” He says, starting to get worked up.

 

“You saw her, didn’t you, Sammel? A person doesn’t just change like that in two short years, she may as well be a different person entirely! She used to be so small and docile, exactly what I needed in a figurehead of a future ruler, now she’s some hulking brute that refuses to listen to a word I say! I don’t know if she did it herself or if someone else has manipulated her, but I refuse to accept that she got this way without the use of magic. You must have simply misread the runes, I knew I should have had Professor Levenne there to observe.”

 

“L-Look.” The archbishop stammers out. For as little power as he holds in this situation, he still isn’t willing to take a slight like that lying down. “I may not be as well versed in the magic arts as she is, but I can assure you that I’m capable of something as simple as this, even when I also have an entire coronation to plan. That device didn’t detect any magic coming from the princess, no spells, no curses, no hexes, no wards, no blessings, no traces of potions, not even a good luck charm!”

 

The queen finally looks elsewhere, trying to consider other possibilities. “Well, are we certain the device is working as intended?”

 

“The professor assured me that it was capable of detecting every recorded form of magic, and that it would be able to pick up on any spells that had been used to change her, even if they had worn off years ago, so unless you want to claim she’s using magic that even the professor doesn’t know about, I think you have no choice but to accept that the princess got the way she is without using magic.”

 

Her gaze turns downwards. “...What are the chances that she used a body double?”

 

“The only way that would fool the device is if the double shared her bloodline, do you have a second daughter who looks just like her?”

 

She sighs. “Curse it all, I had hoped we’d find something that could be used to discredit her. Elizabeth hasn’t been able to find any information of use from the commoners either…” She takes a moment to compose herself. “It doesn’t matter, there’s enough time before the coronation to find something we can use. If all goes as planned tomorrow we’ll have plenty of leverage, after all.”

 

“Yes, I’m sure you’ll work something out, your majesty. Now, if there’s nothing else you need, I’ll be on my way.” Sammel says before turning to leave.

 

“Don’t get complacent, Archbishop.” The queen calls out, causing him to freeze up. “It may not have been your fault, but you still stand in front of me today with nothing to show for yourself. I only allow the church to continue to exist because it can be of use to me, and nothing more. Do know that if you continue to fail to provide me with results, I won’t hesitate to have you dealt with and leave the church in Elizabeth’s hands.”

 

“O-Of course, your majesty. T-Thank you for your time.” He says before scurrying away.

 

With the balcony to herself once more, the queen turns to face the town again, deep in thought.

 

“A change in approach may be in order, if the princess isn’t going to give us anything we can use against her, maybe someone else can…”