“I’m so happy you’re well again, Your Majesty” Lady Ketilug smiled as she combed my hair.

  It felt good to be getting ready for dinner in the Great Hall again. I had bathed and now my dies-in-waiting were doing my hair and getting one of my beautiful new dresses ready. Lady Ketilug and Lady Adelheid were in my room to help me get prepared.

  “To think,” Lady Adelheid added. “This will be your first official dinner as queen.”

  “Oh, that’s right. I hadn’t thought about that,” I said. “Virtus must have been so lonely at the dinners by himself, with neither me nor his brother there.”

  There was a weird silence. Then Lady Adelheid spoke:

  “Yeah, he left your seat at the table empty.”

  “Oh, that’s nice,” I said. “He didn’t need to do that.”

  “But on his other side, he had some company,” she said slowly.

  I felt a pit forming in my stomach. I feared I knew exactly what sort of company they meant. I tried to let nothing on and asked as innocently as I could:

  “Oh, that’s nice. Who?”

  “The Duchess of Aloria,” she said.

  “Ah, Duchess Karina.”

  I tried to sound nonchant but my face fell.

  “Have they been spending a lot of time together?” I asked, dejected.

  “Yes,” Lady Adelheid sighed as she soothingly stroked the comb through my hair. “We’ve noted them side by side at various events. They spend a lot of time together in the garden.”

  “And elsewhere? In their bedchambers?” I whispered.

  “Not that we know of,” Lady Adelheid said soothingly. “Perhaps they are just very good friends.”

  Perhaps.

  “There is someone you could ask,” she added. “You know the King Virtus has been spending some time alone with Lady Agatha. We don’t know what they speak about but she certainly knows him better than any of the rest of us dies do.”

  The dinner went along as usual. Although they said Duchess Karina had been sitting at Virtus’s side the previous evenings, this one she was on the far end of the table on the dais. Next to him now sat Duchess Erina, his old aunt.

  I noted that at the end of the dais he had made a children’s table. There sat his younger siblings, Queen Reena’s children, along with the young Duke Jarion and some other children. I shot some gnces at the boy as we ate. Were there some traces of Virtus in his face? I thought I detected some, but it was so hard to tell, since he looked like a pure copy of his mother. Virtus went over to speak to the children a few times. They were happy to talk with him.

  During the dinner we made pleasant conversation. The situation still felt strained, with Plinius gone. Virtus was nice, but solemn and stressed. I noted that Titius really was not in the crowd. I would have to find out if there was any gossip about this matter.

  ***

  After dinner Virtus needed to speak with his advisors in the king’s office, so I waited for him in his library, reading a book about the history of Medora. Slowly the door opened. I perked up, only Virtus would enter without knocking. I was confused when I saw the silhouette of a woman entering the library.

  “Hello?” I said from my seat near the firepce.

  The woman sprang up. Although there were a few candles around I couldn't see her face. I could guess who it was though.

  “Your Majesty,” Duchess Karina said flustered. “I thought you would be in bed by now.”

  “So you decided to come to my husbands library, Duchess Karina?” I sounded bitter.

  “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I’m only here to return a book that he lent me.”

  She held up a book.

  “Come here,” I told her forcefully.

  She did as she was told. Her face appeared slowly to me as she walked into the light of the firepce. She looked genuinely remorseful. Her striking features did not match with her puppy like downcast face.

  “Sit down,” I told her and gestured to one of the chairs opposite me.

  She did as she was told.

  “You’ve been spending a lot of time with my husband tely,” I said coldly.

  “Only as a friend, I can assure you, Your Majesty,” she interjected.

  “Oh I’m sure.”

  My voice was so bitter it poisoned the air in the room.

  She sighed.

  “You can be sure, he only wants you,” now her voice was breaking.

  “Well maybe then you should stay out of his rooms, have a servant bring the book back. Don’t come sneaking around here hoping you can find him alone.”

  A tear started to roll down her cheek.

  “He’s my best friend,” she whimpered. “I just want my friend back.”

  I paused, taken aback by the sudden dispy of emotion by the usually composed and calm duchess.

  “What do you mean, friend?” my voice was still quite acidic. “You were sleeping with him, and he told me as much.”

  “He’s my best friend too. He’s the love of my life,” the words burst out of her mouth like a river bursting through a dam. “We’ve known each other as long as we’ve been alive. My father used to work for the old king, and I lived here in the castle. We studied together, pyed together. We would sit together as his mother told us old Pyrrhan folk tales. As soon as I knew what love was I knew I was in love with him.”

  I sat with my lips pursed. Why was she telling me all of this? It seemed like she was genuinely unable to stop herself. I wished I had a gss of wine to down with this story, but if I moved to get one surely the spell would be broken and she would stop speaking.

  “He didn’t think of me that way at all for the longest time, I guess boys develop more slowly in that regard. We finally had our first kiss when we were sixteen. Soon after that we slept together for the first time. He even spoke about eloping with me a few times, and leaving Plinius to be king, but I don’t know how serious he ever was about it. My parents were so happy when my marriage to Duke Marvon was arranged. He was quite above our status, and I do believe the king had it arranged to get me away from his son. So to make my parents happy, I went along with it. His former wife had died and they had no children.”

  Her eyes looked deeply into mine, she was searching for my understanding. My bitterness faded into sadness. She continued:

  “I was so lonely, those first nights. The duke was nice enough, but he was just not very smart or interesting, and he was so much older than I was. I was so incredibly happy when I could go back to visit the capital and be with Virtus again. I thought nothing would ever truly separate us. Even if he married too, we would remain together in secret. Even the night before his wedding I believed it.”

  “The night before his wedding? The night before our wedding!” I corrected her.

  “How do you think I feel!” she burst out, her face contorted into a grimace, tears running down her cheeks. “I was with him for years! A decade! We probably have a son together! A few months with you and now it’s all over. I’m barely even allowed to be his friend. He needs me! He’s grieving!”

  “He doesn’t need you any more,” I said coldly. “He has me again.”

  I snapped up and went to his bedroom, leaving the duchess slumped forward on the plush chair where she sat.

  As I entered the bedroom I felt a little guilty. She did love him, I could tell. It was not her fault that life had not shaken out in her favour. Perhaps he would have been happier with her than he was with me.