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“I don’t care,” Ba Re’ said without a bit of emotion. “We have a visitor,” he announced, pushing her into the room ahead of him.

“Mirilla, where have you been dear? Everyone is looking for you,” Eula said, gracefully rising from her seat.

“I was waiting for you. When I realized how long it had been and you’d not returned, I decided that I’d go in search of you to make sure you’re okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Eula asked.

“Well, everyone has heard about last night. I knew you’d be upset and I wanted to be available for you, as I usually am.”

“So you went to my sitting room to wait for me,” Eula said.

“Yes, Sovereigna.”

“It was very thoughtful of you, and also very apropos,” Eula said.

“Why is everyone searching for me. Why are the warriors treating me as though I did something wrong?” Mirilla asked.

“Didn’t you?” Quin stated, more than asked.

“Well, no. Not intentionally anyway,” she said, rattled and beginning to ramble.

“Not intentionally?” he demanded. “What did you not intentionally do?”

“It’s not as much of an issue as it might have been. I’m sure it will turn up!” Mirilla said worriedly.

“What are you talking about?” Quin half-shouted.

“The passkey. I know it was on my dresser. But then it wasn’t. It’s definitely in my bedroom somewhere.”

“Mirilla, you lost your passkey?” Eula asked.

“Yes. I’ve been using a spare.”

“When did you lose it?” Eula asked.

“Night before last. I put it on my dresser and got into my cleansing chamber. When I got out, it wasn’t there. I know I should have told you, but I’m sure it’s in my rooms.”

“Mirilla, the attack from last night was almost successful because they were able to slip in quietly. Like they had a key,” Eula said.

Mirilla’s eyes widened and her hands flew up to cover her mouth.

“Oh, I suppose you’re going to pretend that it wasn’t your key that was used,” Quin asked.

“I was sure it’s in my room,” she said again, but not so confidently this time.

“And next, you’re going to tell me that no one knew you were able to get into our residence without having to go through the front doors,” Quin snapped.

“I told no one, Sire! Only Chairman Bartholomew knew of my use of Au’revele’s quarters to gain access to this residence.”

“The guards knew. And they’ve already been questioned regarding their observance of it and their decision to not react to it,” Quin said. “They admitted they were aware you were using Au’revele’s quarters to gain access to our residence. But because they were told that you were to be granted access to our residence at will as long as Chairman Bartholomew was here, they didn’t stop you. I knew you’d been given access to our residence and didn’t have a problem with it because I knew you were visiting Bart. What I didn’t know was that you preferred to access someone else’s quarters, that you had no right to be in. What I don’t understand is if you were able to walk through the front door, why would you continue to establish a habit of being seen going in and out of Au’revele’s quarters? It makes no sense to me unless you had other motives.”

“I didn’t know I’d been seen. And the only motive was privacy, Sire. I was trying to keep the fact that I’d been here unknown.”

“You failed. And I think you knew you failed. You wanted them to be used to seeing you coming and going through Au’revele’s quarters so that when the time came for someone toattack my son, the guards would not think twice about the attacker slipping in through our nanny’s quarters,” Quin shouted.

“It’s not true!” Mirilla cried, only then allowing her gaze to travel the room until it landed on Bart, who stood there quietly watching the whole thing unfold. When he merely watched her watching him, she looked away to see who else had gathered to watch her be crucified. Samuel was there, his kind, yet sorrowful gaze on her, and Sirena Vivian. Yet when she glanced back at Bart, he still just stood there, expressionless, as he watched her being accused, watched her defending herself, and said nothing.

“I wasn’t aware that they knew. I wasn’t aware that anyone but Chairman Bartholomew knew I’d been here.”

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