But whether Evaraine or Leisa, circumstances had conspired to shatter all her careful pretense. She’d called their bluff, and she wouldn’t be backing down, whether by royal prerogative or pure bone-deep stubbornness.
King Soren said it had to be Leisa, so if he didn’t like her way of handling things, he could go for a swim in the moat. His castle didn’t have a moat, but she would almost be willing to dig one just to make her point.
Leisa went to bed after that, unsure what to think and eager to begin the next part of her task. She would, after all, eventually need some time for actual sleep.
Lady Piperell assured Leisa that she would be staying in the rooms originally designated for Evaraine’s waiting ladies, at least until it was decided who would be attending the princess on a regular basis. Leisa need only call out, and Lady Piperell would hear.
Leisa thanked her, feigned a yawn, and fell into the wide, pillowy expanse of her silk-covered bed.
An hour passed before she decided it was probably safe to move about. From the trunk that contained the most personal of her belongings, she retrieved a parcel of books that had been strapped together with overly complicated knots, specifically to deter the fingers of over-dedicated maids. They were easy to remove if one knew the trick, and the books contained no actual pages, only a hidden compartment for Leisa’s clothes. Her real clothes. Her boots were inside one of the trunks that supposedly belonged to her “maids,” along with her dagger and other assorted necessities.
Then she faced the full-length mirror, both relieved and worried about what came next. As she always was.
Leisa’s magic was a mere parlor trick, but there was a very good reason King Soren had always insisted she keep it secret. Once others knew what she could do, they would lose all trust in her. Wonder whether they could ever believe what they were seeing.
There were other reasons she chose not to speak of it—personal ones, scars that cut deep, and pain she kept carefully buried. Who would even understand if she tried to explain?
The chamber was dimly lit, with no illumination but the moonlight streaming through the window, but it was enough. She’d made this particular change enough times, she didn’t need to see the details as clearly.
In the mirror, Leisa gazed at Princess Evaraine and held the image in her mind—her slender body, narrow, oval face, thin-lipped mouth, pointed chin, and wide green eyes. And then… well, she had no idea how she did it. She just did. It was as natural as waking and sleeping, as easy as letting cool water slip down her throat.
The face in the mirror simply changed, and suddenly she was Leisa again—shorter than Princess Evaraine, with sinewy muscles and small, calloused hands. Her eyes were blue, her hair red-gold with a hint of a wave, falling to the middle of her back. Unlike Evaraine, she had a few freckles from the sun, a snub nose, and a stubborn, full-lipped mouth.
Leisa thought her own face looked ridiculous with the brocade dressing gown, so she hastily removed it and slipped into her own things—close-fitting pants and a dark shirt, a leather vest to hold her tools, and supple leather gloves. Her hair was quickly braided and tucked under a hood that was attached to her shirt. When she pulled it low over her face, no one would be able to see much above her mouth.
Much like the Raven.
For some reason, when she thought of him, her hand rose to the pendant that still hung around her neck. She should, she thought, take it off, as it would mark her if anyone saw it. But even as she reached for it, she decided against it. Such a valuable item shouldn’t be left unguarded. And if it stayed tucked beneath her shirt, no one would ever know.
So she lifted it by the chain and dropped the gem behind her collar. It felt strange against her thin chemise, but as the hard edges pressed against her breastbone, it proved less cold than she expected. In fact, it felt almost warm, which had to be her imagination.
Most likely, she was trying to distract herself from what came next, which was finding a way out of her room that didn’t involve using the door.
Leisa’s magecraft and sensitive hearing made her an excellent choice for spying, but she had other little quirks that she knew were going to get in