When the last of the spiderlings had flown, the room felt emptier.

The little ones had been small, but their innocent presence had carried a weight greater than their size.

"What was the situation outside, Goldie?" Frederick asked softly, breaking the silence. "We have to think about what to do next. Leaving a city under siege is difficult, even for diplomats."

Oh, outside, the public was distraught…

The spider trailed off. What Frederick had said about the reaction reminded Goldie that she still needed to tell Carolien what had happened. The Queen's reaction was something the spider had been dreading.

Well, that's to be expected, Samson sent. Hopefully the Royal Family has some contingency plan for this situation. We don't have to rush to leave, necessarily, right? We can wait for the outside to settle a bit?

"The Empire will have its spies still within the city walls," Frederick began.

I need to tell the Queen what happened, Goldie transmitted at almost the same time.

"The Queen does not know?" Frederick asked. He reacted with a quickly suppressed alarm. "How were the guards acting when you returned? Has anyone been behaving suspiciously? The Queen and her family may be in danger."

You're thinking about spies inside the palace? Samson asked.

Frederick nodded.

Adon and Rosslyn purged them, Goldie sent.

The young lord looked relieved but not relaxed.

"That is good to hear, but you never know if some might remain in a position they did not think to consider…"

Thank you for bringing that up, Goldie sent. Would you take me to the Queen, then?

If you hadn't mentioned it, maybe I wouldn't have been able to make myself confront her, she thought quietly. How do you tell someone you killed her husband?

Frederick nodded and picked Goldie up, and he added Samson to his other shoulder when the younger spider wordlessly raised himself up to be grabbed too. Then the trio set off down the hall.

They had only been walking for a minute when the distant shape of Carolien, moving through the hall, rushed toward them.

I'm not ready! Goldie thought.

"Frederick, do you know what is happening outside?" the Queen asked. Her eyes darted to the young lord's shoulders a second after she spoke, and Goldie saw the look of recognition and shock dawn in her eyes. "You… What are you doing back here? Where is Alistair?!"

All the words came out of Goldie in a rush, the Queen's genuine anxiety overriding the little bit of rehearsal the spider had done.

I'm sorry, he's dead! Goldie sent. He collapsed in the middle of the city, and everyone saw it… His body couldn't handle the stimulation from my venom along with whatever the Empire poisoned him with. Everyone will know what happened to him soon, so the Empire is probably going to continue its attack. I know he would have wanted me to help you get to safety, so please, I'll do anything I can to help you and your family escape the city…

The spider realized she had said a little more than she meant to. "I'll do anything I can" was a very open-ended commitment.

At least I didn't try to dodge the blame, she thought.

The Queen looked staggered for a moment. Her face turned very pale, and tears came to her eyes. Then she took a deep breath and brushed the back of her hand over her eyes.

"We have no time for grief now," Carolien said softly, probably only talking out loud to herself. Her eyes turned back to Goldie, and then the Queen pointed at the spider directly. "You, come with me."

Goldie felt an instinctive fear, but a wave of reassurance came to her from Frederick.

The Queen knows that you are important, and not only to the Kingdom, he thought. Be brave.

Yes, Your Highness, Goldie sent.

"Frederick, could you stay with the children while Goldie and I take care of something?" Carolien asked.

"Of course," he said quietly. "Is it all right if I go and inform my brother of what happened first?"

"Be quick about it, please."

He nodded.

Then the Queen stepped forward, and Goldie made the small jump from Frederick's body to hers. Carolien stepped away, and the two were off.

What did you need me for, Your Highness? Goldie sent nervously.

"You have the same telepathic gift as Adon, right?" the Queen asked.

Yes, Goldie replied.

"There is someone we need to speak with, but I cannot trust her. I need you to tell me if she lies to me. Can you do that?"

I think so, Goldie sent. My Telepathy is not as strong as Adon's, but unless she is very good at concealing her thoughts, I should know what she thinks.

The Queen scoffed. "I cannot imagine that is the sort of thing Matilda ever became interested in. From everything Alistair and Rosslyn have said, and what I have seen, that woman has worn her heart on her sleeve her entire life."

Matilda? Goldie thought silently. Wasn't that the one Rosslyn used to spar with?

But she didn't ask any questions. She was still thinking of how sensitive the situation was, trying to come up with anything at all that she could say to make the King's death a little less unbearable for the Queen. Goldie didn't come up with anything that didn't sound trite inside her own mind, so they made their way through the halls in silence.

They left the royal quarter of the palace and entered less familiar and less elegant halls.

Have I been here before? Goldie wondered. The space did not feel familiar, and the spider could not help but wonder what could be important enough in this area to justify the Queen leaving her family alone and delaying making good on their escape.

They came to a door that led into a private room. It looked like servants' quarters from the outside.

The Queen knocked.

"Matilda, are you in there? Are you decent?" Carolien asked.

That name again, the spider thought.

Goldie, this is the one I need your help to understand, the Queen thought. Will you use all your power and skill with Telepathy… to interpret what she is likely to do if I set her free?

The spider was caught slightly off guard for a moment by the request.

Yes, I will, she sent after she had gotten over that slight hesitation.

Good.

"I am dressed, if you can call the rags your household supplies me with real clothing," called Matilda through the door. "You can come in! I do not relish speaking through walls."

The Queen looked annoyed at being told what to do. Then she did just what Matilda had said.

As the door swung open, Goldie froze on Carolien's shoulder. Matilda had been waiting just inches beyond the door's swing. An eager smile dominated her features. The room's candlelight flickered in such a way as to emphasize a gray streak in the woman's hair. It occurred to Goldie for the first time that the woman they were visiting was of a similar age to the late King.

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"Well, tell me the latest news of the siege," Matilda said.

Goldie sensed a glee from the woman at Carolien's obvious discomfort. The Queen swallowed.

"We should sit down first," she said, reluctantly and without actually moving.

"As you will," Matilda said, practically crowing. "Alistair must be pretty desperate to send you to me. Well, with Rosslyn missing, I can imagine him desperate indeed. Is he begging for my help? I like to picture him on his knees…"

Goldie did not need Telepathy to know that the woman was in a gloating mood.

"You will not sully my husband's good name a moment longer," Carolien said in a tense, cold voice.

"No begging, and no apology, then," Matilda said slowly, her expression gradually changing to one of slight confusion.

"Duchess, my husband, your cousin, is dead," the Queen replied stiffly. "It happened very suddenly."

"What?" Matilda spoke as if she thought she had genuinely misheard.

"Alistair is dead."

"No, no, that—he cannot be. He—the servants have been talking nonstop about how he won his duel with the Empire's champion. He crushed the other man, left him a bloody smear on the ground. What do you mean he is dead?" Matilda's voice rose gradually toward a wild, wrathful panic. "I thought you were coming to tell me that the Empire was not honoring the terms of the duel. That they were still attacking the city… and Alistair needed me to lead the troops."

"He had been poisoned for some months in advance—"

"I knew that much," Matilda interrupted. "The poison had not killed him, though. What is this? You… you would not lie to me about this. Did someone administer something deadlier to him? A knife in the heart is the best poison, I always liked to say. I—I will kill whoever did this!"

Goldie felt an alarm at the rising passion in Matilda's voice. So far, everything she had said was matched by her inner state. She was genuinely wrestling with strong emotions—including a very strange version of grief—at the King's death.

And Goldie was, in some sense at least, the person who that anger might logically be directed at that. A very squishable spider.

"You are… grieving him, too," Carolien said, clearly slightly confused herself. "In your own way. I always felt there was a strange tension in the way he would talk about you. Now I sense something similar in you. Matilda… I came to ask you what you would do if I set you free. Your grudge against the King is no longer a pressing reason to keep you in bondage. I assume you do not hate Rosslyn, though as you pointed out, she is no longer here either."

"Is it not obvious?" Matilda asked. "What I would do? Alistair and I always shared a love of this country. We only disagreed over some policy matters… and the much more important question of who was fit to rule. Alistair was soft inside, even if he was every inch the warrior on the outside. But I will not speak ill of him. I will… remember the man that he was. He was mine to kill, mine to… forgive if I so chose. The Empire has robbed me of those possibilities. Now that he is gone, his eldest daughter is missing, and the Empire is outside the gates, his enemies have become my enemies."

"You would not… join the Empire?" Carolien asked. "If I set you free, and you switched sides right now, I feel certain they would reward you lavishly. You could live out the rest of your days in a position of great honor. And you know they love martial skill above all else there."

Matilda smirked and laid her eyes on Goldie for a moment.

Now I understand why you are here, she thought, clearly aware somehow that Goldie was supposed to be monitoring her with Telepathy.

Aloud, she said, "Take this collar off, put a sword in my hands, and see which side I am on."

The Queen stepped back out into the hall, looked around for a moment, and then called out, "Guard!"

A man in armor instantly ran into view from around a corner.

"Your Highness!" he said as he stepped in front of her.

"I need a sword."

The guard saluted and walked a short distance away, back to where he had been, just out of view. The sound of metal moving against metal could be heard, as if he was sifting through weapon options.

Goldie, I assume you would tell me if you knew of any ill intentions from the prisoner, Carolien thought.

I—I would, but she's—the prisoner seems insane to me, Goldie sent. Her emotions are all over the place. She's aware I'm listening to her thoughts. It's—I can't reliably say anything.

"It is fine," Carolien said quietly. "If she strikes me down, just do your best for my family. We no longer have time to waste in testing her."

The guard returned and presented the Queen with a longsword.

"This one is a beauty, Your Highness," he said. "Confiscated from one of the traitors who the Crown Princess identified before she left."

Carolien nodded and gave him a stiff smile. "Thank you."

She turned to reenter the room. Goldie saw the guard's expression turn to one of alarm as he recognized that she was going into Matilda's chamber. But the man said nothing, only swallowed and marched back to his post.

Yes, yes, yes! Matilda's thoughts were eager and unambiguously pleased. She turned her back and lifted her hair to make it easier for the Queen to get at her collar.

Carolien's hands shook slightly for a moment, but she managed to steady them before she undid the leather.

Matilda turned back around as the slave collar dropped to the floor. She spotted the sword that the Queen had set down as she worked the collar, and she picked it up. She drew the blade and smiled as she examined it, running a finger along its edge.

Yes, this will serve, Matilda thought. A murderous joy ran through her mind.

"Why are you smiling?" Carolien asked uneasily. "You know we are surrounded by enemies."

"Is the joy of taking a breath as a free woman not reason enough?"

Given the way your smile looks, not really, Carolien thought.

The Queen just stood there and waited for the real answer.

Matilda snorted, amused by Carolien's obvious skepticism. "Fine. It is not because I am thinking of killing off you and my young kin, Your Highness. If that was what you were wondering. I know you must be concerned for them, and you probably think you added another threat to the list of enemies out for their blood. But any family of Alistair's is family of mine. No, I am smiling, because this is a day such as heroes and legends are made of. Surrounded by an impossible to defeat enemy force, no allies coming to save us, all hope lost! Or so it seems.

"Enter me. I get to carve my name into the history books today, long after I had given up on such glory. If I had been Queen…" She shook her head and forced her smile to remain in place, but Goldie felt a wave of dissatisfaction from Matilda. It was hard to say exactly what the woman was thinking when her mind was full of such intense emotions, like trying to listen for clear directions over a crowd all yelling different things. "Even assuming that I will fail to save your city—and I do not accept that as my fate!—even then, I will be remembered. I simply have to ensure that the Royal Family escapes the capital alive. As long as your bloodline remains, people will speak of how Matilda, Alistair's great rival, saved the Royal Family of Claustria in its darkest day. Not you, not Alistair, me!"

Her gaze turned distant, her eyes wild with mirth and sick glee.

I'm glad we're pointing her at the Empire, Goldie thought.

"If you do fall in battle after helping us get my family to safety, I will say a prayer for you every night before bed," Carolien said in a humble tone.

No matter why you do it, the Queen thought. All that matters is that you do it.

"I will not need your prayers," Matilda said quietly. "When the Goddess judges me, I will have Alistair beside me to speak on my behalf." Her smile turned bittersweet, and her inner voice became quiet and sentimental for a moment.

It was supposed to be me that killed you, Alistair, the warrior woman thought. Not the Empire. Me. You could not even do that right. It was meant to be you and me, one way or another. This is not right…

Goldie saw a vision—a memory—play itself out intensely in Matilda's head. The late King and Matilda were young in the vision. They stood close together, staring down at water lilies in a pond, so that both of their reflections were visible. Alistair was perhaps seventeen or eighteen years old, while Matilda appeared to be a couple of years younger. They both looked beautiful and powerful, like they could conquer the world together.

And Goldie saw something else. It was in the way the teenaged Matilda looked at Alistair's reflection. Though it was impossible to know from the vision how long it had lasted or when it had ended, young Matilda had been in love with Alistair.

Then the recollection was broken.

Matilda closed the distance between herself and Carolien.

"I assume you know about what is in the—" she lowered her voice—"catacombs?"

Carolien simply bowed her head slightly.

"Good," Matilda said. "Rather than give you the tour, I would rather get some red on this sword. And when you see your stepdaughter again, you tell her that I will come and challenge her for that chair that Alistair and I fought over someday."

The Queen raised an eyebrow. "As you wish."

"Even if I must be incarnated in a new body first," Matilda said firmly.

So much bravado, Carolien thought.

But, whether it was the slight madness of the warrior woman or some deeper knowledge about the workings of the universe than Goldie could comprehend, the spider could tell that Matilda was entirely serious.

Matilda stepped past Carolien and through the door of the room, turned her head from one side to the other, looking down the hall both ways, and then simply started walking.

"Farewell, brave warrior," Carolien called. There wasn't a trace of irony in her voice.

Goldie looked up at her and wondered how much the Queen knew about Matilda's history. The story felt more complicated than what Goldie had absorbed secondhand from the Princess or thirdhand from Adon.

But it seemed there wasn't time to ask those questions just then.

"Let us go, Goldie," Carolien said quietly, her earlier mournful expression back on her face. "We both have to get our children out of this city."

Yes, Your Highness, Goldie sent. She still had Samson to look out for, so the Queen wasn't wrong. But where are we going, exactly? They wouldn't let us just walk out of the front gate, right?

The catacombs, the Queen thought. That was what Matilda was getting at. She was not certain whether I knew, but of course, Alistair made sure that every member of the Royal Family knew where to go in the event of an emergency situation. We must escape now, while Matilda remains alive, distracting them. Her appearance on the battlefield will undoubtedly rejuvenate our people's will to fight. Especially once word spreads among the ranks of who she is. Alistair's cousin. But she has not been in a true battle in years, if ever in her life. I do not know her history with certainty. Given that, I doubt that she can have any more success than any other knight. After the city's new defender falls, our defeat may proceed even more quickly than it had before.

So we have to get out fast, Goldie transmitted.

"Yes," Carolien said quietly. "I just hope that I bought us at least ten extra minutes beyond the time we spent here."

I'll wish her luck, then, Goldie sent.

"So will I."

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