“Please look after her while I’m away.”

  Frost would not ask this of me lightly. I was already looking after Helian as her lady-in-waiting, after all. So, this request meant something different. She was asking me to protect Helian, because she believed her wife would be in danger somehow.

  “Should I take that to mean you believe something is going to happen?”

  The younger Solana nodded. “It seems likely. When this many coincidences occur at once, it means something unfortunate is coming. If I act promptly, I hope I’ll be able to quickly settle things at the border and return to help.”

  Despite her recklessness, she had a sense for these things. It was good to have people around who could tell when a situation was about to take a turn for the worse. “That’s probably the right decision. Do your best to return quickly and safely, then. Please don’t pick up any strange relics or make friends with any demons.”

  Frost groaned. “That wasn’t my fault…”

  “I’ll stay by her side no matter what, so you can rest assured. Don’t rest too long though, we’ll be waiting after all. Oh, and if you meet a dragon in the mountains, don’t try to loot its hoard, okay?”

  “A dragon? There are dragons in the mountains?”

  Why do people think I’m joking when I mention dragons? “Yes, of course. The reason we haven’t mined any of the manastone veins up north is because the first king promised we wouldn’t.”

  Frost stared at me with concern. “Rosa, that sounds like a state secret…”

  I grinned. “It is. If you tell anyone else about it, you’ll be executed.”

  “Does Mother know about this?”

  “All the ranking lords and ladies who manage the border are informed about it. I suppose this is a bit early, but I figured you should know if you’re in charge of the Hunt. Anyway, you should get going. Helian is waiting for you in the third-floor dining room.”

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  “Okay. Thank you for letting me know.” She looked down at the basket I was holding. “Shouldn’t one of the maids be handling the laundry for you by now?”

  “I have business in the laundry room, so I figured I might as well bring it down myself.”

  She smiled and bowed before turning to leave. “Thank you for your hard work as always, Lady Rosa. Tell Julia hello for me.”

  ------

  Julia ran up to greet me with a hug as I entered the laundry room, so I placed my basket on the ground. “Rosa! It’s so good to see you!”

  “Hello, Julia. How are Irving and the girls?”

  She squeezed me tightly. “They’re doing great! Irving is next in line for a promotion at work, and Daisy has started learning her letters. Willow is starting to get good at speaking.”

  I smiled. “That’s fantastic. I’ll have to get Daisy a storybook for her next birthday! You said she likes horses, correct?”

  “That’s right! She talks about how she wants to drive a carriage once she’s all grown up.”

  “If she’s half as clever as her parents, she’ll own a whole fleet of carriages in no time! I must be going, though. I need to see to this laundry and then restock the bottles in Lady Helian’s bathroom… Lady Frost says hello, by the way… Julia, do you know where we keep the shampoo?”

  Julia nodded and pointed me in the direction of the soap cabinet. “We keep it next to the hand soaps, on the bottom shelf. And don’t even think of handling that laundry yourself, that’s not your job anymore! I bet you just wanted an excuse to relax down here because the saintess has you scurrying all over to run errands. Oh, and while you’re at it, you should restock her bath oils too! Those are on the middle shelf.”

  I clapped my hands. “That’s a great point, Julia. I should have thought of that. The Lady Saintess’s mood improves when I add a bit of scented oil to her bath, so I wouldn’t want to run out. She always asks for the same scent, though, so perhaps I’ll just grab multiple bottles of the same one. I suppose it must be her favorite, because her wife uses a matching perfume!”

  Julia grinned. “That’s true romance for you, Rosa. Make sure to put that observational skill to work once you’ve got a special someone of your own.”

  Julia had an excellent point. It occurred to me that I had no idea what Marie’s favorite flower was, and that knowledge would be essential if I ever aimed to get her perfume or bath oils as a gift. I would have to try and coax that information out of Evan or her mother… perhaps Helian would know. She always gets unhappy when I bring up Marie, but I was sure she’d understand I just wanted to pick an ideal gift.