The doors to the Queen's audience chamber loomed higher than Charlotte remembered, carved with authority and sealed in silence. Two guards stood rigid on either side as Prince Adrien halted beside her.
"Do not speak unless you are spoken to," he said quietly. "And whatever happens, do not lie." Charlotte nodded, her throat too tight for words, as the doors swung open.
The chamber beyond was vast but restrained, stripped of ornament as if power itself required none. Pale morning light filtered through tall windows, catching on the polished marble floors and gilded edges of the walls.
The ceiling arched high above them, painted in muted golds and soft blues that depicted long-forgotten victories and the grandeur of Fairwell's lineage.
At the far end of the room, Queen Isolde sat upright upon a raised chair, her posture regal and composed, hands folded calmly upon her lap.
Her gaze was already fixed on Charlotte, unwavering and precise. She did not rise. She did not soften. She simply waited, the silence stretching like a living thing across the chamber.
"Come closer," the Queen said.
Charlotte obeyed, her polished shoes echoing softly on the marble floor. She bowed deeply before lifting her head at the Queen.
The Queen's eyes swept over her with sharp stillness, measuring not cruelty, but exacting calculation, as though weighing every intention and thought Charlotte might try to conceal.
"You are the maid who attended the masquerade," she said.
"You spilled wine in my ballroom." Charlotte answered softly, confirming both, her voice steady despite the flutter in her chest. "And yet," the Queen continued, "that is not why you stand here."
She gestured with a single, slender hand to a small table beside her. Upon it lay a ring. Charlotte's eyes flickered to it, and she could not hide the instinctive pause in her breath.
The gold was worn thin, its surface etched with delicate, precise markings that caught the light, gleaming faintly like a secret in the morning sun.
She stared at it for longer than she realized, the urge to reach out rising within her, though she resisted.
The Queen noticed immediately and inclined her head slightly. "Do you know this ring?" she asked.
Her voice was calm. There was a weight behind the words, an intensity that pressed Charlotte inward, making her feel as though she were standing at the edge of a precipice.
Charlotte's fingers curled lightly at her sides, steadying herself.
"I… have seen a ring like it before," she replied cautiously, keeping her words neutral, careful to reveal nothing. The Queen's eyes narrowed ever so slightly with intriguing expressions that portrays no anger.
Charlotte felt the tension coil tighter around her, the quiet power of the chamber settling over her like a heavy cloak. She could feel Prince Adrien's presence beside her, silent but attentive, and it steadied her only slightly.
The Queen rose slowly from her chair, her movements deliberate, each step a statement of command that seemed to make the room itself lean in closer. "Then you know more than you let on," she said. "Or perhaps you are careful to guard what you do not wish to share."
Charlotte inclined her head, maintaining the balance of obedience and subtle self-preservation. "I would not wish to presume, Your Majesty," she said, her voice steady but measured, "and I cannot speak for what I do not fully understand."
Queen Isolde's lips curved faintly, almost imperceptibly, as she regarded Charlotte with that piercing, assessing gaze that seemed to strip away the outer layers of her carefully maintained composure.
"Careful is commendable," she said.
"but the palace is not forgiving. A single misstep can echo far beyond your control."
Charlotte's heart thudded in her chest. Every word from the Queen seemed to carry the weight of judgment and expectation, yet there was an undercurrent of challenge that drew her in and demanded her full attention.
"You are here because someone attempted to enter my private chambers last night," the Queen said, her tone even but sharp enough to cut through any pretenses.
Charlotte's hands clenched slightly at her sides, suppressing the instinct to fidget.
"A breach of security is no small matter, and yet it appears you were the one they sought, whether by chance or by design. Explain yourself." Charlotte met the Queen's gaze squarely, careful to maintain composure.
"I… I cannot say who approached me, Your Majesty. I only know they were caught before they could do harm."
Her quiet voice, yet carried the weight of truth as she could safely reveal it. The Queen did not move or speak for several long seconds, simply letting the words hang between them, like a scale tipping ever so slightly with each passing heartbeat.
Then she gestured subtly toward the ring again.
"The intruder left this behind," she said. "You stared at it longer than you should have, and yet you remain silent. That in itself is telling."
Charlotte's pulse quickened, the tension winding tighter. She could not allow even a hint of recognition or fear to escape her expression.
"I… I was drawn to it, Your Majesty," Charlotte said, keeping her tone measured. "It is unusual, and I was curious." Her words were careful, neither confirming nor denying anything that might reveal her deeper knowledge. The Queen regarded her silently for a moment, as though weighing the sincerity in her voice, before finally nodding ever so slightly.
"Curiosity is natural," she said. "But it must be tempered with caution, especially in a place where observation is constant and missteps are costly."
Charlotte swallowed, keeping herself upright, her composure intact. Prince Adrien stood silently at her side, a steady presence, yet she felt the undercurrent of tension that ran from the Queen to the walls and back, as though the palace itself was holding its breath.
The Queen's eyes moved to the doorway briefly, as though sensing the stirrings beyond the audience chamber.
"You will remain near my side for the immediate hours," she said.
"If any disturbance arises, you will be prepared to act, but you will reveal nothing about yourself or your intentions. Understood?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Charlotte replied.
She felt the weight of the palace pressing down, the knowledge that each gaze in the hall could be a threat, and the sudden realization that every moment she lingered near the Queen was a test of her composure.