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Over the past few years, Aly Crow had settled well into her role of spymaster in the Copper Isles. She had her training, her people, and her darkings. She had a great many friends, not to mention her adoring husband and their beautiful children. Perhaps greatest of all, she had a ruler she loved and respected in Dove, who had long been her closest friend. That was why Aly was so surprised to find out that Dove had been keeping secrets.
Aly and Nawat had finally arranged a trip to Tortall. They had long wanted a chance to visit Aly’s home country, both for Nawat to get a chance to see where Aly grew up, but also for their three young children to get a chance to visit their grandparents and see some of the world outside the Isles. Things at home were quiet, and as soon as the spring storm season was judged to be over, the Crow family set sail for Tortall with Dove’s blessing, and Taybur Sibigat’s solemn promise to keep an eye on things.
The triplets were four years old, and quite a handful. Ochobai, Ulasu, and Junim were full of curiosity and mischief, which Dove often teased was exactly what she expected from the children of people such as Aly and Nawat. Aly enjoyed every moment of their trip. It was a peaceful visit with her parents, and wonderful to see her extended family. Aly thought the few short months passed all too quickly. In a way it was a relief when they were back in the Isles, settled in and Aly could be back at her desk again.
From the moment she sat down however, she sensed something was not quite right. A stream of visitors came by over the course of the first morning to check in, exchange information or orders, or just to say hello. It wasn’t until lunchtime that Aly realized that not only had Dove not visited her, but none of her visitors had so much as mentioned the young queen. Aly was instantly filled with suspicion. What had happened during the absence that could have caused this? It was a mystery Aly had to get to the bottom of right away.
--
Aly decided this had to be handled with care. If something was wrong, wrong enough that everyone was avoiding telling her about it. She left her desk for a casual walk about the palace. Dove could often be found reading in the libraries, but Aly saw no trace of her there. She wasn’t in her own office and she wasn’t at the top of her favorite tower, where she could see the entire city and all of the beautiful sky. Aly was now getting a bit worried. Aly finally found Dove in her private rooms, sitting quietly on a balcony, letters in hand, but she wasn’t reading them, instead staring off into the distance.
“Dove, is everything alright?” Aly asked, carefully. Dove turned, looking startled.
“Oh, Aly. What?” Dove asked, seeming rather nervous. Aly felt like her brain kicked into overdrive. Why was Dove hiding away, and acting all shy? This wasn’t normal Dove behavior at all. Aly noticed Dove looked more pale and nervous by the second.
“Is everything alright with you?” Aly repeated with a raised eyebrow.
“Of course.” Dove said, in a too high voice. Aly counted several the most obvious physical signs of a lie and sighed. She’d taught Dove to lie better than this years ago. Eyes darting away, licking her lips, looking startled. What was Dove hiding? This was going to be trickier than she thought.
--
Over the course of the afternoon, Aly questioned a number of people who were close to Dove, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Aly’s working assumption was that Dove had fallen ill, stuck down somehow and everyone was trying to keep it from Aly so she wouldn’t worry. They would be trying to keep something like that as quiet as possible, and it would be a good measure of how strong their security was if Aly couldn’t discover this secret.
Too bad for them Aly was born and bred to discover secrets. She rather doubted she’d be able to return to work at all until she’d gotten this mess properly sorted out.
A trip by the kitchens revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Chenaol said that Dove had been making the best of the summer evenings with occasional and rather simple picnics on the grounds of the palace. Nothing was off about Dove’s eating habits or anything like that. Chenaol seemed to feign ignorance no matter what Aly asked her.
Giving up, she went in search of her long time ally and friend, Taybur Sibigat. He had been spymaster in her absence, surely he would know what was going on. Aly tracked him down, although it took her no less than an hour to do so. Taybur was one of the few people who knew the palace better than Aly these days, and it was almost like he was expecting her to try and track him down. He’d left impeccably clear and detailed reports for Aly, all organized and coded just the way she liked, so she didn’t have much in the way of a good excuse for seeking him out. He was however the most likely person to tell her about Dove, being the head of the Queen’s personal guard.
Aly found him in the guard barracks, the third time she looked there. She was rather cross by this time, and quite sure he’d been making her work for it. She glared at him from the door, and ignored the smirk he offered her in return.
“I want to know what’s going on.” Aly said. She was quite tired of being patient. She wanted to know what was going on with Dove now, no more games.
Taybur just smiled wider.
“Do you now?”
“Yes.” Aly said through clenched teeth.
“Well I’m not entirely sure it’s my place to stick my nose in.” Taybur said, no less pleased with himself. “I’m honestly a little surprised you haven’t figured it out by now.”
Aly continued to glare without a word.
“Look, I won’t say that Dove hasn’t been acting a little bit odd of late, but go talk to her. You’ll see.” Taybur waved Aly off and she grumpily wandered back outside. Then high up on a tower, Dove’s favorite tower, Aly saw a bright shape against the sky. A kite, in the shape of a kudarung. Was Dove... flying a kite? Aly felt more confused than she had all day. Aly made the slow walk up to the tower to find Dove and a young man she'd never met flying a kite and laughing.
Aly felt rather shy, watching them like that, and was about to wander off again when Dove caught sight of her and blushed. A young man turned to follow Dove's gaze and saw Aly as well.
"Oh, Aly, this is Anakoni Besar," Dove said hesitantly. "He's been studying at the university in Carthaki, and has returned to court. He brought me this kite." Dove's tone bordered on desperation, probably because Aly's face had split into a wide grin.
This was the secret. Dove had a crush. Aly had wondered if her younger friend would eventually meet someone she was interested in. A consort, someone to support her and love her. Maybe this little fellow was just the thing.
Giving him a slow once over, Aly saw his skin was just a bit darker than Dove's, and he was just a little taller. His dark brown eyes were serious, but when he smiled, as he was now, it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. From what she remembered about noble family trees in the Isles, he was a middle son and mage of some skill who had gone to Carthaki to study mage craft and weather.
Aly bowed to him and introduced herself before making an excuse to slip away, leaving Dove to her budding romance.