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Bernegilde was very good at setting traps. All kinds of them, from ones for hunting animals to making powerful people trust her. She had known how to make simple hunting traps since her long-ago childhood, but the rest she had learnt under Bernulf’s instruction.
She knew what to say and how to hold herself, so that she might create dozens of distinct personalities. There was something for everyone. She was an artist of deception.
For a woman like Alethea, the woman who was sometimes Bernegilde styled herself towards innocence. She became Elisa, young, exhausted, and out of her depth. Elisa was vulnerable, and Alethea wanted to protect her. She was the perfect trap. Alethea would take her under her wing, never suspecting that she was sheltering a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Alethea would tell Elisa, eventually, a certain amount of the information Bernegilde and Bernulf needed. Bernegilde would find a way to find the rest out. It probably wouldn’t be difficult. Alethea was hardly a cautious woman. When her world came tumbling down, Alethea would never so much as suspect that quiet, gentle Elisa might have had something to do with it. Bernegilde was far too good for any suspicion.