A Battle of Wits
an excerpt

The day before the Festival began, Kieran Lance arrived in Helias.

“Irene!” The shout rang through the court yard, just as Irene appeared. She wore a short blue tunic, allowing her to run faster than her sister, Diana, who appeared in the doorway leading into the mansion, looking murderous.

“Irene!” she shouted yet again.

Irene waited until she was safely behind the fish pond before looking at her older sister. “What?” she said, her tone innocent.

“Where is my necklace? I know you took it! It’s not in the jewelry box where it should be. I put it there last night. I was going to wear that during the Festival.”

“What necklace?” asked Irene, cocking her head to one side.

“My silver and jade necklace – the one that our grandmother gave me three years ago. It’s perfect for the Festival, and now it’s not where I left it. Where did you put it?”

“I didn’t take it,” said Irene.

“I think you’re lying,” said Diana. “You’re always taking things that don’t belong to you. You’re always hiding things. Just ask Moriah about the hair ribbons.”

“Hello, Sir Kieran,” said Irene brightly, waving happily.

Diana looked up, startled. Her eyes grew wide with surprise and she dropped down in a deep curtsy. “Sir Kieran Lance,” she said. “Welcome, good sir. You’ve made it in good time for the Festival. I’m honored that you’ve come. I was unaware of the fact that you were coming.” She immediately looked up and rounded on her sister again, but this time her voice had lowered somewhat. Somewhat. “Where is my jade necklace?”

“I don’t know,” hissed Irene in return.

Ty Wit appeared in the doorway of the house and stepped out into the yard. “Ah, Sir Kieran,” he said warmly. “Welcome, good sir, welcome.” He bowed politely. “We are honored that you could come to join us during this Festival season. Father did mention that you were coming.” He turned to the servants. “Go. Inform the cooks that we have a guest, and he is no doubt hungry from his travels. See that the guest chambers are prepared and the bed made up properly. And go prepare a bath, as he has had a long journey.”

“You don’t need to heat the water for me,” said Kieran. “I can take care of that myself.” If he wished, he could conjure the water himself. “Just carry the tub to my chambers.”

“I know how you value your . . .”

“Yes, Ty, we’ve been over this before,” said Kieran. “Now shut up.” He did not allow his smile to show, but he had missed the Wits.

“Are you sure you don’t know? Did you lose it somewhere?” Diana asked Irene, looking absolutely horrified. “That was our grandmother’s necklace, and you . . .”

“I never touched it,” snapped Irene. “I didn’t.”

Catherine appeared suddenly. In her plain gray dress, she looked nearly invisible. She walked quietly up to her older sister, Diana, and spoke in a low voice. “If you want to know, Diana, you should ask Moriah.”

“Moriah?” said Diana, looking puzzled. “Moriah!” she called in a loud voice.

A moment later, Moriah appeared in the doorway. “What?” she asked. “What’s wrong, Diana?”

“Have you seen my silver and jade necklace? I asked Irene, but she doesn’t seem to know where it is.”

“I’m telling the truth,” said Irene, her hands on her hips. “And what you were saying could hardly be called asking. That doesn’t seem to be the right word. Demanding, perhaps,” she said thoughtfully.

“The silver and jade necklace?” said Moriah. “Oh, I put it back.”

“Put it back where?” said Diana. “And why did you take it in the first place?”

“I put it back in the little jewelry box on your wardrobe, the little cedar chest,” said Moriah. “I only wanted to show it to one of the visiting squires. I was telling him about it, and he wanted to see it. I only took it for a few moments.”

“The silver and jade necklace – all my silver jewelry – goes in the white box on my dressing table, not the cedar trunk on top of the wardrobe,” said Diana, looking exasperating. “You had better be right, Moriah.” She flew into the house, her skirts clutched tightly in both her fists.

Irene sighed and plopped down on the bench that encircled the fish pond. “I told her I didn’t touch it,” she said.

Ty walked over to a tree at the edge of the yard. He placed both his hands on the rough bark. “Hello, tree,” he said in a very polite voice. “Meet my head.” He slammed his forehead against the trunk of the tree. “Oh,” he said, “you’ve already met?”

“I see my children are going out of the way to make my guest welcome,” said the ambassador as he appeared. “Hello, Kieran.”

“Hello, Isaac,” he replied as he looked at the smiling face of one of his oldest friends.