* * *
Maliar read over the note Ambaratodil gave her. "This is not what I asked them to do."
The underhill shrugged.
"I told them to hold her, not to give her to Cliodna."
The underhill gestured at the seal on the letter.
"Yes, I know that I can't dispute the Queen. This should never have been brought to her attention in the first place."
Ambaratodil tilted his head slightly and picked up one of the books on her desk. He opened it to a certain page and pointed to the letter that she had left there.
"No, not yet. The Queen doesn't need to know I have that yet. Or ever."