Chapter 80: Chapter-80

“How long?”

Lisa’s shoulders shook. She couldn’t meet Elara’s eyes, staring instead at her own hands twisted together in her lap. The silence stretched—five seconds, ten, fifteen. Each one heavier than the last.

“Lisa.” Elara’s voice was flat, emotionless. “How long have you been reporting on me?”

“Since…” Lisa’s voice cracked. She swallowed hard and tried again. “Since the capital. Before we left.”

Elara went very still.

Not weeks. Not days after arriving in Port Crestfall.

Since the capital. Before they’d even left.

“Explain,” Elara said quietly.

Lisa’s voice was barely audible, each word forced out like pulling teeth. “They approached me a week before your departure was announced. I was running errands in the market district—just normal household tasks, nothing special. A woman stopped me. Well-dressed, noble bearing. She said she had a message for me.”

“What message?”

“That my family was in danger. That my sister owed debts to the wrong people. That my mother was sick and couldn’t afford the physician’s fees.” Lisa’s hands clenched tighter. “She said these problems could disappear. All of them. If I did one simple thing.”

“Spy on me.”

“She didn’t call it that. She said ’observe and report.’ Like it was harmless. Like I’d just be keeping track of your schedule, your activities. Nothing that would hurt you.” Lisa laughed bitterly. “I was so stupid. I thought maybe it was the Emperor’s people, making sure you were safe. I thought—”

“You thought wrong,” Elara interrupted. “What happened when you refused?”

“I did refuse. At first.” Lisa finally looked up, tears streaming down her face. “I told her no. That I was loyal to you, that I wouldn’t betray your trust. She just smiled. Said that was admirable. Then she pulled out a letter.”

“From your sister.”

“Yes.” Lisa’s voice broke completely. “It was in her handwriting. Recent—dated just three days before. It said…” She couldn’t continue for a moment, choking on the words. “It said they had her. That she was scared. That she didn’t know what they wanted but they said her safety depended on me cooperating. There was a lock of her hair folded inside the letter. I recognized it. The same color, the same curl pattern she’s had since childhood.”

Elara processed this clinically. Professional intimidation. Physical proof of access to the family member. Time-sensitive pressure to prevent the target from verifying or seeking help.

Efficient.

“What did you do?” Elara asked.

“I asked to see her. To confirm she was alive and unharmed.” Lisa wiped her eyes roughly. “The woman said no. That wasn’t how this worked. She said I’d receive proof of my sister’s wellbeing every week—but only if I cooperated fully. If I refused, or if I told anyone, or if I tried to find my sister myself…” She trailed off.

“They’d kill her.”

“They didn’t say it that directly. But yes. That was the implication.” Lisa’s hands were shaking now. “I had one day to decide. The woman gave me instructions for a dead drop location in the eastern market. Said if I wanted my sister to stay safe, I’d leave my first report there within twenty-four hours.”

“And you did.”

“Yes.” The word came out as a whisper. “I hated myself for it. I cried all night. But in the morning, I went to the dead drop and left a message saying I’d cooperate. Within an hour, I received another letter from my sister. Proof of life, they called it. She was scared but unharmed. They were feeding her. She said people were being kind to her but she didn’t understand why she was there.”

Elara stood and walked to the window, back to Lisa. Processing.

Someone had planted Lisa as a spy before Elara had even decided to leave the capital.

Which meant someone had anticipated her departure. Or had been monitoring her closely enough to react within a week when her plans changed.

That level of surveillance suggested palace resources. Palace intelligence networks.

One of her sisters, certainly. But which one?

“Who did you report to?” Elara asked without turning around.

“I don’t know. Truly, Your Highness, I never saw anyone.” Lisa’s voice steadied slightly, grateful to move past the confession to practical details. “I left messages at the dead drop. Twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, just before sunset. I’d write everything down—your schedule, your meetings, your purchases, anything that seemed relevant. I’d seal it and leave it in the hollow of a specific tree in the eastern market.”

“And someone collected them.”

“Yes. I never saw who. I tried once, early on. Stayed nearby to watch. But whoever collected the messages knew I was there. I found a note the next day warning me that if I ever tried to observe the drop again, my sister would pay the price.”

Smart. They’d been watching the watcher. Ensuring Lisa stayed isolated, unable to identify her handlers.

“What did you tell them?” Elara asked.

Lisa took a shaky breath. “Everything. Your Highness, I told them everything.”

“Be specific.”

“Your daily schedule. When you woke, when you slept, which rooms you used. Who you met with—every name, every conversation I could overhear or piece together afterward. What you bought, where you went, which routes you took between locations.” Lisa was speaking faster now, words tumbling out. “Your plans for the supermarket. The drink production. Your meetings with the merchant guild. The amounts you spent on various projects. Security arrangements—how many beast knights you had, their rotation schedules, which ones guarded you when.”

Complete intelligence compromise. Months of detailed surveillance delivered directly to her enemies.

“The assassination attempts,” Elara said, her voice still flat and clinical. “Did you know about those?”

Lisa’s response was immediate and visceral. “No!”

Elara turned to look at her.

“No,” Lisa said again, horror written across her face. “Your Highness, I swear on my sister’s life—I swear on my own life—I didn’t know they were trying to kill you. I thought…” She struggled with the words. “I thought they just wanted information. Political intelligence. I thought maybe it was the Emperor keeping track of you, or one of the other princesses monitoring potential rivals. I thought it was just… observation.”

“You reported my location at the eastern docks.”

“Yes, but I didn’t know—” Lisa’s face crumpled. “Gods, the assassins. They were there because of me. Because I told them you’d be at the docks at dawn. I didn’t know. I didn’t know they’d send killers. I thought—”

“You thought they just wanted to watch,” Elara finished.

“Yes.” Lisa was crying again, harder now. “I’m not trying to excuse it. I’m not saying I’m innocent. I betrayed you. I compromised your safety. People died because of information I provided. I know that. But Your Highness, I swear I didn’t know. If I’d known they were trying to kill you, I would have—”

“What?” Elara interrupted. “What would you have done? Your sister was still hostage. Your mother still needed medicine. What would you have done differently if you’d known?”

Lisa opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

Nothing came out.

Because they both knew the answer. Lisa would have kept reporting. Maybe with more guilt, more horror, but she would have kept doing it because the alternative was her family’s death.

That’s what made coercion effective. It didn’t require willing participants. Just desperate ones.

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