Elisse gave her a small smile. "I learned from the best."
Maeren snorted but didn't argue.
"She's not… the same," Elisse breathed out after a pause, pacing to the edge of her bed. "Something's different about her. She doesn't remember the house, the people… she doesn't remember how much she hated her stepmother or her brother. She called them 'mother' and 'brother' like—like she didn't know better."
Maeren folded her arms, her brows rising. "Amnesia?"
"Maybe. But it's more than that. She's… softer. And she talks like she's never seen this estate before. She wasn't cold or calculating like she used to be." Elisse sat heavily on the bed, fingers twisting into the hem of her sleeve.
Maeren's lips twitched into something almost like a smile. "Sounds like an improvement."
"You don't understand," Elisse whispered. "It might be a mage, using the lady's face!"
"Are you sure?"
"... No."
