Chapter 150: SHE WAS NOT ON THE LIST

DIANA’S POV

Diana moved before Alma could stop her.

Running would have attracted attention, so she settled for walking much too quickly through a diplomatic corridor while pretending she was not pursuing anyone.

Apparently that was a separate skill.

Diana had limited experience.

The woman in red had already disappeared beyond the arch by the time Alma caught up.

"Diana."

Hearing her real name made Diana slow.

They were no longer alone. Two Belland clerks came through the opposite corridor carrying rolled maps, a Merovian officer stood near a window reading a dispatch, and one of Concord Hall’s servants was replacing a lamp crystal.

Diana steadied herself before writing:

THAT WAS HER.

Alma read the slate.

"I know."

She did not question it.

Sister knew sister.

Diana looked toward the arch.

Selena was absent from the summit list. Diana had read the Valence delegation twice: Odran, Maerissa, senior ministers, legal officers, technical representatives, and household staff.

Raigoro had seen the same list. Daric certainly had. Counsel Mael had probably memorized it along with several footnotes.

Diana wrote:

WHY IS SHE HERE?

Alma considered the empty corridor.

"I do not know."

For once, neither of them had even an unpleasant theory strong enough to call fact.

Maerissa might have brought Selena privately. Odran might have decided the marriage issue required her presence. Selena might have asked to come herself. Concord administration could have admitted an unlisted royal family member under household classification.

The possibilities multiplied without improving anything.

Diana started toward the arch again.

A Blackharrow clerk appeared from the opposite direction.

"Your Grace."

Diana stopped.

The young man bowed.

"Counsel Mael is looking for you."

Diana raised the slate.

NOW?

""Yes, Your Grace. Asteva submitted technical amendments after the afternoon adjournment, including provisions that may affect the emergency -access proposal. The Warden wants Blackharrow to review them before the evening session."

Diana frowned.

Evening session?

The clerk explained.

"The presiding secretary moved the Astevan technical presentation forward. There will be a closed Concord working session at sixth bell so the delegations can decide whether the emergency-authority draft is ready for a vote tomorrow."

The closed session admitted registered delegation representatives whose portfolios touched the proposed authority. Diana’s civilian-support accreditation remained valid because the draft included record verification and administrative safeguards.

Diana looked toward the arch.

Sixth bell was less than an hour away.

Selena had vanished, while the coming session could determine powers Blackharrow had spent months needing.

Diana wanted to ignore it and go after her sister.

The impulse angered her.

She had insisted on coming to Concord because she wanted to enter rooms she once believed belonged to everyone except her. She would not abandon the first important one because Selena had appeared in a corridor.

Diana wrote:

TELL COUNSEL MAEL I AM COMING.

The clerk bowed and left.

Alma said, "We can ask the Concord household office where Selena is staying."

Diana looked at her.

They reached the junction leading toward Blackharrow’s assigned wing.

A figure stood near the far stair, dressed in red with gold in her hair.

This time Selena turned fully.

Their eyes met.

Diana stopped.

Selena looked older, though only by months. The easy confidence Diana remembered from Valence had changed around the edges.

Her sister’s face betrayed a flash of shock, followed by something Diana could not identify with certainty. Guilt, fear, or both.

Neither woman crossed the corridor.

Then Maerissa’s senior lady appeared behind Selena.

"Your Highness."

The moment ended.

The woman said something too quiet for Diana to hear, and Selena followed her through the stair arch.

Alma remained beside Diana.

"She saw you."

Diana wrote:

SHE KNEW ME.

"Of course she did."

Adrian had recognized that Diana was not the Selena he remembered.

Selena could identify both women without any archive or damaged register.

Diana had prepared herself for questions about the face attached to her borrowed name. She had never expected the woman who owned that name to appear inside Concord Hall.

If Selena chose to speak, the issue would no longer be whether Diana resembled the princess in someone’s memory. The question would become why two daughters of Valence were standing inside the same political crisis while one woman’s name appeared on the other’s credentials.

Diana turned toward Blackharrow’s rooms.

Raigoro was inside with Daric, Counsel Mael, Julius Renn, and Tavia when she entered. Maps and draft clauses covered the table, with the Astevan technical amendments open beside the emergency-authority proposal.

Raigoro looked up.

"What?"

Diana took out the slate and wrote:

SELENA IS HERE.

Conversation stopped around the table.

Daric set down what he was holding. Counsel Mael focused on the slate, while Julius looked confused only until he understood which Selena Diana meant.

Raigoro read the words again.

"Are you sure?"

Diana looked at him.

He corrected himself immediately.

"You saw her."

Diana nodded.

"Did you speak to her?"

NO.

Daric asked, "Where?"

WEST CONNECTING CORRIDOR. WITH A VALENCE ATTENDANT.

Counsel Mael reached for the public delegation register.

"She is not accredited as a delegate."

Daric said, "That does not prevent her entering as royal household."

"No." Mael turned a page. "But Valence would still have to declare an additional royal-household guest for accommodation and security, even if the name was withheld from the circulated delegation list.

"Daric looked toward the door.

"I’ll check."

"Quietly," Raigoro said.

Daric nodded.

There would be no public confrontation based on a sighting in one corridor.

He left.

Tavia looked toward Diana.

"Did she look like she expected to see you?"

Diana thought of Selena’s face.

The shock had seemed real, but Diana could not know what had caused it.

She wrote:

I COULD NOT TELL.

Julius returned to the wardstone amendments. Guessing about Selena would contribute nothing to the work in front of him.

Diana respected that.

Raigoro looked toward Counsel Mael.

"Does her presence affect tonight’s agenda?"

"Not unless someone introduces the marriage or Valence identity issue."

Diana felt her unease return.

Mael continued.

"Neither is on the agenda."

Good.

For now, the summit remained about the Gate.

Raigoro turned back to Diana.

"Do you want to attend?"

The question irritated her.

Again, he was giving her the choice.

She wrote immediately:

YES.

Raigoro read it.

"You do not need to prove anything."

Diana glared at him.

He nodded.

"Fine."

She added:

I CAME FOR THIS.

"I know."

Diana looked toward the door.

There was still the decision they had made before leaving Blackharrow about her public name. She had asked for more time, and Raigoro had given it. He already knew she was Diana. The remaining question was how long the rest of the world would continue calling her Selena.

With her sister inside Concord Hall, the time she had asked for suddenly felt fragile.

Diana wrote:

IF SHE IS HERE...

Then stopped.

Raigoro waited.

Diana erased the unfinished line.

She would not have this conversation with six people in the room and the council bell less than thirty minutes away.

Instead she wrote:

AFTER THE SESSION.

Raigoro read it and did not ask her to explain.

"All right."

Daric returned ten minutes later.

"Confirmed."

Everyone looked toward him.

"Valence registered an additional royal-household guest yesterday. No personal name was circulated to the other delegations, and the guest has no diplomatic accreditation."

Counsel Mael asked, "Declared purpose?"

"Royal family attendance."

"That is broad."

"Yes."

"Who authorized it?"

"Concord’s household office approved the accommodation. Valence remains responsible for identifying and securing its private guest. She has no procedural seat or access to restricted council sessions."

The explanation followed Concord procedure.

Diana still disliked it.

Raigoro asked, "When was Blackharrow notified?"

"We weren’t required to be."

Also true.

Diana hated reasonable systems when they produced frightening surprises.

Daric continued.

"She’s staying in the Valence residence wing. A guard confirmed that a woman matching Diana’s description was escorted there from the west passage."

They knew where Selena was staying.

They still did not know why she had come or whether she intended to challenge the marriage.

The sixth-bell warning sounded through Concord Hall.

Counsel Mael began gathering papers.

"We need to move."

Diana looked toward the door.

She had wanted to find Selena and ask why she had come.

Instead, she picked up the emergency-authority draft.

The wrong name remained on Diana’s credential card. Her sister was somewhere inside the same building, and the council bell had already begun.

Diana followed Raigoro out.

Whatever Selena’s presence meant, she would have to enter the room without knowing.