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discretion guarding my tongue.
    "Is Lord Valdemar preferred before me? Speak!" he demanded.
    "I cannot tell, my lord." Truly, I knew little of Elnora's husband.
    "You cannot tell?" he said mockingly. "Rather, you must tell me all you know. It is your duty as my daughter."
    I was silent. I dared not remind him of his duty as a father to love and protect me. But I could not hide my resentment.
    "I begin to see that you put me in the queen's service not for my own benefit," I said, "but to be your spy."
    "Ungrateful girl!" he sputtered, and I thought for a moment he would strike me. "From where you are placed, you can see far and wide. And if you are clever," he said, tapping his head with a fingertip, "even greater advancement is yours. Now cease your foolishness and answer me. How does the queen spend her private hours?"
    I decided to risk his wrath. I did not tell him about the stones we read, but turned and walked away.
    "Ophelia, come back!" he demanded, and I heard the fury in his voice. But I did not obey or even look back. I realized that I loved Gertrude and would keep her secrets forever.

Chapter 6
    After four years in the queen's household, I had learned the art of being a lady. By the time I was fifteen, my shape was that of a woman. I almost matched my mistress Queen Gertrude's height, and I imitated her carnage, even the tilt of her head.
    "Nature produced you, but nurture has perfected you," Gertrude often said with pride, as though I were her creation, carved from an unlikely piece of wood. Her words tempered somewhat the sting of Cristiana's criticism and the coolness of the other ladies. Unlike them, I was not the daughter of an earl or a duke or the cousin of a European prince. I knew they considered me unworthy of my place. I had no true friend at court, except Elnora.
    I did take some of my father's advice to heart, for he was not stupid. I was careful and observant, and my reputation for honesty and secrecy began to advance me in the queen's favor. When the king came to Gertrude's chamber to dine, I was given the honor of attending them. At first I was terrified to be so near the king, but soon I realized he was mortal like any man. I filled his cup and heard him belch and removed his plate with the meat half gnawed from the bones.
    Gertrude behaved lovingly toward her husband. She would stroke his hoary hair and tease him that it was no longer black like his son's. The king in turn spoke sweetly to Gertrude, calling her his turtledove and gazing on her in a way that made me ache. When their talk touched on matters of state, it was in low tones, for the king never failed in his discretion. However, one night I overheard an argument concerning Claudius, the king's younger brother. His lustfulness was the subject of court gossip, along with reports of his drunken carousing in the great hall. The king was angry at some recent transgression of his, the nature of which I could not discern.
    "He defies me on purpose and drives me to madness," complained the king, while Gertrude sought to soothe his choler.
    "Pity your brother, for he is a man of great desires and disappointments."
    "Pah! You are too soft. He needs only two things: a wife to rem him in and his own bloody kingdom to rule," the king growled in reply. It was the only time I had heard the king and queen disagree.
    When they were ready to retire, I would bring sweet wine and clean linens, trim the candlewicks, and withdraw, locking the doors behind me. In the morning the king would be gone and I would assist Gertrude as she washed and dressed. Curious, I looked for signs that love had changed her in some way, but she seemed to me only heavy-eyed and tired. Her inward self was veiled from me.
    I believed that King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude loved each other and were true. Also I believed that the king's ministers were loyal and the queen's ladies honest. But over time I realized that the court of Elsinore was a lovely garden where serpents hid in the