Greta was the one to notice. They often slept in the same bed in the private room in the harem quarters, so that they could talk freely without being heard. One night, while Greta was braiding Janessa's hair (and doing a poor job of it), Janessa began to reminisce about the lady-in-waiting she'd had as a child, who braided her hair into all kinds of patterns.
"Janessa," Greta said gently, "you have never had a lady-in-waiting."
"But as a Princess-"
"You are a Prince," Greta hissed. Janessa fell silent, but Greta could feel Janessa not believing her. Janessa braided Greta's hair (doing a fantastic job), and the two went to bed. Greta waited until Janessa was asleep, then snuck out of the room to contact Anya in the powder room.
"She thinks she is a Princess, not a Prince?" Anya said, once Greta had contacted her.
"Yes. She even claimed to remember her hair being braided by a lady-in-waiting as a child," Greta said. Anya said a swear that Greta was surprised she even knew.
"It is long-term amulet exposure."
"Long-term amulet exposure takes years to kick in," said a male voice in the background. One of Anya's brothers, though Greta couldn't remember who.
"If the amulet is the only magic acting upon the person, yes," Anya said. "But in Janessa's case, it is not. Antyny cast that horrid spell to make her long for sex with him after she had already used the amulet. And she has not used it since, correct?"
"Uh, yes," Greta said. "But, what is long-term amulet exposure?"
"Essentially, when an amulet is worn for too long, its magic can burrow into the wearer. As my brother said, this process takes years. Normally. When you throw an additional spell, particularly one as malignant as Antyny's, into the mix, it will feed the amulet exposure, speeding it up."
"The spell makes Janessa long for sex with him, right?" Anya's brother asked.
"Yes," Greta said.
"Each time she has sex with him, it is going to increase her amulet exposure."
"There is no chance I can stop sex between the two of them," Greta said firmly. Anya and her brother sighed. "How worried do we need to be?"
"We should be able to reverse it, so as long as Janessa continues to recall that she is a royal, I would not worry," Anya's brother said. "We are growing ever closer to being able to take the throne back. Once we do, it will be a simple matter of destroying the amulet and turning Janessa back to Jasper."
"Okay."
"Just keep us in the loop," Anya said.
"I will do that." Greta turned off the anklet. The door to the powder room opened. Janessa poked her head in. She smiled at Greta.
"Greta, come back to bed. You need your rest. Tomorrow, troops are returning from the field and will need some concubine comfort." Greta nodded. She followed Janessa back to bed, where Janessa decided to spoon her.
Janessa rested her head on Greta's shoulder, smiling. Yes, she hated that she, a Princess, was forced to pose as a concubine for safety. But having her guard and secret lover Gareth present, albeit in the form of a woman, made it so much better. Soon, her lady-in-waiting Anya would help take the throne back, and Janessa could marry Gareth. He would make a fine King for her.