Chapter 14

14

Ella

Over the next few days, Katherine and I tended to Lorayna's every whim. We cleaned the castle guestrooms, as well as those of the courtesans and blood retainers who didn't have full-time staff of their own. The needs of the court ran me ragged from dusk till dawn, with barely time for a snack, but at least I had Cara. After work, we'd sit together, exhausted but excited to gossip about all we'd seen and heard in the castle.

Each evening, before the other girls rose for breakfast, I'd sneak out into the kitchen's large vegetable garden. After I was certain no one was watching, I'd clink my stepmother's bracelets together and try to summon her crow. Plenty of the black birds congregated on the walls of the castle above the garden, but none of them ever approached.

I finally was rewarded on my third day in the castle, when the scruffy old bird dropped down beside me. I fed him some crumbs of bread from my apron pocket, and then, making sure no one was looking, I gently picked him up. There was a tiny message tied to his leg. I plucked it off, then released him back into the air. "Don't get caught!"

He cawed loudly as he fluttered away. I was going to tell you the same thing.

I stared at him, stunned. Had I just heard him in my mind? I shook my head to clear the silly thought. Of course not. I was just doing the same thing I did with Pip: imagining things.

Not that it wasn't good advice. Don't get caught.

I retreated into the deepening shadows of the wall, then carefully unrolled the note. Although it was hard to see, I recognized my stepmother's handwriting. Urgent. Find a broken gargoyle head in the rose garden. Key underneath. Tie to raven.

I checked the darkening sky. While I'd had little interaction with the gardeners to that point, I'd briefly met the head gardener, Matthew, a sinewy, sun-weathered man who'd warned the new hires to keep our sticky fingers off of his beloved roses. But Matthew and his team worked on the day shift, and the night shift was still eating its breakfast. If I skipped the meal, I might be able scout out the garden without anyone around.

I tore up the note and put it in the pocket of my apron, then headed back inside with my thoughts dancing. What was the key for? And who had put it there?

Also, I was somewhat bothered by the instruction tie to raven . The crow was definitely not going to like that.

By the time I reached the royal rose garden, the sun had set, leaving it draped in shadow. The flowers were brilliant blooms in the starlight, patches of white and deep red against the shadows and leaves. Technically, it was off-limits to staff other than the royal gardeners, but as far as I knew, the immortals seldom went there, and it was still very early in the evening. I glanced up at the brightly lit windows of the western wing, where Lorayna and many of the other nobles lived. I doubted anyone looking out would notice me.

It took twenty minutes of sneaking around, but I found the broken gargoyle head. It was weathered to the point that I almost passed it by, thinking it just an oddly shaped rock. Checking that no one was watching, I knelt and turned it over. My heart skipped a beat. A small silver key glinted beneath. I snatched it and stood, then let out a restrained breath before quickly walking toward the exit with the key clenched in my fist.

Who'd left it there?

Apparently, I wasn't the only one working for the resistance in the castle. Did I pass them in the halls? Could it be Katherine? Or Annie? No. Not her. I refused to let her be part of my fantasy.

"Do you like my garden?" a deep voice called from behind me.

I froze, my stomach tumbling. I knew that voice, so deep and silky. Pip did, too, and he leapt off my shoulder and disappeared into the depths of the garden.

Footsteps approached, crunching on the gravel walkway.

My palms went damp, and the key started burning a hole in my hand. With my heart hammering in my chest, I slowly turned. Head down, I dipped low and knelt on the ground. "Your Royal Highness. I didn't mean to disturb you."

I kept my eyes locked on the ground as a pair of polished black boots appeared.

"I didn't realize you had joined the garden staff," the prince said. "Are you as good with roses as you are with horses?"

I could barely think. Had he seen me drop down by the gargoyle's head? If he noticed my clenched fist, if he found the key, I'd be hung from the wall alongside the bastard who'd tried to kill me.

I pressed my hand to my chest. "No, Your Royal Highness. I'm not part of the garden staff."

He circled around me like a stalking wolf. "Then what are you doing in my garden? It is forbidden to mortals."

As soon as he was at my back, I slid my hand down my side as casually as I could, slipping it and the key into my apron pocket. "I didn't know. I promise I'll never come here again."

He hesitated. Had he sensed my motion?

"How do you find employment in my castle?"

I moistened my parched lips. "I'm grateful to have been chosen, Your Highness."

"And your mistress, Lady Lorayna. How do you find her?"

She's an impossible tyrant who loves to watch mortal women cower before her. "I seek to please my mistress through my work."

"I see." The circling black boots paused in front of me. "Rise."

I stood, but I still didn't dare lift my eyes. Immortals could hear your pulse, it was said, and mine was pounding like a hailstorm. He probably relished it. He was probably enjoying watching me sweat as much as Lorayna liked to watch me humiliate myself.

They were all monsters.

"You haven't answered my original question," the prince said. "Do you like my garden?"

"Yes. It reminds me of the rose bushes at our manor house." I looked up, my eyes pleading. "I was homesick and wanted to see them. I didn't mean to trespass."

The prince wore a crisp black uniform with two blades at his side. He was breathtakingly perfect and severe, like a statue. His gaze was so intense, it felt like it was turning me to stone.

Did he ever smile? What would make a man like that smile?

Probably the throbbing vein on a young woman's neck.

I quickly looked away, focusing on the field of roses. "They're beautiful. I've never seen their match."

"Nor have I," he said softly. Something about the tone in his voice made the hair on my neck rise and my stomach flutter.

He reached down and snapped off a white blossom, then held it out to me. "The rose is the symbol of my house."

I stared at the brilliant bloom, and my mind went blank. The prince of the Bloodvale was offering me a flower. It probably violated decorum a dozen different ways, but I knew I couldn't refuse. I hesitantly reached up and took the stem. The prince didn't let it go, but instead met my eyes. "Roses remind me that beautiful things can be dangerous."

My breath stilled. His eyes were dangerous. Blue and gray, like clouds passing through the night sky.

He relinquished his hold on the flower and stepped back. "You'd better run, little mouse. You'll be late for your duties, and you wouldn't wish to leave your mistress disappointed."

Relief washed over me. I was going to live. I dipped low. "Thank you, Your Highness."

With the rose in one hand and the skirt of my dress in the other, I turned and ran back to the western wing as fast as I could.