Chapter 15

15

Ella

I rushed inside, slamming the servants' door behind me. Terror and euphoria churned through me. I'd stolen a key right from under the prince's nose, and I'd lived.

The key I could easily hide on my person, but the rose…what was I supposed to do with it? If I took it back to the women's residence it would only raise questions, but I couldn't throw it away. It was too beautiful, too perfect.

I twisted it in my fingers, discovering a twinge of emotion I couldn't quite explain. A fluttering in my chest.

Brushing it aside, I scurried downstairs and tucked the rose away in an old storage closet that only Katherine and I used. Then with my stomach growling from my missed breakfast, I hitched up my skirt and ran upstairs to Lorayna's chambers. Katherine raised her brows at me when I hurried in late, but mercifully didn't ask questions.

"You're lucky her ladyship already left," she whispered.

"I know."

She left me to continue my duties from the day before, and I relished the quiet to think on all that had happened.

I was halfway through washing the windows when the door to the chambers burst open.

I looked up from my work as a lady with chestnut hair swept into the room like she owned the place—except it wasn't Lorayna. It was the woman who'd announced the rules for the selection on application day. Flaunting a yellow dress as vivid as gorse in full bloom and pointed shoes the color of blood, she was both beautiful and jarring. She snapped her paper fan shut and pointed it at me. "You, there. Come with me. There's work to do."

I looked down at my rag and bucket of water, then back up at her. "Who are you?"

Her expression knotted with fury. "Are you an idiot? I'm the Mistress of Ceremonies . Now, come along!"

My mind raced. I didn't dare defy a powerful noble—certainly not one with magic—but I didn't dare leave and anger my vengeful employer.

I dipped in a curtsy. "I'm sorry, mistress, but I have more than I can manage today. Perhaps I could assist you tomorrow?"

She backhanded me with her fan, and I staggered, hand to my face. What the hell was with these women?

The woman tapped the fan against her palm threateningly. "You will refer to me as ‘her ladyship' or ‘Lady Bianca.' A mistress is a whore , like you."

So, this was Bianca. Clearly, she was as insane as her sister.

"Yes, your ladyship," I said guardedly .

She looked around at my work, scowling. "I don't know what my sister might want with a wretched little thing like you, but she always keeps the best for herself—which is why you will be working for me as well."

My mind spun. Was I going to be a toy torn apart in a siblings' tug of war? Could Bianca even pull rank like this and take me from her sister's service? There had to be a way to diffuse her interest.

I dipped low again. "I'm sorry, your ladyship, but I'm not worthy of your attention. I was assigned to Lady Lorayna's service against her wishes."

Bianca scoffed. "The chamberlain hires and fires the castle staff. Who would assign you to her service?"

Ah, hell.

Bianca seized my hair, her expression taut with furious curiosity. "Tell me now."

Pain lanced through my scalp, and I grabbed at her hands, but her grip was iron. Although she was lithe, and I'd spent my life working on a farm, she was at least five times as strong as I, and ten times as fast. There was no fighting her—not if I wanted to live.

"Tell me!" she ordered.

"The prince!" I squeaked as she jerked my hair again.

She shrieked with rage and shoved me backward, then began stalking the room. "How dare he favor her above me ! I'm the Mistress of Ceremonies ! I'm the one running his damned ball. I deserve more help than my wench of a sister." Bianca brushed the hair from her face with a practiced flourish. "Which is why you're coming with me. The prince probably just made a mistake. Whatever tasks you've been assigned by my sister, you will do them for me."

Half dazed, I followed her out the door and just down the hall. Apparently, they were neighbors.

Bianca's chambers were just as large and opulent as her sister's, but unlike Lorayna's pretentious and stately style, Bianca's rooms looked like they'd been decorated by a mad art collector—which probably wasn't far from the truth. Everything was a clash of gold and silver and a riot of colors.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she said, twirling in a circle, before flopping down on a vivid lime green and gold chaise longue that clashed enough with her gown to make a honeybee blind.

"It's breathtaking," I said, which was the truth, but not in the way she was thinking.

"Of course it is," Bianca snapped, then dramatically sighed. "Once the prince marries me, I'll redecorate the entire castle."

Fates have mercy.

She propped her hands on her hips as if she were rather proud of herself. "I want this place immaculate. The prince is fastidiously tidy, and I want to ensure there is nothing to put him off, should he visit my chambers. I need to give him every reason to choose me over all the harlots who will be vying for his hand—or Fates forbid it, my sister."

My eyebrows rose. Both her and her sister were vying for the prince's hand? It wasn't unexpected with all the chatter over the ball, but their rivalry might be something my stepmother could use.

I dipped low and kept my eyes down to hide my reaction. "Of course, your ladyship."

Bianca kept me as busy as her sister had, gleefully dragging me away from my duties and leaving me to bear Lorayna's wrath. My life became a tug of war and left me running from one side of the castle to the other, doing whatever Lorayna and her crazy sister wanted, whenever they wanted, at the drop of a hat.

I thought that maybe Lorayna would put a stop to it, but I soon realized it was a game to them—a competition to see who could make me fall first.

I promised myself that I wouldn't give them a sliver of satisfaction.

Unfortunately, the tug of war left me precious little time to investigate the castle or look for Belle. It was a full two days before I even had the chance to retrieve the key from its hiding place. Miraculously, the rose the prince had given me hadn't yet wilted. I briefly traced my fingers over the soft, white petals, feeling a tug of something I couldn't identify.

It's nothing. He's a monster. Put him out of your mind.

Clearing my thoughts, I scratched out a quick report to my stepmother on an old scrap of paper, then slipped into the castle gardens as dusk fell. The old crow dropped down as soon as he saw me, and I didn't even have to click the silver bracelets together to summon him.

"Thanks for meeting me," I whispered, and scratched the bird's head. Checking that no one was watching, I tied the key securely to his outstretched leg. "Sorry about this, but it's my stepmother's orders."

He squawked in protest at his new cumbersome accoutrement, so I gave him some crumbs from a dinner roll I'd brought as a reward. Once he'd eaten his fill, he took to the skies, and my spirit lifted for the first time in days. Despite the beatings and exhaustion and relentless work, I was making a difference. I'd dug up a little information and a mysterious key for the resistance.

But the feeling was fleeting, and my heart sank a little as he disappeared over the battlements. Despite all my work, I still hadn't found any sign of Belle.

An hour later, I was on my way to Lorayna's with a fresh set of towels when a flash of garish color swept into the hall. Bianca—the monster of Castle Silverthorn.

She paused as soon as her gaze landed on me. "Just the person I was looking for."

I immediately averted my eyes and turned toward the nearest servants' passage as if I hadn't noticed her, but I wasn't fast enough.

"I see you there, girl!" she shouted from down the hall. "Don't you try to skulk away from me, you indolent thing!"

I stopped in my tracks and closed my eyes as she approached, begging the Fates for patience and perhaps a little relief. Pip, who had been riding on my shoulder beneath my hair, huddled against my neck, quaking.

"Trying to hide from an honest day's work, I presume?" she asked, ignoring the obvious implications of the massive bundle of sheets and towels in my arms.

"No, my lady."

She fanned herself, though the night air in the hall was cool. "The prince is going out riding alone tonight, and I mean to accompany him. Run to the stables and have one of the groomsmen saddle my horse immediately."

"Yes, my lady, I'll just put these?—"

She shoved the laundry from my arms, scattering it across the floor.

When I dropped down on my hands and knees to pick it up, she put her foot on my fingers, and I yelped.

"I said immediately . You'll just use them as an excuse to lie about, and I'll miss my ride with the prince."

"I can't leave these in the middle of the hall. Lady Lorayna will—" My protest cut off as Bianca shifted her weight, sending a burst of pain racing up my arm.

"What my sister might do doesn't matter. I'll do far worse right now if you talk back anymore. Understand? You're to leave the mess you've made and go immediately ."

She ground her foot into my fingers, and I gritted my teeth. "I understand."

The pressure released, and I scooted back, rubbing my fingers. Remarkably, they didn't seem broken.

"That's better," Bianca said as I stood. She reached into the little purse dangling at her side and pulled out a thorn. "Once the horse is saddled and the groomsman isn't looking, I want you to drive this into my horse's hind foot."

I stared down at the thorn, flabbergasted. "Why on earth?—"

She grasped my jaw and tilted my face to look me in the eyes. "Your job is to do as I say and to not ask questions."

Fury boiled inside of me, but I forced myself to calmly take the thorn. I clenched it in my fist behind my back—just in case I accidentally rammed it into her eye.

"Good," she muttered, then began to preen her hair. "When my horse goes lame, the prince will have no option but to let me ride with him on the way back. We'll be pressed together in the saddle with his arm around me. It will be wonderfully romantic. He won't be able to help but notice me moving against him."

The expression on my face must have betrayed the horrid carnival of thoughts racing through my mind. Her eyes flashed with fury. "Clearly, you don't understand the first thing about romance, you stupid girl."

Clearly not, if it involved maiming animals.

Bianca bared her fangs and hissed, " Hurry !"

I hitched up my skirt and fled down the hall toward the courtyard. I would pay for the mess of towels later, but I knew that if I lingered any longer, Bianca wouldn't hesitate to take a bite out of me. Literally.

I ducked into the servants' passages and spiraled down the narrow stairs, then slipped through the kitchens as quickly as I could and out into the night air.

The stables, a long two-story barn made of wood and stone, were on the far side of the courtyard. The structure was dimly lit, and I slowed in awe as I entered. They dwarfed my father's barn by two dozen stalls. Constructed with heavy timbers and tight stonework, it was a step above our manor house, let alone most of the homes in the town.

A dog barked, and several of the horses stirred in agitation.

The source of the noise was a little cattle dog. It was sitting next to a large, curled-up hound who barely bothered to open his eyes.

"Hush, now!" I scolded the noisy thing.

It gave a soft whine, then promptly laid down with its head on its paws.

"What's all this?" an old, bowlegged man said as he hobbled out of a back room. He looked around blearily as if I'd just interrupted his evening nap, and his expression soured when he spotted me. "Hey, now, this place is off-limits to house staff. I won't have you hiding here to shirk work or have a roll in the hay."

I curtsied. "I was sent by Lady Bianca. She needs her horse saddled. She wants to go out riding with the prince."

The old man shook his head. "The prince is riding alone tonight. Her ladyship can break her neck riding another time."

"Please," I said as I stepped over the drowsing hound and approached. "Bianca will snap my neck if her horse isn't ready by the time she arrives."

He waved his hand at me dismissively. "I don't want to get in trouble any more than you do, and I'm afraid I value my own skin more than your neck. Scamper on back to your mistress. I'm sure her bark is worse than her bite."

It was not. Bianca would ruin me if she didn't get her way. My heart began to beat a little faster, and I pulled my fingers through my hair. "Did the prince directly order you not to saddle anyone else's animals?"

A moment of guilt flickered across his face. "Not exactly, but I've been the night master of the stables for thirty years, and I know when he needs to go alone. I already let the groomsmen go for the night."

I glanced around the deserted stables, absorbing the conspicuous absence of other people for the first time. Of course, tending to the horses would take a large staff. The prince's enormous destrier was already saddled and waiting, which meant I didn't have much time. I bit my lip and met the stablemaster's eyes. "The prince's horse looks thirsty. Take it out to water it and warm it up before the ride, and I'll saddle Bianca's horse while you're gone. Just point out the animal and its kit, and you can deny any knowledge of it. Someone sneaked in to do it."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and eyed me warily. "A right fool, aren't you? The prince will have your hide if he doesn't take mine."

"I'll risk it. I don't know what he'll do, but I know Bianca will send me home or drink me dry if I don't do what she says, and I can't afford to lose this job. My sister's life depends on it."

It was only a little stretch.

His expression wavered for a second, and he glanced at a horse at the end of the far line. "Do you even know what you're doing? If her saddle slips, you'll be hanged for sure. Hell, I might join you swinging."

My heart leapt. "I've saddled my stepmother's horses hundreds of times, and I'm good with animals."

The old stablemaster looked me up and down slowly, as if seeing me for the first time. "Aye, you're that one. I saw that stunt you pulled with Tenebris. If you can soothe him, you could probably saddle a bear."

I took that as a yes .

I gave the old man a quick hug. "Thank you."

His face reddened, and he looked down. "Well, if you end up hanging, it ain't my fault, but I'll help you as much as I can. Name's Albert, by the way." He pointed out the mare's tack and gave me her name—Gwendolyn—then hurried toward Tenebris, clearly eager to be away if the prince appeared. "No matter what they do to you, I wasn't here when you arrived, and I don't know a thing about this. Got it? I have a family to look after myself."

I swallowed. "Got it."

"Good luck, lass," he said, shaking his head.