Chapter Seventeen

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Fremington Castle

S he still had the guard.

Trapped in her bedchamber, Elisiana knew the woman who had been guarding her since her return home was just outside the door. She had a stool she sat on simply to watch the door. She wasn't allowed to put her hands on Elisiana to physically prevent her from leaving her chamber, but she was instructed to run straight to Adriano if Elisiana ventured away.

And she'd done that, several times.

But Elisiana pretended the woman wasn't there. This madness had been going on since she returned from Exebridge, days and days of feeling like a captive, trapped in her childhood home that no longer seemed like her home. It felt like a prison. Even the colors of her home were different, dingy and dirty and reeking of mildew and broken dreams.

Her broken dreams, to be exact.

Or perhaps she was really seeing Fremington in its true light for the first time.

Whatever the case, the endless monotony and suspicion was starting to wear on her. She had piles of drawings now, anything to pass the time, anything to upset her father and mother and punish them for the anguish they were causing her. But her father would no longer supply her with vellum, so she had taken to drawing on both sides. Her drawings were circulating furiously through the army and servants of Fremington, and when they were done with them, they were selling them to townsfolk, who were raving about the scandalous sketches.

The wildfire was spreading.

Two days ago, the priest at St. Peter's in the village had gotten hold of some of the drawings and brought them to the castle to complain to Adriano. Furious that the church was now in possession of some of the filthy drawings, Adriano had stood outside of Elisiana's chamber and shouted at her through a closed door. He tried to come in to talk to her, but she had locked him out. The bolt was thrown and it was going to remain thrown. That infuriated the man, and he had spent a solid half-hour shouting at her and telling her how terrible she was behaving and how much she was shaming her family.

That only made Elisiana smile.

As the days passed, a plan had been formulating in her mind. She simply wasn't going to sit by and wait for Adolph to show his face, because she was fairly certain her father had sent word to the man. Knowing he was coming, and knowing her time was limited, had made her step up the timeline of her escape. Her original scheme had been to lull her parents into a false sense of security by behaving herself, and when their guard was down, she would run. Adolph being on his way, however, meant that she couldn't afford the luxury of waiting for her parents to relax.

She was going to have to make the escape sooner rather than later.

But the timing still had to be right.

She'd awoken to those thoughts this morning. Would this be the day she'd see an opportunity to flee? Over the past few days, she'd been waking up every morning with that on her mind. But thoughts of escape meant she needed to do some reconnaissance, and even though she knew her guard was watching her door, she made plans to leave the chamber. Dressed in a pale green garment with a square neck and short sleeves, with her long hair pinned up on the back of her head because the weather had turned sticky, she threw open the door. Armed with little more than her determination, she ignored her guard and headed down to the entry level.

It was still fairly early in the day for her father to be in his solar, so she ventured inside to pilfer vellum from his writing kit. Her guard was following behind her at a safe distance and she knew the woman would tell Adriano that his naughty daughter had stolen vellum. The woman could tell her father anything she wished and Elisiana didn't care a hoot. Leaving her father's solar, she headed for the kitchens.

The old cook was probably the only person Elisiana would speak to with any civility. She had known the woman all her life and had a genuine fondness for her, so she went to the kitchens to see what she could steal for a snack. It made her think of all of the wonderful foods that she had made for the patrons of the Black Cock, of the delicious ginger wafers that Sinclair had been so fond of. She had been looking forward to making him more delicacies, so in a sense, the kitchen brought her some sadness as well as solace.

It reminded her of a life she wanted back.

The cook, a tiny woman with no teeth, greeted her fondly and gave her pieces of apple that had been cooked in honey and allowed to dry out. Elisiana took a handful of them and headed out to the kitchen yard because she wanted to get a look at the postern gate. There were a few servants out in the yard, gathering eggs and other chores, and Elisiana wandered through, stolen vellum under her arm and apple chips in her hand. She was chewing on them, casually glancing at the postern gate tucked back in the yard. Her shadow was behind her, in the kitchen doorway, so she didn't want to pay any more attention to the gate than she already had. She thought she saw a lock on it, probably put there by her father, but she couldn't be sure. She'd have to make another trip out here at some point to see if her observations were correct. If there was a lock on it, she'd have to figure something else out.

"Lisi?"

Looking over her shoulder, she saw her mother standing a few feet away. She hardly gave the woman a glance before she returned her attention to the chicks.

"Mama," she greeted her without warmth.

Sybil watched her daughter with a sad expression. "I thought you would want to know that your Uncle Robert should be here shortly," she said. "Your father is preparing for his visit."

That had Elisiana's attention. Eyes wide, she forgot about the chicks as she faced her mother.

"Is Adolph coming with him?" she demanded.

Sybil shook her head. "I do not know," she said. "Possibly."

Terrified and infuriated, Elisiana marched up to her mother and jabbed a finger at her. "I am not marrying him today or any day," she said. "Tell Papa that if he tries to force me, I will jump from the top of the keep. I will kill myself before I marry that dog!"

She ran off before Sybil could stop her, through the kitchens, where she grabbed bread and anything else she could get her hands on, preparing for a long siege with her in her locked chamber and her father on the other side, begging her to open it.

Well, she wasn't going to.

The thought of Adolph arriving at Fremington made her feel more fear than she could adequately process. Was she serious about jumping from the window? If her father pressed the issue, she was. She didn't want to, but she didn't want to marry Adolph more.

Now, the situation was about to become critical.