“Am I? Lots to do. Can’t waste the day.”
Gwen looked at her as if she was losing it, but didn’t say a word. Once Ashley was dressed, she basically inhaled a bowl of porridge—or as she still called it, oatmeal—then took her place in the hall.
Where were they? A giggle sounded, and Ashley saw them. The three cute little girls were squatting down in between two of the tables that had been pushed back against the walls.
Soon enough, the garrison soldiers stomped into the hall, dark expressions on their faces. Ashley put a finger to her lips and the girls stopped giggling.
Christian stomped into the hall, bellowing.
“What is the meaning of this?” He brandished his sword, which now sported a pale pink ribbon around the hilt.
The men held up their swords, all tied with pretty ribbons.Ashley knew that bundle of tattered ribbons would come in handy. Those girls would make excellent spies.
Christian saw her and narrowed his eyes. A squeal escaped from one of the girls, and soon all three of them were shrieking and giggling. That was it—she lost it, laughing so hard that she wiped tears from her eyes. The men glared at them and grumbled as they removed the ribbons. Quinn and the scary guard—she blanked on his name—touched the ribbons and left them on their swords.
The girls snatched up the ribbons then froze, like baby rabbits hoping the hawk would keep flying and ignore them.
“What is the meaning of this?” Christian flicked the ribbon as if it were a dead thing.
Ashley straightened her spine. “We thought all of you would like them, that it would be pretty.”
She purposely tried to look sad, wiping the smile from her face.
“Don’t you like them? The girls and I worked so hard to pick out the perfect ribbons for each of you.”
A couple of the guards looked sheepish and held out their hands to put the ribbons back. And the scary-looking one—that’s right, Bryce—touched the ribbon on his blade.
Christian scratched his head. “’Tis rather fetching. I shall leave it. Will that please the lot of you?”
“Yes, my lord.” The little angels said together, giving him their most innocent smiles. The ones Ashley knew they used right before they did something awful to the little boys of the castle. She covered her mouth with her hand as Christian and the other guards stalked out of the hall.
“To the lists, before we all turn into women.”
Okay, so that didn’t go as she’d planned. Ashley tapped a finger against her lip, thinking. A servant passed by wearing a length of rope as a belt around his hose. Of course—why hadn’t she thought of it before?
“Girls? Might you know where we could get rope?”
Quinn spoke up. “Rope, mistress?”
“Yes, I need it for my lessons.”
He looked dubious, but nodded. “Follow me.”
Ashley gathered the girls close, whispering, “Meet me in the classroom and I will tell you what we’ll do next.”
The little girls ran from the hall as Ashley followed her guard. Once he had the rope, she led him to the classroom.
“Perfect. Now I need it cut into four pieces about this long.”
Quinn shrugged and cut the rope. The girls had slipped in, and inched closer to the table, watching, so full of curiosity that Ashley thought they would burst. When he left they gathered around, touching the rope.
“What is it for, mistress?”
“Are we going to tie someone up?”
Another said. “Nay, we will trip them.”
She grinned, making a note to stay on the good side of these bloodthirsty kids.
