Set deep into the thickness of the stair tower’s walling, the tiny room boasted a mosaic-tiled floor and not one but two air-spending window slits. A wicker basket near thenecessarybrimmed with a goodly supply of clean and fragrant sphagnum moss, while a small wooden corner shelf held a laver kept fresh with cold, scented water and a tiny jar of lavender soap, adding to the chamber’s charm.
Not to mention the usual amenities.
The pride of Dare’s womenfolk, the privy was rumored to have been designed by Valdar’s mother, a woman of Norse descent who, by all recollections, lived before her time.
Thinking of her now, confined as Gelis was to her chosen hiding place, she was glad the Norsewoman set so much store on a lady’s privacy and comfort.
It made her vigil pass with greater ease.
Even though, at the moment, her oversensitive nose twitched too much for her to appreciate the chamber’s luxuries.
She only cared that no one had suspected her plan when she’d slipped from the hall, pleading an aching head.
She also said a prayer — including a nod to the Old Ones — that Anice would soon appear.
Her nose could not take much more of the little room’s particular tang.
Well-appointed or nae.
But then the door creaked open and she lunged, clamping tight fingers around her quarry’s arm and drawing her from the piquant-smelling little chamber right back out into the open of the stair tower landing.
“Lady!” Anice stared at her, eyes wide. “You near frightened the life out of me.”
“I had to speak with you.” Gelis kept her grip on the girl’s elbow and pulled her deeper into the shadows. “I must know where the Raven went this morn and why every man is bristling with steel.”
Anice flushed and bit her lip.
“You must tell me what you know,” Gelis insisted. “My husband is in danger.”
“Ahhhh, lady.” Anice looked down, fussing at her skirts. “I know less than anyone. Would that I could help you —”
“But you can!” Gelis refused to give up. “You must know something. I saw it in your eyes when you fled the high table earlier. Come” — she let go of Anice’s arm and glanced down the stairwell, making sure they were alone — “if you do not know where he is, tell me why you looked so frightened.”
Anice drew a deep breath. “ ’Tis the Holders,” she said, looking miserable. “Leastways I fear they are the reason he rode out so early, why the men have taken up extra arms.”
“The Holders?” Gelis blinked.
Anice’s head bobbed. “They were the original Holders of the Raven Stone and Maldred the Dire’s bitterest foes,” she began, twisting her hands. “Some say they still exist, or at least their descendants. They sweep into Glen Dare again and again, always searching for their stone, wanting it back.”
“ Pah-phooey!” Gelis puffed a curl off her brow. “If there are such men, I vow the Raven and his Dare men could make small work of them.”
“Not the Holders, lady.” Anice leaned close, her voice low. “They are not like other men. They are . . . shadowy and have glowing red eyes. ’Tis known that they can melt steel and iron, charm any beast, and that they practice all manner of other nefarious magic.”
Gelis flicked her braid over her shoulder. “If such terrors exist, I am sure they can be defeated. I vow my own father has fought and bested worse enemies.”
Anice looked unconvinced.
“So- o-o,” Gelis considered, her mind already racing, “do the mist wraiths I’ve heard castle folk whispering about have anything to do with these men?”
“Aye, they do.” Anice dropped her voice even lower. “The mist snakes are the Holders’ minions. There have been many sightings of them in recent times. Even Hugh says —”
“Is Hugh MacHugh the reason you stay here?” Gelis angled her head. “The Raven once mentioned he’d offered to return you to your parents’ home, but you declined. I know MacHugh is fond of you.”
Anice’s cheeks brightened. “He is a fine man,” she admitted, her face turning even pinker. “But I stayed on because of you, my lady.”
Gelis’s brows lifted. “Because of me?”
“Aye.” Anice began worrying her hands again. “I came here to work as lady’s maid for the Raven’s second wife, see you? The lady Cecilia.”
