Later that afternoon, the scullery maid I saved stops by my station. “More flour,” she says, setting a bag down on the counter. It’s the first time she’s spoken to me.
I didn’t ask for more flour, and I don’t even get a chance to thank her before she scurries away, her red hair disappearing into the pantry.
But I don’t need more flour right now. I’m done baking for the day.
I’m about to take the flour back to the pantry when Bing clears his throat and makes a furtive gesture at the bag.
Huh.
I set the bag of flour on the worktable and reach inside. Buried just under the surface is a small note on a piece of baking paper. It says:
Behind oven
Moonrise
I glance at the guard at the door and drop the note on the nearest open flame.
Chapter Forty
Aren
I lie awake on my hard wooden pallet until the first rays of moonlight peek through the windows. Then silently, I creep on my soft-soled slippers out of the pantry and into the dark kitchen. I thought the scullery maid would be here at least, but the kitchen’s empty.
I walk over to the cold, dark oven and look around. Yeah, no one’s here. Maybe I’m being set up or it’s some sort of test. But I’m determined not to give in just yet and examine the oven again, finding nothing out of the ordinary.
Behind oven, the note said. But there’s nothing here.
I’m staring at the oversize, arched recess that houses the oven when I notice a slight discoloration in the mortar between some of the bricks. If I wasn’t examining it closely, I would have missed it. Or I may have assumed the wall had been repaired. I run my fingers over the wall and stop when I encounter a loose brick. I test it with my finger, and it gives slightly, so I push it harder, until a click sounds deep in the wall behind the oven.
I gasp as a crack emerges in the brickwork, revealing a hidden door.
I quickly push the door open and slip inside, closing it quietly behind me. I test the interior handle, and the door swings open again easily.
Good.
At least I won’t be trapped in here. When I pull the door shut again, I’m plunged into complete darkness. For a moment, I consider abandoning this whole endeavor, but instead, I lean back against the door until my heart rate settles and my eyes adjust.
Then I begin to shuffle forward over the rough-hewn wooden floor. It seems I’m in a cramped corridor barely wide enough to walk down without both my shoulders scraping against the walls. The darkness presses solidly all around, so I keep one hand on the wall and the other in front of my face.
Eventually, I hear soft voices in the distance, and the telltale glimmer of candlelight peers from around a corner several paces ahead.
Seven people stand in a cramped alcove in the tunnel, leaning over a single candle, the light capturing the worry in their faces as they turn to see who’s joined them. It’s clear that I’ve walked into a small meeting between some of the kitchen staff and a handful of servants I recognize from elsewhere in the castle.
The scullery maid is one of them, and so is Bing, the one-handed cook.
The maid breaks into a smile and reaches for me, pulling me into the alcove. I stumble on some toes and apologize. It’s a tight squeeze.
“Thought you wouldn’t come,” she says. “We were just talking about you. I’m Siena, by the way. That’s Tess, Lambert, Nelson from the stables, Arnfried, Rosamond. And of course, you know Bing by now.”
“Hi,” I say. They are of varying ages and skin colors, though all of them share the same wariness in their eyes. “Where are we?” I ask, keeping my whisper to the same hushed volume as the others.
“There are servant tunnels all over the castle,” Siena says. Her voice is high, like a mouse. “Tons of them, everywhere, leading to the great halls and bedrooms, so we can appear in any room and tend to the king’s every need. They forgot about this one or they’d have sealed it up to keep us trapped in the kitchen.”
“Where are we, exactly? Will anyone hear us?”
“Not if we keep our voices down,” says Siena. “We’re just behind the east wing broom closet. No one else is in that corridor at this time of night.”
I’m simultaneously relieved and surprised. So, the servants really did come out of the walls when we had that first meal with Namreth.
