Sofia hesitated before replying. “No, mistress. We are not permitted to roam the castle after dark unless accompanying a guest.”
Mina’s stomach churned as her mind replayed the sound of laughter—the voices distinctly feminine. “Then perhaps it was one of the other staff?”
“That is unlikely,” Sofia said. “I am the only staff allowed into these quarters. The driver, Vasile, remains on the ground level unless the Count requires his assistance.”
“Is it just the two of you?” Mina asked. “What about the cook?”
“I do the cooking, mistress.”
Mina blinked in confusion. “Really? It’s just—I can imagine you must be quite busy with your other tasks. In England, it would be typicalfor—”
“You are not in England, mistress,” Sofia cut in.
Mina had not meant to pry, but a dark shadow crossed Sofia’s face, her expression pinched.
“Things are the way they are for a reason.” Sofia swallowed visibly, her voice softening as she added, “It is for your safety, mistress.”
Guilt coursed through Mina—she had clearly pressed a nerve. “Of course,” she said, offering a small smile. “Thank you, Sofia.”
The woman gave a nod and moved past Mina, leaving the bedroom door ajar as she disappeared down the hall, the water bucket clinking softly in her hand.
Mina remained where she was for a moment, unsettled. Her gaze drifted back to the open doorway, and with it came the memory of the previous night—the whispers outside her door. Perhaps, if she understood where the hallway led, she might make sense of what she had heard.
She walked over to the door and eased it open more fully, peering into the corridor beyond. There were no windows to illuminate the space—only the faint spill of light from her chamber behind her. She stepped out, glancing left in the direction Sofia had gone, then right, toward a hallway that curved out of sight.
With a look over her shoulder, she moved down the unfamiliar path, shadows closing in around her despite the morning hour. She came upon a closed door. She could not have saidwhat stirred her curiosity, only that she found herself reaching out and testing the handle. It was locked, as seemed to be the case for every room in this castle aside from her own.
As she continued down the hall, her heart thrummed with the knowledge that she was breaking one of the few rules the Count had given her. Still, surely walking the corridor outside her own chambers could not be so grave an offense.
With each step, she listened for the sound of Sofia returning with the water bucket.
Another closed door appeared. She tried the handle, finding it locked as well.
As the corridor curved, her chamber disappeared from view, and she slowed. Perhaps there was a staircase nearby leading to the servants’ quarters. If so, it might explain the sounds she had heard—nothing more than voices echoing where they were never meant to reach her. But at the end of the hall, there was no stairway—only another corridor stretching onward.
She looked from one direction to the other. Stone. Doors. Silence.
Were these rooms simply empty? The thought unsettled her. It seemed absurd to possess such a vast castle only to seal its chambers away, leaving them to gather dust.
It was just as she turned back toward her chambers that a sound came from the hallway behind her. Mina stilled, listening intently. Footsteps—slow, almost cautious, as though whoever made them did not wish to be discovered.
For a moment, she thought of Jonathan, but dismissed the idea at once. He was not the sort to sneak; if he wished to do something, he would simply do it. A servant, then? Perhaps Sofia had exaggerated when she claimed it was only Vasile and herself to tend to the castle’s needs. And yet, if the Count required little, maybe it was not so unreasonable.
She told herself it might be Sofia after all, moving carefully beneath the weight of a full water bucket. Still, the fear of being caught where she ought not to be sent her heart racing, and Mina hastened back the way she had come. Relief washed through her when her chambers came into view, light spilling out into the corridor.
Mina had just stepped into that glow when she saw Sofia turn down the hall—not from behind her, but from ahead, coming from the same direction she had gone earlier.
“Can I help you, mistress?” Sofia asked, her voice edged with surprise.
“Oh,” Mina said, glancing back down the corridor. “No. I thought I heard you out here.”
“It’s best you stay in your chambers,” Sofia said as she approached with the full bucket of water. “You’ll catch a chill in these drafty corridors. Go on.” She nodded toward the room, and Mina obeyed, crossing her arms over herself as she moved to the window.
Sofia kicked the bedroom door shut behind them, as though Mina might otherwise slip away while the bath was being filled.But as Mina stood there, looking out into the snowy morning, she turned the incident over in her mind, doubt beginning to creep in. Perhaps she had only heard echoes of Sofia’s own footsteps, distorted by the bends of the corridor. Or perhaps the sound had seemed closer than it truly was. It might even have been the driver, Vasile, attending to one of his duties.
Then another possibility occurred to her—the priest. She had seen him only the night before, deep beneath the castle, but that did not mean his quarters lay there. It did not quite explain the cautious quality of the footsteps, but it eased her nerves to have a reasonable explanation. She decided this must be so.
***
