The castle was silent, watchful. Through the thick windows, the winter storm clouds were just visibly rolling in, distorted amorphous smudges of night-black, moss-green, and frozen blue.
I made my way toward the cloakroom situated by the kitchens. Inside was a single wooden chair and a low table with a spinning wheel already laced with thread. Matron pumped her foot upon the treadle, feeding cobwebbed strands into the mouth of the machine. A pile of thick, woolen cloaks heaped at her feet.
“I need two spare cloaks for me and Lady Lilyanna.”
Matron continued to weave, the wheel cracking as it spun. “Can’t, Tam.” The thread bit into her fingers, blanching the skin. “The prince has ordered me to get everything prepared for the wedding. He wants all the holes patched, frayed trims smartened, fur linings added.” The wheel spun faster, droning its sad lament. “He’s having guests come this time. Wants there to be spares.”
“Because it’s the first time his fiancée has actually survived to the wedding day?”
“Now, now, Tam.” She plucked at the thread tangled around the bobbin, strangling the string underneath. “You’re new here, but the prince has been nothing but generous. That’s why the people love him. The whole city is currently dancing around their kitchen tables with excitement.” She pumped at the pedal again and the wheel restarted. “And he’s particularly fond of you, for some reason.”
“Don’t I know it.”
She shot me a sly grin. “I told you to keep your head down, go unnoticed.”
“No, you said I was plain enough that he would never notice me.”
She laughed. “Aye, that sounds right.”
I sighed, hypnotized by the blurring spokes of the wheel. “So, no spare cloaks then?”
She shook her head. “Go ask the prince yourself if you want.”
I grunted and backed toward the door.
We still had to go tonight. If we were fast enough, we’d get there before the snow hit and blocked the passes. We could buy food from the small hamlets on the way, swing by Clement’s hometown and befriend his mother. I could offer her updates on her faithful son, and perhaps she would even tell me some of his childhood stories in return. I bet he’d always been such a stringent rule follower, even as a boy, though I’d love it if he did have a wild few years at some point.
When I returned to the room, Lilyanna’s pacing was wearing a circle upon the thick rug in front of the window. “Good, you’re back.” She marched over and turned me toward the hearth. “The fire went out, and I can’t get it started again.” The air had chilled, her breath fogging as she spoke.
I shivered. The logs were piled high with the ends barely charred. There was no water, no breeze, no reason for it to have extinguished. I grabbed the flint and the poker, prodding and poking at the sparks until a cloying gray smoke wafted from it.
“Why is the smoke not going out?” Lilyanna choked, her hand over her mouth.
I leaned into the hearth and jabbed up the chimney with the poker. The whole shoot was blocked. Thick ash and sticky tar clung to the metal, eventually coming loose with a moist sucking noise, plunging in one giant gelatinous ball to the floor.
A glint of white caught my eye. I poked it gingerly, the tip chiming against the object. Bile rushed into my mouth, and I hurriedly sank it back into the mess before Lilyanna could see. A tooth.
I rocked back on my heels and grimaced. “You’re going to need a maid to clean that up, Lilyanna.” I swallowed away the nausea, forcing the emotion far from my face.
The flames finally caught, and the wood cracked happily as a rush of heat swarmed around us.
“Yeah, I’ll ask the prince for one as a wedding gift.” She tugged me to my feet and brushed the soot from my shoulders.
I leaned in close and whispered, “We go tonight. Meet me at the stables.”
Her fingers didn’t stop as she continued to flick the dust from my sweater. She nodded. “Go get cleaned up. You’re barely able to look after me as it is. Now your mind is going to be stuck on what Clement will think when he sees you covered in dirt and stinking of smoke.”
I shrugged and moved toward the door to my small room. “He’ll probably like it.”
She grinned. Our eyes locked again as I paused at the top of the stairs. “I’ll be ready,” she mouthed.
This was a terrible plan.
I ended up not even telling Clement, thinking it was best we just slip away. Once Lilyanna was safely out of the castle and within her city, I’d have to come back and finish the job as I’d not managed to find myself alone with the prince since the turret. Maybe I could persuade Clement to leave first and transfer down South. There was still time on my deadline as long as Siobhan didn’t think I was running away and sent her hounds to chase me down.
I had no packed food, nothing for us to wear except the literal clothes on our backs, and I still had to find Siobhan—the horse—in whichever paddock she’d been exiled to and get her ready.
But it could still work.
