“Is there a stable for my horse?” I asked him.
The guard nodded once. “Around back.”
My dad took the reins and tied Ember to a post with a bat carving on top. “We can stable her after. I want to look inside.”
I nodded. I was eager too. Would there be frog legs hanging from the ceiling and bat wings as dinner plates?
Yanric laughed in my head at that thought, and I glared at him.‘You’re not far off, but only in some rooms,’he stated.
Walking up to the door, I wrapped my hand around the serpent-head carved handle and pulled it open.
I expected to be met with decades’ worth of dust but, instead, was pleasantly surprised. Stepping up into the foyer, I appraised the entry room.
It was light and bright and unlike the outside. It also smelled of fresh paint and lemon-and-vinegar cleaning spray. The walls were light gray and the floors, a white marble stone. A huge double staircase with black velvet carpet led to a second floor, but my eyes were glued to a tiny letter that was propped up on an entry table.
Walking over to it, I tore it open and read it aloud for my father.
Ms. Bane,
Due to the neglected state your family manor was in, the queen had to send her household staff to ready the home for your arrival. You will see that not all the rooms could be prepared for you, as it was not a feasible use of time and resources.
Since your heir status has been officially reinstated, you are entitled to three household staff members paid for by the crown: one butler, one maid, and one stable hand. They will arrive daily from morning to night. You are expected to observe the rules laid out in your previous arrangement with the queen.
She hopes you will be settled and arrive early for the ceremony tonight.
Secretary to Her Royal Highness,
Maxwell Bishop
“What rules?” my dad asked.
I waved him off casually and stuck the note in my pocket. “Curfew and stuff.”
He nodded and then pointed to the letter. “I’m not forcing some servant to open the door for me and clean my dishes.”
I chuckled. “We can tell the maid and butler they are not needed, but I think the stable hand would be good to keep. I don’t know anything about horses.”
My dad frowned. “On second thought, what if the maid and butler are depending on this coin to feed their families?”
My gut tightened with dread. “I hadn’t thought of that. We can keep them all but tell them they don’t need to fuss over us?”
My dad nodded as if that made him feel better.
We then set about exploring. I lost count of how many rooms there were. Two of the bedrooms had been freshly painted and cleaned and held our furniture from the West Side. The rest of the bedrooms were drowning in cobwebs, with a musty odor and furniture full of moth holes and thick dust.
I quickly learned the top three floors were all bedrooms with attached bathrooms. There were over thirty of them, which all held two bunk beds apiece, which meant this manor once housed over a hundred people. The main floor was where the giant kitchen, sitting room, dining hall, office, and a colossal library were. Covering all the books were thick canvas sheets that I longed to rip down, but I still had to explore the mysterious basement level.
“Going to the basement with Yanric!” I told my dad as he stepped outside to take Ember to the stables and get her some water and shade.
“All right,” he said.
I took the stairs two at a time, reminded of the dark entrance to Master Clarke’s office, and then flicked on the light at the base of the stairs. The little crystal inside the sconce glowed a lilac hue.
“Whoa.” I peered around at the giant open space. It was like a museum. Rows and rows of glass-top display stands filled the area. Most of them looked as though they’d been cleaned recently.
‘Dark artifacts room. Queen probably had her people go through it first to take anything out she didn’t want you to have access to,’Yanric explained.
I peered in one of the cases, and sure enough, there was a red velvet pad covered in dust with a missing item in the shape of a dagger. I moved to the next case and saw a bunch of crystals.‘Does she know what it all is?’
