Mally woke feeling like she’d been beaten. Then she remembered with a sour taste in her mouth that she had been beaten. She groaned and rolled over on her side, squinting at the window. Bright sunlight streamed through the glass in radiating glory. She looked at the two beds beside hers. They were empty. How could she have overslept? What time was it? Meriyal would have her head! She leapt out of bed, only to double over in pain. Cursing her throbbing side she dressed as quickly as she could.
A mirror hung on the wall opposite the door to her bedroom. With trepidation, Mally looked at her reflection. Her first reaction was relief. She didn’t look nearly as bad as she was expecting—or as she felt. Her side burned like fire. Her cheek was blue and shadowy. She pulled up her sleeve past her shoulder and unwrapped the bandage. The cut wasn’t too deep and looked to be healing. Rosa was right. It probably wouldn’t even scar. Cheered, Mally rolled down her sleeve and took a stiff step down the corridor.
“Mally!”
It was amazing how accusing Meriyal’s voice could sound. It snapped and cracked like a whip. Mally waited for her to reach her, anticipating a long tongue lashing for lateness.
“What are you doing on your feet?” Meriyal demanded.
“I—I’m sorry?” asked Mally, thrown for a loop.
“Look at the state of you!” Meriyal exploded, making Mally flinch. “Nathan and Archie told me everything. Come on, we’re going to the sickroom.”
“But I—”
Mally’s assurances that she was fine and didn’t need to be seen to were left far behind in the corridor of ugly oil paintings. Meriyal gripped her wrist and tugged her up two flights of stairs to the fifth floor, ignoring Mally’s pathetic attempts to escape.
“Didn’t I warn you? Didn’t I?” Meriyal hissed like an angry goose. “I told you not to go about the castle alone.”
“I wasn’t alone!” Mally argued. “Lita was with me.”
“Until…?” Meriyal pressed, her angry face inches from Mally.
Mally seemed to shrink.
“Until she left to get the snuffer.”
Meriyal nodded in grim satisfaction. “I’ll be speaking to that idiotic girl,” she said in a dangerous tone before jerking Mally down an extremely bright corridor, lined on one side with high, arching windows. “I told you,” she repeated heatedly.
Mally bit back a sour retort. Did Meriyal think she had enjoyed the encounter?
“Gladys!” Meriyal shouted as she dragged Mally through two arched doors into what Mally assumed was the sickroom. She’d never seen the sickroom and had hardly even been up to the fifth floor except to carry firewood to a few of the rooms.
The sickroom was very large and long with beds lining both walls. It had every appearance of supreme cleanliness and peacefulness—that is, without Meriyal’s screeching voice ricocheting off the walls.
“Gladys! Gladys, where—”
“Hush, Meriyal! There’s no need to shout.”
A woman around Meriyal’s age appeared at the far end of the room. She was much taller than Meriyal with wispy gray hair and thin wrists.
“And why have you decided to disturb my peaceful solitude?” Gladys asked tartly, wrapping a long shawl about her thin shoulders. “I was in the middle of a tarot reading.”
“Mally,” Meriyal replied shortly, jerking her head toward Mally.
“Oh, my.”
Mally felt heat flush her cheeks as Gladys stared at Mally with shock. Mally was sure Meriyal was teetering on another ‘I told you.’
“It’s really not that bad!” Mally said defiantly.
“Perhaps you should sit down, dear,” Gladys advised.
Mally expelled a sigh of exasperation and gingerly lowered herself into a chair.
“How did it happen?”
“Bayard.” Meriyal spat out his name like an ugly swear word. “He attacked her last night.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?” Gladys asked, shocked, halting her inspection of Mally’s cheek. “You should have come to me!”
“I—”
“Meriyal! I just heard!”
Mally turned in her chair to see who had joined them. A thin woman with mousy brown hair had just rushed through the sickroom’s open doors. Mally recognized her immediately: Nanette Lynwood.
“Are you all right?” Nanette asked, staring down at Mally with such intensity that Mally suddenly felt like a child.
“She’ll be much better once I’ve looked her over,” said Gladys in Mally’s silence.
“Rosa tended me,” Mally said quickly.
“Good choice,” Gladys commended in approval. “Rosa knows her remedies, since she has a young boy whose favorite pastime is climbing trees and finding snakes. Oh—is that a birthmark?”
Startled by the question, Mally nodded.
Gladys had just rolled up Mally’s right sleeve to inspect her shoulder. Directly below the bandage was a small, pale birthmark in the shape of a paw print.
“I’ve never seen one shaped like that. Have you, Meriyal?”
“No, I haven’t,” Meriyal agreed, leaning in for a closer look. “But they come in all different shapes and sizes.”
“What a curious shape,” Gladys exclaimed. “A paw. Fascinating. Have you ever seen one shaped so curiously?” Gladys asked Nanette.
Due to the silence that followed, Mally glanced up at her. Nanette stood very still, staring at the birthmark on her shoulder.
“No, no I can’t say I have,” Nanette answered.
“Fascinating,” Gladys repeated. “I suppose it could mean you are unlucky, my dear. The cat can be quite unlucky.”
“Like last night?” Meriyal insinuated.
Mally ignored her.
“I am no more unlucky than the next person,” she said tartly.
“And feisty,” Gladys observed, her eyes lighting up. “That could also mean courage, independence … why, why even—”
“Enough of your inner eye, Gladys!” snapped Meriyal. “Could you please see to Mally? I believe Nathan mentioned something about her side.”
“Oh, yes,” said Gladys quickly, color high in her cheeks. “If you would stand over here, dear?”
After a close inspection of her heavily bruised side behind a curtain, Gladys approved of Mally returning to her duties.
“But take it easy,” Gladys said with a severe shake of her finger. “No heavy lifting and not much bending. Your side got the most abuse. Rub this ointment on it when you wake up and when you go to bed. It will help ease the ache. And I’m going to want to see that shoulder again tomorrow. We don’t want it getting infected.”
But the moment Mally left the sickroom, she wished Gladys had told her to return to bed. Not everyone knew what had happened, and almost everyone who spotted her watched her go by with shocked, opened mouths. Once she had explained for what seemed the fifteenth time why she was bruised, she had half a mind to lock herself up in her bedroom for sanctuary.
“No, really Hattie, I’m fine,” Mally repeated dully.
“Fine? How can you be fine? Look at you!”
“It looks bad I know, but—Lita!” Mally shouted loudly as she spotted her friend in the crowded corridor. She gripped hold of Lita’s hand and quickly excused herself from Hattie.
“Where have you been?” Mally hissed as they traveled quickly past the many onlookers.
“Trying to find you,” Lita replied. “It’s a large castle.” Lita stopped walking and turned to face Mally. “Look at you.” Her voice wasn’t pitying or shocked—it was bitter and hard. “I want to put snakes in his bed.”
Mally smiled at the attractive idea.
“Really, a nice adder or two under the sheets—you’d hear his screams from the north tower,” Lita continued as they started walking again.
“Don’t,” Mally advised.
“Archie wanted me to find you,” said Lita. “We don’t like the idea of you walking about the castle after the attack.”
“I don’t think Meriyal would mind me being in the kitchen for a while,” Mally agreed. “She had me up in the sickroom this morning.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
At her words, Mally was startled to see Lita’s eyes take on a watery shine.
“It’s all my fault!” she exploded, angry tears rolling down her cheeks. “If I hadn’t left you—if I hadn’t forgotten that stupid snuffer!”
“Now, just stop right there, Lita,” Mally ordered sharply. “That’s enough of that. He’s probably been looking for his opportunity and if it hadn’t have happened last night it would have happened on another night.” Then she added in a softer voice “It wasn’t your fault.”
Lita gave a great sniff and they continued to the kitchen.
“What took you so long, anyway?” Mally asked.
“Gibbs and Rendle. They stopped me and made me reorganize their daggers. They kept me all night.”
Mally turned to Lita, a thought coming to her.
“Do you think they were in on it? To separate us?”
Lita looked ashen but said quickly, “How could they have known we were doing the first floor last night? Mildred always does it. And they didn’t make me forget the snuffer.”
Silently, Mally agreed with her. It had just been an unlucky day. Maybe Gladys was right about her birthmark.
The moment they entered the kitchen, Archie and Rosa stopped what they were doing and rushed to Mally.
“Take a seat! Take a seat!” Archie ordered, though in a fatherly way. “Good heavens, look at you.”
“Have you eaten anything?” asked Rosa with concern. “I noticed that you weren’t in the chamber at breakfast.”
“You haven’t eaten!” Archie exploded when Mally shook her head. “Dear Lenzar, girl, how are you supposed to recover without proper nutrition?”
In a matter of seconds, Mally had been pulled up to the large table and Archie and Rosa had placed before her wedges of three different cheeses, bread, roasted pheasant legs, steamed greens, and a gooseberry tart.
“But I can’t eat all of this!” Mally exclaimed as Archie spooned more sauce over the pheasant.
“Don’t complain, Mally.” Lita, whose eyes were now dry, was staring at the spread with great interest, “What you don’t eat won’t go to waste.”
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It became apparent to Mally rather quickly that Archie wanted to keep her in the kitchen all day. Mally argued that this was ridiculous.
“I have jobs to do!”
“I can give you jobs,” said Archie stubbornly. But what he really wanted was for her to sit and drink the tea Rosa kept putting in her hands. That he didn’t even offer the most obvious job—mushroom hunting—only made it clearer to Mally that he had no intention of sending her from his sight.
“I can’t stay here forever,” Mally stated. “I am going back to work tomorrow.”
Archie’s mustache billowed in frustration.
“Fine,” he barked, “but not without a guard.”
“Archie!” Mally exclaimed.
“I don’t want to hear it! You’re not to go anywhere alone,” he ordered. “Lita will be with you constantly. And maybe Nathan. Yes, he’d be good and perhaps—”
“Nathan has his own duties. I am not going to ask him to put them aside to be my bodyguard,” Mally replied firmly, crossing her arms. “Nor anyone else.”
When Mally was finally able to extract herself from Archie, the sun had begun to set. She wasn’t in any mood to eat with the rest of the servants—she was tired of explaining and tired of their concern. Lita, who had to serve once again, promised to bring her some dinner when she was finished. So Mally returned to her bedroom alone. Her side ached terribly and she let out a sigh of relief when she lowered down on her bed. She tried to stay awake for Lita, but was soon fast asleep.
***
The next day was Thursday, and Mally woke, stiffer than ever, but happy with the prospect of leaving the castle for a few hours. She would see Sam today. However, during breakfast, Meriyal informed her that Evelyn would be accompanying her into the city.
“Evelyn?” Mally gasped as Lita gaped like a fish beside her. “But why? I’ve been in the city alone before!”
“Evelyn wants to go with you,” Meriyal said in a don’t-argue-with-me tone.
Mally snorted. She didn’t believe that for a second. This was all Archie’s doing, she just knew it! And clearly, Meriyal wasn’t against it.
“And a letter came for you.” Meriyal handed Lita a tightly rolled parchment that Lita glanced at before putting in her pocket.
“Why couldn’t she have you come with me?” Mally fumed to Lita when Meriyal had left them.
“Couldn’t have, Mally,” Lita grimaced. “I’m cleaning Molick’s study today. There’s no way that I would be able to get out of that job.”
Mally’s eyes widened, remembering her one encounter with Molick. In all the insanity, she hadn’t talked to Lita about it.
“He wanted to know about the passages,” said Mally. “But I didn’t tell him anything.”
Lita nodded.
“That’s why he only likes one servant cleaning his study at a time. He can prod and pressure and threaten us for information for hours and at the same time complain about our poor cleaning techniques. Last time it was poor Hattie. She’s been a nervous wreck.”
Mally had noticed that Hattie had seemed paler and jumpier than usual.
“I would happily spend the afternoon with Evelyn instead of Molick,” said Lita ruefully before rising from the bench and heading to the door.
Halfway down the table, Nanette caught Mally’s eye. Nanette smiled slightly and inclined her head.
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Evelyn was just as temperamental as Mally had expected. Mally had wanted to stop by the Lone Candle to see Galen after visiting Sam, but with Evelyn huffing and muttering impatiently while Mally rubbed Sam’s nose, she wasn’t about to bring it up.
It was when Evelyn was arguing about the prices of wool with a seamstress at the market that Mally spotted him. A knight Mally didn’t know by name was watching her. Mally quickly averted her eyes, but cut another glance at him discreetly. He leaned against a display of brooms, some forty feet from her, his arms crossed, his face expressionless, but very clearly staring at her.
Beside Mally’s elbow Evelyn seemed to have won her haggling, and without ado, pushed the load of wool into Mally’s arms. Evelyn then made her way to the next stand, leaving Mally to politely nod to the scowling seamstress.
As they shopped, the knight followed them. He always kept his distance, but always his eyes were on Mally. Why in the name of Lenzar was he following her? Mally’s mind was a blur of panic, full of explanations all more frightening and ridiculous than the next. She had never heard of a knight behaving so strangely. They intimidated, but this was much more than that. He was sending a message. Was Molick behind this? Did he suspect her of something? The rebels? Mally’s face paled dramatically and she felt cold sweat on her back. But there was no reason for Molick or this knight to think that. The knight wasn’t getting close enough to overhear any quiet conversations. Had Molick heard of her asking questions about the royal family? Mally had thought she had been discreet … that anything the servants discussed wouldn’t reach the ears of the court … but how could she be sure?
Mally felt her stomach drop—what if she was followed when Ivan or Galen wanted another meeting? Would the knight overhear them then? She had to warn them that it wasn’t safe—that she was being watched. Perhaps, if she fooled this knight, then Molick would decide she was unimportant and she would be ignored once again? If she was going to be successful at that, then Galen and Ivan must be told to lay low until it was safer. But how was she to get such a message to them without the knight tagging along?
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She spent all day planning. Any excursion during the day would be difficult to manage. She didn’t have an excuse—she had already seen Sam. And the knight at the gate would see her leave the castle. So instead, she’d leave after dinner—after Lita and Gerda had gone to sleep and after the customers at the Lone Candle had left or retired to their rooms. But that still didn’t help her pass the guard without detection. And that wasn’t her only concern. She would be trying to leave after curfew—an act that sent people to the dungeons.
It was the day after her discovery of the knight who was watching her, and two after her attack. The bruises to her side were just as black and blue, causing her to move slowly and carefully, but as they were hidden under her shirt, they didn’t receive any stares. Her cheek still sported an ugly bruise and her shoulder still required a bandage.
Mally was glad beyond relief that she hadn’t run into Bayard since that night. Perhaps he was now satisfied? Lita and Christopher were glued to her wherever she went but Mally didn’t mind … until it interfered with her plans of leaving the castle. She couldn’t possibly ask Lita or Christopher if there was a passage that led into the city without questions. And if they thought that all Mally wanted was to sneak more time with Sam, then they would insist upon accompanying her. She had considered telling Lita why she had been hired into the castle in the first place. Lita wouldn’t tell anyone, Mally knew that. But she had promised Galen and Ivan that she would keep their secret.
“You seem preoccupied,” said Christopher cheerfully.
Mally and Lita both looked at him in surprise, unsure who he had been addressing, for both of them had been silent—Lita unnaturally so. Suddenly realizing that Lita hadn’t said anything but a simple greeting as they had dressed, Mally frowned at her curiously.
She was paler this morning. Her gaze was serious and she looked as if something was on her mind.
“Was Molick difficult?” Mally asked quietly as they entered the Servants’ Chamber for breakfast.
“Molick’s always difficult,” Lita said shortly. And she didn’t say anything else as they ate.
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Lita’s mood did not improve. The quieter she became, the surlier her face. Mally and Christopher finally stopped prodding her about what was wrong or trying to lift her mood, for Lita’s frown would only deepen. Mally wondered if it was something she had done, but that seemed stupid. She hadn’t said or done anything that would upset Lita. Most likely it was something that had transpired during cleaning Molick’s sitting room, and Lita would talk about that when she was ready. And anyway, Mally had her own problem to deal with.
Around noon, Mally found her answer. She was being shuttled down to the Servants’ Chamber for lunch, though she wasn’t remotely hungry. She had turned just as moody and quiet as Lita—she had failed repeatedly to find any servant passage out of the castle. Christopher looked more than happy to be leading the way to the Servants’ Chamber. Mally couldn’t blame him for wanting to get as far from their bad moods as possible.
They entered the Great Hall where Mally had had her disastrous encounter with Bayard. She walked slowly, purposefully lagging behind Christopher and Lita.
“Ouch!”
Mally started and stumbled to a halt. She took a few quick strides to the front doors and swung them open. On the other side was little Sammy McGriff, struggling to carry one too many pails and shovels. Mally hurried down the front steps and grabbed a shovel that had fallen to the ground.
“Thanks,” Sammy panted.
“Mally?”
Mally turned and saw Lita hovering in the doorway. She must have heard Sammy’s exclamation and had followed Mally.
“Go ahead,” said Mally, taking another shovel from Sammy. “I’ll help Sammy put these away and be right in.” And before Lita could say anything, Mally had spun on her heel, but not before she had seen Lita’s face twist sourly.
“Thanks,” Sammy repeated, huffing as he walked beside her.
“No problem,” said Mally smiling. Sammy did look very much like Rosa. Their dimples were identical.
Mally and Sammy walked to the large shed where Jake kept his tools. Once all the pails and shovels had been put away, Sammy turned to her and smiled widely.
“Want a walk?” he asked.
Mally agreed. It would be nice to be out of the castle a little longer. They left the shed, heading in the direction of one of the rose gardens. Heavy clouds covered the sky. It had been dreary for days.
“You said you have a horse?” Sammy chirped suddenly.
“Yes,” said Mally smiling. She remembered mentioning Sam in front of Rosa. “His name’s Sam.”
“That’s my name!” Sammy exclaimed. “Sort of. And I heard that he’s huge!”
“He’s pretty big,” Mally admitted. They entered one of the numerous rose gardens. Its center was taken up by a large group of statues. Seven angels, their winds fanning out behind them, half shielded, half concealed an angel in the center. Her arms and face were not raised like the others, but focused downward.
“I wish I could see him,” said Sammy. From his pocket, he pulled out a sticky cake, cut like a square with sliced apples on top. Mally recognized it immediately.
“Where did you get that?” she asked, staring at the apple square.
His cheeks flushed.
“Archie made it.”
“No he didn’t. That came from the Sticky Finger Bakery. That’s an apple square.”
Sammy looked highly uncomfortable.
“How did you get that?” Mally pressed.
“Please don’t tell Mom,” pleaded Sammy. “I’m not supposed to go into the city alone.”
“I won’t if you tell me how you got past the guard without being seen.”
Sammy’s face broke into a relieved grin.
“There’s a hidden tunnel under a loose floorboard in the back of the cellar,” he explained in a rush. “It’s the third board to the right next to the barrels of gooseberry wine. It leads to a worn down shed outside the castle’s walls.”
“Does anyone else know about it?” Mally asked, her heart racing beneath her ribs.
“I don’t know,” Sammy admitted, shrugging his shoulders. “Probably Archie—he’s been here forever. I found out about it when I was hiding from Gladys. I had a cold and she wanted to give me her tonic.” He pulled a face. “I was hiding behind the barrels and noticed that one of the boards wasn’t laying flat. I pulled on it and there was a tunnel!” He grinned widely before his smile faltered. “You won’t tell Mom, will you?”
“No, Sammy, I won’t,” Mally promised. “We should get back—it’s starting to rain.”
Mally’s excitement glowed in her chest for the rest of the day. She had found her way into the city.