The whole trip Alphonse had been wracking his brain for a way out, for either him or the boy. If he had the option, he would have left the boy behind to escape without question. If that wasn’t an option, he’d try to see at least one of them safely away, purely out of spite towards their captor.

As it stood however, he saw no way out for either of them, other than to rely of the Baroness mercy. He would have felt more confident if he wasn’t aware that the She-Wolf of Shadowtree had none.

As Alphonse looked around him, he found the Baroness’ castle town both more and less impressive than the others he’d seen. It was small, and he could see no sign of any peasants milling about. But inside that small space, it had the look of an armed camp equipped beyond any he’d seen before.

There were more knights than he’d ever seen in a castle not under siege. A group of them practiced in a sparring ring easily able to accommodate dozens of men at once. He was more impressed when he realized that most of their number must still be out raiding the Baron Claudius’ land after their victory, and this represented their force at its lowest tide.

To the side of the gate as he entered, Alphonse saw a great forge belching smoke. It was the largest he’d seen since he’d visited Smith’s Road in Whitegate itself. Then he passed by an armory, mostly empty weapon racks and armor dummies now. At capacity, it would have been sufficient to equip at least three hundred knights, and countless levies.

Ser Birch led the group into the stables, which were utterly cavernous. Obviously, the majority of the riders were still in the field, as it stood nearly empty, and had been cleaned almost spotless. A sizeable number of stable boys – obviously far too many for the meager horses currently in residence – sat at the far end throwing dice, and cursing at one another as they exchanged copper pennies between themselves.

When their party entered, a pair of boys peeled off from the main group and took their horses, though the boys’ expressions said that their attention was still on their game.

“Come along Ser Craven, the mistress of the castle doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” Ser Birch took Alphonse by the arm and led him gently from the stable.

The castle towered high above them as they approached. Some presumed that Shadowtree was named for the shade cast by the colossal pines. It was understandable, since at three hundred feet high each, they had a way of catching they eye. However, Shadowtree was not the name of the trees around the castle, but rather the tree inside the castle.

The keep was built around a single tree, larger than any other. The circumference of the trunk alone was wider than most homes. According to what Ser Birch had told him, the tree’s height stood at less than a foot shy of four hundred. Alphonse had heard of the castle, but never seen it for himself until that moment.

As they entered the foyer of the castle itself, the sight of the trunk before him took Alphonse’s breath away. The foyer was wide and spacious, with a high ceiling. So high, that there were mezzanine balconies looking down onto it. Yet, he still seemed to be seeing only a fraction of the stump. A wooden staircase spiraled around the tree, and led upwards giving access to the mezzanine, and then upwards further to the higher floors of the castle still out of sight.

Here, for the first time, Alphonse did not hear the shifting of pine needles under his feet. Though the straw brooms lying next to the main doors suggested the endless war which the serving staff must wage to keep it that way.

A large circle window over the door kept the room light enough, even though it had turned to evening. The east facing window must have made the room quite brilliant in the sunlight, unless the trees kept it shaded.

He hoped he would still be present in the morning to see.

Then Alphonse saw her coming down the stairs.

She was at least thirty, though not much older by his reckoning. She wore a long green dress with no frills or accessories, other than a single silver broach over her left shoulder, and a belt which held a longsword. The dress was cut low to show her generous bosom, her hair was auburn and fell in long curls.

It was only once she reached ground level that Alphonse realized that she must have been six feet, since she stood as tall as him. As she came even closer, he made could make out that her broach was a woodpecker, the symbol of her house.

All in all, Alphonse had been expecting someone quite different. Her face was fair, he might go so far as to even say beautiful. Her eyes sparkled at him like amber and threatened to pull him in. He had to take a breath to steady himself. Looking to his side, he could see that the boy had flushed red and taken a step behind him.

“Milady,” Alphonse said, and took a deep bow. He hoped the boy had the sense to do the same, though he didn’t bother to look. “How may I be of service to you?”

The Baroness was silent for a long time, and Alphonse kept his head bowed.

He was beginning to feel his back stiffen.

At length, she spoke. “Do you know why I attacked that fat fool Claudius?”

Alphonse was relieved that she had finally replied, and returned to his normal height to look her in the eye. Almost immediately he regretted the decision, when he saw the icy cold in her expression. But then, he couldn’t really bow a second time without looking like a complete fool. So, he settled on continuing to meet her gaze, and hoping for the best.

“I’m afraid I do not, my Lady. I don’t concern myself with the whys of lords’ conflicts, just the resolving of them.”

If the Baroness was impressed with his answer, she did not show it. However, if she was wroth with his answer, she also gave no sign. "Should I take that as an offer to resolve my own problems?"

"I should be happy to work for such an illustrious employer as yourself."

“The Baron stole something of mine from a courier who was bringing it to me from the city. A cherry wood box inlaid with jewels, floral design. Have you seen it?”

“I am a simple sellsword. I was not privy to any of the baron’s plans, or plots, or spoils, or anything of that sort-”

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“-I saw it, my lady,” said Twig.

Alphonse said nothing, but Twig could tell that he was seething under his skin. It didn’t matter, he was doing this to save the old pseudo-knights life. It was obvious he had no idea how to lie, and the Baroness already didn’t trust him.

He softened his eyes and made himself as cherubic as possible.

Twig was a nineteen years old man, but he was short and had a baby face, so everyone presumed that he must be younger. He also knew how to play it up when he needed to. The Baroness was supposedly an atrociously evil woman, but she was still a woman of a certain age. She must have some maternal instincts within her that he could appeal to, or so he hoped.

“Oh, did you little one? Tell me about it.” Whereas before the Baroness she had been cold as steel. Now she bent forward to put herself on a height with Twig, and practically purred at him.

The cruelty was still there though; Twig imagined he could see it behind her eyes. He still remembered the men on the gate.

“Yes, my Lady. I served as squire to Ser Thorne, the elder. The Baron came to see us in our camp and the two of them looked at just such a box. The Baron seemed scared of it and he left. Then, after the battle, Ser Thorne came back to his tent and couldn’t find it. He raged and blamed me. He meant to beat me when Ser-” Twig motioned towards Ser Craven. “-stepped forward and saved me.”

The Baroness reached forward. At first, Twig feared she meant to scratch him, but all she did rub away some of the dirt on his face with her thumb. “And did you steal the box, little one?”

“No m’lady.” Twig replied quite truthfully, though he neglected to mention that it was only because Alphonse had intercepted him. “I’m very sorry Baroness, but I don’t know where it is.” Again, he spoke the truth. He hadn’t seen the box since they were captured.

If the old man had any sense, he would have dumped it somewhere.

“Oh, don’t be sorry, dear one.” The Baroness wrapped her arms around him in an embrace that had more of steel about it than warmth. Twig felt his body tense, but he maintained control. Fortunately so, since upsetting her might have been fatal. “I’ll see to it that you’re cleaned and have a good meal. Then maybe we can talk more. and you can help me find the box. Would you like that?”

“Oh yes, m’lady. Very much so.” He feigned excitement as best he could.

“And what’s your name, little one?”

“Twig, Baroness. My friends call me Twig.”

The Baroness lived up to her word. The minute Twig had been escorted out of the audience chamber, he expected to be clapped in chains and hauled down to the dungeon, or tied to a cross and mounted over the gate. Instead, he was taken up the stairs around the trunk of the great tree, and taken into a room with a scalding hot bath.

A matronly serving woman came in and saw to it that he was scrubbed nearly to the bone. Though Twig did have a number of layers of grime to work through.

He didn’t mind being covered in dirt himself, but he did pity the Baroness her choice to embrace him. Her dress may never be the same striking green ever again following its contact with him.

His original clothes were removed, and he never saw them again. In their place, he was given a fine green doublet with a pair of tan breaches. They felt a bit tight on him around the chest, and long in the legs, but otherwise fit fine.

Once he was done with his bath, Twig was taken into a small private dining room and given a meat pie. The food was simple; the party had arrived in the midafternoon, too late for lunch and too soon for supper. Still, it was better than the dried meat and stale bread he had been eating on the road.

It had been so long since he’d had a real meal, that Twig had nearly forgotten what it was like to finish eating and not feel like he’d feasted on mouthful of earth.

It was the next part that frightened him.

Twig didn’t fancy another meeting with that dread woman. His unease quickened his stomach, and it occur to him that the jewels might come back into his possession faster than he had intended.

The Baroness came into the room, accompanied by her surely looking bodyguards. An elderly looking man in a tricornered hat came with them, and sat in the far corner.

The Baroness had changed into an amber dress; it matched her eyes. She smiled at him like a wolf. “There we are! Don’t you look handsome all cleaned up.”

“Thank-you m’lady. It’s very kind to hear from such a beautiful lady as you, m’lady.”

“Such a sweet tongue too.”

“Will Ser Alphonse be joining us, m’lady?”

“You won’t be seeing him again for a very long time, Twig.”

What in ten thousand hells did that mean? Twig said a silent prayer for the old man’s soul, if he needed it.

“You’ve been very kind to me, m’lady. And I only wish there was someway that I could repay you.”

She pinched his cheek. “I’m so pleased to hear that. You can repay me right now. Tell me everything you know about the box.”

“Is Ser Alphonse alright?”

“Of course he is, Twig. Oh, sweet one, you’re trembling. I hope you don’t believe those horrible rumors about me. My law is harsh because that is the only way to bring justice. I would never harm an innocent child like you. So long as you’re honest with me, you and your friend have absolutely nothing to fear. You must trust me.”

Twig would have burst out laughing, were he not in mortal terror. “Oh m’lady, I’m so relieved to hear that. I thought when I first laid eyes on you that a woman of such evident nobility as yourself could never do the horrible things they claim in those stories. You must understand though just how one so inexperienced in the ways of the world as myself has difficulty discerning just who to trust. I’m very glad to put my complete faith in you now, m’lady.”

“Twig, you know just how to gladden my heart. Now, answer my question. Where did you first learn of the box.”

“Well, m’lady. I heard from Ser Birch, that his lordship Claudius was coming to meet us while we were out at exercises. There had been rumors – you must understand, I’m only retelling what was told to me – there were rumors that you meant to invade and kill everyone.”

“Complete fabrication! Oh, I’m not angry at you. Don’t look so startled. Your Baron is a thief, I sent my soldiers to establish real law and order in Deepmotte.”

“Oh yes, m’lady. It’s so calming to be perfectly safe here beneath your just sword. Well, the rumors were there all the same. So, we had hired a company of mercenaries to bolster our numbers. Then, the night before we really knew you were here for certain, the Baron arrived at the camp in secret. I saw him from inside Ser Birch’s tent, and they never knew I observed them. Claudius gave the box to him; I saw it clearly.”

“He’s lying,” said the man in the hat.

Bodyguards grabbed Twigs arms and held him down in his chair. The man must have been a wizard, he was weaving a truth seeing spell. Twig realized that they had given him the clothes he wore, and could have worked any number of arcane signs into the fabric.

The Baroness gripped his neck, and purposefully dug her fingernails into his flesh. “We were getting along so marvelously. What did he lie about?”

“Couldn’t tell,” the wizard replied. “Something towards the end. He was also lying throughout with all the sycophancy, but I presumed that went without saying.”

“I didn’t see the box clearly m’lady. I lied to please you…”

She narrowed her eyes. “Then how did you come to know about the box?”

Twig relied on his final weapon, his cowardice. Tears streamed down his face and his lip quivered. “I’m sorry, m’lady. I was so scared! I didn’t see the box, but I saw the orders the Baron gave him that night.”

“You can read?”

“Yes, m’lady. Not many in the camp could, so Ser Birch was often careless with written orders. He was supposed to ignore your forces and take the box to a courier north of the Whitewood. That’s why I couldn’t understand it when he ordered us to stop and defend that motley little village your men were about to destr- to bringing your firm justice to. But when everyone went out to battle, I tried to steal the box, to barter my way free with it.” Must word this next part carefully, Twig thought. “When I went to steal the box though, it had already taken by someone else before I could escape the camp with it. And right now, I have absolutely no notion where it is. I’m telling the truth m'lady! You must believe me!”

The Baroness turned to her wizard, who confirmed, “It’s the truth.”

She released her grip on his throat, and her bodyguards let Twig go. “I’m so relieved you didn’t make me do something that we would both regret, Twig. I think we have the potential to be such beautiful friends, and I would hate for anything to ruin that.”

“May I go now? Please?”

She smiled at him again, and his stomach dropped. “Oh no, Twig. We’re going to be spending a lot more time together.”