Page 40 of Once Upon a Midnight Clear

“Then we hope we can free ourselves long enough to find Ingrid and get out.”

It sounded impossible. Ella dragged her lower lip through her teeth in contemplation as she held the cup in her hands. There had to be another way, but she wasn’t versed in the geography of this world and so she didn’t know if there was another way into the mountains.

A knock sounded on the door, interrupting her thoughts. Nicholas rose and opened the door to the servants who bustled in with a cart full of food. They went to work setting the table and moments later were gone.

He grinned at her from across the room. “Shall we dine?”

She placed her cup on the table next to his and headed for the table, taking a seat opposite him. There was roasted meat and vegetables in a brown gravy, cheese, bread, fruits, and more tea. She took small portions as she filled her plate while Nicholas heaped his.

“For a prince you have a hearty appetite,” she said.

He laughed as he stuck a piece of meat with his fork. “It’s been a while since the beef stew at the tavern.”

She couldn’t agree more as she took a bite of roasted meat. It was savory and practically melted in her mouth. They lapsed into silence as they both enjoyed the meal, but Ella could tell his mind was working to come up with a better plan.

He wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin. “Perhaps I’m thinking about this all wrong.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

He shoved back from the table and went to one of the bookshelves, his finger trailing down the spines until he found the one he wanted. It was a hefty tome as he pulled it off the shelf and carried it over to the table, dropping it with a thud. The dishes rattled. He flipped open the book and shuffled a few pages to the one he wanted and paused. It was two-page spread of a map of Rovenheim. She leaned in to get a better look as her heart picked up speed. It was almost as though he heard her thoughts about looking at a map.

He pointed to the mountain range northeast of the castle labeled Grimbrande near the coastline. “The pass through the mountains is here.” He dragged his finger along what appeared to be a pathway through the middle of the mountains. “Her fortress is at the top of one of these mountains.”

“But you said the mountain pass was guarded,” she said.

He nodded. “And it will be difficult to get past the guards. But…” His voice trailed off as he swiped is hand over his smooth chin. “What if we took another road further north and approached the fortress from the south here?”

Ella rose from the chair and leaned over the map. “Is there a road there?”

“There used to be.”

From what she could tell on the map, the fortress looked as though it backed against the coast. There was a tiny port town west of the fortress labeled Echo Harbor.

“This harbor here,” she pointed to it. “Does it have ships?”

“Yes.”

“That we can charter?”

Something twinkled deep in his eyes as he gave her a half smile. “Yes.”

“Then why can’t we charter a ship to take us near the coast where her fortress is. We can row a dingy to the coastline and then approach from the south like you mentioned. She would never know we were coming,” Ella said.

“Why, Ella, that sounds positively brilliant.” He beamed at her.

“Thank you.”

She flushed hot at the compliment. It wasn’t often she was complimented for her smarts. But then, she never had the opportunity to converse with someone like Nicholas.

“We will still need supplies and provisions. I’ll gather them. We’ll ride out tomorrow morning to Echo Harbor, though there may not be many ships there this time of year,” he said.

“Why is that?”

“They tend to sail to warmer climates until winter passes. But there should still be a few in port.”

Ella stifled a yawn as she placed her napkin by the side of her plate. Finally warm and with a full stomach, she was starting to feel drowsy.

“Oh, you must be exhausted. Let’s get you to your chamber.”

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