Page 3 of Lord of the Castle
A step roused me from my thoughts. The next moment, the rosy woman I'd met at the door bustled into the room, rolling a cart with tea and hot cakes.
Chapter Three
The faint smellof cinnamon made me sit up straight, stomach growling. I blushed, aware of how hungry and dirty I was. The woman’s expression turned to one of compassion as she glanced at me. “Oh my dear, he won’t be long. Here. You must be famished and exhausted. Have a spot of tea and a cake while you wait, it will take the edge off. I’ll have the maid draw up a warm bath so you can soak before dinner, and we’ll find you something to wear while we clean your armor. Don’t worry about anything here.”
I gave a heavy sigh and met her kind gaze. “Thank you. What is your name?”
“Bless me.” The woman patted her generous bosom. “Here I go forgetting my manners, but here in the castle it’s easy to lose touch with the pleasantries of court, not that we mind at all, but we are behind the times here. I’m sure it matters more to you than to us, but this is the countryside, you see. Life is different here without kings and courts and armies. I didn’t know they let women be soldiers now. It was a bit of surprise to find you on our doorstep, but they send someone every year so we were expecting you at some point. We just… Bless me I’ve gone off rambling now. You may call me Betty. My family has served the lords of the castle for nigh on a hundred years, a proud tradition I am glad to keep up. We are a fiercely loyal family, and the lords saved my family from destitution and being sold to work the mines. I wouldn’t be alive today if not for the lords father…”
As curious as I was to learn about where I was, the constant rambling wore me out. I wondered if she’d talk herself blue in the face, but while she spoke, she busied herself pouring tea and pushed the cart up next to me. I helped myself to a cake and had to admit, if she were the cook, she did a wonderful job. The lightness of the cake and the sweetness of it was much better than the rations soldiers were entitled to. The tea smelled like lavender, and I lifted the porcelain cup gently, noting the spray of pink and gold flowers painted on it. The smell relaxed me, and as soon as I tasted the tea, warmth spread throughout my body.
The anxiety of my trip and the complexities of my situation melted away as though I’d been put under a spell. Betty sat down in the chair opposite from me as though she—and not the lord of the castle—were entertaining me.
“There now, that’s better, isn’t it?” She leaned forward and her face went serious. “Tell me now, why did you truly come?”
I looked at her, but my eyes kept sliding off her face, and her voice sounded far, so far away. I drained the last of the tea and tried to sit up, to tell her why I was there, to confess. It would feel so good to confess, to tell someone else what I had done, to let my secrets be more than just my own.
“It is my fault I’m here. I’ve always been a troublemaker.”
Betty sat back in the chair, and her voice was as gentle as velvet. “A troublemaker? Why?”
“I wasn’t born a lady, or even a peasant. My mother was a harlot and worked a brothel outside the city gates. I was no more than five when the barbarians swooped down to steal the women. The Sisters of the Sword came to the aid of the brothel but many died, including my mother. After that, the Sisters of the Sword trained me to fight. I also had a benefactor within the King’s city. A man who claimed to be my father. He was an inventor and a shy man.” I fell silent at the memory. He used to take me to his workshop to show me his tools, and as I grew older his fingers used to wander and he’d tell me how much I reminded him of my mother. A dark beast stirred inside of me at the thought of him. “When my training with the Sister of the Sword was complete, I was given a position as shield-maiden in the King’s army.”
“Why the King’s army? There are other roles for women in a kingdom.”
I shrugged. “I wanted to do something honorable, to protect. I thought it would be better than the dullness of court and the petty drama between lords and ladies. But serving in the King’s army was just as dull, and boring. When I heard about a conflict in a nearby village, I asked my commander to send us there to assist. He said no, and so I talked a small group of soldiers into striking down the raiders with me.”
“Did you succeed?” Betty leaned forward.
The room blurred a bit, and I focused on the fire. “We did. But my commander was furious when we returned. He told me I should have stayed in the barracks. Disobeying orders endangered the status of the King. But I didn’t understand. I saved lives, and yet those lives did not matter to them. This is my punishment, my banishment for not following orders. If I do well here, I will gain a second chance to serve in the King’s city.”
I trailed off, even though there was more I wanted to tell her. About the knife I’d been given and instructions to kill the lord of the castle and make it look like an accident. But I couldn’t tell Betty. Those words were locked so far away, they wouldn’t come out. Besides, there had to be a reason the commander had condemned this man. Although, if the kingdom truly wanted the lord dead, I was unsure why they sent one guard each year instead of a small battalion. I determined to wait until I met the lord of the castle and decide what to do later.
“Is there more?” Betty prompted.
The flames made me feel woozy. I closed my eyes and shook my head.
There was silence, and then a hand touched my shoulder. My eyes fluttered open as Betty pressed two leaves into my hands. “Chew these. The lord of the castle will join you shortly.”
Then she was gone, whisking away her cart of tea and cakes.
I sat alone in front of the roaring fire, floating on a sea of warmth, and wondering if my limbs were still attached to my body. I opened my mouth, and it seemed the leaves drifted in on their own. I chewed them, and although they tasted bitter, my reason returned to me. The fog in my head cleared, and my muddled thoughts returned. But there was also a sensation of bile in my belly and a pain in my head.
She’d poisoned me! Tricked me somehow to discover my true intent!
I had to be careful in Whispering Vine with people I did not know and could not trust. I’d been warned before I left, and yet I already hadn’t been careful enough.
As I considered my predicament, my eyes wondered down to the open book. The blur of words focused into a ditty, and as I read it, fear clenched my chest.
The lord of darkness hides in his tower
Saving the land from dark monsters
Stay at a distance, he will protect you
Get too close, he will consume you
I wondered if I should leave the room, search for the lord, put a knife through his throat, and flee while I could. Even though the very thought of killing in cold blood made my hands tremble. I’d killed before, but only people who deserved it, and I wasn’t sure what the lord of the castle deserved.
