by Lisa Dawn
“I’m not an intruder. I need your help,” I pleaded.
“If you’re not an intruder, why didn’t you use the front door?”
At least he was willing to rationalize, unlike the people who were chasing me.
“This one was open.”
The innkeeper shook his head. He pulled out a rusty key and locked the door behind me, too little too late.
“Never mind that,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“I was being chased,” I responded.
“What for?”
I stood perfectly still as the innkeeper pointed the sharp tip of his letter opener under my chin. As usual, the honesty approach wasn’t working. After all, telling the truth was what got me kicked out of the castle in the first place. I needed to try something else. From what I’d seen of the scrolls I read, this man was a mage at one time. I was all too aware of the laws my aunt created for mages after the Magic War.
“I’m… a spy. From the castle. They know I’m here. You’d best drop your weapon or you’ll have a lot more unwanted guests very soon.”
He hesitated. It looked like my tactic was working.
“Haven’t you people tormented us enough?”
“Apparently not. Or else they would have discovered these notes you’ve been keeping about the truth rune.”
“What do you know about the truth rune?”
“I know it was confiscated and kept in a storage room in the castle.”
The pressure under my chin decreased as he relaxed his grip on the letter opener, but he wasn’t ready to let me off the hook just yet.
“Everyone knows that. Tell me what you want or I’ll cut it out of you!”
What did I want from him? Serendipity had brought me to a real mage, and I was not about to let that opportunity slip away.
“Knowledge,” I stuttered. “About magic. I found your truth rune. You’ll be happy to know it still works.”
“You’re lying.”
This would be much easier if I still had the rune. Still, my privileges at the castle allowed me to learn things about it that most people wouldn’t know.
“When it’s activated, it makes people’s eyes glow yellow and forces them to answer questions honestly.”
He lowered the weapon at last.
“Fine. Let’s talk. But you are under my roof, so we will handle this my way.”
I swallowed my fear as I followed him into the main part of the inn. If his way of handling intruders was threatening them with letter openers, how did he handle interrogations? Do inns have dungeons like palaces do? Surely he wouldn’t attack me while all his guests were there watching.
Fortunately for me, Edgar turned out to be a much nicer person than he let on. When we entered the public area of the inn, I was no longer an intruder but a welcome guest. I sat on a stool at the bar to the great relief of my aching feet. He offered me some freshly brewed black tea. It tasted like heaven after all the torment I went through for a few handfuls of water earlier.
“Make yourself at home. I am Edgar. Welcome to my inn.”
It was no castle, but the cozy atmosphere was a welcome change from sleeping in a pile of mud. Other guests chatted merrily as they enjoyed their meager food and drink. No one seemed to recognize me.
“How do you do? I’m Charlotte.”
“How do you know so much about the runes? You must have been just a child during the war.”
“I was, but I found them in the castle.”
“Because you’re a spy for the regent.”
“Yes.”
He peered at me accusingly over his spectacles. I wondered if it would be okay to tell him who I really was.
“Then I’m sure you know that not everyone has the ability to use magic,” he said.
“I don’t know why, but the runes respond to me. They glow when I touch them. I can feel their energy coursing through my blood.”
The intensity in my voice even surprised me. After so many years of having to suppress my desire to use magic, I never realized how freeing it felt to finally be able to say it out loud. Edgar seemed impressed. Perhaps all of his time practicing with the truth rune taught him how to interpret people’s mannerisms.
“Don’t you know the use of magic is punishable by death?” he asked. “We’ve lost many good mages that way.”
My aunt had made a lot of decisions I didn’t approve of. If I became queen, I would have changed all of that. I never thought that mere days before my eighteenth birthday, I would be dethroned. If Edgar knew the truth, maybe he could help me. It would be beneficial to have a former mage on my side. I decided I could trust him.
“They tend to overlook things like that when you’re the princess,” I mumbled.
Edgar dropped the teapot onto the counter with a loud crash, turning a few heads. It didn’t break, but tea spilled out on the table all around me. Fortunately, it wasn’t scalding hot. In fact, I was so dirty already that I barely even noticed it. Edgar, on the other hand, was horrified. He raced to find a cloth and wiped furiously.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I just—Did you say—No, I’m getting old. You couldn’t have. I mean, look at you! You’re a mess.”
“Is it that bad?”
I tried to see my reflection in the tea. Hopefully Krystal’s vanity hadn’t rubbed off on me.
“No, I kid, I kid. You look fine. But why would the princess be scouting an inn for mage activity?”
I had almost forgotten the excuse I hastily came up with earlier. Of course my own lie would come back to bite me.
“More like scouting for a place to stay. I’m not exactly welcome back at the castle.”
“Because you used the rune?”
I nodded. He certainly had a knack for reading people. Maybe that was why he didn’t kick me out.
“That is most unfortunate. It’s a shame I can’t help you,” he said.
“I can’t stay here?”
“I don’t think that would be good for business, not after what you told me.”
I thought back to what I had read in his scroll. It said he found a slave who was hiding in one of his rooms. Once he used the rune to learn the truth, he allowed the boy to work off his stay and helped to reunite him with his family. In spite of his gruff exterior, Edgar was a good person with a strong capacity to sympathize with the less fortunate. That was exactly the sort of queen I wanted to be.
“What if I help you with your establishment?” I offered. “It looks like you could use an extra hand around here. I’m very good at keeping records.
“I can’t afford another employee,” said Edgar.
“You won’t have to pay me. All I ask is that you give me a place to stay and teach me more about the runes.”
“You’re asking me to harbor a fugitive and teach her about illegal activities?”
When he put it that way, it sounded like I had gone from a law maker to a law breaker. I summoned the most authoritative tone I could muster.
“What if it didn’t have to be illegal?”
He peered at me over his spectacles.
“What are you proposing?”
“Let me take shelter here, and I can use my influence to convince my aunt to lift the ban.”
“No one can restore Klingland back to the glory days before the Magic War.”
“That is exactly what I would have done had I made it to my coronation,” I confessed.
Edgar took a moment to consider this.
Please let him see I’m telling the truth. I can’t go on like this much longer.
“That depends on your performance,” he said at last.
“Thank you! You won’t regret it!”
I was so excited that I jumped out of my seat and tried to hug him over the counter. Unfortunately in my state of exhaustion, I accidentally knocked the stool over. Its leg cracked off as it hit the ground.
“I’ll fix that,” I said.
“Yes you will.”
For the first time in as lo
ng as I could remember, I laughed at myself. I had managed to find a new purpose all on my own, even if it wasn’t exactly what I wanted. Maybe I wasn’t so useless outside of the castle after all. I was more than willing to work hard for Edgar if it meant I could take a bath and sleep in a real bed again. I even felt a little excited about the challenge of trying something new.
Chapter 12
I’m in the fencing arena at the castle, sparring with Henry. He knocks me down with a single blow.
“You’re going to have to do better than that, Char,” he chuckles.
“At least I know how to maintain the proper form.”
I try to stand up, but my legs have lost all their strength.
“Have you seen the princess?” asks Lily. “Elsie needs to help her get ready.”
I try to call to her, but my voice comes out as a whisper.
“Lily, I can’t stand. I need to borrow one of Denise’s chairs.”
“Did you hear something?” she asks.
“I’ve been looking for the princess all day,” says Henry, “but you know how she is.”
“What do you mean? I’m right here!” I shout.
Krystal walks in wearing my favorite dress and tiara.
“I heard Chelsea was looking for me,” she says.
“You mean Elsie?” asks Lily.
“Whatever.”
“Krystal, please!” I shout. “Something’s wrong. I can’t move.”
Krystal looks over at me. Did she hear what I said?
“I thought I asked you to remove this rubbish from the castle,” she says.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already bested her in battle. She’ll rot in the dungeon soon enough.”
“What?”
I feel the ground rumble beneath me.
“Good. She deserves to suffer after the way she betrayed Klingland,” Lily chimes in with a dark grin.
The floor gives way. I feel myself falling. I try to scream, but no sound comes out. When I look up, I see Henry, Lily, and Krystal’s faces shrinking smaller and smaller as I fade into the abyss. Their malicious laughter is the only sound I can hear.
I woke up rapidly with my heart pounding in my chest. I wondered when these nightmares would go away. I looked around at the unfamiliar room, trying to recall where I was. The bed was comfortable enough. It was smaller than I was used to with soft cotton sheets instead of gleaming silk. I’d take this room over sleeping in the mud any day, even if it did lack the grandeur of my own chambers.
“Miss? Are you all right?” asked a soft voice.
“Elsie?” I mumbled, still half asleep.
I looked up to find an entirely different handmaiden standing over me. The woman looked a few years older than me with plan features and dirty blonde hair that she tied back loosely with a ribbon. She wore a lime green frock with a white apron tied over the skirt. Then it clicked. I was at Edgar’s Inn. Today was my first day working for him. This woman was probably my peer, not my handmaiden. As my awareness crept back in, I realized that my muscles were still sore from the previous day.
“I’m fine now. I was just having a nightmare. Have we met?”
“Name’s Greta. Edgar told me about you. He said if you do well, you might be able to take my place when I get hired as a handmaiden at the castle. I heard they have a new princess, and there’s going to be a wedding there soon! Can you imagine a royal wedding? How romantic!”
I could imagine it all right.
“Are you here to help me get ready?” I asked.
“Get ready? Goodness, no! We have guests to serve! Haven’t you ever worked before?”
I felt like an idiot. It never occurred to me that most people were able to dress themselves. My clothes were impossible to put on without help to reach the laces behind my back.
“I apologize. I don’t know what I was thinking. However, I’m afraid my clothes were stolen, and this dress is in no condition to be worn. I know we’ve only just met, but would you happen to know anywhere I can get a replacement dress?”
“Oh yes,” said Greta. “Edgar did mention something to me about that. I’ve brought you one of mine.”
She handed me a brown frock that looked similar to hers with a matching white apron. It was nothing like I had ever worn before, but it was clean and looked easy to put on. I got out of the bed and showed Greta my own dirty and torn traveling dress.
“Goodness! You must have really been through something!”
“I’m afraid I might need some assistance getting it off as well,” I said.
Greta struggled to pull on the ties on the back of my corset until it felt loose enough for me to remove it myself. When she finished, she took a closer look at the intricate embroidery on the dress.
“Where in the world did you come from?” she asked. “This gown looks downright royal.”
“I’m no royal.”
“Well, be sure you’re downstairs and ready before breakfast. Edgar runs a tight schedule. If you need me, I’ll be up here cleaning the rooms.”
“Thanks, Greta. It was nice meeting you.”
“You too. Charlotte, was it?”
I nodded. Her eyes widened for a moment at the sound of my name as if it registered a pang of recognition. Then she shook her head and walked off. Many people knew the name of the former princess, but few would suspect that she would ever be caught working at an inn.
Dressing myself was a new experience, but by no means a bad one. It was freeing to have the ability to put on clothes whenever I desired without being constricted by Elsie’s tight lacing. Greta’s dress slipped right over my head and hung loose around my waist. I tied the apron that tightened it to my form in the middle. It felt odd to walk around in something that wasn’t tailored to my body, almost as if I was wearing a costume. It was quite comfortable, which was a relief, considering how sore my muscles were.
Edgar was waiting for me when I arrived downstairs in the lobby. He handed me a rag and pail of water when I approached.
“Where were you?” he asked. “Our guests will be down here any minute now.”
“My apologies,” I said, “I’m not used to this type of clothing.”
“I’ll let it pass for your first day, but you’d better get used to it soon.”
“Of course.”
I gave him my best curtsy, but it was awkward with such a narrow skirt compared to long trains and full petticoats that I was used to. Edgar seemed amused by my attempt. He handed me the rag.
“I need you to set up all the stools and wipe down the tables before people start coming in. Can you do that?”
“It sounds easy enough,” I said.
“The hard part will come later.”
He headed into the kitchen before I had a chance to ask him what he meant. It didn’t take long for me to figure out how to set up the stools. They had been placed upside-down on the tables. I proceeded to flip each one over and place it under the table where it belonged. Then I wiped down each table. Most of them seemed clean, but a few were sticky, possibly from spilled ale the night before.
As I dipped the rag into the pail and scrubbed one particularly stubborn spot, I realized I was out of time. A mother, father, and two screaming children ran down the stairs.
“Oh good, we’re not too early,” said the mother as she tried to prevent her toddler from plummeting down the stairs. “We’d like four glasses of apple juice and some oatmeal please.”
“I’ll see if they’re ready in the kitchen,” I said.
Before I had a chance to head back, a younger man dressed like a noble grabbed me by the waist.
“Excuse me, sir!” I exclaimed.
When I was a princess, no one would have dared touch me like that. He didn’t even seem to notice my outrage.
“Can you do something about that noise?” he grumbled.
“Noise, sir?”
He pointed to the little boy who was running around and yelling nonsensical outbursts like he owned the place.
“I d
o apologize for the inconvenience, but I can’t just force children to be quiet,” I said. “I’m not their mother.”
“What insolence! You are here to serve me, and right now, I want peace and quiet,” he said.
“Right. Of course.”
I approached their mother.
“I’m sorry, but I’m getting complaints about the noise. Is there any way you could ask your son to quiet down?”
I felt awful. She was attempting to comfort a crying toddler as well.
“All right. Sorry, can you just hold him for a second?”
Before I had a chance to respond, she placed the toddler in my arms. In my shock, I nearly dropped him. He spit on my dress, staining it with white goop. It took all of my willpower just to keep him still. I stood dumbfounded as the woman chased down her son.
“Matthew!” she yelled. “This is not playtime! Go and take your seat like a good little boy or you won’t get any breakfast!”
It looked like that did the trick. The spitting toddler was removed from my awkward grasp. I looked toward the nobleman to make sure he was appeased, but he sneered at me.
“Where are my eggs?” he asked. “Yesterday, the eggs were already prepared as soon as I sat down.”
“Coming right up, sir,” I said, curtsying awkwardly.
When I arrived in the kitchen, I noticed the scent of burnt eggs. The cook was a middle-aged woman with messy silver-streaked black hair. Her hands were covered in pink burn scars.
“How do you manage to burn them every time, Missy?” asked Edgar.
“It’s this blasted oven! It keeps overheating,” cried the cook. “When I had my fire rune, they were always the perfect temperature.”
I cleared my throat.
“Trouble already?” asked Edgar. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
“No, everything’s fine,” I lied. “I just came to check on the food.”
Edgar glared at Missy.