The Maid of Chateau Winslow

by Pippa J Frost

  “Mrs. Potts!” he said.

  The door creaked open, and Mrs. Potts stuck her head into the room. “Yes, my lord?”

  “See to it that she is bathed, and get rid of her clothes. And send someone to clean up the filth dirtying the floors.”

  “Straight away.” She pushed the door open and beckoned to me.

  I glanced at Lord Winslow and he jutted his chin, signaling me to leave. I hurried to the door.

  “Miss Wolf,” he said, and my heart skipped.

  I swiveled back. “My lord?”

  “This is your one and only chance.”

  Tears brimmed in my eyes. “Thank you, my lord.”

  Mrs. Potts gripped my arm and stifled a gag before leading me from the room. She remained silent as we climbed the stairs. I’d given a promise, which I aspired to uphold until I could sort out what had happened to me in the meadow. Why had Orell’s cries afflicted me so? And what power had Flicker referred to?

  “Miss Wolf, Zuna and I wish to go down to the river to skate,” Farrah announced as she marched into the room with her sister on her heels.

  I glanced up from the maple chiffonier I dusted. Wiping the pearls of sweat from my brow, I rose from the floor. “You stay away from the river. The ice is thin and will not hold.” The river, unlike the one by the village, sat capped in ice.

  “But we wish to skate,” Farrah said.

  I walked to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s past the season for skating. You’re to stay away, do you hear me? Study the lesson Mr. Evans set out for you, and then after I’m done helping Yara, we will seek whatever adventures the grounds hold for us. Agreed?” I thrust out a hand.

  Zuna shook it eagerly.

  “The grounds? There is nothing of interest here,” Farrah said with a stomp of her foot, but I’d grown used to her ways. “What about the forest?”

  “No!” I shrieked, and they jumped at my response. Not wanting to frighten the children, I’d decided not to speak of the dangers that lay in the woods. “You’re to do as instructed.” I wiggled my outstretched hand at Farrah, and although reluctant, she took it with one eyebrow raised in apprehension.

  “Go on now, do as I say, and the day will be one in your favor.” I smiled.

  “Very well,” Farrah said with a huff. “If you promise to take us after you’ve finished.”

  I crossed my fingers over my heart. “Promise.”

  “See, Farrah? She will. Miss Wolf always keeps her promises,” Zuna said.

  After the girls’ footsteps faded down the corridor I finished my dusting, then stepped out onto the back portico. Rugs and tapestries from various rooms lay in a heap at my feet. The door squeaked, and I turned as Yara entered. Together we stood gaping unhappily at the rugs.

  “We will hack up our lungs before we’re done this chore,” she said. “Let’s put this one behind us, shall we?” She bent and hoisted a rug into her arms and marched down the stairs. Mud from the yard caked the hem of her dress as she waddled to the clothesline.

  I hurried after her, mud squishing over the top of my shoes to soak my stockings and feet.

  Some time later, we pinned the last tapestry to the line; I lifted my carpet rod from the ground and caught a full view of Yara. Her blonde brows and wisps of stray hair had turned snow-white, her lips dust-powdered and dry; a sight that would scare anyone if they were to come upon her at night. “Ghost of Christmas Past,” I said with a laugh.

  “Too much Charles Dickens for you.” She pretended to pout and struck the tapestry with a powerful blow.

  The dust blasted me in the face. I coughed and sputtered, and brushed away the dirt with my sleeve. Yara erupted in laughter, a manly sort of sound that wobbled her fleshy parts. “You look a sight, you do.”

  I planted a hand on my waist. “I’ll get you for that one.” I grinned, tasting the dust coating my teeth.

  Our merriment evaporated when screams pierced the afternoon air.

  “Help! Someone, please help.” Farrah raced up the bank toward the house.

  “Fetch Lord Winslow,” I blurted, then flew across the yard, through the side gate, and on toward the child. Fear knotted my stomach. The beast had come! My feet pounded the ground as I tried to pump my legs faster. Farrah had left the safety of the house against strict orders not to, and where she was her sister wasn’t far behind. I peered past her for a glimpse of the child and found no movement.

  I caught up with her and gripped her by the shoulders. Sheer panic shone in her face. “Where is your sister?” I asked.

  She trembled under my fingers. Tears flooded her cheeks. “She’s fallen through the ice.”

  “What—” I released her and charged down the hill. My frock snapped in the wind as I sprinted toward the river. My chest ached, and my legs felt leaden as I tried to gain speed. I’ll never make it. My stomach roiled with grief.

  I arrived at the river and discovered the black gap in the ice. There was no sign of the girl. My heart battered against my ribcage as I stepped onto the ice, and with little care for my safety I hurried on, until the sound of cracking stopped me.

  “Zuna!” Tears blurred my vision, and I wiped them away with the back of my hand. She can’t die. I pressed on until I stood over the opening in the ice. I dropped to my belly and thrust my hand into the black hole. The cold of the water sent pains up my arms as I groped around in the hole for the child.

  “Please!” Grief built in my soul. “Help me.” I lifted my head and scoured the woods. Where were they? The earthmen who kept to the shadows. I took a deep breath and plunged my face into the water. Panic seized my chest, and the cold burned through my skull. I searched the black depths for the girl. My hands thrashed in the water, and then I gripped fabric. Zuna. I pulled, and the weight attached to the material moved toward me. Maybe it wasn’t too late.

  A movement spun the water, and then I saw it—a skeleton with the body of a fish and its claw outstretched as it swam straight at me.

  No, no, no. I tugged with all my strength and fell backward with a jaw-rattling thud against the ice. The object within my grasp landed next to me. Too pained and stunned to move, I rolled my eyes toward it. Zuna, lying next to me. Her flesh was tinged blue, and her chest did not rise and fall. I scrambled to get up, but something grabbed my foot and dragged me backward. I twisted and came face to face with the river monster that had seized me by the ankle.

  “Come to me, little one. I will take care of you.” Its voice lulled me.

  “I’ll take care of the child. You get the girl,” a male voice said behind me.

  “Release her at once,” another man said.

  Drawn to the croon of the creature’s voice, I couldn’t break my gaze, and before my eyes its face changed, and my hand went to my throat. “Nisse, is that you?” A sob caught in my throat. He hadn’t left.

  Nisse glided from the water, his beard frosted, and his gray eyes bright with affection. “Yes, little one. All is well. I’ve been looking for you.” He walked toward me.

  “But, you left,” I said.

  “You’re mistaken. That is what they wanted you to believe.”

  “They?” I asked.

  “The dwarves. They’re the enemy. You can’t trust them. I am here, my love.”

  My love?

  He held out his hand and warnings sounded in my head, but my hand reached for his.

  “Valentina, no!” A sword swept out in front of me, and a dwarf dodged between Nisse and me. I recognized him as the uppity dwarf from the market. What was he doing here?

  Again, he slashed his sword in warning.

  “No, he’s a friend.” I gripped the dwarf’s arm, but a squeal rose, and I dropped to my knees, gripping the sides of my head. Currents of pain zapped in my skull. Nisse and the river monster had vanished, and in their place stood my brother in the form I’d seen in the meadow. The dwarf lifted a hand, and a visible translucent barrier charged with electric current rose between us and the beast.

  “Don�
��t think you can stop me, Sixtus,” it said.

  The dwarf helped me to my feet and turned to the creature. “You will not succeed. The girl’s protected.”

  “Your magic can’t defeat me.”

  “You will lose today,” the dwarf said. I gawked at the dwarf, and he gave me a sideways glance but kept his eyes trained on the creature. “The barrier won’t hold. Go relieve my man,” he said.

  I looked behind me to find another dwarf with unruly red hair kneeling over Zuna. I recognized him from the market, too. He breathed air into the child’s lungs like the man at the river had done when Orell tried to kill me. The child coughed and sputtered and let out a wail.

  I raced to her side and pulled her into my lap, pushing back her wet hair from her face. “Lady Zuna.” Tears streamed down my cheeks.

  “Valentina?” She looked at me with dazed eyes.

  “Can you carry her to the house?” the earthman asked.

  I nodded, biting my lip to cease its quivering.

  “Then go. I must help the prince.” He drew his sword and ran to the prince’s side.

  I clambered to my feet with the deadweight of Zuna and staggered toward the bank. Yara, the stable master, and other servants gathered at the riverbank, waiting with outstretched arms. The ice crackled and popped beneath me, and fear squeezed at my chest as I felt it move. It broke, and I screamed as my legs split apart. I clutched the child to my breast as I struggled to stay upright.

  A blade struck the ice behind me. I looked back at the dwarf Orell had referred to as “prince” as he struck the ice again. A crystalline blue beam chased the crack in the ice and sealed it like a weaver zigzags a needle in a garment. The gap pulling at my legs closed, and I breathed my gratitude while fighting back the tears.

  When I reached the shoreline, the stable master took the girl from my arms. Yara covered her with furs, and the man turned and bolted toward the house.

  Yara threw a blanket over my shoulders. “You did good.” Her arm weighted my shoulder.

  “Why didn’t she listen? Lady Zuna has never disobeyed me,” I said as we climbed the bank.

  “It is a bit strange.” Her voice reflected my puzzlement.

  “Out of the way.” The stable master pushed his way past the concerned servants crowding the work yard. Lady Farrah burst through the back door, and I broke away from Yara to go to her.

  Her eyes fastened on the bundle in the stable master’s arms, then turned to me. “Zuna?”

  “She is alive.” I pulled her into the curve of my side. “Come, let’s get the child inside.”

  “Yes, Miss Wolf.” The stable master didn’t hesitate; he dashed up the back steps and into the house behind us.

  “Here, bring her here.” I led him to the settee in the library. “Lay her down. Lady Farrah.” I lifted her trembling chin. Her face was red from crying. “You fetch a night-robe and stockings for your sister.”

  She darted from the room.

  “You,” I said to a chambermaid hovering on the threshold. “Go get blankets and cloths to dry her off. You—” I nudged my head at the girl behind her “—stoke the fire and bring her warm milk.”

  Echoes of “Yes, Miss Wolf” followed.

  “I’ll leave you ladies to it,” the stable master said and departed.

  Yara and I stripped Zuna, whose lips were purple with cold, and her teeth chattered. A chambermaid returned with Farrah behind her. We dressed Zuna and wrapped her in fresh blankets. The chambermaid picked up the furs and clothing and took her leave.

  I sat at Zuna’s side on the settee, rubbing her limbs. She lay with her lids closed, blonde lashes kissing the tops of her cheeks. “Why did you go to the river? Your sister could have died,” I said to Farrah.

  “I didn’t, I swear it. We were in here as you instructed. She took the chair by the window, and I lay on my belly by the hearth, practicing my arithmetic as you requested. My eyes grew heavy, but I rested only a moment.” Her eyes pleaded with me. “When I awoke, she was gone. I called for her, but she didn’t answer, and then from the window, I saw her crossing to the riverbank. She looked strange. By the time I caught up with her, she had reached the river and stepped onto the ice. You’d told us the ice was dangerous, so I stayed put. I called her name again, and she turned and looked right at me, but she looked to be asleep. Then I heard the crack, and the ice broke, and she…” She threw herself into my arms. “It wasn’t my fault.”

  I smoothed her hair and kissed her temple as she lay against my chest. “I believe you.”

  “Farrah, please don’t cry,” a soft voice said.

  Farrah pushed back, and we looked at her sister, whose eyes were open. She held out a hand to her sister.

  “Zuna.” Farrah pulled her into a hug. “I thought I’d lost you.”

  Zuna looked past her at me. “I’m sorry, Miss Wolf. I tried not to listen. But it called to me, and I couldn’t stop. My feet moved toward the river, although I knew I wasn’t supposed to go there.”

  “What voice?” I asked, remembering the creature and its luring voice.

  “I thought it was you.” Zuna dropped her eyes. “But then it wasn’t, and then it was. I tried to turn back, truly I did.”

  “Zuna. Farrah. What happened?” Lord Winslow burst into the room, hopping as he fought to get his boot on. His hair was tousled and his shirt untucked, and fear shone in his eyes. I scooted aside as he dropped to his knees beside his daughters and gathered them into his embrace. A tear fell from the corner of his eye as he kissed each of their cheeks.

  I reiterated what the girls had said, and told him about the dwarves that had come to our aid.

  “If I see them, I will thank each properly. Yara,” he said, “I will take Zuna to her chamber, and I want you to sit and watch over her.”

  The servant girl returned with the tray of milk.

  “And I’ll read to her,” Farrah said.

  Lord Winslow hoisted Zuna into his arms and headed for the door. “Valentina, change out of your wet clothing, and I expect you to be here upon my return.”

  “Yes, my lord.” I swallowed back the worry thickening my throat. Again, I’d failed him, and my chances at Chateau Winslow would come to an end.

  The servant girl took my arm. “Come, let’s get you changed.”

  I permitted her to steer me upstairs, numbed by the realization that the world we lived in contained creatures that roamed amongst us, for my brother couldn’t be the only one. I wanted to lower the curtain that had veiled me from what I’d experienced lately.

  Changed, I returned to the library to find Lord Winslow pacing the floor with his hands planted at his waistline. He glanced at me when I entered and dropped his hands. “Have a seat.” He gestured at the settee. I obeyed, and he sank down next to me.

  I waited.

  When he finally spoke, he turned and leaned forward. Taking my hands in his, he rubbed the chill from mine. “Thank you for risking your life to save Zuna’s. I don’t know what I would have done if it had turned out differently.” Emotion clotted in his voice, and he cleared his throat before releasing my hands.

  “You believe Lady Zuna’s claims, don’t you?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  Buoyed by hope, I breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t think I was crazy.

  “You can understand the gravity of my concern.” He leveled troubled eyes on me. “You must stay close to the house where you’re protected. Keep the children within your sight. I’m releasing you from all duties, so you can supervise them at all times.”

  “You mean, you’re not letting me go?” My heart sang with delight.

  “This wasn’t your fault. Until I can find out more about the creature and why it came here, you must heed my words and keep your eyes open,” he said. “For now, Yara will watch over the children. Why don’t you retire to your chamber and rest? You look ready to collapse.”

  I nodded.

  “Go now. I have matters to attend to.” His gaze became distant, as tho
ugh he was occupied.

  I rose and walked to the door. At the threshold, I rested my hand on the frame and turned back to say something, but found him leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands. Quietly, I turned and left him to his thoughts.

  In my chamber, I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the closed door. The heart-wrenching feeling that had haunted me since I’d discovered what my brother had become consumed me. What had happened to him and for how long? He had tried to kill the child in order to get to me. But why? What was my part in all this, and why were the dwarves protecting me? My thoughts turned to Nisse and the loss of his vater. Nausea rose in my belly with the understanding that Orell was responsible for his death.

  Kingdom of Himmelart

  “King Gian knows about the girl.” Sixtus stood in front of his vater in the Great Hall.

  Alarm flared in the king’s eyes. “How can you be certain?”

  Sixtus stifled his nerves and leaned on his palms on the grand table, letting the sapphire embedded in the table’s surface capture his gaze. “He lured one of the children to the river, and she went through the ice.”

  “What?” The king leaped to his feet, and his chair clattered to the floor. Sixtus straightened and regarded his vater, whose face had become ashen. “Tell me the child is all right.”

  “She is fine.”

  “Well, thank the gods for that!” He paced the room, treading heavily, his footsteps pounding the marble floor. “You were to watch them all.” He halted and turned to glower at Sixtus. “Were you off frolicking with a scullion?”

  Sixtus threw his hands in the air. “Is that all you think of me?”

  The vein at the king’s temple pulsated. “Have you given me any reason to think otherwise?”

  “The child was a ploy to get Valentina to the river.”

  “And did she go?” the king asked.

  “Of course, and with complete disregard for her safety. If we hadn’t interceded, Gian would have succeeded in his plan to have the Seelenfresser drain the life from her.” What if he and Crispian had been too late? The mere thought awakened something primal inside of him. “There was something about the Seelenfresser that summoned her.”