Leo inhaled sharply as if her words had stabbed him through the heart.
Her eyes glimmered with tears. “I’ve heard some horrible things about him.”
He pressed back into the corner. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
“Is it true? Does his touch kill people?”
Yes. Leo’s heart wrenched. “He will not harm you.”
She leaned closer, her hand resting on the grate. “Do you know him?”
Leo swallowed hard. “Yes. You need not fear him. He will not harm you.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “Oh, thank you, Father. You made me feel much better.”
You nearly killed me. “You may go. May the Light shine upon you always.”
“And you. Thank you, Father.” She left the booth and soon he could hear her talking sweetly to Brody. Telling him what a good dog he was. How cute he was. How brave he was. Dammit. No wonder the dog shifter was smitten.
The chapel door shut with a thud, and Leo emerged from the booth. No one in sight. He slipped through the door to the priests’ private rooms.
Chapter Eight
You need not fear him. He will not harm you. Luciana repeated those lines to herself as she hurried back to her bedchamber. Her heart grew lighter; her step acquired an extra bounce. Who would have thought that a priest of the Light could make her feel so much better?
Back in her room, she paced about. Was she supposed to do nothing until the banquet that evening? She stopped with a jerk. Of course, the banquet!
She rushed to the dressing room to take off the green velvet gown.
“What on Aerthlan are you doing?” Tatiana asked.
“Oh, you’re back.” Luciana selected a simple cream-colored linen gown and slipped it over her head.
“Do you have a strange aversion to pretty things?” Tatiana asked with an incredulous look. “That’s the second ugliest gown I own. I never wear it. It fits like a sack.”
“I have the utmost respect for your lovely gowns.” Luciana tied a brown leather cord around her waist. “That’s why I’m wearing this. I’m going to work in the kitchens.”
“What?”
“There’s a banquet tonight. I’m sure they could use some help.” Luciana returned the green velvet gown to its shelf and smoothed it out.
“Don’t go to the kitchens.”
Luciana turned toward her sister. Tatiana seemed paler than usual, and her form was wavering, a sure sign of distress. “What’s wrong?”
Tatiana wrung her hands. “Don’t go to the kitchens.”
“Why not?”
Tatiana hesitated, then crossed her arms. “Just don’t. Are you trying to ruin my reputation?”
“Yes.” Luciana smiled at the horrified look on her sister’s face. “This is the new me, or rather, the new you. You see, after your brush with death, you had an epiphany.”
Tatiana huffed. “I have never had a seizure.”
“Not epilepsy.” Luciana braided her hair in a simple ponytail. “The head cook is named Yulissa, right?”
“Don’t go.” Tatiana flickered, then disappeared.
Luciana wondered what was upsetting her sister as she left the bedchamber. Jensen hadn’t returned yet, but Pirate was waiting outside her door. He followed her down the stairs and out the door into the courtyard.
“We’re going to the kitchens,” she told the dog as they passed through the south gate. “Maybe I can find something yummy for you.”
Pirate woofed a reply and grinned at her.
“Be a good boy and wait right here,” she told him at the entrance to the large stone building.
She peeked inside and saw a dozen servants bustling about. The head cook, Yulissa, was shouting out orders as she rolled out some pie dough. The scullery maid was washing dishes, while other servants were chopping fruits and vegetables. A pig was roasting in the huge fireplace and large pots of soup were boiling. In the oven, bread was baking.
Luciana lingered at the entrance, letting the delicious aromas sweep over her.
“We’re going to need more carrots,” one servant said.
“And more onions and cabbage,” said another.
“Good afternoon,” Luciana greeted them with her best Eberoni accent. She smiled as everyone spun around to gape at her. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Their jaws dropped even farther.
Luciana noticed a pile of wet, recently washed dishes next to the sink. “Shall I dry these for you?” She grabbed a clean linen towel.
“N-no,” the scullery maid stammered. “That is much too hard for your ladyship.”
Luciana grinned as she dried a pewter plate. “Not hard at all.” She dried a second plate and stacked it on top of the first. “So how have you all been?”
The servants stared at her, then at one another.
“My dear child.” Yulissa smiled tremulously, her eyes soft with emotion. “It is good to see you again.”
“I think it’s been ten years,” one servant whispered.
“Aye,” another agreed. “Ever since the … accident.” She gave Yulissa a sad look.
Accident? Luciana picked up a goblet to dry.
“I have such fond memories of your ladyship and my sweet Christopher.” Yulissa blinked as tears glimmered in her eyes. “The two of you would help me roll out the dough for pies and biscuits. And then I would give you a few biscuits fresh from the oven. You were such good friends.”
One of the servants clucked her tongue. “Poor Christopher. He was such a darling boy.”
“Aye, taken from me so young.” A tear ran down Yulissa’s face and she wiped it with her apron.
“Tatiana!” a young voice cried out.
Luciana gasped and dropped the goblet. It landed with a clatter on top of the other dishes.
“Oh, my!” The scullery maid lunged forward to keep the dishes from cascading off the table.
Another servant gave Luciana a sympathetic look. “I’m afraid this work is too difficult for you.”
“No, I’m fine.” Luciana waved a dismissive hand. “It’s quite easy, really.” It was seeing the charred face of a child ghost that had been difficult. Christopher had popped out of nowhere, giving her quite a shock. The poor boy had obviously died in a fire. His hair and skin were burned away on the right side of his head, and he was grinning at her with half a mouth.
“Tatiana! You came to see me, right?” he asked.
He looked so hopeful, she couldn’t bear to ignore him. “I’ll fetch the vegetables you need.” She grabbed a basket from the table next to the door and hurried outside, hoping the young ghost would follow.
Pirate trotted alongside her to the nearby garden. Thankfully there was no one else there. She knelt down by the row of carrots and took the hand trowel from the basket. Pirate sat beside her.
“You have a dog?” Christopher grinned. “I didn’t know you have a dog!” He tried to pet Pirate, but his hand passed right through him.
Pirate jumped up and whirled around in a circle.
He was sensing something, Luciana thought, and patted the dog on the head. “It’s all right. Just stay here, and if anyone sees me talking, they’ll think I’m talking to you.”
Pirate tilted his head with an inquisitive look.
“Oh, that’s a great idea!” Christopher knelt on the other side of her. “Now we can talk all we want.”
She took a deep breath and reminded herself not to cringe. He was a child. Frozen in time at the age of eight or nine. She turned to smile at him. “How have you been, Christopher?”
“I’m great, now that you’re here. I kept hoping you would come to visit. I knew you could see me ’cause you looked right at me during the funeral. Then you screamed.” He hung his head. “I guess I look kind of scary now.”
“I’m so sorry that you suffered.”
He shrugged. “It was my fault. Mama warned me so many times not to play close to the fire.”
The poor boy must have
been lonesome all these years. Luciana dug around a carrot.
Christopher giggled when Pirate moved right through him, sniffing the ground. “I like your dog.”
“So do I.” She rubbed Pirate’s ears, but he looked at her and made a whimpering noise. “You know, Christopher, if you passed on to the Realm of the Heavens, you could return to your normal handsome appearance.”
He laughed. “I was never handsome. And I like to stay close to my mom.” His face grew sad. “I just wish I could talk to her.”
“Is there anyone else you can talk to?”
He stuck out what was left of his bottom lip. “I tried to talk to you a few times, but you ignored me.”
Luciana winced. “I’m sorry. I’ll do better from now on. I promise.”
He smiled briefly before making a face. “There are a bunch of ghosts in the catacombs, but whenever I go there, they chase me away and say I’m too horrid to look at.”
She ripped a carrot from the ground. “That’s terrible.”
“They call me Crispin.”
She winced.
Pirate collapsed on the ground with a mournful whine. She gave him another pat on the head. The poor dog looked so confused.
Christopher jumped to his feet. “If I get too lonely, I go see your mother. She’s—”
With a gasp, Luciana dropped the trowel. “My mother?”
Christopher nodded. “She’s always nice to me.”
Her mother’s spirit had remained here? Luciana’s heart thudded in her chest. “Wh-where is she?”
Christopher pointed at the southwestern tower of the outer wall. “That’s her favorite place. She loved it so much, she had a room made for her there. It’s where she gave birth to you, you know.”
Luciana gazed at the tower as tears crowded her eyes. “Thank you for telling me, Christopher.”
“She told me she came from a village along the coast. She likes to look out the tower window at the sea. I guess she gets homesick.”
“I can understand that.”
“Do you want to hear everything that’s happened with the servants?” Christopher asked.
“Yes. Please.” Luciana dug up more carrots, onions, and cabbages while the boy talked and talked. He was actually a valuable source of information, she realized. By the time he was done, she felt like she really knew the servants.
She took the basket of vegetables back to the kitchen and promised to come see Christopher again. Then she ran across the sheep pasture to the tower. Pirate loped along beside her.
Up the spiral stairs she climbed, with Pirate following close behind. The first landing had an open area and a door that led to a privy. She climbed some more and reached a second landing. Slowly she opened the door, and Pirate slipped inside just ahead of her.
The room was furnished with a bed, a table, and two chairs. There was a fireplace and two windows, one that overlooked the outer curtain wall of the fortress and a second one with a view of the Southern Sea.
In front of the second window, a form materialized. A woman with long black hair and a red dress, gazing out at the sea.
Luciana’s heart pounded in her ears. The woman was young, but then her mother had died young. “Mo—” She groaned when the woman turned to face her. She should have known who it was by the red dress.
Her sister glowered at her. “What are you doing here?”
“I was hoping to see my mother. You should have told me she was here.”
Tatiana scoffed. “Why would she want to meet you? You’re the one who killed her.”
“Don’t even try that,” Luciana warned her. “’Tis not true!”
“It is! My nanny told me Mama was fine after I was born. It was you who wore her out. But I could never talk about it because you were a big secret.”
Luciana snorted. No doubt the nanny had been trying to appease a frightened child by passing the blame on to someone else. Someone like her, who had been absent and unable to defend herself. “I’ll ask Mother about it.”
“You don’t need to talk to her!” Tatiana gave her a scathing look. “You came to see her like that? Your hands and gown are filthy.”
“I was working in the garden … with Christopher.”
With a gasp, Tatiana turned toward the window. “I don’t want to hear about it.”
“He misses you.” Luciana approached her sister. “You were the best of friends ten years ago.”
Tatiana shrugged. “I know better than to befriend a servant now.”
“I heard you used to help in the kitchens. Did you stop because of Christopher?”
Tatiana grimaced. “It was too awful. I saw the fire. I could hear him screaming.”
“He was your friend. He could still be your friend.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Tatiana’s eyes shimmered with tears. “It hurts too much to see him like that.”
“Mother sees him. And she’s kind to him.”
“Why are you pestering me? If I see him, he’ll know I’m dead. Then he’ll know you’re a fake. Do you want that?”
“Who is he going to tell?”
Tatiana stepped back, wringing her hands. Then she glanced to the side. “Mama!”
Luciana whirled around to see a beautiful black-haired woman, dressed in white, hovering in the doorway. The woman looked at both of them, her eyes widening in shock and then focusing on Tatiana with horror.
“Mama!” Tatiana dashed toward her and both of them vanished.
“Wait!” Luciana lunged toward the door, but they were gone. Her hand was touching nothing but air. “Mother?”
Her eyes filled with tears. Why had her mother run away? Was it the shock of realizing one of her daughters was dead?
A whimpering noise drew her attention, and she turned to see the dog, Pirate, approaching her slowly. She’d forgotten he was here, but she could swear he actually looked concerned for her.
“She’ll come back,” Luciana said softly as she wrapped her arms around herself. My mother will want to see me. Unless Tatiana was right and she was to blame for her mother’s death.
Nay, it can’t be true. She shook her head, then recalled Tatiana’s words about the man she was to marry. I heard he killed his nanny and his mother.
She might be the perfect match for the Beast after all.
Chapter Nine
“Are you sure I should wear this?” Luciana was sitting in her dressing room, gazing down at herself in dismay. The blue brocade gown was beautiful, but the neckline was much lower than she’d ever worn before. She was afraid if she so much as sneezed, her nipples would pop out.
Gabriella gave her a quizzical look. “You always loved this gown before.”
“I still do!” Luciana forced a smile. “I just came so close to dying that I fear any sort of illness now. I would hate to catch a cold.”
“Oh.” Gabriella’s expression turned sympathetic. “I’m sure you’ll be all right, my lady. The Great Hall is likely to be hot tonight with so many guests.” A knock at the door sent her rushing toward the bedchamber door. “I’ll get it!”
Luciana’s father was outside, dressed in dark-blue breeches and waistcoat. His white shirt had lace at the sleeves, and his head was topped with a blue velvet cap. Like Luciana, he was dressed in the blue and white colors of Vindalyn.
He smiled as she approached. “You look lovely, my dear.”
“Thank you.” There was no help for it, she’d have to go to the Great Hall with half her chest exposed.
Her bedchamber was one floor up on the west side of the square-shaped keep, while the Great Hall was one floor up on the south side. As they walked down the hallway, her father signaled the guards to follow at a distance.
The floor was paved with black and white tiles, set in a checkered pattern. On the left side, open archways allowed a view of the courtyard below. She could see some of her father’s vassals, all dressed in their finest and making their way to the Great Hall for the banquet.
As she and her fath
er passed the staircase, she recalled how Captain Bougaire had assaulted her on the landing. Did her father know about Tatiana’s affair?
He cleared his throat. “When I received notice that the army was drawing near, I made arrangements for this banquet, thinking you would be meeting your betrothed for the first time. But I’m afraid he’s been delayed.”
“That’s all right.”
The duke glanced back at the guards, then whispered, “I heard you worked in the kitchen garden this afternoon.”
“I didn’t do that much.”
“I understand you wish to be helpful, but from now on you must be more careful. You’ll need to attend mass tomorrow morning, but after that I want you to return straight to your bedchamber.”
She could see the worry in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
He patted her hand. “We can’t discuss it here. Just stay by my side during the banquet.”
She bit her lip, wondering what had happened. Did someone suspect she was an imposter? Or perhaps Captain Bougaire was causing trouble?
The duke sighed. “Father Grendel came to me a little while ago, complaining that you never came for confession.”
“But I did. I went today.”
“Really? Perhaps he forgot. Father Grendel’s memory has gotten worse in the past year. That’s why he’s retiring.”
Luciana thought back to her confession with the priest. It had been hard to see much of him, what with the dim lighting and the hood he was wearing, but she’d gotten the distinct impression that he was young. His voice had been strong. Deep and very … male. “I don’t think the priest who took my confession was old.”
Her father stopped with a jerk. “He was young?”
“I believe so.”
The duke’s eyes widened with alarm. “Don’t go to the chapel again without me and our guards.”
“What is going on?”
Her father resumed walking with her. “I’ll explain later when we’re alone. And you’ll be getting a second guard tomorrow afternoon from the Lord Protector’s army. The general insisted.”
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