Page 48 of To Steal the Sun

The younger woman didn’t look happy with the arrangement, but the other was already hurrying away. With a slight tremble in her hand, the remaining seamstress fit the key in the lock and turned it.

Charlotte could barely breathe at the opportunity before her. “Good ball,” she whispered, stroking it as if it was a sentient creature. “Good ball!”

She waited until the woman turned to go and then flung open the door. Barreling out into the corridor, she clutched the woman from behind, one hand over her mouth. The seamstress hadn’t even had time to scream.

As she had expected from her earlier demeanor, the woman immediately went limp, shaking all over.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she sobbed against Charlotte’s hand.

Charlotte winced, but she couldn’t falter. Using the hand that wasn’t covering the woman’s mouth, she wrested the key from her slack fingers.

Looking around, she found a door with a keyhole and pushed the woman toward it. The seamstress stumbled forward on faltering feet, still not putting up any significant fight. Did she think Charlotte had a weapon?

Opening the door, Charlotte glanced inside at the untouched bedchamber. It was too pristine to be in regular use, so she released the woman and gave her a hard shove from behind. The seamstress staggered into the room, dropping to her knees.

Before she could turn around, Charlotte whisked the door closed, sighing with relief as she turned the key in the lock. As she’d hoped, she was now in possession of the master key Gwen had mentioned.

“Sorry!” she called through the door, feeling another spurt of guilt at the muffled sobs from the other side.

But she had the key in her hand! She ran to the door the woman had closed, thrusting the key into the lock and turning it. Bursting into the room, she closed the door behind her.

“Forget to measure the length of one of my fingers?” a sardonic voice asked from the window, its owner not turning to look at her.

“Henry,” she said, half sob, half word.

He whirled, his blue eyes finding her instantly, his whole face transforming.

“Charlotte!” He ran to her, and she ran to him, the two of them colliding in the middle of the room.

“I found you! I found you!” she cried, tears running down her cheeks.

“Oh, my love,” he murmured, wiping them away and gazing at her in wonder. “How can you be here? The queen…”

Charlotte sniffed, trying to pull herself together. “She captured the rest of them. Or almost all of them. Do you know where Gwen is?”

Henry’s face twisted. “She came to warn me about something, but it turned out it was a test the queen had set up. Celandine dragged her away.”

“Oh no!” Charlotte stared at him in dismay. “Everything really has gone wrong.”

“It’s hard to believe that when you’re standing here with me,” he said.

“Oh Henry! I keep messing everything up, but this time I need to save everyone. We need to save everyone.”

“Slow down,” he said. “I’ve been locked in here the whole time with only the occasional, confusing snippet of news. What’s been going on out there?”

Charlotte’s whole body buzzed with energy, and she would have paced the room if she could have brought herself to leave Henry’s arms. But he had wound one arm around her middle, and she wouldn’t have pried herself away for anything.

Speaking as slowly as she could manage, she explained everything that had happened so far, sticking only to the necessary facts.

“So the queen is still progressing with this wedding,” he said when she finished. “And that’s a good thing—but only as long as we can make the swap in the middle.”

Charlotte nodded, her hands creeping up to grasp the front of his shirt. “I’m not letting her marry you off to Gwen or anyone. You’re already mine.”

He smiled affectionately down at her. “Do you think I would marry anyone else? I already have a wife. A delightful—if occasionally exasperating—one.”

She giggled and hiccupped at the same time, a final tear leaking out.

“Henry, I’m so, so sorry,” she said. “If I’d just trusted you and waited…”

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