Page 75 of Legacy of Roses

Dimitri

Rosalie ran down the stairs, and Dimitri’s tense muscles finally relaxed. He’d guessed she was staying out of sight on purpose and carefully hadn’t mentioned her to the guards. But he’d still been anxious to check on her and to see with his own eyes that nothing had happened to her in his absence.

The day had been a victory, but Jace and at least one of his men had escaped. And they didn’t know how many other men he had out in the woods still.

Dimitri smiled up at Rosalie, giddy with relief. “You should have seen the guards' faces when they saw the men in the library.”

She smiled in acknowledgment of his comment, but she was clearly distracted, skipping straight over a greeting to blurt out, “You won’t believe what I just found out.”

His brow wrinkled. “What do you mean? Did something happen while I was gone?”

“No, not exactly. It’s just that I found out what’s actually been going on in this castle the whole time!” She shook her head. “Do you remember the serving girl at the Mortar and Pestle?”

He blinked at the abrupt change of subject, trying to remember back to his day at the inn. It already seemed distant.

“Oh!” he said, finally realizing what she must mean. “The one with the invisible limbs?”

She nodded, her smile turning smug. “Turns out I was right, and the Legacy hasn’t been practicing its cooking.”

His eyes slowly narrowed, and he gave her a sideways look. “Why do I have a creeping feeling of great foreboding?”

“Because you’re a very canny man,” she said, trying to suppress a rueful grin. “It turns out we’ve had a collection of dedicated servants the entire time we’ve been here. They’ve just been invisible.”

“Invisible servants?” His eyes widened. “Actual real people like the girl in the inn? But…who?”

She winced. “Brace yourself. It’s Daphne and my brothers.”

“Your brothers!” He paled. “Your brothers have been creeping around the manor watching us this whole time?”

“To be fair to them, I don’t think much creeping was needed, given they're invisible.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” he demanded.

“It didn’t make me feel better if that’s any comfort.”

She explained everything Daphne had told her about why they’d done it and how they’d made it work. When she finished, he glanced toward the library.

“It sounds like we got lucky with those chairs. The Legacy wasn’t helping us as much as we thought.”

“No.” She grimaced. “But it was helping us. So I suppose that’s a good sign, at least.”

“So it was one of them who shone the light in my eyes in the garden that time?” he suddenly demanded.

“Oh!” Rosalie’s eyes widened. “I didn’t even think of that one. Now I’m going to be second guessing everything that’shappened. And I haven’t even told you about the many pouches of coins buried in the garden.”

“The what?” He rubbed his temples. “Do I even want to know?”

“That one?” She winced. “Probably not, to be honest.” She looked around. “I haven’t actually seen my brothers yet.”

His eyebrows rose. “Seen them?”

She laughed. “You know what I mean. Sensed their presence? Talked to them? Felt the wind of their passing?”

He broke into helpless laughter at the last one. She watched him with a bemused expression.

“Sorry,” he said when the last of his chuckles subsided. “It’s been an intense day.”

“I understand,” she said softly.

---