Page 12 of The Midnight Blizzard

“I’ll take them out later, but if you feed them, that would be very helpful.” His gaze softened as he looked at me. “I’m glad to have you for a friend.”

I loved spending time in the barn feeding and watering Jack’s team. His dogs wagged their tails so hard that their entire hindquarters shook, and they wound themselves around my legs, barking and howling their delight at the prospect of their next meal. Seeing them only reminded me that it wasn’t long until I would be ableto see Kodiak again. It wasn’t too far to the village. Even if Jack was busy, I would have been able to walk to Beryl’s shop if the day was clear, but snow still swirled outside, piling up on the window panes to obscure the view. If I was caught in a blizzard, I would end up disoriented and freezing to death before I could find shelter. It wasn’t worth the risk.

Octavius scurried up to me the moment I re-entered the castle. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he scolded, then handed me a sealed envelope. “You may stay. There is another ball tonight and a feast tomorrow night at sundown.”

Beyond me, a very sour-faced girl hauled a trunk across the hall and threw an ugly look at the envelope in my hand. Apparently, rejections had already been handed out.

“Thank you very much,” I told Octavius. “I look forward to getting to know the?—”

“Yes, yes,” Octavius said dismissively. “I’m sure you do. If you’ll excuse me…” He bustled off, waddling away to attend to who knew what other business.

I hurried back up to Trista’s room only to find her parents packing furiously. Trista helped with a solemn, penitent expression on her face that I didn’t believe for a moment.

“I didn’t pass to the next round,” Trista said, maintaining her somber demeanor.

“So much for a prince. We’ll have to settle for a blacksmith’s apprentice for a son-in-law,” her father grumbled. Trista kept her eyes averted but bit her lip to hide a smile.

“All that wardrobe for nothing,” her mother sighed. “But at least Cal is a nice boy and he loves Trista.”

“Come on, then,” her father grumped, toting some of the bags to the door. “We’ll send a footman for the rest.”

Trista hung back. “Good luck,” she breathed, and with acautious glance at her father, pressed one of the bags into my hands. “Another dress in case you need it, and your laundered dress came back. It’s hanging up in the closet.”

“I’ll get your dress back to you,” I promised, looking down at the gown I’d worn the night before, which I was still wearing.

She waved her hand to brush the matter aside. “Come to my wedding and that will be thanks enough.”

“Trista!” her father barked.

“I’m coming!” she called. “Goodbye, Noelle! I’ll send an invitation.”

“Bye.”

I watched her hurry to catch up with her parents. As they disappeared from view, a sudden thought popped into my head. With Trista gone, I would be able to have this room to myself. I busied myself with setting Trista’s family’s bag outside the door for the footman to collect, but my hope was short-lived.

Octavius came around only a few minutes later, leading a veritable army of housekeepers. “This room next,” he ordered, then spotted me. “What are you doing here?”

“I…I thought it would be all right if I used this room since Trista is?—”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Octavius jabbered. He jabbed a short finger at the ledger in his hands. “I have everything meticulously organized, and I cannot make exceptions for anyone. You are assigned to the Frost family rooms, and you need tostayin the Frost family rooms or it will throw everything off.”

“But if no one is using this one…”

Octavius’s cheeks slowly inflated. “What do you mean not using it?” he squawked. “We have dignitaries coming!We have rooms that need to be deep cleaned! We have additional?—”

“Okay, okay, I’m leaving,” I said hurriedly, retrieving my laundered dress and cloak from the closet, clutching the bag Trista had given me, and edging my way around Octavius and the housekeepers. “I’m sorry I asked. I don’t want to be a bother.”

I wished several someones would bother Octavius, I thought privately. What a nuisance. When I was small, the steward of Frostwood Estate had been a little like Octavius—so intent on following protocol that he was unable to fathom a circumstance in which a person would need an exception to the rules. It was useful at the time; he had always kept things running smoothly. It had never bothered me as a young girl, but now that I was the one needing an exception… I sighed and trudged down the hall, back to the library.

Jack was still there, but he had been joined by several other advisors, all speaking in hushed tones and pointing to different names on the list, shoulder to shoulder. Ironically, Prince Stephen was nowhere in sight. I supposed that there had been too many girls for him to remember anyway, even if he had given signals to the advisors the previous evening, but it amused me nonetheless. If it were me getting married, I would at least want to be present when it came to discussions about my future spouse.

I looked at the towering shelves loaded with books. Jack was right; there had to be something in here about the laws and regulations concerning inheritances. As I browsed the shelves, eagerly searching for anything to aid me on my quest, I pulled tome after heavy tome into my arms, loading up anything that would be remotely helpful. Finally, Ibarely managed to stagger to an armchair and dropped my load on the table next to it.

After a quick search of the titles, I selected a thick and dull-looking volume on laws related to the lords and the operation of their estates. It was dreadfully tedious, but I resolutely plowed on, searching for any shred of evidence I could use.

“Peculiar reading material for a young woman,” one of the scribes noted when he passed by my mountainous stack of books. Though he wore the same cap as the scribe I’d talked to before, this man had a beard and the other hadn’t. “Do you have an affinity for legal proceedings?”

“Yes, it fascinates me,” I told him, struck by sudden inspiration. “In fact, I have aspirations to be a scribe one day. I’ve heard that there is a room specifically set aside for them and hoped to get a tour.” I smiled winningly but was met with a slight frown.

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