Page 71 of Besotted
I crept in the direction of the low buildings that housed the infirmary. My limp was pronounced since I’d had to leave behind my cane.
Jorg stepped into my path, bringing me to a halt. “I’ll be nearby. If you run into any trouble, you only need to shout, and I’ll hear you.”
“Likewise.” He was entering a window in the servants’ quarters. Hopefully, they would all be asleep, although with the commotion the guards were making, perhaps they’d roused.
The danger of this mission was beyond anything he’d agreed to, and yet he was still taking his duties as my scribe as seriously as he had from the start.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?”
“For being a good companion and a faithful friend. I couldn’t have done all this without you.”
He paused, as though he hadn’t expected my heartfelt praise. “Sounds like you’re saying farewell.”
It might very well be farewell, but I wouldn’t dwell on that yet. “We’ll get Aurora out in no time and be drinking hot ale by morning.”
“Don’t do anything foolhardy.”
“You know me,” I jested. “I never do anything foolhardy.”
He didn’t guffaw or tease back.
I started off. If I waited any longer, he’d suspect I had every intention of doing whatever it took to free Aurora. I couldn’t have him tagging along trying to stop me. It was best if we parted ways here. I could only pray he wouldn’t hold himself responsible if something happened to me.
Chapter
25
Aurora
Though the guardsattempted to hurry me, I walked down the corridor carefully, trying not to disturb a hair on my head. After the servants had labored so meticulously over my appearance, I didn’t want to ruin anything.
A clamor had arisen minutes earlier, with shouts and the pounding of steps in the corridor outside my chamber. Guards had appeared at my door, demanding that I accompany them. Though the maidservants complained that they needed more time, the guards had insisted, urgency marking their commands.
Now as we walked, the sconces lit the way through the long passageway, revealing stone walls and the same dark log ceiling beams that had been a part of the architecture of every room. Though I wasn’t familiar with Queen Margery’s royal residences, I’d long since guessed she’d brought me to one of her hunting lodges, likely the one at Boarshead Hunting Ground closest to Mercia’s border.
Earlier, I’d marveled when I stood in front of the looking glass and examined my reflection. Though I’d glimpsed myself in the small mirror amongst my possessions at the cottage, I’d never seen myself in full, and certainly never so grandly attired.
After wearing simple peasant garb my whole life, the cascading layers of the rich blue skirt were heavy, almost cumbersome, the bodice tight and constricting, and the jewels heavy in my ears and hair. I would grow accustomed to such fancy attire eventually, but the contrast to my previous life made me wish for Kresten all the more.
A door opened abruptly to one side, and a girl darted into the middle of the corridor, forcing us to stop. “Aurora?”
A giant-of-a-guard from within her chamber rushed after her. “Your Highness, you know you’re not allowed out.”
“Please, just one moment.” She smiled gently up at the man, who hesitated before he bowed his head.
I examined the girl, noting the resemblance to Queen Margery in her dark hair and green eyes. Rather than a slender build, she was stockier with a wider girth and broader face. Her features were comely but not dainty.
“Aurora, I am Ruby, your cousin.”
“Ah, yes.” Queen Margery had two daughters—Pearl, who was around my age, and Princess Ruby, her youngest child. I guessed her to be twelve or perhaps thirteen years. Before I could formulate the proper introduction in return, she tugged me from the corridor into her chamber, slammed the door closed behind her, and swiftly bolted it.
The guards we’d left behind began shouting and pounding.
Ruby grabbed my hands and dragged me across the room. “We must escape now. Through the window.”
The shutters on the window ahead were wide open. Though too high for me to see outside, I could hear the shouts of more soldiers in the distance. I resisted Ruby’s hold, drawing to a stop even as she continued to tug at me. “I do not believe your mother means me harm.”
