She removed a tiny parchment from the tube and unrolled it.
Avery, agree to help me and I will return you to your family.
Her mind raced with questions, one above all: How could anyone know I would find the box?
Whoever brought the bird could still be in the shadows. Avery whirled, senses crackling. Not sensing any movement, she considered what to do next. Not responding was not an option.
Pigeons fly only one direction. Home. I should release this bird back to whoever sent it.
She grabbed her torch and quickly carried the bird to Kendrick’s little study near the dining room where he kept a stash of parchment and ink. With the pigeon cradled under her arm, she scratched out:
Tell me more. I will help however I can. Who are you?
Avery blew the ink dry and tucked the message back into the pigeon’s tube. She hurried to the base of the stairs that led to the library door.
She hadn’t been outside since the race.
Kendrick’s warning not to leave rang in her ears, and of course the whole kingdom knew the bulletin offered a huge reward for her capture.
Could someone be trying to draw me out of hiding?
I could be trapped as soon as I step into the library.
But dare I ignore the message?
She climbed the stairs to the library door. It opened with a reluctant groan, and she carefully stepped inside.
Chapter 18
Fire!
Moving soundlessly, Avery tiptoed briskly to the kids’ stairwell and up to the door that led to the sloping rooftop where she and Kendrick had seen the ruby moon. To her relief, the deserted old quarters lay eerily quiet.
Out on the balcony, she released the bird and it soared into the midnight sky.
As she urgently made her way back, she wondered, Who knows we moved to the tunnels?
The next afternoon, the thirteen-year-olds chatted happily over a lunch of boiled meats and thick puddings until two scouts appeared, breathless, wide-eyed, and speaking over each other.
Words rising from the din like fire, king, angry, and destroyed sent everyone into an uproar.
With no sign of the rest of the cabinet, Avery stood and pointed at one of the scouts. “One at a time! You, what’s wrong?”
“The Olympiad is in flames!” he said. “The tents, the grounds, everything is on fire. The stadium is destroyed. It’s chaos. People are running for their lives, trampling each other on their way to the sea. They say the king is furious, going mad to save his reputation.”
As the room dissolved into pandemonium, Avery motioned the scouts to follow her out to where they could talk in peace.
“Are we in danger?”
“If the wind shifts and the flames aren’t contained.”
“How did it start?”
“Some say it was the king’s foolishness—his tent was full of candles.”
Avery nodded, remembering her brief time in the king’s tent. If even one of those candelabras had been knocked over by an errant elbow, the king’s own tent could have gone up in an instant.
The second scout, the mousier of the two, shifted from leg to leg, clearly eager to share his opinion.
“What do you think?” she asked him.
“I heard it might have been a plot against the king. He’s invited his enemies to compete in the games then put his best athletes up against them. That hasn’t won him any friends.”
The other scout added, “He was in his tent when it erupted. He was lucky to escape.”
Avery closed her eyes.
The king believed victory would signal God’s favor on his reign.
What would he make of the destruction of the Olympiad by fire?
Avery thanked the scouts and instructed them to return to their posts and keep her updated. She headed back to find Kendrick, Kate, and Tuck. The sooner they assessed what this meant for the kids, the better. One thing was certain: an angry king was a threat to everyone, including himself.
“There is something else,” a voice said behind her.
Avery turned to see the mousy scout. “What is it?”
He looked around and approached. “I may know who started the fire.” He leaned close and whispered into Avery’s ear a name that made her eyes widen.
The rest of the afternoon and evening, reports reached the tunnels of how many had been trampled to death in the stampedes to escape the blaze. Dozens more died trying to put it out.
As quickly as people had arrived from the Salt Sea to watch the great games, they fled. The king’s grandiose spectacle had become a colossal tragedy. He was destined to die without an heir and with the Olympiad as his legacy, destroying his reputation.
He retreated to the castle for his own safety, but a castle fraught with distrust was no place to hide.
But did he even know from whom he was hiding?
Knowing one’s enemy is half the battle.
Chapter 19
The Night Visitor
Avery wanted nothing more than to slip outside and survey the damage. Rumor was, the king’s counselors advised he erase all traces of the Olympiad. They even said any unclaimed trampled or charred bodies should be tossed into the Salt Sea by dusk.
Avery was tempted to sneak into the pantry upstairs and spy down into the king’s study, but she settled for sitting with the cabinet, waiting for news from the scouts.
“How did you know, Kendrick?” she asked.
“Know what?”
“You predicted from the beginning the Olympiad would end badly.”
He looked away and seemed to study the floor. “Just a good guess, I suppose.”
“One of the scouts believes the fire was an assassination attempt,” Avery said.
Kendrick nodded. “Many would agree.”
Avery looked both ways and whispered, “He believes Angelina was behind it.”
Kendrick didn’t even flinch. “Maybe.”
For once Avery slept soundly that night, so it took a moment to realize Bronte’s growl was not part of a dream. Her eyes fluttered open to a massive man looming over her.
When she screamed, he quickly limped away, dragging his left leg.
“Stop!” Avery called out as she leapt from her bed. “I command you to stop!” Kate, too, was out of bed in a flash and beside Avery.
A pack of boys appeared out of nowhere, overtaking the man in the main tunnel. They jumped onto his back, but he shook them off like mere grasshoppers.
Spinning around, the man spat, “You’re making a scene, which we must avoid! Now, back to bed, children!”
“Not until you tell us who you are,” Tuck said.
Kendrick raised a torch, and Avery moved closer for a good look.
It was the figure who moved through the tunnels each night, a stick over his shoulder bearing a lantern. He seemed harmless during the day but looked ferocious at night.
The upper half of his face was pockmarked and scarred, and he wore a thick white beard and a mangy white ponytail. But—despite all that—there was something gentle about the way his mouth curved into a smile.
“Yes,” Avery said kindly, moving in. “Who are you?”
Tuck held out a hand to keep her from getting closer.
“Nice of you to protect your girlfriend,” the man said, “but despite what you all want to think, I wasn’t going to hurt her.”
“Then why were you in her chamber in the middle of the night?”
The massive brute looked strong enough to take them all on, but he said, “This is not the time or place, but I’ll be back tomorrow morning. We can talk then.”
Avery feared if they let him go, she’d never see him again. But what choice did they have? They were no match for him. If he wanted to leave, no one would stop him.
She didn’t sleep the rest of the night.
She sat on the floor scratching Bronte’s ears and whispering her thanks.
The clatter of cutlery told Avery everyone else was up and eating, but she had no appe
tite and didn’t want to get out of bed.
She desperately wanted a bath to ease her chilled bones, but with no copper basin in the underworld, she would have to settle for lukewarm water in the cleansing alcove. Instead, Avery stayed under her scratchy wool blanket listening to the miserable constant dripping—the first thing she heard every morning and the last thing she heard every night.
Then it hit her. Would the strange man show up as he promised? She scrambled from her bed and dressed, pulling her hair back into a sloppy braid and stepping into her slippers.
Maybe the scouts had discovered something new about him. She swept aside the blanket door—and there he sat, lounging on one of the faded velvet chairs the kids had brought from upstairs, one leg propped on a stool, hands folded on his rotund belly. He had draped his coat over the chair, and his head was tilted back, eyes closed.
Avery cleared her throat.
“ ’Bout time you woke up,” he said, sitting up. “Been waitin’ half the day.”
He laughed loudly.
Avery considered calling for backup, but she didn’t want him to think she was scared. Plus, he had chosen to come back. How dangerous could he be?
“I’d offer you this chair like a gentleman,” he said, “but I’ve had this limp since childhood that’s getting worse with age.”
Avery took a stool from her room and sat a safe distance from him. “Why were you watching me sleep last night?”
“Don’t enjoy small talk, do you?” he asked with a wink. “Fair enough. I’ve been sent to keep you safe.”
“Yeah, okay, I’ll play along. Who sent you to keep me safe?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Who are you?”
“Name’s Babs.”
Avery snorted. “Seriously? Babs? That’s a girl’s name.”
He shrugged.
“Come on. You were sent but you don’t know by whom? You didn’t show up here on your own. Tell me more.”
Babs retrieved from his shirt pocket a large gold coin that could pay for a month of living in the village. “A fishwife gave me this and asked me to watch out for you. She described you, so I’ve been searching in each of the chambers. That’s what I was doing until your dog got involved.”
“Uh, rule number one: watching someone sleep is a bad idea.”
Avery had to admit his smile was warm and kind.
“I suppose you’re right,” he said, “and I apologize for scaring you. The woman will be pleased to know I found you. May I tell her you’re safe?”
“Frankly, I don’t know how safe I am.” Avery wondered if she dared tell this strange man she was at the castle against her will. “First tell me who this fishwife is.”
“I don’t know.”
“What? She pays you that handsome amount and … I don’t understand.”
“She saw me emerge from the underworld and asked me to look for you; that’s all I can tell you. I wasn’t supposed to say she was even a she. But I felt I owed it to you since I frightened you.”
“What does she look like?”
“I’d better not say.”
“How does she know me? Why does she care?”
“I shouldn’t say more. She gave me no reason to think she would harm you.”
“At least tell me if she’s related to me, knows my family, told you anything more at all—”
The man held up his hands, and Avery knew she would receive no more information.
He labored to his feet with great effort. “I hope at least I’ve convinced you you have nothing to fear from me. And if you don’t mind, I will stay alert to any threats you might face.”
“Well, I appreciate that,” Avery said, rising to help Babs with his coat. As she moved around behind him to get his arms into it, she noticed peeking from one of his pockets the daily bulletin announcing the reward for her capture. Avery slid it from his coat and slipped it into the pocket of her dress.
Almost taken in by a hearty laugh, a warm smile, and a fishwife tale, she thought, angry with herself. No wonder he couldn’t describe the woman or tell me anything about her. She doesn’t exist! Babs, if that’s even his name, just wants to cash in on me.
For the briefest moment, Avery had allowed herself a glimmer of hope.
Chapter 20
Queen Kate
Kendrick would know what to do about Babs. She would tell him everything.
But, as usual, he was nowhere to be found.
He had been leaving in the middle of meals and missing council meetings altogether, never offering an excuse.
When Avery couldn’t find him in any of the usual places, she instructed a scout to take her to him. The scout hesitated, which only confirmed her suspicion that Kendrick was up to something. “He and I have important business and no time to lose, so let’s go.”
Clearly reluctant, the scout led her to a tiny room that looked like an ordinary bedchamber and swept aside the blanket partition.
“Kendrick?” Avery called.
He dove in front of an elaborate structure fashioned of tiny wooden planks, his face red as a toddler’s caught with his finger in the sugar box.
“Don’t blame the scout,” Avery said. “I made him bring me.”
As the scout retreated, she moved closer to a dazzling miniature replica of the castle—but not just the castle—the elaborate stairwell and entire underbelly as well. How much time and energy had Kendrick invested in research alone, not to mention the hours to build this?
“You must have the patience of a saint!” she said, kneeling to peer into the tiny rooms that made up the labyrinth of the castle. “Where did you learn to do this?”
“You’re not supposed to be here,” he said, wedging himself between her and the model.
“I thought we were no longer keeping secrets from each other.”
Kendrick didn’t budge. “I never agreed to that. Now get out.”
“At least tell me why you built this.”
Kendrick didn’t budge. He stood facing Avery, shielding the replica castle with his body.
Avery stood equally determined.
Kendrick sighed. “I thought it would help us better understand the disappearances. An actual model instead of obscure, hand-drawn maps can maybe tell us where everyone went and lead to better strategies.”
Avery marveled at the maze of chambers. “Impressive.”
Kendrick’s look told her he neither needed nor wanted her approval.
The big news at the next council meeting was Queen Angelina’s search for a new lady-in-waiting. Apparently she had dismissed one, accusing her of stealing. That likely meant a death sentence.
“She’s looking for intelligence, confidence, and trustworthiness,” a scout reported.
“Which rules out anybody I know,” Kendrick mumbled.
Avery playfully punched him.
Actually, the idea of planting a thirteen-year-old among Angelina’s ladies invigorated the council members, who spent the morning discussing the ways it could benefit them.
“For one thing, first-person access to every decision she makes!” Tuck offered.
“Of course, we also risk one of our own being hung for a false accusation,” Kendrick said.
“I say the rewards outweigh the risks,” Tuck said. “I’m open to suggestions for a candidate. The queen interviews applicants in two days at court in the Great Hall.”
After the meeting Avery waited for the others to leave before approaching Tuck and blurting, “Consider me.”
Tuck smiled, but she couldn’t tell if he was amused or willing.
Boys have a peculiar ability to hide their true feelings behind an ordinary smile.
“I’m serious,” she said. “I want to be one of Angelina’s ladies-in-waiting.”
“I know you do,” Tuck said finally. “But several have already volunteered, and it’s only right and fair that I consider everyone. I can’t play favorites, no matter how hard I may want to.”
“When will you decide?�
��
“Tomorrow night.”
Late that evening a handful of girls, apparently too excited to sleep, huddled in the sitting room talking about who had the best chance of catching Angelina’s eye.
“Think of everything we would get to see and do!” one said.
“How would we know what to do?” another asked. “I wouldn’t even know how to behave in court during the selection process.”
Kate—silent until now—left and soon returned with her wool blanket draped over her shoulders, trailing a drab but impressive train.
“I am Queen Angelina,” she announced. “If you would become my next lady-in-waiting, please stand.”
Each girl scrambled to her feet.
Kate circled the pack.
“Stand up straighter,” she told one.
To another, “Don’t look so sour.”
“You all need more confidence,” she continued. “I cannot abide weak women.”
One girl said, “Are we allowed to—”
Kate whirled. “Speak only when spoken to!”
And then to Avery: “Never argue or offer an opinion without being asked.”
The playacting went deep into the wee hours, the girls practicing walking, talking, eating, and sitting—all solely to become one long-shot candidate among many in the kingdom for a single position on the court of the most powerful woman in their world.
Chapter 21
The Decision
Awaiting midnight court—particularly Tuck’s choice of a candidate for Queen Angelina’s potential lady-in-waiting—made the next day drag on like a week.
Avery occupied herself with busywork, like helping with breakfast and lunch and assisting Kate with sewing in the afternoon. She sought from the scouts, in vain, anything new about the investigation into the fire, and she spent time exploring more of the underworld.
She still needed to learn whether the tunnels ended at the tiny country chapel on the other side of the Salt Sea. Kendrick wanted to know the same, and Avery was determined to beat him to it. Legend had it that it was nothing like the one in the castle. No, this was a magical place nestled among the cozy, rustic village homes—where the country girls married in unforgettable ceremonies in its unique sanctuary.
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