by Johnson, ID
She was startled by his hasty retreat. Surely, he found her appealing. All men did. “What’s the matter?” she asked leaning back on the sofa. “Did I say something offensive?” Things seemed to be going downhill rather quickly and she needed to find a way to regroup and start again. She didn’t know how many of these chances she might have.
“Katherine, thank you so much for your time,” he said, as he began to back towards the door. “It’s getting rather late and I am expected in the dining hall. It’s too bad you won’t be joining us,” he added as a polite after-thought.
She was afraid to let him leave, afraid she wouldn’t get another opportunity. Yet, he clearly didn’t appreciate her aggressive behavior. “Yes, me, too,” she said. “Forgive me if I’m not quite myself,” she added, rubbing her temples as if she actually had a headache. If he only knew exactly how far from herself she truly was.
“I understand,” he said politely as he reached for the door. He was afraid to turn his back on her; afraid she might lunge at him from behind. And while he was not particularly attracted to her, it had been quite some time since he had been with a woman. He was afraid he might make a decision he would regret. He fumbled for the latch behind him, opened the door and stepped out into the hall, all without turning around.
She stood but didn’t dare step towards him, afraid he might take off running down the hallway. “Please consider my offer!” she called as he was closing the door.
The door was still open just a crack, “Yes, of course,” he replied without opening it any further and then quickly shut the door behind him, taking off down the hallway as hurriedly as possible without actually breaking into a sprint.
***
Katey had been sleeping. After the interrogation, Cook had reappeared, offering her shoulder to cry on as she led her to a small space next to the kitchen, a little room where many of the servant girls slept. There were several pairs of bunk beds and Cook showed her which one would be hers. Katey’s sobs had begun to subside as the gentle woman stroked her hair and reassured her that everything would be just fine. Just before she dozed off, Cook had said, “When you feel better, come over to the kitchen and I’ll give you something to do. Nothin’ makes a girl feel better than a job well done!”
Now, Katey intended to do just that. Cook had left her a gown, the kind the servant girls wore, and she slipped it on. Obviously, she had never worked in a kitchen before, she had honestly never truly worked before, but she thought she may as well do something useful, and, as long as she was going to be playing the role of Rose, she would much rather be doing kitchen work than the sort of work the real Rose performed.
She could smell the dinner preparations before she even reached the doorway. She took a deep breath, not realizing just how hungry she was. She was able to step in undetected and stand near the door for a moment, surveying the room. Cook was chopping vegetables near a large stew pot. Another girl was slicing meat and two others were busy bustling around, preparing dishes. After a moment, she approached Cook, gaining her attention as she came across the room. “Rose!” she exclaimed joyfully. “Girls!” she called, the others momentarily pausing. “This is the new girl I was telling you about. This is Rose. Isn’t she lovely?” The other girls all gestured in her direction. One of them genuinely smiled at her but the rest either were too busy to acknowledge her or instantly jealous of her appearance, which, Katey found was often the case. Nevertheless, if these were the girls Katey was to be working and living with, she wanted to be friends. She smiled and waved shyly.
“Give me a hand, Love” Cook said, handing her the large spoon for the stewing pot. “Give it a whirl, won’t you?” As Katey began stirring, Cook continued chopping and talking. She went around the room, telling Katey each girl’s name and a little of her story. The kind girl who had smiled at Katey was named Val. She had a sister who was deaf so she could identify with Katey’s disability. Cook dropped the rest of the vegetables into the pot, patted Katey gently on the back and said, “We’re so glad to have you with us, Dearling.”
Katey smiled. Though she was far from home and those she loved, Cook was a gift from God and she was so thankful to have met her. As she continued to stir, she reflected on the dream she had just awoken from. It was rather odd and she wasn’t sure if it had meaning or if it was just her mind trying to make sense of her present situation. She had been riding horses with Caleb, flying through an open meadow, leaping over lawns and other obstacles. They were both laughing and carefree. At one point, she turned to see Matthew behind her. He was also riding a horse, but in the opposite direction. Perched on the horse in front of him was a woman, draped all in white. He waved at her as he turned to ride away and she waved back, still giggling, preparing for the next hurdle. It had been such an odd dream and yet it had seemed so real.
At least I hadn’t dreamt I was the real Rose and the horse I was riding was Philip!
“Alrighty, dear,” Cook was saying as she crossed back to where Katey was stirring. Standing so close to the fire was making her perspire. She brushed the back of her hand across her forehead, continuing to stir with the other hand. “Not getting tired on me now, are you?” Cook asked laughing.
Katey shook her head. She would be just fine.
“I’m so very glad that you are here tonight, Love. With all of the excitement of the day, we are falling a bit behind. I have a very special job for you, my dear, if you think you are up for it.
Letting go of the spoon and brushing her hands on her skirt, she turned to see what her next task would be. Cook was placing some dishes on a silver tray. She ladled some soup into a dish and placed it under a warmer. “Now, my heart, you’ll just need to take this down the hall here, up the stairs at the back of the castle, to the tower. Easy enough?” She was gesturing which way Katey would need to go and she thought she understood. “When you reach the top, just tap on the door and one of the ladies will let you in? Alright, Love?
Again, Katey indicated that she understood. She had some experience with delivering food to people in towers but she was hopeful that this prisoner would not be in such distress as the last. She picked up the tray, which wasn’t heavy, and began carefully making her way down the hallway. The castle was not large and, as she walked, she heard voices coming from rooms around her. She wasn’t sure but she thought she heard Gordon’s voice in another room, possibly talking to Dale. Gordon had been such a gentleman. She was growing more and more fond of the inhabitants of Castle Caine by the moment.
As she reached the back of the hall, she clearly saw the winding staircase to her left. It was at least two flights of stairs but she thought she would be able to manage just fine. She took her time, careful not to spill anything and not to make too much racket. The entire time she was climbing, she remembered what Rose had said about ruthless King Caleb meting out punishment on those who dare cross him. She was hopeful that she was not, in fact, delivering Rose’s dinner, or else she may have to spit in it. Although, one thing was for certain. If she saw Rose again, she was taking back her ring!
At the top of the stairs was an oak door. She couldn’t tell if it was locked but she took Cook’s advice, balancing the tray on her knee, she let go with one hand for just a second and gave a little knock.
There was the sound of footsteps and then the door came open. A pleasant looking woman opened, smiling kindly. “Good evening,” she said, opening the door wide enough for Katey to make it in with the tray. “You may sit it over there, Darling,” she added, gesturing towards a table near the bed.
Katey nodded and began to carry the tray across the room. There were two other ladies sitting in chairs across the way. White curtains bellowed near the open window. The room was light and airy, despite the setting sun, and Katey knew at once that, whoever occupied this room, she was no prisoner.
Reaching the table, Katey sat the tray down carefully. Before she turned to go, she glanced at the shape lying on the bed. It was a beautiful young woman and she appeared to be s
leeping. Katey didn’t wish to wake her or to pry so she started back towards the door. As she did so, she heard a quiet moan and then felt ice-cold fingers on her hand. She stopped, glancing down at the pale white fingers as they clasped around her wrist. It appeared as if the woman in the bed was awake.
“Thank you.” The voice was very weak, barely audible. Katey turned to look at the lady in the bed, to nod in response. As Katey’s glanced at the young woman’s face, her eyes suddenly came open. Katey gasped, covering her mouth with both of her hands and stumbling backwards into the table, almost spilling the tray.
The eyes were emerald green.
***
Under cover of darkness, Matthew made his way to the well he had finally located after searching for most of the day. He had wasted precious time procuring water but once those cold droplets hit his tongue, he felt it was worth it. There was a house nearby but he had seen no one stirring for the last few hours so he was hopeful that, whoever lived here, they had fled in advance of the army. He was tempted to break into the cottage and see if there were any food supplies left but he was not willing to take the chance at this point. In a day or two, if he still had not eaten, he might be tempted to turn to pilfering.
Traveling at night was probably a better idea than doing so during the daytime but he heard wolves in the distance and he wasn’t quite sure exactly where their howls were coming from. Rather than take his chances with the forest creatures, he decided to hunker down for the night. His thirst was quenched, his canteen was full, and he was hopeful that tonight’s dreams would be pleasant. He found a hallow tree just large enough to squeeze into, free of all dangerous animals, and promptly fell fast asleep.
***
When Katey returned to the kitchen, she was visibly shaken. Cook noticed immediately. “Rose? Is everything alright?” Of course, Katey could not answer so she had no way of knowing the implications of what Katey had just seen. “You found the stairs alright?” she asked, stopping her work long enough to come to her side, gently squeezing her arm. Again, Katey nodded. “And you found the room? They let you in okay?” Yes, and yes. “Well, dear, I know Queen Maggie is pale, but you look like you just saw a ghost!”
That is precisely what Katey had just seen.
Matthew’s wife was alive. How was this possible? He said he had seen her die, right there in his arms. Yet, here she was. Alive and well.
As Katey stood pondering how this was possible and what all of it meant, Cook was asking her a question. Snapping back to reality, she gave Cook a look to let her know she had not heard what she had been asked. “I said, ‘Do you think you’re up to taking some water out to dining hall, Love?’ Or, do you think you’d better just go and lay down?” Cook was bustling around the kitchen like a madwoman, as were the other girls. She knew they could use her help. She nodded that she could manage the task at hand, assuming no other dead people showed up in the next few minutes, and she picked up the silver pitcher, following behind Val who was carrying a tray with the first coarse.
The dining hall was small so not everyone who wished to dine with the king was able to. These were the select few. There were only about eight others in the room with Caleb, most of them men, some in uniforms and some clearly dignitaries. All of them were conversing, some more loudly than others and so she prayed she would be able to fill the goblets without being noticed.
She had never served anyone anything before but she had been served thousands of times. She was fairly certain she could handle the task at hand, assuming pouring water was the same in Arteria as it was in Placidia. There were two goblets in front of each guest, one for wine and one for water. It seemed they had each been filled at least once already, so she simply needed to top the water off. She knew she must serve the king first, so she made her way to the head of the table, careful not to look directly at him and hoping to avoid Gordon’s line-of-sight as well. Though she would not have minded acknowledging him, she would rather Caleb didn’t notice her at all. They had not exactly parted on the best of terms and she was still a little frightened of him. And intimidated. And fascinated.
It was pretty difficult to miss that red hair, however, and as she approached the table, Caleb glanced in her direction, paused mid-sentence, and looked directly at her. He looked a bit confused. Luckily for him, Gordon saw her as well and greeted her warmly, causing the others at the table, particularly the dignitaries to wonder who this servant girl was that she could interrupt the conversation of the king and get away with it.
“Rose!” Gordon said smiling, “I would never have expected to see you here!”
Katey took this opportunity to fill Caleb’s goblet while he was staring at Gordon, seated to his left, questioning his odd behavior, as was nearly everyone else at the table. She smiled back at Gordon, curtseyed to the king and continued down the line.
Gordon realized Caleb was staring at him and began to redden. “I apologize, Your Highness, Ladies and Gentlemen. It’s just, I . . .”
Dale began to chuckle from his seat across from Gordon and the table went back to the previous level of conversation. It was as if an explanation was not necessary. Looking at Katey, one could tell what would make a young man forget himself and call out to her from across a room.
She worked as quickly as possible, careful not to spill, and eventually found her way around the other side of the table, back to Gordon. The conversation seemed to hush a bit, as if they were all waiting to see if he would say something else to the striking servant girl. But all he said was, “Thank you,” and she smiled down at him before turning and rushing out of the room.
Once she reached the other side of the door, she leaned back against the wall, catching her breath. She was fairly certain she had not been breathing the entire time. She hoped she did not look as ridiculous as she felt. She could feel Caleb’s icy eyes glancing her way as she made her rounds and it brought back the feelings she had had earlier in the day. She so wanted to help him find Matthew but there was nothing more that she could do.
And then she was thinking of Matthew again. And Maggie. She walked back to the kitchen, physically shaking her head. She was hopeful that Cook would let her work inside of the kitchen for the rest of the night.
***
When Caleb saw Rose enter the dining room, he knew that Cook had done this on purpose. She had stopped by to talk to him after the inquisition, scolding him for losing his temper and reminding him that Rose was just a frightened little girl. His ugly reply had included the phrase, “whore of an incompetent king” which had lit a fire under the stout woman like no other. She accused him of listening to rumors, not gaining the full story, and, even if it were true, everyone deserved a second chance. None of us know what we might stoop to given the right circumstances. Cook had been instantly taken with Rose, as was almost everyone else who met her. And despite his frustration earlier in the day, as he watched her glide around the table, flashing that beautiful smile and curtsying politely to each of his guests, he realized that she had qualities unlike anyone he had ever met. For the moment, however, he pushed those thoughts aside. He planned to meet with her again tomorrow to see if she could be persuaded to convey any other pieces of information regarding the whereabouts of his brother.
***
Early the next morning, a courier arrived at Castle Meadington. The Queen was summoned at once. The rider was from Arteria and the leader read simply:
I have your sister, Princess Katherine. Let us arrange a meeting place and I will deliver her to you.
Caleb
Nichole breathed a sigh of relief. Katey was safe and Caleb was smart enough to hand her back over to her directly. “Send in Prince James, “ she ordered. For something this delicate, she needed her most trusted associate, her brother. She would never delegate a task of this importance to anyone else.
***
Noel’s men had been searching for Matthew for two days straight now and still they had uncovered nothing. They could not find where the tunnel le
t out. Searching the terrain in the vicinity of where they thought it might end had turned up nothing. They could be miles off. Or, for all they knew, Matthew was still trapped in the labyrinth below the castle. He had a group of men working diligently to clear the debris, but it seemed, with every large piece they removed, the floor above gave way again and the problem became even worse. At this point, he was considering tearing down the entire castle! Each day he sent an update to Caleb and each day, Caleb responded the same way: “Find him!”
***
Katey had been summoned to meet with the king. Cook had insisted she wear “her” dress, the one she had arrived in the castle wearing. She had cleaned it while Katey was napping the day before and it looked good as new. It really was a nice dress, for a person of Rose’s station. Made of light pink fabric with lace trimming. The collar was a little low-cut for daily wear in Katey’s opinion, but that wasn’t surprising considering what Rose had been before she became a princess.
It had been difficult for Katey to sleep the night before. Though she still loved Matthew, she realized that he was meant to be with Maggie. They were married. They were in love. When Matthew spoke about her, his eyes lit up. If she had truly died that day then, Katey was certain that she and Matthew could have had a long happy life together. But now, she wished nothing but happiness for both of them. She could not wait to see his face when he returned to the castle and saw her again. She truly hoped that she would be present for that reunion.
At precisely 8:00 sharp, there was a light rapping on the bedchamber door. The other servant girls were still in the kitchen, taking care of the breakfast duties and preparing for the day’s meals. Katey planned to join them as soon as possible. For now, she took Gordon’s arm and he led her down a hallway toward the library. He greeted her by saying “Good morning, Miss,” and she had nodded in return. She was extremely nervous, especially since she knew she would be meeting with Caleb alone, but she put on a brave face and allowed him to escort her to the library door.
