by M. J. Haag
“You did well, speaking to so many and reminding them you are fit and content with life. It’s useful to know how many have been discovered dead and that the searches are increasing in frequency.”
She led me inside where a tea tray waited in the sitting room along with a new book.
“I thought perhaps you’d enjoy reading until dinner.”
I picked up the book and found it was the type I liked. Maeve rarely seemed to miss any detail. It was a wonder she hadn’t realized there was something amiss about the pig.
“Thank you, Mama,” I said sitting.
She left me to read, calling me just before the first of her guests arrived. We’d just closed the door after greeting the last arrivals when a thunder of hooves rose outside. Maeve cursed softly and hurried me to the dining room.
“It would seem that the guard is here to ruin our merriment. Not a word about anything untoward that happens here.” As soon as she spoke the command, the men’s eyes flashed green.
“Heather,” she called. “Please get the door.”
Heather emerged with a nod and rushed to answer the knock at the main door. The Captain of the Guard followed her back into the room. He looked around in surprise.
“My Lady,” he said with a bow. “I apologize for interrupting your gathering. We must search your home again.”
“Do what you must. Warn your men to wipe their feet this time. Last time, they created extra work for my staff with their neglect.”
“I will see to it.” He looked over his shoulder and nodded to a man. The man disappeared from sight, and the captain returned his attention to us.
“This is an odd gathering,” he said.
“How so?”
“All male guests for a household of females.” His gaze landed on me. “When did you return?”
“She returned when the home she was at suffered the same searches as our own. There was no point in keeping her away any longer.”
His gaze swept over the men.
“Why are you here, Mr. Steinman?”
The man scowled.
“The King pushes too far with these intrusions. I’m here on business, as is every man at this table.”
“What kind of business?”
“Trade of course. We have the contacts but lack the funding to move any merchandise.”
“And, I have the funding but lack the contacts. It would seem some men think women are only good for marriage and childbirth and do not care to work with a woman in a business sense. These men are more open minded.”
The guard the captain had sent away returned with a woman. She was dressed like a maid but wore the King’s insignia on her bodice.
“I ask that you step into the hall, one at a time.”
“Why?” Maeve asked, her fingers twitching on the table.
“This search will be more thorough. We need to search your person.”
Chapter Fourteen
While Porcia and Cecilia made shocked noises, I stood.
“I’ll go first,” I said.
“You will not,” Maeve said, grabbing for me.
While I had nothing to hide, I knew well that Maeve, Cecilia, and Porcia did. All three wore their amulets as they always did for these gatherings. Likely Maeve’s mind was frantically working to find a way to object to a body search.
I lightly set my hand on top of hers and gave her a concerned look.
“Mama, do not let embarrassment rule your thoughts. I made that mistake and was taken to the dungeon and questioned.”
Lifting my gaze to the captain who watched us steadily, I repeated my offer to go first. He motioned for me to proceed. Maeve released me with reluctance that I felt was quite true, and I walked into the hall with the King’s woman.
The search was thorough as she patted my skirts and pockets. When she reached under my skirts and ran her hands up and down my legs and even cupped my intimate parts, I flushed scarlet.
“If it helps make this less embarrassing, I’m a midwife,” the woman said softly. “This is nothing I haven’t seen or touched before.”
“Since you’re not delivering my child at the moment, it does not help,” I said, offering a small smile to take the sting from my words.
She chuckled and stood.
“I need to loosen your bodice and check there as well.”
“Of course.”
Having another woman swipe her hand between the valley of my breasts and under their curves did not bother me as much as when I’d been stripped in front of Hugh. His detached gaze as he’d hit me, without regard as to where, had been far more intolerable.
When the woman stepped away from me and looked at one of the two men who had stood watch over us, there wasn’t a bit of me she hadn’t touched.
“I found nothing,” she said.
The second man went to the captain as the first man’s gaze shifted to me.
“Please wait outside.”
As I moved toward the door, Cecilia took my place. I knew it was her by her impertinent, “Remove your hands from my skirt.”
Trying not to smirk, I let myself out and found a man with a torch waiting in the yard by the horses. Hugh stood near him, his arms crossed and a sullen look on his face.
“Were you searched, too?” I asked, joining him.
He cast me a dark look and didn’t answer. I was no longer sure how much of the old Hugh still remained.
Slowly, every person from the dining room joined us, Maeve walking out the door last. Her gaze connected with Cecilia first, then me, before turning to the guard.
“Is there a reason we must stand in the cold now that we’ve been thoroughly violated?” she asked.
“The violation would have been more enjoyable if it had been the maid who’d done the searching,” one of the men commented.
Maeve shot the man a scathing look.
“Is that how you truly feel?” she asked.
The man flushed and looked away just as the captain emerged from the kitchen door with the midwife in tow.
“You may return to your dinner,” he said. “Again, I apologize for the inconvenience of this search, but I assure you we are making the Kingdom safer through our diligence.”
“Are you, though?” I asked.
All eyes turned to me.
“I beg your pardon?” the captain asked.
“Are you making the Kingdom safer? If you’re still searching, wouldn’t that mean the problem still exists? Instead of making us feel safer, these searches are spreading fear. One woman in the market today said her family was leaving soon because of the way His Majesty is treating his subjects. If this continues, His Majesty will be a King of a kingdom without a people.”
“Twit,” Cecilia said under her breath from her place beside me.
“Cow,” I said just as softly.
A man behind us snorted a laugh.
“Cecilia and Porcia, go inside,” Maeve said before turning to her guests. “Gentleman, I think we should reschedule this meeting for another evening. I fear the meal my help made is now either cold or dry and inedible.”
The men dispersed, and the guards moved to watch them climb into their shared carriages, leaving Maeve and me with the captain.
“I heard you were bold with your speech in the dungeon as well,” he said, considering me.
“I’ve earned more than a few slaps in my life for speaking freely.”
“I can imagine so,” he agreed.
“However, you cannot refute my daughter’s logic. The King’s searches are not fixing whatever problems are plaguing him,” Maeve said, wrapping her arm around me. “If you have no further questions for us, I think it’s time I take Eloise inside before she upsets anyone other than her sister.”
The captain’s lips twitched at that, and he winked at me.
“You’re not a twit. Don’t let her goad you.”
“Yes, sir,” I said as if I truly admired him and his wisdom.
Maeve walked me to the house as the guards m
ounted their horses and rode off. Cecilia opened the door for us. Stepping inside, I heard the light clank of cutlery from the dining room as Catherine and Heather began cleaning the table. I was relieved they had a reprieve for tonight.
“What are we going to do, Mama?” Cecilia asked after a quick glare in my direction.
Maeve released me as she drew in a slow breath.
“It's time to do something to hasten the Prince’s return. Cecilia, fetch what we need from the dining room. Porcia, fetch a knife and a bowl.”
Maeve had only ever used magic. Why did she need a knife? My stomach twisted with fear as both her daughters hurried off. In the dining room, Cecilia lifted Maeve’s chair cushion and removed an amulet.
“You’ve impressed me a great deal today,” Maeve said drawing my attention. “If not for your quick thinking, it would have been me they had searched first.”
The mask holding back my frustration and hate almost slipped.
“I’m glad I was of use.”
“You’re always of use, my precious girl,” Maeve said. “Come with me.” She took my hand and led me to the mirror.
“Mirror, mirror, against the wall. Answer now my humble call. The King still plagues me with his power and might. Show me those who are often in his sight.”
The mirror’s fog lifted and started showing image after image of royal servants, the King’s advisors, and other people.
“Go back,” Maeve said. “Yes, that one.”
It was a man who stood very close to a void. When he spoke, his words sounded as if they were coming from a great distance, an echo that wasn’t easy to distinguish or hear.
“Fear is spreading because of the searches, Your Majesty.”
A sigh resonated through the mirror.
“Fear is better than more death,” a voice said. “Continue with the searches. She must be found.”
“Mama?” Porcia said, drawing Maeve’s attention from the mirror.
I turned and saw Porcia offering Maeve a kitchen knife. Maeve took the knife, testing its edge before looking up at Cecilia, who was rejoining us along with Heather and Catherine. The pair cowered side by side, their steps reluctant as they trailed behind Cecilia.
When Cecilia stood before Maeve, she placed one of the amulets around her mother’s neck then handed Porcia hers.
“Thank you,” Maeve said. She looked at Heather and Catherine. “You have served us well. I would ask one more service before I set you free.”
“Yes, My Lady,” Heather said. Catherine looked too frightened to speak.
“I need a finger from each of you.” As she spoke, Cecilia grabbed Catherine’s hand and Porcia grabbed Heather’s. Maeve sliced the smallest finger from both of them before I could blink. Time seemed to slow in the seconds that followed. The fingers fell. Both maids stared at the bloodless stumps on their hands. Catherine wailed first. Heather moaned and brought her hand to her chest. Blood started pouring from both of them.
“Porcia, you were supposed to catch them with the bowl,” Maeve said, her voice laced with warning.
“S-sorry, Mama.” Porcia’s eyes looked wide in her pale face as she stared at the fingers on the floor.
Maeve lashed out and slapped Porcia hard.
“Say it correctly.”
“I’m sorry, Mama,” Porcia said, showing no indication she was even aware of the handprint now enflaming her cheek.
Porcia quickly bent to pick up the fingers and place them in the bowl, which she held out before both women. Cecilia pried Heather’s hand away from her body and held it over the bowl, letting the blood drip over the fingers. Catherine quickly held her hand out, terror and pain accentuating the whites of her eyes.
“Blood and bone make my wish be known,” Maeve said in a clear voice that rang in the hall.
Her amulet began to glow brightly, and she handed Cecilia her knife. With her hands free, Maeve lifted them toward Heather and Catherine, drawing from them the same green she’d drawn from the men.
“Let a sickness quietly grow and spread. Let those in contact fall gravely ill but not dead. To the proclamation bell I bind this curse. Only with the Prince’s return will the sickness disperse.”
Both women quieted, their eyes shifting to me. I moved to step forward, to intervene in some way, but Porcia gently laid her free hand on my arm. I didn’t look at her, but at Cecilia’s provoking smile. She wanted me to interrupt. My gaze shifted to Maeve as she moved her hands toward the mirror.
“Now, Porcia,” she said.
Porcia gave my arm a quick squeeze then released me to throw the contents of the bowl at the mirror. Blood coated the glass, and I watched the fingers tumble along the surface to the ground. In the mirror, the man next to the void coughed lightly.
“It is done,” Maeve said.
A wet gurgling noise erupted behind me at the same time something spattered my back. I whirled just in time to see Catherine fall to the floor and Cecilia’s blade swipe across Heather’s throat. The blood sprinkled my dress and Maeve’s.
“No,” I gasped watching Heather clutch her throat. Her gaze held mine as she slowly crumpled.
The anger I’d been holding back for so long exploded within me. Disregarding the danger of the knife still gripped in Cecilia’s hands, I flew at her. My fist landed a solid blow before I froze, suspended mid-movement.
“Girls, that’s enough,” Maeve said calmly. “When I release you, I expect proper behavior.”
Cecilia’s gaze danced with pure loathing as the magic freed us. I stepped back though I didn’t want to. Cecilia’s blade flicked out, and a small cut opened on my forearm.
“That’s for calling me a cow.”
“Cecilia, you can clean up the mess you made.”
The victorious smile fell from her face as she looked at Maeve.
“But, Mama—”
“Now.”
“Porcia, help Eloise bind that cut.”
“Yes, Mama,” Porcia said. She took my hand and tugged me from the room, making a wide circle around the bloody pool spreading beneath Catherine and Heather’s bodies. Numbly, I followed, blood trailing down my arm and dripping to the floor as we made our way through the dining room to the kitchen.
Food waited on the cutting board, remnants of the meal Heather and Catherine had been clearing away that was a glaring reminder of what had just been lost. I blinked, trying to recall when everything went so terribly wrong. When the guards had arrived, I’d hoped it would mean our freedom. If I’d known Heather and Catherine would die if I’d stood first…
A tear fell from the corner of my eye.
“Don’t,” Porcia said in a forceful whisper. She gripped my shoulders and shook me until I focused on her. “Don’t ever cry. Do you understand? The weak do not survive.”
I blinked, forcing away the pain.
“Do the strong, though?” I asked.
“You’re still here, aren’t you?”
She released me and fetched some cloth strips that we used for our monthlies. I held out my arm as she washed and bound the wound.
“Why are you here?” I asked. “Why am I still alive?”
She looked up at me, our gazes holding for a long time.
“I’m here because I learned not to be weak. Just like you’re learning.”
In that moment, I saw a hint of past pain in her eyes.
“You don’t want to be Cecilia’s enemy,” she said. “Find a way to make it right.”
Her words, so close to Maeve’s, made me frown.
“Perhaps it’s Cecilia who doesn’t want to make an enemy of me.”
Porcia snorted and tied the ends of the bandage.
“Cecilia killed Catherine and Heather like she did because she knew it would hurt you. Would you have done the same to hurt her?”
Haunted by the deaths, I slept very little; so, with the first light, I rose and went outside to wash the blood from my dress. It took a long while to work the stains free, but I didn’t mind. I thought of Ca
therine and Heather. Of the little ways they’d helped me. How, in the end, I’d been unable to do the same.
While Porcia’s thinking would see the blame of their deaths on my shoulders, I knew where it belonged. I hated Cecilia almost as much as I hated Maeve, now. But my hatred and anger would need to remain hidden for a time yet.
When the dress was clean, I hung it out and went inside. The house was still quiet. I found some bread and cheese, which I sliced. I ate half and made up a plate with the rest. Leaving the kitchen with the plate in hand, I went up to Maeve’s room and knocked softly on the door.
“Who is it?” she called softly.
“Eloise, Mama.”
“Come in.”
I opened the door, entering her room for the first time since I fled it weeks ago. Maeve was sitting up in bed, looking at me with curiosity.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing. I brought this for you, thinking no one else would.” I moved closer to the bed, sitting on the edge like I would have done for my own mother, and handed her the plate.
“Thank you,” she said. “But you know this work is beneath you.”
“You, as well.”
She smiled and lifted a hand to smooth over my hair.
“Would it be all right with you if I went to the market early?” I asked. “This is the best time of day to watch and listen for news of the sickness.”
She beamed at me.
“Very clever of you. Yes. You should wake Cecilia so she can go with you.”
“Why does she hate me?” I asked boldly.
Maeve picked up a slice of cheese, studying it thoughtfully before looking at me.
“That’s often the way between sisters. They compete for their mother’s affection or the most handsome man in the kingdom.”
“I’m not trying to steal affection or a man, though.”
Maeve chuckled and patted my cheek.
“Go. Get your information. Tell Cecilia that she and Porcia should make the rounds, too. You might want to wake Porcia first.”
She settled against her pillows, and I knew I was dismissed.
Leaving her room, I went to Porcia’s room first, like Maeve had advised, and knocked on her door. She opened it, looking tired and decidedly annoyed.
