Spurned
Page 22
Chapter Twenty One
After a lunch of thin broth with a bit of stale bread, she walked to the edge of the carnival tents and stepped beyond so she could look at the hill where she had last seen Anna. She had canceled practice with Icari, feeling awkward near him now. He had been silent during lunch, glum even. She was afraid she had ruined their friendship and any chance they had of moving beyond that. He probably now thought she was a thief and unladylike, with such forthright advances.
So to take her mind off it, she had decided to step out here and plot the best course to get to her father. She was not waiting until Sunday. She had to see him as soon as possible-privately, not in the middle of the village with throngs of eavesdropping peasants about.
The grass sighed as a welcome breeze wafted by. She closed her eyes and enjoyed it.
She heard hounds barking and she stiffened, opened her eyes, and pulled out her knife.
Anna had wasted no time.
She crested the hill on a fine new horse, a black stallion, with her hounds sniffing about.
Anna stopped and stared. She was just close enough that Kara could read the secret hand code she wrote out against the blue sky.
She signed, Happy Birthday.
Kara could have slapped herself. Today was her nineteenth birthday! How could she have forgotten?
Anna's fingers flashed again. I'll be waiting.
She threw something small down the hill and turned her horse around. She galloped off to a chorus of baying hounds.
Kara waited a long time before she dared to search for the thrown item. Her suspicions were cold and hard inside her. What new trickery was this? What new plot was Anna hatching? She was clearly trying to lure Kara onto the estates.
She forced herself to unclench her fists. Pain shot through her palm and she glanced down to see tiny crescents marked there, one oozing a thin stream of blood. She walked forward into the tall grass, not sure what she was looking for.
She walked around where the mystery item might have landed and saw nothing after searching with her eyes for fifteen minutes. She grew angry, knowing Anna wanted her to grub around on her knees in the dirt. She fumed as she did exactly this, going in circles as the sun beat down and her throat grew itchy with thirst.
She was just about to give up when her hand brushed something soft between two clumps of grass. She dug it out and saw it was two pink ribbons tied together in a charm knot. She stared at it, knowing what it meant, yet not understanding. Two pink ribbons tied together in that kind of style meant twin girls had been borne recently on the estate. Slaves often made these little tokens in the hopes of tying long life and good health into their children's fates, weaving the blessing of the Goddess between their fingers...
Her knees gave out on her and she dropped to a sitting position on the hard ground, ignoring the prickle of grass and the bite of ants. Was Anna implying that Kara's mother had the twins?
No, her mind whispered fervently. No, no, no. It couldn't be. No.
There was no way she could afford to pay for the freedom of three. She got up and began to walk back to the carnival in a daze. Her mind was numb and buzzing. Even if she could free them, Hither was adamant that no children were in the carnival. And Kara was stuck there for three years. Where would she put her mother if she had babes clinging to her?
She had to find her mother's fate out right now. She hoped Icari would not be mad at her for being so stupid.
She whisked into her tent, her mind clear with one single purpose. She packed a small satchel of supplies and took a swig of water. She chided herself as she put the last apple in the satchel. She was jumping feet first into Anna's trap, dancing as she pulled the strings. She could have faked that ribbon, tied it together herself.
But Anna likely did not know that Kara could sneak on the estate undetected. It was the only advantage Kara had right now over her sister's endless plotting, and she would use her knowledge of the hidden passages to get answers by spying.
She had one last thing to do before she left. She drew out a sheet of her precious stolen parchment. She had taken it from her father's study when she had been spurned, a whole pack of it. She had meant to sell it on the road, but never quite got around to it. She liked to draw, and parchment of this quality was hard to find outside of a noble's manor.
She used her treasure now. She found a charcoal stick tucked beside the pack and quickly wrote a note to Icari. It was amazing he, a foreigner, knew how to write and read in her native tongue when most of her fellow countrymen did not. She blinked, realizing she had just given herself a clue about his past. He must be fairly well educated, with his proper speech...
Hello Icari,
I'm going to check on my mother. I just need to see what is happening, if she is in danger. Do not worry about me, I will be fine.
Yours,
Kara
In a bold moment, she added,
P.S. In case you did not kiss me earlier because you were being a gentleman, I want you to know you have my full permission for a kiss. Disregard this if you do not want to kiss me.
She rolled the parchment up and tied it with a bit of string from her raggedy blanket. She hefted her satchel on her back and peeped her head out of the tent.
No one she knew was nearby. Just a couple of roadies smoking and laughing by the dozing lions. She sighed in relief and edged over to Icari's tent. She coughed and waited. She heard nothing inside so she stepped in.
His tent was colorful, with bright scarves scattered about. She left her note on his cot and hurried out, not quite believing she had written that he had permission to kiss her. She fretted and hesitated, turning back towards the seemingly innocent bit of paper. She almost ran back and snatched it, but refrained. She did not want to hide her feelings again. It just hurt too much.
She began her trek to the tunnel entrance hidden in the abandoned spring house.
...
She arrived at the spring house without mishap towards the latter half of the afternoon. The first manor house of the Brahm's had burned down hundreds of years ago but the old spring house had survived. The new manor had been built further back on the estate and her ancestors had a tunnel built from it to the spring house. Kara whispered a quiet prayer to the Goddess that Anna never discover this little secret...
She opened the heavy plank door and stepped into the wonderful cold. The thick stone walls kept heat out and the chill of the bubbling spring water in. Spring houses were built over streams and perishable foodstuffs were kept stable in the cold water, safe from animals and weather.
She closed the door, grateful that she had been a noisy, curious kid. She had always finished her daily chores up as quickly as possible so she could scramble all over the estate, investigating the nooks and crannies. That curiosity had led to a means to spy on her family without endangering herself or her mother.
She took out her candle then place it in a brass holder. She lit it and the smell of burnt cotton wafted up. Kara dropped down to the northern wall. She counted up three rows of stones and then over four more. She pushed this stone and heard a small click. A door opened, revealing the damp tunnel she remembered.
Kara entered and the smell of cool earth and rotten wood greeted her, along with about a dozen spiders and their webs. She waved the sticky mess aside as it caught in her hair. She walked quickly as the door shut quietly behind her. The tunnel sloped gradually upwards and was an easy walk as long as you did not bang your head on one of the low support beams.
She spied the ladder that signified the end of the tunnel. She took a deep breath. Almost there...
She awkwardly climbed up with one hand while holding the candle. She drew up in a dusty, narrow hallway.
She was now officially in the heart of the manor house. Her mother was somewhere nearby, her father...
And, of course, Lady Brahm and Anna.