“Please excuse my maid, Queen Eleanor. She wasn’t the most…stable before this happened, and I’m afraid the trauma of the attack has left her mind quite disordered.”
“Oh, the poor thing.” The queen directed a warmer look toward me, and I realized too late how my attempt at speaking the truth had only confirmed Sierra’s story. “It must have been a great ordeal for you both. I’m so glad you were able to elude your attackers.”
“As are we.” Sierra directed a look of sympathy at me that made me want to scream. This time I refrained, although the damage had already been done.
“I don’t like to be an imposition,” Sierra continued, “but I wonder if you might be able to help her? I fear that caring for me is too much for her in her current state, and the hustle and bustle of the palace will only delay her recovery. I know, however, that she would want to stay busy and useful. I don’t suppose you have some quiet, solitary sort of role she could be assigned to for the duration of my stay?”
The queen looked thoughtful. “Of course we will do everything we can to help her recover. And to provide you with the care you need as well. I’m sure that something can be found…”
A genteel throat clearing attracted our attention to the return of the royal housekeeper.
“Your earlier orders have been disseminated, Your Majesty, and I couldn’t help but overhear the princess’s request. It just so happens that our goose boy has recently been granted leave to return to his family for a short period. The Poulterer has been asking me if I have a young person available to take on the role for a time.”
She turned to me. “The gaggle is a well-trained one, and they roam within the palace park.” Looking toward Sierra, she explained, “At the rear, the palace grounds extend all the way down to the city wall, providing a large stretch of greenery for the inhabitants of the palace to use for riding and other recreational purposes. It is completely safe, so your maid would have no cause for fear while herding the geese.”
Sierra smiled at them both beatifically. “How perfect! Perhaps I can leave her in your hands then, Mrs…”
“Mrs. Pine.” The woman gave a small curtsy. “You will have no need to fear for her well-being while in our care, Your Highness.”
“You have my gratitude,” Sierra said graciously, before accepting Queen Eleanor’s arm and allowing herself to be guided into the palace.
I watched them go, my head reeling. So I was to become a goose girl? Mere hours ago I’d been a princess, with the responsibility of an entire delegation on my shoulders. And now my responsibility was a gaggle of geese.
I sighed. And finding a way around my enchantment, discovering the extent of Sierra’s plotting, and reclaiming my true identity—and at the end of all that, restoring good relations between Eldon and Arcadia. But also a gaggle of geese.
I hadn’t lost a weight of responsibility, I’d lost all the power that had come with it, making all my goals much more difficult to achieve. I couldn’t even help Arvin—although I was still determined to try.
“You may follow me to the servants’ wing,” Mrs. Pine began, just as my stomach gurgled loudly.
I flushed with embarrassment, but Mrs. Pine’s efficient air softened somewhat.
“I can imagine you must be hungry. We can make our first stop the kitchens where I am sure there is something left from lunch that you could have right away.”
“Thank you,” I said, relieved by her kindness as much as the promised food. “And I’m sorry to be difficult, but I also lost all my baggage.”
She nodded briskly. “You are not the first person to come into the employ of the palace in need of a full kit out.” She began walking, and I scrambled to keep pace. “I think in the circumstances it would be better if you had your own space to sleep. Thankfully a small alcove has just come available. I will ensure some appropriate clothing and basic supplies are left there for you before nighttime.”
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. I hadn’t even considered the possibility of sharing a room, and I could only imagine that roommates would end up asking the kind of questions I couldn’t answer. No doubt they would be utterly bemused at my ineptitude. I was used to thinking of myself as a capable person, but even that had been stripped away. The sort of skills I had spent my life learning would do me no good as a goose girl.
The wing we approached jutted out toward a building that looked like a large stable, a fact I filed away for future reference. A hum of energy and activity filled the servants’ wing and the yard around it, but everyone stepped aside for Mrs. Pine. She reminded me of our own housekeeper, monarch of her own domain.
She led me into an empty dining hall, filled with long wooden tables, and directed me to take a seat.
“I will send someone back with some food as soon as possible,” she said. “And I will inform the Poulterer about your arrival. He will instruct you in your duties.”
I could only be grateful that as an apparent personal maid, I wasn’t expected to have any experience with geese.
I nodded and thanked her again, and she swept out of the room, leaving me alone in the large, echoing space.
Within minutes a scullery maid appeared with a bowl of steaming stew and a large hunk of bread. She regarded me with large, curious eyes but merely commented that someone would come to show me to my bed once I was finished eating.
Despite all my fear and anxiety, I ate quickly, the food simple but satisfying. I was mopping up the last of the stew with the bread when a new face appeared.
“I’m Nikki,” the woman, at least ten years my senior, said. “And I hear you’re Sierra.”
She waited, but I couldn’t immediately think of a response. My situation was bad enough without having to answer to Sierra’s name for an unknown length of time.
“I actually prefer Elle,” I said at last, and then felt the need to add, “It’s an old family nickname.”
The words were true since I vastly preferred Elle to Sierra, and I had insisted my family use the shortening for the entirety of my sixth year. The day after my birthday I had made an abrupt turn and insisted they return to using the more formal Giselle. I remembered being struck by the certainty that my full name was more appropriate for my important role as a princess. Which perhaps meant Elle was the perfect choice for my new, decidedly not formal, role as goose girl.
“Elle, then,” Nikki said cheerfully. “Mrs. Pine has assigned you a sleeping alcove. I can take you to it if you’re finished.”
“Yes, thank you.” I glanced in the direction of the stables. I was far more interested in returning outside than in seeing my bed, but I didn’t wish to offend these people or make a fuss. I would lose any chance I had of influencing them if I confirmed Sierra’s words about my disordered mind.
“Attacked on the road,” Nikki said as we exited the dining hall. “I never heard of such a thing!” She glanced at me sideways before continuing. “Our roads have been safe for years now. Ever since Alyssa came.”
“Princess Alyssa?” I couldn’t quite keep the surprise out of my voice. “Ever since she married Prince Maximilian, you mean?”
“Yes, I should use her title.” Nikki grinned. “But even after all these years it’s hard to remember sometimes.” She couldn’t quite hide the note of pride in her voice. “For those of us who knew her before, I mean.”