“Who?” Victoria’s voice was as hard as stone.
“My cousin’s second wife recently passed and he’s inquired.”
“That lecherous old buzzard? Alexander won’t—”
“Alexander is fond of my bed and wants heirs. He will do as I wish,” the queen said. “Which means you will too. Understood?”
Silence.
“I didn’t quite hear you.”
“Yes.” Cold, crisp, final.
“Good.” The clipped steps nearly skipped away and a latch clicked in the distance.
Kate waited to be sure the queen didn’t return before carefully pushing open the panel. The bedchamber looked much as it had on her last visit. A canopied bed large enough to sleep four princesses stood at one end, ten feet or so from a grand stone hearth. Shimmering tapestries of garden scenes and seascapes adorned the walls, and thick woolen rugs covered the wood flooring. Near a dressing screen and a towering wardrobe sat a deep tub, full and inviting. Two high back chairs and a small desk piled with books sat before three tall paned windows dressed up with brocade panels the color of sapphires.
And at the center of it all, her back to Kate, stood Victoria. Although hail beat so hard at the windowpanes they threatened to shatter, the princess stood as still as a statue, hands fisted at her sides.
“Victoria?” Kate said tentatively.
Her cousin spun around. After taking a visible breath and uncurling her fingers, the princess’s gaze fluttered over Kate once again.
“You look like you’ve been living in a cave.”
“I did. For one night,” Kate said, not volunteering that the grime was more likely due to the nights in the forest, the pig farmer’s barn and the sooty castle walls.
Victoria nodded, as if estranged cousins showed up every day. “When was the last time you bathed?”
“Before I fled my uncle.”
“Which was when, a month ago?”
“Nine days,” Kate said. “I need your help, and it appears you may need mine as well.” She gestured toward the door.
Victoria stepped over to the tub. “Alexander doesn’t see what she is.” She dipped a hand in the bath water.
“Your brother was always soft when it came to maidens.”
“Yes, but I think this one bewitched him,” Victoria said. “And not with her charms.”
“You can’t be implying she used sorcery. Because—”
“I know, I know, it’s forbidden.” Victoria waved off her objection, sending water droplets flying. “I’m not saying she’s a Zafarian, just that she uses magik. I’m sure a lot of people do.”
Kate wouldn’t say a lot was an accurate assessment, but the count was certainly more than none, which it appeared her sharp cousin had ascertained.
Victoria’s eyes found Kate’s with alarming speed. “Can you put a hex on her? Render her mute or something?”
Not without one of Morten’s spell books. “No,” Kate said.
“Really?” Victoria’s steely gaze bore into Kate’s. “Rumors say your uncle practices.”
“Do they?” Kate said, feigning innocence.
“Yes, the gossips say he smells of sulfur from working spells, and tortures animals, and can disappear leaving only a cloud of green smoke behind. Is none of that true?”
Holy Gods, had the gossips been living with us?
“It could be,” Kate said.
“Come, you need a bath,” Victoria said, motioning for Kate to shed the gown.
Happy to oblige, Kate set her satchel on one of the chairs.
“You’ve been his ward for twelve years and you didn’t pick up anything?” the princess asked, starting on the gown’s side ties.
“Why would I keep fleeing if I wanted to learn from him?” Kate let the filthy garment drop to the floor.
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Victoria said, lifting the gown with her fingertips.
And Kate wouldn’t, not with answers that could lead to the burning stake. Too many had perished for far less than what she knew and she couldn’t take the risk that Victoria wouldn’t say something. Just one hint to the wrong person could be deadly.
“I can’t do what he does. And I won’t try. But the gossips are correct about him being dangerous.”
Victoria tossed the dress into the hearth.
“Has he abused you?” Victoria asked, eyes dropping to where Kate was rubbing at her palm.
“In a manner.”
“We should speak to Alexander. We can ask him to intervene, to have you live here.”
While Victoria’s suggestion was touching, Kate couldn’t stay. She’d be far too vulnerable so close to Morten’s manor. Her uncle would surely find a way to take her back. No, her only hope was making certain he didn’t know where she was. Lord Sylvan, too.
“There’s a little more to the story,” Kate said, pulling off her boots and stockings.
An auburn brow arched.
“Uncle Morten gave me to another man,” Kate said, losing the chemise and stepping into the bath. The water was still slightly warm and as close to heaven as she’d been in ages.
“Gave you?” Victoria handed her a soap cake. “To wed?”
“To keep.” Kate let the implication settle in the air.
“Nine days ago?”
“Yes, and they will both be looking for me,” Kate said, lathering up. “I had hoped to secure passage on a ship, but the storms have conspired against me. No one has sailed since I arrived.”
“You realize Florian is landlocked. If Lord Morten and this other man follow, you’ll have limited means of escape. The Zafarian Divide marks its entire eastern border and nothing lives beyond that. To the north—”
“I realize it isn’t ideal, but unless you can produce a seafaring solution, this is my only hope.”
Victoria nodded.
“I’ll do whatever you need me to.”
“You’d make a much better lady-in-waiting than one of the maids,” Victoria said, pouring half a vial of lavender oil into the bath. “But if we do this, you must stay with me until the winner is crowned.”
“How long will that be?” Kate asked, breathing in the heavenly scent.
“Marriage festivals usually last a fortnight or so. It could be three weeks.”
Three weeks in one place! How could she manage that with Morten and his men hunting her? But was she any safer in Cragmont? It was only a matter of time before he came looking for her at the castle. She’d didn’t have a choice. She’d have to do it. Go with Victoria. She could plan her next move from there and leave as soon as the competition concluded.
“Fine. I’ll stay with you until it’s over,” Kate said. “I’ll even help you win the prince if that’s what you wish.”
“According to the queen, what I wish is irrelevant, but at least I’d have some help getting what I need.” Victoria pulled a long cobweb from Kate’s hair. “What will you do after the festival?”
“Disappear,” Kate said. “Abroad or as a servant somewhere in the kingdoms.”
“A Durant shouldn’t be forced to disappear,” Victoria said. “Or work in service.”