Page 7

“Yes, Your Grace.” Her gaze didn’t rise to mine.

I took a step forward, but halted when I aligned at her side. Leaving it like this made me uncomfortable. I leaned in. “Thank you, Tula.” The girl deserved at least an ounce of gratitude before I snatched the satchel hanging by the door and buried the outfit inside.

Upon exiting, I shut the door behind me and assessed both directions of the hallway. They were vacant—perfect. Not that I didn’t have permission to be anywhere in this place, but I wasn’t born yesterday. I knew how servants talked, kept tabs on their employers. Living under the same roof robbed anyone of a true sense of privacy, really.

This matter required as little attention as possible. Rarely did I ever grace these halls, so I couldn’t fathom the degree of gossip that would arise if I were caught.

I made my way back up the curved, gray stone stairwell to emerge on the main floor. Several guards moved in a group toward the front entrance. Increased guardsmen still remained after I’d summoned them for relocation, slowly shipping out for their new posts. It made navigating my halls more time consuming. Pressing my back against the stone, I remained hidden behind the shallow jut out.

Once their voices tapered off, I stepped out. Anyone who’d glance at me in these halls wouldn’t have a clue that I’d come from downstairs. Home free.

My heart rate picked up, a sense of accomplishment rushing through me as the final pieces of my plan had fallen into place.

Continuing to my chambers, I kept a tight grip on the fabric satchel. The weight of a kingdom felt entirely too light in my hands.

3

Nora

The second I stepped through the front door, as if she possessed magical hearing, Eucinda began her chorus of reprimands.

“Nora, I told you not to dawdle! Bring the bread to the kitchen, now!” Her sharp tongue cut through the rooms and walls separating us.

The door clicked shut behind me, and I released a heavy sigh. Just then my saving grace, Melody, floated into the foyer. My beautiful, buxom sister with long blonde hair that had the prettiest waves cascading down her back with thick bangs pristinely parted in the middle.

“I’ll take it.” She offered her beaming smile, blue eyes sparkling with the kindness she always exuded.

My shoulders slumped, relieved to avoid the interaction with Eucinda. “Thank you, Mel.” I handed her the bag of loaves.

“You work tonight, yes?”

“I do. I’ll be heading out early, though.” As close as Mel and I were, and always had been, I hadn’t shared with her that I trained with Odion. It would only worry her. She’d caught me a few times with scrapes and bruises, and my avoiding an explanation didn’t go over her head.

“Mr. Pepins is sending over a whole roast. You’ll eat before you go,” she commanded, but as stern as a fairy. She tossed a sly glance at me.

I chuckled. “One of these days I’ll be able to say no to you. You know that, right?”

She shrugged in a somehow ethereal manner, then took a delicate step into the next room while twirling in her favorite floral dress. “We’ll see.” The delight on her face could only make me smile. Melody had to be the sweetest, most gentle person in the entire kingdom, the one benefit of living under this roof. If Melody hadn’t advocated for me over the years, using her sweet charm to influence her bitch of a mother, I might have been kicked out, forced to live on the streets, begging for food.

Kenzie’s nagging voice appeared from behind me, making my body jerk. I whipped around to see our youngest sister’s strawberry blonde mop atop her head with bangs similar to Melody’s. “‘Bout time you got back here. You left the mop out. I could have tripped over it!” Like mother, like daughter.

“Sorry Kenzie. I’m glad you managed to avoid the mop and all its peril,” I said sardonically.

“Just clean it up.”

I could feel the daggers her glare shot at the back of my head. She clipped my shoulder as she barged past, and I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to refrain from saying something that would only get me into more trouble with Eucinda.

Using Melody as a human shield as we approached the back hall, I skirted behind, slipping into the kitchen to avoid Eucinda spotting me from her chair.

“Nora brought back the bread, mother,” Melody informed her.

“Good, dearest. That shall make a lovely pairing with the roast. Mr. Pepins is already taking care of this family. Don’t you agree, dear?”

“Yes, a very generous man,” Melody replied, though, even from the kitchen, I could hear her apprehension.

With each passing day, Eucinda got closer and closer to marrying Melody off. At first she considered her a prize, only letting the most respectable men with the deepest pockets call on her fair daughter. Melody had been more than happy to set herself loose on the marriage market. Her beauty was renowned, and if one didn’t work out, the possibility of another equally wealthy suitor coming around remained abundant.

These days, Melody knew her time was running short. Mr. Pepins had one-tenth the wealth as her previous date, but his eagerness shone brighter than the others—a reason Eucinda arranged their meeting. Nearing middle age, he’d made it known he wanted children, meaning he was working on an expedited timeline. Maybe in his youth he had an appeal, but time had not been kind to him. I think I could count the four long hairs he attempted to conceal his bald spot with.