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“Even the healer?” She thought back to how he’d been slightly suspicious of her as he’d treated her cut, and how he’d disliked her asking questions. Was he someone to suspect?

“Yes. No man goes into his line of work without knowing the safe drugs from the poisonous ones. He may care for the sick, but he does not have a kind heart. I wanted you out of there and gone from that situation. Is that so wrong?”

“I can look after myself,” she said.

“Except when you decide to turn into a fish, or did you forget what happened this morning? If I hadn’t been there to rescue you, you might have died alongside Mabel.”

The mention of the other woman’s demise made Bronwyn shudder.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. But it’s true. You could have died. You have to be more careful, Bron.”

“‘Bron’?” she repeated.

“You don’t like it?” He smiled.

“My name already sounds like a boy’s name and now you’ve shortened it. It sounds even worse now,” she grumbled.

He laughed. “Is that what you think? Believe me, Bronwyn, no one who looks at you will think that. You’re pretty, even if you think you’ve got a boy’s name.” His cheeks flushed. “I mean… I, um…”

Bronwyn’s eyes widened.

He blushed furiously. “Just ignore me. I say that to all the girls. Women. Um. Anyway. I meant to say, there’s to be a bonfire tonight. And I wondered if—”

“A bonfire? Why?” she asked. It might prove the perfect distraction for her to return the crown.

“Her Grace wants us to have a short celebration before we break camp tomorrow. We leave at dawn for Gloucester.” He ran a hand through his unruly, black curls. “Bronwyn, I wanted to ask…” He mumbled something unintelligible.

Her mind was going a mile a minute. The bonfire. She had to speak with Rupert and Lady Alice. They had to act tonight, at the bonfire, while everyone was distracted—“Wait, what?”

“Wouldyouliketodancewithmetonight?” His words came out in a rush. “I wondered if you were planning to attend the bonfire tonight. There will be dancing and… I wondered if…”

“I, um, can’t. I’ll have a lot of cooking to do if we’re to cook for a celebration. I may be too busy to go.” She began to walk on.

“Surely, the cooks will let you go.” He kept pace with her.

“I doubt it. Mistress Mary is quite…… Um. We’ll see. But I’m sure I’ll be too busy.”

“Bronwyn.” He stood in her path. His steps were uneven. “Do you… not want to go with me?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Is it the dancing you’re afraid of? Maybe you need a dancing master to teach you?” He grinned.

Bronwyn shook her head. She needed the time to sneak into the empress’s tent and return the crown. Dancing with Theobold by the bonfire was not part of her plan. “I just know I’ll be busy cooking, and……”

“I’ll come ask for you if they don’t. Say I’ve got special permission to take you to the bonfire,” he called after her.

She waved a hand goodbye and kept walking. Why was she smiling? Why was she still thinking about his black hair?

She thought back to Lady Alice’s dismissal. It had hurt. But she had more to think on now, like the bonfire. As she began to return to the kitchen, a voice said, “Bronwyn.” A hand touched her shoulder.

“What is it?” She whirled around, her blonde braid whipping around her shoulder.

Rupert raised his hands. “It’s only me. Why are you so angry?”

She bit the inside of her left cheek.

“Let me guess. You told Lady Alice you no longer wanted to be friends, and she got angry with you.”

Bronwyn blinked. “No.”

“Then why is she acting like you broke her heart?”

“I didn’t. I told her I thought we were friends, and I’d do her favors because she asked, but that I wasn’t her maidservant to order around.”

“Oh.” He stared at his feet. “So you two are having a fight.”

“She said we weren’t friends. I don’t think there’s any relationship there to warrant a fight.” At those words, she teared up suddenly. “Oh.” She turned away, holding her hand to her eyes. She would not cry in front of him. Why had those words suddenly made her tear up? It was unconscionable.

“Bronwyn,” he started, “it’s okay. You can talk to me.”

“We need to return it. The you-know-what.”

“I know. So when?”

“Tonight. Find me once the celebrations start, and I’ll need you and Lady Alice to create a distraction.”

He nodded. “See you then. But, Bronwyn, where is it hidden?”

She shook her head. “Somewhere safe. Better that you don’t know.”

That night was to be a celebration, as the empress had grown tired of Lincoln and planned to move on with the dawn.

There was much cooking, and revelry, and by the early evening, there was not a pig, chicken, duck, or hare that hadn’t been hunted and cooked for the feast. Great platters went around with food, scenting the air with their rich oils and juices.

As a change from their usual potage, Bronwyn joined the others in having bits of hare on crusty bread.

It was delicious, if not exactly filling.

The bonfire began, and with it came music played on drums, voices raised in song, and lutes.

People danced and as the fading sun sank, and as the sky’s hues deepened to the purple of twilight, Bronwyn slipped away from the cooking tents, where the cooks were packing up for the morning ride.

They had enough potage and hard biscuits to take for the journey, as well as any leftover meat and food from that evening.

Darkness fell, and the great flames of the bonfire leapt to a great height, crackling and giving warmth to those who danced around it. Bronwyn sought out Lady Alice to speak to her about the plan, but she ignored her, preferring to sashay with ladylike grace before Rupert.

Rupert saw Bronwyn standing off to the side and came up to her. “Hullo. Do you like the bonfire?”

“Yes, it’s very nice. We need to… put that item back.”

“What are you two talking about? Oh.” Lady Alice approached them and stopped. “Rupert, I want to dance. Come dance with me.”

“But now is the perfect time. We need to—” Bronwyn started.

Lady Alice huffed and walked away.

Bronwyn watched her go, and Rupert said, “She’s not talking to you. I tried talking to her about it, but she won’t say anything more, just that you owe her an apology.”

Bronwyn rolled her eyes. “We don’t have time for this. We need to do this now, before someone sees.”

“I agree. Lady Alice?” he called.

Lady Alice came over. “What?” She crossed her arms over her chest, a move not unnoticed by Rupert.

Rupert whispered in her ear, and she frowned. “Fine. We’ll distract the guards, somehow. But for what it’s worth, I think this is a foolish plan.”

“Have you got a better idea?” Bronwyn asked.

“I’m not talking to you,” Alice said to no one in particular. To Rupert, she said, “I’m doing this for you. No other reason.” She pointedly avoided looking at Bronwyn.

Bronwyn snorted and refrained from rolling her eyes again.

Lady Alice had brought her into this mess in the first place, and now she was acting juvenile.

Bronwyn was losing her patience. This was to save all of their skins; it wasn’t a whim or a walk in the countryside.

She leaned forward to Rupert. “You remember the plan?”

“Yes.”

“Give me five minutes and then let’s go. I’ll see you afterward,” she said.

“Godspeed, Blakenhale.”

She met Rupert’s eyes, the bright-orange flames of the bonfire reflecting and playing shadows against his solid features, like he’d been cast from stone. “Good luck.”

Bronwyn hurried back to the tree with her purple dress from Susanna and dug into the roots, finding her apron with the crown and bundling it in her arms. It was too conspicuous. What to do?

She looked down and untied her apron. It was dirty and needed washing, but it would do in a pinch.

She tied back her hair, saying a quick prayer and thanking the saints she had thick hair, before putting on the crown and tying it up with her hair in the apron around her head, like a makeshift kerchief.

The crown was small but heavy, and it settled on her head with a solid weight.

The thought struck her of the audacity of her plan; she was literally wearing the empress’s crown.

The very thought sent a chill through her.

If discovered, she would surely pay with her life.

But there was no other way for it. She had to act—and fast. Now was the moment. There was no time to waste.

Securing the apron tightly around her head so it wouldn’t fall, she tried walking.

It was slightly awkward, as she wasn’t used to the crown’s weight.

Just taking a few steps felt odd, and as soon as she re-entered the mix of people, she was jostled, and her would-be kerchief wobbled.

She held a hand to her head then realized how odd she must have looked.

Bronwyn moved around the dancers and people milling about, talking, drinking, laughing, and eating, then hastened away from the bonfire and toward the tents.

The empress’s tent was clearly in sight, for it was guarded by a pair of guards in front and had torches lit.

Small cooking fires dotted the area nearby, but none got too close to Empress Maud, for fear of disturbing her, Bronwyn supposed.

She got closer and saw Rupert and Lady Alice walk by, on their way to the tent. She was about to join them when a thin form stood in her path. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

Bronwyn looked up. In the torchlight stood Mary, the head cook. “Yes?”

“ Yes ?” she mimicked. “Yes, mistress, is what you say to me. We need you back in the cooking tents. Get to work.”

“But I already worked today.”

Mary snickered. “Doesn’t matter. I say you work, you work. Go on now.”

“But—”

“No but s. Go.” She made a shooing motion with her hands.

Bronwyn turned and, locking eyes with Lady Alice, began walking back toward the kitchen, feeling Mary’s eyes on her.

She waited until she was hidden by the next few tents, then hid. Mary walked past a few minutes later, humming off-key to herself. Bronwyn darted forward, nodded to Rupert, and walked around to the back.

Her heart began to beat in her throat. Empress Maud’s tent was lit well enough, from a single torch inside the tent. Bronwyn snuck close to the back of the tent flaps and slowly lifted one up.

Rupert said, “Here, thought you two might like a drink. It’s not fair you can’t join in the festivities.”

“Cheers, mate,” one of the guards said.

Bronwyn heard the light clink of cups and moved closer.

Rupert said loudly, “Anytime. Say, do you want to go enjoy the bonfire? There’s some pretty girls dancing over there. I’m a squire. I’m happy to watch the entrance here if you like.”

“Clear off,” a guard said.

Bronwyn slipped inside the tent, her apron wobbling dangerously on her head.

“All right, all right. It was just a friendly offer.”

“I say, you’re being very rude,” Lady Alice said. “He was just trying to be nice.”

“Who are you?” one of the guards asked. “I’ve seen you around here before.”

“I am Lady Alice Duncombe, one of the empress’s ladies-in-waiting.”

“And who’s he?”

“A squire. I work for the empress,” Rupert said.

“So do we all,” the guard said. “What’s your name?”

“Rupert. Everyone knows me. I’m friendly with most of the people here at camp.”

“That’s fine, but no one comes in here. You heard him. Off with you,” the other guard said, tossing his cup to the ground.

“Suit yourself,” Rupert said.

Bronwyn lowered the tent flap behind her, quiet as a mouse. She unloosened her apron from her head and lifted off the crown, giving it a quick wipe. It was a relief to have it off, but it was very heavy—and fortunately not damaged from its time beneath the tree.

There before her were big, heavy chests. She quickly darted in front and opened a large one, which opened with a creak.

She froze as Rupert met her gaze. One of the guards started to turn when Lady Alice’s eyes flew up in the back of her head and she fell to the ground.

“What’s happened to her?” a guard asked.

“She’s fainted,” Rupert said. “She needs a healer.”

“So fetch one.”

“She’s my lady. I can’t leave her. Can one of you go?”

Bronwyn rose to look past the chests at Lady Alice. Was she all right?

Lady Alice briefly opened one eye and winked at Bronwyn.

That was all the incentive Bronwyn needed, and she quickly put the crown in the chest, closing it slowly. Once closed, she tiptoed back around the chest and knelt down as one of the guards left, leaving Rupert and Lady Alice with the remaining guard.

Bronwyn backed away but then froze as she heard footsteps circle around the back of the tent.

There was someone there. She stiffened. She couldn’t go out the way she’d come in and couldn’t leave through the front of the tent without the guard noticing.

She stiffened and hunkered down lower on her haunches, feeling very like a deer caught in a trap.

One beat, then two. Lady Alice gave a little cry. “Oh, what happened?”

“You fainted,” Rupert said.

“There’s no need to speak so loud, we can all hear you,” the guard said, “You all right, Lady Alice?”

“I—” She paused. “I am very well, thank you. Rupert, help me up. I must have taken a turn.”

Rupert must have complied, for Bronwyn heard some shuffling.

“Thank you. So sorry to have troubled you. Good night.” Her voice was sweet.

“It’s no trouble, lady,” the guard said. “Oh, here’s the healer.”

The familiar voice of the young healer, Edmund, spoke. “I heard a lady fainted. Is that you?”

“Yes, but I’m better now. Just a turn.”

“I see,” Edmund said.

The voices chatted and then Rupert said, “All right, Lady Alice, let’s go back. I fancy more ale.”

“Of course you do. As long as I get my dance,” she said.

Bronwyn heaved a sigh of relief as they departed. She was about to move back when a hand clamped itself over her mouth, and a thick arm pulled her close to a muscular male body. “Don’t move,” a voice whispered in her ear. “Don’t make a sound. They’ll hear you.”