Chapter II.13
Chapter Thirteen
Three Days Before the Wedding
For over a week before Adaline and her family arrived, Lord Sigmun’s manor bustled with wedding preparations.
Nobility and other important people from around the country would be descending upon it for the festivities, and rumors flew that even the queen herself might show.
Adaline dismissed that possibility in one of her letters, but given all the activity around the lord’s estate, Miria wouldn’t have been surprised.
As she waited impatiently for Adaline’s arrival, she circled the skies above the great manor and its grounds, watching wagons filled with supplies climb the road from town and the steady stream of merchants, carpenters, and hired hands transform what was already wealth beyond measure into something grander still.
Miria did not happen to be present when Adaline’s carriage rolled through the main gate, but she saw the additional livery on display when she did her early evening flyby that day, and her stomach swooped so that she felt like she was falling out of the air.
Tomorrow then, would be the day their plan went into motion.
She and Adaline had discussed the details in their letters (or rather, Miria had told Adaline what she’d planned and allowed Adaline to object, which she hadn’t).
Adaline had been as eager to flee into the woods as Miria had been to help her.
While Miria had counted on Adaline’s enthusiasm, she hadn’t counted on the wedding commotion, and in retrospect, she could have saved herself a lot of worrying if she had.
The constant influx of people through the gate made sneaking into the grounds ridiculously simple.
Miria had disguised her features and prepared a story should one be necessary, but no one questioned one more seamstress making a delivery of alterations.
From there, her plan became trickier. Thanks to Otto’s assistance and some details Adaline had filled in, Miria knew where to find Adaline’s rooms inside the manor demesne, as well as the fact that Adaline’s activities were being heavily monitored.
Apparently, she’d already made one unsuccessful attempt to run away.
The only thing that surprised Miria was that Adaline hadn’t gotten farther before she’d been caught.
No matter. Miria would ensure that Adaline’s second attempt would be successful.
What they would do after that, she hadn’t put as much thought into.
That Adaline would stay with her, having vanished seemingly into thin air, until after the wedding was obvious.
No one would think to look for Lord Sigmun’s niece at the witch’s cottage.
Adaline would be spared her matrimonial fate, and Miria’s family would be humiliated and cheated out of their promised prize. But later?
Miria told herself that would be Adaline’s decision.
She certainly couldn’t expect that Adaline would wish to continue staying with her.
A lady, even one as terrible at it as Adaline, was used to luxury and servants and expensive meals.
Miria had nothing to offer but a cozy cottage, a clay golem who handled the hard labor that magic did not, and some magical chickens.
And, well, her heart. But Adaline carried that wherever she went. Her physical location wouldn’t change anything.
Miria swallowed past the anxiety these thoughts raised. She’d already dwelled on them for too many nights leading up to this day. Now was the time to focus on the task at hand. If she couldn’t sneak Adaline away without being caught, she would have a whole new set of worries to fret about.
After entering the demesne through the servants’ entry, Miria ducked into the first secluded corner she could find and cast the same spell that she’d used to sneak about her father’s house a few weeks ago.
She needed to conserve her power for the magic she intended to cast on Adaline, but while disguising herself as a seamstress was good enough to get her this far, a place she was reasonably expected to be, she’d next be entering parts of the house where she very clearly did not belong.
Mostly invisible, Miria navigated her way through the maze of rooms, hoping her memory and Otto’s directions wouldn’t fail her.
She made it to the hallway where she believed Adaline’s rooms were located without incident, and she was feeling confident about her success until she saw the guard by the door.
That was to say, the guard himself wasn’t precisely a problem.
Adaline had warned her there might be one.
The unanticipated wrinkle was that the guard appeared to be slumped over, asleep at his post.
Miria couldn’t say why this made her uneasy as otherwise entering Adaline’s rooms undetected would have been more of a challenge, but it was unexpected, and unexpected things were never welcome when a witch had plans.
Biting her lip with trepidation, Miria unlatched the room door and slipped inside. The guard didn’t stir, although he let out a great snore.
In addition to guards, Adaline had also warned Miria that there might be an attending lady or two in her room on babysitting duty, so she suppressed the urge to call out Adaline’s name while she took in her surroundings.
The air was scented with perfumes—the same notes of honeysuckle and lavender that Adaline used to favor predominated, but they mixed with florals and spices that were less familiar to Miria’s nose.
Beyond the scent and all the fond memories it evoked, the room was furnished in gold and pale blues with a comfortable seating area, vases filled with an assortment of freshly cut flowers, and a small table and chairs.
On the table was a tray of tea implements and a plate stacked high with pastries.
There was also a woman’s head. Her eyes were closed, and her lips hung partly open.
Miria held her breath for a moment, creeping around the table for better angle, until she saw the woman’s chest rise and fall, and then she exhaled with a cringe.
It appeared whatever fate had struck down the guard outside also had affected Adaline’s finely dressed companion, and that suggested …
Miria darted past the dozing woman into the bedroom.
The room was empty. Adaline was gone.
With a groan, Miria dropped to the opulent bed and ran her fingers over the silk brocade coverlet. Not only was this unexpected, it wasn’t the plan. This was, rather, the plan freefalling out the third-story window into what should be (based on the Miria’s map) an interior garden below.
Inside the satchel Miria carried, along with her spell supplies, was a change of clothes for Adaline.
The almost-invisibility spell Miria had used on herself wouldn’t work on Adaline since it depended on people not expecting to see the invisible person.
So Miria had planned to disguise Adaline as a servant—another seamstress-for-hire—with plain clothes and an altered face.
Then together, with Miria scouting the way to the servants’ stairs, they would walk out of the manor just as Miria had come in.
No one, Adaline had assured her, would question people leaving.
It had been so simple once Miria had realized all she’d needed to do. Only now …
Miria shook her head, torn between amusement and annoyance.
She’d known Adaline was impatient to leave, but she couldn’t have stayed the entire day?
Had she really needed to stick a sedative in the tea?
Whatever she’d done, it hardly mattered.
Miria needed to know whether she’d escaped the manor grounds on her own or if she needed assistance.
“Oh, Adaline,” she muttered under her breath, taking a quick search of the room.
It would be handy if Adaline had left a note or a clue, but Miria didn’t see anything that looked likely and she wasn’t sure what she might be searching for.
It wouldn’t make sense for Adaline to leave anything that someone else might stumble upon.
She checked the small writing desk, beneath the bed pillows, and every flat surface she could find. As Miria’s fingers trailed over the back of a chair, her gaze skimming the clutter of perfume bottles, brooches, and barrettes scattered atop the dressing table, she found something else interesting.
Miria’s brow furrowed as she picked up the gold necklace.
Seven delicate pink sapphires sparkled from the rose-shaped pendant, and tucked among them—masquerading as yet another jewel—was a charm.
Also a pale pink, it was indistinguishable from the sapphires at first glance.
For someone who was not a witch, it was doubtful they would have noticed it.
Exquisite craftsmanship had gone into its creation, ensuring it blended in seamlessly with the real jewels.
It was very unlike the charms Miria wore around her neck and wrist, charms she hadn’t even thought to shape into more than vaguely spherical lumps.
Where had it come from? Who had given it to Adaline and why? What did it do? Miria had so many questions she didn’t hear the sound of the woman in the other room stirring until a chair scraped over the wood floor.
Despite being nearly invisible, Miria instinctually stepped away from the open doorway and backed herself around the far side of the enormous four-poster bed. Her fingers were still wrapped around the pendant, and she slipped it into her satchel so she wouldn’t forget to ask Adaline about it later.
“My lady?” The woman sounded groggy, which was no surprise, and she half stumbled into the bedroom, apparently having discovered the sitting room was empty.
Miria breathed lightly, trusting her magic but only so far. If she bumped the dressing cabinet or rustled the bed hangings, it could draw attention.
“Oh.” The woman made a few unhappy noises. She spun around and even checked beneath the bed. Not finding Adaline, she nervously picked at the pleats of her yellow skirts.
Miria only stirred when the woman retreated into the other room, and she heard the door open.
“You! Get up!” A grunt followed, and Miria peeked around the doorway. The woman was shaking the sleeping guard. “Lady Adaline is missing. What have you done?”
“What?” The guard shot to his feet, shaking his head as though he could shake off the residual effects of whatever Adaline must have drugged him with. “Why are you asking me? You were having breakfast with her.”
“I was napping,” the woman snapped. “I’m permitted to do that. You’re not. I’ll alert her family. Go search the house and grounds for her. Be quick.”
Miria sighed. If it was to be a manhunt, she hoped Adaline had a good head start.
It wasn’t as though the lady didn’t have plenty of experience running away from her uncle’s estate, but Miria was fairly certain she’d never attempted it under these conditions.
Just to be safe, though, once the door closed and Miria was alone, she rummaged through her satchel.
It was just like Adaline to throw all of Miria’s plans off course.