Chapter 5
Chapter Five
SERAFINA
“Did you enjoy the celebration, my lady?” Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five… I counted my heartbeats through my feet. Thanks to the endless comet festivities, it would be hours before I could slip off my boots and rub the ache away.
“Not at all,” Penelope huffed as I tied her dressing robe. “That insufferable woman from Sheffield droned on about barley shortages since Graycott was attacked. As if I care whether peasants go without bread.”
Plenty of families would care—at least those not already lying dead in Graycott’s streets.
“It is tragic.” I shifted my weight. Forty-six, forty-seven… “Did you manage to catch sight of the comet?”
She blinked. “Comet?”
“The Atlas comet,” I said patiently while my pinky toes went numb.
“Oh, right. That.” She waved me off. “If you’ve seen one comet, you’ve seen them all.”
I’d have liked to view it—if I weren’t kept too busy for stargazing.
Beyond the windows, lightning flashed. Rain began to patter against the glass, washing my chance to see it into the gutters.
Penelope caught my disappointed reflection, her lip curling in a mock pout. “Oh, too bad. Perhaps you’ll catch it when it returns—in a thousand years.”
I swallowed my retort, fetching her discarded gown. Goddess save me, it was as heavy as a dead boar trimmed in lace.
“Do clean each of those ruffles before you retire,” she said airily. “One of those annoying tremors spilled wine on the fabric.”
“Yes, my lady.” I’d love nothing more than to remain on my feet long into the night.
She perched before the mirror as I brushed her limp curls. “Oh, I almost forgot. While you were fetching my evening respite, Yaga stopped in to drop off my hair rinse. She mentioned she’d be gone for quite some time. The two of you are close, are you not?”
“Yes, we are.” And I could have said my farewells if Penelope hadn’t developed a sudden craving for sweets.
“It’s too bad you missed her. It’s an excellent lesson in time management, don’t you agree?”
“Yes, my lady.” Flark you, my lady.
“Poor dear. No worries. You’ll see her long before you glimpse that comet.”
“You’re too kind.” I set the brush down with a clatter, offering a saccharine smile. “Shall I warm your sheets lest you catch a chill and die, my lady?”
Her nostrils flared, her eyes blazing with rage. “How dare—”
The floor shivered beneath my boots, vibrations racing up my legs. Paintings along the wall clacked against their hooks.
“Not another tremor.” Penelope clutched the seat of the tufted stool she perched on. The jolt pitched me sideways, and I caught her shoulder to steady myself.
“Get your hands off me, you insolent wretch.” She shrugged off my grip, and I quickly double-stepped to keep from toppling over.
“Apologies, miss.” Little idiot. I touched her all the time—bathing, dressing, powdering her royal buttocks.
“Enough is enough. I cannot stand this anymore,” Penelope cried over the racket, peering at herself in the wobbling mirror. “Look at the toll the stress is having on my complexion. Much more and I’ll look as worn and exhausted as you do.”
“Fates forbid,” I muttered, too loud, apparently.
“Do not speak to me so.” Her blotchy cheeks reddened. “You’ve no idea how many difficulties I face. If I’m to make a solid match, I must appear perfect at all times. Unlike you, with that wild mop of hair and plump figure, it’s important that I take care—”
Thunder cracked overhead, silencing her tirade. Glass rattled in the windowsills.
“What’s happening?” Penelope bellowed. “Why won’t it stop?”
“Have faith, my lady. I’m sure it will stop in a moment,” I said, offering empty platitudes. Would it stop? This was the worst one yet.
As if to mock me, the quake worsened. The polished floorboards pitched and rocked like the deck of a storm-tossed boat, the walls heaving. Thrown off balance, I stumbled sideways, my shoulder striking the wall.
Another crash of thunder shook the building. Penelope shrieked, a long, piercing howl, as though she were queen of the banshees. I covered my ears at the brain-stabbing sound. On hands and knees, she crawled under her dressing table.
Perfume bottles struck the floor, sharp floral notes filling the air. Dust sifted down from the ceiling like snow.
“Don’t stand there. Do something!” she bellowed.
“Like what?” I dared to shout back.
“Go get Daddy.”
Lord Richwell was probably deep in his cups at this hour and unlikely to rouse, even with all the ruckus.
Over Penelope’s whimpers, another sound cut through. Men shouted, metal clanged—the unmistakable crash of steel on steel. Shouts. A deep, guttural roar.
I sucked in a breath. “That sounds like soldiers fighting.”
Finally, the rumbling ceased. Penelope peeked out from her shelter, eyes bigger than her stocking-stuffed bosom. “Are we at war? Did some fiends use the tremors as a distraction to attack us?”
Who would bother? The Puritans had no real enemies.
Stories of the neighboring village of Graycott came to mind. How monsters had infiltrated their town. But that was just rumors and nonsense.
“Go check.” Penelope pointed a commanding finger at me from her hiding spot.
I gritted my teeth and stumbled to the rain-streaked window.
“What do you see?”
“It’s hard to make out in the dark.” I squinted, cupping my hands around my eyes to see better through the glass. As my vision adjusted, dark figures drew into focus. Men with torches tore across the bailey as though the walls had been breached. Except, the main gate was still closed.
Metal tolled, and a metallic scream pierced the night. Torchlight flickered over an impossible sight. One of the soldiers battled an oddly shaped creature, its frame blackened and wiry. Its movements were jerky, yet swift enough that the soldier struggled to defend himself.
The man’s blade flashed, but the creature darted past it. Daggered fingertips raked across the guard’s jugular, and he collapsed, choking on his own blood.
My heart slammed into my ribs, pounding a frantic beat. “That’s not possible.”
“What? What is it?” Penelope shrilled.
Before I could answer, the monster dove upon the dying man. Its mouth cracked open, unhinging wider than any mortal’s. Lightning flashed, illuminating a gruesome maw of serrated teeth. Jaws snapped, ripping off a chunk of the man’s flesh.
Horror locked me in place, turning my blood to ice. Shock failed to shelter my mind from the disturbing image before me.
Next to the wounded soldier, the ground roiled and rumbled, chunks of debris rising and tumbling away. From the torn soil, a skeletal body clawed its way free. Red eyes glowed in the hollow sockets of its skull. Rotted skin clung to its bones.
It eyed its brethren and the fallen victim, then dropped beside them. The creatures tore into the steaming corpse.
“Flesh eaters.” The words whispered through numb lips. The vision outside the window was the stuff of nightmares made real.
“What? What did you say?” Penelope’s voice quavered.
Lightning lit up the sky, and my eyes widened while my pupils shriveled.
On a rise beyond the gates, a rider loomed astride a skeletal steed.
Rusted armor adorned his master’s frame, his emaciated body more corpse than man.
As I stared, his head swiveled, and glowing crimson eyes speared me in place, lodging my breath in my lungs.
Surely, he couldn’t see me. Surely…
He tilted his head back. Strange clacking noises emerged from his throat.
Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.
It was a mix between the rattle of a serpent’s tail and the scrape of clawing insects. The sound raked my eardrums, making my teeth ache.
In the bailey, the creatures ceased their attacks. Dark, monstrous heads swiveled toward me, soulless red eyes lifting—staring right at me.
Their skeletal jaws unhinged. Horrible noises emerged from their gnarled mouths.
They answered their leader in kind. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.
I slapped a hand over my mouth, lurching back. Shallow breaths puffed past my fingers.
The floor quaked beneath us again, driving a muffled squawk from Penelope.
“Tell me. What did you see?” Her bottom lip trembled.
I stared back at her, words frozen on my tongue.
“I order you to tell me!”
There were no words to describe what I’d seen. No words she’d believe.
I stormed to the dressing table, extending my hand to Penelope. “Come, my lady. The manor is under attack. We need to hide.”
She backed deeper beneath her shelter. “No way. I’m not listening to the advice of a slave. We must stay right here. My guards are the finest in the land. They will protect me.”
Not even the mightiest of warriors could defeat such creatures. And given the way they’d focused on Penelope’s bedroom window, I feared they were headed right for us.
“If you stay, they will find you. We must go.” I reached for her wrist.
“How dare you put your hands on me.” She smacked my grip away. “Release me this instant.”
Stupid girl. It would serve her right if I left her here to be devoured.
The bedroom door slammed open.
“Penelope, my darling!” Lady Richwell burst into the room, clutching her thick dressing robe to her throat. For the high ruler’s wife to leave her quarters undressed, things had to be dire.
Rose stumbled in behind her. Frazzled and pale, she clutched two hastily packed satchels.
A stern-faced guard I recognized as Reginald remained in the hallway, sword at the ready. “My lady. There isn’t time. We need to hurry.”
“Momma!” Penelope batted me away, scurrying out from her hole.
“My love. Thank goodness you’re alright.” Lady Richwell smashed her precious daughter against her sagging bosom. “Come, darling. The manor isn’t secure. We must get to safety.”
“Yes.” Penelope swiped snot from her nose with the back of her hand. “That is what I said to Serafina, but she wouldn’t listen. Instead, she shoved me beneath that retched table.”
Lady Richwell’s narrowed eyes snapped to me, disdain in their depths.
“Who are they, Momma?” Penelope cried. “What do they want?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve yet to spot their banners. I’m sure it’s some godless band of heathens who have learned of our wealth and my daughter’s beauty. Surely, they mean to steal both.”
I met the guard’s pale expression, and we shared a look. These were no ordinary thieves, and there would be no banners. It wasn’t beauty nor gold they were after, but fresh meat.
Lady Richwell tugged her daughter toward the door. “Come. Your father is readying a wagon for us.”
“Excuse me, Lady Richwell,” Rose dared to call out. “What about the staff? What are your orders?”
The lady stopped only long enough to sneer. “I’m sure you will manage. Right now, I think we agree Penelope is the priority and must be protected at all costs.”
Rose hefted the satchels she carried and bowed her head. “Yes, my lady.”
Another explosion shook the room, shouts echoing up the stairwell. A second guard stumbled inside, eyes wide. “They’ve breached the inner door. The first floor is lost.”
Lady Richwell wailed. “They’ve cut off our path to Edmund. What shall we do?”
Reginald cast a wild-eyed look at his comrade. “There’s a window at the end of the hall in the east wing. If we make it there, we can climb out and down the trellis.”
As far as plans went, it wasn’t terrible. Rose and I could escape the same way.
“Absolutely not,” Lady Richwell huffed, her cheeks reddening. “My daughter and I will not be crawling out of windows like common harlots.”
“But, my lady,” Reginald pleaded. “It’s the only path open to us.”
Her gaze narrowed with the protective gleam of a mother protecting her cub. “Then you must clear a path through the first floor to my husband.”
The guard blanched. “My lady, I beg you. There are too many of them. It’s not possible.”
She swept a calculating glance around the room, then fixed her attention on me. “Unless… Serafina. You are the same size as my daughter. Are you not?”
“Yes?” I answered in a cautious tone.
“You could serve as a decoy. To lure the ruffians away so that Penelope and I may escape unscathed.”
Dread wiggled through my insides like worms caught in the sun. “My lady, I couldn’t possibly impersonate royalty.”
“You can, and you will. After all we have done for you, this is how you will finally repay us.” She swept up the discarded party gown and thrust it at her maid. “Quick now. Rose, help her.”
Before I could protest, my coarse garments were stripped away.
Yards of ruffles and lace dropped over my body, the bulk heavy enough to drag me down.
Running would be nearly impossible. I had a horrible feeling that was exactly what the lady of the manor intended.
To feed me to the beasts while she and Penelope escaped.
Lady Richwell dug into a satchel, extracting a tiara. “While I regret the loss of the jewels, it’s little to sacrifice to see my daughter safe.”
With practiced ease, Rose whipped my hair up into a sloppy twist, jamming the tiara down on my head.
Lady Richwell peered back at me, tapped her chin, then sighed. “It will have to do.”
Regret shadowed Reginald’s gaze as he stepped closer. “Head down the stairs. Veer right. Once they spot you, draw them toward the kitchens. If you’re fast, you might shake them before—”
“Got it.” Before they slaughtered me.
As I turned to leave, Rose wrapped me in a tight embrace. Tears welled in her eyes. “May your feet be swift, and the fates guide you to safety.”
Not to be outdone, Penelope clutched me as well, nails biting into my arms. “Farewell, Serafina. May the gods forgive your many sins with this rare act of sacrifice.”
There was little chance I’d ever see her again. “Dearest, Penelope. It’s interesting you speak of sins because I have a confession.” I clasped her in return, and she sucked in a breath of surprise. With my lips pressed to her ear, I whispered, “I’ve been urinating in your bath.”
She stiffened in my arms, an indelicate growl rising in her throat. Before she could squawk her fury at me, I spun and bolted out the door.