30
G enevieve threw herself into my arms first.
“How could you have hidden this from me?” my stepsister demanded, her sobs smothered by my hair.
Tori crossed her arms. “And me,” she said. “All this time there was a witch in my house and no one noticed?” She looked serious, but her tone was teasing.
I could only stare at them.
“Amarante?” Olivia said softly from behind them. “Are you alright?”
Genevieve pulled back and took my hands. Tori quirked an eyebrow at me.
I shook my head, hardly knowing how to react. “Aren’t you scared of me?”
“Scared?” Tori said, making a face. “I never believed that fear mongering nonsense about witches in the first place. Pa raised me better than that.”
Genevieve’s eyes brimmed with tears, but she wiped them away and smacked my shoulder. “I don’t care what you are, Amarante. You’re still my sister.”
“And you’re my friend,” Olivia said. She fidgeted, as if embarrassed to be speaking at all. “I knew there was something wrong ever since the soirée, even if you didn’t tell me.”
I lowered my head. “I haven’t been completely honest,” I said. Tori snorted. “I owe you the truth. All of you.”
Taking a breath, I told them everything, from the scarlet smoke to working as Narcissa’s scullery maid. I told them about my fight with Lana and how making the truth potion led to my arrest. In a lower voice, I revealed how Narcissa used her magic to sabotage me. I didn’t want Captain Greenwood to hear what his daughter had done. He had lost enough.
“And now I need your help to escape,” I said after I finished my tale.
All three of them looked astonished. I could hardly blame them. Even I had difficulty processing all that had happened in the past two months.
Tori was the first to recover. “Anything to get those rotten Whittingtons what they deserve,” she said, slamming her fist into her palm. “Really! The audacity of Narcissa to order you around and frame you as a thief and traitor!”
I winced as her voice boomed through the cell. Hopefully, Captain Greenwood was asleep.
“We’ll help however we can,” Genevieve said, her face earnest.
“Do you need us to tell Prince Ash?” Olivia said.
I scuffed the floor with my heel. “No need,” I said. “He can’t do anything for me. ”
Tori scoffed. “Don’t tell me he didn’t try to stop your arrest after all you did for him!”
The last thing I wanted was to talk about Ash. I pressed my lips together. “Never mind that,” I said. “Tori, find Erasmus, the royal inspector.”
“You mean the ugly-haired old fellow who told us about you?” she said.
I nodded. “I need him to bring me some of my truth potion, if it’s still there. And a vial of his sleeping draught.” I turned to Genevieve. “Gen, can you pay a visit to Miriam? Her shop is right next to the post office.”
“Absolutely,” my stepsister said. “Anything for you.”
I gave her hand a squeeze. “Tell her what happened. And tell her I’ll see her soon, if things go according to plan.”
Olivia rocked on her feet, looking at me expectantly.
“Er...Olivia, you can choose to join Genevieve or Tori, or both of them if you prefer,” I said.
She frowned, but nodded. “Very well,” she said. “Will you be alright on your own?”
My lips twitched upward. The tuft of straw I was eying swirled in the air in a figure eight. “Of course. I’m a witch.”
IT WAS NEVER TRULY quiet in the dungeon. The guards snored, the prisoners moaned, and the rodents squeaked. A rat scurried across my cell and wriggled into a hole in the wall.
Normally, I would’ve been terrified. But worse things awaited beyond the dungeon walls. I hoped I’d be ready to face them within the next hour.
My pockets hung heavy with two vials—Erasmus’s sleeping draught and my unfinished truth potion. Both were still covered in a greasy film of lard. Erasmus had hidden them in last night’s stew.
I pulled out the sleeping draught and pressed my ear to the door. Shortly after Tori, Olivia, and Genevieve’s visit, two new guards were stationed outside my cell. Luckily, they were a loud pair. Even their snores were deafening. It made it easy to determine their schedule. Each night they dined before my door and passed out drunk until midnight. Tonight, if all went according to plan, they wouldn’t awaken till morning.
“Care for a game of cards over dinner, Ken?”
“And leave the witch’s cell unguarded? Have you gone mad?”
“It’s been four days. She would’ve escaped by now if she meant to.”
“Well, Ronnie, maybe she already has. We’ve never locked a witch up before. Perhaps there’s a reason for that. They’ll just end up using some voodoo or other to magic themselves away.”
“That’s hardly our fault, then, is it?”
There was a pause. “I suppose not.”
“Cards it is. I’ll deal.”
“Hold on. We ought to check if she’s still there.”
“Alright. You do it.”
“ Me ? You do it.”
“No, you.”
Ken gave an exasperated sigh. “How about we both do it?”
“Fine.”
“On the count of three?”
“One. Two. Three!”
I scrambled a few paces back from the door as the food slot lifted open. Two pale faces peered in, one bearded and the other freckled.
I gave them my sweetest smile. “Hello there.”
The slot slammed shut, followed by screeches that rivaled even the maddest of prisoners. A moment of silence passed.
“She seems rather charming, don’t you think?”
“Shut up, Ronnie. Just deal the cards.”
I waited several minutes before raising the slot a hair’s width to peer out. Ken and Ronnie were several feet away, seated across from each other at a square table. A sparse dinner of bread and cheese sat before them, a single jug of ale at the far side. The two started playing cards.
I uncorked the sleeping draught. Slowly but surely, I levitated two fat drops of the clear liquid from the vial. They rippled as I pushed them through the slot and toward the guards, low on the ground.
“Damn you!” Ronnie slammed his fist down onto the table.
I jumped, almost letting the droplets splash.
Ken took a swig of ale and guffawed. “Serves you right for challenging me to cards.”
“Again! Again!”
I continued to push the sleeping draught forward as Ronnie gathered the cards and dealt them again. My eyes strained. The droplets were now making a perilous trek under the table in the space between the guards’ legs. My magic wavered. One of the droplets dribbled and transferred some of itself onto the floor.
I clutched my crystal and pushed. They swept high into the air. Too high.
Ronnie stopped dealing and squinted. “Did you see that? ”
“See what?” The droplets hovered above Ken’s head. I pushed them higher against the far wall.
“Pesky flies,” Ronnie grunted, passing his companion another card.
Ken scoffed. “Wanted to slip yourself the good cards, didn’t you?”
The dealer’s face nearly grew as red as his beard. “I did not!”
“Did too.”
“Did not!”
The sleeping draught spiraled down into the jug as the guards bickered. They disappeared into the ale on contact. I closed the slot and let go of my breath, my eyes tingling and thrumming with magic. It felt wonderful.
Now it was time to wait.
It wasn’t long before the bickering ceased and snores thundered through the dungeon. I peered out again, more than relieved to find both Ronnie and Ken unconscious on the table. A ring of keys gleamed at Ken’s belt.
I unfastened the key wrought of black iron. The next thirty minutes were dedicated to the tricky business of predicting exactly where the monstrous iron lock was on the outside. I knew it was roughly in the middle of the door, but I had never tried to move an object I couldn’t see.
Frustration mounted, but half an hour of guesswork led to a satisfying click and the heavy clinking of unraveling chains. I ignored the pain in my neck and pushed open the door.
I had done it. I was free. Even the air outside of my cell smelled fresher. I crept out and closed the door behind me. With a sweep of my hand, the chains wound themselves back up and the lock refastened.
“Miss Flora? ”
I nearly stumbled over myself, until I realized who it was. “Captain Greenwood?”
A pair of gray eyes appeared at the slot of the door next to mine. “I heard everything the other day. My daughter. Is it true?”
The heaviness of his voice told me he already knew it was. I nodded anyway, not knowing if it would appease or upset him.
He heaved a great sigh. “I guess it was expected, leaving her alone with Wilhelmina,” he said. He focused on me again. “But I still believe there is some good in her. There must be.”
“Captain...”
“Please, if you see Narcissa, promise you’ll take her away from her mother,” he said.
He spoke of her as if she were a little girl. Maybe in his mind she was. The thought of carrying Narcissa away from the duchess now was ridiculous at best and impossible at worst. But I didn’t have the heart to refuse Captain Greenwood.
“I will try,” I said.
“Thank you, Miss Flora. I wish you luck. Make things right again—for all of us.”
His sorrowful gray eyes disappeared and I was alone once more. Heaving a sigh myself, I replaced the key at Ken’s belt and hurried out.
My muscles were stiff as I half walked and half ran down the unguarded hallway that led to the barred cells. There would be a great many guardsmen at the exit. But I had magic at my fingertips. I felt powerful, like I could get away with anything.
But any semblance of confidence deserted me when I stumbled into an armored figure .
Before I could scream, the guard clamped a gloved hand over my mouth. A metallic smell filled my nostrils. I kicked and twisted, but the arm wrapped around me refused to budge.
“It’s me.”
I stopped struggling and turned to my assailant. He had taken his helmet off. Even in the darkness of the dungeon, I knew those eyes. And that nose. And mouth. And every other part of the face that had haunted me for the past four days.
I slapped him.
Ash stumbled back as my palm met his cheek with a sickening crack.
I glared, my hand stinging. It took all my willpower not to cry. Even then, tears seeped out. “Why are you here?” I demanded, wiping my eyes furiously. “I thought you were finished with me.”
Ash flinched. “I—” He shook his head. “I’m here to rescue you. But it seems you’ve done a decent job yourself.”
I searched his face for any sign of deceit, but he looked earnest—even sorrowful—despite the red mark blooming on his face. I thought back to his passivity at my arrest. The distrust and betrayal in his eyes. Where were they now?
“Amarante—”
“This isn’t the place to talk,” I said coldly, hoping my tears weren’t as noticeable as they felt. There would be time for explanations later. I stuck out my arms. “Get on with it.”
A ghost of a smile graced his lips as he pulled out a length of rope and tied it around my wrists, tight enough to look convincing but loose enough not to hurt. I was immensely glad when he put his helmet back on. I didn’t want to see his face .
The grates overhead let in just enough of the fading daylight for us to navigate the rest of the dungeons. As we passed the endless hallways of open cells, I recalled the first time I had come here with Ash to question Captain Greenwood. It wasn’t long ago, yet so much had changed.
Ash stopped when we drew nearer to the exit. Two armed guards stood watch on either side. He stopped and unfastened his cloak. I was enveloped in his scent when he threw it around me.
“Just in case they won’t let you through,” he said quietly, pulling the hood over my head and fastening the drawstrings. His fingers paused. “Your eyes. They’re purple.”
“Yes, they are,” I snapped, turning my face away.
It seemed like he was going to say something else, but didn’t. He took the rope around my wrists and led me around the corner.
“Where you off to?” a guard asked when we approached the gates. Beyond, the short tunnel opened to the back of the east wing. Even the last bits of daylight were blinding to me.
“This one’s got a hearing,” Ash said in a deep voice, tilting his head to me. I kept my head down, making sure the hood hid my features.
The guard narrowed his eyes. “A hearing? The king has yet to return.”
Ash flipped a gold coin into the guard’s hand. “Indeed.”
He grunted and pushed open the gate, tucking the coin into his pocket as we passed. My heart pounded as we climbed the stairs out to the palace grounds. My lungs nearly wept from the fresh air. The paved path felt wonderfully smooth under the soles of my boots.
We trotted across the grounds, ducking whenever a servant or gardener appeared. Ash led me to a row of tall hedges across the pond we had unceremoniously fallen into. The sun had fully set, plunging the land into a purplish haze. A few swans were silhouetted on the water, flapping and bugling. I knew now they had been under Narcissa’s influence, but I still had no love for the creatures.
Ash pulled off his helmet and kicked it underneath a hedge. Heavy clunking followed as he did the same to the rest of his ill-fitting armor.
“You really like disguises, don’t you?” I said.
He paused. “Being a prince is very limiting,” he said.
“Being a witch is even more so.”
He straightened his shirt and met my eyes, his stare unwavering. “Yes,” he said. “I would imagine.”
I looked askance, suddenly finding the grass very interesting. I wanted to scream at him. What could he possibly mean? Why had he decided to believe me after falling for Narcissa’s lies?
“Olivia told me,” Ash said, answering my unasked question.
I looked up. “What?”
“She told me everything yesterday. Everything.” Ash’s voice was strained. He raked a hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you trust me with the truth?”
“Because I couldn’t let you know I was a witch!” I exploded, clenching my fists. “And I was right. You didn’t want anything to do with me when you found out.”
Silence pervaded the air before he spoke. “Is that what you thought?” he asked quietly.
How dare he be so calm after what he’d done? The urge to scream at him resurfaced, but he spoke again before I could.
“First you somehow knew to search Peter. Then you ask Captain Greenwood for gold. At the soirée you stayed with Narcissa. Then I find you at an obscure snail shop at midnight with cuts all over your arms. And you went to the palace when you said you were going home. What was I supposed to think when Narcissa piled all those accusations against you? Don’t you see, Amarante? I couldn’t defend you because I didn’t know what you were hiding from me.”
I stared. Ash had been more observant than I thought, but he was right. I never realized how my actions must have looked from his perspective. But a part of me was still injured. It was the injured part that spoke.
“After all this time you’ve known me, you still thought I was capable of poisoning your mother. You said you trusted me, but you didn’t.”
Ash parted his lips. He looked away.
My gut sank, but I forced the feeling away. “There’s something else you should know. Captain Greenwood is a witch. He’s Narcissa’s father.”
“Narcissa...she’s a witch?” he said.
“The animals were under Narcissa’s control. The mice and the swans. And her cat. It was all her.”
He pressed his lips together. “Was she the one who...?”
“No,” I said grimly, answering his unfinished question. “It was the duchess. But my aunt...she’s involved too.”
“Amarante—”
“She didn’t mean any harm,” I said. Somehow I wanted to defend Lana, even if it meant further lowering myself in Ash’s esteem.
Ash touched my shoulder but withdrew it when I tensed. “You don’t have to tell me everything right now. Just know that I trust you. I will always trust you.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. I didn’t know whether to believe him or not .
He looked past the pond. “I reckon you had a plan to stop the duchess before I interfered,” he said.
I sighed and straightened my shoulders.
“I did,” I said. “I wouldn’t mind some help.”