“Very well.”
Reinhart sat once again in his library, gazing out the window. How strange to be so idle when his castle might soon be attacked.
After he sent the first guard with a letter to the king, he wrote two more and sent those two couriers in different directions, in case it turned out that the king was away from his home in Prague.
The weather had grown warm enough to melt most of the snow, so he was able to bid farewell to most of his guests the previous day. No doubt they all wanted to be well away before Geitbart did something that would displease the king, like murdering the king’s margrave or attacking Thornbeck’s guards. The only guests left were Geitbart and Fronicka, Lady Magdalen, whose own guards had only just arrived from Mallin to escort her home, and Avelina.
Reinhart had spent hours strategizing with two of his most trusted knights, who speculated that Sir Klas had been captured by the Duke of Geitbart. They talked of ways they might defeat Geitbart, but Reinhart and his men were outnumbered, and Reinhart was still waiting for Jorgen to get back from his wolf-hunting expedition. He and Odette had taken provisions, prepared to sleep at least two nights away from home to chase the wolves as far away from Thornbeck as possible, if they were not able to kill them.
Reinhart’s only two options seemed to be having Geitbart assassinated or running away, and neither of those were honorable. Openly confronting the man would serve no purpose except to alert Geitbart that he knew of his treachery.
Few castles of the Holy Roman Empire had escaped being besieged at one time or another, and it was not so extraordinary that Geitbart would attempt to take Thornbeck. His only hope was that the king would send help, enough soldiers to stop Geitbart and his attackers, or that Reinhart would be able to give himself up in exchange for no harm coming to his people.
He needed to send Avelina away before Geitbart attacked. Fronicka would surely have her killed, and time was running out.
Avelina found Frau Schwitzer in a storage room. Avelina explained to her what she wished to do, her hands clasped together in front of her chest. “Won’t you please help me?”
Frau Schwitzer’s kindly face suddenly appeared creased and troubled. “I do not know if it will do any good, but I suppose it can do no harm—except to you. Are you certain you wish to take the risk?”
“Oh yes, of course.”
A thought dawned on Frau Schwitzer’s face. For a moment it seemed as if she might say something, but she only nodded and nudged Avelina toward the door.
They entered the kitchen and Frau Schwitzer gave two sharp claps. “Everyone, this is Avelina. She will be working in the kitchen today, doing whatever Cook expects of her.”
Someone mumbled, “Isn’t that Lady Dorothea?”
“She was formerly known as Lady Dorothea,” Frau Schwitzer said loudly. “Now she must make up for her deception by working in the kitchen until our lord sends her back to Plimmwald. That is all. You may go back to work.”
Everyone quickly resumed their work. Frau Schwitzer went over and whispered in Cook’s ear, then she left the room.
A few maidservants glanced furtively in her direction. Would her plan have the opposite effect than the one she’d hoped? Would they resent and dislike her for having played the part of Lady Dorothea, humiliating their lord? Or would they take her under their wing?
Cook was pointing at her with a wooden ladle. “Sit down over there and shell those peas.”
Avelina limped to the table and sat on a stool. Already her ankle was throbbing, so she was grateful to be able to do a sitting-down task. And since she was no stranger to shelling peas, she set a fast pace. As soon as she finished all the peas in the basket, another maidservant replaced the empty basket with a full one.
“You’re fast,” the maidservant said. “I’m Engel.” She sat beside her and started shelling the peas into the same bowl with Avelina. “Why were you pretending to be Lady Dorothea?”
“I had no choice. My lord, the Earl of Plimmwald, made me do it.”
“Are you sorry you didn’t run away? Or was it worth it?”
Avelina shrugged. “It was fun while it lasted, but I’ll be punished when I get home. No doubt he has already sent my father and little brother and sister far away and I will never see them again.”
Engel was a young woman about Avelina’s age, with a stout frame and her brown hair in one braid down her back. She eyed Avelina out of the corner of her eye, when she wasn’t looking at the pea pod in her hand.
“But was it worth it to have the margrave fall in love with you?”