Fabled (7 page)

“You’re kidding, right?” My words broke her stare, and she laughed a little.

 
“Of course.” Her demeanor then saddened. She was dreaming of freedom, and so was I.
 

We walked the rest of the way in complete silence. We had our breakfast in quiet and went about our day with barely a word. What could have been a beautiful moment, seeing the white twinkle in the breaking dawn, in reality was a sore reminder of the prison we lived in.

Dreca and Ana were waiting, as always, for me. I prepared the first tub, and Dreca closed the door. Ana and I were left. She was in her closet searching for what to wear for the day. I waited uncomfortably, as I always did around the snobs who could have me turned into a tree any minute.
 

The comb sitting on her vanity caught my eye. The one she had stolen from me. I noticed she hadn’t worn it since the day she took it.
She didn’t really want it. She just wanted to take something away from me. Spiteful girl.
I made my way towards it, nonchalantly. Ana was still busying herself with her dozens of dresses. I swept the underside of my apron across the table, as if I were wiping away dust and pocketed my once beloved treasure. She wasn’t the wiser.

After getting them dressed, I escorted them to their lessons. Ana was feeling a bit tired after lunch and insisted she get more beauty sleep before supper. Her mother approved. I was just thankful to have one less witch for the day. It wasn’t until then that Mrs. Tresels informed me we were having unexpected guests tonight, and that the girls should look their best and be down early for conversation before supper. I nodded.
What do you know? There are two abnormal things about today already. Three if you count me getting my comb back.
 

Dreca finished her lesson early, and I escorted her upstairs to dress. Once we reached the landing, I heard Ana’s voice wailing.

“That bloody wretch stole my comb!” she squealed. My heart sank.
What was I thinking? Of course she would notice. She’s probably been leaving it there as bait!
I tried to take a deep breath, and even though it was totally illogical, the words “innocent until proven guilty” kept running through my mind.
 

Ana stormed out of her room, darted towards us with ferocious eyes, and screamed, “What have you done with it?”

That’s when I realized she wasn’t talking to me. She was accusing Dreca. Relief swept over me like the summer sun, and I let out an involuntary sigh.
 

“What is
your
problem?” she asked me.

“Nothing, Miss. It’s just that we don’t have time to worry about this right now. It’s a special night, and Mrs. Tresels wants me to make sure you both look your very best.” I stuffed my hands into my pockets and squeezed the evidence.

“Well, get on with it then,” she griped. “But we’re not through with this conversation,” she said to Dreca.
 

After getting them ready and sending them downstairs, Headmistress Rue instructed all the servants to take a fifteen minute break to freshen up. She gave us each a clipping of lavender, I suppose to supplement for perfume. Mr. and Mrs. Tresels wanted us all to look presentable, which was rarely the case for us after a long day’s work. We moved like a mob to our rooms.
 

“How often do the Tresels have guests?” I asked Madeline, who was obviously still gloomy.

“Not very. They only have them when another royal family is cooking up some atrocious scheme to further destroy our little kingdom.” She frowned. I felt her pain. I wrapped my arm around her and hugged her. For a moment, we embraced one another, and all the sorrow that we had been ignoring burst. Our eyes erupted with tears. It was cathartic, really. We laughed at our overly emotional episode afterwards and rushed to our rooms.

The guard didn’t bother locking our doors since we were only going to be there for a few minutes. I went to my vanity. I couldn’t help but think about how nice it was to have a friend here — a true friend. Even at home I didn’t have one of those outside of Dashielle.
I worry about him.
I brushed my hair, put it in a bun, placed the lavender in it, and washed my hands and face. Just when I was about to walk out the door, I saw Humbert perched on the sill.
 

“What are you doing here little fella?” I whispered as I approached him. He had a note for me, which was almost a nightly thing from Madeline.
But how did she have time to write a note and get ready?
I gently took it from him, unrolled it, and read:

Rowena,

I know that you don’t understand why I didn’t do something about Hans and Greta that morning in the woods, but I had my reasons. I also had my reasons for why I have chosen not to write to you until now. I just want you to know that I’m sorry about what has happened to you, and I’m hoping that things will change very soon.

Me.

I held the note in amazement. After two months, he finally writes me back. Just to say, “I had my reasons.”
What a jerk!
I hid the note in the shoes that I’d worn into Mezzanine, at the bottom of the chifforobe with the other notes I’d received from Madeline.

I shrugged his useless words off and headed back. I must have missed Madeline. I should have waited for her, but I was too shaken by Chester’s note to remember.

When I got into the kitchen, the maids frantically worked to prepare the evenings meal. The food team was running behind, I was told. It was chaos. By the time the guests were fed by the dining servants, we were sweaty and just as wrecked as we were before getting freshened up. After eating, the waiting servants informed us that Mr. Tresels had requested us
all
in the dining room.
 

We nervously wiped the sweat from our brow with our aprons and lined ourselves from one end of the room to the other. I faced the strangers at the end of the line. A man, about forty, sat in front of me. He had dark, menacing features with black hair peppered with gray. He wore a shiny, tailored, black suit complete with a cane. He eyed us as if he were judging us. His wife, I assume, sat next to him. Her blonde hair sparkled in the candlelight. She looked to be about his same age, dressed in a heavily sequined gown with white gloves. I glanced at Ana and Dreca. They sat at the opposite end of the room, quietly bickering over something, probably the comb again. I nervously felt my pocket.
Crap! I meant to leave it in my vanity.
 

As we all stood, Mr. Tresels talked to the guests. “To date, we have twenty-four servants. They work hard to make our lives pleasant. Isn’t that right, ladies?” We nodded. “Of course, we also have a handful of garden hands, but they’re dismissed before sunset every day. I would have had them stay if I’d known about your visit earlier, Mr. Dresdem.” He seemed anxious.
These people must really be important
, I thought.

“Never mind them. Last time we were here you only had twenty-three household servants?” he questioned.

“Oh yes. We’ve since added Ms. Rowena. She tends to the girls.” He came next to me and stopped. My heart sank at the attention. The last thing I wanted was for him to call me out. My butterfly twitched rapidly.

 
“Well, how do you do, Ms. Rowena? It’s nice to meet you.” There was something eerie in his voice. Something wicked.
 

“Nice to meet you too,” I said, barely audible.

His eyes met mine and he stared at me for what seemed like minutes. He looked me up and down, and then suddenly seemed uninterested. We were all dismissed. I couldn’t wait to get out of that room. Mistress Rue gathered up a team of women to serve drinks in the parlor to the guests, but I, thankfully, was not chosen.
 

Grateful for her mercy, I enjoyed looking at the fresh flakes falling in the twilight as I walked down the long hall. The moons’ glow made every piece of perfect white glimmer. The night literally glittered.
 

“May I have an extra blanket?” I asked as I approached the guard. He handed me one from a locked closet, and I silently went to my room. When I saw Madeline’s number right next to mine. That’s when I realized that I hadn’t seen Madeline all night. I was so caught up in my own anxiety that I hadn’t even noticed. Fear struck me. I looked back at the guard, who was counting the blankets, probably to see if he had enough to give everyone. I took the opportunity to peak through the opening in Madeline’s door.

“Madeline?” I whispered.

“I’m here,” her voice trailed.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m just not feeling well.” I felt relieved. The pervert of a guard probably didn’t even know she was there.

“Does Mistress Rue know you didn’t come up tonight?” I asked. I leaned against the door, trying to get a peek of her to make sure she was okay. The door flung open, and within seconds I was in there with her. She jumped out of bed, looked in the direction of the guard, which must have still been distracted, and closed the door until it nearly latched.
 

“No. I didn’t tell Mistress Rue. I figured there would be a lot of commotion, like there always is with visitors, and no one would notice if I were gone. It obviously worked.” She looked at me with disappointment. I knew she was upset that even I hadn’t noticed.
 

“I was nervous all night. The guest, this dark terrifying man came up to me, stared me down, and greeted me. My heart was pounding louder than a rock concert,” I said trying to deflect.

She gazed at me confused.
 

“Why would he care who you are? They never address us,” she questioned, her voice turning concerned.
 

That’s when it happened. Suddenly we heard footsteps trampling down the hall.
No one ever comes down here.

“Find her, now!” I heard Mr. Dresdem say.
 

Madeline and I quietly hid under her bed.

Chapter 7

Within seconds of our disappearing, we heard three voices in my room. One of them was the calm, cool, and terrifying voice of Mrs. Tresels, the other Mr. Tresels, and of course,
Dresdem
.
 

“Mistress Rue said she sent her to her room a few minutes ago. There’s no reason for her to be anywhere else,” Mr. Tresels said with a quiver in his voice.

“I’m returning upstairs to finish my drink. She’d better be placed in my wagon before I finish,” Dresdem warned.

“Yes, sir,” Mr. Tresels whispered then yelled, “Guard, find Rowena, number three, fast! Recruit some help.”

Madeline and I looked at each other through the darkness. Her eyes pierced me, and I could see that she was as nervous as I was.
 

“What’s going on?” I whispered as quietly as I could. She put her finger to her lips, motioning for me to hush. She slowly made her way out from under the bed.

“What are you doing?” A little bit louder whisper.

“Shh.”

I watched as her feet walked towards her cell door and opened it. I began to panic.
Would my only friend turn me in? No. She wouldn’t do that. Besides, why would she insist I be quiet if she were going to tell everyone where to find me?
I strained to hear where she may have went, but I only heard three steps.
 

“Miss, I couldn’t help but overhear. I saw Rowena a few minutes ago. I think she was heading back to the kitchen. She must have forgotten something,” Madeline said in the most innocent and bravely believable voice.

“Guard, check the kitchen!” Mr. Tresels instructed.

I heard their shoes travel down the hall and out of range. Madeline ran back in.

“Come on. “You’ll need to change to blend in. I know a way that we can get you out, but we have to hurry.” Her voice quivered.

 
I rushed into my room. Threw off my clothes, changed into my costume, stuffed the letters that were in my shoe into my pocket, put the comb in my hair, and then watched Madeline for instructions. She grabbed my servant’s clothing and tossed them into her room. I followed her to the end of the hall to the bathing room. Before we made it outside, I heard footsteps trailing behind us. We stepped into the walled patio where we retrieved our water. The cool air hit me like bricks and caused me to gasp. We stood by the wall that I thought faced the woods.

“You’re going to get on my shoulders and climb this fence, and you’re going to do it quickly. The castle is fenced, and there’s no doubt they’re searching for you as we speak. I don’t know how to get you out of the gate. This is the best that I can do. Just run.” Our eyes began to tear at the thought of this terrifying moment being our forever good bye. I hugged her. My heart pounded as I choked back the tears. “Now hurry,” she said.

Just then, we heard movement on the other side of the wall. We stood silent, trying to understand the whispers we now heard. In a moment, I saw his face at the top of the wall. Madeline braced to run.

“Chester?” I asked, stunned.

“Rowena? What are you doing here?” He looked equally as surprised.

“I told you I was here. What are
you
doing here?”

“I’m here for you. Blast it, we’re breaking you out.”

“Well, fancy that because
I’m
breaking me out,” I said.
 

Madeline stared at us confused.

I got on Madeline’s shoulders and Chester pulled me over the wall. There were several hairy, identical men, each about three foot tall, gathered at the bottom.

“We’ve got to bring Madeline too,” I told him stubbornly.

He wavered for a moment, but I think he could read that I wasn’t going to budge. And we definitely didn’t have time to waste. He climbed the fence again, with the help of the little men, and soon pulled Madeline over.
 

“I hope you’ve got a plan,” I whispered.

We were off, like bats out of hell, like fat kids after cake, like my mom after Brad Pitt. We all darted towards the main gate. Within seconds, we could hear the guard galloping towards us.

“We’ve been spotted,” one of the little men squealed.