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  Though that is a lie. I do remember those who begged for mercy before I killed them. I offered them the same mercy they offered their victims-like my family.

  None at all.

  “Is everything well in there?” Madame Thessalia called with a voice that was more impatient than concerned. Kara replied that it was, then turned back to Caroline.

  “As for Sulla, I had spent my whole life-over ten years- dreaming of the day I would kill him. I tried to do so, and my anger very nearly killed me.” She saw the eagerness in the girl’s eyes, and continued. “Fortunately, my father’s Ring of Life whisked me to Falador, where I was found by Theodore and the knights and nursed back to health. Finally, after learning things I had never suspected about my father, I found a sense of home. When the war came, and I had Sulla at my mercy, I spared him to honour a promise to a very brave man-the kindest one I have ever known.”

  “The knight Bhuler?” Caroline squeaked.

  “Yes,” Kara said in surprise. “You have listened to the songs and tales, haven’t you?”

  The girl nodded enthusiastically.

  “After the war I went north to a monastery which had been burned by Sulla’s forces. It was near to my village, and I had a memory of being taken there to be blessed by Saradomin when I was very young.” Kara splashed water in her face to hide her tears. “I don’t remember the time before Sulla. Or very little of it. I cannot remember my parents’ faces, nor do I know my mother’s name.”

  Suddenly she grew angry, and grabbed the sponge from behind her head.

  “I don’t even know my name!” she gritted. “Sulla prevented me from learning it by burning the monastery’s records when he held me prisoner. Unless the great library on Entrana ever received a copy of the monastery’s books then I will never know.” She twisted the sponge in frustration.

  Then she noticed how Caroline shied away from her anger.

  “I am sorry, Caroline,” she said. “I have lost so much that in all honesty, I envy the milkmaid her life or the seamstress hers. Death and war are not subjects for great songs or tales. Everyone expects so much of me now. I just don’t know what to expect for myself.”

  A moment of silence fell between them. Kara stirred the water idly below her chin.

  “I am sorry, Kara,” Caroline said. “I didn’t know you had lost so much, though I know what it is like to live a life governed by the expectations of others. My parents are looking to marry me off to some young man of an appropriate family, to the scions of great households, a match made for economy rather than love.” She looked at the floor. “At least for you there is an escape. I am trapped here.”

  “But what of this Lord William?”

  Caroline dared to smile briefly before a sharp voice called out from behind the screen.

  “Lady Caroline! Come here please.” It was Anne calling.

  “Do you see what I mean?” Caroline said as she stood and wiped her hand over her dark eyes.

  Was that a tear?

  Kara said nothing as she was left alone again.

  Kara left the bath with some reluctance as a small clock chimed. She dried herself with a woollen towel and made her way slowly around the screen, silently delighting in Anne’s commands for her to hurry.

  “Try this on,” the noblewoman instructed. “We all think it is best for you.”

  Kara saw the gown on offer. The dress reminded her of a plum, its bulbous bottom ballooning out about her feet, far wider below the waist than above.

  I won’t know how to walk in such a thing!

  “Come along,” Anne said impatiently. “There is no time left for delay.”

  Kara cast her eye to the stool to where her old clothes had been folded neatly.

  Did they search my satchel? I have no way of knowing if she saw Theodore’s letter.

  Anne followed her gaze and then looked back at her face.

  She is unreadable. She considered for a moment. Time to bait the trap.

  “Have you seen much of my friend Theodore, Lady Anne?” she asked. “Lady Caroline and I were just talking about him. You and he seem to have grown very close.” Caroline let out a little gasp, but said nothing.

  Kara allowed herself to be helped into the gown as she spoke. Madame Thessalia tightened the garment at her back and Kara lost her breath.

  Anne remained silent for a full minute as she watched Kara being dressed. Finally she spoke.

  “He is a very fine knight, Kara,” she said coldly. “Today he bested Varrock’s most accomplished warrior, Lord Hyett, the Black Boar. It has saved me from any more of the man’s advances, and Theodore knows how grateful I am.”

  Kara struggled to answer as both Thessalias fussed about her, forcing her to stand straight to better shape the gown. It was very low-cut in the front, she thought.

  “Are you sure this is acceptable?” Kara asked Caroline, who nodded shyly before looking to Anne, perhaps to seek her permission. “It has a yellow ribbon on. Isn’t that the King’s colour?”

  “Not exclusively so,” Anne said.

  “And you don’t think it too… revealing?” Kara asked.

  “It is the only dress left that suits your figure,” Madame Thessalia replied. After a moment she and her daughter finished their efforts, and stood back to assess the results.

  “Well, that fits at least,” Anne said as she approached the older Thessalia. “Take it off, Kara, and we will return to the palace to prepare together.” She took her purse and dropped five coins into the old woman’s hand.

  “My lady?” Madame Thessalia asked.

  Anne looked at Kara, her eyes narrowing.

  “That is a bonus,” she said. “I am very happy with my dress for this evening, and if things go as well as I expect, then I will pay you some more.”

  I have missed something here.

  Madame Thessalia bowed her head in respect.

  “You are our very best and most generous patron, my lady.”

  “But as I was saying Kara-Meir-” Anne spoke with a sudden relish, and Kara prepared herself. “-Theodore may be a knight, but he is also a man. A very good man in fact. Very good. And ever so eager to please.”

  Kara went cold inside as Anne gazed at her in triumph. She forgot the dress in an instant.

  Oh, Theodore.

  The atmosphere in the carriage was tense as they journeyed back to the palace. Occasionally Kara would see Anne look at her with a superior smile. Caroline, for her part, stared always out of the window. When they arrived, Anne gestured to a man who was waiting for them.

  “This servant will guide you to your room, Kara-Meir,” she said. “A chamber has been put aside for you in the palace’s guest wing, and your packs from your horses have already been sent up. You will be expected back down here in the Great Hall for nine. It would be most embarrassing if you were late, for you are a guest of honour.”

  Kara followed the servant up the great staircase, while another came behind, carrying the dress that Anne had picked out for her.

  I wouldn’t be surprised if she has found me room in the stables.

  Her thoughts were so turbulent that when the servant stopped outside of a closed door, she nearly walked straight into his back.

  “These are the very best guest quarters, my lady.” The man swung the door inward. A cosy anteroom led off through an arch to a larger space. “Three rooms-a bedroom, living room, and a dressing room.” He hesitated suddenly. “I was asked to find a servant for you. I know your friends have been appointed valets to help them, but apparently you have your own? Lord William de Adlard told me so. In fact, he asked me to tell you that he will be coming to see you shortly.”

  “Who is Lord William?” Kara said, thinking quickly of the many faces she had seen in the royal box. She couldn’t recall being introduced to him, yet she knew his name from Anne’s scathing assessment in the carriage.

  “He is a friend of Squire-” The servant coughed. “Forgive me, my lady. Of Sir Theodore’s.”

  “
Is he an honest man?”

  “I really shouldn’t comment, my lady. But I do believe so.”

  The second servant left her dress in the cupboard as the first man bowed.

  “If you need anything else, my lady, the bell rope will call us.”

  Once they had left, Kara lay down on her bed, dropping the satchel beside her.

  Don’t let yourself get lazy, she told herself. Weapons first. Always they come first. With a sigh she got up and dug through her saddlebag to find a whetstone. Then she took her satchel off the bed and examined the daggers she had taken from the barn.

  Could they really have cut Jerrod?

  But her questions died when she saw Theodore’s letter, the paper’s edge protruding from inside the leather satchel.

  She read it again. There could be no mistaking what the knight had said.

  And yet it appears he has made his choice, she thought. What does he really want or expect now?

  Someone banged a fist on the door to her quarters.

  Kara hid Theodore’s letter back in her satchel before answering.

  “Kara-Meir,” said a hard man with an angry face. “I have some property that belongs to you, by order of the King. Two items. Each of poor quality.”

  The man stepped aside to reveal Pia and Jack. The boy gazed at her hopefully. Pia looked sullenly to the floor.

  “I have also added up your bounty,” the man declared. “It will pay adequately for the money these two took off the people yesterday. That was, after all, your offer to the King?”

  Kara nodded.

  “That is correct. See to it that it gets to the right people… Captain?” She paused.

  “Captain Rovin, Kara-Meir,” the angry man said, seeing her expression. Then he bowed stiffly. “These people are your servants now. It would not do for them to be caught stealing again.” He turned and exited. “Good evening.”

  Kara ushered the two inside.

  “So neither of you can read?” she asked. They both nodded their heads. “Can you cook? Can you sew?”

  Jack nodded and smiled.

  “I can sew. Look.”

  He tore a false front from his shirt. It was stitched on only one side, like a door with a hinge. Behind it, upon his body, was a board of some sort with thick padding behind that ran from his chest to his belly.

  “What is that for?” Kara asked.

  “Show him, Pia. Come on!”

  “I don’t have my knife any more, Jack,” Pia sighed. “Straven took it.”

  “I still have the duplicate,” Jack replied.

  The girl stood angrily as the boy handed her a thin blade with a weighted hilt.

  She hates me, Kara guessed. She hates me for saving her and putting her in my debt.

  Pia walked to the far end of the centre room, leaving Jack still in the antechamber, his cork board displayed. She spun and with a grunt drew her arm back and hurled the knife. It spun, end over end, and landed straight in the cork. At the same instant, Jack folded his false front across, hiding it beneath.

  The boy was smiling.

  “I’m not sure I understand,” Kara said tentatively.

  Pia tutted angrily.

  “I pretended to be you. Therefore I needed to demonstrate my skill with a weapon. We rehearsed this often. Jack would play as an urchin, and with a duplicate knife he would stab an apple a few minutes before we performed. I would then throw my knife into his board and he would hide it, holding the apple up. In a crowded room, with him at the front, it worked perfectly.”

  Kara laughed.

  “That’s very resourceful. Perhaps we can learn from each other-”

  Her words ended as another fist banged on the door. She moved to open it.

  It was a young man with dark hair and a trimmed beard and moustache, expensively attired in a black cloak trimmed with otter fur and pinned at his shoulder with a silver brooch. He wore black gloves and underneath the cloak he wore a black velvet shirt. Unlike many nobles she had seen, he had no sword strapped to his side. The brooch, she noted, was in the shape of a leaping fox.

  Behind him stood a much older man in blue and red finery.

  Elegant. Elegant and harmless.

  The first man bowed.

  “My lady Kara-Meir,” he said. “My name is Lord William de Adlard. I am a friend of Theodore’s-or Sir Theodore, as it is now, of course. Ah!” His eyes fell on Pia and Jack. “I see Captain Rovin arrived ahead of me. He does so enjoy spoiling everyones’ fun.” She gestured and he stepped into the room. “I have been tasked with looking after you and your… friends, and to see that you have everything you need to make yourselves comfortable.” He looked warily at Pia and Jack, then turned to her and continued.

  “But there is another matter I need to speak of.” He motioned to his companion. “Come, ambassador.”

  The second man entered, wheezing. He was old and overweight.

  “Let me introduce Sir Cecil. He is the ambassador to West Ardougne.”

  Behind her, Kara heard Pia gasp. The fat man’s eyes fell on her immediately, and he spoke sternly.

  “There is no easy way of saying this, Kara-Meir, but these two are wanted in my city. I recognised Pia’s accent when she cried out at the festival this afternoon, and knew that only very few people would undertake such a long journey unless they had to. And I am afraid your journey was one of necessity, was it not, Pia? For you will hang if you ever return to Kandarin. Hang for murder.”

  Pia gasped and fell to her knees.

  Jack ran to her and placed his arms around her.

  “It’s not true! It’s not!” he shouted bitterly. “Pia didn’t kill anybody!”

  “I have a description of both of you and a warrant for your arrest. You must be sent back to Ardougne to face trial. Justice must be done.”

  “Justice? King Lathas’s justice?” Pia wept. “There is no justice there.”

  “Speak ill of your King again and I will have you flogged!”

  “Not here you won’t,” Kara said suddenly. “How dare you come here and make demands? These people are my property now, given to me by the King of this land-not yours.”

  “But they were never his to give, Kara-Meir. They are King Lathas’s serfs. And one of them is a murderess, the other an accomplice.” The ambassador turned. “I didn’t believe you had so little respect for justice, Kara-Meir. But mark my words, we will talk of this again. And soon.”

  Lord William pursed his lips as the ambassador turned on his heel and vanished down the hallway.

  “This has been badly handled,” he admitted. “Sir Cecil can be prickly but I fear he may also be right. I do not think you can protect them, Lady Kara.”

  “I am no lady, Lord William. Kindly stop referring to me as such. My name is Kara.”

  She ran her hand over her face and growled in anger. Pia had told her at the barn that she had never killed anybody before.

  And I believe her. The look on her face when she saw the dead bodies. Thief, yes-murderess, I doubt.

  “Jack, you and Pia can sleep in my room tonight, on the floor,” she said as gently as she could. “Go now, and try and find rest. But remember, both of you-I will help you if I can.”

  Lord William shook his head doubtfully and made to leave.

  “Wait a moment, Lord William,” she said. “I would like a private word with you.” She closed the door behind the noble and waited until Pia and Jack had disappeared into the bedroom. “Can you tell me, honestly, what Theodore’s relationship is with Lady Anne?”

  The young man stretched his face into an apologetic smile, and then back, perhaps believing it wasn’t at all appropriate.

  “She wants him, Kara-Meir,” he admitted. “That’s the truth of it I fear, and what she wants, she usually gets.”

  “Wants him? Or has already had him?”

  Lord William blushed.

  “I couldn’t be sure, Kara. They had a meeting in the galleries, a traditional place where people wish to meet unseen. But tha
t was only this morning. And I don’t think… no… I really don’t think that’s what happened.”

  The young nobleman backed toward the door, his face a deepening red.

  “I should go now. Things to do.”

  Kara watched him retreat, and a slight smile played upon her face.

  So, they met only today, she mused. Perhaps Lady Anne feels her hold is weak, being so recent. She was relieved, and yet she wondered if she had any right to feel so. She hadn’t seen Theodore for months, and he was a famous knight at a court of ambitious young women. Had she any right to be jealous?

  Especially since I never wrote to him. Perhaps I have lost him.

  Kara sighed, and then cursed. She had forgotten to ask Lord William to send a maid to help her dress. Panic gripped her suddenly. She ran to the door and drew it back, to see if he was still near.

  But instead it was a woman who approached. A maid of declining years.

  “Lady Kara?” the maid asked stiffly.

  Kara nodded.

  “Lady Kara, my name is Lucretia. I bring compliments from my mistress, Lady Caroline. She has asked me to assist you in preparation for the dance. She has also asked me to tell you that you should arrive a few moments before the time you were advised.” The woman blinked once. “No doubt Lady Anne is playing one of her funny tricks again. She’s a lady only in name, that one. It is unfortunate my mistress associates so closely with her. Now, come along, for we haven’t much time.”

  Kara flashed her most brilliant smile.

  Lady Caroline. I am in your debt.

  9

  The Great Hall was a long rectangular room with a very high ceiling. At its southern end was a raised stage where King Roald and his most favoured subjects sat and ate, while below everyone else stood.

  On the western side of the hall were great arched windows, stained with the yellow colouring of King Roald’s pennant, admitting the evening sunlight in a bright dazzle. In alcoves on all sides torches chased away shadows, while on tabletops and in chandeliers candles added to the celebration of light. On the eastern edge of the room, two large fire pits cooked pigs and boars on spits, and barrels of ale and wine were supported on a wooden scaffold. Above them, on a balcony, an orchestra played a lively tune that seemed contrary to the serious faces of the King’s closest advisors, who were already discussing the monarch’s promised parliament.