Chapter Eighteen

I must have fallen asleep. The next thing I knew, Rosalie was crying somewhere near.

I sat up, startled. My back ached. Now that I was back to my normal size, I could see that the area I had chosen to hide in was so small that if I stood, I could easily reach the ceiling. Behind the door, Gilo's quiet voice was saying, "You're not very fond of sleeping, are you?"

Rosalie wailed.

"No, I didn't think so. But maybe if we found a quiet, dark place… "

Before I could do anything, the door opened. Gilo stood in the doorway cradling Rosalie in one arm and holding a brightly glowing candle in the other.

Gilo made a strangled noise, his eyes huge in the light of the candle. The candle fell with a clatter and went out.

I jumped to my feet. "I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to discover me like this. Uh…here." I picked up the candle.

Gilo stared. I could see the whites of his eyes in the darkness.

"I'm Ellis. That's my niece. I came with her…through magic. I couldn't give her up."

Rosalie held her little hands out to me and screamed.

"She wants me," I said.

Wordlessly, Gilo took the candle with one hand and handed Rosalie to me with the other. As we touched, I felt his hands tremble. I held Rosalie close, soothing her, murmuring to her. "I'm here, love, I'm here."

Rosalie's fingers fastened round my neck. She kept crying but more quietly now.

Gilo kept staring. Was he afraid of me?

"I'd like to thank you," I said. "You cared for her as tenderly as a mother would."

"If Rumpel finds you…" he whispered.

Not afraid of me, no. He was afraid for me.

"Let's hope he doesn't," I said. "I apologize for being such a rude guest but have you anything to eat?"

Gilo turned around and disappeared down the corridor.

Within moments he was back, with a plate filled to the top with meat, potatoes and corn. I sat down on the ground, put the plate on my lap and devoured the food, eating with my right hand while Rosalie drooled over my left shoulder. The food was cold but I didn't care. I was ravenous.

Gilo stood uncertainly in the doorway, holding a newly lit candle.

"Would you mind coming inside?" I asked. "I know there isn't much room but that way we can close the door."

Gilo nodded, took a step forward and closed the door behind him.

The candle glowed.

Gilo cleared his throat. "You know that…you'll have to stay here forever now?"

I said nothing.

"You're inside a large cave with thousands of corridors. You'll never find the way out."

I shivered. " I didn't know that," I said. "But it wouldn't have mattered anyway. I had to come. Just like you."

"What do you mean?"

"I think I know who you are."

Gilo looked at me quickly with a stunned, anxious look.

"You're the prince, aren't you? Who gave himself in place of his brother?"

He nodded slowly. He still looked anxious so I hastened to add, "Ever since I heard about you, I have admired you more than anyone."

Gilo laughed. It was an odd laugh. I had meant to praise him for his courage but he didn't seem to get any pleasure from it.

Rosalie had finally grown quiet and I began to rock her back and forth gently, hoping she might fall asleep.

"Does the whole kingdom know what happened to me?" Gilo asked, leaning against the wall.

"Oh, no. I spent some time in the palace and your father trusted me enough to tell me the truth, in the strictest confidence." I sighed. "Even Olin thinks you are dead."

At Olin's name, Gilo drew a startled breath. "My brother?"

I nodded. "He is a fine boy. Good and smart. Brave too."

Gilo smiled and the smile transformed his whole face. His gray eyes softened, his mouth relaxed. I saw Olin's features in his face more clearly than before and I was smiling back before I knew it.

Gilo sat down on the ground beside me. "At least…at least then…I'm here for a reason."

"Have you ever doubted it?" I asked.

"No…no. But still. That is good to know."

I finished eating and put my plate and fork on the ground by my feet.

In the following pause, Gilo looked at me. And kept looking.

I felt my face grow hot. Even in the weak light of the candle, I knew I was a sorry sight, my dress damp and dirty, my hair a positive mess.

I gave him a puzzled smile.

"I haven't seen any men or women since I left home," he said. "I…I forgot what they looked like."

I was the first woman he had seen in nine years.

"By all means, look."

I thought I saw him blush but it was hard to tell.

"You must have gone through so much," I said. "To be trapped in here with Rumpelfor so long…"

Gilo put his hands in his pockets. "It is not quite so horrifying as that. I'm not alone here, after all. The children and I…we do the same things any family does. We eat. We sleep. We amuse ourselves."

I realized that he felt uncomfortable in the role of the hero. Maybe, I thought, I should stop treating him like one.

"How?"

"We play with shadows. We draw." He hesitated. "We count and read and write. Have you seen the pictures on the walls?"

I nodded.

"Some of them are words written with a picture alphabet."

"Do you mean that you have one picture to stand for every letter? Like a sort of code?"

"Yes. You see, Rumpel doesn't know that the children can read and write. When they use pictures, he thinks that they are simply drawing. Like this." He picked up a stick and began to draw on the ground.

I leaned forward to get a better look. The pictures were simple. There was an arm for A, a blanket for B, a candle for C and a door for D.

"You invented this?"

"It wasn't difficult." Gilo's eyes shone. He looked at his picture alphabet, as a carpenter might look at a fine piece of his woodwork. "I should change the picture for D though."

"Why?"

"There are only two doors here. This one and the door to Rumpel's room. There's not much need for doors otherwise. You can go down the corridor in any direction you like…only you don't go because you're afraid of getting lost."

So I had stumbled upon the only hiding place available. I had been ridiculously lucky to find it so quickly.

Suddenly, Gilo threw down the stick and turned towards me sharply. "I've been trying to decide whether I should ask you this and…I have to know. How is my mother?"

His mother.

I didn't want to be the one to tell him the truth. Only who else would? I met his gaze helplessly. He drew back.

"I'm sorry...but…when she learned what had happened…she grew ill…and…"

Gilo's breath caught. "I see."

I was stumbling over my words. "I didn't mean to…you shouldn't have heard it like this. I made a mess of it. I'm sorry."

Gilo said nothing. He was still, looking down at his picture alphabet, making no sound. I sat there, wondering if there was any way I could comfort him that would be genuine, that would be natural. I couldn't think of anything. I had lost my mother too but it had been long ago when I was very small. It wasn't the same at all. So I sat next him in the sorrowful silence and said nothing.

Eventually, Gilo stood and spoke in a detached way. "I ought to go back to the children. You can keep the candle. I'll have to take the baby or Rumpel will notice her absence."

He wants to grieve alone, I thought.

Cautiously, slowly, I held out sleeping Rosalie to him. "Her name is – "

"Don't tell me," Gilo said. He took her into his arms so gently that she didn't wake. "I can't call her by her real name. If I do, Rumpel will wonder how I knew." He opened the door and disappeared around the corner.