Maybe it was all a sick prank. Caroline wanted nothing more than to play a little joke on him. A joke of remarkable wit, cleverness, and annoyance that she and her silly friends could laugh over before shooing him off to the barn for a night's rest he didn't intend on enjoying. For years after he left they would enjoy such a memory.

Caroline didn't intend on luring him to the barn with her, did she?

He cringed outwardly. Well, so far, Caroline had not appeared. He closed his eyes and listened to the woods. The King's Forest. At least the trees were alive, if the name was not. He couldn't understand what they were saying, but his fairy blood had assured him he could be aware they were speaking, if he listened hard enough. It was like a faint rush of wind mixed with the chatter of animals--only it meant something.

"You're here."

It was like falling off a cliff. He opened his eyes and distinctly felt the heavy presence of his body around him. He jerked his head up into the misty gaze of a servant girl. Her pale, smooth face practically glowed out from the drifts of brown hair so dark it was almost black. The eyes were large and disturbingly green. Her hands with fingers almost too long for her body played nervously with the strings of her apron.

It wasn't Caroline.

Bewildered, Jay nodded, vaguely aware of how odd it must appear, sitting there like a homeless drunk. "Yes. I am here. I didn't--"

A smile shattered her face. "I almost didn't think you would come. But... but I am glad you come. I know this must seem to silly."

What was her name? Jay wondered. He had met her, sure enough. She had been with Caroline the other night. The one that hadn't talked.

"Do you remember me?" she continued. "I saw you last night. I'm sorry I laughed at you, but Caroline and Kathryn were both there, and it was sort of funny."

"Andrea!" The name shot from his mouth the moment it hit his brain. He leaped to his feet, finger shaking in her direction. "That's it! I knew you looked familiar, but I couldn't remember what Caroline called you."

The smile faded, and Andrea took a step back. "You didn't remember who I was?"

He shrugged. "No, not really."

Andrea put a hand to her head, body trembling. "Oh, no. I feel... I feel so foolish now! Caroline said you would come, and I guess I assumed she had told you about me. I didn't think... she can be so sneaky that way!"

The confusion was mounting up. "So... Caroline is coming, then?" Jay asked.

She once again locked eyes with him. The startling green was suddenly on fire. "Caroline? You thought you would be meeting Caroline?"

This could not be good. He should stop talking immediately. The sunset was going black, and soon it would be too dark for anything good to come of this. "Well, yes. She asked me to meet her here in the evening. And it's evening."

"You thought you would be meeting Caroline?" It wasn't a shriek; Andrea's voice was loud but the words screamed to be accompanied by tears.

Any moment someone was going to step out of the palace and assume he was a cad hurting an innocent servant girl, taking her for everything and leaving her nothing. Jay bit his lip. "She said..."

Andrea brushed a hand over her eyes, shaking her head. "No, no. I'm sorry. I was being foolish."

"Foolish?"

She sniffed and nodded. "I... last night, I thought you... well, nothing. But Caroline noticed because she always notices things like that. Has to, considering who she is running around with... she insisted we bring you back. She followed you to your village to bring you here. To meet me. Right now. I thought she would mention my name."

All Jay could do was stare. Now he was too warm, but couldn't bring himself to take off the coat. Funny how that was the one thing he thought of. "So Caroline isn't here?"

Andrea made the sound that Lake made when she was angry, stamped her foot, and whirled around.

Oops. "Wait! Andrea!"

"Just forget it!" Andrea pushed against the gate, which swung open after apparently not being locked, and started up the path. "I'm sorry about this whole mess!"

"But I didn't know what was going on!" He started after her. He had to fix this, if nothing else. Why did these situations always happen?

"Men never do!" she called back. "By the way, Caroline is not available for your interest, and I don't care who knows it!"

Jay fought the urge to scream. "I didn't want to meet Caroline!"

Andrea stopped. She looked like a shadow, and for a moment Jay's breath caught in his throat as she turned around. "You didn't? Then why did you come?"

He didn't even know that! "Because..." He found his hand scratching the back of his head. "Because she asked me?"

She gave a withering glare. "Figures." She resumed her march.

Damn it. "Andrea, please, I don't understand what I did!"

She didn't reply. She just kept going until she reached a servants' side door and slammed it behind her.

"Andrea!" he called once more. As if she could hear him. His voice echoed against the palace walls. Great. Now he'd have the entire guard on him. As if he needed that now. Just a poor miller standing desolately on royal grounds. Was that enough to have one's head chopped off?

And then he realized that someone was laughing. A guard stood at the main doors, a big man about his age with brown hair. "You really blew it, didn't you?"

Oh, yes. The tryst that would tomorrow be the lead rumor. Jay frowned at the guard. He didn't know how to explain that he didn't even know the girl. "Any suggestions?"

The guard shrugged, laugh fading. "I'm just saying you made my entertainment for the night."

"I'm glad someone's happy."

"You could try flowers, maybe. Now get out of here before I throw you out."

It wasn't until Jay trudged away that he realized just how beautiful Andrea had been.

The tour of the palace with Prince Isaac had been, if only to say something, enjoyable. Lake leaned against the pile of velvet pillows she had stacked up, considering the day. Watched Jay fake some gold, listened to Isaac tell her some of the more pointless aspects of the royal lifestyle. Peter had later engaged Isaac in a pretend jousting match that thankfully hadn't ended with any injuries popping from the events of stupid ideas. For a prince, Isaac was certainly one of the more interesting she had come across. At least he had seen through her play acting somewhat.

She had the room to herself, and for that she was rather grateful. Her father had been invited to some stately conversation or another, King Cherdith's weak but applaudable attempt to welcome peasant riff-raff. She had her bed, she had her cozy blankets, and a gilded cup she had stolen from dinner. She couldn't be sure, but she was almost certain Isaac had seen her take it. He had laughed over something right after that.

Yes, he was an interesting sample of royalty. If he became a reward for spinning gold, what would her reaction be? Playful excitement? It wouldn't matter. After she disappeared, Isaac would probably all find it a good joke--and maybe miss her a little.

She yawned. She had been up more or less all night. A little sleep in a proper bed would not be argued.

But just as she closed her eyes a knock came at the door.

She groaned and pushed the blankets away with a furious snap. Who could that be? They didn't want her to spin straw into gold already?

But it was only a grinning Peter at the door, who met her with a dashing bow. "The Prince has invited you on yet another exploration of the palace."

Lake smiled in spite of herself--or maybe more at the ridiculous smile on Peter's face; he even went so far as to bat his eyes. "It's just that I'm so tired from spinning."

He shook his head in protest. "No, no. Prince Isaac insists and promises that he will be surprised if he takes you away for even an hour."

She glanced back at her comfy bed.

"He also says that he can't promise ghosts, but that there is always the possibility."

She laughed. "You seem intrigued by this, Peter. Why don't you go?"

He picked up her hand and kissed it. "Because I'm not the beautiful young lady."

Lake grabbed her slippers.

Isaac was waiting at the top of the staircase, wrapped in a black cloak and looking positively frightening. Lake climbed the stairs, smile tugging at her lips even as she tried to feign fear. "So you are going to show me the royal ghosts?"

"I shall try." Isaac's voice was a raspy whisper, the way a story book character would sound to her. "I did tell you last night that this place had murders, did I not?"

She curtsied, now smiling fully. "That you did, Your Majesty."

"Then come, my fair spinner of straw and gold." He offered her his arm, and she, giggling, accepted. She barely noticed the warm tingle as her skin touched his. He started off to the right, where there was no hall, only a wall with a portrait of some old, stuff man whom was probably long dead. She even asked about that. "Was he murdered?"

Isaac shrugged. "Probably. In fact, very probably. At least the portrait proves useful. Watch." He gripped one side of the frame and shoved it. The canvas slid to the left easily.

Lake gasped, for real.

A perfectly round hole had been hidden by the painting. It was at least three feet in diameter and failed to show its ending.

"We're crawling in there?" she asked.

Isaac nodded. "Oh, yes. Yes, we are."

She stood where she was. He had to be joking.

Isaac smiled at her. "I don't want to scare you too much. One of my ancestors made this. It simply leads to some old passages made in case of an enemy intrusion. Come on." And he immediately climbed inside.

Well... she decided to follow.

The passage was much cooler than she had imagined. She had expected a reek and a stuffiness exceeding that of the portrait's original. But there was no heat whatsoever and she rather fancied she could feel a draft coming in from somewhere. Pleasant, if she wasn't forced to imagine spiders she couldn't see.

"I'm not seeing any ghosts, Isaac," she called.

"When I was nine, I could have sworn I found a skeleton in here," he called back.

A skeleton? "Thank you. That was very much what I needed to here."

"I just happen to enjoy scaring innocent village girls."

"I thought you said you didn't want to scare me."

There was a pause. "Well, not too much."

She laughed. "Does His Majesty the King know about this?"

"I have no idea, Miss Lake. And I really don't care. My father is calm about such matters. I don't think he'd mind either way. We're about to enter the Mountain Room. Get ready."

"The Mountain Room?"

"I named it that when I was little. It's an unused room that I think the servants don't even know about. I just have to find the right catch..."

She paused where she was. The floor beneath her knees and hands was surprisingly smooth. Wood, she surmised. "You know so much about this palace."

"Not everything. But I do know these passages like nothing else. Here we go..."

A blast of light met her eyes. No, not a blast, but even the infusion of moonlight through a window was enough to her. A grey patch had opened before her, and she could see the dim outline of Isaac and his hand reaching out for hers. She gratefully accepted and allowed herself to be pulled from the tunnel.

The room was utterly grey. Probably with dust. She sneezed several times, and she was not the only one.

"Sorry," Isaac said, walking to the center of the tiny room. "No one cleans in here."

On one side of the room was a long table. It was the only furniture. Around it was a stretch of grey curtains that covered every wall, save for a shred just in front of the tunnel.

"I thought the drapes looked like mountains," Isaac explained.

She laughed. "What an imagination." She made her way to the window. In the distance she could see what she imagined to be Wheat Hill. "How far up are we?"

"Third floor, I think."

"Where's the door from this room."

He gestured to no wall in particular. "Behind one of these. I found it once or twice, but I always forget where it lies. But this room... I know this room is haunted."

She turned from the window to study the drapes. In the moonlight, she could always imagine them burial shrouds. A delightful shiver ran down her spine. "It's rather lovely."

He nodded, looking less frightening in his black. "I suppose it is. You're not the first to say that. I showed this room to..." His voice trailed off.

She looked at him. "To who?"

"No one." He shook his head. "Just someone. It's not important."

She shrugged, not curious enough to press for details. "Well, thank-you for showing it to me."

He smiled. "You're welcome."

Lake reached out and touched the curtains. They were of a thick material, and powdery with dust. "I suggest we try to find the door again."

Isaac laughed. "Really? Right now? Aren't you tired? I should be taking you back to your room."

"No, I want to find the real way out of this room. Now." She got down on her knees, threw the drapes over her, and stood up in the inky, choking blackness. "Guess where I am!"

"Behind the curtain. I saw you go under there."

"Join me!"

Jay would have protested, but Isaac said "All right!"

Lake raced around the perimeter of the room, laughing. She could hear the pounding footsteps of Isaac as he did the same thing. Finally they crashed into each other, almost sending Lake laughing into the floor had he not caught her. "Careful!"

"You're right." She couldn't even see his face in the dark. "There isn't a door!"

"No, I found it. Somewhere back here." Still holding her wrist, he guided her forward. "See? Feel this."

A doorknob. "Wow." She turned and pushed outwards, Isaac at her side.

The hall was also a murky grey, but the faint effects of nearby torchlight could be seen. It was a grander hall, and Lake wondered how royalty could have missed it. But it lacked a carpet or a tapestry or anything to suggest anyone cared about it.

Then why the torchlight?

"Where are we?" she murmured.

"The old wing. Unused."

She voiced the thought. "Then why is there torch light?"

Isaac looked at her, suddenly no longer smiling. "Servants? I don't know... maybe they clean up here."

She managed a nervous laugh. "You were right, Prince Isaac. This is spooky."

"You'll be fine, Miss Lake."

She thought of the man she had seen at the window. "I saw someone today. And yesterday."

"We do have many people in the palace."

"I only saw him for a moment and I--"

Someone coughed around the corner.

Lake screamed and grabbed Isaac's arm. He sighed deeply and started forward.

Footsteps were approaching.

"Shh." Isaac gently pushed her arm way, then knelt down and took off his boot. It looked rather heavy, for a book. Then he approached the corner.

There was a scream, and then a curse.

The Bear stumbled into view, clutching his head. "Your Majesty!"

Isaac stepped back, laughing hard. "I'm so sorry! We thought... Miss Lake was scared."

Hyrum, still rubbing his forehead, glared at her. Rude, but she smiled and curtsied anyway. "Prince Isaac, what were you doing up here? This place isn't safe."

"I might ask you the same question." Isaac put his boot back on.

The Bear grunted something. "My job, Your Highness, his to guard you and this palace. I hear voices from an unused area, I come to investigate. And apparently this is my reward for such service."

Isaac just smiled. "I thank you for thinking of me.

Hyrum grunted something again.

"I feel very protected, sir," Lake said, winking at Isaac.

"I'm glad, miss. Can't have the king's gold spinner dead."

"Perhaps you would be willing to accompany her back to her room," Isaac suggested.

A guard? Lake instantly felt slighted. Then she remembered herself. She hadn't been giving her usual act. Of course Prince Isaac wasn't going to favor her by taking her back to her room! It would not look proper. Then again, neither did climbing about secret passages. But why did she care about either?

She had no right to be treating the Prince as an equal.

She was only playing. A different role, a new role. That was it.

She curtsied again to Isaac. "Thank-you for that little tour."

"Are you ready to go?" The Bear growled.

She nodded, and prepared herself to follow him, when a scream echoed through the palace, only to be cut short. She screamed herself.

The Bear ripped out his sword and ran in that direction. "Come, girl, I'll drop you off on the way!"

Would he?

But Isaac grabbed her arm, and he ran as well, always after the form of Hyrum.

They finally stopped in the middle of a hall, one more familiar. Peter and three other guards were already there, in a circle around something.

Peter frowned when he saw her. "Keep the lady away."

But Lake was curious.

"What happened?" Isaac demanded.

"Lord George," Peter said darkly. "One of your father's advisors. He... Prince, you shouldn't concern yourself with this."

But Isaac forced his way up anytime, and Lake caught a glimpse of something, red and sticky.

There was no knife, but the blood was everywhere, still spurting from the dead noble's chest.