It was good work, Caroline thought happily to herself. If she could be her one most picky critic, she had done good. She laughed, gave the brush a final flip in her hand, and shoved Andrea toward the cracked and dusty mirror that held nothing back on the view of an absolute angel. "Andrea, my dear, you look beautiful!"
But if the girl went as far to give one of those awful frowns Caroline was so sick of, she might just have to ram the brush down her throat. Caroline had never been good at dealing with girls so big on humility when there was everything under the sun in which to show a little pride... one just did not run around with the fay features of Andrea and act ashamed!
For one terrible moment, it seemed Andrea would not be pleased. Caroline wondered if she could blame this death on someone else. After all, she had stolen the brush from one of the other girls. No one but the beautiful corpse, who of course was incapable of speech, could stand as a witness that Caroline had used that brush.
But, finally and fortunately, Andrea's wry little mouth flipped into a small and nervous smile.
Caroline sighed, gritted her teeth, and put her arms around her friend's shoulders. "At least I think you are a terribly gorgeous creature."
"Are you quite sure?"
The humility again. Who needed it? Humility only crowded away confidence. "Andrea, please show me a little gratitude! I work and work during the only break I have to make you presentable for that silly Miller boy and you have the audacity to ask me if I am quite sure. And of course I am sure!" She pulled her arms away and gave Andrea a gentle smack. "You are just as silly as him, but at least you have given me your word you won't do anything foolish like run away!"
Andrea took a deep breath and pulled at one of the plaits Caroline had done. Lots of braids, wrapped together in the most lovely manner! She had even managed to secure a bit of her secret stash of powder and lipstick. Very expensive, a gift... but Andrea deserved it. At least her smile grew a little. "But Caroline, what am I supposed to say?"
Caroline gave the floor a gentle kick that would have best been suited for Andrea, but was able to control herself. "Be yourself, you silly goose! You're an enchantingly wonderful friend, and you look like something that just wandered out of Fairyland." There was the blush she had been looking for. Oh, but Jay Miller did not stand a chance. "Yes, that's right."
"Only because of you!"
She was going to have to work extra-hared at knocking the humility out of that girl. Someday, someday. She gave Andrea a small push toward the mirror. Katherine had lent the dress she was wearing, a lovely blue color that well-suited her. "I did nothing. I only... made them more noticeable. You have always been beautiful, and it's not because of me." Oh, yes! Even more of a blush! Forget Jay Miller, every man in the palace would kill a thousand Lord Orsons for Andrea. Ooh, that might present a problem. She laughed to herself. Yes, even Hyrum himself would melt his stone heart for this girl.
Andrea gave a small laugh, fingers still pulling at the braids. "I'm still not sure what I should say! What would you say?"
"What would I say?" What did that question have to do with anything? Caroline marched to the other say of the small room and plopped herself onto her bed. "Well, I would laugh and compliment him on things with which he really had nothing to do. I would tell him about myself— just a little, until I got to know him better. I would be an excellent listener and ask him about himself. And I would be sure to touch him plenty."
The blush took over the girl's face.
For heaven's sake. Caroline sighed again and shook her head. "Not like that! Touch his arm. Men like it when you touch their arms."
"Are you sure?" Andrea quickly crossed the room and sat next to her on the bed. "Is that what I should do?"
"I thought you were asking me what I would do!" She didn't think this would be so difficult to explain. "Be yourself! You're a sweet, somewhat shy girl, but you can work that shyness to your advantage. Just be yourself! Now go and make me proud!"
It turned out that she had to all but shove the girl to the door.
"Is he even at the palace today?" Andrea asked desperately. Excuses, excuses.
"I'm sure he is!" Caroline replied nonchalantly.
"How do you know?"
"I sent him a message that his sister is in danger. A good brother would return for his sister. Now go look for him." With that, she shoved Andrea out the door and shut it behind her. For a long time she rested there, but the excitement was just building up inside of her, tingling like fireworks until she exploded with a roaring "Yes!" Then she ran across the room and threw herself back on the bed. Not hers, but any bed would do at this moment.
She had done a good deed. And when one had done a good deed, nothing felt better than to laugh like a lunatic and bash one's arms and legs into a good straw mattress. Andrea, sweet little Andrea, was finally going to learn what it was like to be in love.
And Caroline knew that was the most wonderful feeling on the earth. Possibly even in heaven. No, of course it was the most wonderful thing in both heaven and earth.
The door opened during one of her trills of joy. For one second her heart froze... she was too happy right now to have to kill Andrea.
But fortunately it wasn't her.
"I take it you sent her on her merry little way?" Hannah asked as she sauntered in with barely a glance at her.
Giggling, Caroline sat up. There was too much happiness for this little room. "Yes! And hopefully she isn't running away from her romantic destiny."
"She's too afraid of you to return."
"Good. That is how I like it."
Hannah made her way to the water jug, where she tossed water over her face. Hannah was quite pretty herself, rather delicate for a servant girl, but what did that matter? "Sometimes you scare me, Caroline, and I haven't been her too long at all."
"You always say that, Hannah." She couldn't use Andrea for her excitement all day. "Your old station must have been rather dull indeed."
"You don't know the half of it," she replied with a mirror-reflected smile. "Though I admit this place does have its shares of murders. I still feel terrible about Lord Orson."
Caroline picked herself off the bed and checked her one face in the mirror. She hadn't been able to escape long... she was due back at her duties within the hour. But she had her own meeting to keep. "We will talk later. If Andrea returns sooner than you think I would like her too, do not let her into these rooms."
Hannah laughed.
Caroline smiled into the mirror, wishing she was as pretty as Andrea, then left the room.
Good. No sight of a stalling Andrea anywhere. She slipped around the corner and headed for the older halls.
It was nearing late afternoon, her favorite part of the day— she had always felt that the day was at its finest then, its boldest, when the line between work and play was its most respectable blur.
It was also the time when he was finished with his own duties and studies.
The halls seemed to grow the emptier as she walked through them until she reached the place few bothered to clean anymore. At least the meeting wasn't in the silly grey room. But there was an old painting, somewhat dusty, of a lake surrounded by golden fields. She had always wondered if such a place existed. She probably wouldn't bother to go there, she was happy at the palace, but a confirmation of a few things would be nice.
She stopped in front of it and waited. He was almost never on time. Though, come to think of it, they never really agreed on specific times.
Her heart was spinning, and when her heart spun it tickled. She wanted to laugh, but how would it look for he to come upon her laughing like an idiot? Besides, he often joked this part of the palace was haunted. At least she thought he was joking. She stared up one hall, wondering.
Something moved at the other end.
She let herself laugh this time. "Isaac! You are actually..." She turned around, then gasped.
A man stood before her, and it wasn't Isaac. He wore a black robe, and she could barely see his face. His beard was faintly yellow.
Before Caroline could think, the silver blade of his dagger was touching the skin of her neck, and his strong hand had painfully clasped her wrists together.
"Hello, Princess Rebecca," he whispered.
Who in heaven or hell was Princess Rebecca?
Then the man frowned, and his dagger quivered.
The murder of Lord Orson...
"That moron lied. You aren't the Princess!"
Why would she be the Princess? Caroline finally considered screaming.
But before she could, the side of the dagger was whacked across her head.
"What makes you think I am in danger?" Lake demanded.
Sometimes it was funny when she was angry. Sometimes it wasn't. Jay searched his head for a decent answer. "Because you are renowned for doing something foolish?"
She tossed one of her stupid velvet pillows at him. At least it was soft. "You are going to have to find better weapons than that, sister."
"There are plenty of hard objects in this room!" She gestured at her precious little room she now had all to herself. The royal treatment. Lake would never get sick of that sort of thing.
"But I was worried about you!" Maybe that would calm her down. He had every right to be worried about her.
She dropped the pillow she had been about to throw and held out her hand, fingers waving. "Let me see that message of death and doom."
Maybe he should just leave. But he was too tired. He had snuck into the palace as sneaky as he possibly could be, and that sort of magic wasn't good on his strength. He stared at her for a few seconds, but her frown didn't budge. With a sigh he pulled out the crumpled parchment.
She snatched it away before he could even hand it to her and read it.
"Come quick. Your sister Lake Miller is in terrible danger. Do not let your father know, he needn't be involved." She looked up at him, frown now upside down. "You are an infernal idiot!"
Of course he was! The truth was that Lake could certainly take care of herself. "You would rather I let you die in a real situation?"
"I expect you to know the difference between a real situation and a fake! Do you realize this is the scrawl of a girl?"
Well, the messenger boy had said it had come from Caroline... he grimaced and smacked himself in the head.
"See?" Lake said as she always had to do. "Now get out of here before you get us both in trouble."
He could not lose his pride in front of his sister. "No, I am tired and I don't have the energy to magic my way out. I will sleep here tonight."
"Then don't magic yourself out. Apparently all the servants know about you. They won't care."
"You just said..."
"Jay, get out of my room."
She wasn't even mad. He had only said that to make her mad. Jay forced a smile— that was something he was very good at— and blew her a kiss. "Farewell, then, my dear little sister! I shall return only to spin you gold and not when you are about to be murdered."
Then, before she could have the last word, he was out the door.
It seemed there was the sound of a blue velvet pillow striking the wall.
He hadn't handled that too terribly badly, he thought to himself. A better revenge would be played out later.
But first, he had to attend to the servants' quarters. He would find that Caroline and give her a piece of his mind.
Andrea had only walked around one corner. One single corner. She had expected to make it outside to the grounds before anything... she hadn't even figure out what she was going to do!
When had Caroline sent out that message?
Couldn't a girl have time to make her away past the kitchens?
But she turned that corner, and there he was. Jay Miller, as handsome as could be, walking toward her. She stopped short, scream choking in her throat.
He stopped short as well, and for an awkwardly long time they just looked at each other.
Suddenly she didn't feel quite so pretty.
"Hello, Andrea," he finally said. His voice was high. That was supposed to mean something. What did that mean? She knew he wasn't a eunuch! He had better not be, anyway. But his voice had never been so high before.
What had Caroline told her? Be herself. Be herself. Caroline had told her what to do when she was being herself.
She could do this.
She put on her biggest smile and walked toward him. "Hello, Jay." Her voice was good and low.
Jay's eyes widened, and he still was not moving.
She kept moving. She felt so stupid, but she kept moving. That dainty little walk at which Caroline was so good. "I'm surprised to see you wandering about the palace. I hope the guards didn't give you any trouble."
He glanced at the floor. Well, Caroline had said he was shy. "I... I sort of... snuck in."
She let her voice erupt into giggles like bells ringing. "You snuck in. How clever of you!" She was almost at him. "I didn't know you were so smart. What else can you do?"
He shrugged. "I didn't think it was all that clever..."
She laughed again, louder this time. Did her laughs sound scared? What did scared laughs sound like? "But it is clever! Last time I saw you, you were only at the gate. I bet you're clever enough to climb over the gate."
He hesitated. He still hadn't moved from that spot. "I though the gate was unlocked that night."
Oh. That was right. But now the laughs were coming like a flood through a broken dam. "You are so smart to remember that!" She trailed her fingers down his arm.
He gasped.
Was that good or bad? Caroline hadn't explained any of this!
"I really like..." she started.
He moved. With a sudden leap, he was three feet away from her, staring wildly. "What is wrong with you?" he demanded.
Andrea's heart plummeted right to her toes. "What do you mean?" And another giggle slipped out. So that was what a scared laugh sounded like.
"Are you feeling all right?" Jay asked. "You don't... you don't look like yourself."
"But you only saw me twice. How do you know?"
"You're not acting like you were. Maybe you need to lie down." He was sweating himself. He looked positively sick. "And I need to leave. Now."
He was going to leave. He couldn't leave! Caroline had done it again! All desire to laugh fled from her, and they were replaced by tears behind her eyes. "No, please, I'm so sorry."
"You are?" He raised an eyebrow. He was so incredibly handsome she could hardly believe it. She felt like an idiot, mooning over him. "What are you sorry about?"
"I'm not sick. I was just... Caroline tricked you into coming here." She put her hand to her eyes. Now she remembered. Caroline had not told her to do what she had just done. Maybe she was going to be sick. Sick everywhere.
The long and awkward silence had returned.
"Why do women do these things?" Jay muttered.
She sniffed once. She didn't think she would cry, but it just might happen regardless. "I'm sorry. I'm just going to go..."
"No."
"Huh?" She looked up and, without meaning to, met his eyes. They were like gold. She hadn't noticed before.
"I'm sorry I upset you," he said slowly. "I didn't mean to. Maybe we could go outside and talk."
She sniffed again. Maybe this wasn't going so badly.
Jay's heart pounded with every footstep he took through the grounds. It seemed to his memory that he had said something about having a talk, but nothing was coming out of his mouth; his lips were all but nailed together. The sky was an arching blue overhead, and the sun and breeze were good. But it might as well have been pitch black. He could not look at Andrea for the life of him, though he could hear her plodding along just behind him.
She had been the last one he had expected to see, wearing makeup and braids like a Gypsy. She hadn't seemed like that sort of girl. But then what kind of girl was she?
The palace was shrinking behind him. Oh, he had better say something fast.
"I like your dress."
"Thank-you," she replied.
"You're welcome."
"It isn't mine."
He took a deep breath. This was hard. Normally he could enchant a girl, but after the gate and what she had just done, that was out of the question. "You look... nice in it."
"Thank-you."
Maybe the conversation would be smoother if they were looking at each other. He slowed his steps to allow her to catch up with him. "Thank-you for saying that I was clever."
"You're welcome," she said. Now she was next to him, not looking, either.
"My sister Lake would never call me clever."
Andrea laughed, a real laugh. Not like before. She even sent him a glance, which he barely caught. That must mean he had glanced at her. She really was pretty in the blue dress.
"Do you have any family?" he asked.
She gave a small smile, quaint and delicate on her face. "Yes. My father works in the stables, and my younger brother works with him."
He gave his own smile. "No mother?"
Andrea shook her head. "No, she died when I was a baby."
"I'm sorry."
"There's no need to be sorry. She is in heaven, and I never knew her. Do you have a mother?"
He nodded without thinking. "She..." How did he explain his mother? Galadea had wandered back into the woods to her people.
"You're hesitating, Jay."
He didn't want to hesitate. That meant more awkwardness. He wouldn't have minded the silence himself, but things were different when a girl was around. They always had been. "She left," he heard himself say.
"Left?" Andrea almost stopped. They had reached as far as they could go on the path, and now only the King's Forest stared at them over the stone wall.
"The woods," he said with no mind of his own. "She went into the woods."
She said nothing.
Why had he said that? What had possessed him to bring that up? It wasn't like he spent his own countless hours thinking about it.
"I'm sorry..." she finally said, very slowly. "I don't know what to say that."
The laughter came, then. Like the words about his mother, he had no idea from where they had sprung. All he knew was that he had doubled over, laughing madly, and that Andrea was staring at him as if he were the biggest fool imaginable.
And he really didn't care.
The only thing that stopped him was the approach of screams and shouts that he recognize only too well.
"What in the world?" Andrea was asking.
Two guards were going toward the main gate, walking just past them, holding between them a struggling old man.
"I tell you!" Old Robert shouted. "I tell you that he is in there, and he is able to control the rats! The rats hold the knives, and the knives find themselves bringers of death! Don't you understand?"
The guards were trying their best to be solemn, but it clearly wasn't working.
Laughter gone, all Jay could do was stare. This was going to create great gossip around Wheat Hill for certain.
"He claims to know about Lord Orson's murder," one of the guards called down, aware that there was an audience.
"He also claims to be called Lionboltshins," said the other. "By the way, Andrea, have you seen Caroline?"