I had cleaned myself up, and dressed for bed before Johnna returned to our room. She immediately knew something was wrong, I could not hide anything from her, but I begged her to let me tell her later as I merely wanted to sleep.

"Just answer me this," she said. "Is it Cedric? I assumed you both liked each other. Did he hurt you?"

"I love Cedric," I whispered. "It is not him. I just, can't talk about it right now. I have no words."

"You will tell me later. I cannot stand to see you so upset."

I nodded, fighting the tears from starting to fall again. After swallowing I whispered, "Good night, Johnna. Thank you for being my friend."

"Good night, Sofia." I buried my head under a pillow and closed my eyes.

Breakfast was served in our sitting room in the morning. Johnna and I rose early but with Jane and Amber in the next room, we could not talk in confidence, and still, I was not ready. Jane came to sit with us moments before Amber, who came from the hall door, not the bedroom.

"Sofia, where is Father?"

My eyes grew big. "I don't know."

"His maid said his bed was not slept in last night."

I was just as surprised as everyone but could only shrug my shoulders.

"Errrr!" she planted herself in a chair. "I must talk to him immediately!"

I halfway hoped King Stephan had Roland removed from the palace but that was not likely. "Is it something I can help with?"

Amber looked over at me coldly. "You? Ha!" She began to dish herself some breakfast. "Is there any wine?"

Jane handed her a decanter of breakfast wine.

"Are you feeling better, Sofia?" Amber asked, finally being nice.

"Better?"

"Father said you felt quite ill last night. He said you've been drinking too much." She stopped buttering a roll and pointed the knife at me. "You need to limit yourself, dear. I don't need you embarrassing me. Especially not now."

"Has someone asked you?" Jane smiled.

Amber could not keep this secret, but she tried anyway. "Perhaps. And this is why I need to talk to my Father!" She groaned and bit into the roll.

"He'll turn up," Johnna smiled. "He was with Lady Evelyn quite late last night."

"She's a loose woman from what I hear," Jane remarked.

"Jane," Johnna chided.

"She is," agreed Amber. "She married an old man for money, and even before he died she had too many male friends."

"She had no choice in whom she married," Johnna contested. "She was betrothed to Sir Edmund at a very young age. She may have gained money, but he gained land."

"Whatever." Amber sat straight. "I just realized, I don't need Father at all. I'm meeting with my aunt and uncle this afternoon. They will give me what I need." A satisfied look flooded her face. "Oh, I cannot wait!"

"I think I want to go back to bed," Jane stretched.

"Do. Many people will be sleeping in or napping this morning." Johnna finished her tea. "As for me, I think I'll spend some time in the library."

"Boring," quipped Jane. "How about you Sofia? What will you do today?"

"I haven't given it much thought." I did not want to tell them that Cedric would be meeting Johnna and I to show us the labyrinth.

"You can join me in the library," Johnna pressed, though I have some writing to do, so I will not be able to talk for a time."

"I may take you up on that after a while, however, like Jane I might lie back down for a bit." It was a lie and it tasted horrible in my mouth. I wanted to try and find Cedric. But could I tell him?

"You look ill, Sofia," Jane said with some concern.

"I think I'll go lie down. Excuse me." I could not make eye contact with anyone and went straight to bed, not even changing out of my dress.

I must have fallen asleep again, for when I woke, the other three were gone. My stomach told me dinner would be soon, but the need to find Cedric was more important.

I left the room to find an empty hall. Heading toward the stairs I heard people laughing. Why, I was not sure, but I hid myself behind a tapestry a peaked around the edge. A door opened, and Roland glanced into the hall, before stepping out. An arm reached out for him, and he turned back around, pulling Lady Evelyn to him for a kiss. I noted he was still wearing the same clothes as the night before. My stomach twisted. They whispered a few words before she returned to her room, and he hurried the opposite way from me, toward his.

My breathing ceased until he was gone, then I ran for the stairs. I figured Cedric would not be in his room at this time of the morning, so I began to head for the library. Unfortunately, I could not remember the way. I looked for a servant or anyone who could direct me, but the first people I ran into were men, near Roland's age, and they smirked at me.

Double-guessing myself on whether to ask them for help, I stopped in my tracks, thinking it might be best to run away.

"Are you lost, little one?" asked the shorter of the men.

"I…I'm looking for the library."

They laughed. "You mean you aren't searching for your duke?"

"If he hasn't been with you, who has he been with?"

"I will find it myself, thank you sirs," and I moved to go around them, but the tall one caught my arm.

"I can see why he keeps you."

"She's very young."

"Please take let me go." The panic was starting to rise in me.

The man pulled me closer. "If Roland releases you soon, will you be my mistress next?"

My jaw dropped. "What?"

They were still laughing and the other man reached out and touched my hair. "She's so young it will be a while before Roland moves on to another."

I pushed the man that held me. "What are you talking about? He's my step-father!"

The man let me go but the other one caught me. "You can call us step-fathers too, if you like." I tried to pull away from that man as well.

"You…you are both disgusting," my voice was becoming shrill. "Let me go!" A servant came around the corner then, but averted her eyes and kept walking. "Help me!" I yelled at her. She did not turn back.

"Give me a kiss, and promise you'll leave Roland for me, and I'll let you go," the short man laughed.

I slapped him, hard, so hard, my hand immediately began to hurt, but he let go and I ran the way the servant had gone. The tall man was bellowing with laughter but it became more faint as I ran. Finally, I recognized where I was in the castle, and I went straight to my room. I locked the door once more and sat, shaking.

Johnna was the one who found me. "You didn't come to the dining room, Sofia, so I asked that something be sent up for you. Tea won't be for a few more hours and I know you must be famished. Sofia, what happened?" She put her arm around me and I began to sob. The words still would not come. "You said it was not Cedric, so… is it the duke?"

She saw me nod, and pulled me into a close hug. "Oh, Sofia, take your time."

I cried for a few more minutes, and then I told her about what had happened the night before, and then about the men who had accosted me. She looked very angry and I apologized and then she became even angrier. "Sofia! Do not apologize. This is not your fault! Don't you dare apologize!"

She stood up and started pacing the room and gripping her skirt in her fists. "Damn him!" That phrase was said a few times.

"Does everyone think I'm Roland's whore?" I blurted.

Johnna looked as if she was going to reassure me but then bit her own lip. "I have heard talk, but I didn't realize it was this bad." Gasping, my hands covered my face. "Sofia, it's really the duke that is looked down upon here. He's… not well liked by many. I've been told that though he married the king's youngest, and favorite, sister, Duke Roland was quite promiscuous, even during their courtship, and likely during their marriage."

"I do not love him."

"Of course you don't."

"What am I going to do?"

She was silent. The question did not have an answer and we both knew it. "You really had no idea that the duke was like this? Your mother never said anything?"

"Johnna," I swallowed. "When people say that I was a nurse to James, it is true. Except for Mother's wedding celebration, I was never invited to meals. Every meal I had was either in my room or with James. I rarely left his side until Michael was born. It was only James, Cedric and me. In the last five years, I could probably count how many times I saw Mother on both hands." I looked down at my hands. "And I was fine with that. James and Cedric were my world, and all I wanted was for James to get well."

"Oh, my lord."

"I miss James."

"Did he know about his father?"

Shrugging, I looked back up to her. "His father never came to see him. Never asked after him. So, I doubt it. Amber was all that mattered… until Michael."

"Wow, your family is a mess."

I laughed, but only a little.

She sat next to me and held my hand while I was too tired to think, and I could see she was imagining every possible scenario and outcome. I did not realize that I had drifted off to sleep, my head on her shoulder, until she woke me and said it was time to meet Cedric outside the labyrinth. Glancing in the mirror I was horrified to see that my eyes were still red and puffy, my nose was red and the rest of me was pale.

"I look horrible."

"The walk and fresh air will do you some good. Come on," she tucked my arm in hers, and then we made our way to the gardens.

Cedric was waiting for us at the entrance to the labyrinth and my breath caught when I saw him. When we came nearer though, he immediately knew something was not right. He looked around to see who might be in the area before taking my hand. "Sofia, what is it?"

"Let's not do this here, Cedric," said Johnna as tears threatened at the back of my eyes. "Will you show us the labyrinth now?"

"Of course." He waved us through the entrance. The maze was constructed of different types of stone, sometimes sandstone, sometimes stacked stones, sometimes brick, and then once in a while there was a tall hedge of dense bushes that seemed to run for hundreds of feet. "To the right, ladies."

"I know the point of this is to come out at a designated place," Johnna smiled, but might there be someplace even more secluded and private in here?"

"I'll let you in on a little-known secret," Cedric returned the smile. "The labyrinth was built with magic."

"But that is not a secret," I said. "You already told us."

"But the really secret part is that the walls move. There is always an endpoint, but the maze is never the same, even for people who have finished it before." He went to the wall, placed his hand on it, whispered a word, and an opening appeared. Cedric went through, beckoned us, and as soon as we entered, the wall sealed up behind us.

I gazed around. We were surrounded by four walls, with no breaks, and in the center, was a fountain surrounded by benches and flowers and small bushes. "It's a garden!"

"And no one will be able to enter and disturb us," Cedric turned to me. "Now, tell me what happened."

I choked up. Looking at Johnna, she shrugged and made it clear that I would have to decide, and say. Then I looked at Cedric again. I remembered him telling me he loved and I was afraid that whatever wonderful thing we had would change.

But I told him anyway. He reacted much like Johnna, but did not speak. She held me while I cried and Cedric stormed to a far corner.

"You are scaring her!" Johnna accused.

"I'm going to kill him."

"You are not. Calm down and let's think rationally. That's what Sofia needs. She needs a plan."

Cedric turned and ran his hand through his hair, frustrated, then came and sat next to me. He stuck his hand inside his robe and pulled out a small, felt bag. "Sofia." I looked at him and saw a mix of emotions all over his face. "I, I'm sorry. I wish I had been able to give this to you earlier. I wish I could have stopped this before it started."

"What is it?"

He turned the bag upside down and something fell into his hand. "I did not have the information I needed at home to make this, but I found it here. I just finished it this morning." He straightened out the item and I saw that it was a necklace with a deep purple pendent, shaped like a natural crystal. "It's an amulet for protection." He looked at it and then back to me. "Please forgive me for not having the resources to make it before now."

"It's…beautiful. How does it protect someone?"

"It only works if the person who gives it to you truly loves you. And I do, you know."

"You still do? After this?"

"Yes! Of course!" He grabbed my hand. "We may need some help from Johnna, but we are going to figure this out. But this amulet, it should give you more strength, and I believe it helps deter people from coming near, if you feel fear, except for the one you love. It's an old spell, not one that is often made or even known. I read a reference about something like this in a book at home, and you said you were feeling paranoid, so I thought I would research this when I was at the royal library."

"You loved me back then?"

"I didn't know it was a requirement back then, but, yes, I guess I did. But not as much as I do now."

"Well," Johnna rolled her eyes, "are you going to put it on her or not?"

For once, Cedric's fingers were fumbling as he unclasped it. I turned my back to him and made sure my hair was out of the way, and then felt him move the necklace around my neck. It tickled a little when he was trying to clasp it. Johnna laughed at us and I could not help but smile.

"There. It's clasped."

I looked down but it was hard to see.

"Here." Cedric whispered something to the water in the fountain, and it stilled, making a perfect mirror.

"It's gorgeous," I breathed.

"You are gorgeous."

I turned back to him, throwing my arms around him. He hugged me tight, and after a minute, our lips found each other for a chaste kiss.

"Now," said Johnna, "if you two are done for a moment, we need a plan. It's apparent that Sofia is still going to be pursued by the duke."

Cedric grimaced. "And he is my employer."

"Let's walk the labyrinth and go discuss our potential solutions."