Page 8 of The Beautiful Pretender

“The earl has asked me to go to Thornbeck Castle. Lady Dorothea has been invited there to meet Lord Thornbeck, who is trying to choose a wife from among the noble ladies of this part of the Holy Roman Empire. There has been some feuding, as you know, between the regions and their noblemen, and Lord Plimmwald explained to me that the king thinks if Lord Thornbeck marries the daughter of one of them, it will help restore peace and build alliances between the regions.”

“We shall pray he chooses Lady Dorothea, then,” her father said. “Lord Plimmwald has long been afraid of the Duke of Geitbart attacking and taking over.”

Her father would remember that from when he had been the earl’s stable master.

“There will be other noble ladies there,” Avelina said quickly, trying not to think about the fact that she was deceiving them, letting them believe she was only accompanying Lady Dorothea. “Lord Thornbeck might choose any of them. Nevertheless, I shall return before you start missing me very much, I should think.” She smiled into Brigitta’s upturned face.

“You shall not go away like Mother did, will you?” Brigitta’s lips were parted and fear darkened her six-year-old eyes.

“No, of course not.” Avelina’s smile fled. “Mother did not want to go away, darling. And we shall see her again in heaven.”

“Are you going to heaven?”

“Of course not, you daft girl.” Jacob frowned. “She’s only going to Thornbeck.”

“There’s no need to call her daft, Jacob.” Avelina gave him a warning look, then softened it with a half smile. “I expect you to be kind and watch after your sister while I’m gone.”

Father said very little on any given day, and today was no exception. He nodded to her. “God give you safe travels, Daughter.”

“Thank you, Father.”

Avelina hugged her little sister, then kissed her cheek. “You obey your father, yes?”

“I will. Bring me something pretty—a ribbon! Or a sweet!”

“If I am able.” Avelina turned and hugged her little brother. “Don’t mistreat your sister. Listen to Father.”

Jacob squirmed. “You treat me like a little boy.”

“Twelve years old is not too old to obey your older sister and your father.”

Jacob rolled his eyes, but he gave her a half smile. She smiled back. He was at the age of wanting to pull away and be like the other boys, but he had a good heart, and he’d fight to keep his little sister safe.

As Avelina turned to leave, she had the distinct feeling that her journey would be longer than she had anticipated.

Hardly two hours later, with help, Avelina mounted one of the earl’s gentlest mares. Two guards accompanied her as they started away from Plimmwald Castle and proceeded north. The day was gray and dreary, but even as the sky did not shed much light, it also held back the rain.

Irma, who was being sent as Avelina’s maidservant, rode on the horse beside her. She was a plump kitchen servant with red, curly hair, a few years older than Avelina’s twenty.

“I have always wanted to go on a long trip.” Irma spoke not so much to Avelina as to herself. “And now I am a lady’s maidservant! I am sure to see the margrave, and so many ladies. Perhaps even dukes and duchesses.” Irma’s wide gray eyes and smile gave Avelina the sudden urge to laugh. But she managed to control her hysteria.

Regardless of how flippantly Irma viewed this situation, Avelina could only think of the dangers, and she was thankful to have the company of any familiar face.

She glanced over her shoulder at the traveling bag that had been secured to the back of her saddle. Avelina, who was nearly the same size as Lady Dorothea, had brought the clothing her mistress had left behind, not owning any clothing of her own that was suitable enough. The earl had also told her to take Dorothea’s jewelry, to help her look the part of the earl’s daughter, but Avelina had to inform him that Dorothea had taken the jewelry with her, along with many of her best dresses.

After her visit to her family, Avelina finished packing up the rest of Lady Dorothea’s dresses. The earl had also given her someof his dead wife’s cotehardies, which smelled stale from lying in a trunk for the last few years since her death. Several of them were made of silk. One in particular was a becoming shade of violet. The countess had been slightly plumper than Avelina and shorter, but the gown was made in an overly long style meant to be gathered and tucked into the belt around her waist. Avelina could simply wear it untucked.

The earl had also given her one of the countess’s necklaces—the only piece of her jewelry that had not been given to Dorothea. It was lovely, though a bit bulky, with dark-emerald stones surrounded by gold filigree. Lord Plimmwald told her, when they reached Thornbeck Castle in two or three days, she should put it on for the balls.

Irma held on to the reins and the pommel with both hands, and Avelina did the same. Neither of them was used to riding a horse, and riding sidesaddle required her to use muscles Avelina did not know she had in order to stay in the saddle. It was a long way to the ground, and she did not wish to fall and break a leg—although the thought of a broken leg was almost appealing. She would have a good excuse to go back home, but what if it did not grow back straight?

She only had to stay quiet—Lord Plimmwald had warned her not to talk much—and not to attract attention to herself. In two weeks the margrave would choose someone to be his wife, she could come home, and the earl would be happy with her and not punish her. And with the rewards the earl would give her, she would be free from the life of a servant—a life even more uncertain now that Lady Dorothea had gone away. Avelina might have had to work in the kitchen, a job more difficult than catering to Dorothea’s whims.

Gradually Avelina grew more comfortable with the steadypace of the horse and with holding herself in the saddle, and she sat tapping her chin with her finger, wondering what the two-week party would hold for her. Would she be able to fool them all into thinking she was an earl’s daughter?

“The earl did not give you very much time to get ready, did he?” Irma asked in a quiet voice, presumably so the guards would not hear, as the men rode in front of and behind them.

“No.”