Page 44 of The Noble Servant

“Are you saying ... ? Fa—” He checked himself. “Just because we are perpetrating a deception does not mean Lady Magdalen isas well. Perhaps it is your guilty conscience causing you to think such a thing.”

Hazen burst out laughing. His son’s face turned pink. He was almost showing a backbone finally. Almost.

“What makes you think I feel guilty about anything I’ve done? The wealth of the world belongs to the strong, and that is how it should be.” Hazen eyed his son and shook his head. “I am only saying you should keep an open ear and eye for discrepancies in her story, evidence that she may not be who she says she is.”

“And what will you do if you discover she is an imposter?”

“I shall find out how she might be helpful to us, and when her usefulness is exhausted, she must die. A deceptive person who is not loyal to me is not someone I wish to keep around.”

Alexander’s already pale face turned ashen. “She is not an imposter,” he said, his voice raspy. “She is not.”

“We shall see.”

With Wolfberg’s nearby harbor and lucrative shipping trade with its neighbors, not to mention its fishing revenues, Hazen would have found another way to take over Wolfberg had he not chosen to have his son impersonate the duke. But it amused him to do it this way. And if Alexander proved himself unequal to the task, he would simply have to kill him. With no duke to steward this busy and wealthy area, and with Hazen already entrenched at the castle, the king would no doubt grant his petition to take over.

Chapter Fifteen

Steffan’s head still pounded, but Frau Clara was allowing him to follow around the young man who was currently in charge of starting the fires and fetching and carrying firewood. The kitchen maids were quick to instruct him on where things were kept and what he would be expected to do.

Katrin, Magdalen’s friend, hurried toward him with a big smile after he watched the other fetch-and-carry boy stoke the kitchen fire.

The cook said, “Katrin, why don’t you show him where the extra buckets are kept for drawing water.”

The smile stretched wider. “Of course. Come with me, Steffan.”

He cringed, but no one seemed to notice that she called him a different name.

As she led him outside to the small storage room, she said, “What happened to your head?”

“A guard hit me with his sword hilt.”

“What were you doing in the castle?”

“Looking for Maggie.”

“Here are the extra buckets. You will need several of these on wash days, when we have to clean all the linens and—”

“Katrin, I need you not to call me Steffan. For now, my name is Stoffel.”

“I noticed they called you Stoffel, but I thought your name was—”

“In order for me to get this indoor job, I needed them to think my name was Stoffel. I also got this job because they think I am addled and simpleminded. You mustn’t ruin my disguise or bad things could happen to me.”

“Oh.”

“I know it doesn’t make sense.” He lowered his voice as a guard walked by where they were standing outside the kitchen. “But I thank you for your help.”

“So, I am to call you Stoffel and pretend you are daft?”

“Yes.”

Her smile had vanished. “Very well. Does Maggie know about this?”

“Yes. She is also helping me keep my disguise so I can keep this job.”

“Oh.” She nodded, but she looked confused.

“Maggie is also working inside the castle now.”