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Chapter16
“Move!” Nicole hissed, shoving at my back as we darted across the room.
The scuffling outside the door was close, and we had seconds to find somewhere to hide or this whole thing was for nothing.
Nicole shoved my back again into a dark part of the room, behind two tables that would hopefully provide enough coverage for both of us, snuffing her oil lamp out as we dove forward. We stayed low to the ground on our hands and knees.
The doorknob jiggled, then opened.
My head was down and I didn’t dare move, but I could see the booted feet of a guard walk toward the front of the room.
I held my breath, begging those feet to turn around quickly. He held his own dim lamp and only stood there for a moment before walking backward and shutting the door.
Neither of us moved for another minute or two. When it seemed like we were safe, Nicole crawled toward the center of the room first. She rose, brushing at her clothes and reaching in her pocket with the note we’d forged.
I followed her lead and watched as she set down the letter in one of the stacked letter piles we’d thankfully reassembled before hearing anything.
“You’re the queen of close calls, Cora. Why am I friends with you?” Nicole whispered as we stood at the door.
I sighed. “Your life would be boring without me. Even if Aron Coltrain does satisfy some of you.”
We laughed together silently, the anxiety-fueled giddy kind of laugh of pulling something off while almost getting caught more than once.
“We’re getting out of here before you attract any more bad juju.” With that, Nicole peeked out of the door, and once she determined the coast was clear, motioned for me to follow. We tiptoed through the halls in silence, parting ways without even saying goodbye.
By the time I got to my room, the heaviness had gotten to me. I closed the door and then collapsed in my bed, fully clothed.
Now all we had to do was wait. Wait for Vanessa to open that letter and send her response. As her lady’s maid, I should know when that was. I’d pay attention, maybe be on model behavior and stay late, arrive early. If I acted as though I’d lost my will to fight her, she could let her guard down even more.
So that would be two things to do that felt impossible: pretend I had no fight left, and wait.
* * *
“I swear you’re useless,” Vanessa snapped. “It’s a few buttons, how long could it take.”
Her snippier than normal barb drew my attention from the stack of letters on her dresser to the task at hand.
I didn’t say a word, just buttoned faster and stepped back, sure to be out of her path when she walked to stare at herself in the mirror.
Mail had been delivered this morning and in that stack was our letter. How long until she read it? She’d never read her mail in front of me before. I wasn’t even sure how much she’d been getting and sending, to be honest. If I had been an over-the-top, good-at-being-a-lady’s-maid kind of…lady’s maid, maybe she would have.
Come to think of it, even if I saw the letter opened on her desk at some point, how was I going to know when she’d written back? I couldn’t just visit the mail room every night in the hopes of finding it. That would increase the likelihood of my getting caught.
Nicole’s and my plan was not as flawless as I’d hoped.
“Was there anything else you required of me?” I asked as gently as I could fathom between my anxiety and hatred of her in general.
If there was one thing I could count on, it was Vanessa’s determination to make me miserable. If she had any inkling that I would rather be doing something else, then there was no way she’d let me leave. Which would give me reason to be hanging around in case she read and responded to the letter.
She looked over her shoulder, blinking at me a few times, no doubt at my audacity. “You say that as if you do anything in the first place. You have somewhere important to be?”
I shook my head. This was going to be almost too easy. “No, just training if you had everything you needed.” I looked at the floor. Waiting a moment before I dared making eye contact with her, or at least that’s what I hoped she’d think.
A wicked smile played across her face.
“You know, my jewelry has been looking slightly tarnished. Can you imagine the future queen with jewels that don’t shine? I have some things to do in my chambers luckily, so there is time for you to polish them.” Then she pouted. “So, looks like no training today.”
I gritted my teeth, which helped to keep me from smirking. “Let me just get supplies, milady.” My mock bow wiped a portion of her smile off her face, but Vanessa thought she’d won this round.
