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Sophie breathed quietly beside me, sleeping. I wondered if she’d wake screaming like Indy sometimes did, or if she’d sleepwalk the way Michaela used to. Before she started gaining weight, Michaela would sneak into the kitchenette and sleep-eat. This was her body, in its animal will to live, grasping at the chance to feed itself.
For now, though, everything was peaceful. I lay on my back, looking up at the ugly ceiling. The dots on the tiles were like constellations of tiny black stars. If I stared long enough, I thought I could find the Big Dipper, or Orion’s Belt.
I looked for a long, long time. But instead of constellations, I saw blackness curling into the room, seeping up from the floor and down from the ceiling. It was like the fog Sophie talked about, but it wasn’t coming for her. It was coming for me.
CHAPTER 40
I stood at the castle window, icy night air stinging my cheeks. Along the battlements, the shadows of guards passed back and forth beneath a half-moon. I watched them at their dreary duty until dawn, when I could smell smoke from the kitchens and hear the neighing of horses and the shouts of men beginning their work.
“—and now Lord Sicard says he awaits word of Baron Joachim’s surrender.”
The voice was coming from right outside my door. I flung myself onto the giant bed and pulled the curtains tight around it as the door opened and two people came into the room. I could hear one of them poking around in the hearth. I smelled bread, hot from the ovens.
“He says Baron Joachim’s too green to rule.” This was Margery’s voice. “Sicard always held it was his banners that should fly on the ramparts, and now he sees his chance. He has twice the army, if not more. If Baron Joachim doesn’t bend, we’ll see the bloodshed.”
“A curse on men, all of them,” said the other voice—Agnes’s. “They play at feuds and warfare, and the rest of us suffer.” She cursed. “We need more logs. Where’s that stupid Paul when you need him?”
“The baron won’t yield,” Margery went on. “He’d never. But we’ll be safe in the keep.”
“Safe? Joachim would launch us over the wall on a trebuchet if he thought it’d help his cause,” Agnes said darkly.
“You’re unfair to him,” her sister said. “His father was the cruel one.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far—”
“Oh, this wine is sour,” Margery suddenly exclaimed. “It needs honey and spice. Why didn’t you taste it before bringing it up?”
“I did taste it. It’s plenty good enough for the peasant,” Agnes replied.
“Oh, go get a touch of honey at least.”
I could imagine Agnes’s glare, but after a moment she left, grumbling as she went. When she was gone, I pushed my face through the curtain and said, “Who’s Lord Sicard?”
“Oh!” cried Margery, jumping back and clutching at her chest. “I thought you were sleeping.” She quickly composed herself. “I’ve brought you breakfast,” she said. “There’s bread and cheese and—”
“Sour wine.”
A flicker of a smile appeared on her lips. “Exactly.”
I looked straight into her pale eyes. “Why am I here, and will I be let go? Or am I to be killed by an enemy I’ve never heard of, or else starve in a siege with the rest of you?”
“That’ll not happen, I canassureyou,” Margery said.
I was almost touched by her certainty. I’d been confident like her once, and look where it’d gotten me. “Are you a fortune-teller?” I asked. “Can you see into the future?”
Margery began to slice the bread with a large, bone-handled knife. “No. I’m blind as a newborn babe when it comes to such a thing. But I have faith in the baron.”
“As my friends and family had faith in me,” I said, climbingout of bed, still wearing my beautiful, absurd dress. “And now my sister is a corpse and the man who was going to be my husband hangs from a rope in the courtyard. Faith doesn’t mean safety. It means death.” I laughed bitterly. “And you all thinkI’mthe idiot.”
If I’d expected Margery to take offense, I was wrong. She merely shrugged. “The baron certainly doesn’t think you’re an idiot,” she said. “I hear he finds you—oh, what was the word? Intriguing, I think it was.”
I eyed the knife, which she had set down on the table. “I would relish the chance to show him just how intriguing I can be,” I said.
Following my gaze, Margery quickly tucked the weapon into her skirts and then turned on her heel. “Agnes may or may not be back with honey,” she said. “In the meantime, I’ll let you sup in peace.”
“Don’t leave me,” I cried, suddenly desperate. “Please, I—”
But the door had already shut behind her.
