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Not that she knew how to pick a lock. But she had nothing but time on her hands and she might just be able to figure it out.
All she’d been rewarded with for her efforts were bloody fingers and patience that was growing very, very weak.
Every time Reiner had entered the room during the past days, he’d coldly asked her if she had anything to tell him. Her answer was always the same. No.
Not unless she wanted to make up some fantastical tale about what she was after. But she didn’t have the slightest clue as to who the man was, much less what he would have to steal that she would be willing to scale a castle in search of it.
For the cold brutality that emanated from him, she assumed an easily spotted lie from her lips would not be rewarded well.
A clink in the door lock drew her attention. Judging by the sunlight streaming in through the top cracks of the shutters, it was still in the middle of the day—far too early for Reiner to appear with an evening meal.
Maybe he’d figured it out—how she got here—the wicked twist of fate that had put her into his path. Maybe he was coming in to set her free. Apologize for the gross misunderstanding this all was.
The lock in the door turned and the door cracked open.
A head—a little head—peeked past the door into the room.
“Oh—you—you exist.” A girl, not more than nine with dark curls framing her face and huge blue eyes, leaned in past the doorway, one foot sneaking into the room.
Sloane’s jaw dropped. “I—who? Yes, I exist—who do you think I am?”
The girl’s head turned as she glanced back over her shoulder into the hallway for a long moment. She looked to Sloane. “Are you the woman I heard screaming the other night? Uncle Reiner said you were in my imagination. A dream or a ghost, perhaps. But I have been hearing other sounds.”
“You have?”
“I thought it was the guests—they like to scurry about the castle, find dark nooks to hide about in chasing games that seem quite silly. But they all left more than a day ago and I still heard the sounds.”
“What sounds?”
“Scraping—scraping wood, perhaps. It is hard to figure it, though it is constant. I guessed it was in here.” The girl scooted back slightly, hiding behind the door, only one eye visible. “Wait—you aren’t going to harm me—you aren’t truly a ghost—or a witch? Is that why he has you locked in here?”
This was it—her chance to escape.
Sloane shook her head, remaining very still in her spot across the room by the shutters. If she could entice the girl further into the room, she could push her aside and run. “No. I’m not a witch or a ghost. I’m just being held here by your…uncle for reasons I do not exactly understand. But I wish you no ill will—what is your name?”
“Vicky.”
“Vicky, then—I will not harm you. Your uncle, well, what I would like to do to him is an entirely different matter and directly because of his boorish behavior.”
Visible relief flashed across the girl’s blue eyes and she slipped fully into the room, closing the door behind her. “Thank goodness. I understand there are those that don’t care for my uncle, some that even wish him harm from the whispers I hear. But you, you look too nice—too pretty to want to harm him.”
Sloane’s cheek drew up in a wry smile. “Do not be fooled by pretty—your uncle is handsome as well, but quite clearly the man has a heathen’s heart.”
The girl shrugged. “Maybe, though I wouldn’t know. He is usually kind to me.”
“Usually?”
“He does not pay me much mind.”
Sloane nodded. Reiner didn’t seem to have the disposition to afford much attention to a nine-year-old girl.
She looked past Vicky to the door. If she pushed the child just to the left, she could slip out the door and hopefully find a way out of this castle.
The girl’s eyes widened and she took a step backward, her hands going behind her to grip the door handle. “Please, miss, don’t run. Uncle Reiner would be very upset with me if he knew I was in here and I accidently freed you. I’m not sure what he would do to me.”
The fear in the girl’s eyes struck Sloane to her heart. Curiosity didn’t deserve chastisement.
And the reality was that Sloane doubted she could get far. She didn’t know anything of this castle, how to navigate the corridors, how many people were on staff, what the grounds were like.
