“I decided I could afford a short walk in the beautiful outdoors since I may not see it again for several months,” he said in long-suffering tones. “Apparently the previous owner of my title left six decades of paperwork behind him. Not exactly the adventures I had in mind when I offered to help. This is what comes of seeking to be useful.”
“You are to be commended,” I told him.
“I thought I had better come and wish you a temporary farewell,” he said. “In case you began to fear that I, too, had been poisoned upon assuming my new role. So, never fear. I might wither of boredom, but I can’t imagine anyone will think me valuable enough to murder for at least a year or two.”
I shivered. “Don’t joke about it.”
He instantly looked contrite. “No, indeed. I’m sorry. It’s no laughing matter. I’m merely attempting to console myself at the prospect before me.”
I forced a smile. “And why should you not laugh while you still can? This is an excellent opportunity for us. If the viscount kept such detailed records, you might be able to uncover some clue as to why he was killed. I still cannot understand how any of this connects.”
His expression immediately turned serious. “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten that we need evidence. In truth, I’m delighted to have such an opportunity to look for it. I actually came this morning to let you know I’ll be searching for it.”
“I wish I could help,” I said.
“I’m apparently allowed to hire staff, and I would request you as an assistant, except I fear provoking Sierra,” he said. “We are the two who know the truth about her, and if she feared we were locked away, conspiring against her, I don’t know what she might be roused to do.”
“No, it’s best I stay here,” I agreed. “At least for now.”
“And I cannot linger longer, I’m afraid.” He looked genuinely regretful. “But I will visit again when I can.”
Taking my hand, he bowed over it, leaving a soft kiss on my knuckles before disappearing back toward the palace. I watched him go, my hand tingling strangely. What had he meant by that?
My mind wanted to contrast the gesture with Philip’s warm grip the night before, but I forced it back to Damon. He was a prince, though he hadn’t been raised as one. If my parents had known of his existence before my departure, they would have asked me to give him a chance even above Percy. And if I succeeded at breaking the enchantment, then my own rank would be restored. Damon seemed to enjoy my company—what sort of intentions might he form toward me if he knew I was a princess not a goose girl?
My mind shied away from that train of thought, and I turned hurriedly back to Colin. But a shift of movement in the corner of my vision made me spin back around.
Sierra, mounted on a placid looking gelding, stood just inside a copse, some distance away. Her eyes remained trained on me as she prodded her mount into movement, eating up the distance between us. When she reached me, she signaled for her horse to stop, her eyes flashing down at me with dangerous fire.
“Why can I not be rid of you?” she hissed.
“It’s not for lack of trying.” I glared at her. “But I’m not so easily disposed of.”
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from Damon,” she snapped. “Or I’ll make sure the next attempt doesn’t fail.” She leaned forward across her horse, her eyes boring into me. “No matter what it takes.”
I opened my mouth to make a defiant retort only to close it again. Damon’s earlier words could not have been more immediately justified. I didn’t intend to cut off contact with Damon, but openly declaring my defiance seemed foolhardy in the extreme. A flash of white gripped in her fist caught my eye. So she did keep the handkerchief with her as I had suspected.
I gulped, realizing I needed to pick my words carefully.
“I won’t go looking for him,” I said. Hopefully I wouldn’t need to. He had said he would come to me.
Sierra narrowed her eyes, but apparently she trusted in the power of the handkerchief to reveal the truth of someone’s words. Which must mean it still worked. How much assistance had it given her? I ground my teeth, carefully keeping the boiling emotions from my face.
“See that you don’t!” she spat at me, and wheeled her horse around, pushing him into a canter.
When I turned back to the geese, Colin was watching me with narrowed eyes and a creased brow. I hurried back before he could complain that I wasn’t at my post.
Chapter 21
Two weeks passed without sight of Damon. I could feel his presence around me, however, as the normal rhythms of the palace resumed, the supply runs facing no further disruptions. Twice I heard his name on the lips of nobles riding past, their tones full of praise.
Each time a group rode past, Colin told me their names and titles, plus whatever tidbit of their history caught his fancy. He had clearly listened to years of gossip about the inhabitants of the palace.
One morning a young couple rode past who I hadn’t seen in the park before. The young woman called a laughing challenge over her shoulder at the young man, and both of their horses leaped forward. I nearly didn’t recognize them as the couple Arvin had nearly knocked over in the palace yard. Their demeanors couldn’t have been more different from that occasion.
Idly, I remembered how Philip had disappeared at the sight of them.
“Who are they?” I asked Colin, pointing at their rapidly disappearing figures.
“What?” He stared at me. “You don’t know the new viscount?”
I stared after them, wishing I’d had a better look. “That was Thomas? The new Viscount Edgewaring?”
“Course it was.” Colin shook his head at my ignorance. “And Lady Georgiana. They’ve been betrothed for two years. Everyone says their wedding will happen as soon as the mourning period is over.”
Alyssa must have spoken to the young lord as she had intended, then. Certainly they both seemed freed from the heavy weight they had been carrying when I last saw them.
I had intended to ask him more about the couple, but Philip’s arrival distracted me. He came every midday now, though we were once again able to collect our packs of food after breakfast.
He claimed he came to fulfill a promise to teach Colin to juggle, and he always brought his three juggling sacks with him. When I laughingly accused him of using them to bribe Colin, he was all innocence, but his eyes twinkled at me.
After his lesson, Colin always begged a chance to practice with the sacks, and Philip used the opportunity to steal me away. But no matter how many times we searched the place where my attackers had disappeared, we could find no sign of their means of escape. And when we meandered without purpose, discussing the pieces of information we had both collected from the other servants or from Philip’s undisclosed daily activities, we couldn’t bring the various problems of the kingdom together into a cohesive whole.
Perhaps we would have more success if I could talk openly, but the enchantment showed no sign of waning. I thought often of that glimpse of my handkerchief in Sierra’s hand. It wasn’t a surprise to know she carried it with her, and I had started having daydreams of finding her alone in the park again and forcing it from her before anyone could discover us and intervene. But I only saw her in the distance, and always with Percy and attendant guards.