The Castle Behind Thorns (21 page)

She glanced at the castle. “That's a different thing altogether.”

Sand regarded the bare thorns that had retaken the castle. This hedge had no leaves, no blossoms, no tiny yellow-green raspberries. Fun didn't enter into it, but their time in the castle behind the thorns had given them each other.

“What I
am
worried about,” Perrotte said, “is how we'll restore the countship with its wealth still trapped inside that stupid castle.” She kicked a stone into the thorns. It disappeared without a trace.

Sand patted the full purse at his waist. “You have a little to start with. But we should've taken more.”

“I didn't want to be greedy,” Perrotte said. “That will teach me.” Her smile was ironic.

“Perrotte?” Rivanon said, returning. “May I invite you to Góll Castle for the night? The Queen is staying there . . .”

Sand's heart fell. This was it, then; the beginning of their time apart.

Perrotte looked at Sand, hesitating. “I would be pleased to join you at Góll Castle, Rivanon, but not just yet. I—I need to go with Sand.”

As quickly as it had fallen, his heart rose. A late spring wind ruffled his hair, bringing the sweet scent of flowers from far across the asparagus fields. Sand smiled at Perrotte.

“All right.” Rivanon sounded only a little unsettled, but not hurt. She stepped forward, hands clasped, and bent down to kiss Perrotte on the cheek. Their flyaway, golden-brown hair briefly mingled, caught in the wind. “Until we see each other again, sister,” she said gently.

Perrotte smiled painfully, an expression trapped somewhat between sadness and shyness. “Until tomorrow,” she said.

Rivanon left, servants and knights trailing after. Sir Bleyz remained, and saluted Perrotte. “I am your champion, my lady,” he said formally. “Where you go, I follow.”

Perrotte said something pretty in response to this, while Agnote spoke in Sand's ear: “Is Lady Perrotte planning to sleep at our house?” she asked anxiously. “Or is she just staying to supper? She knows we're not noble nor rich, and that our house is not large nor sumptuous?”

Sand said, “She knows. And we'll figure out what happens later. She just wants to be with us for now.”

“Good, good,” Agnote said, appearing comforted. “It's good for her to be with us. Among people who can love her and who do love her.”

Sand nodded. Perrotte, finished with Sir Bleyz, turned to Sand.

“Perr?” he asked. “I think if we work quickly tonight, we could get a good start on your new astrolabe. Particularly if Papa helps us.”

His father cleared his throat. “I've never made a, uh, astro . . .” He coughed again.

Perrotte's grin threatened to crack her face; uncertainly, his father returned the expression. “An astrolabe. A star-taker.”

“Don't worry, Papa,” Sand said. “We'll show you how.”

His father nodded and gave Agnote his arm for the walk home in the golden spring sunshine.

Sand faced Perrotte. Merlin stared at him from her right shoulder, eyes bright and watchful. His friend held out her hand to him, and he took it.

“Is it worth starting on the astrolabe?” he asked, following his parents toward the smithy and the little house on the hill. “Can we find the time to work on it together?”

Perrotte smiled. “We're free now. What can we not do?”

Sand's heart was full. This was truth.

Acknowledgments

T
HANK YOU TO
J
OHN
Sarge and Tillers International, who taught me the little I know about blacksmithing. Anything I got wrong in this book had nothing to do with my excellent teacher and everything to do with me.

Thank you, Sarah Shumway: your enthusiasm alone makes you a gem. Your total support and keen editorial eye are icing on the gem. Thank you so very much for taking me on!

Thank you, as ever, to my wonder agent, Caitlin Blasdell.

Julie Winningham, your ability to read my brain waves remains unparalleled. Julie DeJong, super-beta, and Mary Lou Klecha, meta-master: my life and my work would be much poorer for not knowing you both. Marissa K. Lingen, I feel so lucky that I met you so early on in my writing career; I don't talk to you nearly enough, but you mean a lot to me. Kate Riley, your perspectives make me a better writer as well as a better person. No matter where you go, I will be writing to you. Elizabeth Shack, I just continue to adore you—I know my love is hard to bear, but someday you'll get used to it.

Thank you to my beta readers, for all your wisdom and perspective and speed: Francesca Forrest, Nancy Fulda, Jason Larke, Sandra McDonald, Rachel Neumeier, Bethany Powell, Anna Schwind, Sophia K. Schwind, Catherine Shaffer, Amity Thompson, and Sarah Zettel. Special thanks to Karen Ostertag and Kat Otis for reading and for sharing your medieval expertise.

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About the Author

MERRIE HASKELL
was born in Michigan and grew up in North Carolina. She wrote her first story at the age of seven, and she walked dogs after school in order to buy her first typewriter.

Merrie returned north to attend the Residential College at the University of Michigan, where she earned a BA in biological anthropology. Her fiction has appeared in
Nature, Asimov's Science Fiction, Strange Horizons
, and
Unplugged: The Web's Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy: 2008 Download
. She now lives in Saline, Michigan, with her husband and stepdaughter. Merrie works in a library with over seven million books, and she finds this to be just about the right number. She is the author of
The Princess Curse
and
Handbook for Dragon Slayers
.

 

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www.AuthorTracker.com
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Books by Merrie Haskell

The Princess Curse

Handbook for Dragon Slayers

Credits

Cover art © 2014 by Kevin Keele

Cover design by Joel Tippie

Copyright

Katherine Tegen Books is
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

 

The Castle Behind Thorns

Text copyright © 2014
by Merrie Fuller

Map copyright © 2014
by Virginia Allyn

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Haskell, Merrie.

  The castle behind thorns / Merrie Haskell. — First edition.

      pages  cm

  Summary: When Sand, a blacksmith's apprentice, wakes up in a broken castle, he must find a way to put back together.

  ISBN 978-0-06-200819-0 (hardcover bdg.)

  EPUB Edition APRIL 2014 ISBN 9780062311863

  [1. Fairy tales. 2. Castles—Fiction.]  I. Title.

PZ8.H2563Cas 2014

2013021527

[Fic]—dc23

CIP

AC

14  15  16  17
18    CG/RRDH    10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

FIRST EDITION