The King's Daughters (11 page)

"These four men were the first to die," I said. "Look, no vapor is escaping their torn bellies." I stopped to study a paw print beside one of the bloody corpses.
Too big to belong to a hound, or a wolf for that matter
. The print resembled the one Milo and I had discovered in the conservatory. Could it belong to the same creature?
What is this beast?

As I rose to ask one of the guards if he could identify the print, I saw that they had moved further down the corridor. They were not going any further though. The guards just stood there as if they had reached the end of the trail.

I hurried to join the group.

"The king is safe," whispered one of the guards when I pulled beside him. "He's over there."

Rising on tiptoes, I caught a glimpse of the king. The man looked as though he had just seen a ghost. His face was beyond pale, his eyes wide with terror. I stretched some more and saw Eva clutching a bawling Thalia in her arms. I was so relieved I nearly melted to the floor.

"All is well, she's safe."

The guard frowned at me. "Your Highness, nothing is well."

"But, she's safe. The princesses are safe."

"No. They're missing."

"Who?"

"The princesses."

I looked at Eva and her sister.

"Not them, Your Highness. The twins, they're both gone, missing. You were right, this was a diversion. Now two more princesses have been kidnapped."

After a waiting period, which felt like an eternity to me, the corridor finally emptied itself of guards, and I was able to enter the princesses' room. As I crossed the threshold, violent shudders shook my entire body. This feeling of being cold was so intense that I had to fold my arms tightly around myself to stop my shivering.
A draft perhaps.
No, that wasn't it. The windows were closed. I scanned the room; it had been ransacked. The damage was so thorough one could believe a battle had been waged here. Most everything in the room—beds included—had been broken. The only exception was the small vanity in the far corner. Miraculously this dainty-legged, fragile-looking piece of furniture, with that pitcher of water resting on top of it, had managed to escape destruction.

A piece of pink fabric lying on the floor caught my eye. I picked it up and saw that it was a torn piece of nightgown.

"Poor little girls. What monster would do such a thing?" I consoled myself with the fact that there was no trace of blood on the fabric, or anywhere in this room for that matter. Directing my attention to the bedroom door, I inspected the damage done to it.

Half-broken down, the sturdy slab of oak hung precariously by its last hinges. Something was wrong with that picture. After a thorough examination of the broken door, I came to the conclusion that it had been broken from the inside out. The claw marks scarring the inside of the door proved it.
So they entered the room, took the princesses, and unleashed the beast from here.

"Hmm, doesn't make any sense." I bent over the broken door and placed my fingers inside the claw marks. A cold jolt of energy shot up from my fingers to the rest of my body, knocking me down on my butt.

"What was that?" I breathed, even though I knew all too well what
that
was. Why couldn't I say it aloud then? Why?
No! It can't be. Not here. Not again—NOT AGAIN!
Visions of my dead brothers flooded my mind. I had been helpless to save them against the efreet. That evil creature had killed them all.
I couldn't stop it. I failed. I failed them all.
Would the same thing happen here too? I couldn't risk failing again. I couldn't fight magic. Magic frightened me too much. And this, what happened here, that was magic. I began trembling. Closing my eyes hard, I hugged myself until it stopped.

"Fine!" I told myself. "Fine! This was no ordinary kidnapping; this one was done with the help of magic." Saying it aloud didn't help me much. I still didn't have a clue who had committed this vile crime and why. One thing was clear to me though, Eva was in grave danger. Of that much I was certain. I opened my eyes. Magic or not, I would not let anything happen to her. I would die first.

* * *

The following two days were spent wandering through the castle seeking clues, and the nights spent chasing the beast with the guards, as it kept returning to the castle and killing more people. The beast didn't seem to care who it killed: guards, servants, ladies, or noblemen. They were all slaughtered indiscriminately. However, the beast seemed to hunt only in one specific area of the castle, the maze of old corridors and narrow passageways near the big entrance. I found this odd—then again, one cannot find reason in an animal's behavior. But even though we were aware of the beast's habit, all our efforts to catch it remained unsuccessful.

On the morning of the third day after the twin princesses' disappearance, I stood once more over yet another dead body, with the captain of the guard at my side. The victim this time was a maid.

The captain kicked dust in frustration. "This is impossible. How can that beast escape being caught—or being seen? How can it come and go through the castle at will like this? It's like this damn animal knows the place."

I suspected that the "damn animal" might be able to smell its way through the place, yet I stayed mute, eyes fixed on the maid's body. At least tonight only one person had died. Unlucky girl, I thought. By the bundle of bed linen lying beside her, she was out to do laundry when she was attacked. Sad ending, I thought; she was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. I couldn't see any other explanation for her death. Feeling helpless, not to mention totally disheartened, I bid farewell to the captain of the guard and returned to my rooms.

Along the way, I met five of Countess Ivana's friends, all handsome young men with modest clothing and impeccable manners. I observed that they were hauling a huge rolled-up rug.

"We're redecorating," announced the blond youth holding the end of the roll. "It's a surprise for Ivana."

I offered them my help. They politely declined, but promised to invite me to see the final result.

"I would like that very much," I said before we parted ways. Not long after, I encountered Princess Thalia. The poor girl was once again searching for Diego. What a waste of time and energy, I thought; a wiser girl would have understood this and given up by now. Well, if nothing else, one had to admire Thalia's determination to find her prince. I could only wish Eva would be half as persistent in seeking me. I hadn't heard from her since the ball. In spite of her explanation, I found Eva's lack of interest hurtful, especially in view of Thalia's dedication. Feeling a dark cloud of melancholy gathering over my head, I hurried my pace in the direction of my rooms.

I was halfway there when Diego appeared from behind the bend. "Ah! There you are. I've been looking all over for you."

I winced. Right now, I feared I didn't possess the mental fortitude to suffer Diego's exuberant, yet aimless, blabbing without losing patience with him.

"I heard about your interest in this despicable affair and thought that perhaps I could be of some help to you."

I stared Diego up and down and tried to keep a straight face. Dressed as he was, in a vibrant blue-velvet ensemble, complete with white stockings and fancy high-heeled shoes, I had trouble imagining him running around with the guards as I'd been doing lately.

Noticing my scrutiny, Diego's left eyebrow rose. "You don't approve of my garment."

I was too tired to lie. "No. I don't care for it."

To my surprise, Diego smiled. "Neither do I. Now tell me what you've uncovered these last days."

I sighed. "Nothing."

"Oh come on now."

"It's the truth . . . well, not exactly. We know the facts and little else."

"I don't understand. Please, you must explain it to me."

Why does he need to know this,
I thought, annoyed by the dandy's persistence. I wanted to tell Diego to forget about this and go away, but the determined look on his face convinced me it wouldn't work—worse, it would bring on a barrage of questions. So it was with resignation that I explained the situation to him. "What I meant is that we know that a beast, or beasts—sometimes I think there's more than one—is killing people in the castle—that's a fact. However, we still don't know why, what sort of creature it is, or how it was brought here. As for the princesses, we know they've been kidnapped—that's a fact. But by whom, how, and why remains a mystery. I can't even figure out how the kidnappers got in and out of the room without being seen."

"The windows," ventured Diego.

"No. They were locked from the inside."

"The servants' passages."

I frowned. "What servants' passages?"

Diego beamed with pride. "See, I knew I could help. And you doubted me. Come, I'll show you where those passages are."

* * *

The princesses' room had been put back in order; even a new door had been installed. As it was, I hardly recognized the place.

Hands on his hips, Diego scanned the surroundings. "Uh, disappointing."

"I know. It's a pity they cleaned it up. I wish you could've witnessed the damage."

"No, silly. I meant the décor. This is the royal wing, it should be better than this." He waved a hand at the light blue walls.

I shrugged. "I've seen worse."

"True. You, yourself, are lodged in what is commonly referred to as 'Draft Alley.' " Diego's expression took on an apologetic air. "For someone of your rank to be lodged there . . . hmm, it's a clear indication of the king's discontentment with you."

"Discontentment!" I snorted. "He hates me, you mean."

Diego pouted. "Feelings can change, you know." This being said, he walked to the wall. A long silky ribbon with a gold tassel at its tip hung there. Flicking the tassel with a finger, Diego explained, "This ribbon is linked to a bell in the servants' quarters. Pull it, and a valet or a maid will come running out of that door." Diego indicated the space beside him.

I stared at the blue wall with its white, decorative box moldings. "I don't see any door."

"Look." Diego pressed on the wall and one of the box molding panels popped open. "It's camouflaged to blend in with the décor."

I couldn't care less about the door's decorative function, what interested me lay beyond it. But as soon as I entered the passage, my interest vanished. This wasn't the dark mysterious tunnel I had expected. This was a simple passageway of whitewashed walls. I took a few steps down its length. My foot struck a tiny piece of debris, sending it bouncing off the walls. I picked it up further down the passage. It was a small metal loop the size of my pinky. I showed it to Diego. "Any idea where this might come from?"

"Hmm, looks rough. From a shoe strap maybe? I don't know."

I glanced at my meager find and sighed. "Might as well forget it. It's probably nothing anyway." Dropping the tiny loop in my pocket, I moved on.

Shortly after, we emerged in the servants' quarters. The activity in that room was dizzying. Chambermaids were dashing left and right, valets were rushing past us, while cooks kept barking orders in the background. Yet despite the urgency of their work, every servant in the room took the time to acknowledge our presence by curtseying or bowing to us.

DING-DING.

I jumped, startled by the bell. Right beside the door where we stood a dozen small brass bells were neatly lined upon the wall. A label, indicating to which room it was linked to, was affixed under each bell.

Ingenious,
I thought. "I suppose my room isn't amidst the ones listed here."

"No, your wing was built long before this system was put in place."

I smiled—
Good
. I hated the idea that someone could enter my room at will without my knowing. Again, my eyes roamed around the busy room. To my knowledge, servants were on duty day and night, so escaping through this passage without being seen was impossible. In my opinion, there were no better eyes than servants'. Most often than not, the permanence of a servant's position in a house depended
entirely
on his keen sense of observation. (A good servant often knew what his master needed or wanted before he knew it himself.) Determined to test my theory, I asked who was on duty the night of the princesses' abduction.

A mixed group of valets and maids stepped forward. After a brief interrogation, I learned that all servants' passages led to this room and no other—a rapid visit of the other openings proved this—and that nothing unusual had come out of any passages that night. We were back to that same point, which was in total darkness.

"If they didn't escape through these passages, where did the kidnappers go? How did they leave the castle?" I slapped my arms against my sides in frustration. "This is impossible! Did they vanish in thin air? Were they invisible?"

I was rubbing my forehead, trying to make sense of this enigma, when a young maid approached me. She was barely out of girlhood, and her features still possessed some childlike qualities, that ephemeral rosy hue, and that perfectly radiant, moist skin seen only in little children. Right now she was pretty; in a year or two she'd be beautiful.

"Your Highness," she began, locking her large hazel eyes onto mine. "I was not on duty the night the princesses disappeared, so I cannot attest to what may have come out of our passages. But I know people who can walk through the castle without being seen."

"Who?"

"Those strange ones from the east."

Diego and I exchanged intrigued glances.

"Go on," I said.

"Two days ago, I was on my way to clean the princesses' room." The maid pointed to the door we had come out of earlier. "Through that passageway. I was almost there when I realized I'd forgotten something. I turned around and . . . and . . . " She paused, eyes widening. "And there they were, right behind me, the two of them, as close to me as you are, Your Highness. I never heard a sound or saw a shadow move. If not for my scattered brain, I would've never known they were there. This has happened to other servants too. These strange ones, they keep appearing and disappearing all around the castle like . . . like spirits."