The Tale of Mally Biddle (23 page)

Mally turned away from Meriyal and her lips curved into a small smile. In the opposite corner, Nathan and Gerda sat close together, talking to each other quietly. She and Lita had begun to suspect over the last few weeks that there was something more than friendship between those two. Mally personally felt they were perfect for each other, and she couldn’t think of a better time for them to come to that realization than Christmas.

Mally once again gazed into her mug. Even with her stomach making odd leaps at the thought of Galen, the night felt bitte
rsweet. It was weirdly difficult for her to celebrate tonight. Wrong somehow. Tonight was the night the last of the Kellen Royal Family died. The night Salir Romore had informed the servants that Princess Avona was dead.

Once night had fallen and dinner was finished, once the knights had left for their own chambers and sitting rooms, Mally and the other servants silently, quietly made their way to the north tower … the tower with the clearest view of Bosc. They blew out the candles in the small round tower and stood staring out the high windows. At first Mally couldn’t see anything of the city. It was well past curfew and there were no lamps shining their light. She could not make out the buildings or even the Bell Tower. But after standing there for five minutes in silence, her eyes adjusting, Christopher suddenly exclaimed, “
There!
”

There was a hurried scuffling as they all tried to see where Christopher was pointing and Mally saw it. A tiny, yellow light issued from what must have been a window in the city.

“And there!” Betty pointed.

Mally watched, her chest filling with an emotional glow, as candles suddenly burst into flame throughout the city, like fireflies or stars. They stood there in that dark tower, crowded and silent, watching the people wordlessly remembering their king. Their queen. Their princess.

Meriyal suddenly moved forward and Mally took a step back from the window to give her room. As if undergoing a ritual, Meriyal placed a short candelabra on the windowsill. Evelyn handed her three candles. With care, Meriyal placed them in their holders and struck a match. Their bright light burned Mally’s eyes, but she forced herself not to look away. She had stood there for a long time, watching the candles burn…

“Hebitha will surely have that dratted cat.”

Mally glanced sideways at Meriyal, her memory of that m
oment in the tower still fresh. From the tower, the servants had traveled back through the castle to Archie’s kitchen to celebrate.

Meriyal had her back to Mally, speaking to Nanette.

“There will be fur all over the couches,” Meriyal continued with a little hiccup. “I’ll be sneezing for weeks. But Cayla will be back! Lord, I’ve missed that girl.”

Mally’s interest sparked at the mention of Princess Avona’s personal maid, and she turned fully toward Meriyal and Nanette. Mally had yet mastered enough courage to ask Meriyal about those events. Maybe she and Nanette would reveal something tonight.

Nanette smiled slightly.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to seeing her, too.”

“Surely Hebitha will bring her along,” said Meriyal. “She has for the past fifteen years.”

“Cayla Black?” Mally asked and Nanette and Meriyal turned to her. “She’s coming to the castle?”

“Only for the Winter Ball,” said Nanette.

“Why only then?”

“Dear, the princess died while she was caring for her!” Meriyal stared at her as if she were an idiot. “She hasn’t ever said it, but Cayla probably blames herself, poor girl. And Kiora! Look at what she did in her grief and guilt. It made good sense that Cayla wouldn’t want to be here any longer.”

Mally nodded seriously at the mention of Kiora.

“It’s all for the best that she stays away from this castle,” Meriyal continued firmly, spilling cordial over herself. “Don’t you agree Nanette?”

Nanette nodded silently.

“Cayla was a right mess after Alice Spindle was hanged,” Meriyal said to Mally. “She was very close to Alice and the shock shook her to the core. It was tragic. Absolutely tragic. And just when I thought she was getting better—learning to go on with life … the poor princess died.” Meriyal sighed, her wrinkled, bloodshot eyes taking on a glistening shine. “And when Cayla told us she was leaving—well, I can’t say I was surprised. But I did feel terribly for you, Nanette. You two were so close.”

Nanette looked slightly startled at Meriyal’s genial remorse. Mally suspected that with the aid of apricot cordial, Meriyal was saying things she had never said before.

Wanting to keep the conversation going, Mally asked Nanette, “Why didn’t you leave with her?”

Nanette frowned at Mally as if she had never been asked the question before.

“I had a comfortable job with room and board. After deliberation, there wasn’t much reason for me to leave. I had nowhere else to go. I was upset—but the castle was my home. It had been for many years. We are all family here,” Nanette said, indicating Meriyal and those around her. A small smile graced Nanette’s features as she glanced at the others, singing and dancing. But her gaze didn’t seem focused on them. Rather, Mally thought, Nanette was someplace else entirely. “I agreed that it would be good for Cayla to leave. She had been jarred by the events and needed time away. I was foolish to hope that she would return.”

Something shined in Nanette’s eyes and Mally, embarrassed, glanced away.

Mally heard the rushing of feet and the kitchen door banged open so violently that every one jumped and yelled in surprise. Meriyal jerked so wildly that half her bottle of cordial now covered she and Mally.

It was Sammy, in his faded and much too large pajamas. He looked around the group of adults, his eyes wide and pale.

“Bob Kettle has been arrested!” he cried.

For a full second, Mally stared at Sammy. Tears streaked his face.

“They took him to the dungeons! They took him to the dungeons!” he cried.

Rosa rushed to her son and wrapped him in her arms. Meriyal had left her chair and crouched low so that she and Sammy were staring eye to eye.

“You saw this?” she asked him.

Sammy nodded frantically.

“I couldn’t sleep so I was coming down here,” he explained to the silent room, “and I saw two knights dragging Bob to the dungeons. I saw them! We have to help him! You have to help him! He’s in the dungeons!”

Rosa hugged her sobbing son tightly and rubbed his back, loo
king at the rest of the silent servants. Nanette, Mildred, and Eveyln had joined Meriyal.

Mally’s throat seemed so constricted it was hard to breathe. Her ears weren’t working properly. Meriyal was ordering the ser
vants to do something, but Mally could only see her lips moving. It was as if she were underwater. Her vision swirled and she suddenly realized she was standing for she swayed on her feet. Lita grabbed her by the elbow. She couldn’t remember Lita coming to stand next to her.

Mally had to do something. Bob couldn’t survive in the du
ngeons! What were the knights doing to him? Why had they taken him? She had to do something …

“Mally! Mally, we have to go!” Lita was saying to her.

Mally looked at Lita as if she couldn’t believe her ears.

“Meriyal wants us to go to our chambers,” Lita explained. “We have to go—”

“NO!” Mally yelled, making Lita jerk and the last of the servants turn to her in alarm. Meriyal frowned deeply. “We have to do something!” Mally argued loudly to no one in particular. “We have to get him out!”

“Mally, I want you to go to your chamber,” Meriyal ordered. Evelyn and Mildred continued to shoo a staring Christopher and Betty out of the kitchen.

“No!” Mally shook her head wildly.

“Mally, please go to your chamber!”

“If you won’t do anything, then I will!” Mally exclaimed.

The kitchen was empty now save for Mally, Eveyln, Mildred, Meriyal, and Lita. Meriyal, all hints of alcohol gone from her face, glared daggers at Mally, but Mally held her ground. She was not going to bed. Let Meriyal drag her to her chamber! She’d have to lock her in to keep her there!

“Lita, will you kindly join Gerda in your chamber?” Meriyal asked smoothly, still keeping her eyes on Mally.

Lita hesitated, shooting a nervous glance at Mally before scoo
ting past Evelyn through the door.

“Sit down,” Meriyal ordered.

Mally sat.

The three older women stood over her. She had never seen them so serious and she had never seen Meriyal so angry.

“We have to do something,” Mally pleaded. “He’ll die in the dungeons!”

“As if I don’t know that, Mally. I know Bob very well,” Mer
iyal cut across her sharply. “We can’t get him out—”

“We have to!” Mally cried.

“
We can’t
.”

Mally stared at Meriyal as if she couldn’t understand her words.
They couldn’t?
They couldn’t do anything? Mally’s eyes swam and she didn’t care that tears had begun to streak her cheeks.

“We can’t get him out of the castle,” said Mildred in a soft tone, “but we can—”

“
Mildred!
” Evelyn hissed.

Mildred faced Evelyn.

“She needs to know what we can do,” she told Evelyn evenly. “If not the child will panic and do something foolish.”

Evelyn glared viciously, but Meriyal frowned at Mally.

“What I am about to tell you must never reach another ear,” Meriyal said severely. “Do you understand me?”

Mally nodded her head.

“Not even Lita.”

Mally nodded rapidly.

Mildred and Evelyn seemed to close a tighter circle about Meriyal and Mally, tension clear in their shoulders.

“There is one servant passage to the dungeons,” Meriyal e
xplained quietly. “Myself, Mildred, and Evelyn are the only ones who know about it. We are servants. We cannot fight the knights. We cannot rebel openly against Molick.
But we can help those they imprison.
”

“We take them food,” Mildred said quickly. “We give them tonics from Gladys. We bandage wounds that can be easily hidden by their clothes.”

Mally stared at the three women before her in amazement. These older women, their hair grey, their hands wrinkled, snuck into the dungeons. Mally couldn’t imagine a more dangerous act to undertake. If Molick ever found out—they would be hanged. They would be tortured.

“But if you can get in, you can get him out!” Mally exclaimed.

“No, we cannot!” Evelyn barked. “We cannot risk the knights realizing what we can do! They would notice if prisoners were disappearing from their cells. We cannot risk Molick becoming suspicious!”

Mally looked from Evelyn, her mouth an angry, tight line, to Mildred, whose eyes were soft with pity. But even she sadly shook her head.

“We will see to Bob tonight,” Meriyal said and Mally’s eyes latched onto hers.

“Can’t I—”

“No. You will not join us. We will take care of Bob. And you will go to bed.”

Bed? She couldn’t possibly sleep.

“You must get your rest,” Meriyal pressed softly. “Leave this to us. Please, trust me.”

And knowing that she couldn’t argue anymore, Mally numbly nodded her head and rose on wobbly feet. She lay in bed a very long time, staring at the ceiling. She had always disliked Evelyn, and Mildred’s kindness had always seemed so easy to manipulate. She couldn’t imagine thinking those things now.

24
The Winter Ball

Mally rose before dawn, her shoulders tight and knotted. Lita and Gerda didn’t say a word to her as they quickly dressed in their freezing room. Gerda would have had no idea how much Bob’s imprisonment would mean to Mally, leaving Mally to assume Lita had told her sometime last night. Mally knew that today was the opening day of the Winter Ball and that she needed to be on her toes with all the new guests arriving, but her first priority was tracking down Meriyal, or Mildred, or Evelyn. She had to know what had happened last night when they had snuck into the du
ngeons. She had to know if Bob was hurt … if he was alive.

In the Servants’ Chambers, Mally hardly ate. She sat perched on the bench, scanning the crowd for one of the three women. 

“You have to eat something, Mally,” Lita finally said.

“I’m not hungry,” was Mally’s reply, her eyes never ceasing in their search.

Lita humphed beside Mally’s elbow and lifted a buttered roll before her eyes.

Mally blinked in surprise.

“Eat,” Lita said firmly. “Trust me, you’re going to need it.”

Mally half-heartedly took the roll and was just about to take a bite when she saw Evelyn out of the corner of her eye. Dropping the roll, Mally leapt to her feet and ran to the opposite end of the chamber, Lita staring after her in alarm.

“Evelyn!” Mally gasped once she had reached her.

Evelyn turned to her slowly, her face tired and sour.

“Help me in here,” Evelyn ordered before shuffling into the small storage room off the chamber. Mally did and Evelyn shut the door behind her, blocking out the noise from the Servants’ Chamber.

“Well?” Mally asked without preamble. “Is he all right? Did you see him? Is he—”

Evelyn raised a hand and Mally stopped her blubbering. With a tired sigh, Evelyn sat heavily in a chair.

“First off, don’t go yelling my name like that anymore. Clearly, you don’t have a discreet bone in your body.”

Mally blushed.

“If you want to discuss Bob’s plight, you do it quietly and not around listening servants, hear me?”

Mally nodded.

Evelyn snorted and shifted in her chair.

“He’s alive.”

Mally’s heart soared.

“The dolt had too many drinks at the Lone Candle and decided to break into the Bell Tower and ring the bells,” Evelyn explained.

In Mally’s relief, she actually smiled.

“Silly Bob.”

“Stupid Bob,” Evelyn corrected her sourly.

“Do you have any idea how long he will be in the dungeons?” asked Mally nervously.

Evelyn had risen and started past Mally to the door. She paused and half turned to Mally.

“I have no idea.”

Mally was still terrified for Bob, but now that she knew he was
alive
, she could focus on her task of escorting the arriving guests to their rooms. And as she did, Mildred and Meriyal found her and gave her similar information about Bob.

“He’s got a nasty bruise on his cheek, but no broken bones,” Mildred had told her in an undertone as they stood in the crowded Great Hall, waiting for the first carriage to wheel up to the front doors.

“You
do
think they’ll let him go, don’t you?” Mally had asked her.

“It’s happened before,” Mildred whispered carefully. “No re
ason not to keep our fingers crossed.”

But Mildred’s lack of reassuring eye contact did little to i
ncrease her hopes.

The servants spent the day escorting guests to their rooms. The castle was incredibly crowded and noisy. Mally was nearly knocked flat by Christopher as he lugged a giant trunk around a corner.

“Oh! Sorry, Mally. Didn’t see you!” Christopher panted in apology as his slightly sweaty face peeked around the massive trunk’s side.

“Are you having trouble, my dear boy?” asked an old woman who had just emerged from around the corner behind Christopher. She looked up at Christopher with a wrinkled, concerned smile and all thoughts of Bob were momentarily swept aside as Mally stared at the woman, completely taken aback.

She was very short, and seemed to have tried to regain her youth by carefully curling her poorly-died hair (a shocking rusty red) and plastering heavy make-up on her wrinkled face. Mally marveled that the woman could see Christopher at all, for her eyes were squinted and the surrounding eyelashes drooped from the thick black layer of paint on them. She blinked and peered at Christopher as though it were very bright in the dim hall.

Her attire was just as shocking The dress she wore was so ruffled and such a vibrant shade of orange that Mally stood with her mouth open in alarm. She also seemed to be carrying a large yellow, fluffy handbag in her arms.

“No, Madame Bones,” Christopher huffed, trying to shift the trunk a little in his arms as his thin legs quivered under its weight. “It just seems a bit heavier than last time.”

Madame Bones laughed good naturally and absentmindedly patted his arm. That was when Mally realized that the handbag was not a handbag at all, but an extremely fat cat. Or perhaps his size was simply due to the alarming amount of fluffy fur covering his body.

“Madame, perhaps if we hurried to your chamber, Mr. Banks can deposit his load,” said another woman who had just emerged behind Madame Bones. She was quite tall and thin. There was an unhealthy pallor in her face, and the lines about her mouth and eyes made her look older than Mally suspected she was.

“Too true, Cayla, too true,” Madame Bones agreed happily. “Lead the way, dear boy!”

Mally stepped out of their way as Christopher staggered down the corridor. Madame Bones passed Mally with a distant, cheerful smile, the cat in her arms turning reproachful eyes toward her, while Cayla Black followed. As Cayla passed her, Mally teetered on the edge of speaking to her. Mally could only imagine what sort of valuable information she might possess. Like her mistress, as Cayla walked past, she turned to nod politely to Mally only to stumble as her eyes focused on her.

“Are you all right?” Mally asked, catching Cayla’s arm to steady her.

“Yes, thank you. This dress is a bit too long for me. Third time I’ve tripped today.” Cayla lifted her heavy skirt a bit, revealing black shoes, each with a silver, ornate buckle.

At least it’s not orange
, Mally thought. She’d rather trip all day in a too-long dress than wear one that made her eyes water.

“Thank you again,” said Cayla, and before Mally could think of any way to bring up Cayla’s previous position, she had continued down the hall after her mistress.

The guests had come from all over Lenzar. Madame Bones’ manor was located in Leaveston, just a few days from Bosc, but there were many who had spent days in their carriages. Mally was fascinated as she watched wave upon wave of the wealthiest inha
bitants of Lenzar enter the castle doors. As Betty had said, most tried to hide the fact that they were positively terrified, but poor Lord Buckmund nearly leapt out of his skin when Sir Alexander Vinsus greeted him, and then looked quite faint when Vinsus succeeded in pulling him away to have a drink.

Having lived her life on a rather secluded farm on the outskirts of a very small town, Mally had no idea how exhausting a horde of people could be. When the knights sat in the parlors before and after dinner, they didn’t require constant supervision. The servants usually just brought them their favorite drink and left. But with the guests, Mally and the others had to line the walls and look inconspicuous while keeping tabs on how full each person’s glass was. Mally couldn’t wait for the end of the ball.

And she was still extremely nervous about Bob. Any time there was an opportunity—when one of the three women were alone, when a large enough crowd masked their whispered convers
ation—she would ask about him. Every night they had been sneaking down to his cell.

“No, they are still holding him,” Meriyal said before Mally had even opened her mouth. They were alone in the cellar, retrieving more bottles of wine.

“But it’s been three days!” Mally exclaimed. “Surely they’ll let him go soon?”

“Bob broke into the Bell Tower. Molick probably wants to make an example of him.”

Mally’s blood turned cold.
Example?
Mally didn’t like how that sounded at all. In her frozen state, Meriyal took the opportunity to load her arms with wine bottles. Mally forced herself to ask, “Are they … are they going to … to kill him?”

Mally had hoped that Meriyal would laugh. That she would chuckle, saying no one would be killed over
that.
But she didn’t. 

Meriyal gazed at her very sadly, and suddenly looked every one of her years.

“I don’t know, Mally. I really don’t know.”

Mally was in a constant state of nervous tension. Lita and the others soon learned to be careful with what they said around her. They all perfectly understood that Bob meant a great deal to Mally and none of them could comfortably reassure her. Mally had never felt so completely helpless. She had tried to write to Galen, asking for the rebels to help save Bob from the dungeons, but every draft she wrote sounded more blatant than the next. Any knight would know exactly what she wanted them to do the moment they’d read the first line. And it was near impossible to sneak out of the castle during the festivities. She was forced to wait … wait to see what Molick finally decided to do.

And that terrified her.

The fourth day of the Winter Ball brought the actual ball and Mally was forced to stop worrying over Bob as she tried to keep her wits about her. Archie had given Mally a large silver tray of chocolates and asked her to weave her way through the large crowd of knights and guests in the ballroom. Lita had also been given a tray of chocolates, but Archie had made a mistake in that choice. Mally had spotted Lita, quick as a flash, stealing chocolates off her own tray and placing them in her pockets. Once, she caught Lita’s eye and Lita actually flushed before shrugging and winking. 

“I have not raised you to behave like a three year old.”

The angry hiss made Mally turn in surprise. She blinked many times. Ivan stood a short distance away with an imposingly proper woman in a dazzling gown of rich velvet. Mally could have kicked herself. She hadn’t once thought that Ivan would be there. He must have come for the ball. Perhaps she could speak to him? Ask for his help in freeing Bob?

Mally, as inconspicuous as she could possibly be, while holding a tray of succulent chocolates, slowly weaved her way a bit closer to them.

“Mother, I have apologized to you already,” Ivan replied tartly. “Shall we let it go at that?”

“We shall not!” Mrs. Finley spat under her breathe. “You know your obligations. What His Majesty must think! You have been absent for most of the festivities!”

“I will profess my deepest apologies to His Highness if he has lost any sleep over my absence,” Ivan replied dryly.

Mally nearly laughed. She had managed to get behind a large statue and a group of dukes. Mrs. Finley looked like she was about to breathe fire.

“Why aren’t you dancing?” she demanded. “Where is Coletta?”

“I have no idea,” Ivan said in a bored voice. He twirled a glass of wine between his

fingers.

Mrs. Finley suddenly narrowed her eyes at her son and said in a calmer tone, “Coletta and I have been talking and we both agree that Spring would be a beautiful time for your wedding.”

“I will not wed Coletta, Mother.”

“What is it that you don’t like about her? She’s a charming, delightful girl—a perfect match!”

Ivan gave a noncommittal jerk of his head and drank his wine.

“Arguing, are we?”

A man who looked like an older version of Ivan, though with much less hair, suddenly stood at his wife’s elbow.

“Brendan, talk to him!” Mrs. Finley exclaimed in exasperation.

“Of course, my dear. But first, we must dance!”

Mr. Finley flashed an understanding smile at Ivan as he gently led Mrs. Finley to the dance floor. Ivan snorted and glared at the other guests, daring any of the girls eyeing him to come any closer.

Making up her mind, Mally walked up to him.

“Chocolates, sir?”

For a moment Ivan looked floored. But he quickly masked it and took a chocolate. He turned to face the twirling guests. Out of the corner of his mouth he asked, “How are you?”

“Bob’s in the dungeons. How do you think I am?” Mally whispered back.

“I heard about it. Galen and I have been trying to figure out a way of getting him out—but it’s too dangerous, Mally.”

“Too dangerous!” Mally cried in a strangled whisper.

Ivan continued not to look at her and Mally quickly offered her chocolates to a chatting pair of duchesses.

“You should go,” Ivan murmured. “We shouldn’t look too friendly.”

Feeling the balloon in her chest that had inflated with hope be slashed by his words, Mally turned on her heel and marched off.