Date: 2013-12-31T18:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Adventure; Science Fiction
Description: Enjoy the complete historical romance series now! You change the world, but the world changes you in turn — there is no getting around it. A simple wish to survive irrevocably changed the life of Aliya, a medical student from the modern era. Trapped in a body that isn’t hers in a world in which she does not belong to, Aliya has made her decision – she will live… and she will thrive. A Medieval Tale series takes place in the dark ages of Ativerna, a land inhabited by different peoples that worship different gods. In this world, women are deprived of their voices, unable to pursue their calling.
Publisher: LitHunters ltd.

A Medieval Tale.

The Clearing

Lina J. Potter

Copyright © 2017 Litworld Ltd. (http://litworld.com)

All rights reserved.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase another copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Contents:

Contents:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Book Recommendations:

But the true voyagers are those who leave
only to move: hearts like balloons, as light,
they never swerve from their destinies,
and, without knowing why, say, always: ‘Flight!’
Those whose desires take on cloud-likenesses,
who dream of vast sensualities, the same
way a conscript dreams of the guns, shifting vaguenesses,
that the human spirit cannot name.

Charles Baudelaire. “Le Voyage”

Chapter 1

Do I even like children?

Lily doubted it.

At first glance, Miranda Catherine Earton was a charming little girl, with dark hair, blue eyes, chubby cheeks and a gap where she had lost one of her front teeth. One thing, however, was clear: she did not see her stepmother as an authority figure, didn’t love her and had no intention of obeying her orders. That much became obvious five minutes after her arrival, when the castle halls echoed with her high-pitched wail “I won’t stay here!”

She didn’t approve of the room they had given her.

Mary came running to Lily – what should she do? Lily shrugged and said to let the child pick her own room. So, what did the little wretch do? That’s right. She chose the countess’ private suite. The very rooms where Lily was living quite comfortably. She had fixed up the rooms to her liking, getting rid of the pink wall coverings, cleaning the floors and chinking up the cracks in the window frames.

The same improvements were being carried out in all the other rooms, with Emma, the Virmans and Lily supervising. There was no reason to indulge the tiny person.

Lily listened to Mary’s frightened report and issued a brief order. “Give Lady Miranda a basin and some water for washing, and then have her come down to the dining room. Is dinner ready?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“What are we having?”

“Vegetables, just as you ordered. Baked pot…potty…”

“Potatoes.”

“Yes, my lady. And boiled meat, fresh greens and fruits.”

“Perfect.”

Lily wanted to have a dinner party for the people who would make up her team, but it wasn’t time for that yet. And she suspected that Miranda would do her best to spoil any event she put on. That was almost guaranteed.

When Lily saw Miranda sitting at the table, she nodded to herself. She had been right: the little girl was sitting in the chair normally reserved for the countess and looking about her defiantly. Or at least she was trying to look defiant. The massive wooden table spoiled the effect, since it hid everything but her eyes and ears.

Lily had no intention of stopping or changing course. She calmly walked up to her chair with her Virman guards behind her. She knew that she didn’t have the child’s love or respect, so she would use what she did have – her size and her imposing guards. Miranda’s nurse, who was standing behind her, turned pale at the sight of the heavily armed warriors.

Am I overplaying this? I don’t think so. Even the famous educator Anton Makarenko was rough with street kids before he tried to educate them. Miranda’s no street kid, but she’s a spoiled brat who only knows how to care about herself. I should know, I was the same as a child.

She meant Lilian Broklend. Aliya Skorolenok had never been spoiled. She’d been too busy trying to survive.

Lily looked down at the girl with open disdain. She lifted the child’s chin and studied her face. She sniffed.

She hasn’t had a bath. Wonderful!

The best way to tame a child is to start by surprising and unsettling her.

“What do I see here? Lady Miranda, has someone been using you to clean chimneys?”

Miranda stared. She shook her head, but Lily held tight to her chin.

“N-no…”

“And you smell like an outhouse. Is that how you suppose the daughter of an earl ought to smell?”

The girl was confused. She was better prepared for her stepmother to yell at her. Cold irony was something she had never encountered before. Nobody – not her father, or her other relatives – had ever spoken to her this way before. And she didn’t dare pitch a fit with the Virmans scowling down at her. On their faces she read a deep disregard for her title. She had had her ears boxed a few times in the past by her father when she threw fits in his presence. Since then, she had maintained tolerable behavior whenever he was around, and she preferred to take no unnecessary risks around these grim strangers. Children are fast learners.

“N-no…”

“Exactly. Therefore, I shall postpone dinner just long enough for you to get cleaned up. You are the daughter of an earl. I want you to look and smell like one. Do you know what it means to have a title?”

Miranda just stared at her, so Lily continued. “It means that you are to set an example and offer protection to those who live on your lands. And here you haven’t even bothered to bathe. For shame, Lady Miranda.”

Miranda blushed beet red. She was shocked.

I’ve won this battle, but the war is just beginning.

Lily nodded at Emma, who was standing in the doorway. “Please help Lady Miranda wash up quickly. Pay special attention to her hands.”

Miranda obeyed. Lily sat down in her now empty chair and reflected that it would take a great deal of effort to tame the child. But it had to be done.

Why bother?

The romantic answer was that Miranda was a child. She was all alone and helpless at the home of a stepmother she barely knew. Lilian ought to feel sorry for her and care for her, if only to continue the family line.

But Lily was no romantic. The practical answer was that Miranda was a tool she could use to manage her husband. Jerrison Earton might not love his wife, but he was sure to have feelings for his daughter.

He has to love his daughter. Doesn’t he?

Lily rubbed her temples. She had no memory of Jess’ feelings for the girl. She would have to have a quiet conference with Emma on the subject. Emma could have tea with the servants who had accompanied Miranda and then report back on the latest gossip.

Miranda reappeared. Now that she was clean and had had a chance to collect herself, she was ready to throw her fit. Lily was prepared.

“Do you like baked potatoes, Lady Miranda?”

“What?”

“Baked ground apples.” Lily smiled. “That is what we are having for dinner tonight.”

“I want to sit there!” Her finger pointed at the countess’ chair.

Lily shrugged and moved to another chair.

Miranda sat down and gave a squeak.

Three minutes prior, Lily had ordered the servants to remove the cushion from her chair. As a result, Miranda’s entire head was below the level of the table.

“Lesson two,” Lily calmly explained. “Before you demand something, think about whether you really want it.”

“Did you do that on purpose?”

“Of course. You were planning to throw a fit, weren’t you?”

Miranda sniffed. She had no cards to play. This strange lady was not like the other adults she knew. She didn’t yell or stamp her feet or beg Miranda to do anything. She didn’t fit into any of the adult roles Miranda was so familiar with. So, the girl took out her favorite weapon, the one that always worked.

She cried.

Lily looked down at the small, tear-stained face. She supposed she ought to kiss the girl, wipe away her tears and make everything all better. But she couldn’t. That would be the end of her. So, Lilian Earton snapped her fingers. When Ilona appeared, she issued an order. “Please bring in my dinner. And bring Lady Miranda an onion. Unpeeled.”

The girl’s curiosity was stronger than her annoyance. If Lily had waited another five minutes to order the onion, after Miranda was in gale force hysterics, it wouldn’t have worked. But she was still calm enough to be curious.

“What’s that for?”

“So you can cry longer. You see, crocodile tears tend to dry up quickly.”

“What tears?”

“Crocodile tears. Don’t you know what a crocodile is?”

Miranda shook her head.

“Then listen. I’ll tell you all about it while dinner is served.”

Lily told her about the crocodile that cried as he swallowed his prey, and about the bird that cleaned his teeth, and about the elephant’s trunk… she still remembered all of Kipling’s tales.

Miranda listened with her mouth open. Her nanny was always telling her tales of knights and ladies. She had never heard about elephants and crocodiles before. This was something entirely new, and that made it interesting. Lily was a good storyteller. And the baked potatoes tasted good. Miranda didn’t even notice herself using a knife and fork. An earl’s daughter, especially such a pretty one, should have pretty manners, shouldn’t she?

After dinner, Lily carried Miranda back to her room (the child was heavy, but it had to be done). Then she sat by her bed while the little girl fell asleep. She even sang her a lullaby.

It was the one her own mother had sung to her.

Moonlight shining on the fields, night as bright as day…

She didn’t have much of a voice, but it didn’t matter. Miranda fell asleep holding her stepmother’s hand. When she was breathing deeply, Lily carefully freed her hand. She reflected that she really ought to sew something for the child. Or knit her something. It would take any time at all to make her a soft toy.

Miranda Catherine Earton, it looks like we’ll be spending the winter together. By spring, you’ll love me as much as you love your own father. For now, it’s time to sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day.

In the early morning, Lily had a dream about an elephant. It sat on her chest and whispered, “Have you paid your taxes, my child?”

She startled and opened her eyes.

It was no elephant. It was Miranda Catherine.

“I’m already awake! Why are you still asleep?” she asked in a chipper voice.

Lily looked out the window. It was barely light outside. And cold. She looked at Miranda.

The girl’s wearing nothing but her thin nightgown in this medieval icebox!

“Have you lost your mind?” she cried and pulled the girl under her blanket, just like her own mother used to do.

“What?”

Miranda found herself getting tickled and kissed on the nose.

“Look at you! Running around barefoot on the cold floor. Your feet are cubes of ice. Where’s your nanny?”

“She’s asleep. I wanted…”

“To catch a cold, I suppose.” Lily tweaked the child’s nose. “Stay right here under the blanket!”

“Will you tell me another story?”

Lily sighed. The diagnosis was clear. Miranda woke up in the wee hours. Her nanny was asleep, so she decided to take a tour of the castle, and Lilian’s room was right next door. Miranda was staying in what was normally the earl’s bedroom. So here she was.

“I will, as long as you promise not to go running around barefoot anymore. At least put on some thick socks.”

“But…”

“Or call for me and I’ll come to you.”

“But if I call out, Calma will wake up.”

“Is Calma your nanny?”

“Yes.”

“Then how about we hang up two bells?”

“Bells?”

“One for you and one for me. Tied together by a long string. You can ring for me when you need me, and I’ll ring when I need you. How does that sound?”

Miranda thought that sounded fine. Lily smiled. “We’ll stop by the smithy tomorrow and order two bells, then.”

I need to see the blacksmith anyway. And it will keep you from running around the castle and getting into trouble. I’m the only one who can deal with you, so you’ll have to go on my errands with me.

Miranda snuggled up to her. “I want a story.”

Lily tousled her hair. Her mind was blank. Then she remembered something.

“I’ll tell you about the armadillo.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a little animal.”

She sent up a word of thanks to her English teacher, who had made them read Kipling.

Too bad I can’t use my English skills here. I wonder if I could teach the Virmans to speak English. Or perhaps Miranda?

These thoughts in no way prevented Lily from telling the story. Her tongue could operate independently of the rest of her. Soon Miranda was warm and comfortable. She fell asleep on Lily’s shoulder like a kitten.

That’s a big name for such a little girl.

She petted the child’s head.

Miranda Catherine Earton. How about Mirrie? Mary? No, that’s not right. Katie? Kitty cat? I’ll call you Kittie. Or Mirrie. Since you’re going to live here, you need a pet name.

Lily made herself comfortable and fell asleep, too.

Once it was light, the morning got off to a rough start. Miranda’s nanny started screaming when she realized the girl wasn’t in her bed. None of the servants thought to check Lily’s room. The screaming and hollering went on for a good ten minutes until Lily gave up and got out of bed.

Walking quickly (I’ll invent some slippers before another day goes by!), she went to the door leading to the earl’s bedroom and hissed, “Quiet!”

The servants didn’t hear her right away, but once they did, the fell silent. The countess was a fearsome sight first thing in the morning. Picture an angry mammoth in a pink nightgown.

“You’ll wake the child!”

“My lady, is she with you?”

Miranda’s nanny tried to push her way into the countess’ bedroom, but Lily filled the doorway so that even a germ stood no chance of getting through.

Might as well use my size while I still have it.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“My lady?”

Lily’s voice was threatening. “Just look at yourself. Your hair is a mess, your nightgown is dirty, and so is your face. I could plant turnips in the filth under your fingernails. Go wash yourself. Then you can come for the child.”

The nanny’s voice shook, “His lordship instructed me to stay by the little lady…”

“And here’s a big lady telling you to go wash up. Emma will show you where to find water.”

“But my lady, the pastor says that water…”

“I know. He says that water is harmful. Let him say it all he wants. I don’t want to smell you. You either take a bath or I’ll have you kicked out of the castle. Is that clear?”

The nanny’s eyes got big. She took a deep breath and prepared to say something nasty.

Lily narrowed her eyes. “Of course, you can always complain to the earl. But I would remind you that we can hire a hundred women just like you.”

Suddenly she remembered Filatov’s famous line: “Foolish woman, think before you jeer. He is there, but you are here.”

Then she went on without the help of the classics. “The earl is far away. If you write him a letter today, it won’t get to him this year. And in the meantime, you’ve abandoned your charge. What kind of a nanny are you, anyway? The child got up and left the room and you never heard a thing. I should have you whipped! At the stable!”

The nanny’s face paled.

“I’ll whip you and throw you out of my estate without a single friend to accompany you. My Virman guards will give you a swift kick to speed you on your way.”

Judging by the look on the nanny’s face, she knew the game was up. She was ready to take a bath and even shave her head, if necessary.

Lily turned to go back to her room. “Miranda is with me. We will have our breakfast together and then we will go for a walk.

“What about her tutor, my lady?”

“Her tutor?”

Lily learned that the earl had sent three tutors with his daughter to spend the winter at Earton. One taught dancing and etiquette. The second taught mathematics and writing. The third taught history and literature. She was delighted. Professional tutors would come in handy, indeed.

“Excellent. The child should learn. I will sit with her and monitor what they are teaching her.”

And I’ll learn, too.

If her husband had walked in just then, Lily would have refrained from punching him. That’s how pleased she was.

What a good thing he has done!

“My lady?”

“Take a bath, wash your clothes and keep your voice down. I’ll take Lady Miranda down to breakfast. After that, I want you to look over her clothes. The castle is cold. Lady Miranda must not get sick.”

Then she turned and went back to her room. She looked at the little girl curled up in her bed.

What am I going to do with you, Miranda Catherine Earton?

Lily peeked out into the hall. Two Virmans were standing guard outside her door. She asked them to call a servant girl. Shortly there was a knock at the door. It was Emma. Lily raised her eyebrows.

“Where is Marcia? Or Irene? Or Mary?”

“My lady, I wanted an opportunity to speak with you.”

Lily nodded and lowered her eyelashes.

“Order hot water for my bath and then we can talk.”

“It’s already heating.”

“Wonderful.”

“My lady, I don’t suppose you need my services anymore, do you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You have so many people to help you, so many new people…”

Lily smiled and put a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “Emma, dear, I do need you. I can’t manage Earton alone. Who knows how to run this castle better than you do? I will manage the estate, but here at home… You know my tastes, you know what I like, you know who is a good worker. I need a housekeeper. There’s no getting around it.”

“Housekeeper?”

“Emma, I think you know that the village elders won’t listen to you.”

The woman looked surprised. She hadn’t expected Lily to understand.

“So I want you to be in charge of the castle. More Virmans will be arriving soon. Think about where to put them and how to feed and clothe them. They are traveling with women. Those women will need jobs to do. And they have children. There will be plenty to keep you busy. I am officially appointing you housekeeper. You may have the keys to the storerooms. You are in charge.”

Emma fell to her knees. “My lady, I never… you…” Tears ran down her cheeks.

Lily said nothing, but she silently cursed feudalism. Then she helped Emma up, sat her down on the bed and petted her head. “My dear Emma, first you need to find rooms for all the people who are here now. Talk to Ivar. He is the senior Virman, and he can tell you what they need and how many more are coming.”

“My lady, the pastor says that Virmans have no souls.”

Lily snorted. “I’ll speak to the pastor. By the way, when is the next service?”

There would be a service the next day. Lily decided she would go and take Miranda with her. Hopefully the pastor would be better disposed to her if she had a child with her.

I need to make time this evening to think about how to handle the pastor.

“That’s settled. Bring my bath water and tell Marcia I need her.”

Emma nodded and ran off. She was so grateful to Lily that she would have walked through fire and water for her.

Lily reflected that this was one issue she had handled well. Emma would be an excellent housekeeper, but she would never have been able to manage the estate. The peasants wouldn’t listen to her. After all, who was she? Just the widow of the former estate manager. They owed her nothing.

Distracted by thoughts of the estate manager, Lily realized that she was biting her thumbnail. It was an awful habit that she had tried to break, but it came back in moments of stress.

She realized she had made a mistake with Etor.

Imagine that you manage an estate and the owner throws you out one night without warning.

Etor hadn’t argued with her or asked for a wagon. He had just slung a sack over his shoulder and left.

What does that mean?

It means he had somewhere to go. And someone to go to.

Lily was sure Etor had accomplices. But who were they?

Hell if I know! And I won’t find out until they make their play. Villagers can keep secrets, even if it’s harder to manage than in a big city. I have to find out who was working with Etor.

Lily would find out, and she would wait and watch. She strongly suspected that a person who gets cut off from a reliable source of income is capable of causing all kinds of trouble. She would have to be careful.

Would his accomplices try to kill me, I wonder?
Who knows.

Murdering a countess was more serious than pilfering grain, but people had to know that her husband couldn’t care less about her. She wondered what her father would do if anything happened to her.

I have to see the blacksmith today, but after that I’ll go through all my old papers. I should have done it before, but reading is still hard for me, and I guess it slipped my mind.

She had forgotten all about her old letters and papers, even though she knew that the written word was the foundation of civilization.

And I forgot to look into making paper. I can’t always be using birchbark and parchment. Let’s see. Paper is made of cellulose, and cellulose comes from wood. I wonder if there’s something more renewable I could use instead?
I’ll have to sit down and remember my chemistry classes. There isn’t enough wood here to use for fuel and for paper, especially once the local bureaucrats find out how convenient paper is.

Lily didn’t want her forests cut down to make paper. She would have to think.

Back at the market in Altver she had purchased several dozen bundles of parchment and a whole heap of birchbark so that she could write down everything she remembered from her education. First of all, she wanted to write down notes on medicine. Then she would write out what she knew of chemistry, biology and botany. She had plenty of useful information in her head.

For the hundredth time since waking up in this new world, Lily felt glad that she hadn’t grown up rich. She had seen rich kids in medical school. They never studied because they didn’t have to. She, on the other hand, had put everything she had into learning the material for her classes, so she still remembered most of it. She had pecked away at her studies like a woodpecker. She knew medicine like a robot. If someone had woken her up in the middle of the night, she would have been able to answer questions about anatomy and surgical instruments. Now she would write it all down.

Chemistry had not come naturally. No one knew the hours she had spent memorizing her inorganic chemistry textbooks. Anatomy had been her best subject. Zoology was harder, but she still remembered how many cervical vertebrae there were in a parrot’s neck. The zoology professor had been a good teacher; in the summer, he had taken them to a nearby pond to catch leeches.

Lily hated botany, with its pistils and stamens. She preferred to study plants from the practical aspect of a gardener. Genetics was interesting and useful.

I have so much to write down! Where will I find the time?

While Lily went through the routine of washing her face and hands and holding her head still for Marcia to brush and arrange her hair, she listened to Lidia and Irene whispering about something that was obviously important to them. She realized that she was taking on an overwhelming burden. If she had her way, she would go somewhere quiet, a place where she could be alone, and stay there the rest of her life. She had no choice in the matter, though, and she was smart enough to be thankful for the people around her. There was no way she could survive in this new world alone.

The young dressmakers had spent a comfortable night in their new home and were extremely pleased with everything they saw. Lily had provided them with two rooms for the three of them to share. With all the Virmans on the way, she couldn’t give them each a room. The girls had no objections. They put all three beds in one of the rooms and set up the second room to use as a workshop. Lily told them they could do as they liked, but she was planning to turn either the ballroom or the music room into a much larger workshop.

They nodded in agreement and helped Lily finish putting on her white shirt, green vest and green skirt. She slid her feet into her slippers and tied the ribbons around her ankles.

It won’t take long to set up someone to manufacture decent shoes.

It was time to eat breakfast and get busy. She would start with the girls.

Lily explained to them in a few words how to make soft plush toys. They just stared at her. They had seen dolls before, but no one had ever sewn stuffed bears and rabbits. Lily promised to show them how it was done and looked in to check on Miranda. The little girl was sleeping soundly.

That’s no surprise. She must be exhausted from riding in a closed carriage for so many days.

Lily turned to Lidia. “Will you and Irene keep an eye on her? You can sit here and chat, but call me as soon as she wakes.”

The girls promised to do so, and Lily went downstairs to her breakfast. She got her first surprise of the day when she walked into the hall next to the dining room and found a group of six people waiting for her. All of them turned to look at her. She said nothing as she looked them over.

The first, a man, was obviously a soldier. He had dark hair, gray eyes, a muscular figure and a scar on his cheek. His dark cape was pulled back to reveal a sword hanging in a scabbard. The second person was a woman with a long, horsey face and chronically disgruntled expression. Lily felt sure she was not a noblewoman. The third guest was a movie-star blond in a blue tunic. His golden curls were neatly powdered and his clothes were spotless. He looked at her with soulful eyes, as if he were used to women falling for him. The man standing next to him was his competitor in the looks department, but with dark hair. The two glanced at each other with little affection.

Are they rivals?

The last two men in the group also seemed to be a pair. One was dressed simply and had serious eyes and a calm smile. The other – and here Lily decided that they were not as alike as she had thought – was dressed the same, but he had a look on his face that didn’t sit well with her. Like a human calculator. In her old life, Lily would have guess he was an accountant.

But who is he here?

When she felt they had waited long enough, Lily nodded. “You may introduce yourselves.”

The soldier was the first to speak, as she had expected.

“My lady, my name is Leis Antrel. My men and I accompanied Lady Miranda. If you do not need us, we are prepared to leave with a moment’s notice.”

Lily thought quickly. If she let them leave, they would tell her husband about all the Virmans on the estate. .

Aloud, she said, “How many of you are there?”

“Fifteen men, my lady.”

“Honorable Leis, come to my study after breakfast. Are you averse to staying at Earton?”

“However the mana… your lady decides.”

Lily noticed the slip. He had been warned that the countess was of no use, and that Etor would give him his orders. Only there was no Etor, now. He looked to be intelligent, and Lily wondered if it made sense to keep him or not.

What will he see if he stays? How will he get along with the Virmans? What will he tell my husband?

“We will discuss your movements after breakfast.”

“As you wish, my lady.”

Lily nodded and turned to the others. The bony woman stepped forward. She looked like she had been sucking on a lemon before breakfast. A salted lemon.

“Maria Reichart, my lady. I am Lady Miranda’s tutor in etiquette.” She gave an elegant bow.

Lily looked at her closely. “Does Miranda enjoy your subject?”

The woman’s acid expression got more concentrated. “The young lady does not yet understand that our lessons are for her benefit.”

Lily nodded. “It is a difficult age. I expect that if I sit in on a few of your lessons she will behave better.”

“Do you not trust me, my lady? I taught manners to the daughter of the Duke of Liveria!”

Lily raised a hand. “Of course not. But I most sincerely hope that Miranda Catherine will learn good manners, and I believe that if I am in the room she will listen to you most attentively. We will just have to find time for the lessons when I can be there. Do you study with her every day?”

“Yes, my lady. Two hours a day. We only started recently.”

“Then we will continue.”

Maria nodded.

Then the blond man stepped forward and bowed. “Leon Althert, Lady Miranda’s tutor in the natural sciences.”

“Honorable Leon, I will sit in on your lessons as well. I will sit with Miranda for all of her lessons. This is not because I do not trust you. I am sure that the Earl of Earton has hired excellent tutors for his child. But do keep in mind that if the earl arrives and finds that his daughter is not sufficiently educated, it will reflect poorly on all of you, and on me, as well.”

The third to bow was the dark-haired man in purple. “Damis Reis. History and literature tutor.” His glance was so scorching that Lily almost reached up to see if her blouse was on fire.

So you think you’re hot stuff!

Aloud, she said, “Wonderful. You tutors may have this time to plan your lessons. I will take Miranda on a tour of the estate. We will have to cover some of her lessons while on the move.”

The tutors did not seem pleased by that news, but Lily gave them no choice. She turned to the next guest, the one she had nicknamed “human calculator.”

“Shirvey Lindt, my lady. I am your husband’s agent. I have a letter for you. I have also been instructed to collect the estate manager’s report and provide my own report to your husband.”

Lily cursed inwardly.

Just what I needed!

She tried to keep her face neutral. “A letter from my dear husband? Do you have it with you?”

Lily batted her eyelashes and let her mouth drop open. She knew she looked like a complete idiot.

The man nodded. Whatever Jess Earton had told him to expect, he knew nothing of the changes Lily had made, and she had no intention of filling him in. She would read the letter and decide by that evening exactly what tack to take with her husband’s agent.

But he wants the manager’s report! I wonder where that fool Etor put it! I’ll have to search his old office. I was afraid to go in there while he still worked here, and I haven’t had time since I kicked him out.

She turned to the last of the new arrivals.

“May I introduce myself, my lady?”

“Please do.”

“My name is Taris Brok. I have a letter and a gift from your father.”

Lily slapped an expression of delight on her face and clapped her hands. Just then, the door to the dining room swung open.

“My lady!” Emma was solemn and stately. “Breakfast is served.”

Lily nodded to her and then turned back to the guests. “Please share my humble meal. I am always pleased to have guests here in the country.”

The tutors were shocked, but assented. It was beyond strange for a countess to eat with her stepdaughter’s tutors, but Lily knew that she might need them someday.

She sat down at the head of the table and had just taken a spoonful of oatmeal when Irene rushed in to tell her that young Miranda was crying loudly. Lily raised her eyebrows and went upstairs to see what was the matter.

Did someone whack her with a pillow?

In fact, it was just the opposite. Miranda’s nanny was trying to dress her while the little girl smacked her with her pillow and yelled at the top of her voice. Lily observed the scene for about five seconds before swinging into action.

“Get her out of here,” she said to Lidia, pointing at the nanny. Lidia and Irene grabbed Calma by the arms and dragged her from the room before she knew what was happening. Then Lily picked up the pillow and threw it back on the bed, landing it right next to the little girl. Miranda stared at her in surprise.

“Do you want to have a pillow fight?” Lily asked casually. “We can do that this evening. Right now, we need to eat breakfast and go into the village to see the blacksmith.”

“Why?”

“Remember? We were going to order a set of bells. Or have you changed your mind?”

Lily hadn’t spoken yet to the apprentice blacksmith she had brought back from Altver, but she suspected he had not had time to get the castle smithy up and running yet.

There was, in fact, a smithy behind the castle, but like most things on the estate it was not being used for its intended purpose. Someone was using it as a barn for three sorrowful cows, and the chimney was full of cobwebs.

If Lily had known then what she knew now, she never would have fired Etor. She would have hung him by his legs from the gates!

“What about my lessons?”

“I’ll speak to your tutors. I’ve already met them.”

Miranda stuck her bottom lip out, but Lily just winked at her. “I think we should do your lessons together. What do you think about that?”

“Together? But you’re a grownup!”

“So what? It’ll be more fun that way, won’t it?”

“Y-yes…”

“So wash your face and get dressed. And tell me why you were screaming first thing in the morning?”

Lily glanced at Lidia and Irene and they went out to get a basin and some hot water.

Miranda sniffled. “Why’s she so mean?”

It took a few minutes for Lily to uncover the meaning of these words. Lady Miranda didn’t want to say her morning prayers, but her nanny felt that this was absolutely necessary.

Lily shrugged. “How about this. Aldonai sees us wherever we are, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“In the morning you can just tell him ‘I know you made the world and I thank you.’ That will be good enough.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Miranda nodded. “But why do I have to wash my face?”

“To be more beautiful. You have to wash your face and say ‘Water, water, cold and clean. Make my teeth shine and my eyes gleam.’ If you do that, you’ll grow up to be a beautiful woman.”

“Papa says I’m already beautiful.”

“There’s no limit to how beautiful you can be.” Lily made a silly face and ran her hands over her hips. “See how much of me there is? And it’s all beauty.”

Miranda giggled. “You’re funny.” Instead of an answer, Lily whacked her lightly with her pillow.

Miranda’s washing up went well. A fair amount of water ended up on the floor, but Lily didn’t mind. Someone else would clean it up. The little girl got dressed without complaint, too. Looking over the child’s clothes, Lily remembered that she would need new things. Her clothes were all designed for standing still at home: expensive, embroidered in gold threat and encrusted with precious stones.

She’ll need something more practical for traveling around the estate…

“Do you know how to ride horseback?”

“I ride with Papa.”

“Will you go riding with me?”

“Do you know how to do it?”

“I think what matters is that the horse knows how to do it.”

The child was almost tame. Miranda was enchanted by her stepmother. Lily never yelled at her, and she was interesting to be around.

Lily changed her mind about riding into the village. The trip to the blacksmith could wait until the rest of her Virmans arrived. She would ask her apprentice to make the bells for Miranda. While the girl was eating breakfast, Lily went to talk to Shirvey Lindt and asked him for her husband’s letter.

She studied the seal on the thick envelope and nodded. She already knew the Earton coat of arms: a white swan on a green ground holding a green branch in its beak. That explained why the family colors were green and white. For an instant, she thought about finding some white wool and knitting herself a fluffy white sweater. She knew how to do it. Then she remembered that a fluffy sweater would have been more attractive on her in her previous life. Her new body was the wrong size.

Lindt left the countess alone with the words written by her significant other. She broke the seal and started to read.

Oh my.

It was a good thing that Lily was still a slow reader. Otherwise she would have ripped the letter into little shreds.

“Wife!” his lordship opened the letter. “I will arrive no sooner than next spring. Or summer. I hope the child is in good health and that you will do your duty in carrying it to term. Try not to lose this child. Medicus Craybey will be of assistance to you. I have written to Etor. He will be sure to make you comfortable. I am sending my daughter, Miranda Catherine, to Earton. I expect you will enjoy her company over the winter. Take due care of her, for I will expect a full account upon my arrival. Shirvey Lindt is my agent. You may ask him for anything you need for yourself or the child. Jerrison, Earl of Earton.”

Really?

Lily put the letter on the table and held it down with one hand.

Keep calm, girl. Keep calm.

She took a breath.

I’ll survive.

A shocking thought popped into her mind.

I wonder how much calcium there is in the body of a medieval earl? – I don’t understand this do you?

Lily read the letter six more times. The only useful information was distilled into five words: “I have written to Etor.” She would have to find that letter, read the instructions and write back. The rest didn’t matter. It was clear as day that he didn’t give a damn about his wife. She could live or die as long as she gave him an heir.

Son of a bitch!

Lily took a deep breath. She let it out slowly and willed herself to calm down. Her husband was far away. She couldn’t do anything about him yet, but his bill just got longer by one item. It was a big, heavy bill. Cast iron. Weighed at least a ton. She couldn’t wait to drop it on his foot.

In the meantime, what do I do about his agent?

She scratched her nose.

There are only two options: either I win him over to my side or he stays here as a hostage at Earton. If I keep him here, I’ll write his reports for him.

She could just imagine what he would write if allowed his freedom: “My lord, I’m afraid your wife lost the baby and gained a serious wild hair up her butt. Pardon my language, but she is racing around Earton making all sorts of changes. She is corresponding with merchants, and she has hired a whole army of Virmans. Affairs at the estate are most decidedly taking a strange turn.”

If he gets a letter even close to that, there’s a 92% chance that he’ll ride down here on his fastest horse. Another 7.9% chance that he’ll write me a letter ordering me to stop and send a cartload of men to keep an eye on me. And a .1% chance that he’ll continue to ignore me. Even less than that! There’s no way he’ll let his wife run wild on his estate. People will talk!

Lily bit her lip. She needed to play for time until Leif and his Virmans arrived. She started to sketch out a plan in her head. She would ask Shirvey to wait for her further instructions. That would keep him at Earton for the time being.

Now that she knew her husband wouldn’t arrive until the spring, it was time to move quickly. And time to get in touch with her father.

Her first item of business was to talk to the captain of the guards who had accompanied Miranda and find out how he felt about Virmans, and whether or not he would be willing to work under her command. Lily would have no one at the castle who wasn’t loyal to her. Not for free and not if they paid her, as her mother used to say.

Lily’s eyes filled with tears, but she held them back.

Not now.

After she talked to the captain of the guards she would know what to do with his soldiers: they could either stay and serve her and Leif or ride off to the devil. Lily would even be kind enough to point out the way. Shirvey, on the other hand, was no soldier. He was a hired agent. She could get rid of him any number of ways, but she needed to do it soon. If he gave her Jess’ letter to Etor, she’d let him live. Otherwise he would receive a visit from a friendly ghost in a pink nightgown. That would teach him!

A servant girl knocked on her door. “Shirvey to see you, my lady.”

Good grief, it’s like he was hanging around outside the door. Maybe he was…

She held out her hand to him. “Give me the letter.”

“Pardon me?”

“Give me the letter you brought for the manager.”

It was the same tone of voice her boxing trainer had used on her: “Give me fifty pushups. You don’t want to? Then make it seventy.”

Shirvey was tougher than a teenage Aliya. “The earl instructed me to put it into the hands of his estate manager.”

“Etor is not here. I am. Do you think I stand lower than the estate manager?” Inwardly, Lily was glad the door was shut so no one could hear. Shirvey’s face took on the expression of a stubborn goat in a bad mood.

“My lady, the earl specifically instructed me to put his letter into the manager’s hands…”

Lily breathed in. She breathed out. She looked at the man. She had a choice: theoretically she could knock him over the skull and take the letter by force, but he would never hand it over willingly.

Lily nodded. “I understand your feelings about duty. But you have to understand that we have no estate manager at the moment. We can come back to this subject later. Why don’t we write to the earl and ask him for new instructions?”

Shirvey’s face relaxed into a timid smile. He had been afraid that the countess would throw a fit. Lily might have considered it, but hysterics didn’t serve her purpose at the moment. As countess, she intended to lead and command people, not wheedle and beg favors from them.

Lily ended her meeting with Shirvey and called in the senior Virman. In a few words, she explained that she was having trouble with her husband’s agent. He was being disrespectful and refusing to give her an important letter. Could they re-educate him to the point that he was still alive but wished he wasn’t?

Ivar listened to Lily’s account without moving a muscle in his face. Yes, what she wanted was possible. He didn’t know about a prison, but he had already located the castle’s torture chamber, a most necessary part of any important medieval household.

Lily was impressed. She had not thought to look for a torture chamber, but the Virmans had found it the day after they arrived. She did not, in fact, have any intention of torturing Shirvey. She just wanted to prevent him from leaving with the letter.

“What will you do with him afterwards?” Ivar asked in a professional tone, like a butcher. “How will you want him killed?”

Lily pondered the question. Ivar had a point. Wolves got the estate manager. Nobody asked any questions because nobody had liked him.

Say wolves get the agent. And then the earl comes for a visit and wolves kill him, too. Nobody will believe that.

Those thoughts must have been plain as day on Lily’s face, because Ivar nodded in response, “My lady, I can dispatch him for you right now while you are in the heat of anger…”

That made sense. She was angry at the agent and had every right to order his death. (Lily was finding it easy to get along with the Virmans. They could see that Lily didn’t care about a person’s pedigree – she just wanted to know what he could do. There had never been a system of hereditary nobility on Virma; the Virmans elected their leaders based on ability.) Now, Ivar was tactfully trying to show the countess that she would have to have the agent killed if his re-education didn’t go well. How many witnesses would there be?

No, I have already sent one man to his death without getting all the information I could out of him. I won’t make that mistake again.

“You are right, Ivar. I will think about this matter and let you know this evening. Do not touch him for now.”

“As you wish, my lady.”

After he left, Lily sent word for Taris Brok to come to her study. She was prepared for yet another disappointment.

My father is probably just as bad as my husband.

The package from her father was heavy. When she untied it, she found a letter and a large wooden box with a key. It was a beautiful little key on a fine chain. Lily caught her breath. She knew the value of the workmanship. She opened the box. It was filled with spices and sweet-smelling incense, both very costly. Ali had given her several sacks filled with similar goods, but she still appreciated the gift. The box alone was worth several dozen gold coins.

“My lord also sent you some lengths of velvet and silk, as well as fine leather for boots and some furs…”

Lily nodded and opened the letter.

August Broklend’s seal was a simple one: instead of a coat of arms, it was a simple shield with two stars.

That means it isn’t a hereditary title yet, and it’s been in the family for two generations. First my grandfather and then my father. If there are no other heirs, I wonder if anything will come to me?

“My dearest daughter! I hope you are in good health. Here is a small gift from your father. I have received word that you are not well. Is that true? Write to me if you need anything. My agent will try to obtain for you whatever you need. Your loving father.”

Lily let out a big sigh of relief. There were no intrusive questions about her feelings or her plans. That was hardly surprising. In her new world, women were only slightly more valuable than furniture or clothes. They were property.

It was a short letter, but it told Lily quite a bit: her father loved her, but he was not terribly interested in her inner life. The presents were lovely as a symbol of parental love.

She looked up at Brok. “Honorable Taris, I do have an errand you can do for me. I need you to go to another town and take a letter to an Eveer jeweler named Helke Leitz. He will give you something for my father. You can give that to him along with my reply.”

If Brok was surprised by her request, he did not show it. “As you wish, my lady. What town?”

“Altver.”

“When should I leave?”

“As soon as possible,” she said. Then a delightful thought occurred to her. “I will tell the soldiers that came this far with you to follow you to Altver as protection.”

That will leave Shirvey here alone against a large group of Virmans. I’ll get my hands on that letter or else!

“Thank you, my lady.”

“I will give you a letter for my father tomorrow morning.” She bowed slightly, signaling that he was free to leave.

Once alone, she looked out the window. It would be interesting to know what Brok would say to her father. Would he ask why everyone had warned him that she was a temperamental fool? Would he describe her has a lovely, reasonable woman? If he did, how would her father react?

He’ll either write me some more letters or come pay a visit. Maybe both. How will I handle that?
I suppose I can always claim that the miscarriage and fever changed me. I was self-centered and out of control until I lost my child. If only I had been more careful, I wouldn’t have tripped and fallen on the stairs.

She played with the end of her braid. Yes, that would do nicely. She would find her father’s old letters and read through them before she wrote him anything in response.

The visit to the blacksmith will have to wait.

“Here you are! When are we going riding?” Miranda came bouncing in to Lily’s study. Without missing a beat, Lily caught her by the scruff of the neck.

“Stand still! Watch out and don’t sneeze!”

“Why not?”

“And don’t look at me like that. Are those the clothes you were planning to go riding in?”

Miranda looked down at her fancy dress. Lily winked. “No, you need something more practical. Something for rolling in the dirt, jumping off a horse, climbing trees and shooting rocks with a slingshot.”

“What?”

“A slingshot. Haven’t you ever used one before?”

“No. Calma says that a young lady should never do that.”

“Aren’t I more important than Calma?”

“You’re a countess. I’ll be one too, when I grow up.”

“Exactly. And I am telling you that you must try all those things. If you are a good girl, I’ll teach you how to fight, too.”

“But a young lady…”

“Don’t young ladies ever get teased?” Lily asked, eyes narrowed.

Miranda’s face fell. She knew about teasing.

Lily snorted, “What’s a young lady supposed to do? Run off and find a nobleman to defend her?”

“Yes.”

“But you can’t always find one when you need one. Isn’t that right?”

“Y-yes…”

“And by the time he gets there, the boy who was teasing you has run off. I’ll teach you how to knock anyone down. They’ll see stars.”

“Do you know how to do that?”

“A countess has to know lots of things, including how to fight.”

“Why?”

“Because when you’re a countess, you are the most important lady in these parts. You’re responsible for the people who live here. You have to be able to defend them, and yourself.”

The little girl seemed to be hearing these things for the very first time, but judging by the pleasure on her face (which still bore signs of her breakfast), Lily could tell that she was on the right track. Sure, the child would misbehave on occasion – yell, throw fits – but Lily had her well in hand. She was just bored. Miranda Catherine was an active, energetic child who couldn’t sit still for more than ten minutes. People were always forcing her to live up to the image of a noblewoman by walking slowly instead of running, moving gracefully instead of tumbling and acting like a dried fish (like her etiquette teacher). Everything was off limits. The child had nowhere to expend her energy. That was the cause of her temper tantrums and other delights. Miranda needed someone to get her good and tired every day.

Lily winked at her. “Let’s go get measured for our new riding clothes. While the dressmakers work on them, we can take care of some very important business.”

“What business?”

“We are going to make a mess and act like pigs.”

Miranda stared at her. Usually the adults she knew said things like, “Lady Miranda, don’t get your dress dirty. Don’t run around like that. Don’t fight. Don’t…don’t…don’t…” Lily, on the other hand, was offering to do something fun and interesting with her. The little girl skipped happily down the hall with her to find the dressmakers.

On their way, Lily told the dancing instructor that all of Miranda’s lessons would start the next day. Then she raced Miranda to the end of the hall and knocked over a heavy vase.

Who cares? It’s made of metal.

The dressmakers were in their room, all three heads bent over a piece of yellow material. When Lily and Miranda walked in, they jumped up and bowed. Lily smiled.

“Girls, I need some riding clothes for this little girl with big ears.”

“I don’t have…”

“Of course. For this little girl with no ears.”

“What sort, my lady?”

“Make her something that will allow her to sit astride, like a man.” Lily looked around at four pairs of round eyes. “She will look lovely, don’t worry. Do you have any birchbark?”

She sketched out a plain pair of culottes. They would have to be very wide, so that no one could see that the skirt was actually a pair of pants. Best of all, the design was so simple that the culottes could be let out or taken in as needed.

“You’ll make two pair: one for me and one for Lady Miranda.”

The girls had never thought of folding pants at the waist and inserting a rope or ribbon to tie the pants, like a hidden belt. Lily made a mental note to send Helke some belt ideas once she was finished with her father’s letters.

Lily’s design for culottes was so simple that the measurements took only a few minutes. Miranda (or Mirrie, as Lily already thought of her) gave her full cooperation. She was fascinated with the idea of wearing pants and riding a horse like a man. She had no way of knowing what Lily knew, which was that the pastor would have something to say about all of this. Lily blew out a deep breath. She would make sure that he left them alone by tossing some pastries at him (or something heavier, like stone-filled pastries, if necessary). – Is this a russian metaphor? I sort of get it but do you think there’s a better expression in Engish?

After their fitting, Lily and the little girl went back to the study and launched into creating a gigantic mess: Lily lifted Miranda into the first of six large trunks that stood against the wall, and the little girl started tossing its contents in every direction. Lily caught the things that came flying out and put them into piles. Every now and then she stopped and read something before starting a new pile. Miranda was thrilled, and Lily was gratified to be getting something done.

They discovered the letters the Earl of Earton had written to his estate manager in the third of the six trunks. The letters from Lily’s father were, of course, at the bottom of the very last trunk.

I knew Etor would have kept them! Nobody throws away important letters, except perhaps Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton.

For the first time, Lily felt truly annoyed with the recipient of the letters.

So what if you’re lonely and overweight? Plenty of people do more with a lot less in this life.

As far as she could tell, all Lilian had accomplished in life was covering the walls of her bedroom with expensive pink silk. Self-improvement not something that had ever concerned the countess.

Miranda – covered with dust, hair sticking straight up, smile from ear to ear – was handed off to Emma with instructions to wash her and change her clothes. The little girl was warned that she had to clean up before she came to the table, or else the pies would run away from her. Mirrie snorted, but she allowed herself to be led away (and promised not to yell too loudly during her bath).

With the little girl gone, Lily took a moment to look through her father’s letters. She was disappointed: they all seemed to be written to a child. “Here kid, have a candy and leave the adults alone.” He didn’t tell her anything about his own life or ask her any serious questions. Most of the letters repeated each other almost word for word. In the earlier letters, however, she found phrases like “Aldonai has instructed us to have patience,” “a wife must obey her husband,” and “Jess is a fine young man.” Apparently, Lily had tried to complain in the early years of her marriage. If she did it in her usual manner, it was no surprise that her father ignored her.

I bet she never once even asked him how his affairs were going.

Aliya found Lilian to be a spoiled brat, one of those girls who thinks the sun rises and sets around her own ass, with no interests outside herself.

That has to change. But not in my first letter. First I need to repent.

Lily sat down at what had been Etor’s desk. She picked up his pen and began to write in crooked letters. The words came to her easily.

“My beloved father,” I wonder where I got that from? Maybe from Shakespeare. Who cares? “It is with sorrow that I have realized the punishment that befell me for my stupidity and naivety. I lost the child, only because I was not worthy to carry it. Just as I was not worthy of a husband like Jess Earton or of a father like yourself. You have done so much for me, and I have been so ungrateful and arrogant in return. Aldonai has chastised me. Father, I promise that I will mend my ways. I did not understand my duty when I became a countess, and I have been punished. Please do not spoil me with any more undeserved gifts. If I need something for the estate, I will write to you. I thank you for your attentions. I should have done that before, just as I should have told you that I love you. I sincerely hope that your affairs are satisfactory to you. I will pray for you and for my husband. If I had lived more intelligently, Aldonai would not have taken this long-desired child from me. – Your daughter, Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton.”

Lily re-read the letter, folded it and pressed a wax seal onto the fold. She was pleased with how she had used the miscarriage to explain any sudden changes in her behavior.

That’s enough for the first letter. I’ve repented of my ways. What do I ask him for in my next letter?
I’ll wait until Ingrid gets here. We can go over the estate together and make a list of what we need. I may ask him for more food. Nobody in my villages will die of hunger this year.

Taris Brok accepted the letter and promised to leave at dawn the next day. Lily thanked him and asked the Virmans to help him take her father’s gifts to her room.

Upon inspection, the gifts were all of high quality, but…

Pink velvet. Pink leather for boots. Pink!

I hate pink!!

She couldn’t send the things back.

I’ll send them to Helke with instructions to barter them for something more useful. On second thought, I wonder if I could overdye that velvet?

Just then, Emma came in.

“Where did you find room for the boy who knows herbal medicine?”

“In the servants’ hall, my lady.”

“Good. Take me there.”

Lily entered the room without knocking. Jamie Meitl, keen herbalist with less than sixteen years under his belt, was grinding something with a mortar and pestle. She smiled.

He’s excited about his profession!

“Good day, Jamie.”

He bowed. “My lady…”

Lily raised a hand. “Do you have everything you need?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Is your room comfortable?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me what you use for dyeing.”

“Dyeing, my lady?”

Lily was sadly disappointed by their conversation. She learned that people in her new world used things like St John’s wort and onion skins to make dyes, but that all of their dyes eventually washed out because they had no mordants to fix them.

If I make batiks, they’ll look like washrags the first time I try to wash them. I certainly won’t buy expensive fabric just to throw it away.

She tried to remember what she knew about dyes and paints.

Khokhloma dishes were painted, and people ate out of them every day. I think they were glazed, though. Gzhel dishes weren’t glazed – I know that for a fact. And they were so beautiful – dark blue on white. What made the blue? Indigo? Prussian blue?

Lily snapped her fingers, trying to remember something. Ferrous chloride and potassium ferrocyanide! She knew how to get both. And if she could dye ceramic dishes, she could dye clothing.

Fashion is the key to everything! If I can dictate the fashions, I can dictate a lot of other things. It’ll be easy to run a PR campaign in a world where they don’t even have those words.

Lily knew her chemistry. She would put together a laboratory with glass containers.

“Put your things in order,” she smiled at the boy. “And I want you to think about what we will need over the winter. I may have time to order some more things. There is an herbalist here at Earton. Ask Emma to take you to her.”

“My lady, they say that Moraga is not just an herbalist. She is a witch.”

Lily didn’t even bother snorting. “Do you believe that?”

Judging by the boy’s face, he didn’t believe it a bit.

“You’ll have to work with her. She knows some things, but you know some other things. If she won’t talk to you, I’ll speak with her. Don’t travel around the estate by yourself. Always take a Virman with you.”

“But they…”

“I’ll let them know they are to guard you.”

“Thank you, my lady.”

Lily narrowed her eyes. “You may want to buy from her if we’re low on something.”

“I think we have enough herbs for an army.” The boy gave a smile. It was timid, but a real smile. His opinion of the countess had obviously undergone a change for the better during their trip back to Earton.

Suddenly, Lily had an idea. “What about emetics and laxatives? Do we have enough of those?”

“What for, my lady?”

Lily waved away his question, but she left his room with a bag of senna, tincture of digitalis and hazelwort powder. It was a fantastic combination.

How about that, Shirvey? I’ll salt and pepper your dinner with this stuff and later tonight your blood pressure will go sky high and you’ll have diarrhea and vomiting. Once that happens, I’ll be able to get that letter from you. I may even have you shipped off to Africa. Or better yet, to Altver. If Aldonai is merciful, you’ll make it to Altver with Taris Brok without dying. You may not even need to visit the local doctor.

Lily ran into Leis Antrel in the kitchen. She had run in to grab an apple and found the captain of the guards working on a huge hunk of meat accompanied by a plate of beans.

When he saw Lily, he tried to chew, swallow and stand at attention all at the same time. He looked so ridiculous that she felt sorry for him.

“Sit down and finish your food.”

He remained at attention. From where Lily stood, it looked as if he were devouring her with her eyes.

Am I a countess or a piece of meat?

“Were you looking for me, my lady?”

“Yes. You serve my husband, don’t you?”

“Yes, my lady?”

“Are you and your men mercenaries?”

“No, my lady. We are his personal guards.”

That’s bad. Or is it good?

“What instructions has he given you?”

“To accompany Lady Miranda to Earton, along with his agent, Shirvey Lindt, and Taris Brok, and to get further instructions from his manager here.”

Lily nodded.

The estate manager won’t be giving instructions to you or anybody else.

“Do my words carry weight?”

“Of course, my lady.”

She nodded again. “Did my husband say anything to you about me?”

“Not at all, my lady.”

Of course he didn’t. He’d be just as surprised if his favorite chair opened its eyes and started running around giving orders. So what do I do now? Keep them here?

It seemed like a good idea. She could use the extra reinforcements, and she didn’t relish the idea of them carrying tales of her doings back to her husband.

But can I make him respect me? I can certainly try.

Lily looked at Leis. He had the eyes of a born soldier. Lily didn’t know much about the local culture, but she knew plenty about soldiers. She could read what this particular soldier was thinking at the moment: “Caution! Woman! Ought to be doing woman’s work!”

If I keep him here with his men, I’ll have to be harsh with them. Can I do it? And what about the Virmans? They have a totally different mentality and their own customs. I don’t need a local Armageddon in Earton. I also don’t need to spend most of my time ironing out conflicts between soldiers and Virmans.

Lily wished Leis was a different kind of man – shrewder, more intelligent. But he was like a board – straight and inflexible.

At least I can use them for work around the estate.

“Leis, I want you and your men to stay at Earton for now. There is work for you here.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Your first assignment is to take Taris Brok to Altver and then accompany him back to my father’s house.”

Leis bowed. “As you wish, my lady.”

Lily nodded and left the kitchen. In the hallway, she leaned against the wall and sighed. She was sure she had sweated through all her layers of clothing.

If I can make this man loyal to me, it will be worth it.

She could tell that Leis was like a dog. He was honest and trustworthy, but not very smart. If she could show him that she understood him, he would carry her slippers for her. Lily was more than familiar with that type of military man. They tended to respect people who punched them in the face. Or who were otherwise stronger or more powerful.

I can’t do either. I’ll have to come up with something else.

All of a sudden, she realized she had forgotten the apple she had gone to the kitchen to get, but she didn’t want to go back in. Instead, she went off to find the glassblower’s apprentice. All the apprentices had been given rooms near each other in the servants’ wing. Eventually Lily planned to put up a separate building to house her craftsmen, but there were more pressing projects, like cleaning the castle thoroughly (again), fixing up the fortifications and digging out the moat.

The glassblower was cautious and spoke little when she came into his room, but Lily worked on earning his trust. She told him he could choose any of the outbuildings except the smithy for his workshop. When she left him, she was turning over a number of ideas in her mind. There was plenty of work ahead.

I’ll let the craftsmen get their workshops arranged before I throw new ideas at them.

“Why did you run away? I’ve been looking for you!” Miranda came barreling around the corner. Lily caught her under the arms and tried to toss her into the air. It didn’t look like much, but the girl screamed in delight and wrapped her arms around her stepmother.

“Aren’t you just a teddy bear!” Lily teased her.

“Me?”

“I’m not talking about myself. You’ve grown as fast as a baby elephant.”

“I’m not an elephant!”

“Then who are you?”

“Miranda Catherine Earton!” the girl shot back, nose in the air. Lily couldn’t stop herself from pinching the little nose.

“Not yet. You haven’t grown up quite enough to use your full name. Look at you: your dress is covered with spots and your nose is dirty. Have they been using you to mop the floors?”

“No.”

“Then where did you find so much dirt? I see we need another general housecleaning tomorrow.”

“How does that work?”

“It’s where you throw away everything that didn’t get thrown out during the last housecleaning.”

Miranda giggled. “But why?”

“So that little girls don’t go running around looking like big piglets. And so their nannies won’t be mad at them.”

Miranda’s face fell. She suddenly remembered Calma and the lecture she would get. But Lily got down on her level: “That’s why I have a very important job for you to do.”

“What job?”

“Judging by how filthy you are, you are good at finding dirt. I want you to go around the whole castle looking for dirt, and I’ll send servants with you to clean wherever you tell them.”

Lily decided to send a pair of Virmans along to help keep Miranda in line.

It will be good for her, the servants will see that she and I are on the same page, and the castle will get cleaner!

“Really?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” swore Lily. She picked the girl up. “Now tell me, kitten, do you have any toys?”

“Yes.”

The things Miranda pulled out to show her stepmother were surprisingly un-toy-like. She had a couple of oddly shaped figures carved out of wood, some alphabet blocks, wooden puzzles and two ugly ragdolls.

Hmm. I see they haven’t figured out how to make soft, plush bunnies and teddy bears. I’ll also have to let Helke know how he can improve on these wooden puzzles.

Looking down at Miranda’s sad little collection of toys, Lily decided to clear her schedule and spend the day playing with the child. She would finish taming her while she showed the dressmakers how to make stuffed toys.

We can stuff them with dried moss or hay. I’ll find something!
I already wrote the letter to my father, I won’t poison Shirvey until dinnertime, the soldiers are staying here for now, and the teachers have the day off. That means I can spend the rest of my day with Miranda, Irene, Lidia and Marcia.

She picked up a pair of shears and made a note to herself to design some real scissors.

It’s easier to cut your hand with these than to cut a piece of fabric.

By evening they had finished their first plush toy: a slightly crooked and rumpled teddy bear with adorable button eyes (Thanks to Helke!), a button nose and a mouth that opened and shut. Lily winced as she held it up. She could have done better by herself, but the girls and Miranda needed to learn. They were absolutely charmed.

They gave the first bear to Miranda, and Lily started sketching other animals on birch bark. Cats, rabbits…it was just the beginning. She could make crocodiles and snakes and lots of other exciting animals. Buckwheat husks would work well as a filler.

Zero waste production!

Judging by the shining smiles on the dressmakers’ faces and the way Miranda clutched the teddy bear to her chest, the idea was a success. Lily knew that if she organized her workers properly, they could produce hundreds of plush toy animals, complete with clothes. She would write to Helke and ask him for advice.

By the time they went down for dinner, Lily and Miranda were best friends for life. Lily knew perfectly well that Miranda was by no means tamed – she was sure to have trouble with the little girl in the future – but she had her interest and cooperation. That was a good start.



“Do you think this is the work of Maldonaya?” The pastor looked closely at his informant, who shivered. He had his speech memorized.

“Of course! Women were not created for worldly affairs. It is impossible that her husband instructed her to do these things.”

“You are right, my child. But she is a countess.”

“Doesn’t Aldonai have power over all living things?”

“He does,” the pastor conceded.

Maybe he does, the pastor thought to himself, but one must think before one acts. We all saw what happened when that arrogant Aldon took it into his head not to give the Lion of Wellster the divorce he wanted. The dogs were finishing his entrails by the next morning. Everyone knows what took place, but there’s no proof. I want to live. I must be cautious.

He was sorry his gambit with Lily had failed, but Jess Earton was a serious man who had proven himself in a number of border skirmishes. If that cow with the emerald bracelet was telling the truth, it wasn’t worth the pastor’s while to interfere with her. Jess would have him dumped in the ocean to drown in some nice shallows.

It’s a shame it didn’t work out, but I’d like to keep my head.

She was a countess, the daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder, and Lilian Earton’s husband was the king’s own nephew. It just wasn’t worth it. He would have to hunt in other forests.

The pastor was a practical man. He believed in the church, but he also paid close attention to worldly powers because he liked three meals a day. He knew there was an easy way to learn the truth: he could write to Jerrison Earton about his wife’s business dealings and see what he replied.

Neither man noticed the lame servant who had slipped behind the alter when they came in, quiet as a mouse. He heard every word they said, and once they left he ran off to tell his master.

“Why has Aldonai punished me by giving me a son with the brains of a pig?” asked the Honorable Torius Avermal as he stared at Darius in disgust. “You fool. Do you have any idea what you have done?”

“What do you mean?” asked Darius, sincerely confused.

“You went running to the pastor with your stupid gossip.”

Darius bit his lip. How did his father know about that? “Father, I…”

“Shut your mouth, idiot! I have bent over backward to earn the goodwill of the Countess of Earton, and here you are trying to make a shilda[1] out of her! It’s all just too stupid for words!”

“But she is a shilda! What else could she be?” Darius cried out. He was rewarded with a blow to the head.

“Fool! A woman can be intelligent without being a shilda. The countess is smart and knows her own worth. If we work with her, we’ll make more money than you can imagine.”

“But what could she…”

Torius gazed up at the ceiling. When he looked back at his son, he spoke slowly and coldly. “If you say one more word about the countess I will throw you out of my house.”

“Father!”

Darius was shocked. Everyone knew that women were like furniture. They didn’t have their own brains. Their only purpose was to give birth. They were a vessel for man’s seed. Nothing more. (Well, they could also cook, sew and clean, but that was definitely the extent of it. What brains could a woman have?) They were shiftless liars and wanton fools who were used by Maldonaya as her tools. What on earth was his father talking about?

“I stand to make good money by working with Lilian Earton. She is one of the few intelligent women alive today. And I don’t want you destroying something that is just starting to bear fruit.”

After swearing at his son, forbidding him to take any action against the countess and giving him a whipping at the stable for good measure, Torius Avermal went off to find Helke Leitz. He was starting to like the Eveer. The man was smart, practical, and knew his advantages (this is how Torius thought of himself, as well). And now they were tied together by a common interest.

“My nephew will be leaving for Earton soon,” said Helke as he poured Torius a coup of herbal tea. It was Lily’s recipe: raudan, sybrelle and altasia[2]. It was tart, so he always added honey.

“Wonderful. Please send her my respects.”

“I will do that, baron.”

“Just call me Torius. We are partners now.”

“I wouldn’t dare to argue with a partner.” Helke gave an ironic smile.

Torius showed his teeth. “You? I think you would.” Both men grinned happily. “Helke, we? have a small problem.”

The pastor sealed a letter and gave it to his messenger boy.

Now then, my lady, we will see just how much your husband knows about your business. If he didn’t know before, he’ll find out now. Will he be pleased? I wonder

Later that morning, he was visited by the honorable Torius Avermal.

“You have my respect, Pastor Leider.”

“Blessings on you, child of light.”

With those formalities out of the way, the men got down to business. The pastor pointed to a chair. Torius sat down and put a small box on the table in front of him.

“How can I be of service, Honorable Torius?”

“I am not here to ask for favors, pastor. I have brought you a small gift.” Torius gave a cunning smile.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It is from a woman we both know well.”

“Who might that be?”

“Her ladyship Lilian Earton.”

“Lilian Earton?”

“Yes. She was very sorry she didn’t have time to see you again before she left.” According to the mayor’s account of it, the countess was grateful for Pastor Leider’s interest in her fate and wished to give him a humble gift. Just the tiniest sign of her affection.

Pastor Leider opened the box. It held a gold pen and a gold ink well, both encrusted liberally with malachite. Helke had worked hard. He, himself, made the expensive items that were intended for wealthy customers, but he had six apprentices busy making everything else.

“How lovely!”

“The countess asked me to tell you that she has the friendliest memories of your talks. She hopes that Aldonai will make it possible for you to meet again.”

“I look forward to such a time.” The pastor relaxed. This was how things were supposed to go. Gifts, hope of a future meeting. The countess was still wary of her husband, but his charms were having an effect on her.

I suppose I shouldn’t have written to the earl so quickly, but there’s no use thinking of that now.

“Will you write to the countess?”

“Certainly. I will invite her to come back to Altver.”

“I will do the same.”

“Perfect. I will send your letter for you.”

They parted in perfect understanding.

Helke Leitz was drowning. There was no other way to describe it. His wife and children saw him all of ten minutes a day. He was up before dawn and went to bed long after midnight. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep for a few hours before jumping up to do it all over again.

Every day was a whirlwind of work, but he was enjoying himself. Lilian Earton’s inventions were not merely popular – people were buying them by the cartload. His main problem was how to make enough of the most popular items.

It would have been easy to make five of her non-spill ink wells, but making fifty or five hundred of them was a manufacturing problem of a different magnitude. Helke also had to contract with partners in other towns and build relationships with storekeepers and merchants.

Sometimes he thought he might lose his mind.

He was grateful for the support he got from Eveer communities in the larger towns. They used carrier pigeons to stay in touch with each other. Locals had a low opinion of Eveers’ business practices, but they were loyal to a fault in dealings with others of their faith.

In the beginning, Helke had considered cutting Lilian Earton out of her share of the profits. It wouldn’t have been difficult. He soon realized, however, that he stood to earn more by doing honest business with her. There was also Torius Avermal to consider. The mayor would never let go of what he felt was his. He’d grab a piece of meat from the jaws of a bear.

Things were going well so far. Helke planned to send his nephew to Earton soon to see if the countess had anything new for him.



The killer watched Lilian Earton surreptitiously.

Strange.

She was nothing like the self-centered, thoughtless idiot that had been described to him. Not that it made any difference. He was there to do his job and get out. The soldiers were set to leave tomorrow morning. That meant that the Countess of Earton had to be finished off tonight.

Lily had no idea that her life was being weighed and measured, and that its end was being planned. She was busy with castle affairs and Miranda. She was expecting men and women from the villages tomorrow. The moat still needed to be dug out, and the walls were in dire need of repair.

I wonder if they know about cement? Or concrete? People always say that old buildings were built to last, but I don’t have the time or the resources to mix a mortar out of chicken eggs!

She sighed and went down to the kitchen.

She was lucky. Miranda’s tutors and the other guests did not rank high enough to eat at her table, but they were not servants, either. Their food was taken to their rooms on trays. Lily added a generous sprinkling of “herbs” to Shirvey Lindt’s food. She might have overdone it, but she had no way of knowing how much he would eat.

Dinner went well. She and Miranda ate separately from the others. The little girl tried hard to copy her stepmother’s table manners, and when Lily corrected her she did it in a friendly, joking manner.

Is it hard to tame a child? Yes, it is. But I’m making progress.

The problem was that nobody was really raising Miranda. Her father didn’t know what to do with little girls. She didn’t like her cousins, so that cut out her aunt and uncle. Her nanny loved her, but even a chicken is capable of love. Miranda needed someone who could hold her attention. Lily definitely held her attention. When she ran out of Kipling’s stories, she started in on the “Snow Queen.” Mirrie sat and listened, capitvated.

“How do you know so much?”

“I studied a lot.”

“Will I ever know as much as you do?”

“Tomorrow we will have lessons with your tutors and find out how much you know right now.”

“They never tell me stories like the ones you tell me.”

“I’m your storyteller and they are your tutors. You have to learn.”

Miranda’s face fell. She preferred interesting stories to her lessons any day. Lily smiled. She wouldn’t give up on the girl. Once she taught her about medicine, she’d have a good helper by her side.

I’ll teach the earl’s daughter to be a doctor, as long as no one gets in my way!

After dinner, Lily taught Miranda a hand-clapping game and how to play rock-paper-scissors. Then she turned her over to her nanny, tired and happy.

“Find her something simple to wear tomorrow,” Lily instructed the nanny. “We will be cleaning the castle tomorrow, so it’s best that she wear something cheap.”

Calma puffed up with importance. “Miranda is the daughter of an earl! She has no cheap dresses.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “My dear, you must want to get kicked out of the castle gate with a black mark on your back. Or whipped at the stables. Your choice. You must be tired of your nice, warm life here if you think you can talk back to me.”

The nanny’s face went white as a sheet. Two Virmans had suddenly appeared out of nowhere by Lily’s side. They said nothing, but their weapons clanked.

“Forgive me, my lady…”

“Aldonai will forgive you. But if you say one more word to me that isn’t relevant and respectful, you’ll find yourself barking by the roadside. Is that clear?”

Calma nodded.

As Lily walked away, she reflected that Calma might be jealous of her relationship with Miranda. The little girl had always belonged to her nanny before, but now she was infatuated with her fun-loving stepmother. Calma was just trying to hold on to her sense of importance.

She’ll have to cope.

Lily wasn’t angry at the woman, but she had no intention of sharing Miranda. She was too valuable, both as an instrument for influencing the earl and as a future helper to Lily. And there was one other thing. Lily felt herself growing to love the little girl. She was tired of being alone all the time.

Lily dragged herself back to her room and called for a servant girl to help her undress. It had been a long day, even with servants and nannies to help out. She wondered how parents in her old world managed to work and take care of their children.

I must have lost at least two pounds running after that little girl today.

The killer was already in her room.

He knew that the Virmans followed the countess everywhere except her bedroom. When she was in her room, they stood watch outside her door. That was just fine with him. He hid in her wardrobe. It was large enough to hide more than one murderer at a time.

His plan was to wait for her to go to bed and then stab her in her sleep. If he did it just right, she wouldn’t even have time to scream, much less fight back. What could she do against him, anyway? Then he would exit through the window. It was high off the ground, so he would shimmy down a sheet.

The countess, however, was in no hurry to go to sleep. He could not see her, but he could hear her walking around the room and shuffling parchment. The killer would have been surprised if someone had told him that his prey was dangerous. Lily remembered all the lessons of her childhood. And even something as simple as several (dozen) extra pounds could be used as a weapon.

Lily was exhausted, but she didn’t want to go to bed. Her body ached, but her head was clear. She felt like she could get a lot done if she just sat up a while longer. She reached for some parchment and a pen. Pharmacology. She had never liked it. She would copy it down first, before she forgot what she knew.

She had burned through two yards of parchment before she tired of writing and lay down on her bed. She blew out the candle on its massive stand. Then she folded her arms behind her head and thought about various things for a while. Five minutes later, she was asleep.

The killer waited another hour, just to be sure. Lily was sound asleep. He could hear her turning over and talking in her sleep. Her overworked brain was trying to relax as best it could. He waited until she was deep asleep before slipping out of the wardrobe.

The door creaked. A bitter odor crept through the room. Lily rolled over. The killer froze. If she woke up, he’d have to do some ugly work. But a sharp smell was not enough to wake Lily. It had been a hard day. After a few minutes the man sighed in relief.

It occurred to him that he could just hold her pillow over her face. Everyone would assume she had died in her sleep.

He could have been successful. One step, another step, then the bed where Lily was lying. It would be the work of a minute…

Then another door creaked.

Killing a sleeping woman was one thing, but dealing with a child who wanted to get in bed with mama (or at least with an interesting lady) and beg for another story was quite a different skill set.

Miranda Catherine Earton didn’t want to go to sleep. She wanted another story. But when she opened the door, she saw a dark figure bent over the countess’ bed. She did the only thing she could do.

She screamed.

Lily was instantly awake and aware of her surroundings.

The killer leaped forward and received a blow to the head with Lily’s pillow. It was stuffed with goose feathers and heavy as a brick. That startled him just long enough for Lily to evaluate the situation.

Mirrie! She latched the door behind her! They’ll have to break the door down to get in here! Oh hell!

Thoughts came to her in flashes: Murder! Hostages! Whoever this man in her room was, he hadn’t come to beg for potatoes. The Virmans ought to have heard something.

Miranda! I have to do something!

The killer leaped. She tossed three more pillows at his legs. He tripped, giving Lily the opening she needed

“Help!” she yelled in the voice she reserved for fire alarms.

The killer cursed and grabbed at her. She saw a knife flash in his hand. He was desperate to slash her and make his exit through the window. If he couldn’t do it silently, at the very least he had to get away.

Lilian Earton had other plans. She rolled out of bed on the other side, putting her closer to the door. She knew she couldn’t run or he’d get her with a knife to the back. Mirrie had stopped screaming. The killer paid her no attention, but Lily was focused on nothing but the child. She made a dash for the door to get him further away from the little girl. The black shadow jumped onto the bed. Lily pulled the sheet out from under him.

It worked!

He fell hard. Lily tossed the sheet on top of him. Then she grabbed the candlestick and ran for the door.

She was just two steps from the door when she felt with the hairs on the back of her neck that he would get to her first. She turned around sharply and adopted a fighting stance. It wasn’t great, but it was the best she could do: legs wide apart and bent, one hand out.

“Stop! If you kill me you’ll die, too.”

The shadow laughed. That was a mistake. Lily was trying to distract him.

She was scared. Weak. Helpless.

“Don’t hurt me! I’ll give you money.”

The killer took a step toward her. He wanted to finish his job and run.

Lily had other plans. She knew she couldn’t defeat him in hand to hand combat, so she used her weight to her advantage. She fell to her knees and whacked his legs with the candlestick with every ounce of strength she had. She felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. His knife had grazed her. She threw out her left hand to push the weapon away from her. She knew she had just a few seconds. If he got his hands on her, it was over. So, she played a dirty trick on him. Without moving an inch, she picked up the candlestick and jammed it against the killer’s balls – pardon, against his genitals. As hard as she could.

She hit her target.

While he howled in pain, Lily covered the remaining distance to the door and threw back the latch. Ivar and Gel flew into the room and jumped on the man.

“Don’t kill him!” Lily shouted, just in time. The Virmans obeyed. They tied his hands behind his back and held him up for her to examine.

Lily took a candelabra from the table and lit all six candles. She had already learned how to use a tinderbox. In the quavering light, she recognized the man as one of her husband’s soldiers. His face had already suffered from contact with the Virmans.

“Who do we have here? What is your name?”

The killer spat on the floor and said nothing. Lily narrowed her eyes.

You’ve messed with the wrong woman, fool.

“What happened?” It was Calma. “My lady, are you wounded?”

Olaf touched her shoulder. It was only then that Lily came to. She looked around. The Virmans were tying the man up with all the rope they had. She thought he was one of the soldiers, but she couldn’t be sure. Miranda was standing by the wall, white as a sheet. Lily shook her head at Olaf and went over to the girl, ignoring the pounding in her ears.

“Baby, are you alright?”

Miranda sniffled and threw herself on her stepmother. “Lily! Lily!”

The woman stroked her dark hair. She couldn’t pick the little girl up because of the growing pain in her shoulder. She looked over at Olaf. “Call the herbalist boy.” Then she turned back to Mirrie. “It’s alright, honey. Don’t cry.”

“I was so scared!”

Lily had been scared, too, but she didn’t mention it. “You are an earl’s daughter. You have to be strong and brave. Like me.”

“You’re bleeding.”

“So what? It doesn’t hurt at all.”

The Virmans glanced at each other with respect.

People started running into the room. Several of them froze in the doorway. It was quite a sight: the extra-large countess in her pink, tent-style nightgown soaked through with blood was comforting a little girl in a white nightshirt, surrounded by axe-wielding Virmans. The killer was tied up on the floor. Two terrified servant girls peeked through the door leading to the earl’s bedroom, where Miranda was staying.

“My lady!” one of them cried.

Leis Antrel came running in. He froze when he saw the soldier on the floor.

“You’re alive, my lady!”

“No thanks to you,” Lily hissed. “What kind of a commander are you if you allow one of the earl’s men to attack his wife?” Lily kept her voice down only to avoid upsetting Miranda any further. The girl was already trembling.

“My lady, it’s…”

“Take a good look at him. Be my guest.” There was enough poison in her voice to pollute two or three rivers and assassinate a regiment of men. “Perhaps he is not one of your men. And maybe he didn’t want to kill me at all. He just came in here to tickle me with his knife.”

Some of the servants snickered.

“I should have you and all of your men turned over to the magistrate for this!”

“My lady…”

“What did you say? People have been calling me ‘my lady’ for so many years.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’ll show you a lady.” Mirrie hiccupped nervously.

Lily turned and put an arm around her. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yes,” Miranda said. She let go of Lily’s nightgown.

“What’s next?”

“Now we’re going to find out who sent this idiot…”

“His name is Thomas Dort, my lady. He is a good soldier. He’s been with me for two years.” Leis’ face was gray.

“I wonder how many countesses he’s murdered in those two years?”

The killer wanted to say something in his own defense, but the Virmans had gagged him thoroughly. Lily took a closer look at the gag.

That’s one of my petticoats! Fools!

She decided to say nothing. Her priority was to put Leis on the defensive.

“I suppose you want to be at the interrogation?”

“I have to, my lady.”

Lily nodded to the Virmans. “Drag him down to the dungeon. You can kick him around a little, but don’t question him. I will get dressed and be right down.” She turned to the crowd. “Now get out, all of you! That’s enough staring at the countess in her nightie!”

The crowd nodded and started to disperse. Gel and Ivar dragged the killer off down the hall. Leis shooed the servants back to their rooms.

Olaf put out a hand. “My lady, I would be happy to…”

Lily shot him a look that shut his mouth. Then she glanced at Miranda. She hoped he got the hint.

Then she turned to Calma. “Come here, dear. I need you to tend to your duties.”

“My lady?”

“If I see this child running around unattended one more time, you are fired. I have no more patience to deal with you. Is that clear?”

Calma’s eyes were huge. She nodded.

Lily lifted Miranda’s chin. “Run along and let me get dressed. I’ll handle this, and then I’ll come and tell you one more bedtime story. Deal?”

Miranda nodded. “Are you really alright? Really?”

“Cross my heart.”

Taris Brok came flying into the room and froze, stopped in his tracks by the countess’ face. A shout died on his lips.

“My lady…”

“I’m alive and well, Taris. I’ll talk to you after Mirrie goes to bed.”

Lily took the little girl back to her room and left her in her nanny’s charge before returning to her own room. She was starting to feel bad. She could tell that the two knife wounds were not deep, but they were bleeding and hurt like hell.

She could have stopped the bleeding, but she didn’t know where the knife had been.

He could have gutted a rat or scratched his ass with it just the other day. I don’t need an infection. I’d rather bleed a little more now than have it fester later on. They don’t have any antibiotics here yet, and I won’t get around to discovering them if I get blood poisoning tonight.

Finally, Jamie appeared and got busy treating her.

“Sit down, my lady.”

She obeyed.

“I need to look at your wounds.”

“Let me call Martha for help. And Emma.”

“I’m already here, my lady.”

“What about Martha?”

“My lady, she is in advanced years. I didn’t want to wake her.”

Lily agreed. Her nanny, who was a few years over fifty, was already considered an old woman. And she felt like an old woman. The noise and scuffle in Lily’s room hadn’t woken her.

“Fine. Emma can help me. Everyone else out. Taris, my friend, please step outside. I will call you back in once I’m bandaged up.”

Taris bowed and left the room, his eyes the size of imperial rubles.

Lily turned to Jamie. “Turn around. I’ll take my nightgown off.”

He blushed and turned away. Emma helped Lily take off her nightgown and throw on a sleeveless one. She looked down at her body.

Not bad. My shoulder’s just cut up a bit. He must have grazed me when he fell. I’ll live. It’s just my left arm. It’ll need to be stitched up and bandaged.

Wait! Jamie will have to put in the stitches without any anesthesia! I can’t even have a glass of wartime anesthesia!

Lily was tired. She couldn’t risk drinking alcohol. She needed to keep her wits about her. She wanted to break down and cry, but she couldn’t. She was the countess. She had to set an example for the others.

She gritted her teeth and sucked in air when Jamie, following her orders, poured some alcohol on the wounds.

The second wound was worse.

He almost hit a tendon, son of a bitch. What would I have done then?
I’ll make sure he hangs!

She thought for a minute.

She waited for an emotional response. None came.

So what if I condemn him to death? He’s the one who came in here to kill me. Even the Bible says “he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.” I don’t want to hear about humanism.

Jamie was stitching her wound with a silk thread that he had washed in alcohol, as she instructed. Lily gripped her pillow and gritted her teeth to keep from groaning. Emma handed Jamie whatever he needed and kept a hand on Lily. Finally (after what seemed like five hundred years), the wound was stitched shut, coated with honey and bandaged with what was left of her petticoat.

I have to teach these people to make bandages. Soon I won’t have any clothes left!

She thanked Jamie and sent him back to his room. Emma helped her dress.

“My lady, this is some kind of devilry…”

“I suppose so.” Lily sighed. If Mirrie hadn’t come in for a story, the man could have suffocated her quietly with her pillow and no one would have known about it.

I wonder if this is the first time someone has tried to kill me? Did I really trip on the stairs when I had the miscarriage?

Lily reflected that she might be a bit paranoid, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t after her. Both things could be true at the same time. Once she was dressed, she sent Emma to keep an eye on Mirrie and called in Taris Brok, who was still waiting in the hall.

“My lady, what in the world is going on?”

“Attempted murder,” said Lily with a rueful smile. She had decided to use the opportunity for all it was worth. “I suppose someone really doesn’t like me. I fell down the stairs and lost my baby. Then I discovered the estate manager was robbing me blind. My husband visits me twice a year. And now I find out someone wants me dead. Her eyes filled with tears. She was still feeling fragile after getting stitches with no anesthesia. Taris was touched.

“My lady, your father must be told of this.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to worry him.”

“But he is your father!”

“My husband is responsible for me in the eyes of Aldonai and the rest of the world. Unfortunately, he is indifferent to my fate.”

“My lady, I must tell your father about this attempt on your life!”

Lily shrugged. “I don’t think that will change anything, but you are free to tell him if you wish.”

“I most certainly will. He loves you very much, and here you are in this terrible situation!”

Lily put a look of quiet suffering on her face and thought of Mary Magdalene. Or was it some other saint who suffered? She wasn’t strong in religious history.

“Aldonai instructs us…”

She went on about piety for about ten minutes. Finally, Taris announced that he would stay another three days to make sure she was alright. Then he went back to his room.

Lily grinned.

You’re on my side, even if you don’t know it yet.

The men in her new world believed they were supposed to protect women (or at least aristocratic women). She would simply make use of their predisposition.

I won’t bother writing to my father about the attempted murder. Taris will give him the whole story with all the awful details.

It was time to go down into the dungeon and see how Thomas Dort was faring. Lily slipped on a warm shawl. She didn’t bother pinning up her hair. She took her candle and opened the door.

Olaf and Elg were waiting for her. She nodded. “You can accompany me.” One took up position in front of her, the other walked behind her.

Lily had never been in the dungeon or the torture chamber. They were part of the castle – right next to the storerooms where food was kept over the winter – but she had not wanted to look at them or think about them. She had gotten used to hoping that they would never be used.

The Virmans, on the other hand, had attended to those most important rooms as soon as they arrived. The door hinges had been oiled and there were fresh torches on the walls. Ivar, Gel, Leis and the killer were waiting for her in the dungeon. Lily was glad to see that no one else would be involved.

She cast a glance over the heavy table. There were rings set into it along the sides, and it had a small trough for diverting blood away from the floor. Thomas was tied to the rings.

“Did he put up a fight?”

Ivar smiled. “He promised us money if we would let him go.”

Lily raised an eyebrow. “Money?” She turned to Thomas. “Who sent you, friend? Tell me everything.”

Silence. Gel, who was standing next to her, suddenly roared like a bear, promising Thomas a chance to try impalement on a stake if he didn’t talk.

Silence.

Lily forced herself to stay calm. There was no point in yelling if it had no effect on the man.

What am I going to do with him?

In theory, she knew how to question a man in the field. But she had never actually done it. And her arm hurt, to boot.

The Virmans looked at her with sympathy. Ivar spoke up. “My lady, why don’t you wait outside and let us deal with him?”

She shook her head. “No. He wanted to kill me. I need to know why.”

Ivar’s eyes shone with respect. He pointed to a bench along the wall. “Then perhaps you could sit over there?”

She went over to the wall and sat down. Ivar bent over the prisoner. “Gag him.”

It was done quickly.

Ivar gazed sweetly into the prisoner’s terrified eyes. “I see you aren’t scared. You know what we’re about to do to you, but you aren’t begging for mercy. That’s good. I like your kind. I can play with you a long time before you beg for mercy. Most of the people we play with break quickly. That’s no fun at all.” He sounded disappointed. “So here we are. I’m going to play with you, and these men here are going to help me. Who has a knife?”

“You won’t kill him, will you?” Lily asked from her seat in the corner.

“Why would we do that? We’ll start out easy enough. Needles under his fingernails, for example. Then we’ll rip the nails off. After that, we’ll start to remove strips of skin and sprinkle him with salt. We know how to do this.”

One of the other Virmans piped up, “I’ll go get some salt from the kitchen.”

Ivar shrugged. “No hurry. Don’t wake the housekeeper yet.” He took out his knife and cut a sharp splinter from a stick of wood. It just took him a few seconds.

Then he grabbed the killer by the hand. “You don’t have to talk to me. I love doing this.” He shoved the splinter under one of the man’s fingernails.

The man howled through his gag and writhed on the table, but the ropes and iron rings held him tight. Ivar continued, slowly, with care, commenting on each action. Lily began to feel sick, but she tried not to show it.

After ten minutes or so, the Virmans took off the gag. Lily felt like years had passed. She said nothing.

I have to be patient.

It was awful, but it had to be done. There was no “truth serum” in her new world.

Ivar leaned in. “I suppose you still don’t want to tell us who sent you?” The killer cursed, and the Virmans gagged him again. He struggled, but Lily said nothing. She waited.

He’s only got ten fingers and ten toes. We’ll see.

They finished with his hands and took off his boots. Lily wondered if he ever washed his feet. By the time they were done with his toes, the killer was blubbering and trying to say something through the gag. Lily was sick to her stomach, but she stayed seated.

I have to know who sent him. After all, the same person could just keep sending hired killers one after another!

“Mercy!” he screamed as soon as the gag was off. “I’ll tell you everything I know!”

“Who hired you?”

“He didn’t tell me his name.”

Ivar reached for the gag.

“But I know why he did it!”

“Is that so?”

“His bitch is having an affair with the Earl of Earton.”

Lily’s eyebrows went up.

Very interesting. Your pregnant wife almost dies and you’ve already found someone else. Very, very interesting.

“What’s the bitch’s name?”

“Adelaide Wells.”

Now Lily had the information she needed. The rest was details. She caught Ivar’s eye. “Keep up the questioning. I’m leaving. It’s stuffy in here, and I believe he’s soiled his pants.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Don’t kill him without asking me first. He may come in handy later.”

“As you wish, my lady.”

“I want a full report in the morning when I get back from church. Now get to work.”

Ivar looked at Olaf. “Take her to her room.” Then he turned back to the killer. The last thing Lily heard him say was, “If I think you’re lying, I won’t bother skinning you. I’ll put a big splinter up your ass and light it on fire. That will make you sing…”

She took five steps down the hall before she fell to her knees and vomited. She wasn’t particularly horrified by what she had seen in the dungeon. She was just overcome by everything that had happened: the attempt on her life, the adrenaline from fighting with the killer, the pain in her shoulder, and the horror of the torture. Lily was never afraid of cutting into a patient on the operating table, but it was hard and sickening to watch a man be tortured while pretending to be bored.

So she vomited. Her body heaved violently, but only bile came out. Olaf held her by the shoulders and handed her a rag. She wiped her face and spat.

“Will you get everything out of him?”

“Yes. Have no fear, my lady.”

“I am not afraid,” she cleared her throat, “for myself. But Miranda was there, too. What if that bastard had gotten a hand on her? She’s just a defenseless child!”

The Virman’s face darkened. “We will protect you.”

“I’d rather you teach Miranda and me to protect ourselves.”

Somehow, she crawled back to her room and fell into bed with her clothes still on. She knew she ought to go check on Mirrie, but she was too weak to stand. She didn’t even take off her shawl.

Sick…I feel sick…torturing a living man…and someone out there wants me dead. What for? Just because I’m a countess and my husband can’t keep his pants tied shut. It’s that simple.

Lily started to cry. Quietly, so that no one would hear. She felt awful. Her shoulder was sore, but her heart was what really hurt. She would be strong again in the morning: she would smile and joke and laugh and try to find a way to deal with Pastor Vopler; but for now, she was weak. She had no one she could lean on for support, and her husband was unfaithful.

She couldn’t tell how much of her was Aliya and how much was Lilian. She just hurt all over.

Chapter 2

Lily never did get to sleep. She didn’t even try. Her shoulder smarted. Her back ached. Her knees cried out. And after she threw up, her throat was sore. When she got up, she didn’t bother trying to fix her face. Any fool could see that three layers of plaster would do nothing to hide her red eyes and the bags under them.

I shouldn’t have cried, but I have to be human sometimes!

She consoled herself that no one actually saw her cry. They could think what they like. Lily was in a hurry to get to morning prayers.

She put on one of the pink tents that she hadn’t sold or altered.

I’d better go traditional if I want to find common ground with the pastor.

Lily knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid Pastor Vopler forever. She was, after all, the most important church member in the area. He would expect her to give money to the church and set a good example for simple folk. And he wasn’t her husband’s employee, so she couldn’t just poison him.

Even if I did, the next pastor could potentially be worse. Like that gigolo Leider!

Speaking of poison, Shirvey Lindt was not well that morning. Lily was gratified to learn that he had been up all night with vomiting and diarrhea, so he didn’t know about the attempt on her life and wouldn’t be going to church that morning. He was in a bad way.

Everyone else in the household was ready for church. Lily cast a quick glance over the servants and the tutors, grabbed Miranda by the hand and climbed into her carriage. It was an hour’s drive to the church, where the service was held at dawn. With sunrise at six, they were away from the castle by five (and most of them had been up for a while by then). Miranda almost immediately fell asleep.

It’s hard being a little girl.

Miranda’s nanny didn’t ride in the carriage with them. Lily objected to her body odor and the smell of the onions that she was always eating, so Calma had to bump along in the wagon with the servants. She didn’t like that at all, but Lily cared little for her opinion.

Lily pressed a cabbage leaf to her face to reduce the swelling around her eyes. Then she wrapped her warm shawl tighter around her shoulders and leaned against the carriage window.

I need to be able to check everyone who comes to the castle. How am I going to do that?

She would start by working over Leis to make him nervous. For a man like him, that would be worse than dynamite. After all, he had brought a killer into her house…

I have to check the rest of the soldiers and find them accommodations outside the castle. In the village? Or do we have barracks somewhere? I bet we do. That still leaves the tutors. I can have the Virmans watch over them so that nobody so much as sneezes in private.

Lily hated getting up early. She decided she would talk to the pastor about holding services at Earton several times a week. She could offer to pay for upgrades to the church building and anything else the pastor felt was necessary. What mattered was that he see her benevolent intentions. After all, a servant of Maldonaya would never give money to the church, would she?

Excellent idea. I’ll make it work.

In her lap she had a gift. A silver pen and ink well set. Helke had given her several to take home with her. She chose a simple set so that the pastor wouldn’t get ideas above his station.

She couldn’t stop thinking about paper. Parchment was expensive and birch bark fell apart.

What did they make papyrus from in the old days? Some kind of reed, I think. There are plenty of swamps and woods around these parts. I suppose I could send some servants to cut reeds for experimenting with. If I come up with something like paper, I’ll have to work on a printing press. Even if it’s slow and clunky, the locals will be impressed.

Sure. They’ll be so impressed that they’ll burn me at the stake. I’ve got to think with my head! I can’t do anything big without getting the church on board first. Or the authorities. I may be the biggest authority around here, but I don’t know how much power I really have. Most people are like animals that live by their instincts, and religion is a powerful instinct.

Everything came back around to the pastor. She needed him on her side.

Those thoughts in mind, Lily arrived at the church, bumped and bruised from her carriage ride.

This is ridiculous. I’ve got to invent some shock absorbers. Why didn’t I study engineering?

The church was a simple two-story cottage. Inside, the icons were scuffed and worn and there were no candles in sight.

Just like back home in Russia. If a church is in a big city, the priest does well for himself. If it’s out in the middle of nowhere, then he gets good at observing all the fasts. Because he may not have enough money to eat!

Lily wasn’t exactly embarrassed by the condition of the church, and her conscience didn’t suddenly wake up – none of it was actually her fault – but  she noticed how things were and how she could have an influence.

The pastor greeted her at the door to the church. While her body went through all the ritual motions, her mind coldly noted that Pastor Vopler’s robe was old and patched and that his cheeks were sunken.

“I’m pleased to see you, my lady.”

“So am I,” Lily lied. “Can you spare some time for me after the service? I don’t want to distract you right now. It won’t take long.”

“Of course, my lady.”

Lily napped obediently on her bench through the entire service. She didn’t mean to, but her eyes closed on their own. The air in the church was close and stale, and her brain shut down due to lack of oxygen. As she drifted off, she wondered how it was possible for the church to be hot and stuffy while cold drafts leaked in at every window. The drafts did nothing for the overall air quality, but they kept everyone’s feet cold.

Lily wrapped her shawl around her and dreamed of fur boots, analgesics and antihistamines. Mirrie was snoring next to her. Together, they took up the entire first bench. The peasants and the rest of the household were crammed into the back benches, with watchful Virmans sprinkled throughout. Their job was to keep everyone away from her ladyship.

Only the devil knows how Lily’s talk with the pastor would have gone if she had embarked on it alone, but fate – in the form of a cheap lamp – stepped in to help her out. It was one of the local lamps: a shallow dish of some kind of fat with a burning wick in the center. It smoked and stank, but it gave off some light. When the service was over and people were filing out of the church into the fresh air, a young boy went around the room to put out the lamps. He was so nervous and so fascinated by the countess at the same time that he tripped over his own two feet. He reached out to steady himself and ended up knocking over one of the lamps. The hot oil splashed onto the wall, which immediately caught fire like an Olympic torch.

“Careful!” shouted the pastor. He made a dash for the child.

The Virmans sprang into action, quickly hustling Lily and Miranda out of the church and then handing out the pastor and the young boy.

“Is anyone still in there?” Olaf asked? The church was already engulfed in flames.

“N-no,” the pastor replied. He was trembling in shock.

Lily sighed. She was pleased that no one was inside. And she was just as pleased to watch the church burn down. It was an awful pigsty of a building.

I’ll have to build a new one or people will talk. I wonder how much it will cost?

She stood and watched the flames for a few minutes. No one was even trying to put out the fire. Instead, the men were throwing buckets of water on nearby houses. Pastor Vopler stared at the burning church with a helpless look on his face.

Of course he’s upset. I bet there’s no great demand for pastors in these parts. All the other churches already have pastors. He can’t just go walking around looking for a church that needs him.

The pastor had his arm around the lamp boy. She noticed that they looked strikingly similar. Father and son?

Lily stood up and walked over to where the pastor and the boy were standing. “Pastor, I understand how upset you are, but please understand…”

“Yes, I know,” he said, keeping his eyes on the ground. “My church is no more, but the earl’s estate is poor. Etor always reminded me of that.”

Lily took a deep breath. “Etor stole everything that wasn’t nailed down, and whatever he didn’t steal he managed to sell to someone else. Our estate may not be wealthy, but I’ll find the money for a new church.”

A light shone from the pastor’s brown eyes. “You, my lady?”

“Yes, me. Where do you live?”

“We had a room above the church.”

“We?”

“My son and I.”

Lily worked to keep a straight face. He had a son! And then she remembered: in her new world, the church allowed pastors to marry and have children. Only men at the rank of Aldon or higher were sworn to celibacy.

“Pastor, is this your only child?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Where is your wife?”

“Maria died of childbed fever two years ago. The child died, too. A girl.”

Lily put a hand on his shoulder. “Pastor Vopler, you have to come back to the castle with me. I hope you understand that.”

“My lady…” he sighed. It was a grateful sigh.

“What is your son’s name?”

“Mark.”

“Mark can study alongside Mirrie while you are busy building the new church.”

“What did you say, my lady?” The pastor did not know what to think.

“You heard me. My husband sent his daughter to Earton with three tutors. What do they care if they teach one child or two?”

He stared at her.

“Mirrie will not mind.” She looked down at Miranda, who was watching the church burn down with enormous eyes. Of course she wouldn’t mind, especially after her stepmother shared some tricks from her own childhood. Like putting beetles in the teacher’s desk. That really makes them scream! (The teachers, of course. Beetles don’t generally make much noise.) Or mixing aspirin and hydrogen peroxide and dropping it on the heater. That’s a trick worth trying. You get big, beautiful clouds of white smoke.

You can’t use it more than a few times before the teachers figure out what you’re up to, but we managed to get out of a couple of semester tests that way.

Lily pushed aside her memories and smiled at the pastor. “We need a church. A big, beautiful church. I’ll put up the lumber and the men for the job if you’ll manage the job. And until it’s finished, you can hold services in a chapel at the castle.”

“My lady!”

“Just choose the room and tell my servants. They will prepare it for you. We can order devotional items from some people I know in Altver. How does that sound to you?”

“I can’t believe it, my lady! I just can’t believe it!”

“Then I suggest we don’t stand around waiting for the fire to burn out. Let’s get in my carriage.”

He hesitated.

“Was there something you wanted to take with you?”

“Everything I had was in there,” he nodded at the burning church.

“When we get to the castle, I will introduce you to my housekeeper. Her name is Emma. Just tell her what you need. I have several dressmakers in my household. They can make new robes for you and clothes for your son. He’ll need warm things with winter around the corner.”

“But my lady, how can I ever thank you for your kindness?”

Lily had a list ready in her mind, but she kept it to herself. She had already worked out for herself that there were three types of pastors. And she had an idea why he hadn’t gotten along with the previous Lilian. He was that rare animal, the intelligent believer: too honest to squeeze money out of his congregation, and too pig-headed to tell people what they wanted to hear.

Men like that have trouble making friends and finding patrons. They’re always running around trying to do good instead of milking the churchgoers and driving a fast car. Idiots! That’s why they end up in out-of-the-way places like Earton, where they won’t be underfoot while other, better-connected men of the church engage in intrigues and money-making schemes.

Lily reflected that she was lucky to have an intelligent believer as her priest. He may not have been to the liking of Lilian Earton, but she was sure they would work well together.

“Keep an eye on the souls of the people of Earton. That is the only thanks I require.”

His brown eyes shown with joy. Lily smiled inwardly.

I’ll have you eating out of my hand.

“Pastor, I have many books at the castle that recount the lives of the saints. Perhaps you would like to have some of them as a gift?”

“Oh, my lady!”

What a fanatic. He’s honest and a true believer. I just need to find out what he has more of: intelligence or fanaticism. If it’s intelligence, we’ll work well together. If it’s fanaticism, we’ll still work together, but I’ll have to be very careful.

“Let’s go, pastor. There’s no reason to stay here.”

Lily saw Art Vidras in the crowd of peasants watching the blaze. She waved him over. He ran up to her and bowed low. “Yes, my lady?”

“When the fire burns itself out, I want you to clean off the site. We will build a new church here.”

“As you wish, my lady.”

“The pastor will come check on your work tomorrow. If you aren’t getting anything done, I’ll send my Virmans to watch you.”

Lily felt like a real feudal lord.

There’s no other way. I can’t be kind to these people. They won’t understand.

“My lady!” Art promised that everything would be done just as she wished, right away, without delay…

She nodded and turned to her carriage, followed by the Virmans, the pastor and his son, and with Mirrie at her side. The crowd parted obediently and the peasants bowed.

To hell with feudalism!

Back at the castle, Lily turned the pastor and his boy over to the care of Emma. Then she had a little talk with Mirrie.

“How do you feel about having company?”

“What company?”

“I mean Mark coming to your lessons with you.”

“But why?”

“Isn’t it more fun to learn with someone than by yourself?”

Mirrie’s face looked doubtful.

Lily laughed. “It’s like this. When you’re the only student, the teacher is always looking right at you. But if there are two of you, it’s easier. And just think how much easier it will be to learn good manners and dancing if you have someone to practice with. Right?”

Mirrie nodded slowly. Lily pressed ahead.

“You’ll be a countess when you grow up. You have to learn to take care of the people who live on your estate. Plus, I promise to teach you and Mark how to fight with your fists. I bet you’ll beat him, too.”

“Me?”

“Of course! You need a partner to practice on. If you can beat him, you’ll beat everyone else, too.”

“Really?”

“I promise. I’ll teach you how to knock down anyone you want. But I’m too big for you to practice with me. You need someone your own size.”

Miranda still looked doubtful.

“Let’s give it a try. If you don’t like him, we can always get rid of him later. How’s that?”

Mirrie nodded. Lily smiled down at her. She knew that children always learned better in small groups. The competitive spirit always helped, as long as it was properly managed. And she wasn’t lying about practice fighting. Mirrie was a large girl, and Mark was on the small side for a boy. They’d do fine together. Most importantly, Mirrie would learn how to converse with different kinds of people.

These people don’t even realize how tied down they are by thinking of themselves as either lords or peasants. If I can raise Mirrie not to have those prejudices, she’ll be able to achieve anything.

When the rest of the Virmans arrived in Earton, Lily wanted their children to go to school with Mirrie, too. They could learn and play and even fight together, and Mirrie would always have friends she could count on.

Lily felt she had convinced the child that it would be a fine thing to have a schoolmate, so she went off to her library to continue writing down her notes on pharmacology. About an hour and a half later, the pastor knocked softly at the door.

“My lady?”

“Please, come in.”

Lily quickly turned over her scroll. The back side featured the life story of some saint or other.

“I wanted to thank you for taking us in.”

“Has Emma found rooms for you?”

“Yes, my lady. I have to say I am surprised. Your manager…”

“I suppose you heard what happened to him? Wolves got him. I haven’t found a replacement yet. Emma is an excellent housekeeper.”

“But she is a woman.”

“As am I, pastor. Has it ever occurred to you that women may be just as useful as men in this world? After all, women often have a sincere desire to help those who are suffering and in need. Aldonai created men and women differently, of course, but he has given all of us work to do in this life. Men defend home and country, and women manage the home so that men have somewhere to return to. That is what Emma and I are trying to do. You may be surprised by our methods, but we simply have no choice. No one else will do this work for us.”

“But my lady, what about the Virmans? They are heathens and pirates.”

Lily looked up at the ceiling. “Yes, pastor, I know that. But I was hoping you could lead their souls to the light. Think of it this way: if I had not hired them, they would have lived their whole lives in darkness. Now they have a chance at salvation.” Suddenly, Lily was seized by melancholy so strong that tears sprang to her eyes.

The pastor jumped from his seat. “My lady, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I am fine… Oh, Pastor Vopler, I’m so glad to have you here. I never understood your worth, but when I lost my baby…”

Instead of a reply, the pastor made the sign of Aldonai. Lily copied him and began to recite one of the prayers that was still sitting in Lilian’s memory: For relief of human suffering. The pastor watched her pray, his face lightening with every word. Lily noticed this and clinched the deal with two more prayers.

I’m on the right path.

Finally, the pastor made the sign of Aldonai again and Lily got up from her knees. She had scraped them up during the fight the night before and they hurt terribly. The pastor still had doubts on his face.

Sure he is. I’m bossy and I have a bunch of Virmans running around the castle.

So she added, “Would you share my humble meal with me?”

Judging by the surprise on the pastor’s face, he had not expected such a bland meal at the countess’ table: plain oatmeal without honey or jam, a piece of cheese and a glass of cold well water. She didn’t want to eat too much because she could feel her temperature rising.

She had the servants bring meat and mushrooms and eggs for the pastor. He watched Lily eat her oatmeal for a few minutes before bursting out, “My child, you demonstrate laudable moderation.”

Lily looked down. She was afraid of laughing if she looked at him. “Pastor, how can I eat my fill when there are children dying of hunger on my estate?”

“But…”

“Especially after I lost my baby. I must live a pious life if I am to have any hope of forgiveness for my sins.”

His eyes are getting warmer. I hope I can keep this up.

“Pastor, I hope you will allow Mark to study alongside Mirrie.”

“Of course.”

How could he object? Education is expensive in these parts.

“I want them to learn self-defense, as well.”

“My lady?”

Lily made a sad face and told him about the killer in her room. The pastor gasped. He grabbed his napkin. He stared. Finally, he asked, “My lady, how were you able to save yourself?”

“It was a miracle, pastor. What concerns me is that the man could have hurt Mirrie. She’s just a defenseless child. Your boy should be able to defend himself, as well. They can learn together. With the Virmans.”

Her proposal met with no objection when presented that way.

Lily considered raising the topic of her knowledge of healing. It would be nice to have the pastor on her side for when her husband eventually showed up, but she decided to wait. If she did her work under cover of the church, its leaders would take credit for everything. She also had no desire to end up in a monastery.

Monasteries were full of troublemakers back in the Middle Ages. The same thing may be true here, but I don’t want to find out. I’ll just keep the focus on how my ideas are all sent to me from above.

She batted her eyelashes and assured the pastor again that the children would have a fine time studying together, and that the tutors would be glad to have two pupils. Then she reminded him how lovely it would be to have a chapel in Earton castle. The ice began to break up, and the pastor smiled at her. She insisted that he live at the castle until his new church and home were ready, and promised him that her carriage would take him to the construction site and back every day. She never went anywhere and had no need of the carriage for herself.

The pastor was buttered up within an inch of his life. By the end of breakfast, he was ready to tell the world that Lily was the most beloved bride of Aldonai.

Once the Virman children get here, we’ll have a full school. They don’t need to learn fancy manners, but dancing class will be a lot more fun with a crowd. And the science, history and literature lessons will be useful for all of them. Miranda needs playmates. It will be good for her to learn to judge people by their minds, not their rank. Then when she grows up, she’ll have friends who can protect her. This I can do for her.

No sooner had Lily gotten rid of the pastor than she ran into Martha in the hall. Her nanny looked horrified.

“Lily dear! How is this possible?”

Lily tried to think what could be bothering Martha. “What is it, Nanny? Has something happened?”

“My angel!” Martha threw up her hands. Tears ran down her wrinkled cheeks. “A murderer! What in the world is happening? I didn’t even hear it!”

“I’m glad you didn’t hear anything. You’re worried enough as it is.” Lily put an arm around her nanny’s shoulders, trying to ignore her strong body odor. She forced everyone else at the castle to bathe, but Martha was past being reformed.

“How could I not be worried?”

“Nanny, everything is fine. I’m alive, and praise Aldonai…”

“Can I sleep in your room with you?”

Lily almost screamed No! Martha was the last person she wanted in her bedroom. She already had Calma on the other side of the wall. Next thing she knew, there would be a sign reading “Daycare” on her door. There would be no way to do her exercises in private. Or write out her notes. She didn’t need a witness like Martha. But she would have to decline politely.

“Nanny, that would be too hard on you. Let’s try something else, instead. I’ll have Emma move you to a room closer to mine, in the family wing. That will put you nearby, but not in my room.”

“But Lily…”

Lily raised a hand. “Nanny, there’s nowhere for you to sleep in my room.”

“I could lie on the rug by your bed…”

“And then you’re back will hurt so bad that you won’t be able to walk. Speaking of back pain, would you like Jamie to try to help you?”

She could already tell that Martha had scoliosis. Massage would be helpful.

I wonder if I could teach Jamie how to do physical therapy? I’ll have to think about it.

“I don’t trust that boy.”

“Nanny, he’s a good healer. I would never send you to someone who didn’t know his work.”

“He’s too young…”

“Go talk to him anyway. If you don’t like his advice, don’t follow it. If you do like his advice, it may help your back. And your legs.”

Martha looked at her with gratitude. Lily, meanwhile, was burdened by heavy thoughts. Martha had known her for a very long time. She was sure to see the changes in her. That was dangerous. She might suspect something. It was one thing to clean out the castle and get rid of her pink dresses. It would be an entirely different matter to launch into the plans she was working on. She would have to keep Martha on her side, no matter what it cost her. As long as she was certain that Lily was still her little girl, Martha would protect her from anything and anyone. If, on the other hand, she began carrying tales about Lily, she would have to slit her throat with a razor blade. Martha’s, not her own. And she would hate to do it. The old woman truly loved her.

Just one clarification, her inner voice broke in. The old woman doesn’t exactly love you. She loves Lilian Earton, egotist and fool. She raised her and made her that way. What about you? The old lady would be happy to watch you burn at the stake.

Her inner voice was absolutely right.

Lily gave her nanny a warm hug and stroked her hair. Suddenly, she had a wonderful idea.

“Nanny dear, would you do something for me?”

“What is it, Lily?”

“Would you help me with Miranda? You raised me to be a true countess, but she has no one to help her. Have you seen her nanny?”

Martha’s lips tightened into a line. Lily had hit the target. She suspected the two women had already had words.

“Nanny, I want you to raise Mirrie the way you raised me. If it weren’t for you, I would never have amounted to anything.”

“Dear girl, I’m not as young as I once was.”

“You don’t have to do everything yourself. Just give her nanny the proper instructions. And make sure that she follows them,” Lily said with a crafty smile. “I’ll tell Calma that she must obey you. There’s also the pastor’s son, you know…”

“What about him, Lily?”

“They will be living here for a while until the boy turns around. I suppose you’ve already heard?”

Martha nodded.

“You’re just the person to teach him manners. I don’t want him wiping his nose on his sleeve anymore.”

Martha nodded more vigorously.

That will keep you busy!

Martha would start telling Calma what to do, and Calma would react by plotting against Martha. Neither woman would have time to bother Lily and Mirrie. If necessary, she would toss them the pastor’s son. Having two nannies wouldn’t kill the boy.

Lily smiled broadly as she described for Martha all the powers she would have over Calma. She would be the senior nanny. Without her word, nothing would be done.

I’ll have a word with Calma later.

It was a classic move. If you have a cat that pees in your slippers and scratches the furniture, the best remedy is not to beat him, but to get a second cat. Then all you have to do is feed them and watch them conspire against each other.

That was the essence of Lily’s plan for Martha and Calma. Now they would have each other, and she would be free to get on with business.

Lily promised to have Martha’s room moved that very day and ran off (supposedly to talk to the pastor).

Enough of your smothering love! You’d sell me out for less than a copper coin. I love you, too, but I can’t trust you. This is painful and sad, but I’m not Lilian Elizabeth. I’m someone else. Forgive me, Nanny…

Once she was rid of Martha, Lily took a deep breath and went to see Shirvey. She took with her a cup of wine that she had secretly dosed with digitalis and a laxative.

I’ll hold off on the emetic for now. It’s a potentially poisonous plant, and I don’t want to kill the man.

Shirvey was pale. He raised his eyes when she came in. There was a hunted look on his face.

Lily briefly wondered why he had been put in the family wing of the castle. She wouldn’t have minded having Leif and Ingrid in her wing, but the tutors and all the other outsiders ought to stay out. Even Taris Brok, her father’s agent, was in the guest wing. She made a mental note to ask Emma about the choice of rooms for Shirvey.

“How do you feel?”

Shirvey began to complain in a weak voice. His heart was palpitating. He had diarrhea and vomiting. In short, the man was ready to die. Lily sighed. She encouraged him. She pitied him. All the while, she felt like the biggest crocodile of all.

I’m poisoning him, and I’m feeling sorry for him, and I’m treating him?

She would never admit to the first, and she would try to avoid the last.

Lily had no intention of providing Shirvey Lindt with any kind of medical treatment. Quite the opposite: she hoped to bring him to death’s door and frighten him so badly that he wouldn’t sneeze without permission from her and Jamie. Then she would read her husband’s letter, and after that use Shirvey however she saw fit. It was a fine plan.

“I think you need treatment,” she said when she was tired of sighing. “I have a good healer. Jaimie Meitl. He is very experienced for one so young.”

Shirvey was unenthusiastic. “What about medicus Craybey?”

“I had him kicked out of Earton. We have a village healer, but Jamie is really the best there is. I hired him in Altver. He comes from a long line of healers.”

Shirvey was in no condition to be stubborn. After about twenty minutes, Lily had permission for Jaimie to see him that evening. Shirvey would get his treatment, and she would see to her estate.

“I have no idea what the earl will say,” Shirvey sighed.

Lily had a card up her sleeve. “How could the earl ever manage without you? You’re so intelligent and loyal. I’m sure my husband is eagerly awaiting your report.”

Shirvey proved to be easy prey for flattery. He told her that the earl had gone on a trip with Prince Richard. They would be spending the winter in Wellster. Once travel was possible in spring, they would head for Ivernea.

Now she knew that his report would have to wait. Shirvey’s best hope was to send it by courier to Wellster and wait in Earton for a reply from the earl.

She smiled.

He won’t be here before next fall. Oh, I’ll suffer without my husband, alright. I’ll cry buckets of tears into my pillows. If I run out of tears, I’ll use buckets of salt water. I sure do miss him…

Then she had a thought.

She fought against it for a few minutes, but finally gave in and asked Shirvey if he knew who the other members of the party to Wellster were.

He did know. Not all the names, but many of them. Eventually she learned that one Adelaide Wells had joined the group as a lady of the court. Her hands balled into fists.

So that’s how it is?
My dear husband drags his mistress with him wherever he goes while I sit here growing moss in the middle of nowhere. He sends me a letter and some instructions for the agent and then promptly forgets about me for another six months.

Animal!

You just wait, Earl of Earton.

Lily took her leave of Shirvey. As she headed to her room, she reflected that she would have to tell Mirrie the stories from “You Just Wait, Rabbit!” She could just omit the technology that made it modern. Like telephones.

Here’s another thought: why not build a playground outside for the children? Swings, a merry-go-round, a slide, and maybe a few other things. That’s all they need. I’m expected the peasant women to visit today. If we’re going to have children at the castle, we’ll have to create a playroom to contain them at least part of the time. Otherwise I’ll hang myself.

I also need to write down some fairytales and start teaching Mirrie to read. I want her to be the best at everything: science, sports…

“Lily!”

Speak of the devil!

A little whirlwind with dark hair and shining eyes came running toward her, followed by a second whirlwind with short, brown hair and wearing patched clothes. Miranda was obviously getting along well with her new friend.

Lily found the peasant women waiting for her in the courtyard. When she stepped out into the yard, they looked up at her expectantly. They had already heard that the countess was willing to pay them for cleaning work.

She had prepared an explanation. “While I was away, the castle has turned into a pigsty again. There are spider webs in the corners and dust under the beds. I want you to clean everywhere. I will inspect your work when you are done, but you will also be inspected by Lady Miranda.”

Inspired by the sound of her name, the little girl stepped forward. She was flanked by Ivar and Gel.

“If she says something needs to be cleaned again, you clean it again. Have I made myself clear?”

The women nodded.

“The three hardest workers will receive lengths of fabric for dresses.”

Their interest was piqued. Fabric was expensive and hard to find. The women didn’t mind washing and scrubbing the castle. At least it wasn’t a real pigsty. And it had already been cleaned once.

Lily took the women into the castle and assigned them to the rooms and hallways she wanted them to clean. Miranda was instructed to keep a close eye on the work. She winked at the Virmans, who nodded in understanding. They would keep the little tyrant in check.

Then Lily went back outside to give the men their assignments. She divided them into four groups. The first group was told to dig out the moat under the watchful eyes of several Virmans. Jaimie and the blacksmith were given two men each to put their workshops in order. A third group of men was instructed to clear the site for a new church, cut down the wood and build it. Ten more men were sent down to the coast to build a smokehouse and dig shallow pits for evaporating salt.

Lily had decided to put off repairs to the fortifications around the castle. They wouldn’t fall down next week, and it was important to have a source of salt. She had never gone without salt before – even in the leanest years when everything else disappeared from store shelves – but in this world she had to face the fact that salt was terribly expensive. So she would have the peasants dig brine pits to capture sea water that they could evaporate for salt.

Lily knew how to get salt out of sea water and she knew what to do with it. The Virmans had told her that fish would be coming up the river to spawn soon. She would have the peasants make nets and catch as much fish as they could. A fish diet would get old over the course of the winter, but it was better than a starvation diet. She had explained this to the peasants in the simplest terms she could.

Build what I tell you. We need to make salt so that the fish we catch will keep over the winter.

The Virmans would teach them to salt and smoke fish. Lily suspected that salting was not widely practiced because salt was so expensive. And it was Etor’s fault that the smokehouse behind the castle was covered in mold. She wanted to have it torn down to make way for a new one, but Jaime Meitl convinced her to let him use it for his workshop. He said it would be the perfect place for him to hang his herbs to dry once it was cleaned out. If he was to live in the castle, he wanted his workshop to be nearby. Lily had waved her hand and told him to do as he liked, as long as he kept his workshop clean.

After thinking for a while, she had decided to build the new smokehouse closer to where the fish were caught. The peasants would be catching and processing large quantities of fish, so it made sense to do it all the sorting, cleaning, salting and smoking in one place. Then they could divide up what went to the castle and what went to the villages.

If they process fish at the castle, the whole yard will stink. No, it’s better to have all the processing done on the shore. They can toss all the entrails into the water.

The Virmans strongly approved of the new location for the fish processing station. Gel and Heir were sent to oversee the construction. Lily sent an extra ten men with them to repair the existing fishing boats and build several new ones.

Anyone could use the boats, as long as they give me one-fifth of their catch.

The group going to the shore was also instructed to keep an eye out for Leif and send him signals when he sailed by.

After sending a handful of men to do repairs in the stables and around the castle yard, Lily led the remaining men to a sunny site she had chosen behind the castle. She wasn’t sure exactly what to do with it, but she knew it was the perfect site for a playground.

She explained to the men that they were to build play structures that children would enjoy. They could ask the blacksmith for hardware – he knew all about her plans. After having them repeat back to her what their assignment was, she ran off to check on the other workers.

Did you think I could leave them unattended? Hardly. I’ve got more freeloaders per square foot than I need. Nobody wants to work, especially for someone else. They’re constantly pulling muscles, taking little breaks or complaining that a bird pooped on someone’s head. That won’t cut it with me. Here’s how I organize the job: I keep an eye on you and you follow my orders. If anyone has a problem with that, I’ll call my Virmans so they can explain the system with a log upside the head. I won’t have any slackers around here.

“My lady! I need to change the bandages on your shoulder!”

“I don’t have time right now, Jamie.”

The boy would have none of it. He dragged her back to his room, where he removed her bandages and examined her wounds. Lily examined them, too. She winced. There was a slight infection, and she suspected she would have a nasty scar.

“Jamie, I want you to steep a blend of herbs for me: willowbark, chamomile and wild strawberry. Then I want you to make an onion compress for me to put on it when I go to bed tonight. You make that by mixing honey and onion juice. I’ll send Emma to get it from you this evening.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Once again, Lily caught a note of irony in his voice. She reflected that he was not simple enough for a village boy. He was too intelligent. And she sensed that he was not always truthful.

Who knows what he’s up to. As long as he doesn’t cause me any trouble, I’ll let him be for now.

“Emma, why is Shirvey housed in my wing? I never ordered it.”

“He is the earl’s agent, my lady.”

Lily’s eyebrows shot up. “So what?”

“My lady, the last time he was here, the earl said that Shirvey was not to be housed with the servants.”

“Is that so? My husband trusts him?”

Emma nodded. Lily gave an encouraging smile.

Keep talking. Then we’ll see if I approve or not.

“Was your husband still the agent the last time Shirvey was here?”

“Shirvey arrived with the earl and with Etor the last time. You weren’t yet…”

“Not married yet?”

Emma nodded. She could tell that the countess was not averse to a little gossip.

“My lady, that was when the earl appointed Etor. Etor told me to pack my things and get out of the castle. So I did.”

“What about Shirvey?”

“He didn’t seem to care.”

“Did he know Etor well?”

“They spoke like old friends.”

Lily nodded for her housekeeper to continue. Emma told her about conversations she had “overheard” (read: eavesdropped on) between Etor and Shirvey, about the earl and his daily hunting excursions, about Etor’s wife, Tara, who deserved hanging…

She began to piece together an interesting picture. The earl didn’t care about what went on at the estate. Shirvey and Etor were friends. Close friends. And according to Emma, Shirvey was the more senior of the two.

So where does that leave me? Etor was stealing from me. Was he keeping it all or sharing it? Is my husband a fool, or does he really just not care?

Lily dug deep into her memory. Nothing came to the surface.

Fine. I see two possibilities. The first: Etor was planning to steal as much as he could and then run off before he was caught. The second: this was a long-term plot organized by someone important. Is it possible that’s what’s been going on here? Easy. Could Shirvey have been covering for Etor? Even easier. I can’t let him go. I’ll talk to Jamie. On second thought, no, I’ll do it myself. I wonder if belladonna grows here. Or henbane? I won’t kill him, but I’ll make him wish I had.

She thanked Emma profusely and hinted that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a spy network at the castle. She was tactful.

“Emma dear, when we have guests at the castle it would be nice to know who they are and what they want. Otherwise, we might put a hunter in the music room or serve meat to a man who is fasting. All for the comfort of our guests, of course.”

Emma knew exactly what Lily meant.

Then Lily had another idea. She suggested that Emma have Mary take Shirvey his meals and clean his room.

That Mary can’t keep her skirt down, but she wants to keep her job here. No one else would put up with her. If she’s nice to him, maybe she’ll be able to get some information for me.

That order issued, Lily headed off like a military commander flanked by two Virmans.

Things are getting interesting around here. Why didn’t I ever read Machiavelli? Ella tried to get me to read him, but I was busy studying for a pathoanatomy test. All that intrigue would help me now. Even when I had to take psychology I stuck to the pharmacology section. I just don’t have the knowledge and experience for this!

Lily tried to be everywhere at the same time, but towards evening she started to run out of steam. The day came back to her as a series of disjointed images. She remembered Miranda crawling under a cabinet and pulling out a mountain of dirt. She glowered at the cleaners and they grabbed their mops. Miranda ran off to see if there was any dirt behind the fireplace. Her Virman guards watched the little girl with amusement. She thought it was a game, but she was learning: learning to give orders and make sure they were followed, learning to check other people’s work. It was a skill she would need. Lily had never served in the army, but she had learned some of the skills from watching her father. She would teach Mirrie what she needed to know before it was too late.

When she got to Jamie’s workshop, she saw that he knew how to give orders. The peasants he had working for him didn’t like it. They were trying to talk back, but Jamie was having none of it. Nobody in the workshop cared two pennies that the countess had just walked in. When one of the peasants shouted at Jamie and raised a hand, Lily’s Virman guard slapped him upside the back of the head. He didn’t seem to have put much force behind it, but the blow put an end to the argument.

Lily smiled at Jamie. “I hope you aren’t having trouble with your workers.”

The peasants stared. Then they got back to work.

Her next stop was the future playground, where the men had already put up posts for wings, a merry-go-round and chin-up bars.

This will be fantastic! You won’t find me looking up at the sky and waiting for Aldonai to come down and help. Because he won’t.

Back to the castle, then back to the courtyard, then back to the castle…

Then Leis appeared out of nowhere. “My lady, can I do something to make up for my oversight?”

Lily looked surprised. “Your oversight?”

“I didn’t know I was harboring a fool.”

“You were at the questioning last night. What did he say?”

“Tom was hired to kill you. He was playing cards and lost a lot of money. Someone told him he could pay back his debt or meet the end of a knife. The only other choice he was given was to kill you.”

“How sweet.”

“He agreed to do it, but he’s no murderer.”

Lily nodded. Leis was probably right. She wouldn’t have gotten away from a true murderer. But there was no knowing – maybe the next time her ill-wishers would send a professional.

“I understand that he’s not a hardened killer, but I won’t pardon him.”

“I’m not asking you to, my lady.”

“There will be time to hang him later. Let him sit in the dungeon for now. Did he see the person who hired him?”

“They were introduced by the owner of the Red Rat tavern.”

“How much was he paid?”

“They just wrote off his debt and gave him some money for the road.”

“I see. Would he recognize this person again?”

“Yes, if he sees him.”

She nodded again. “Then he can live for now. Leis, how did you miss this?”

He hung his head. She pressed on. “I don’t know how I can trust you now.”

“My lady, I…”

“I’ll have to write to the earl. He’ll decide what to do.”

“My lady, I’ll make it up to you. I promise!”

He was ready to do anything to keep the earl from finding out.

Lily stayed in her role. “What if he isn’t the only one?”

“My lady!” The look on his face was priceless. Lily began to feel ashamed for making him suffer.

Where’s your conscience, Lilian Broklend? The poor man’s going to have a heart attack. He’s an honest soldier.

Still, she continued to sigh and push a guilt trip on Leis. When she felt she had worked him over enough, she sighed, “Here’s how it’s going to be. I want you to send five soldiers to take my father’s man Taris to Altver. I believe he will be ready to go in a day or two. Once they’ve seen him to Altver, I want them to gallop back here, unless Taris gives them other instructions. If he does, they are to obey. The rest of your men are to keep an eye on the peasants. I need to put this castle back in shape. You can see for yourself that the walls are falling down, the moat is a moat in name only, and we have no ability to defend ourselves. That’s going to get fixed.

“As you wish, my lady. But my men aren’t builders. We don’t know about such things.”

“Neither do I. I want you to find some builders and make sure that the peasants follow their orders. That way, I can take my Virmans off of that job. When I go down to the sea in a few days, I want you to send two soldiers with me. Is all of that understood?”

Leis nodded glumly. He wasn’t pleased with the assignments Lily had for him, but he was in no position to argue. She remembered army life well and made use of everything she had seen and heard.

When a man’s already in the wrong, you can always punish him for something else.

She needed men who would be loyal, and Leis was that kind of man. As long as she cultivated his sense of guilt, she would eventually tame him. She couldn’t put all her hopes in the Virmans. They could set sail and go back to Virma any time they pleased. Leis’ men were stuck here. They would have to serve her for a good long time.

I can do this. I have to.

By evening, Lily felt like she was the one who had been digging out the moat all day. Her arm ached like a bad tooth. Her forehead was hot. She had been drinking huge quantities of anti-inflammatory tea. She could tell that Emma had been to see Jamie, because throughout the day a servant girl had been bringing her hot herbal teas. Lily was grateful to him. The tea helped. She would have been much worse off without it.

Miranda had run around so much all day that she fell asleep at the dinner table. As soon as Lily laid her in bed, however, she opened her eyes and demanded a story.

In a low voice, Lily told her the story of Elise and the wild swans. She changed the stepmother into an aunt who wanted to kill Elise’s brothers and force Elise to marry her son, who was fat and ugly and stank like a trash heap.

The story is better that way. I’m her stepmother, after all. No reason to get the child thinking in the wrong direction.

Lily waited for the little girl to fall asleep. She kept her voice soft and low, but Miranda was overexcited and couldn’t calm down. She got to the point where Elise was weaving shirts out of nettles for her brothers.

Oh hell!

Aloud, she continued the story, but in her mind she began to spin completely unrelated thoughts.

Nettles. I wonder if I could make paper out of nettles? They’re thick and fibrous, and we have plenty of them around the castle.

The story of Elise and her swan brothers continued.

That’s a project for next year, but I hate to put it off. I know what I’ll do: tomorrow I’ll send the village children to hunt for nettles, and I’ll tell them they might get a prize if they bring back enough. That should do the trick…

Lily knew that fall was always a busy season, but once winter set in she would find time for chemistry experiments. And while burdock was a useful plant, there were moments when Lily was ready to sell her soul for a roll of good old toilet paper, a stick of deodorant, some scented soap and a loofah.

I bet I can get my hands on some sea cucumbers to make loofahs. I’ll have people go hunting for them next spring. Scrubbing myself with a rag is getting old.

Miranda started to snore. Lily covered her with a blanket and left her room.

She got her bandage changed and drank some herbal tea before bed. After a moment’s thought, she took a small glass of the local grain alcohol. It was terrible, but it helped. Lily fell asleep instantly. If someone had picked that night to attack her, she would have been dead without even knowing it. However, there were Virmans standing at both doors to her room, and they had sniffed out every corner of the castle before she went to bed, even the fireplaces.

At some point in the night, Lily woke to find Miranda in bed with her. She must have woken up and decided that she’d be better off in Lily’s bed.

Lily remembered getting in bed with her own mother. She would snuggle up to her and smell the familiar scent that told her she was home, where she belonged. Little Miranda wanted the same thing.

Poor baby. She can stay here if she wants.

Lily stroked the girl’s dark hair. She rolled over to take the pressure off her hurt shoulder and fell back into a dead sleep. She would think about everything in the morning.

Jerrison, the Earl of Earton, looked glumly at his cousin. They were standing on the deck, passing a bottle of red wine back and forth and watching the moonlight on the water.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m wondering what Anna and Lidia are like.”

“That’s a complicated question.”

“Very. I have to spend the rest of my life with one of them.”

“Just see which one has the bigger breasts.”

“Jess, that’s nonsense. Both kingdoms can benefit us. I won’t choose a woman for her breasts. How strange you are. I’m not marrying for myself, but for the state.”

“If that was true, your father would have told you which one to marry.”

“Like your father did you?”

“He didn’t exactly order me. We’re in trade. August has a non-hereditary title in the second generation. He has boatyards, boats, people, trade connections…”

“I know. Lilian is almost one of us.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier to lie in bed with her.”

“How is Adele any better?”

Jess’s face gave way to a dreamy smile. Adele hadn’t given in to him yet. They had been close once, but a servant girl had walked in and spoiled everything.

“I see you’re making progress,” Richard encouraged him.

“That’s more than you can say.”

“I won’t risk it. Anyone could spread the gossip to my future bride.”

“So you’re going to live like an Aldon?”

“Not exactly. I’ll have some fun when we get to port.”

“That’s risky. Don’t catch anything…”

“Will you go with me?”

Jess nodded. “I will. And I’ll check each of your lovely ladies myself.”

What Adele doesn’t know can’t hurt her. That’s for sure.

Richard laughed and began to talk of important matters: women.

Jerrison did not suspect that the servant girl had been given orders not to leave her lady alone with the earl for more than fifteen minutes. Adele was afraid that willpower alone was not enough. She was a young, healthy woman who was used to regular lovemaking, and he was a good-looking young man who was used to taking decisive action. How could she put him off? She couldn’t. But somehow, she would have to keep him out of her bed.

Adele’s plans for the earl were serious and long-term. He was handsome, and his wife…

Who cares about his wife? Aldonai could call her home any day now, and someone will have to comfort the grieving widower.

Adele smiled as she looked at her reflection in a small mirror. The polished sheet of metal had cost a pretty penny. Her old mirror had been scratched and scuffed. When Jess saw it, he gave her this new one – perfectly round, with a beautiful frame. No, she had no intention of letting a man like that get away. She would catch him for good. And that meant that she wouldn’t sleep with him until she was on firmer ground.

Then we’ll see what happens.

Adele would never have considered herself to be in love. She didn’t have time for that kind of nonsense. Jess was a tool she wanted to use.

Why not? He has what I want! I wonder how Alex’s plan is progressing?

Her cousin was a man of his word. When he said he would get rid of that awful woman, Adele knew he meant it. Her only worry was what she would do about Alex later. She doubted that Jerrison Earton would be willing to share his lover – or his new wife – with another man.

But will Alex leave me alone? Probably not.

An icy smile crept across her face.

Who said I have to stop seeing Alex? We’re like two boots in a pair. He’s intelligent and good looking, and he’s talented in bed.

She remembered certain episodes from the past and caught her breath, aroused by the memories.

Jess Earton needs an heir, and so do I. But after that…even nobles have accidents sometimes.

Adele leaned back on the hard cot in her cabin and allowed herself to daydream about the future. She wanted money, and power, and her cousin.

There’s no law that says I can’t have it all. And I’ll do my best to get it.

Alas, sometimes man plans but the gods laugh.

Lily had planned to ride down to the sea, but in the morning she woke with a high fever. She reflected miserably that her new body was not built for hard work. At home, her shoulder wound wouldn’t have stopped her: she would have taken some antibiotics and dashed off to work. It had happened before.

Now, however, her muscles ached, her head was splitting and she felt like she might throw up. She recognized all the symptoms of infection.

Lily tried to stand, but the best she could do was crawl to her chamber pot. Mirrie woke to the sound of retching and stared at her in horror.

“Call Martha,” Lily told her.

Martha was sleeping in the next room and was soon roused. She began to moan and pace in circles around the child. Her child. Lilian Earton.

Lily tolerated this for a few minutes before rebelling. “Nanny, call Emma for me and then help Mirrie get dressed and wash her face. Mirrie, if Martha tells me you’ve been a good girl, I’ll tell you one new story after lunch and two in the evening.”

“Can I have two stories after lunch?”

“You mean two after lunch and one in the evening? We can do that.”

Mirrie shook her head. “No, two after lunch and two in the evening!”

“I’ll think about it. Get moving!”

The little girl dashed off. Martha shook her head. “Lily dear, you can’t even stand. How can you promise to tell her stories?”

“Just call Emma for me.”

Lily didn’t have the energy to say more than that. She was sick to her stomach.

This body can’t handle running around the castle, especially after a wound like that. Why do I keep overworking myself? I remember going to class with a fever of 104 and then staying in bed over winter break. If it hadn’t been for my roommates I might have died.

When Emma ran in, she saw that the countess’ eyes were large and round and she could barely stand. Instead of screaming, she called for Jamie. The two of them spent the next hour helping Lily drink a bitter remedy and rubbing a malodorous ointment into her red, swollen shoulder.

Ok. Maybe I need to lie down for a little bit. What can I accomplish while I do that?

First, she asked for the papers from her study. Martha protested loudly. It wasn’t right for a lady to work so hard, and she wished her little Lily would have a bite to eat and take a nap.

Lily waved her away. Then she called in Mirrie’s nanny, Calma, and took great pleasure in telling her that from now on she would be getting her orders from Martha, since the older woman knew better how to manage the girl. If she didn’t like the new rules, she could roll right on down the road.

Calma said nothing. She had realized that the countess was not a woman to trifle with. She would make trouble for Martha, of course, but she was afraid to cross Lily. She might talk bad about Lily in private among the servants, but Martha was sure to jump in to defend her little girl.

I bet it will be interesting.

That was just to get Lily’s blood pumping. It was time to go through her accounting. After an hour of studying notebooks and scrolls, Lily was ready to kill Etor.

I’ll bring him back to life and kill him again! How could he be such a bastard?

Her new world hadn’t dreamed up double-entry bookkeeping yet. She had one book showing all her income and another book showing all her expenses, including purchases and sales. Nothing was dated. All Lily could do was swear like a sailor. An experienced accountant or business owner might have made something of the records, but not a young doctor. To make things worse, Etor had tried to cover his tracks by making the records hard to follow.

The only thing Lily could think to do was perform an inventory of everything, right down to the cockroaches’ slippers. With a full inventory in hand, she would start new income and expense books.

I need to talk to Emma. She can start the inventory while she gets my spy network up and running. Information is everything.

She remembered the killer sitting in the dungeon. Something had to be done with him.

I can have him lawfully executed. He tried to murder me, after all. But is that the right decision? Maybe I should keep him around as a witness.

Then it occurred to her that she could ask Taris Brok to listen to the man’s story. He might have some advice for her, and it would give him more gruesome details to carry back to her father.

Someone ordered my murder because my husband is playing around with some hussy. I can use that, can’t I? You bet I can! You’re were fooling around when someone tried to off me…

Lily thought back to the story about her falling down the stairs when she had her miscarriage. She tried her hardest to remember something – anything – from that incident, but all she could call up was a memory of feeling sick and in pain.

Maybe I was having morning sickness. Who knows? Especially now.

She ran her fingers through her hair. She would have to talk to Taris and the pastor about what the laws said. Should she have the killer’s statement written down, or should she keep him alive to make his statement in person? Or both?

She wondered again if she should write to her father.

Taris will tell him everything anyway, but it may seem strange if I don’t write. Taris can take the killer’s confession along with my letter. I’ll write it out this evening. Now…what do I do now? I have to lie here and rest and think. I’ve been so busy since I got home from Altver.

Focus. I have to focus.

What do I need to accomplish first? The castle’s defenses need to be improved. Has that been done?

Lily reached for a sheet of parchment and started chewing on the end of her pen (it was one of the beautiful silver pens Helke had made for her).

One of the Virmans peeked in. “My lady, Leis Antrel is here. Will you see him?”

Lily nodded. “Let him in.”

The captain was out of breath. “My lady, how are you feeling?”

“Terrible, but I’ll survive. Did you have something to tell me?”

“I don’t have enough workers. We won’t be done with the walls before winter.”

Lily sighed. “What do you suggest?”

“I hear you have ordered some of the peasants to build strange contraptions behind the castle. What are they for? Exercise?”

Lily frowned. “What are you talking about?”

After much back and forth, she realized that he was talking about the playground. Lily felt like an idiot. She couldn’t tell him it was for the children.

“Those are some improvements I had in mind. What have the peasants built?”

He described a balance beam, some chin-up bars and a series of logs sunk into the ground to different heights.

Wonderful.

“Those are for developing the muscles and sense of balance.” She described what exercises the men could do on her new installations. Leis was unimpressed.

“I apologize, my lady, but none of that is serious.”

“Why not?”

“Because we need to finish repairing the fortifications and cleaning out the moat. The other things you speak of can wait until winter.”

Lily sighed and consented to have the peasants moved to other, more pressing work. She asked for an estimate of how long the work would take. He told her.

“Fine. If you don’t finish in time, you’ll have me to answer to. What is your rank, Leis?”

“I am a commanding officer of the earl’s personal guards.”

“Have you seen the condition of our guards at the castle?”

“Yes, my lady. I would not call them guards.”

“Exactly. Your company is the only fighting force we have here. I want to name you captain of the Earton guards.”

Leis’ eyes bugged out, making him look somewhat like a fish. “But my lady…”

“I am the countess. While my husband is away, I can direct the affairs of the estate. Since he sent you here to guard his daughter and myself, I assume he thinks highly of your abilities.”

“My lady…”

“I also assume that the earl will approve of my decision. Since he is traveling, he will not need you until next summer. So stay here and serve us at the castle.”

Leis looked doubtful, so she sweetened the deal. “Of course, a captain’s salary is higher. What do you currently make?”

“Three silver coins.”

“Now you will get six.”

“My lady…”

“Six silver coins a month and the title of captain of the Earton guards. I know that we are in the middle of nowhere here, but…”

She could tell that Leis was interested. He would have to stay at the castle over the winter one way or another, why shouldn’t he make a little extra money?

“I should write to the earl.”

“Of course. As soon as Shirvey is well, we will send him with a letter.”

Leis looked like he didn’t believe her, but he gave a respectful bow. “As you wish, my lady.”

As soon as he left, Lily fell back on her pillows.

The castle’s defenses are taken care of. I think I can trust him. Now for the housekeeping.

Thinking about housekeeping made her mad at herself again.

Lily knew she shouldn’t be working so hard. She was supposed to show up when everything was done and check the windowsills with a white handkerchief. Her only justification was that she had never managed anyone before. And she had learned the value of the proverb “If you want it done right, do it yourself” from the earliest age.

I have to stop this cleaning nonsense and let Emma handle it.

Next item: work out the kinks in my exchange of ideas and money with Helke.

What else? I have to go through the estate’s papers. I’ll do that while I’m laid up in bed.

Next: the blacksmith and the glassblower are getting their workshops in order. The smokehouse is almost done, and so is the brine pit for salt.

(She had ordered the men to build both the brine pit and the smokehouse where they couldn’t be seen by passing ships. Just in case.)

Now I have to think about how to protect both sites. Soon I’ll tell Leis to take a few dozen of the young men from the villages and run them through a quick training program to turn them into guards. How long did it take my father to turn new recruits into soldiers? Something like six months. I hope I have that much time.

Time was what frightened Lily. Every day that passed brought her husband one day closer.

I need to know what my rights really are. Am I just a piece of furniture, or can I do something?

She dove back into her pile of papers and scrolls with renewed effort, and was rewarded when she located her marriage contract.

So they wrote it all out. Wonderful!

Skipping over the medieval legal terms, Lily did her best to understand the essence of the document. She liked what she found. The contract was between the Earl of Earton (Jyce Earton – I think he’s my husband’s father. The name is familiar) and August Broklend. It made Lily the Countess of Earton and specified that her husband undertook to respect and love her. In return, he got a sizeable dowry: several ships, a large sum in gold, and a share in August’s trade. Lily’s child would become the Earl of Earton if it was a boy. August undertook to leave Lily’s son his boatyards and other property, retaining management of the property until his own death, after which the property would pass to Jerrison Earton.

Very interesting. We don’t have a child, and if we never do have one, Jerrison keeps my dowry and all the rest of my father’s property goes to whomever he leaves it to. To the church, for example. Of course. Whom else would he leave it to? That means that someone stands to gain a great deal of wealth as long as I don’t have a child. I have to get more information from Taris or my father, but I can’t write about it in a letter.

The contract also specified that the wife was to be well treated. Lily began to have extremely warm feelings for her father. Jerrison was forbidden from beating, offending or mocking his wife.

Well, he seems to be abiding by the letter of the contract. He hasn’t beaten or mocked me. He just stays away. But the contract doesn’t say he has to love me with his whole heart. I live in his family’s castle and I have everything I need. My father saw to that much.

She read on and discovered that she owned a share in the boatyards. Her share was to be managed by her husband, but if her father died, she would inherit the shares and a nice chunk of money.

At least I won’t starve. Any convent would take me with a dowry like that.

(A convent was Lily’s last choice of destinations.)

The contract was clever. “You want my boatyards? Then make sure they go to a child of my blood, and keep my daughter in good conditions,” August seemed to be saying.

But who would inherit everything if August and Lily both died?

From a very private letter:

“My lord, I must inform you that the cow is alive and well. She never even thinks of the child she lost. Her husband is not expected until summer, but her stepdaughter is with her. I await your orders.”

“Damned animals!”

Darius Avermal slammed his mug on the table. The cheap ale sloshed out and soaked his sleeve, but he didn’t even notice.

“Godless fools!”

“That’s a fact,” Tommy backed him up. “They’re children of Maldonaya and bloodsuckers.”

“They get rich at our expense and we keep putting up with it.”

“They eat gold and sleep on gold…”

It was easy to guess that the two young men were speaking of Eveers. Darius had an obvious reason for his dislike: one of the Eveers was doing business with his arch-enemy, the countess. And he was getting rich in the process, while Darius had to beg his father for money whenever he wanted to have a beer with a friend. (If Darius’ father gave him money, he acted like he was doing him a favor. Darius hated that.)

Wasn’t it clear to everyone that a young man from a good family had a right to enjoy himself? How was he supposed to enjoy himself without money? Innkeepers didn’t pour drinks on credit. And prostitutes wouldn’t even look at a man who didn’t have money. Darius loved walking into an inn, pouring a heap of gold on the table and partying all night. It made him feel powerful.

His father simply didn’t understand him.

The old goat is making a fool of me. He runs off to see that Eveer almost every day, but when I went to ask the heathen for money he made a sour face and said he’d given everything to my father and that perhaps I should ask him for funds!

After being refused on several occasions, Darius had decided to teach the Eveer some manners. However, when he showed up at his shop with a sword, a pair of bodyguards appeared out of nowhere. The Helke came out and reminded him that he was – in a sense – working for the baron.

The hell he is! Everyone knows that he works with that daughter of Maldonaya.

Making matters worse, all the young women in town had lost their heads over the new items Helke was selling. Tommy’s girlfriend had recently asked him to buy her some earrings with the new clasps that kept them from falling out. Helke was charging an arm and a leg for them and he wouldn’t sell on credit. He said his backers wanted to see profits, not promises.

Tommy’s father declined to finance him, so his girlfriend found herself someone new – a merchant who was twice Tommy’s age and three times his girth but more than able to pay for her pleasures.

So now, Tommy was an enemy of the Eveers.

Saul didn’t want to hear about them, either. His father had tried to get into Helke’s business, but the old jeweler would hear nothing of it. And why not? Because Saul had given one of Helke’s nephews a few lashes with a bullwhip. The young man was hurrying to see a lady of his acquaintance, and Helke’s nephew got in the way of his horse as he was crossing the street. The horse stumbled and almost threw its rider. Saul couldn’t imagine what would have happened if he had shown up at his lady’s house in a dirty tunic from falling off his horse. He had to teach the kid a lesson.

So what? It didn’t kill him. He wasn’t even seriously injured. He had a fever for a few days, and then everything healed up nicely. I can’t believe Helke refused to do business with Saul’s father over a minor incident like that.

“I’d like to see that Helke burn like a torch!” Tommy barked.

The others nodded in agreement, but Saul shook his head. “We can’t do that.”

“Why not? We’re nobles!” Darius objected. His ass suddenly twinged, reminding him of the beatings his father was capable of. It also reminded him that his father had promised to kick him out of the house if he caused any more trouble.

Darius knew that the baron was as good as his word.

Tommy seemed to read his mind. “We just have to arrange it so that we aren’t involved. So that no one sees us.”

“What about the Eveer?”

“So what about him? We can make him shut his mouth if we have to,” Saul said with a predatory grin. “Or we can slit his throat.”

None of the other patrons overheard the discussion of the three drunk aristocrats, and nobody knew what they were planning. That was unfortunate, because the three drunk idiots decided to drive the jeweler out of town. For starters, they would burn down his shop.

The next visitor to Lily’s room was Taris Brok. “My lady, this is unspeakable devilry!”

Lily turned her tired eyes up to the ceiling as if she were a helpless flower. The accounting records strewn over her bed said otherwise, but Taris seemed not to notice.

“How do you feel?”

“Not very well. My head hurts. And so does the rest of me,” was Lily’s honest reply.

“Would you like me to send for some herbal tea? Or should I have a servant bring you something to eat?”

Lily waved away his suggestions. “I need to talk to you about the attack.”

“My lady, I intend to tell your father everything. Don’t ask me to go against my conscience!”

Lily looked down. “Of course not. Actually…”

“What, my lady?”

“I will write him a letter myself. Would it be too much to ask you to deliver it?”

“I will be glad to do it, my lady.”

“And there’s another thing. I have to rely on your honor, Taris.” Lily did her best to play up the helpless flower image. Taris bought it.

“My lady, I give you my word that I will keep your secrets as my own.”

“I cannot ask you to keep a secret, but I don’t know if I should tell my father this thing or not.”

“What is it, my lady?”

“My husband has been unfaithful to me. The killer was sent to clear the way for his lover. Once I am gone, the earl intends to marry her.”

Judging by Taris’ face, she had played her hand perfectly.

“Has the man confessed?”

“Yes. I would like for you and Pastor Vopler to hear his confession. If necessary, I want you to write down his words.”

Taris nodded vigorously. He would do it. “My lady, your father must know of this.”

“But it is so shameful.”

“He would never allow this information to become public knowledge. You know him better than that. He loves you and will do everything to prevent harm to you.”

“But how? How can he prevent a repeated attack? I don’t know if I can take any more of this!”

Lily knew she was on the right track, but she suspected that castrating the earl was still out of her power. She was a bad actress, but Taris didn’t know her well (and the Stanislavsky method hadn’t been invented yet). If the man had his doubts about her sincerity, he kept them to himself.

“I will do as you ask this very day.”

“Let me have the Virmans…”

“My lady, do you really trust them?”

“None of them have lovers who want to become the next Countess of Earton.”

He understood what she meant. “My lady, the earl must be blind if he could prefer some idiot to you. Aldonai sent him such joy, and he is wasting it…”

Taris paid her some more compliments. She used the time to think.

The pastor is probably still in his room.

“Taris, let me send for the pastor and have him join us.”

“You are both beautiful and intelligent, my lady.” He had more to say, but Lily worked on her own thoughts while she kept her eyes on him.

When the pastor came in, he found Lily and Taris bent over a document.

“You wanted to see me, my lady?”

“Yes. I hope I haven’t distracted you from something important?”

“No, my lady. I have been to the village. The ashes are still too hot for the men to clear them away. So with your leave, I have been making use of your library for the time being.”

“Of course. Have you found anything interesting?”

“You have many holy writings. I would like to copy some of them for myself.”

“My library is at your disposal. Did you make a list of what I need to order?”

“Not yet, my lady.”

“Once your list is ready, give it to Taris Brok. He will take it to Altver and have the items sent.”

“Your kindness knows no bounds, my lady.”

“Pastor, we are all in Aldonai’s hands. He has instructed us to help others.”

The pastor made the sign of Aldonai and began to pray. Lily and Taris followed along. When he finished, they got down to business. Would the wise pastor mind talking to the man who had tried to kill her and put his soul on the path of righteousness? And could he write down his confession while he was at it?

Pastor Vopler immediately agreed. He didn’t want the countess to rethink her ideas about charity. And he didn’t mind providing assistance to a parishioner – especially one who wore an earl’s bracelet.

That evening, Miranda got into bed with Lily again. She wanted a bedtime story, and Lily was too weak to come to her room.

I’m growing attached to this little girl, Lily thought as she lay in bed telling the child a story. It’s hard to live in this world where I don’t have any true friends or family. Very hard. But how can a woman from the 21st century make friends with a little girl from the Middle Ages? What if Miranda grows up to be an outsider because of me?

Lily sighed.

Do your duty and let the cards fall where they may.

In the morning, Lily woke to a terrible itching in her nose.

Mirrie was tickling her stepmother’s nose with a feather from one of the pillows. Lily always gave as good as she got, so she started to tickle the little girl. So, their morning started with laughter and shouting. Lily’s shoulder still hurt, but it was less inflamed. Her fever was down, too.

Calma came running in to see what the fuss was about and got hit with a pillow.

Lily sent Miranda off to get dressed and fell back on her pillows. She planned to take the day easy. It wasn’t her usual body, after all. And it was hurting.

True to her plans, that morning Lily called for Leis and heard his report on repairs to the wall and cleaning of the moat. He was pleased with his progress, but hinted that he could accomplish more if he had more workers.

Lily made his day by explaining that he needed to go around to the villages and recruit two dozen young men, whom he would turn into soldiers over the winter. He did not see the reason for it, but she explained that the earl could not be expected to go without his services forever, and when he left, she would need someone to stay behind and defend the castle.

Leis agreed and left to go about his business.

Lily had another reason for sending Leis on this errand, but she didn’t mention it to him.

The Virmans.

She wasn’t sure she could fully trust Leif, so she wanted Leis’ soldiers and recruits from the villages to balance her power. That way, if Leif was harboring thoughts of killing her and selling her people into slavery, he’d find it wasn’t as easy as he expected.

Trust but verify. And monitor. Counterweights were invented by intelligent people.

Later that morning, Lily was visited by Emma, who reported that the housecleaning was going well. Lily suggested hiring ten more girls. Emma replied that she already had several candidates in mind for the kitchen and the rooms.

“If you trust me to make arrangements, my lady…”

The countess had full trust in her judgment.

Damis Reis tried to barge into Lily’s room when Emma left, but the Virmans kept him out.

And it’s a good thing they did. My room isn’t a bus station.

She told her maid to send the tutor to Emma and went back to studying the estate’s records.

She couldn’t make the income and expenses line up. How had the earl managed to put so many thieves in management positions? It looked to Lily like the estate hadn’t had a real manager for at least the last ten years. Earton’s finances were a mess. The peasants gave the earl almost half of what they grew and raised, and they also worked his fields for him. Any excess was sold at a loss. Lily figured it didn’t make sense to bother taking goods to market to sell. Even if she could get a good price, the cost of the trip was too high.

Why has the earl let things go like this? Earton is his family estate. It doesn’t make sense.

Lily didn’t know much about medieval attitudes, but she was fairly confident that people had always taken care of their own homes and hearths. The earl’s negligence was very odd.

She stopped to eat a bite and then picked up her pen to write to her father. She wanted it to be ready when Taris came back so that he could leave right away. It took four attempts and Lily losing her temper before she had a halfway decent letter.

Dearest Father. I am ashamed to tell you that while I was doing my duty and carrying an heir for Earton, my husband embarked on a love affair with a woman named Adelaide Wells. The awful woman went against all human laws and the laws of Aldonai and sent a man to kill me. The earl’s daughter Miranda and I almost perished at his hands. I was wounded in the attempt. I am thankful to have escaped death this time.

However, I suspect that it was no accident that I fell down the stairs before losing my child. I am unable to remember that day. My memory is cut off from me by the pain of what happened. The doctor my husband sent tried to let my blood, which only worsened my childbed fever. If it hadn’t been for my faithful Martha, I would never have survived.

I must also tell you that the estate manager my husband hired for Earton was stealing from the estate. When he was found out, he tried to escape and was attacked and killed by wolves as he made his way through the forest.

I beg you, Father, to convey my gratitude to Taris Brok, who has shown me every kindness and support. He will give you the man’s confession. You may do as you see fit with these papers.

I hope that you are in good health and that your affairs are going well. Please write so that I do not worry. I pray that we will be preserved from the human failings of envy and avarice, which prompt men to commit the most terrible sins.

I remain your loving daughter,

Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton, née Broklend

Lily ran her eyes over the letter one more time and chuckled inwardly. She sealed it with a wax seal she had found in Etor’s desk and wrote a “2” on the envelope. She numbered her first letter “1.”

That’s to make sure Taris gives him both. With commentary. And with that man’s confession that the pastor is writing down. I’ll send him on his way as soon as I can. There’s no reason for him to sit around here!

Mirrie ran in to see her at lunch. Lily guessed that she had been running around the castle, avoiding her tutors and playing hide-and-seek with her new friend. Just let the nannies try and stop her. Forbidden games are the best ones!

They took their lunch together. Lily had chicken broth and a piece of cheese. Mirrie tucked into a plate of spicy beef stew, followed by cheese and sugared fruits. While she ate, she listened as Lily told her a story. It was a story that Lily hoped she would remember.

Everyone needs to know about the Wizard of the Emerald City.

The heroine was a girl named Ellie. She had a friend, Tim, and a dog, Toto.

Why shouldn’t Mirrie have a pet? It would be good for her to train an animal. I want her to be friends with the pastor’s boy and with the Virmans’ children. If she’s lucky, she’ll grow up to be a decent person instead of the wife of a feudal lord.

Lily saw the wife of a feudal lord when she looked in the mirror. She didn’t like her reflection. Not yet.

But where there’s life, there’s hope.

Lons had lost count of the days and nights as he bounced around in the stinking hold of the slave ship. He was chained in the dark and given very little to eat. No one would have recognized him as the handsome tutor to Wellster’s young princesses. He was suffering from diarrhea because of his poor diet, but the stench in the hold was already strong enough to hold an axe. His teeth were starting to loosen. He was dizzy. He spent most of his time only half-conscious. Sometimes he sensed that someone near him was dying. When that happened, the slave traders swore and dragged the body up to the deck.

Lons could only think of one person.

Anna. My precious Anna.
My sunshine. What have they done to you?

He wondered if the jester had ratted her out to her father. He had no way of knowing, and he was sincerely worried about his wife.

What will happen to her?

It was all in Aldonai’s hands.

When his mind wandered, he saw the king’s jester. He imagined wrapping his hands around the man’s skinny neck and throttling him to death. He wouldn’t kill him quickly. He’d do it slowly, tortuously.

As long as I’m alive, I have a chance of escaping and getting my revenge. I can wait. I can be patient.

Lons forced himself to eat the sour soup and drink the scummy water they gave him, all the while dreaming of revenge. There were two demons that kept him alive, but he believed one of them to be an angel.

Anna of Wellster was a busy young lady. She was constantly rubbing scented oils into her skin, trying on new dresses and underclothes and yelling at ladies-in-waiting, maids, milliners, seamstresses, shoemakers, jewelers… She only stopped yelling when she saw the jester in the distance. She thought she would lose her mind, she was so terrified of him.

She faithfully applied the old witch’s remedy, but she knew that if anything went wrong she would end up dead. Her father would have no use for a daughter who brought shame on the family name.

Why did I get involved with Lons? Why didn’t I wait?

The answer was simple. She had wanted to experience life, and Lons was right there, young and handsome. It was no surprise that she fell for him.

In her heart of hearts, Anna admitted that she was still very attracted to Lons. She had had good times with him.

But the crown!

Power, money, the throne.

She was also aware of the jester’s eyes, which followed her wherever she went, even when she was asleep. Anna knew she had no choice. It was Richard or death. She was preparing to fight for her life. As she readied herself, she was always finding ways to be more beautiful, more elegant, and better at everything. She had sent away all the pretty women who were normally at court. The ones who remained wouldn’t have earned a second look from even the least demanding suitor. Compared to them, Anna was a heavenly dream.

She very much wanted to live.

Altres Lort sneered as he observed the preparations for the royal visit. He didn’t have very high hopes for Anna.

She would behave differently if she had any true intelligence. She’s not bad to look at, but she can’t see more than two steps ahead of her. And Richard is no fool.

These thoughts in mind, the jester made some preparations of his own. He had the people, places and circumstances all set. When he left Wellster, Richard was supposed to go to Ivernea. There would be a scandal if he did otherwise. But the jester intended for Richard to leave Wellster with a firm obligation to Anna, after which she would visit his court and they would marry. Nothing else would do.

So he made himself ready.

Richard is smart, but he has weak spots. He trusts his cousin, and he loves women. He may not sleep around as much as other nobles do, but he may well fall under Anna’s spell. When he does, it will be time for the head of the secret service to take over.

A horse might go lame while hunting. Or the prince might drink too much wine. There were endless possibilities for leaving Richard and Anna alone for a few hours. Anna could be trusted to play her cards right, and Richard would be forced to marry her or face war.

That will give us a protection agreement with Ativerna, and we’ll split Ivernea between us. If only Gardwig could live another twenty years!

Altres knew that wouldn’t happen. He loved his brother, but he listened to the doctors. The king had an ulcer on his leg that nothing seemed to help. He had headaches and stomach pain. Altres gave him three to five years at the outside.

That isn’t enough time. There are powerful people who hate me. If I’m left alone here with Milia as regent, they’ll take me out. With Ativerna behind me, however, I might stand a chance. My enemies will be afraid to have me killed, because they don’t know who Richard would appoint to replace me.

My brother…my brother…

Altres couldn’t care less if it was cynical for him to be preparing for his brother’s death. His goal was to keep Gardwig’s wife and children alive and hold the kingdom together.

He would do anything to succeed.

After reading three of the accounts books, Lily abandoned her attempt to make sense of the records. Most of the entries were entirely made up – that much was clear. Etor had written down a bunch of nonsense for the earl and any royal inspectors who happened by. There was no other way to understand the books.

Grain. Sold at market for two silver coins per bag. Profit: five gold coins, which were spent to buy two coats of mail for the guards. On paper, the money came in and went right back out.

Except that we don’t need any coats of mail! We don’t have any guards, because Etor sent them all home!

Lily deduced that, unless Etor was a complete idiot, he must have kept three sets of books: one for the earl, one for his accomplices and one for himself. He wasn’t working alone. Someone else was getting a share. The scale was too big for one man. She remembered how much she shook him down for. It was a huge amount of money.

His private books are still hidden somewhere. He didn’t have time to hide them. I woke up one morning, rode out to the village and came back with reinforcements. And he couldn’t have taken them with him: he left with a single bag with some food, clothes, and pocket change for the road. Each of these books is mammoth – he couldn’t have fit even one of them in that bag. He probably didn’t want to take his private records with him. His only hope was to find refuge with his accomplices, and he wouldn’t want them to see how much he really took.

She imagined Etor unpacking at the home of a co-conspirator.

“What’s this?”

“The accounts I kept for you.”

“Then what’s this over here?”

“The accounts I kept for me.”

Nope, he wouldn’t have risked that.

Lily briefly wondered if Etor could have tossed his private records over the castle wall in hopes of retrieving them later.

He could have done that, but given the state of the moat there’s no guarantee he’d ever find them again. No, he left his secrets somewhere in the castle with the idea of having someone else carry them out later, either for friendship or for payment.
I bet that’s exactly what he did. So where did he put them?

It would take a lifetime to search the entire heap of stones that was the castle. Lily’s servants had cleaned the place from top to bottom and not found any hiding places.

Lily pondered for a while. Then she called for Emma to come to her straight away, along with Mary, Ilona and Sara.

She questioned them about where Etor’s hiding place could have been, but they had no idea. The servant girls swore up and down that Etor spent most of his time either in his office or in the kitchen. Lily doubted that his books were in the kitchen. True, he had been married to the cook, but the kitchen made a poor hiding place, with people constantly coming in and out. It wasn’t logical.

What about his office or some of the rooms nearby?

Lily sent the servants about their business and questioned Emma further. The housekeeper thought for a moment and then informed Lily that she knew of a few hidden niches in the manager’s office. Her husband had held the post in years past, after all. If the countess trusted her to take a look…

The countess did trust her. Just to be safe, she asked one of the Virmans, Olaf, to help Emma carry anything she found. Meanwhile, she went back to searching her trunks.

The trunks contained little of interest. A purchase contract. A sale contract. More of the same… As always, the only material worth her while was at the very bottom, where she found a bundle of old parchments. They were letters.

Lily sighed and began to read them, starting with the one on top.

Dearest Mother. We are all well. Alicia is at court. Jerrison and Amanda are growing fast. They are happy and in good health. Jessie asks that I send you her greetings and hopes you are no longer angry with her. She is not free to dictate to her heart. She and Edward and well. They love each other most sincerely. I would also ask you to restrain your indignation. Since it was Aldonai’s will that they meet, who are we to speak against it? Even my father forgave them and blessed them before his death.

How is life at Earton? Do you need anything? If so, write to me and I will send everything right away. I have paid all the taxes.

Your loving son,

Jyce, Earl of Earton

Lily scratched the tip of her nose.

Jerrison was her husband. Jyce was his father. He was writing to his mother, who apparently lived at Earton Castle and was extremely disapproving of someone named Jessie. This Jessie wasn’t her son’s lover or wife. Her relationship was with a man named Edward…

Edward? I don’t suppose that’s Edward the Eighth? The one who rules Ativerna? It could be. Where can I get some gossip?

Lily called for her dressmakers. Half an hour later, she knew all the background for the letter (maybe not everything, but plenty about the king).

The king had married, and then he had fallen in love. The only trouble was that his wife and his beloved were two different women. His beloved was Jessamine Earton, known as Jessie. Her mother strongly disapproved.

I wonder why? Isn’t it considered an honor to be the prince’s mistress? Or does that only work if it’s the king?

Lily vaguely remembered watching some telenovelas where it was an honor – people fell to their knees in the presence of the king’s latest mistress.

But maybe that’s not the case here. Or at least it wasn’t back then. So the mother was upset when her daughter went to bed with the prince without marrying him first. She may have wanted to marry her off to someone else for political reasons. Jessie could have been promised to someone else.

Lily didn’t know what exactly had enraged Jyce and Jessie’s mother, and she decided it didn’t really matter. Things didn’t even change when Jessie became Edward’s second queen. Lily became convinced of this as she read through the letters.

Jyce frequently asked his mother to forgive Jessie and told her little stories about her grandchildren. There were even a few letters from Jessie herself, all saying much the same thing: “Dear Mother, forgive me, but I will die without him. This is Aldonai’s will, etc.”

Both Jyce and Jessie keep asking their mother to forgive and forget. That means either she never answered their letters, or she kept rejecting her daughter. Apparently, the old woman lived here in Earton.

The earl wrote about once a month, and Jessie did the same.

What does that tell me? The mother was sitting out here like a bullfrog in a swamp. The old earl was dead. Jyce stayed away because he knew his mother would give him an earful if he showed up at home.

Lily didn’t find any replies from the old countess – or even any drafts she might have written – so she assumed that the old lady was stubborn to the end. She was glad that Etor hadn’t risked reusing the valuable parchment the letters were written on. Reading them, she learned about the birth of the queen’s daughters and about the queen’s death. It was interesting work, making out the fancy handwriting and the flowery expressions.

This is nothing. Doctors’ handwriting is a lot harder to make out. Haven’t you ever seen a patient history or a prescription?

It was one thing to read the letters and quite another to lay out the events by year and analyze what it all meant. In the end, Lily worked out that the old countess outlived her son and died not that long ago. The most recent letters were written to her by her grandson.

Lily read those letters especially closely. It looked to her like Jess’ grandmother was none too fond of her grandchildren, even the ones on her son’s side.

She would have ignored her daughter’s children, of course, but why her son’s children? He loved her and did his best to care for her, so she ought to have adored his children. From these letters, it looks like he never once brought them here to see their grandmother. I wonder why? Jess Earton never even saw his family’s castle until after his grandmother’s death. That’s ridiculous.

Lily thought about the castle’s library. It was full of holy books.

The old lady was religious to a fault. It wouldn’t have been easy to steal from her, would it? I guess that would depend on how you did it. If she spent all her time praying, the servants could have stolen everything that wasn’t nailed down (and if it was nailed down, they stole the nails, too).

Lily bit her lip. If that was how things stood, it was no wonder that Earton was ignored by its master. He grew up in the city and was close to the royal family, so he paid his estate taxes and never gave the place another thought.

Olaf knocked at the door. When he came in, he unloaded several notebooks and scrolls on Lily’s bed.

“Where is Emma?”

“In the kitchen. There was a row.”

“I can’t even be sick for one day. Tell her to come to me as soon as she’s free,” Lily grumbled.

I wonder what the row was about?

Then she turned back to the letters.

His Majesty Edward the Eighth read the letter. He read it again. Then he scratched his head. It was not a very royal thing to do, but no one saw him do it. The letter had come by carrier pigeon. It was an astonishing missive because it made no sense.

The letter was from the mayor of Altver, Torius Avermal. The king had appointed him to oversee Altver years ago, and the man had never given cause for displeasure.

“Your Majesty! I assure you of my respect…”

Out of habit, Edward skipped over the words of praise. In his more ironic moments, Edward was glad that the very nature of the carrier pigeon system restricted the length of letters. Nobody wanted to pay to send a three-bird letter.

“I hasten to inform you that Countess Lilian Earton has been to Altver and has now left to return to Earton. The countess was a ray of sunshine during her stay in our provincial town, lighting up…”

There were five more lines describing the countess’ excellent qualities.

For goodness sake! Does he think we’re in the Khanganate?

The countess was intelligent and beautiful, a wonderful, wise woman who brought true joy to everyone in Altver.

Edward didn’t know what to make of it. He remembered Lilian. She was an oddity, a heavy-set girl given to throwing temper tantrums well beyond the age for such behavior. He had instantly taken a dislike to her when he saw her years ago.

Has Baron Avermal lost his mind? Or was I unjust in my opinion of her all those years ago?

He reflected that Jess married Lilian to get his hands on her father’s boatyards, so it would be naïve to expect him to actually love the girl. What if she really was intelligent. And maybe even beautiful?

Edward shook his head. It didn’t make sense. After Amalia’s visit, he had written to Baron Avermal by carrier pigeon and asked him to find out what he could about the countess. It seemed like a sensible step. Miranda was at the castle, so if Lilian was behaving strangely Edward wanted to know about it.

The king didn’t exactly adore his granddaughter, but in some ways she reminded him of Jessie. She had the same dark hair, eyes and lips, but she was moody and difficult.

I haven’t been able to spend much time with the child. I can’t exactly have her brought here to the palace in secret. People will find out. There would be gossip.

That wasn’t the only reason. The king had never been good with children unless their nannies and governesses were around. But still, he often thought about the child. He knew she was in Earton, and that the estate was more or less in order. Jess received regular reports from his manager. Lilian probably left the child to her nannies. Why wouldn’t she?

But what if Lilian is not in her right mind? Amalia says she drove out the medicus who used to treat her, and that she’s doing all sorts of odd things. Is it dangerous for Miranda to be living there?

Edward had been hoping for reassurance, but the letter did not reassure him. He couldn’t decide what to think.

Strange people are dangerous.

He rubbed his forehead and picked up a pen. He would write back to Avermal and ask for specifics on Lilian’s activities. Who was she with? What did she do? Why did the baron find her to be so intelligent? And, just to be on the safe side, he would clarify that he was speaking about a blonde, overweight woman. His first letter had been too general. This one would be very specific. He would instruct Torius to send a runner or an agent to Earton to obtain a detailed picture of life on the estate and on the condition of Miranda Catherine.

Something odd was going on in Earton, but he wouldn’t make a move until he was sure he understood the situation. In his many years as king, Edward had learned the value of a simple truth: decisions made without complete information are often wrong. True, there were times when one had to act immediately, but this did not seem to be one of them. No matter what Lilian was up to, Miranda had her guards, tutors and nannies to protect her. There was also Jess’ agent. And the pastor.

No, I won’t act right away. I’ll wait and see what Torius tells me.

The row was largely Lily’s fault. She had planned it out, but she hadn’t known it would blow up so quickly. Lady Miranda’s nannies got into a spat in the kitchen. Calma was to blame. Upset by her new position under Martha, she had gone down to the kitchen to tell the servants everything she thought about the evil countess.

To their credit, the servants and even the peasant women who were present ignored Calma’s bile. The way they saw it, the countess wasn’t that bad at all. She paid them for extra work, even though she could have forced them to do it for nothing; she had freed them from forced labor in the earl’s fields; she let them use the mill to grind their grain; and the only person she had ordered a whipping for was a lazy stable hand. They knew that life could be a lot worse.

Mary stuck up for the countess, as well. She had expected to be driven out of the castle along with Etor because she was a known flirt. Instead, the countess sometimes gave her a penny or a scrap of fabric.

Emma was not around, and Calma got angrier as she listened to the others sing Lily’s praises.

“That countess of yours! I think she’s a shilda! No normal woman would ever behave like she does! She has brought a bunch of pagans into her house. They guard her bedroom door at night. Only Aldonai knows what she does in there…”

Just then, Martha walked into the kitchen. She heard Calma’s last words and immediately boiled over. “You shameless hussy! How can you dare wag your ugly tongue about my precious Lily?”

Calma plunged ahead without losing any steam. “Can’t you see what your Lily is up to? She’s turned the whole castle upside down!”

Martha sometimes felt the same way, but she thought that a person who had almost died had a right to behave strangely. The poor woman had suffered a miscarriage and an attempted murder. What did people expect? And they were talking about her little Lily, the girl she had put back to sleep at night and fed with a tiny spoon.

“What business is it of yours, you snake in the grass!” Martha shouted. “You don’t even know where Lady Miranda is half the time and here you are finding fault with the countess! Why don’t you tell everyone how she called you down for neglect? That would be more like the truth!”

“My charge is always well looked after and well dressed!”

“She almost got herself murdered and you wouldn’t have known about it. Keep your eyes on your own girl and leave Lily alone!”

Calma shut her mouth at that, but not for long. “That was an accident. He was there to kill the countess. Decent people don’t have murderers prowling around in their bedrooms!”

Martha had a quick reply to that. “It was because of her husband! He’s got a mistress who wants to take Lily’s place. My poor lady…”

“Poor lady nothing! The whole castle is upside down because of her.”

“That’s none of your business. Follow orders and keep your mouth shut. We aren’t pigs and we don’t want to live like them.”

Most of the people sitting in the kitchen didn’t care that much about dirt, but they agreed with Martha wholeheartedly about one thing: they were not pigs. She was applauded and encouraged.

Calma was furious. “That woman’s insane! She takes a bath every day and she chases after men! You mark my words – she’s a shilda. I know it!”

Martha grabbed Calma by the hair. Just as the other servants were trying to separate them, Emma walked in.

“What’s going on in here?”

She listened to both sides of the story and frowned. Calma was sent to clean out the outhouses for speaking evil of the countess. Martha was sent to see the healer. Calma was the younger and stronger of the two, and she had pulled out a chunk of the old woman’s hair and landed a couple of hard punches that were bruising. Emma went to find the countess. Lily would know what to do.

Lily was glad to see her housekeeper because she had a number of things she wanted to find out from her. The questions had to wait, however, while she listened to Emma’s account of the fight. She approved the punishment her housekeeper had meted out to Calma and extended it for another ten days.

That’s what she gets for wagging her tongue. Back in the day, they used to cut off a guilty person’s tongue – along with their head! I couldn’t do that. At least I don’t think I could.

She reflected that when your life is in the balance, though, most people are capable of quite a lot.

I’ll release a piece of gossip of my own. That’s the right way to deal with this.

She made a solemn face. “What can I say? Aldonai instructs us to forgive our enemies. I understand that Calma does not want to take orders from Martha. However, I believe my nanny did a fine job of raising me and she’ll do an equally fine job of raising Miranda. On her own, Calma is useless. The child is always running around filthy or throwing tantrums. And the other night, she left her room without Calma knowing about it and almost fell into the hands of a hired killer. I just don’t know what to say about that.”

“She’s surely beyond all patience, my lady.” Emma also drew a solemn face. She was already planning what she would tell the servants in the kitchen.

Lily grimaced and went on. “She’s only human, and all of us are given to temptations like gossiping and sloth.

“I’ll cure her of the sin of sloth quickly enough,” Emma promised. The two women exchanged glances. They were in complete understanding. If word got around that Lily was a shilda, then all of her efforts would be seen as the works of Maldonaya. Rumors were hard to put down. They couldn’t allow it.

When people are in the habit of seeing the devil’s work, they’ll find it wherever they turn. And if that devil happens to be a woman, then woe on her. I have to keep the pastor close to me so I can see what he’s up to. The same goes for the Virmans.

What should I do about the villagers? I think my best option is to have people feel sorry for me. “The poor countess lost her baby and it did something to her. Now she is worried about other people’s children going hungry.” That’s a good starting point. I also need people to keep talking about how the countess gives nice handouts to all the people who work for her. The only question is how to get these rumors started. I suppose I’ll have to ask Emma to do it for me.

She wiped her eyes with the corner of her blanket. “Oh Emma, how could she say such awful things about me? A shilda wouldn’t spend her own money building a church, would she? There’s nothing strange about my eyes, and I have no interest in men. None of them could equal my husband. You know what? I’d like to have the pastor come pray with me for my husband’s safety and happiness.”

Emma nodded.

“And about the Virmans. You know that Etor was selling girls to the slave traders, don’t you?”

“We all knew about that, my lady.”

“Eventually they’ll be back. If it comes to a fight, how many of our young men would die? The Virmans are professional warriors. I hired them to protect my people. I didn’t know his lordship would be sending soldiers.

Emma nodded again. She was considering how best to present this information.

“I suppose Calma doesn’t understand that the Virmans will be protecting her. Does she want to be sold into slavery? Or does she think that once the slave traders catch sight of her they’ll run away in terror? I doubt it.

Emma doubted it, too.

“And another thing, Emma. We never talked about how much I should pay you. How much did your husband receive?”

“Two silver coins a month, my lady.”

“You’ll get four.” She paused. “I know how to treat people who serve me well and do their jobs.”

Emma nodded again, but said nothing. For an instant, Lily wondered if she was Etor’s accomplice.

Even if she was, I can’t sack her. She’d just go home to the village and tell tales about me. And I doubt that Etor would have wanted to work with her. It’s that same mental inertia: he wouldn’t have seen a woman as a worthy partner in crime. It won’t hurt to check up on her, though. I’ll look through all the papers they found in Etor’s hiding places, and I’ll have the Virmans sound out the walls and the floors tomorrow. Maybe they’ll find more.

“That will be all,” she told Emma. The housekeeper went to find the pastor and send him to Lily, who continued to think about ways she could get her message out to people.

I know! I’ll talk about it to Mirrie in front of the dressmakers. I need my story to get out in different formats and in different places. That will give it legs.

August Broklend – the honorable August, non-hereditary baron in the second generation, to be precise –  was busy. He was reading a letter from his son-in-law. According to the letter, all was quiet in Earton. Lily was expecting a baby (Aldonai willing, it would be a boy). The king was thinking about making some changes to his ships to increase their speed, and Jess expected to get the job for August’s boatyards. One of his business partners had just brought in a valuable cargo of spices, which would make them even richer once sold.

August made a note to himself to buy something nice for Lily. His love for his daughter was tender and sincere. She was his only family in the world. August’s wife had died when Lily was just a year old, and he had decided not to remarry. His plan had been to leave his worldly wealth to his daughter so that she could hire someone to manage it and live a life of ease.

That was before he bought the boatyards and realized that he had a talent for the business. August had a keen eye for ships and was a good manager. He knew what man to put on what job. He could tell at a glance who was an expert carpenter and who was a braggart. He knew wood and tools inside and out.

August didn’t know where his talent came from. He had started out buying and selling ships, and then he bought an old boatyard. The business took off so fast that he could barely keep up. Soon August had a reputation that went far and wide. Men came to him for repairs because he could read a boat like a book.

Was it a gift from Aldonai? Perhaps. Some people are born poets, others are born with the ability to see through timbers to the heart of a ship.

Nothing happened at the boatyard without August knowing about it. His control of the business was even more surprising given that he suffered from terrible seasickness, even on the river. That didn’t matter to his customers. In his twenty years running the boatyard, not a single poorly made ship had come out of August’s slips. His work was expensive, but merchants trusted his ships to carry them through rough seas.

It was said that only the Virmans had better ships than those August Broklend made. People tended to suspect that Maldonaya was behind the skill of the Virman shipbuilders. In truth, the Virmans simply took great care with their ships because their lives and the lives of their families depended on men coming home safely. Leif, for example, knew every timber in his ship because he had selected them himself. In return, Virman ships repaid their owners with reliable service, even with love.

The door opened and a man came in. “Honorable August Broklend?”

August looked up in surprise. There was an Eveer standing in the doorway of his office.

“What can I do for you?” August did business with Eveers. He felt that they were good partners as long as you kept your eyes open. They were heathens, for sure, but that didn’t worry August, who knew that gold was gold, as long as the pastor didn’t get involved.

“I have a package for you from Lady Lilian Earton.”

“What?”

August was more than surprised. He was shocked. His daughter had always been so pious (he had wondered on occasion if she was a bit too devout). What had caused her to send an Eveer on this errand for her?

The Eveer gave a tight smile. “Honorable August, my name is Tores Gerein. My uncle is a master jeweler.”

“Halke…”

“Helke Leitz. He will be pleased to hear that you remember him.”

“Your uncle is known to be an excellent jeweler. Where is he now?”

“In Altver.”

“That’s not much of a town.”

“It is better for a humble master jeweler to stay far away from the strong and powerful of this world.”

August grinned.

That makes sense. Especially if you’re an Eveer and you don’t want to give away your work for next to nothing. Helke would have a hard time in the capital.

“What does your uncle have to do with my daughter?”

“My lord, your daughter came to Altver for the fair, where she met my uncle. He was struck by her unusual intelligence and talents. They have become business partners.”

“Lilian?”

“Her ladyship, the Countess of Earton.”

August stared. He had worked out his daughter’s engagement to the earl’s son right after the death of his second wife. After the old earl died, they waited out the mourning period before holding the wedding. August knew he had found a good match for his daughter, but…

He loved Lilian. He simply adored her, and would have plucked any of the stars from the sky at her request. When she screamed and cried and threw fits, he told himself that it was because she had lost her mother at such a young age. But…

He expected his daughter to think about her home, her family and Aldonai. That was it. What talents could she possibly have? Embroidery? Prayer? The Lilian he knew would never have spoken to an Eveer on religious grounds.

And what was she doing at the fair in Altver? She was pregnant!

“I can’t believe my daughter would take such a long trip in her delicate condition.”

“If your lordship will forgive me…”

August made an impatient gesture. Letters travelled slowly and he was prepared to accept news of his daughter from all comers.

The Eveer bowed. “I believe her ladyship lost the baby, and the loss has affected her greatly.” He fell silent to give August time to process the news.

My poor little girl. She was so glad when her prayers for a child were finally answered.

“Is she in good health?”

“My lady was in good health at the fair, but she told my uncle that she had done a great deal of thinking lately. She felt that if she had not been so indifferent to the needs of the people living in Earton’s villages, then Aldonai would not have punished her so severely.

August’s face relaxed. That was the daughter he knew. Tores was not lying. This was the explanation Lily had given for her sudden interest in trade while she was in Altver. She was trying to improve the estate in hopes that Aldonai would bless her with another child. Those were not the exact words she used, but her message was along those lines.

“My poor daughter. Tell me about the project she and your uncle are engaged in.”

The guest correctly surmised that it was time to talk business. He handed August a small package.

“This is what they have devised. Please, open it.”

August raised his eyebrows and pulled at the thin leather band bearing the seal of the Countess of Earton. He knew the swan well.

She must have sent me a gift from Altver.

“Did she have a letter for me?”

“Just a message. She said she would pray for your wellbeing.”

Was she afraid to write on parchment? How strange…

There were two boxes in the package – one smaller and one larger.

“What is this?” He picked up the smaller box and opened it. Inside lay a pair of earrings on a red velvet cushion. On closer inspection, he saw that they were small sapphires ringed with tiny diamonds. It was beautiful, skillful work, like everything Helke did. August turned over the box to find Helke’s mark and found two marks. One was the Eveer’s – he knew it well – and the other was a plain cross. Then he took one of the earrings, turned it over in his hand and saw the clasp. He prodded it with a finger, opening and closing it several times.

“Is this so that they will not fall out of a young lady’s ears at a dance?”

“Yes, my lord. And not only at a dance.”

August saw the sense of the invention. People would line up for earrings like this.

“I hope you have sufficient inventory.”

“I have several samples with me, and my uncle can always send more. It was her ladyship who came up with the idea for the clasp.”

August scratched his head. “What else?”

The guest pointed to the second, larger box. “Open that.”

“That” turned out to be a strangely shaped silver bottle sitting on a silver base.

“What is this?”

The Eveer demonstrated how the non-spill inkwell worked by pouring some water into it, setting it on August’s desk and trying to knock it over. August was duly impressed. He was forever spilling ink everywhere if he bumped his inkwell with his sleeve or a scroll.

“And this?”

He was enchanted by the fountain pen. It was much better than any quill pen he had ever used. And it was beautifully made.

“This was also designed by her ladyship.”

“And your uncle made it.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“It’s a work of art.”

“My uncle is capable of making several different types. For the nobility, he can make gold and silver pen and inkwell sets with engraving and precious stones. And he makes much simpler sets out of copper or bronze for the general market.

August nodded. “I was planning to pay a visit to the palace soon. Can Helke make something worthy of the king?”

“He promised to try. He will have a shipment of these fountain pens ready soon.”

“Fountain pens?”

“That is what he is calling them. Fountain pens and unspillable inkwells.”

“Funny name.”

“He holds a patent for five years. Many artisans have offered to buy the patent from him, but he is refusing them. He would like you to decide what to do with them.”

August nodded again. He needed to show these to Edward. The king was only a week away if he went by sea.

Is it worth the effort? I believe it is.

“And my daughter is Helke’s partner in this?”

“I do not know the terms of their agreement, my lord.”

“But this should be quite profitable for her.”

The guest’s smile grew even thinner.

“I must take these to show the king in person. If only I were younger…”

“My lord, no one would ever guess your age. You look like a young man.”

“If only I felt that way…”

August was a practical man in everything he did. Lily had lost her baby, but she was alive and well and even showing a likeness to her father, which made him proud. Both inventions were simple, but no one had come up with them yet. And most people wouldn’t have known how to get them manufactured profitably.

She takes after me!

August saw no reason for excessive concern. He had sent Taris Brok with gifts and an order to report back on his daughter’s condition. He would know more when Brok returned. For now, it was enough to know that she was alive and following in her father’s footsteps. Aldonai willing, she could always have children later.

“How many samples did you bring with you? The Duke of Lorms is here. It would be nice to give him a small present.” August knew nothing of branding, promotions, advertising, marketing and the like. But he knew one thing well: if you want to make money selling something, you have to get high society interested in it. Once the nobles are wearing or using something, the merchants and the rest of the public will follow.

This pen and inkwell set is really handy. Nobles, merchants, and even priests will all want one. Good for you, Lily! You’re my smart girl!

Just then, his smart girl Lily was talking to her pastor. Pastor Vopler bowed, inquired after her health and handed her a parchment scroll.

“My lady, this is a copy of the man’s confession. It is signed by myself, your father’s man Brok and Leis Antrel. I believe we should be sufficient as witnesses.”

Lily smiled in gratitude. She would hold onto the would-be murderer for now.

I’ll keep him in my pocket just in case. It will always be easier to kill him later than to bring him back from the dead if I need him.

“Did you see a copy, Pastor Vopler?”

“Yes, my lady. Taris Brok has one copy and I have the other. To avoid loss of accuracy, if you will.” His brown eyes twinkled. Lily reflected that the pastor was nobody’s fool. He was just living within the framework of his time and place.

My point of view is different from his, and that may be dangerous.

She unrolled the scroll and began to read. Thomas Dort recounted how, in a state of drunkenness, he came to the Red Rat tavern, where he drank some more and decided to play cards. He played against a man (“Description attached, although the same description could refer to half the country: blond hair, doesn’t remember the eyes, thinks he was tall”) and he didn’t remember how the game ended. The next day, however, the tavern owner presented him with a heap of promissory notes signed with his name and hinted that he should pay up if he didn’t want to have health problems. From that point on, his creditor didn’t show his face.

If only I’d been there, I would have untangled the web. Now I have to count on my father to handle it. I wonder if he’s more of a Sherlock Holmes or an Inspector Lestrade?

Thomas was told to pay his debt or risk an untimely accident, something in the line of “he was cleaning his sabre and fell on it sixteen times (with his neck).” The young man had no desire to die, but he also had no money, so he was told he could work off the debt and maybe even earn a little something. Lily knew the rest of the story.

She wrinkled her nose. Was there anything more she could glean from the confession?

“Pastor, I’d like to know your opinion about the person who hired him. Wouldn’t it seem like he has no experience with this type of thing? Or that he may even live far away in the capital?”

“Why do you say that, my lady?”

“Because if someone really wanted me dead, he could have sent one of his own men instead of a soldier who’s never tried to kill anyone quietly before.”

Lily couldn’t explain why, but the whole setup seemed like a farce. Her unseen enemy didn’t want to give up the potential inheritance, but he also didn’t want to risk any of his own people. The soldier was a compromise: if he succeeded, all the better; but if he didn’t, the evil hand would just try again. She couldn’t tell the pastor all of these thoughts without revealing things that a countess wasn’t supposed to understand, so she batted her eyelashes and pretended to be scared and blonde.

The pastor shook his head. “Murder is a terrible, deadly sin that burns the soul…”

Lily nodded and interrupted him before he could get too worked up. “Of course. I will pray for Aldonai to forgive this poor man.”

“What will happen to him, my lady?”

“I don’t know. My husband is supposed to dispense justice, but the dear man is not at home.”

“True, but there are the king’s envoys. You could write for one to come to the castle and handle this for you.”

Lily immediately agreed to that.

An envoy of the king – that sounds good. I want as many people as possible to know that someone put a hit on me.

“With your permission, my lady, I would write to Altver.”

“Do you mean to the Honorable Torius?” she clarified.

“Yes. He can send an envoy.”

“And then?”

“And then you send the man back with him.”

Lily shrugged. “It’s worth a try. I will write to the baron. Thomas Dort can sit in the dungeon for the time being. Either the envoy will come to deal with him or my husband will return home.”

She batted her thick lashes above her green eyes. The pastor mumbled something about her mercy and kindness and returned to the library.

As Lily put her papers back in their chest, she thought about inventing locks and proper door handles.

I want my doors to close tightly, so that even the sharpest servant can’t eavesdrop. Why didn’t I major in engineering?

Full of plans and still angry after reading Thomas Dort’s confession, she decided to go see Shirvey.

I’ll get that letter from him and then I’ll skin him alive!

Getting dressed was less of an ordeal now that her dressmakers had sewn her some clothes that she could put on without the help of a lady’s maid. She put on one of her new wrap skirts, a blouse and a long vest. The dressmakers had already gotten the hang of the designs and were making similar items for themselves using simple, undyed linen. Lily didn’t mind. She wouldn’t even object if the same designs turned up on other females around the castle. After all, buttons were much more convenient than pulling everything over your head.

“Ilona!”

The servant girl appeared almost instantly, as if she had been sitting outside the door.

“Who is guarding my room right now?”

“Ivar and Olaf.”

“Call them in.”

The Virmans came in and immediately expressed disapproval. “My lady, you should stay in bed at least two more days.”

“I will. But first I want you to take me to Shirvey Lindt,” the countess replied with a sneer.

I know what my husband wrote to me, but I need to know what he wrote to the manager.

She grabbed the scroll and then – holding onto Olaf’s arm – left her room.

Shirvey was in a bad way. Jaimie had obviously done a good job “healing” him. Jess’ agent was suspiciously green and hollow-cheeked. Lily had little sympathy for him, since she was almost as bad off as he was. She was still dizzy and nauseous and wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed.

When she spoke, she kept her voice soft. “Good day. How is your health?”

Shirvey didn’t even attempt to rise from his bed. “My lady, I expect to meet my end in this house. I am in such terrible pain!”

Lily stopped him before he could tell her the details. “Shirvey, have you heard that someone attempted to murder me the other night?”

His face turned several shades greener. He knew.

“My lady…”

“It was one of the soldiers who arrived with you. He has confessed. Would you like to know what he has confessed to?”

Shirvey sat up in bed and shook his head. “My lady! I would never…”

“What would you never?” Lily asked quietly. “You would never hire a murderer? But you might be willing to bring him here. Thanks to you, I’m laid up in bed with a serious wound. It’s a miracle he didn’t kill Miranda Catherine Earton by accident.”

Shirvey crawled as far as he could get from Lily, as if that would help. He understood what her accusation meant for him. If he was an accomplice, she had the power to mete out justice when her husband wasn’t home. One word from her and his head would roll. Shirvey wanted to live.

Lily watched him for a few minutes before deciding he was ready.

“I’m sending you away from here as soon as I can. You’ll write a letter to my husband telling him all about the murderer – who he is and how he got here. I’ll read the letter before you send it.”

“But my lady! He will kill me with his own hand!”

Lily smirked. It was not a friendly look. “I don’t feel very sorry for you. It’s your fault that I’m wounded. And it’s Etor’s fault the estate is in such a mess. Etor fired all the guards. If they’d been here, I would never have been in danger.”

“M-my l-lady!”

Lily sighed. “In the same letter, you will tell my husband that Etor was stealing from him, and that I let him go and hired another manager. You will tell him that you gave his letter to the new manager. Ivar!”

The Virman stepped forward. All of Shirvey’s doubts resolved themselves instantly when he looked at the giant bear of a man. Lily imagined the dialogue:

“Are you the new manager?”

“Of course. Can’t you see?”

“I’d like to see your recommendations.”

“My axe, dagger and spear are my recommendations.”

Shirvey seemed to be imagining the same conversation. He stared at the Virman’s axe, swallowed hard and took a scroll from under his pillow.

Lily took the letter and broke the seal. The text was brief.

“Send the money and your report with Shirvey, as always. Write about my wife’s health. How is the child? What does the medicus say? Is she doing well? Please look after my daughter and make sure that the countess does not upset her. You will answer to me when I arrive.”

Lily balled her hands into fists. It was a polite letter, but it made clear that the earl cared nothing for the estate or for his wife. The only person he worried about was Miranda. She had always known that her husband saw her as a brood mare, but the reality of his attitude struck her hard when she read the letter.

Shirvey lay back on his pillow. He looked weak. Lily gave him a cold stare. “Did you divide your profits in half?”

“But my lady…”

She didn’t think it was possible for a man to be whiter than a sheet, but Shirvey did it.

Lily stared. “Do you not understand me? Etor was stealing. You were responsible for delivering his reports and the money from the estate. Since you never noticed anything amiss, you must have been his partner. Who else was involved?”

Shirvey shook his head, as if to say “I didn’t know anything.”

Lily turned to Olaf. “Take him to the dungeon and question him using whatever methods you see fit.”

Olaf nodded. “Will you be present for the questioning?”

“I’m already dizzy. I don’t think I want to watch you skin him alive, drive needles under his fingernails and file down his teeth.

“File his teeth, my lady?”

“With a sharpening stone,” Lily clarified.

“We’ve never done that before,” the Virman said thoughtfully.

“Now I’ve given you the idea. You can try it out on this man.”

Sweat was pouring down Shirvey’s face. “My lady, his lordship will not be pleased by this.”

Are you trying to threaten me? You bastard!

“Olaf, please get started. I don’t care what state the body is in when you are done.”

The countess balled her fists. She figured she already had plenty to talk to her husband about. He wasn’t likely to approve of her efforts. Judging by his letters, she wasn’t much more than furniture in his mind, and he wouldn't be happy to find that a chair was running around the castle stirring up trouble.

May as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb.

The Virman pulled her husband’s agent off his bed and dragged him from the room. Lily turned to Ivar. “Take me back to my room.”

Ivar obeyed.

Once she was alone, Lily sat down to think. Her personality was developing for the worse. She had never treated people this way before, even Etor. She wondered what she would do to the former manager if she had him in her power now.

I would have him tortured until he gave up everything he had squirreled away. If he refused, I’d have him executed next to his wife.

Lily knew she would issue the order without even flinching.

You change the world, but the world changes you, too. There’s no getting around it. I have to survive here, no matter what it costs me.

Jamie got off his horse. The windows of the old cottage, covered with stretched fish bladders, stared disapprovingly at the young herbalist.

The soldiers stayed mounted. They had no intention of entering the witch’s yard. Jaimie cared nothing for Moraga’s reputation. If the countess hadn’t taken him with her when she left Altver, he would have found himself with a noose around his neck or standing on a pyre, depending on how his luck held out. His grandmother had warned him: people would tolerate him while she was alive, but once she was gone he would have to run.

He was an illegitimate child. If his grandmother hadn’t taken him in, he wouldn’t even be alive. Wealthy women had often turned to the old lady for help, even when their pregnancies were far along. The potion usually worked and the children were born dead, but Jaimie survived. Jaimie didn’t know if his grandmother had felt sorry for him, or if she had wanted a boy to care for her in her old age, or if she had planned to blackmail his real parents. There was no way to know.

His grandmother was no simple healer. That much Jaimie knew. She could read and write and do arithmetic. She knew everything about herbs. And her manners were far from simple. No, she had been somebody once, but she took that secret with her when she went to Maldonaya. After her death, Pastor Leider came to see the boy. He spoke kindly and asked for a cough remedy, but his eyes bored holes in the boy. Jaimie realized that it was time to go.

As luck would have it, the Countess of Earton turned up just then. Jaimie took an instant liking to her. She knew about herbs and she didn’t talk about Aldonai all the time. Well, she did talk about Aldonai, but Jaimie could tell that it was all a game that she played for the benefit of other people. She would say whatever she needed to say, but she didn’t believe any of it. Jaimie even wondered a bit at that, but he wasn’t eager to be executed in Aldonai’s name, either. He didn’t want to upset his patroness. Finding a new home would be difficult.

He looked forward to conversing with the old woman, who was known as an herbalist in those parts. She probably knew some things he didn’t know. He reflected that the countess was right about one thing: there’s no point in sitting on knowledge – you won’t hatch anything that way.

Jaimie walked up to the door and knocked. He didn’t have to wait long. The door opened and a woman appeared. His first thought was that she looked a great deal like his grandmother.

“What do you want?”

Jaimie bowed respectfully. “Good day, granny.”

“I’m nobody’s granny. What do you want from me?”

“My name is Jaimie Meitl, granny. I serve the countess.”

“In what capacity?”

“I’m an herbalist.”

“Is that so?”

“The countess said that since we are both herbalists it would be a good thing if we worked together.”

“Oh my. Aren’t you afraid of the wrath of Aldonai? Everyone knows that herbalists are in the service of Maldonaya.”

Jaimie smiled. The old lady was smart. “The countess told me to say that what everyone knows usually isn’t the truth.” He lowered his voice so the soldiers couldn’t hear.

“Not the truth?”

“People were calling me a servant of Maldonaya, but she didn’t believe them.”

“I see.”

“She told me that we should share knowledge with each other.”

The old woman thought for a moment and nodded. “Come in, since you’re already here. We will talk.”

Ever since that day, Jaimie had visited the old woman often. She reminded him of his grandmother, and she knew many things. She had a good store of herbs at her cottage, too.

Eventually the old herbalist realized that Jaimie had knowledge to share, as well. Two intelligent people can always find common ground.

This next conversation took place on the same day, behind the pigsty. All sorts of things can be heard behind a pigsty, but unfortunately, no one happened by to hear this particular conversation.

“My dear!”

The man winced. Calma had been a nice enough companion during the trip, but here in Earton she had become a burden. When he had taken up with her, he had assumed that it meant something that she was nanny to the earl’s daughter. As it turned out, Calma had very little status at the castle.

Calma couldn’t keep her mouth shut. She was even less attractive now, with lashes down her back from a whipping, covered in mud and stinking of manure so strongly that all the flies in the neighborhood were buzzing around her.

Why the devil couldn’t she leave the countess alone?

The countess was the source of another mistake he had made. He had expected to find a sad, unattractive woman who cared for nothing but food and prayers, as the earl had described her to him. As soon as he arrived he realized he had been wrong.

Yes, Lilian Earton was a large woman. She was fat. There was no other word for it. But at the same time, there was something indefinable about her. Was it an inner light? A sparkle in her eyes? The way she spoke and moved and made things move around her? The man couldn’t have said exactly. He didn’t know the word “charisma,” but that was exactly what she had. She had personality that no layers of fat could hide. She was impressive, especially when she had her hair done and wore beautiful clothes. He also liked the way she smelled.

The man grimaced and took a step back from Calma. “You’ll get my clothes dirty!”

She put her arms down. “But I thought you…”

“That I what?”

“Go have a word with the countess. Tell her to end my punishment.”

“Have you lost your mind?”

It was a ridiculous request. There was no way the countess would change her mind now, especially for his sake.

Damis had no doubt that he could win the countess’ affections, given enough time and opportunity. He had landed wealthier, more beautiful women before. Calma was just in his way.

“How do you imagine me speaking to her? ‘My lady, Calma is a fool but she promises she won’t do it again.’ Like that?”

“Do what? I didn’t do anything!”

“How stupid are you, Calma? The countess is the law here. You were insolent to her. How do you like the results?”

“That isn’t true! It’s all her nanny’s fault, the old witch!”

“Fool,” he shot back. But he had met Martha before. Remembering her shortcomings, he softened.

“If I have a chance, I’ll do my best. I promise. But we can’t let anyone see us together.”

“What do you mean? I… You…”

“If people see us together, they’ll know I’m your lover and the countess won’t trust me.”

“But we can be together sometimes, can’t we? You aren’t leaving me?”

That was exactly what the man planned to do, but he didn’t want her to know it yet.

“Of course we can see each other, but not today. I have to go.”

Calma sniffed, but the man was firm. “I have to be at dinner. The countess wants all the tutors to eat dinner in the small dining room tonight.”

“I told you! She’s crazy!”

“You’re the crazy one. Has your backside healed?”

Calma put a hand over her mouth.

“The countess said that all of us who teach Lady Mary should know each other.” Damis paused, remembering the housekeeper’s exact words. “If we work together, her studies will progress faster.”

“What nonsense!”

Damis shrugged. It might be nonsense, but he saw something in it. “You keep your mouth shut. If anyone tells the countess you’re still talking about her, you won’t see anything but manure for the next hundred years. She could even have you thrown off the estate.”

“But you won’t leave me, will you?”

He cursed silently and did his best to console the woman, telling her she was lovely and wonderful and he would never leave her. Surely he would be able to obtain the countess’ mercy. Why did he bother? Because he didn’t want a falling out with Calma until he knew he had the countess on his side. He liked Earton well enough, and he knew he’d be fired if it got around the castle that he had something on the side with Calma.

Ivar went in to see the countess late that evening when she was already preparing for bed. Lily didn’t bother reprimanding him. The Virmans didn’t waste time, so she knew he had something important to say. Martha frowned at the intrusion. Lily was telling Mirrie a bedtime story. She waited for the girl to fall asleep. Then she asked Ivar to carry her to her own bed and then come back. He followed her orders.

Lily suspected that Martha was listening at the door, but she didn’t plan on sharing any secrets.

“Well?”

“That man broke like a dry branch. He was already in a bad way, so we didn’t have to do much to get him to talk.”

“And?”

“They were stealing. Etor took the money, and this other man covered for him with the earl. They divided the spoils in half.”

“I see. Did they have accomplices here at the castle?”

“Shirvey says one of the elders was in on it, but he doesn’t know who.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“We asked him with a sharpening stone, my lady.”

Lily chuckled. She had read Malleus Maleficarum[3]
and knew all about obtaining confession by torture.

“I see.”

“Will you question him yourself?”

“I don’t have time for that. Keep him locked up. If I think of anything, I know where to find him. For now, I want him to write out a confession, also to be witnessed by the pastor and Taris Brok.”

“And then?”

“We’ll wait for the king’s envoy and have the bastard over to him.”

“As you wish, my lady.”

“And of course, find out where they hid the money.”

Lily suspected the money was in the capital, but she hoped she could at least claw part of it back. If they had invested the money in ships or some other business, she could perhaps write to her father and ask for his help getting it back.

“We will ask him, my lady.”

She nodded. “I might decide to be present, but not now. I need to stay in bed a few more days.”

Lily wasn’t feeling well at all.

This is one hell of a way to lose weight.

Taris Brok left Earton the next morning. He kissed the countess’ hand and promised to take the letters to her father. With tears in her eyes, Lily begged him to tell her father that she was praying for his health and asked him to send someone from Altver to take the murderer and the thief off her hands. She was so afraid to stay in her own home! Taris gave his word to send an envoy and give her letter to Torius Avermal. Then he rode away with six soldiers that Leis had ordered to guard him.

Inside the letter to Avermal was a sealed note for Helke. She trusted Taris to take a letter to the baron, but she wasn’t sure she trusted him with her message to Helke. He already knew too much about her. That wasn’t good. In her new world, she had to be above suspicion in everything.

You just wait, dear spouse. Let me get back on my feet and get my house in order. Then I’ll deal with you.

Chapter 3

“Helke, you have to leave town.”

“Why?” Helke stared at his companion. “Why now? What happened?”

“Do you know the name Avermal?” The innkeeper was glum, and for good reason. Altver’s fine young men had been in the Pig and Dog when they discussed their plans for getting rid of the Eveer jeweler. The inn’s owner, who was a Virman, had taken an instant dislike to them on the day they had insulted Ingrid and almost gotten Leif killed. He had no particular love for Eveers, but Darius and his friends were idiots and he feared that they would accidentally burn down half the town in their attack on Helke. They would hang for it, of course, but trade would suffer just the same. If there was rioting, his inn was sure to be hit.

The innkeeper knew that Eveers were targeted because they were disliked. Inns and taverns were targeted because they had wine. He wanted peace in Altver.

Helke’s face darkened as the innkeeper recounted what he had heard. “So you heard them yourself?”

“Of course I did. They were drunk and talking loud.”

“Should I tell the mayor?”

“That won’t save you. I don’t like them. That’s why I’m telling you. If they don’t burn your shop down, they’ll stick you with a knife on a dark night. You know it.”

Helke stood up and bowed in the manner of the Eveers, with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes on his companion.

“I thank you. I will remember your good deed.”

“Think about it.” The man slapped the Eveer on the shoulder and walked out. Helke sat down to think. He had no reason to doubt the innkeeper. It sounded exactly like something Darius and his friends would do. They had good reason for disliking him: he was an Eveer, and he was rich.

Will the mayor do anything to protect me?

He thought he might. Torius would whip his son if he interfered in a profitable business. But where would that leave Helke? Still out in the cold. The mayor wouldn’t assign bodyguards to watch day and night over Helke and his family and the family of his widowed sister, whose children were like sons and daughters to him. No, he wouldn’t do that.

If those three bastards really want to get rid of me, they’ll do it. I’ve only got one choice. I’ll talk to Avermal and then leave town. But where will I go? Where in this kingdom is anyone ever happy to see an Eveer?

He tried to think of a place where the locals wouldn’t cheat him and try to convert him to their faith. A place where he could count on protection. He doubted such a place existed.

“What a mess!” Helke smiled. He could almost hear Lillian Earton saying it while she toyed with her long, thick braid. She always played with her braid when something upset her.

Lilian Earton…

Helke’s face broke into a smile. He knew where to go, if only the countess would have him.

The only question was how to get to Earton in one piece. Autumn had arrived, and soon the rainy season would turn the roads into impassable swamps. And he wouldn’t be alone: he would have to take his sister, her children, and all of his tools and materials, which were expensive.

Helke thought a while longer and then stood up decisively.

It’s his son. Let him figure out a solution.

He would let the mayor find a way to keep everything together: his son, his profits and social order in the town. There had been anti-Eveer pogroms before. They didn’t happen often, but the king didn’t like it when they did. Eveers were a source of revenue for the kingdom, and they had gold. Edward the Eighth came down hard on mayors who let things like that get out of hand.

What are the benefits of moving to Earton?

He knew the countess to be an intelligent person, but the earl was an unknown. For a moment, he considered giving up on his Earton plan and moving in with some relatives in another town. That felt like a poor solution, though, since he could end up facing the same problems there. Nobody liked Eveers.

I’ll go to Earton. If the earl objects, I’ll leave. I just need to survive this winter. Earton is in the middle of nowhere, which means that Darius won’t bother looking for me there. This may even save me some money. Once I’m out of Altver, the countess will send Torius packing so far that he’ll never get home. And my family will be safe.

Now what are the drawbacks?

The distance was great. It would be hard for him to correspond with merchants. On the other hand, he knew that if he had products people wanted, he would find a way to deliver them to markets. Safety was more important than convenience to him at that moment.

Helke smiled to himself. He’d been in worse spots before. When he was a boy, he and his family had escaped from their burning house with nothing but the nightclothes they were wearing.

And we survived!

Lily stayed in bed three more days. She read Shirvey’s confession. He was sitting in the dungeon next to the would-be murderer and singing like a canary. As it turned out, Shirvey had a sizeable war chest hidden away. They also learned that he had a wife and two children. Lily didn’t give a damn about his family, but she was determined to get her hands on his money.

I’ll need my father’s help. There’s no way I can get to the money on my own.

She figured she could count on her father and Helke, and perhaps even on Avermal, if she cut him a share. Everything else would be invested in her projects.

Once again she paused to consider whether it was really a good idea to manufacture her inventions on the estate.

If that husband of mine shows up, he’ll probably shut everything down. Could I buy land on my own?

She didn’t think that was a possibility. Women were only allowed to own land if they had a grant from the king. Lily didn’t have a grant and doubted she could get one.

What if I put the title in someone else’s name?

As soon as she thought it, she laughed at herself. In her own world, she had seen enough to be skeptical about that kind of deal.

Today he’s your partner, tomorrow he scams you out of everything you own.

She rested her chin on her hand as she gazed out the window.

Here’s an idea: I could put on man’s clothes and pretend to be a man.

She shook her head.

Right. I’d have to leave these huge boobs at home.

In the end, she came back around to a conclusion that contained little comfort. She would have to find common ground with her husband or her father.

I’d rather work with my father. He obviously loves me. Jerrison Earton, on the other hand…

Lily hoped that her personality would win him over, but she knew that stereotypes were hard to change. If he was used to thinking of her as a stupid cow, no matter what she did he would always expect dirty tricks.

Could I divorce him and make it without him?

If she was honest, Lily didn’t think so. As Jess’ wife, she had a title and status. If she was the divorced daughter of a minor baron, no amount of looks and talent would help her.

I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

She finished reading through the estate’s records and reached a sad conclusion. Earton was the armpit of Ativerna. Getting goods in and out of the estate was an expensive, nerve-wracking pain in the ass.

Selling anything from out her isn’t worth the trouble. Or is it? Perhaps if the goods are expensive enough…

Lily wrote down everything she remembered about glass. Later that day, she called for the glassblower. As soon as she began questioning him, she found that he hadn’t brought much in the way of materials with him. He needed to travel to the sea for fine, white sand. And he needed soda.

Lily asked him if he had finished putting his workshop in order. He nodded vigorously. He was ready to start tomorrow if she gave the command. He had purchased some tools before leaving Altver, and the local blacksmith had made a few other things for him.

The countess told him to wait for the time being. He could get his sand when she sent men to the shore to pick up loads of fish and salt and the peasants who had been working down there. Her plan was to turn the existing path into a road that was good enough for wagons.

After she dismissed the glassblower, she thought about all the things she wanted him to do.

I know what I need for coloring glass, but I have no idea where to find it here. I suppose I can always send the village children on a scavenger hunt. Even if they bring me a ton of stuff I can’t use, I’m sure some of it will be useful. I’ll have to run some experiments to be sure.

She called for Emma, who reported that the rooms she had chosen for her future chemistry lab were cleaned out and equipped with a fireplace and a variety of clay dishes.

I’ll make an alcohol lamp and some test tubes as soon as I can. While I’m at it, I should set up a still and make sure that I’ve always got plenty of alcohol on hand. That way I can use what I need and sell the rest. “The Earl’s Wheat,” “Beetroot Lightning” and “Tight Potato.” We’ll use branded bottles and sell them for three times more than the local hooch. Frostbite remedy. For external and internal use.

Lily shook her head. She hoped Helke hadn’t already started selling alcohol using her recipes. She felt she was entitled to a good share of the profits for providing the know-how.

Should I write to him? I think I should…

August Broklend felt awful after his sea voyage, but he had arrived just in time for the more intimate of the king’s weekly receptions. The palace was quiet, with only a few of the most highly placed nobles on hand. It was not August’s social circle, but he could count on being received because his boatyards were of such strategic importance.

King Edward was an intelligent man. He knew that August was essentially minting gold for the kingdom and that few other men would do as well. August was talented and he only had one daughter. The king knew that he had slowly been handing over some of the management to Jess as he got older. Eventually, August’s grandson would inherit the entire concern.

But when will I have a grandson?

August could leave everything to Lilian if no grandson was forthcoming, but she would need royal permission to manage the assets on her own. King Edward generally avoided giving such permission. A woman’s place was in the home with her children, not out fighting for her place in the world. Lily would have to prove herself on a daily basis, and August’s little girl couldn’t do it.

Perhaps she is more capable now.

August had asked Helke’s nephew in great detail about Lilian’s affairs in Altver. He was pleased by what he learned. She seemed to be demonstrating some of her father’s business acumen.

What a wonderful girl she is!

He had no way of knowing how she was doing at the moment, but he would do his best to show off her new wares in the capitol.

“Your Highness,” August murmured as he bowed to the king.

Edward nodded graciously. “I am pleased to see you here, August. You do not come to my receptions often.”

In plain Ativernese, the king was asking “What has happened? Why are you here?”

August wasted no time. “Your Highness, I have a request.”

“Yes?”

“Your Highness, might I have a few minutes of your time?”

“Alone?”

“No, Your Highness. I would never dare ask for a private audience. I just wished to give you a modest gift as a sign of your servant’s affection.” He bowed and held out a velvet case.

Edward was curious. He took the case and opened it. August knew what the king would see. Helke had outdone himself. The gold ink well and gold pen were incrusted with diamonds and beautifully engraved. There was no shame in offering the king such a gift.

Edward’s eyes opened wide. “What is this?”

“Your Highness, it is a pen and an unspillable ink well.”

“Is that so?”

“If Your Highness will call for parchment and ink…”

Both were soon procured, and August demonstrated the gift in action. Edward was skeptical at first, but soon found himself extremely pleased.

“How unusual. That is a fine thing. A very fine thing.”

The courtiers in the room began to whisper. August permitted himself a tiny smile. He had no doubt that they would pepper him with questions about the pen and ink well set once the reception was over. He had another pen in his pocket. Nobody would get anything for free, but they could order all the sets they wished. August would guarantee the deliveries.

“Your Highness, I also have a small gift for the young princesses. Something to show off their beauty.” He held out two small boxes, one with pink pearl earrings for the older princess and the other with black pearl earrings for the younger. It was quality jewelry, but what set the earrings apart were their clasps. Edward examined them and again gave voice to his surprise.

“I believe the girls will be pleased. Who designed these?”

“Your Highness, they were made by a jeweler I know. If you please…”

Edward waved a hand. “They’re lovely. Come see me after the reception. I would like to talk with you at greater length.”

August bowed, avowed his loyalty in the standard phrases and stepped away from the king. As he left the room, he was attacked by several courtiers. The king had already turned his attention to the next petitioner. August felt that he had an advantage over all the men who had come to ask for things. He was the only one who had simply given the king a gift.

Helke’s workmanship was sure to be appreciated, but August knew there was a role for him to play, as well. He knew exactly how much he could charge this or that noble or merchant. He was prepared to do his very best to help his beloved daughter.

The word “marketing” meant nothing to August, but he knew high society and how changing fashions could influence sales.

Most of these aristocrats can barely write their own names, but that doesn’t matter. They’ll all want to be seen holding fancy diamond and gold pens instead of plain quills.

And the earrings would do well.

Once a woman sees Lily’s new earrings on someone else, she’ll stop at nothing to get a pair for herself. These new clasps will be just the thing. I’m sure of it.

Ali Akhmet glanced at his assistant and cautiously put some weight on his leg. It held him up. There was no pain. He took a step. And another. He could walk without limping.

“My lord,” Omar bowed. “You can walk. You are not lame.”

Ali’s eyes filled with tears. “The countess has worked a miracle.”

“I didn’t believe her.”

Ali had had doubts, too. But he had kept the brace on his leg for the duration she had prescribed. He had endured painful massages and being confined to his bed when he had affairs to attend to, but it had all been worth it. The Star Mare was still on his side. She had sent Lilian Earton to him.

Ali had given much thought to this matter while he was laid up in bed. He had decided that if he recovered and was able to continue leading his people, he would owe a great debt to the countess.

I must sail to Earton and thank her. On the way, I will stop in Altver. She and that jeweler may have come up with other interesting ideas. Gratitude is sweet, but money is more useful.

August waited to be called into the king’s study. The servants were polite to him, which indicated that he had the king’s goodwill. They brought him a tray of sugared fruits, cakes and wine. August was delighted, but he only had a sip of the wine. His stomach was still uneasy after the sea voyage, and he did not wish to provoke it further.

After about twenty minutes, he was called into the king’s presence. He entered the room and bowed. Edward gestured for him to take a seat.

“Sit down, August.”

He bowed again and sat down on the stool the king had pointed to. Yes, it was a stool. As a baron, he could expect nothing higher. But this particular stool was covered with velvet and had a cushioned seat. If Edward had not been pleased with him, August would have been kept standing.

“How may I be of service, Your Highness?”

“I have examined the new things you showed me. I like them. Where did you get them?”

“These are my daughter’s inventions.”

“What?”

“It is true, Your Highness.”

“Your daughter?”

“Lilian, Countess of Earton. She lost her baby and is living alone on the estate.”

“I am aware. I also heard that she expelled the medicus her husband sent.”

“Your Highness, Lily may have written to me, but I have not had a letter from her yet. I assume she had serious cause for such a step.”

“Do you?”

“Your Highness, Lily is a healthy young woman. She couldn’t have lost the baby without an explanation.”

The king pondered this for a moment.

“The medicus said that apparently she fell down the stairs.”

August’s face darkened. “My poor girl! How did it happen?”

Edward shrugged. “I suppose she lost her balance. I have something you may want to read.”

He handed the baron a copy of the letter from Torius Avermal. August scanned it and nodded.

“Yes, Your Highness. I know all these things.”

“What do you think about it?”

What can a man think about his own child? It was a foolish question, and Edward was soon sorry he had asked it. He learned that Lilian was the best, most wonderful woman the world had ever known. She was intelligent, beautiful, clever, loyal and all-around perfect. She was a treasure that Jerrison Earton – that dirty parasite – did not appreciate. He left her alone in Earton and only visited once a year. It was shameful… Lily had already invented the fountain pens and the new-fangled earrings. August was sure there were even more brilliant inventions teeming in her head. She was a smart one, just like her father!

Edward betrayed no emotion, but he filed the new information away. The more he learned about Lilian Earton the less he understood.

Whom do I believe? Who is telling the truth?

While August went on about his daughter’s finer qualities, Edward was deep in thought.

“Winter is almost here, August. I cannot ask Lilian to come see me now. Perhaps she will pay a visit in the spring. I will send her an invitation.”

“Your Highness, that is a great honor for Lilian and for me.”

“The Countess of Earton is always welcome at court, even without an invitation from me. But for some reason she has never attended before.”

“Lily is a quiet girl. A homebody.”

Edward nodded. “Fine. I will send her an invitation. For now, tell me about the frigates. How many of them are ready? What will it take to finish them as soon as possible?”

“If you’ll allow me, Your Highness…” August took a scroll from his bag, unrolled it in front of the king and began a detailed report. Edward listened closely. At the same time, he decided that he would send someone to Earton. After that, he would examine her on his own.

Is Jess lying when he calls his wife a hysterical fool? Or is August lying when he praises her for her intelligence and kindness? He is her father, that is true. But Torius Avermal would not bother praising her to the skies without reason.

Edward began to wonder just how much credence to give Jess’ words. He hadn’t desired the marriage – it was done for the good of the kingdom and his own financial good. But was he such a fool that he couldn’t see the woman’s decency? Had he allowed his first impressions to blind him?

I’ll never know unless I look into it on my own.

Jerrison, Earl of Earton, lay on his narrow cot and stared up at the ceiling of his stateroom. He was feeling dreamy.

Adele…

It had finally happened between them. He had overcome her entirely. True, he had ordered one of his men to keep her lady’s maid out of the way, but that was nothing. The girl was unharmed.

Adele had finally given in. She was so fragile and elegant in his arms, and her moans… Jess felt himself begin to harden again. He wanted to go back to her, but he decided it wasn’t a good idea. After their lovemaking was over, she had wept on his shoulder, brokenhearted that he would no longer respect her and that no one would ever marry her now.

Jess would have gladly married her, but he had a wife and possibly a child in Earton. He wondered if the child had arrived or if it was still too early. In any case, he had a wife. When he recalled her rolls of fat as she lay under him, and her constant tears and her prayers and her love of the color pink, he recoiled in disgust.

Why am I so unlucky with wives?

He was only eight years old at the time of his first engagement to Eliza Errosltone, but just four years later the girl died of spotted fever. Despite their age, the church saw this as a lawful marriage.

Jess was fifteen the next time he was married. Magdalena was a slim brunette with a good shape. Jess had enjoyed his time with her. Magdalena laughed often. Her dark eyes shone with kindness and her voice was like a crystal bell. Just two years after they were married, she gave birth to a little girl and died in the process.

Jess had mourned her deeply, but four years later his father said it was time to remarry and offered him Lilian Broklend. At first, Jess had been surprised by his father’s choice. She was the daughter of a non-hereditary baron and much older than most Ativernese girls at the time of marriage. He wondered why she was still unattached at eighteen. Something must be wrong with her.

Jyce had explained that Lilian was her father’s much-loved only child by his third wife. Broklend had simply not been ready to part with her before. And later, when he began considering possible suitors, he encountered a problem: he didn’t want her to marry a merchant, but his own position was not quite good enough for her to marry a true aristocrat. August was stuck between two worlds. On the one hand, he had a title; on the other hand, he managed his boatyards and engaged in trade. It was a difficult position. Lilian’s suitors were all the wrong sort: too poor, or widowers, or younger sons.

Jess’ father told him that August wanted a son-in-law who was willing to work and who would be able to manage the boatyards once he was gone. And he wanted a young man who would take loving care of his daughter, instead of being ashamed of her for having a father in trade.

Jess was young, wealthy and nobody’s fool. He wasn’t ashamed to handle money with his own hands, and he was close to the royal family. The engagement was speedily concluded.

But then, one thing after another caused the wedding to be postponed. The Ativernese believed that Maldonaya always punished the humans she loved the most. She must have had a special place in her heart for Jess. Immediately after the engagement, his father died and Jess went into deep mourning for a year. He had no intention of breaking the engagement, but he spent the time of his mourning traveling the kingdom and attending to his father’s affairs. He had never known how much lay on the old earl’s shoulders. The king trusted Jess just like he had trusted his father, and the young man did everything he could to be worthy of that trust.

Jess was so busy that he never had time to see his future bride in person. Lilian lived in the country, and it never seemed convenient to go her way. Her father sent him a satisfactory portrait of a green-eyed blonde with generous breasts and a sweet smile. She looked nothing like Magdalena, and Jess felt that was for the best. Then, six months after the death of his father, his grandmother in Earton passed away. Jess immediately went to the estate to take a look at his inheritance. He went away disappointed.

Earton was a lonelier spot than he had appreciated, and it had poor soil. At the place where the estate ran down to the sea, dangerous reefs prevented building a harbor. He saw no way to make any money from the estate. Its only use was for hunting. Earton seemed to be an inheritance from Maldonaya. Jess brought in a manager and promptly forgot all about his family home.

The next time he visited was for his wedding. The disappointment was overwhelming. Lilian turned out to be twice the size of her portrait. Her eyes were almost obscured by the fat of her cheeks. She blushed constantly and spoke so softly that he had trouble hearing her. He tried to talk kindly with her, but she kept her eyes on the floor. It never occurred to him that she was simply embarrassed to be talking to such a handsome young man. He mistook her shyness for stupidity and her nerves for affectation. He was tired from his long journey, and Lilian’s incongruity with the ideal he had imagined of her put him off entirely.

On their wedding night, he drank wine to make himself brave and did his best to make an heir, but everything went wrong. His new wife looked nothing like Magdalena or any of the other women he had slept with. Instead of laughing and enjoying his caresses, she lay deathly still, with tears sliding down her cheeks. He knew that aristocratic women were not supposed to derive pleasure from lovemaking, but even so, he was accustomed to a different reception.

There was a rift between them right from the start. At first it was a narrow one, but it widened as time went on. His wife looked at him with terror in her eyes, and Jess could not understand what she was afraid of, since he never beat her or raised his voice at her. After a while, it was too much for him to bear, so he sent her to Earton. He would have sent her farther away, but he didn’t want a falling-out with August.

Jess felt like a beast in a trap. The longer he was married to Lilian, the more she disgusted him. And the hopelessness of his situation – he couldn’t even tell anyone how he felt – made him feel like a hunted animal. “Don’t upset your wife. Don’t anger your father-in-law.” Uncle Edward had explained to him how important the boatyards were for the kingdom – as if Jess didn’t already understand – but it was torture to feel that his life was a business deal.

Never once did he wonder about Lilian’s feelings. He didn’t care for his wife, so he avoided being in her presence. Adele was completely different. She was sweet, and gentle, and delicate, but all he could offer her was a place as his mistress. Alas, he was in a trap: he would never be allowed to divorce Lilian, but he was too good of a man to hasten her demise.

Maldonaya take her!

Meanwhile, Jess’ wife was re-reading his father’s letters to his grandmother. Something in them kept bothering her. Why didn’t the old woman care about any of her grandchildren? Why was she so angry? So what if Jessamine was the king’s mistress? She wasn’t working in a brothel.

Lily looked back at the page. “Aldonai has blessed us doubly…” She flipped through several pages. Jessie was asking for forgiveness again, and then she announced “I am expecting joy again…”

Finally, Lily laid all the letters out in order by date and read through them again, underlining the places that she found odd. Then she wrote out her own questions.

Why did Jyce never bring his children to Earton?

Why did his mother show no interest in his children, even though she seemed to love her son?

Why didn’t Jyce write to his mother about his wife’s pregnancy? In fact, I don’t think he ever wrote to her about his wife at all. He mentioned her name – Alicia – and that was it. Later, he wrote “Aldonai has blessed me with a son and a daughter.”

Lily thought he didn’t sound like a happy father. But, truth be told, she didn’t know much about fatherhood in her new world. She chewed on her lip. Something about those letters just wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

Damn it! I need information, especially about my husband!

She decided to write to Helke and ask him to find out more about the past two generations of Eartons.

Jessamine was Edward’s mistress when he was prince and later when he became king. She may have had his children, but they would have been illegitimate. That’s no big deal, Edward wouldn’t be the first king to have “natural” sons and daughters running around.

Suddenly she had an idea. It was so unbelievable that she was afraid to consider it. What if her husband was the son of Edward and Jessie? Was that even possible?

Say, if Jyce and his wife couldn’t have children of their own, or if the king needed to avoid scandal.

Lily called for Emma. Through questioning, she learned that a child born out of wedlock, even if its father was the king, was considered a disgrace. A royal bastard could never hope to be more than a baron, and his mother would be severely punished.

I see. Ativerna isn’t like Versailles, where women boasted about the number of children they had borne for the king.

Lily learned that in her new world, a woman who gave birth outside of marriage was shunned, even if she was a widow and a member of the community.

I guess they don’t mind people fooling around as long as there’s no proof.

Is it possible that Jyce wanted to help his sister, and that his mother was angry about it? You bet.

Lily wondered if she was making too many assumptions. Life isn’t like a romance novel, with illegitimate children hiding under every bush.

She sighed and started to flip through the old letters again. Then she turned to her accounts. Emma provided her with regular information on the household expenses, and Lily was teaching her how to do double-entry bookkeeping. When that was done, she talked with Pastor Vopler and did her daily prayers, which felt like a useless waste of time.

On the other hand, she was learning quite a bit from the pastor about the laws, morals and customs of her world. As he told her stories from his own life, she collected little bits of valuable information. For one thing, she learned that she had the last word on meting out justice on the estate, but only when her husband was away. She also learned that a married woman retained control over her “maiden share,” which was land or other property that her father could invest to provide her with extra spending money. However, a husband could seize control over his wife’s property at any time, unless her father had drafted a watertight contract.

From what she learned, Lily realized that her father was her only hope. She would have to keep him as an ally. Jess was an unknown. She would have to reach an agreement with him eventually, but first she needed to know something about him.

How am I supposed to do that?

Her few memories were all one-sided, like a corrupted file that’s been damaged by a virus. She couldn’t judge the whole file by the scattered pages she still had access to. The people around her presumably knew a lot about Jess, but she couldn’t exactly ask them without arousing suspicion.

She did have one small success: she had managed to beat a good deal of information about her husband’s business affairs out of Shirvey, in addition to learning how and how much he had stolen. All it took was a couple of Virmans and a hot iron.

But that still left her with little she could use. Lily had no idea what he liked and disliked, what he dreamed about, or what he was allergic to, and she had no way to find out.

I can’t exactly ask the servants.

So, she worked with what she had. When she told Miranda stories, she slipped in little questions. “What would your father have done?” “What stories does your father tell you?” “What would your father think about that?” “What would he say?”

Mirrie loved her father and was happy to talk about him, but she had little useful information for Lily. Papa was strong. He was smart. He traveled a lot. He loved the king.

Who else can I pump for information?

Suspicion was a dangerous thing, and she knew that she had already given rise to more suspicion than was healthy. She was entirely too nosy for a countess.

It’s a hard life!

Helke watched the mayor intently. Should he speak or not?

I’ll feel him out first.

“Honorable Torius, here is your share of the profits for the past five days.”

The baron smiled and put his hand on the bag. It clinked pleasingly. “Doesn’t feel like much.”

“People still aren’t sure about what we’re selling,” Helke replied, repeating the countess’ words. “Once they are convinced of the quality, sales will go better. For now, we are working with an eye to the future. I expect we will earn ten or even twenty times more once these things are in fashion.”

The baron smiled sweetly. He loved his profits tenderly, sincerely. Helke decided to risk it.

“Sir, I have heard some strange rumors lately.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“Someone is planning to burn down my workshop and kill me.”

“Who is it? I’ll have him arrested and interrogated.”

The mayor was entirely indifferent to Helke’s fate. Whether alive or dead, an Eveer was an Eveer. His profits, however – that was another matter entirely.

Helke said nothing.

“So who is it?”

“People say that the countess had an unpleasant run-in with a group of young men,” the jeweler hinted quietly.

It took Baron Avermal several seconds for Helke’s words to sink in. When they did, he turned beet red and leaped to his feet. If Helke had said another word at that moment, Torius would have wrung his neck. But the jeweler said nothing. He just sat there. The mayor realized to his horror that the man wasn’t lying. He was telling the absolute truth.

Torius Avermal stared at the jeweler. Helke refused to look away.

“Who told you that?”

“Forgive me, Honorable Torius.” He gave a deep bow. Torius realized that the jeweler would not give up his source. He was angry enough to howl, but he restrained himself. He would not have been mayor if he allowed himself to show his anger at every turn. Upon a moment’s reflection, he saw that Helke was doing the right thing. The jeweler could have left town already, but instead he was risking the mayor’s anger in order to warn him. After all, if Darius burned down the workshop, his father would have to sentence him to burn at the stake. Years and years ago, King Hendrich the Third had ruled that arsonists should be put to death by fire. If a man burned down someone’s house, he was to be tied to a stake and burned on the ashes of that same house. Hendrich’s law had been issued in response to a particularly bad instance of arson that took out half of the palace (and several city blocks). Arson was something that could not be excused.

“I will handle this matter.”

“I am grateful to you, sir.” Helke bowed.

Torius reflected that this was a stroke of luck. If Darius had gone through with it… He knew his son was incapable of properly planning a crime, much less of pulling it off. The thought was laughable. He would have a serious talk with his son that evening. In the meantime, Helke would have to leave. Where could he go?

“Sir, the Earton estate is not that far away.”

The mayor looked into the Eveer’s dark eyes. They were clear and intelligent. He was no aristocrat, but he wasn’t a fool, either, unlike too many young men of noble birth. The mayor of a provincial town could not afford to be arrogant. And Torius was smart.

“Earton…”

“Yes. If I could count on your help to make it happen…”

The baron nodded. “And with the moving expenses?”

“Honorable Torius, you have read my mind.”

“Why not. But I will have to see a larger percentage of the profits.”

“Sir, you are cutting me without a knife.”

“Is that so?”

“I will have to see what the countess says.”

Torius nodded again. “Write to her. While you do that, I will find a captain to accompany you on the way. I think you’re better off to go by land than by sea.”

Helke was in complete agreement.

That same evening, Darius Avermal was beaten within an inch of his life and placed (or laid, rather) under house arrest with bread and water to keep him alive until he saw the error of his ways.

Lily was tired of lying in bed, but she couldn’t get up. The strain of the past few days had left her prostrate with a fever and limbs that she could barely move. When a servant girl burst into her room with eyes the size of dinner plates, Lily greeted her as a welcome diversion.

“My lady, the Virmans!”

“What happened?”

“Virmans, my lady!”

“I understand. What about them?”

“There’s a crowd of them outside the gate. The captain of the guards won’t let them in, but their leader is a terribly big man and he says that they have an agreement with you.”

Lily dragged herself out of bed and threw on her clothes, once again grateful that her dressmakers had provided her with clothes that could be put on quickly and without much fuss. Then she leaned heavily on the servant girl’s arm and started off down the hall.

“The biggest Virman said they have an agreement, but Leis said he won’t let them in, and then our Virmans wanted to let them in, but the soldiers surrounded them and wouldn’t let them do it.”

I don’t need a battle right outside my door!

When she found him, Leis Antrel was standing on a platform above the gates and shouting at someone Lily couldn’t see. She heard her name and then more shouting. She started to run.

All of the castle’s residents and servants were standing on the wall in expectation that there would soon be a glorious fight to watch.

“Stop!” Lily bellowed. “Let me through!”

“Let the countess through!” Mary’s soprano rang out. People began to edge out of the way. Looking down, Lily saw her small group of Virmans inside the walls. They were surrounded by soldiers, like wild animals surrounded by dogs during a hunt.

“Leis!” she screamed. After a profanity-laced tirade that lasted about two minutes, Leis finally deigned to turn his attention to Lily. He threw a blasphemous gesture at someone outside the walls and climbed down to where Lily stood. He even bowed.

“My lady, there are Virmans out there…”

“There are Virmans in here, too.” Lily pointed at the scene inside the walls. “What the hell are you doing surrounding men who are on our side?” She couldn’t stop herself from adding a few more choice expressions.

He took her profanity with stoicism. “They wanted to open the gates.”

“Of course they did. Why didn’t you just tell them to wait?”

“But my lady, they…” the poor man started to hiccup.

“Put your weapons down!” Lily yelled at the men on the ground. “Now! Or I’ll send you to the devil! There will be no infighting here!”

The Virmans responded first, dropping their swords and axes.

“That’s better. Olaf and Ivar, I’m fining you one silver coin each for disobeying the captain of the castle guards. Leis, you’ll pay the same fine for this whole ridiculous situation. I don’t ever want to see a circus with clowns like this again. All of you get back to where you belong!”

None of the men understood what a circus was, but they began to disperse. The countess was in a foul mood.

“Lily!” someone called out.

What is Miranda doing out here?

Lily picked up the little girl and immediately wished she hadn't. Her shoulder felt like giant claws were ripping at it. She suspected the stitches had burst.

This won’t be fun.

“Mirrie, where’s Martha?” She looked up and saw Martha running after the child.

“Lily! What’s all this?”

“Nanny, take the baby. Don’t come back outside until I come get you.” Lily spoke quickly in a tone that commanded obedience.

“I’m not a baby!” Mirrie whined.

Lily pinched her nose. “Of course you aren’t. Now listen to me. I need you to go warn Pastor Vopler so that he’s ready to run if need be.”

“Aren’t the Virmans nice?”

“Ours are, but I don’t know what’s going on outside. So warn the pastor and then go to my bedroom. Take my jewelry box and wait for me there.”

Mirrie nodded. Martha sighed. She took the girl by the arm and turned to leave, but then she glanced back around at Lily. There was something strange in her eyes, but the countess was too busy to notice.

“That’s that. Now answer me. Are you done trying to start a fight?”

The men nodded. They were used to the Virmans they already knew. And the countess’ appearance had cooled them off.

Then she turned to Leis. “Help me get up there.” She was dizzy, but this was no time for weakness. She had to keep going. There were no other options.

From the top of the wall she saw an idyllic scene: first there was Leif (he was a giant, and she recognized him right away), then she saw Ingrid. Behind her were the other Virmans with their wives. But there was a stranger next to Leif. Lily squinted. She promised herself that she would invent a megaphone as soon as she had time. Then she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Leif, how are you, friend?”

Leif bowed. Ingrid waved.

“My lady!”

“I see you. But who is that with you?” Lily squinted again at the muscular figure next to Leif. The man looked beat. His face and one arm were bandaged, and he had what looked to be a dozen more wounds that could have used bandaging.

“This is my friend Eric Torvson.”

“What is he doing here?”

Lily no longer suffered from an excess of trust. Now she saw what Leis had seen, and she didn’t want to let strangers into the castle.

“We found Eric at sea.” Leif didn’t need a megaphone. Lily soon learned that Leif’s ship had been hit by a storm and he had been forced to take refuge in a small bay. When they sailed back out to sea two days later, they encountered a ship that Leif knew belonged to an old friend. Eric. He had been in a serious fight, which he won, and then got caught in the same storm that Leif had outrun. During the storm, he lost his mast and a third of his warriors, who were washed overboard. Some of his barrels of fresh water had sprung leaks. His remaining crew was ready to join their gods in the next life when Leif showed up. Immediately all thoughts of the gods were forgotten. Leif agreed to tow his friend, but he warned him that he couldn’t take him back to Virma. In the end, they decided to go on to Earton together. Now Leif wanted the countess to give permission for his friend.

She inquired what Eric and his crew wanted. Leif replied that they needed food and water and a place to stay.

“What else?”

“My ship needs to be repaired. I don’t have enough men left to do it,” Eric spoke up in a deep voice. “The men I do have are wounded. I am asking for your mercy, but I will work it off. That I can promise.”

Lily thought for a moment and turned to Leis. “What do you think?”

He shrugged. “Virmans never go back on their word. They believe that if they are ever guilty of betrayal, the sea will refuse them passage. Their fortune will turn bad.”

“So what do we do?”

“If their ship is really as bad as it sounds, the repairs will take a long time. The storm season is already starting, and winter is around the corner. My lady, I suggest you tell them they can spend the winter here at Earton. They will be useful. If we make them official members of the guard, I’ll have an easier time making the peasants work. The Virmans you hired have families (everyone at Earton knew about Leif and his story), but these new ones are sea wolves. Tell them they can stay, but set your own conditions. I don’t think you’ll be sorry you hired them.”

But what if they rob us blind and load the loot onto their boat?

Lily studied Eric and his men. They were a fearsome bunch. If she had run into them in a dark alley, their looks alone would have knocked her out. On the other hand, all the Virmans she had ever seen looked fearsome: they were tall, muscular and covered with scars, and they sported smiles that reminded her of a hungry cannibal. She had just grown used to Ivar, Olaf, Leif, Gel, and the rest of “her” Virmans. These new ones made her uneasy.

“How many men do you have?” she called down to Eric.

“Twenty. Ten of them are here with me.”

“I’m coming down. We will talk,” she yelled. Her voice was giving out.

Ten minutes later, her men lowered her down from the wall in a funny chair. It was a terrifying descent. Lily held onto the ropes with all her strength and repeated Latin medical terms as the chair went down, just to keep herself from screaming. She was used to her new body for the most part, but every now and then she would make an unsettling discovery. For example, that her new body was afraid of heights.

I wish I had a scale. Oof!

Her back scraped against the wall.

From what I can tell, I’ve got a little under a hundred pounds left to lose. I definitely have a waist now, and my stomach is a lot smaller. Ouch!

Finally, she made it to the ground, where Leis was waiting for her. She staggered and leaned on his arm, but immediately straightened herself up. The Virmans kept their distance as a sign of peaceful intentions.

Good for them. The last thing I need right now is for some idiot up there on the wall to shoot an arrow at these pirates. None of my men are good shots, anyway…

“My lady,” Leif bowed when Lily walked up to him.

Lily held out a hand. “Leif, this is Leis Antrel. He is the captain of my guards. I want you two to work together to keep my estate safe. I suppose Leis can guard the castle and you can patrol the whole area, but that is up to you. I won’t put up with conflict, so you’ll have to work everything out between yourselves.”

Then she turned to Eric. “What were you doing off the coast of Earton?”

“We were heading home to Virma from Ivernea,” he boomed. “But we didn’t move fast enough. A storm caught us.”

Lily had to tilt her head up to look at him. Standing next to Eric made her feel small. He was twice her size and all muscle. She suspected he could have tied Peter the Great into a sailor’s knot.

“If I hire you, will you stay until spring?”

“Of course. Will you pay me what you are paying Leif?”

Lily sighed and shook off the miser sitting on her shoulder.

“I will. But with one condition: I am in charge here. No one questions my orders, and all of you obey Leis, who is my captain. If you can’t do that, I’ll not let you stay here.”

“We will. We can swear an oath in blood over a fire if you like.”

Lily did not know what that meant, but she nodded. “Fine. Swear an oath.”

“Some of my men are wounded.”

“So are you.”

“This is nothing.”

Lily eyed the bandage on his arm. It might be nothing, or it might not.

“We will care for the wounded. I have a good herbalist, and there is an old woman in the village who has knowledge of healing. Twenty more warriors won’t hurt, but I don’t have barracks ready. You’ll have to help build your own quarters. You can all stay in the castle for now, but only until you recover.”

“When will you take our oath?”

“This evening.” Lily sighed. She was feeling poorly. “Leis! Leif”

Both men turned to her.

“I am hiring Eric. Leis Antrel is in charge of the castle. You will obey him as you obey me.” She almost added her father’s favorite line: “Orders are not up for discussion!”

The rushing sound in her ears got louder.

“What do you need for the oath?”

“Nothing. Once it’s dark we’ll build fires. Can I bring my wounded to the castle?”

“Yes. Leis, tell Emma to get things…” she didn’t finish her thought.

Strange. Why is the ground rushing up to meet my face?

Eric reached out and kept the countess from landing nose-first on the ground. He had never had to revive a noblewoman before, especially one who fainted for real. He could tell Lily wasn’t putting on. Her eyes had rolled back in her head and her face was white as a sheet.

He began to think quickly. When he agreed to follow Leif to Earton, his only desire was to fix his ship and leave. Now he had a job. Eric wasn’t surprised that the countess hadn’t trusted him at first. Virmans had earned their reputation as pirates. He knew that. They never betrayed the person who hired them, but that didn’t stop them from plundering a washtub full of Avesterran merchants if they happened across it… That was how life worked at sea. Of course, this time the men in the washtub had put up a pretty good fight. And then the storm caught him. Now he had a team of three solid men and seventeen wounded.

It was pure luck that Leif had happened by. Otherwise, Eric would have gone to meet his gods, no doubt about it: his mast was gone and his boat was drifting. He had oars, but only ten of his men were well enough to even try to use them. They were running out of fresh water for themselves, much less for the ten prisoners they had hoped to sell in Darkom or the Khanganate. It wasn’t a pretty picture.

Leif’s appearance was a lifesaver. Eric hadn’t been home to Virma in a long while, so he was eager to hear the latest news. He grew sad when he learned of his friend’s troubles. In the end, he asked Leif to tow him to Altver, where he could spend the winter fixing his boat.

Leif had offered his old friend a different plan: Earton. The countess was a good woman, the estate was quiet and the pay was good. Eric was doubtful, but he had no choice. It took the two boats more than ten days to make their way to Earton. Leif’s ship was heavy with passengers and cargo, and the second ship slowed him even further. Once they reached the mouth of the Earta River, they had to row. In several places, they had to unload everything and portage their ships over the shallows. Finally, after much hard labor, they disembarked not far from the castle.

Eric had expected the worst, and at first he seemed to be right. The guards refused them entry, and the man who called himself the captain of the guards spoke to them harshly. But then she appeared on the wall. A heavyset woman with a long, thick braid of golden hair. Lilian Earton. The situation started to improve. The guards put their weapons down and stopped threatening the Virmans. Then the countess came down from the wall and approached the Virmans without any signs of fear. She had complete faith in her people.

The sun glinted in her golden hair, turning it into a crown on her head. Her pink lips smiled, but her eyes were utterly serious. There was something about her… Was it inner strength? Eric couldn’t take his eyes off her. As he watched her walk towards him, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to speak. Then she started asking questions. Her voice was as lovely as the rest of her: deep, warm, from the heart. It reminded him of mulled wine. Eric told himself that his men were counting on him and started to answer her questions.

In the end, it worked out to his satisfaction. Eric promised to serve honestly in return for fair payment. Then, all of a sudden, the blood drained away from the woman’s face and she started to lose her balance. Eric reached out and grabbed her, not sure what to do next. She smelled of fresh herbs. There was something magical about her.

Countess Lilian Earton. She’s so beautiful!

Leis Antrel stepped up to help, taking hold of the countess from the other side. “She has a serious wound that hasn’t healed yet. I have to get her back into the castle. Do you know what to do?”

“Yes. Her ladyship has hired us. I will swear an oath to her in blood over a fire.”

Leis’ face relaxed. “When?”

“This evening.”

Leis knew that Virmans did everything they could to avoid breaking an oath, since oath breakers were scorned by the gods. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t have trouble with them in the future, but for now he felt safe enough.

“Fine. Help me carry the countess back to the castle.”

He waved to his men and the gates began to creak open.

Ingrid came running up. “What has happened to the countess?” She looked at Lily with worry in her face.

“There was an attempt on her life. She was badly wounded,” Leis explained. “She shouldn’t have gotten out of bed.”

“I have medicine with me.”

“We have our own healer. Jaimie!”

The young man was already running towards them carrying a heavy bag. “Wait right there!” he cried.

He took out a small bottle of smelling salts and held it under the countess’ nose. She sighed, sneezed, and opened her eyes.

“What happened? Did I faint?”

At first, Lily couldn’t understand what was going on. Why was the giant Eric carrying her? Where were they going? Then her memory returned and she began issuing orders.

“Eric, put me down. Leis, go see to the new hires. Leif, you have to take orders from him. And make sure you get the wounded men back to the castle today. Jaimie, I suppose you’ve already guessed that you’ll be busy?”

Everyone nodded. Lily put her feet under her and took a deep breath. “Ingrid, take me to my room so the men can get to work. And tell Leif to come see me when he has a moment. I want to talk to him.”

Ingrid nodded. She took Lily’s arm and made the countess lean on her. Jaimie took her other arm. Together, they slowly made their way to the gates. Inside the courtyard, Emma was waiting for them.

“My lady!”

“Emma, meet Leif and Ingrid,” Lily pointed.

I don’t have time for proper etiquette.

“Do you remember I told you that Virmans would be arriving? There are more of them outside. Can you find room for them all?”

“Yes, my lady. I could find room for double their number.”

“Good. There are twenty more of them, all wounded, who need a place to sleep. Come see me later and tell me how things are going.”

Emma turned and ran toward the castle, issuing orders to the servants as she went.

Lily hobbled back to her room with Ingrid and Jaimie’s help.

What kind of life is this? I have to be in charge of everything all the time!

Back in her room, Lily sat down in a chair and took a deep breath.

“How are you, my lady?” Ingrid’s voice was kind and empathetic.

Lily waved a hand. “I’ll live. How are you?”

“We are well, my lady. We could not bring everything with us, but Baron Avermal promised to send a second ship.”

Lily sighed. “Good. You surprised me with that Eric person.”

“My lady…”

“I don’t mind. Now listen, Ingrid. I’m having my men build a smokehouse and a salt pit down by the shore. I want you to be in charge of them.”

“A salt pit?”

“We’ll use it to evaporate seawater and make salt. It’s too expensive to buy large quantities of salt, so we’ll make it ourselves. Fish will be heading upstream to spawn soon, won’t they?”

“Yes, very soon.”

“Good. You know all about fish and birds, so I’m putting you in charge. Take your women and organize it how you see fit. If you need help from the villagers, don’t hesitate to ask. Just make sure that every goose and every carp is accounted for.” Lily smiled to show that she was joking.

Ingrid’s face was serious. “My lady, I understand that you weren’t expecting this many people.”

“True. I was only counting on you and Leif and your crew. Eric has another twenty men.”

“He has more than that.”

“More?”

Before Ingrid could answer, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

It was Eric and Leis. Lily looked up at the ceiling. “What do you want?”

Eric’s face was smooth and calm. “My lady, we took a few prisoners from the last ship we captured.”

“A few?”

“We attacked what turned out to be a slave trading ship.”

Lily’s heart began to race. She wondered if those were the slave traders Etor had been waiting for.

“Were they heading this way?”

“No. I believe they were charting a course to Avesterra, Darkom or the Khanganate, where slavery is legal.”

“I see. And here it is illegal.”

Eric shrugged. “You can call them your peasants or call them your slaves. But officially, there is no slavery here.”

“I suppose everyone on Virma is free?” Lily shot back.

“For the most part, but there are some bondsmen.”

Lily swore silently. She should know these things without asking. “Fine. What do you intend to do with your prisoners?”

“I will give them to you, my lady. There are about twenty of them.”

All Lily could do was swear silently. Eric watched the woman as she sat still in her high-backed chair. She was smart. Leif had not been mistaken. This was a woman you could do business with. True, she was a little strange. She seemed not to know some things that Eric had assumed everyone knew.

Maybe she was raised that way.

Eric thought he could imagine how aristocrats raised their daughters. Like rare flowers, they lived behind high walls, way out in the country where they could remain innocent and tremulous. Knowledge was not something such parents gave their daughters. He had seen enough of this while serving as a mercenary in Avesterra. Girls from wealthy families had little information and even less common sense in their heads. All they knew how to do was embroider and bat their eyelashes (and they weren’t even supposed to do too much of that).

Eric felt that Lily’s position explained her deficit of knowledge on certain topics. Her intelligence and the shockingly fair way she treated people were harder to explain, but he liked both. He was tired of living away from Virma. People were always giving him dirty looks. And if they spoke to him at all, they made it clear that he ought to be grateful, even though he could have knocked most of them down if he spat at them hard enough.

Leif had suggested the idea of giving the slaves to Lily. Eric could have sold them if he had made it home to Virma, where extra workers were always welcome. But slavery was outlawed in Ativerna, and he hated the thought of feeding them for nothing, especially after dragging them all that way. Instead, he decided to try to make it someone else’s problem.

After he made his offer, he watched the countess’ face change, from surprise to impatience to anger. And then a cold mask of indifference dropped over her face. He was curious to see what she would say.

Lily had a lot to say, but none of it would have sounded right coming from a countess. So she kept her voice as calm as she could and asked, “Who are they?”

Eric looked surprised. “I don’t know. There were twenty slaves. A couple of them died. And we took the slave traders, too.”

Lily bit her thumbnail. “Can you tell them apart?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Good. Bring your men to the castle. For now, you can keep the prisoners in the dungeon. Leis will show you where it is. I’ll decide what to do with them later.”

Lily remembered that the king’s envoy should be on his way, and she thought he might be happy to get his hands on some slave traders.

“Do you have many wounded?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Leis, have them all brought in and show them to Jaimie.”

No one in the room could tell how hard it was for Lily to give that order. Jaimie would have to take care of them. She wouldn’t do it herself. It was one thing to jump in and help in an emergency, but quite a different thing to show off medical wisdom on a regular basis. She wouldn’t risk it.

Lily hadn’t forgotten the strange look Martha gave her that morning. She would need to talk to her nanny again.

Leis nodded. “Yes, my lady.”

“Tell Emma I need to see her after she’s found room for everyone.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“You may go.”

Lily waved a hand and the men left. Then she fell back in her chair. She felt awful. Just awful. The sun was much lower in the sky when she reached for a piece of parchment out of habit. Writing helped her order her thoughts.

First: I don’t have much money. Second: I have enough warriors for an army. Question: what do I need them for? Am I going to war with someone?

She thought about slave traders and chewed on her lip.

Etor, what the hell did you have going on here? Why did the villagers just sit around and watch you sell their children into slavery? If you came after my child, I’d blow up this whole estate to get to you.

The door creaked. Lily looked up. “What is it, Martha?”

Lons Avels watched with horror as the hatch opened. He was more than afraid. He had already been through one sea battle and had no desire to ever live through another.

Why are they letting us out this time?

He didn’t know what was going on, but he suspected it meant nothing good for him. He was starting to lose his mind in the stuffy hold. The food and water were bad, and the last storm had been terrifying. Lons had listened to the screaming winds and felt the terrible waves, all the while knowing full well that if the ship went down he would go down with it.

The worst thing about slavery was that nothing depended on him. He was no longer the master of his own fate. Whether he lived or died depended on decisions made by others.

In a way, the storm bore fruit. It chased the slave ship far away from shore, where they encountered another ship. Virmans. Lons heard the sounds of fighting and was terrified once again. He had heard plenty about the wild inhabitants of Virma. They took no prisoners, and they sunk ships after they plundered them. They were crazed from being away from their women for so long, so they used prisoners in most unnatural ways.

When the hatch opened, Lons expected all hell to break loose. Instead, he and the others were dragged from the hold and driven onto the other ship like livestock. The Virmans kicked them and yelled at them as if they were animals, because that’s how they saw them. It was terrifying.

On the Virmans’ ship, Lons was seasick all the time. They were hit by a storm. The food was bad. The water was bad. And there was death. About ten people died. Someone died almost every night, some from their wounds and some from exhaustion. Lons knew that he wouldn’t last much longer, either. He was weak. He lost consciousness for long stretches of time. The only emotion he still had was fear. He wasn’t afraid of death anymore. He was just afraid of pain.

Then the Virmans dragged them from the hold and shoved them to the gangplanks. Lons couldn’t believe his eyes. He was breathing clean air again. He was surrounded by trees. Dry land! Aldonai knew that Lons had never valued any of those things before. He had always wanted something better, something more important. But in the end, what mattered the most was fresh air.

The Virmans led their prisoners along a path. Lons felt it would never end, and he didn’t want it to end. He just kept walking. Eventually, he looked up and saw a castle.

“Earton,” one of the Virmans said.

Earton? Is that in Avesterra? This is nowhere in Darkom and Elvanna and the Khanganate, where all the place names sounded very different.

He knew he must be in Avesterra or Ativerna.

What is going on? Slavery is illegal here!

The Virmans led them through the castle yard and down into the dungeon. Lons preferred the dungeon to the dark hold of a ship bouncing on the waves. After what he had been through, a separate cell with daily meals, a straw-filled mattress and a torch on the wall felt like the height of luxury. He ate everything he was given, drank a cup of clean, clear water and fell on his mattress. He knew he needed to sleep and regain his strength. Whatever awaited him, he would somehow get back to Wellster and find Anna. He would never abandon his wife.

Lily looked at her nanny. Martha looked down at the woman sitting in Lily’s chair. She saw many things that were not like the little girl she had raised. This woman held her head differently. She had a different look in her eyes, different gestures. Even the way she raised her eyebrows was different. Her little Lily could never have pulled off those raised eyebrows. And she could never have commanded so many people. She was a quiet, obedient girl who loved to stay home and say her prayers.

Finally, Martha spoke. “Who are you?”

The answer was immediate. “Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton.” It took all that Lily had to reply, but she couldn’t stop now.

“No. You are not her.” Martha sounded almost certain. Almost. Lily grasped for her nanny’s doubts.

“Is that so? Then who am I?”

“I don’t know. I went to see the witch when Lily was dying, and I asked her for a potion. She warned me that I might get strange results. You are not like Lily.”

I won’t admit to anything. I still have some fragments of Lilian Earton’s memories. I can use that.

“Then who am I? What a strange thing to say. Nanny, I remember you teaching me my prayers. I remember how much I hated oatmeal. I remember crying when you brought me yellow flowers instead of the pink ones I had asked you for. I was fifteen then, and I remember my father saying he wouldn’t let anyone marry me until I was at least sixteen.” She went on, listing things she remembered from Lilian Earton’s childhood. She could see that it was having an effect.

Martha’s face softened. “But you…”

“I am different now. That is true. But who wouldn’t be? Nanny, I nearly died. I lost my child, and I almost lost my mind with grief. How could you expect me to stay the same?”

Martha was wavering, so Lily finished her off. “I remember all the prayers you taught me. I remember what you talked to me about after my wedding, and how I cried on your shoulder. Do you want me to say it all again?”

It was a sad memory. Lily had been complaining about how rough her husband was and how much it hurt when she lay in bed with him. Martha had comforted her, saying that someday it would get better.

Lily stood and put her arm around the old woman. Martha didn’t flinch. “Martha, dear Martha. I am changing. I am trying to become stronger and wiser. That is how it should be. But it is hard work. Please don’t turn away from me. You’ve always been,” she paused, “my own little mommy.”

My own little mommy. Lily had always called Martha that when she was a girl. She didn’t actually remember it, but somehow it had come to her when she needed it, and it helped. Martha gave a sniffle and hugged her girl.

Tears and embraces. Curtain.

Ali Akhmet was napping in his cabin when his assistant woke him. “My lord, the Golden Lily has been sighted.”

“I see.” Ali knew the captain of the Golden Lily. He was a Khangan, one of the few who preferred sailing to long voyages over land. He was often found sailing along the continent.

“They are signaling to request communication with us.”

“Signal back for them to wait. We will catch up with them soon.”

Ali climbed out of his bed and began to dress. His leg hardly hurt at all. He still wore a brace, but soon it could come off. He walked carefully, not putting too much strain on his leg. Layla helped him dress.

Ali left his cabin and went up on deck. He was headed to Earton bearing gifts of silk and jewels, but he knew that Lilian already had those things. He hoped that Selim would have something better on board, something that Ali could barter for.

Lily had a splitting headache for the next three days. Emma handled many things for her, but other things would just have to wait.

I need to take a look at those prisoners the Virmans brought in, but not yet. I’ll tell Jaimie to take care of the sick and wounded among them.

She ordered Leif’s men to build small fishing boats and start fishing. Ingrid was put in charge of the smokehouse and the salt pits, so she and her workers would need huts or dugouts down at the shore to live in.

If we waste time now, we’ll starve this winter.

The glassblower was instructed to follow Ingrid to the shore and bring back everything he saw that could possibly be useful. Lily finally managed to explain to him what the word “samples” meant, although she almost turned her hair gray in the process. They agreed that he would load up as much sand as he could and bring it back under guard.

Once Jaimie had treated the worst off of Eric’s men, she sent them to repair her old fishing boats and build a covered shed to store them for the winter.

Those boats will keep us fed if we treat them right.

While talking with the Virmans about boats and boat repair, Lily was reminded that Earton’s coastline was a hazardous place, full of reefs and shallows. The Virmans’ boats had shallow drafts and were able to navigate through waters where others would be grounded. Lily didn’t know a thing about shipbuilding, but she made an effort to understand and remember what the Virmans told her. And once again, she pondered what had brought the slave traders to Earton in the first place. It was hard to reach and there was little of value.

While she was laid up in bed, Lily also called for the blacksmith and showed him her latest idea: a crochet hook. She wanted to teach her dressmakers how to make lace.

Ingrid had brought Virman goats with her. Lily could hear them bleating in the yard. A handful of the Virmans’ children had been entrusted with caring for the goats, and that included combing them daily. Once there was enough hair, the women would spin it into fine yarn.

Jaimie was also kept busy. When Lily went to see how he was treating the sick and wounded, she noticed that he had a small store of haircap moss that he was using to make primitive bandages. She immediately questioned him and learned that he had gotten it from the old healer.

Emma was instructed to send out as many children as she could get her hands on to search for more haircap in all the bogs and low-lying areas on the estate. The more they could find, the better. Lily wanted them to bring back absolutely everything they found, just in case there were other useful plants out there. She would sort through it all later. Once she felt better, she planned to comb through the bogs in person.

If I find peat, we’ll figure out what to do with it. At the very least, peat will be a cheaper source of heat for the castle. And there could be mushrooms, too!

Lily remembered spending weekends in September, October and even November hunting for mushrooms with her mother. She knew which mushrooms to salt and which to dry, and she knew how to make a terrific mushroom soup. That was one more item on her to-do list.

She decided to call a meeting with the village elders. In the back of her mind, she still needed to know who had been helping Etor. And how.

He was selling their children into slavery. Why weren’t they protesting?

The only possible explanation she could think of was that the villagers were all so scared that they didn’t dare open their mouths.

But if they were scared, who were they scared of?

She reflected on the possible answers to that question, and wondered if she would soon need to call on her armed guards. From her conversations with the pastor, Lily knew that large private armies were frowned on these days. In earlier times, each feudal lord had kept a large army of several hundred or even a thousand men, all of whom had to be fed and clothed. But those times had passed. It was now considered more than sufficient if a nobleman kept forty or fifty guards to watch over his estate and family. The times were so quiet that most guards were nothing more than armchair warriors.

Lily expressed wonder that Earton had been completely unguarded until she took measures. Pastor Vopler explained that Etor had sent the men away approximately six months ago.

“But why?”

“I have no idea, my lady.”

Lily couldn’t understand it, either. Something smelled fishy in Earton, but she didn’t know what it was, yet. She would call in the village elders for a little chat.

From a hastily penned letter:

“My lord, the countess has brought many Virmans to the estate. She is alive and well and doing as she likes. There is no way to get to her. I will do my best, but I cannot guarantee success.”

“Lily!”

Waking up was always agreeable, except when Lily had a heavy child bouncing up and down on her stomach. One eye open, she caught the little girl and tickled her.

“Mirrie, you ought to be ashamed of yourself!”

“I am!”

“Why did you wake me up this early?”

“I wanted to see you. Are you going to stay in bed all day?”

“No. I’m getting up today. Now, go wash your face while I wash mine. Then we’ll eat breakfast. Agreed?”

Mirrie leaped off the bed and accidentally hit her leg on the bedside table. Several choice phrases echoed around the room.

“$%&*@@!”

Lily gasped. “Mirrie, where did you pick up language like that?”

“But yesterday you said…”

Lily could have pulled out all her hair. So that’s where she got it from.

This isn’t medical school, where every other word has four letters. I’ve got a child following my example now, and it looks like I’m doing a great job of teaching her all the wrong things.

“Mirrie!”

“Yes?”

She took a deep breath and wondered how on earth to save the situation.

“Mirrie, dear, that’s a very bad word.”

“But you said it, didn’t you?”

“You’re right, I did. But I only said it because I was extremely angry. In all other situations, we don’t use that word. Do you understand?”

“Why not?”

“Because your father won’t like it. And a young girl shouldn’t talk like a soldier who just dropped a dresser on his foot.”

“What’s a dresser?”

Lily scratched her nose. Mirrie had a point. She hadn’t seen any dressers in her new home.

“I’ll tell you later. Now go get dressed, and don’t say any more bad words.”

Mirrie ran from the room. Lily sighed.

I’m going to have to restrain myself from now on. Maybe I should take some classes from Maria Reichart. Good manners – that’s what I need.

Lily admitted to herself that she knew precious little about manners – modern or historical. She had devoted her entire life to the pursuit of medical knowledge, and now she realized that she had missed out on a few things. She hadn’t even read many books, other than her medical references. Who had the time?

In her previous life, Aliya Skorolenok had been an active child who preferred playing ball to playing princess. Plus, she was an army brat who moved often, so her education had suffered. When she read for pleasure, she reached for Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.

I get a big fat zero in etiquette. If I was stunningly beautiful, I might get away with not knowing how to curtsey the right way. But as it is…

She slid off her bed and opened up the wardrobe mirror. Her reflection looked back at her. She could see improvements – and cheekbones – but she still had a long way to go. As an estimate, Lily thought she weight between 180 and 200 pounds. That was better than the 250 she had been recently.

Lily called for a maid. Then she washed, dressed and headed downstairs with Mirrie to eat breakfast. Mirrie tried to follow Lily’s example by eating a bowl of plain oatmeal for breakfast, but soon she reached for the milk and honey.

“It tastes better that way!”

Lily didn’t object. “Of course it does. You can have it that way, but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m still a little bit bigger than I should be if I want to be healthy.”

As they ate, Lily told the girl the principles behind the body mass index. “There is nothing wrong with being large,” she told her. “Some people are built bigger than others. But no one should be soft and fat. That makes your heart and kidneys work too hard.”

Lily remembered plenty of large women from her old life – the kind of women that could “stop a galloping horse and enter a burning house,” as the poem went. They were large and strong and muscular, not soft and covered with fat rolls. And they gave birth easily.

Miranda was all ears. Lily knew how to give a health talk that wouldn’t bore a child. Medicine was her whole life, and she enjoyed sharing what she knew with the girl. She told her about the heart, how it pumps blood through the arteries, and about pulmonary and systemic circulation. This was where she could shine.

After breakfast, Lily and Mirrie went to see the dressmakers. Lily proudly lifted up the culottes and blouse they had made for Miranda.

“Put them on,” she said with a wink. The little girl needed no persuading. Lily shook her head. “You girls are just wonderful!”

The culottes were so wide that even the strictest eye would find no fault. Only the tips of Mirrie’s little shoes peeked out from under the hem. The girls had gone a step further, attaching two long strips of fabric in the front and the back to hide the fact that the skirt was actually a pair of pants. They looked like decorative aprons and neatly hid the fact that the child was wearing pants, even when she took large steps. All in all, the effect was of a very fancy skirt.

Lily smiled. “Good work. Now I’ll show you something new. Mirrie can watch, too.” The blacksmith had brought Lily her crochet hooks, and she had found some silk thread that belonged to the old Lilian. It was pink, of course, but she would use it anyway. (When she went looking for crochet thread, she found an entire room full of thread and fine yarns that the old Lilian had apparently used for embroidery.)

Now, heads bent in a circle, the girls watched Lily hook the thread into loops. They were shocked by even a simple shell pattern. The process was simple, but the result was lace! Marcia grabbed a hook first, followed by the other dressmakers.

“My lady, how do I…”

“It isn’t hard. Watch how I do it.” Lily moved her hands slowly. Half an hour later (it was actually more like an hour), all three had mastered the art of crocheting shells.

Their happy crafting circle was broken up by the appearance of an indignant Maria Reichart.

“My lady, it’s time for Lady Miranda’s lessons!”

Mirrie closed her eyes and whispered one of the words that an earl’s daughter shouldn’t know. Maria’s eyes got wider.

Lily sighed. “Let’s go, Mirrie.”

“Are you coming, too?”

“I suppose I have to. I’ve been using those bad words, so I need to learn good manners.”

“I didn’t know grownups had lessons.”

“Smart people are always learning something new. Stupid people just stay stupid. Remember that.”

“You are absolutely correct, my lady,” said Maria with a slight bow. “And I don’t suppose Lady Miranda wishes to be stupid.”

“Of course not,” Lily answered for them both. “Where is Mark?”

“He is already in the classroom. My lady, he is a very serious young man. I have seen him preparing his lessons from early morning until late in the evening.”

“Mirrie, how can you be behind in your studies while Mark works so hard?”

The little girl could tell from Lily’s tone of voice that her poor grades were a tragedy. She shook her head. “But it’s so boring, Lily!”

“Let’s do all your lessons together for today. Perhaps it will be more interesting that way.”

It really was interesting, learning together. Lily was only sorry she hadn’t started sooner. She listened carefully (and Miranda listened occasionally) as Maria explained how to greet people of various ranks.

When presented with a commoner – a person with no title – it was sufficient to nod politely. If a noble decided to speak to a commoner, he could use whatever form of address he preferred: good Tom, my man Tom.

So, I can call people whatever I like, and they’ll thank me for it because I’m a countess.

A nobleman with a non-hereditary title was addressed as “Aldar.” A woman in the same position was called “Aldari,” but there had only been three or four such women in the entire history of the world, Lily learned.

A nobleman without an estate was addressed as “Leir.” If the noble was a woman, she was called “Leira.” Barons and baronesses were addressed as “Honorable.” Earls must be addressed as “My lord.” Dukes were addressed as “My lordship.” If an earl had children, they were called viscounts. A duke’s children were marquises. These were signs of respect, not titles in their own right.

Lily listened. She watched Maria demonstrate the proper ways to nod and bow. She decided that the woman might be dull as dirt, but she had valuable knowledge.

When Maria was done explaining the intricacies of rank, she had Mark and Mirrie practice greeting her as she pretended to be different people they might meet. The children enjoyed the exercise, competing with each other to see who could score more points. Lily praised first one and then the other as she sorted through the papers she had brought with her.

Sitting in on the lesson gave Lily an important insight. Maria wasn’t a bad teacher. She knew her subject well and was obviously an intelligent woman. Her only trouble was that her voice had the effect of putting listeners to sleep. Lily decided to help her out. She kept the children from misbehaving. She made funny faces when it was called for, and when necessary, she asked Maria to repeat herself. The lesson slowly progressed.

The captain of the Golden Lily, Selim Ramar din Akhmed, was just as dark-haired, heavyset and hospitable as Ali remembered.

“Ali, my friend! May your horse always be fleet, your herds plentiful, your fields fruitful and your wives young and beautiful.”

Ali replied in the same style. Selim invited his old friend to share a meal, and Ali brought out several bottles of the strong wine that Helke had presented to him when they parted, calling it by the strange name “Applejack.” Their conversation flowed easily. Ali recounted the story of his leg and showed off how he could walk just like everyone else.

Selim was delighted. “I’d never guess it had been broken. You aren’t limping at all! And you say that soon those pieces of wood will come off?”

“Ten more days and I’ll take them off. I’m still cautious with the leg.”

“I see. Where are you headed?”

“To Earton. I wanted to ask you if you have anything that would make an interesting gift for the countess?”

“I’m carrying serious cargo, my friend. An Avarian.”

“An Avarian? Is it a stallion?”

“It is. Fiery red.”

Ali thought for a second, then nodded. “I’ll take him.”

Selim stroked his beard. “You want…”

“Yes.”

“It’s a royal gift.”

Avarian horses were so expensive that only few people could afford to buy them. It was a rare breed, with fiery coats and black manes and tails. They had been bred over centuries and could no longer be crossed with other horses. If a man bred an Avarian to a horse of another breed, the Avarian blood was lost in the first generation. Khangans loved the horses and rarely sold them to outsiders.

“My life is worth more than a horse at any price. Or did you already have a client in mind?”

“Perhaps. I was taking him to Ativerna. They say that Edward is looking to marry his son. I thought he might want to make a gift of the stallion.”

“I promise you won’t lose money selling him to me.”

“Ali, my friend, you know I will give you a fair price.”

The men looked at each other and laughed. This was the prelude to bargaining. Ten minutes later, each of them would be moaning that the other was a miser and a skinflint, calling down the wrath of the Great Mare and trying to rip out the other’s beard. But sooner or later, they would agree on a price.

The process took just two hours. When they were done, the men shared another glass of applejack and shook hands on the deal.

Then Selim said, as if he had just recalled it, “I have someone on board who would be interested in seeing your leg.”

“Who would that be?”

“Tahir Djiaman din Dashar.”

“What?” Ali was shocked. Tahir was a well-known healer whose advice was often sought by the Khangan. He wrote poetry and studied the properties of herbs.

“Why is he here?”

“Because there are some sicknesses that even he cannot heal. And if his patient is the Great Khangan’s own son…”

“You have risked a great deal.”

“True.”

The men sat in silence. There was nothing to say. Both of them knew that Selim was risking his life by helping the healer escape. Now Ali understood why Selim was out on the ocean at this time of year.

He shrugged. “He can see my leg if he wants.”

The great healer turned out to be a tall, thin old man with a long beard and a kind smile. He felt Ali’s leg, examined it thoroughly and shook his head.

“I would like to know the person who did this. It is truly the work of a healer who is favored by the Great Mare.”

“Countess Lilian Earton did it.”

Once again, Ali told his story. The result was predictable: Tahir expressed a great desire to go to Earton with Ali. Several hours later, the ships parted. Ali’s ship was heavier by one horse, one healer and the healer’s two tame mongooses.

Lily had spent her entire morning with Miranda, so she devoted her afternoon to the Virmans’ prisoners. She sat at the desk in her study and had them brought in, one at a time, so that she could question them: who they were, where they had lived before, how they had ended up on the slave ship.

At the end of the afternoon, she had counted sixteen men she might want to keep. Two of them were carpenters, seven were peasants, six were sailors and one was a teacher. Their stories were all similar. The sailors had been kidnapped from a port city when they were dead drunk, waking to find themselves in the slave ship’s hold. The carpenters were sold into slavery by their masters. While there was no official slavery in Ativerna, apprentices were occasionally sold to slave traders if they misbehaved. These particular apprentices had done something truly awful by local standards: they had peeked at the recipe for their master’s wood varnish. Lily listened intently as they explained. Their master had come up with a fantastic varnish that, once cured, protected the wood underneath from all water damage. It was expensive, but it worked.

How interesting. I’ll have them run some experiments this winter.

The peasants had been sold by their elders, some of them because they had debts they couldn’t repay, others because they weren’t steady workers. Lily wondered for a bit what to do with them, but eventually she decided that she wouldn’t let them go until they had worked off what they owed her.

If they hadn’t landed here, they would have ended up slaves in Virma or somewhere worse. They ought to be happy enough to work for me.

When she announced her decision, her new “slaves” were pleased. Winter was coming. They had no money, no work and no warm clothes. Understandable, they also had no desire to hit the road (or the trails that passed for roads in Earton). Lily explained the harsh reality of their position. She had no intention of paying them. They would work for food and clothing. Once travel was possible in the spring, she would pay them according to how hard they had worked and they could go or stay, as they liked.

She assigned the sailors to work for the Virmans repairing boats and catching fish. The peasants and carpenters were assigned to build another sauna. All of them would work hard. There was no free bread in Earton.

Now what do I do with the teacher?

Lons Avels had slept well, eaten his fill and had a chance to think about his situation. As a result, he didn’t lose his nerve when they brought him to see the countess. He had faced Gardwig many a time, so he wasn’t afraid of anyone.

The Countess of Earton turned out to be a pleasant young woman. She was on the heavy side, for sure, but her green eyes shone with intelligence. Lons was a connoisseur of the female body, and he was disappointed at the modest cut of her neckline.

He swallowed hard and looked her in the face. “My lady.”

“What is your name?”

“Lons Avels. Chevalier Lons Avels.”

Lily sent up a small prayer of gratitude that she had sat in on Maria’s lesson. Otherwise, she would have had no idea how to greet him. She bowed her head ever so slightly.

“Leir Avels, how did you end up a slave?”

“Some rascals sold me to the slave traders. Rope holds a chevalier just like it holds a commoner.”

Lily thought quickly. He was an aristocrat – of sorts, but still – and she couldn’t treat him like one of the sailors. “Tell me, Leir Avels, how can I help you?”

Lons was the last to have an interview with the countess, so he had already prepared his answer. “My lady, in other circumstances I would ask you to send me to Altver. However, I have no money and do not want to beg from a lady.”

Lily nodded again.

“Could you use my services as a tutor?”

She looked at him sharply. “What subjects do you teach?”

“Mathematics, calligraphy, history, and geography.” This was no lie. Lons had taught many things to the young princesses in Wellster.

Lily leaned forward. “I may be able to use you, but first, a test.” A scroll landed on the table in front of Lons. “Read it.”

He picked up the scroll and read fluently about the sufferings of Earta Kaliana. Lily nodded. “Fine. Now another test. Picture a house with seven rooms. Each room has seven corners. In each corner, there are seven apples. How many apples are there in the house?”

Lons stopped to think. He had never heard a math problem like that before, and he didn’t want to risk doing it mentally.

“May I use the tablet, my lady?”

She pushed her wax tablet across the table and watched him scratch away.

He’s no mathematician, but I’ll keep him. I can’t risk teaching Mirrie math on my own, but I can use him for cover.

“Three hundred forty-three apples, my lady.”

He got the right answer, but it took him too long. Not bad for second grade math. Mirrie’s no better, though, and she doesn’t need to know integrals right now, anyway.

“I’ll hire you to teach your subjects to Lady Miranda Catherine Earton, my stepdaughter. Go speak to her other tutors and plan your lessons. I will sit in on the lessons once you begin.”

“Do you not trust me, my lady?”

“I sit in on all of Lady Miranda’s lessons. You can ask her tutors.”

Lons left Lily’s study with a promise of food, clothing, a place to live, and one silver coin a month. He had been instructed to find the housekeeper. A stern woman named Emma Mattie showed him to his room and promised to send a servant with hot water. It was the countess’ rule that everyone living at the castle wash daily, even if it was just a sponge bath.

As he waited for the hot water, Lons lay down on the floor to avoid soiling the bed. He had some time to think. If he could have chosen, he would have raced away to find Anna that very day, but he realized that was impossible. It was almost winter. Lons didn’t like the idea of traveling to Wellster by land in the snow, and he certainly didn’t want to risk another sea voyage. He had had enough of storms, slave traders and pirates. It would take him several months to accomplish his voyage no matter how he went, and he had no clear idea of what he would do when he got there. After reflecting, he decided it would be wise to first find out what was happening in Wellster. He would plan and prepare before he did anything. Then an idea occurred to him: the countess had to have some expensive jewelry, didn’t she?

I don’t have to steal anything. Here she is, all by herself, living in the middle of nowhere.

Lons had a friend who earned his keep by consoling lonely noblewomen. It wasn’t exactly an honorable profession, but beggars can’t be choosers. He would do anything to find his way back to Anna. One thing gave him consolation: Lilian Earton was handsome. He had seen more beautiful women, for sure, but there was something very attractive about her. In his mind, he allowed his eyes traveled from her face to her breasts to her full hips.

Lons loved Anna, but he wanted to survive more than anything.

Taris Brok cantered along on his horse, thinking about Lilian Earton. Any way he looked at it, her husband was a fool. How could he leave such a smart, beautiful woman all by herself in such an out-of-the-way corner of the kingdom? She needed a man. There had been an attempt on her life. He would most certainly inform her father of everything he knew once he got to Altver. It would be worth the price of a three-pigeon letter.

Her interviews completed, Lily was walking down the hall when someone called to her.

“My lady! I am glad to see that you are much improved!”

It was Damis Reis, staring at her breasts again.

What is wrong with this idiot?

She nodded politely. “Yes.”

Damis had worked with less before. He started in on a ten-minute paean to Lily’s many fine qualities. She learned that she was like the sun: without her, the castle was plunged into darkness. He even managed to compliment her on her lovely hair and her smile.

I wish I could hit him!

He reminded her of a knucklehead she had gone to college with. The boy had thought he was irresistible to women until Aliya told him off in an expletive-laced tirade in front of the whole class. Even that didn’t keep him down long: the very next day he tried to press her into a corner so he could get his hands on her.

Lily didn’t like to remember that episode. For some reason, Damis reminded her of the knucklehead. He had the same ridiculous confidence in his own sex appeal. However, one of the advantages of her new life as a countess was that she didn’t have to put up with anyone she outranked. So, after listening politely for a minute more, she raised one hand.

“My good man, did you have something of importance to say to me? If not, you are free to go.”

His eyes widened.

“Have I not made myself clear?”

“My lady, I beg you for mercy.”

“What kind of mercy?”

“You are the only one who can assist with my dilemma. Your kindness, like your beauty, is…”

Lily wanted to tell him to put a sock in it, but she doubted he owned any socks and she didn’t want to waste her humor on him. So she raised a hand to stop him. “Get to the point, my good man. How can I assist you with your dilemma?” Her green eyes shone dangerously. Damis sensed it.

“My lady, I beg you on my knees” (he was still standing) “to remove that plebe from my lessons!”

Lily’s eyebrows went up. Was one of her servants interested in gaining knowledge? If only! She soon learned that Damis was objecting to the pastor’s son, Mark. The boy was a commoner, he had a bad influence on Lady Miranda, and Damis’ sense of personal honor was injured by having to teach one of them. It would be detrimental to his reputation if it were to get out.

I see. It’s just fine for me to speak with the pastor, but Damis is too special to sit in the same room with Mark.

Over the past few days, Lily and the pastor had struck up something like a friendship. He came to see her twice a day: in the morning, they prayed for the Earton estate, and in the evening, they prayed for the wellbeing of the earl. Lily found that she could pray sincerely for the good of the estate without crossing her fingers, but those evening prayers for her husband tried her patience. If she was honest, she hoped the earl never came home.

It would be so ideal if I could just tell him to take this marriage and shove it. But I can’t.

Lily didn’t pray with the pastor just to score points with him. She was quietly pulling information out of him about marital laws and customs. Was it possible to get a divorce, and if so, how would one go about it? During her trip to Altver, she had been too busy with her business affairs to make proper inquiries. Now, she had the time and a good source to consult.

Emma and Martha were good for certain kinds of information, but they led fairly narrow lives. So, Lily, when she sat in on Mirrie’s lessons, made a point of “testing” the tutors’ knowledge by asking them all sorts of questions. In fact, she was doing everything she could to expand her knowledge of this new world.

I’ve got no newspapers, no internet and no Wikipedia.

Everything she needed to know had to be carefully obtained from conversations with people, and those people could not be allowed to suspect anything. Lily knew that she was already courting suspicion. The pastor would be hurt if Mark was barred from the lessons, so Lily narrowed her eyes.

Damis Reis saw the change in her expression and took a step back.

“If you don’t like it here, then get out.” Her voice was icy. “As long as my husband pays your salary, you will teach whomever I want as often as I tell you to. And you will do it gladly. Mirrie and Mark will soon be joined by the Virmans’ children. You will teach them, as well. You will be polite to them, and you will give them your very best. Be sure that I will be checking up on you. And keep in mind that we have four tutors at the castle, so there are plenty of people to teach your lessons if you don’t wish to do so. Have I made myself clear?”

Damis shuddered. Lily gave him another sharp look and turned to leave. Her braid flew up and hit him in the face.

Damis watched the countess disappear around the corner.

He didn’t know what made him angrier, that she had cut him off in the middle of his prepared speech or that she had issued him an order as if he were a servant.

Can’t she see how charming I am?
I put on all my best clothes and even sprayed some cologne on my collar.

He would have been deeply offended if he had known that Lily thought he smelled like a trash pile with a little stick of incense burning on top.

Prince Richard of Ativerna made himself comfortable in his carriage. He hoped he would have time for a nap. He and Jess had been at a ball honoring his arrival the night before. Tarima was a small city, but it had a high society of sorts, and high society demanded dancing at the town hall. Richard had danced and practiced the art of diplomacy until midnight. Afterwards…

Jess had urged him to visit the local brothels with him, but Richard declined. He most decisively did not want to catch anything unpleasant. So, instead of a prostitute, he took the young wife of one of the local barons back to his rooms with him so he could release some tension. She had an insatiable appetite, and after six hours of uninterrupted delight he gave her a parting gift of a sapphire bracelet. When she left in the early morning, he was spent, physically and mentally.

Richard always preferred to exercise his appetites with caution. For one thing, it carried less of a risk to his reputation. The baroness would never gossip about her night with the prince because she would fear her husband’s retribution. Even though Richard wasn’t committed to the idea of marrying Anna of Wellster, he would do all he could to avoid untoward gossip while in her father’s kingdom.

Upon reflection, Richard was grateful that his father had given him a choice of Anna or Lidia. In his grandfather’s day, no one would have asked his opinion on the matter of his future wife. As a matter of fact, Richard’s grandfather had orchestrated his grandson’s engagement to Daniella of Avesterra when the two were just children. The old king had distrusted both Wellster and Ivernea, preferring an alliance with Avesterra instead. When he died, Edward had not moved to break off the engagement. Instead, he waited. And while he waited, he began to demonstrate a certain coolness toward Avesterra.

His waiting paid off. Six years later, Daniella came down with a serious illness after going out hunting in the pouring rain. She took to her bed and her condition worsened. The Avesterran royal family was distraught when the kingdom’s best medicus announced that the young princess would never be able to have children. Her lungs had been seriously affected, and pregnancy would be too great a risk

Edward expressed his condolences, but was firm that his son would not marry a girl who could not give him an heir. As a consolation, he offered one of his daughters in marriage to an Avesterran prince.

King Leonard the Third of Avesterra was incensed when Edward backed out of the arrangement, but he had no good cards to play. An entire commission had pronounced the girl unsuitable for childbearing. Then he took the desperate step of offering his own daughter, Larisia, but that idea was negated by the church. (Leonard was the brother of Imogene of Avesterra, Edward’s wife. Daniella was the youngest daughter of his uncle, whom he had succeeded, which put her far enough away from Richard on the family tree to make a marriage between them possible. Larisia, however, was his cousin and could never be his bride.

As a young man, this story turned Richard into a fervent follower of Aldonai. He had seen Larisia’s portrait – she was pale and colorless, with a long face, a suspiciously magnificent pile of hair, and an evil twist to her smile that even the painter could not conceal (despite the fact that he was an experienced artist who specialized in aristocratic portraits).

In a word, Richard was horrified and thanked his father fervently for ensuring that the church prevented the match.

He felt sorry for Daniella, but he felt even sorrier for himself. He did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps, tethered to one woman and loving another. Patience was a fine quality, of course, but Richard didn’t think he could spend decades looking tenderly into the eyes of a woman he didn’t love. He wouldn’t wish a fate like that on his worst enemy.

Richard didn’t remember his mother. Jessie – warm, kind, soft – was the only mother he knew. He understood how fortunate his father had been to find her, and he hoped to someday be as fortunate.

Richard loved his cousin. Unlike his father, however, he clearly saw Jess’ shortcomings. If he wanted to, he could be talented and hardworking, intelligent and serious, especially if he saw that his own wellbeing depended on it. In other situations, when Jess was displeased he could be as stubborn as a donkey. Richard had seen him dig in and insist on having his way when compromise would have made more sense. He could even get ugly when crossed.

His second shortcoming, in Richard’s eyes, was that he couldn’t leave pretty women alone. He was charming, wealthy and young, so there were always women at court looking to play at intrigue with him. Most of them were either married or saddled with unsavory reputations, but they couldn’t leave him alone. As a result, Jess concluded that he was irresistible.

Richard had enjoyed a different upbringing. His father had always taken him along to meet with ambassadors and advisors, explaining afterwards why he made certain decisions and concessions. Jess never had that kind of training. Now that they were grown, Richard noticed that he saw a great deal more in people’s interactions than Jess did. He also knew that he had a heavy duty to bear, while Jess was still interested in satisfying his own desires.

That Adele, for example.

Richard grimaced. She was attractive, but not to his liking. Something about her reminded him of spoiled meat served in a complicated sauce – it may look good, but it’s inedible.

What does he see in her?

Richard would never have looked at Adelaide twice, but Jess was already involved in what looked to be a serious affair with her. That was bad. As a rule, Richard believed that a man with a family should honor that family. He knew that Jess’ wife was unattractive and shy, but he didn’t feel that gave his cousin the right to ignore her.

After all the affairs he’s had with other women, he could at least give his wife some flowers and read her some poetry. Not Jess. He just digs in like a donkey and says he doesn’t like her. I wonder if he’s ever done anything to make her like him?

Chapter 4

Lily’s days were lived at a hectic pace. Everything required her attention and everybody needed to be managed, starting with the village elders: Ian Leig, Art Virdas, Erk Grismo, Sherl Ferney and Fred Darcy.

Which one is it? Which one of them was Etor’s accomplice?

Lily called for Art Virdas first, but she learned almost nothing from him. Under pressure (a melancholy Olaf stood behind him and kept a hand on his axe), Art confessed that the people in his village weren’t as bad off as he had indicated. He also admitted that they had used the mill when the countess was away. There might be some men that poached, and a few trees may have been cut down on the countess’ land. That was unavoidable. But there had been no murders and no serious thefts for a while. Art promised with a hand over his heart.

The other four elders repeated much the same story, but in different words. Lily was furious.

All those mystery novels I read over the years, and none of them worth anything! I’d like to see Mr. Holmes sit in my chair here in this old castle and puff at his pipe and say, “Watson, you’re mistaken. Art had nothing to do with it at all. The man you want is Fred.”

Lily didn’t particularly care which of the men was Etor’s accomplice. What angered her was that she couldn’t figure out the answer. She was a doctor, not a detective. The only result of her private conversations with them was that they carried themselves more cautiously around her. Lily suspected that the trouble was of her own making. She didn’t know what to ask them and how to ask it.

Sooner or later the truth will out…

Since she couldn’t make headway untangling Etor’s treachery, she turned to other estate affairs, of which there were many.

Jaimie had been sent to look for more haircap moss around the bogs, and he came back with a piece of peat for her to examine. As soon as she saw it, Lily sent out a large group of peasants to find as much of it as they could.

Peat was an excellent source of fuel and could also be used to insulate the peasants’ cottages, so Lily told them they could keep half of what they collected. Inspired by such generous terms, the peasants soon had large piles of peat lined up around the castle. Lily detailed the lazy peasants who had been sold into slavery to dry the peat and stack it under open-sided sheds they had built.

If only the weather holds for a few more weeks.

Lily didn’t know what to expect from the local winter. Lilian Earton’s memories contained sensations of extreme cold, but Lily knew she was tougher than her predecessor: she could handle temperatures as low as negative thirty without flinching. It was still early autumn, warm and surprisingly dry, so she made the best possible use of her time.

Soon a runner arrived with news from Leif, who was overseeing construction of the smokehouse and salt pits down where the Earta River flowed into the sea. Lily had intended for the work buildings and cottages to be made of wood, but Leif rejected the idea. Boards would have to be split and dried, and they didn’t have the time. The runner told Lily that instead, they were using stones in the Virman style. They already had the skills, and stones were plentiful.

Lily tried to remember the ingredients that went into cement.

I think you have to heat lime and clay… We can do without quicklime and silicate. It won’t be great, but it will be better than nothing.

Best of all, Leif had sent the runner with sacks of the special things she had asked for: fine, white sand for making glass, limestone, something that she hoped was feldspar, and several lumps of a greenish clay that she could easily work with her fingers. He had also sent her several small pieces of amber.

Lily wasn’t sure if amber was considered valuable in her new world, so she asked Emma. The housekeeper didn’t know what Lily was talking about at first, but when shown the small samples she nodded vigorously – they were worth their weight in gold.

For Lily, however, the most valuable thing Leif sent her was a rock with a seam of something black running through it.

Coal! There is coal down at the shore!

She had hoped that would be the case. There were steep cliffs above the coast, and the rest of the estate was boggy. The local geology reminded Lily of what she had learned about England.

I need to train dogs to hunt for coal. Actually, if I get desperate enough I’ll do it myself – and I’ll howl like the best of them.

She would write back to Leif that he must keep his eyes open and send her absolutely anything of interest.

The sand and lime could both be used for glassmaking, while lime and clay together would make a serviceable cement that would speed up her repairs around the castle. Finding the right ratio would take time, but Lily enjoyed a good experiment. Since amber was worth good money, she would ask Leif to see if he could find more. Helke would be pleased if they found a good source.

And coal! That means heat for the castle and graphite pencils and all sorts of other things!

Lily was dizzy with ideas. She would have loved to run away from the castle and spend several days digging around on the beach, but she had an image to maintain. For that purpose, she continued to attend Mirrie’s lessons with Maria Reichart. Soon it became clear that she was doing everything wrong: she didn’t even know the correct way for a countess to walk.

Thankfully I live out in the sticks where there aren’t any aristocrats to notice. The peasants just think I’m odd. If there were anyone here who knew better, I’d be in serious trouble. Like my husband, for example…

That thought led Lily down a pathway of other, even less appealing ruminations. She now knew for certain that she was her husband’s property. Everything she did, all of her work, all of her ideas, belonged to him, too. Jess Earton would be a fool not to take it all from her. She thought of it as poker: he had four of a kind, and she had nothing.

Lily had gained her information slowly, a piece at a time, from Pastor Vopler. As they conversed on various topics, she learned that a woman could only own property that a man gave her. A widow with a son or a woman whose husband had willed his assets to her had a tiny bit of freedom, at least until her male relatives found out. A woman’s father, brother, uncle or cousin could get in the way. Even her father-in-law’s neighbor’s brother’s wife’s nephew could tell her what to do. They could marry her off again if they wanted.

Several times the pastor had asked her if she had her husband’s blessing for all of her activities. Lily had nodded, but she was constantly worried about her long-term security.

She weighed all her options, from running away to becoming a widow. Lily didn’t want to share her projects with anyone.

How’s that for you? I’m out here running myself into the ground and he could just show up with his mistress and sit down to eat the fruits of my labor. I don’t know when he’ll be back, but I know the day will come.

Divorce was always uppermost in her mind, but it would be no easy feat, even if she cared nothing for her reputation afterwards. In her new world, divorce was possible in just four instances:

1. If the marriage was fruitless, meaning that both spouses admitted they were unable to have children.

2. If the marriage was not consummated. This would mean that either the count was impotent or his wife suffered fits of hysteria whenever he entered their bedroom. There had to be witnesses to the hysteria, and it had to last for more than a year. Pastor Vopler told Lily of a case where a woman was “treated” for almost a year with lectures, herbal remedies and cleansing treatments. Lily suspected that after that kind of treatment, the woman probably thought that sex was a form of torture;

3. If one of the spouses committed adultery. The guilty party had to be caught in the act with his pants down (or her skirt up), and he or she had to be detained that way long enough for a person of authority to arrive and act as a witness. Since Jess Earton was the highest authority on the estate, she would essentially have to catch him and his mistress in the capital and call in a royal envoy as witness. Lily could just imagine the scene. “Your Majesty, this is my husband. The woman lying under him is Adelaide Wells. I believe this proves his unfaithfulness. May I have my divorce now?”

4. If one of the spouses decided to serve Aldonai. Lily had no intention of joining a convent, and she didn’t feel up to the task of sending Jess to a monastery. Poisoning him would be easier.

In short, the first and the fourth options wouldn’t work, and she was doubtful about the second and third options. Lily was confident she could give a good impression of hysteria, but that would prevent her from running her various business and household affairs. And there was always the risk that the count would react by raping her or having her beheaded. The stakes were too high. Lily suspected that her husband would find a way to impregnate her again just so he could hold on to her father’s boatyards.

The only remaining option was to prove adultery. The adultery couldn’t be hers – even if she had the time and the interest – because it was too dangerous. If he caught her in bed with another man, the earl could throw her out the window if he liked without fear of repercussions.

After much thought, Lily concluded that she would have to try to negotiate with him peacefully. When led onto the topic of the earl, the pastor gave out information in bits and pieces. Lily learned that her husband was intelligent. He was good looking and an excellent hunter. He excelled at fencing. He studied the Book of Aldonai. These observations were interesting, of course, but ultimately unsatisfying. She needed to know about his personality. Was he domineering and authoritarian? If not, she would try to win him over. She would even promise him an heir.

I’ll grit my teeth and do it. And in return, he’ll give me my freedom (within the restrictions of the culture, of course).

It was a dreadful choice, but Lily’s life depended on it.

If making nice doesn’t work, I’ll try to catch him with his mistress. And if that doesn’t work…

She stared at the wall, deep in thought.

Do I have it in me to order a man’s murder?

She hadn’t killed Etor with her own hands, but she had sent him to his death. She had ordered Shirvey’s torture. After a short reflection, Lily decided that she would sleep fine at night. But it wasn’t enough to have her husband killed. She had to get away with it. If she hired someone else do it, she would be exposed to the threat of blackmail later. Tomas, sitting in her dungeon, was a perfect example of that. No, the local ninjas were of no use against an earl who had been practicing swordplay since he could walk.

Can I poison him on my own? I’ll have to think about it.

She would have to do it right if she didn’t want to hang. Lily didn’t know what poisons were available to her, but she already knew quite a bit about interrogation techniques, and that knowledge gave her goosebumps. She was truthful with herself. She knew that after they drove the first needle under a fingernail she’d tell them everything she knew, all the way back to Adam and Eve and the apple they were supposed to let be. No, she wasn’t cut out for martyrdom.

I have to stay positive. At least no one is trying to torture me right now. Well, until the Earl of Earton gets back and wants me to perform my matrimonial duties, that is… I have to stop this negativity and find something happy to think about!

There was a knock at the door. “My lady, Baron Donter is here to see you.”

Sigh.

Ali soon arrived in Altver. His first order of business was to visit the Eveer jeweler, who would be certain to know how to find the Countess of Earton. He found Helke “sitting on his packed bags” and inquired as to the reasons for his hasty move from town. When he learned the story, he offered his condolences and made a suggestion.

“I am headed to Earton, myself. Why don’t you come with me on my ship?”

“I would be very grateful, as long as Baron Avermal is satisfied with the plan,” Helke hinted.

Ali immediately understood his concern. “She saved my leg and my life. You may be assured that I would never undertake anything that would harm her. And Baron Avermal is welcome to send her gifts on my ship.”

Helke didn’t think Ali was up to anything, but he wasn’t sure.

Ali was impatient. “I cannot wait long for your decision. I have an Avarian stallion on board that I am taking as a gift to the countess.”

Helke whistled. “An Avarian. That will make a princely gift.” He knew that Avarian stallions were the most expensive animals in the world, and that Avarian mares were never sold by their Khangan masters. “Will the countess have the proper feed for such an animal?”

“I have feed for several months. I’m sure she has a stable with grooms.”

“She does. But will that be sufficient for the beast you are carrying?”

Ali raised an eyebrow.

“If I were you, I would find an excellent groom and take him, too. Just in case.”

“You are right. I will leave Lisam with her. He is one of my sailors, and he cares for the stallion as if it were his own child. I must go see Baron Avermal. Make up your mind while I am gone. There is room for you on the ship.”

Torius Avermal had no objection to Helke joining Ali on the trip to Earton. He had traded with the Khangan merchant for many a year and knew the man to be honest. However, he asked him to wait another day until his men could finish loading the mayor’s Earton-bound ship.

Ali easily agreed.

Torius said he would have his men load the ship as quickly as possible. He had been looking to hire guards, but two ships would be better and safer than one ship on its own.

When Ali inquired about the necessity of guards, Torius explained that the King’s envoy was on his way to Earton to see the countess. He had arrived in Altver on a military ship, but its draft was too deep to navigate the treacherous Earta, so Torius had offered the man a spot on the schooner that would soon be departing.

The envoy was a landless noble, a chevalier by the name of Tremain who was unfamiliar with the area and more than happy to take the mayor’s advice.

Ali was happy to wait a day, as was Helke. Now that the mayor’s son was temporarily neutralized, he could take more time to ensure that his goods were well packed.

From Taris Brok’s three-pigeon letter to August Broklend:

“My lord, I make haste to inform you that your daughter is alive and out of danger. However, I am sad to report that she lost her baby and lives in the most awful conditions. Her husband has abandoned her, and an attempt was recently made on her life. Praise to Aldonai, she was only slightly wounded. She has written two letters to you that I will deliver in a few days’ time.”

Lily nodded to Emma. “Did the baron come alone?”

“No. He has five other men with him.”

Lily had no idea what that meant. Was five men a lot or a little? Leif by himself was a lot to reckon with, but he was an outlier.

“I will be down shortly.”

Dear Maria! Wonderful Maria! The first lace shawl I make will go to you. If it weren’t for your classes, I would have told Emma to show them in to the hall. Now I know that they should wait outside. I won’t keep them waiting long, but I’m the powerful person here!

Emma hesitated. “My lady, perhaps you will make haste.”

Lily pricked up her ears. “Why is that?”

Her housekeeper’s answer worried her. It seemed that young Baron Donter was known for being a petty tyrant with a terrible temper. He was the kind of minor noble who raped village girls, set his dogs on the peasants, let his cattle trample their crops, whipped people for minor infractions and hunted on his neighbors’ property. In short, he was one of those angry young men who walks around completely unaware that everything doesn’t revolve around him. His uncle, the old Baron Donter, had been more respectable, but the new baron took after his dear mother.

Lily wasn’t sure what to do with this information. Should she invite him in, or should she call for her Virmans? Anything could happen…

Leis appeared as soon as she called for him. He had been busy.

“My lady, I put archers on the wall. If anything goes wrong, they will take his group down.”

“Won’t that create a lot of trouble with other neighbors and the king?”

“My lady…” Leis hadn’t thought that far.

“Exactly. No archers.”

“But…”

“Call my Virmans. I believe just the sight of them will work wonders.”

“Yes, my lady. I already sent a boy to run get Erik. They will be back soon.”

Soon? It’s at least a mile to where the Virmans are fixing boats by the river.

“How long do we need to hold out?”

Without offending the baron or making myself look ridiculous!

“About half an hour.”

Can I distract the baron for half an hour? You bet I can!

“Send me a maid with my best clothes!”

Lons was in his room when Mary went running by, followed by Ilona. He reached out and caught her apron. “What’s going on?”

Her explanation took exactly two minutes. The neighboring baron had come calling, and the countess needed to hold him off until her Virmans could get back from the river. Ilona and Mary were going to dress her in her best clothes so she could go downstairs and engage him in pleasant conversation.

Lons let the girls go and raced back to his room to change clothes. He was a chevalier. He would help the countess. At the very least, he could stand behind her and look respectable. Which he had every intention of doing, since he knew he would probably need her help in the near future. Lilian Earton looked like the kind of woman he would mind being grateful to.

He quickly changed into one of the suits of clothing the countess had issued him. Now he looked the part.

It took Lily all of five minutes to change because she simply pulled her best dress on over what she was already wearing. The results pleased her: the dress laced up the back, but the girls had made it to sit comfortably on her new shape. Then she waited while Mary rebraided her long hair with several strands of pearls and hung a few more strands around her neck. Clothes and hair complete, Lily made her way downstairs with a stately air.

On the stairs, she was accosted by Lons Avels. The chevalier was clean, dressed neatly, and even handsome.

“My lady, will you allow me to assist you?”

“How?”

“If we work together, it will be easier to hold him off.”

Lily nodded. “That is so. Shall we go?”

“Allow me to offer you my arm.” Lons draped his cape over his arm and bowed. Lily nodded and placed her fingers on the cape. They were icy cold.

“My lady, I do not believe he is looking for a fight.”

Lily was not reassured. It was always easier to make an enemy than a friend, and in this particular case she would have to make nice with a very unpleasant person.

The young baron was standing in the courtyard. Leis went out first and bowed.

“The countess will see you soon.” He continued to talk, assuring the baron that the whole castle was pleased to see him.

From the window, Lily looked out at the five men who were with him. In her own world, she would have categorized them as a pack of mangy dogs and done her best to avoid them. Unfortunately, she wasn’t in her own world. She sailed out the door and gave the entire group a winning smile. Lons bowed. He had obviously had practice.

“Baron Donter, allow me to introduce myself. Chevalier Lons Avels.”

The baron’s eyebrows went up.

Lons coolly explained, “Fate brought me here to Earton, where I am tutor to the earl’s daughter and guest of the countess.”

The baron gave a brief bow and turned to Lily. “Clive Donter, my lady. I heard that you had trouble and stopped to express my condolences.”

It was Lily’s turn to be surprised. “Your condolences? What for, Honorable Clive?”

“I heard that you were ill, and that you suffered the loss of your child.”

Lily sighed and wished she could tell him to go to hell. “Honorable Clive, that is all in the past. But still, I am glad that you have come to see me.”

He smiled broadly. “We are neighbors, my lady, and it’s important to have a friendly relationship, isn’t it?”

Lons jumped in. “Very important, Honorable Clive. Guests are rare in our part of the kingdom, so we are always grateful for a chance to hear the latest news.” He cut his eyes at Lily.

One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand…

In her mind, Lily was running down to the river. She figured it would take the messenger twenty or thirty minutes to get there and another thirty minutes for the Virmans to get back. Then she saw the look Lons shot at her. She smiled sincerely, “Perhaps you will stay for a bit, Honorable Clive? We were about to sit down to our noonday meal.”

The baron bowed. “My lady, your invitation is a great honor. I will gladly stay.”

“Then please, come in. Your men can eat in the kitchen.”

Baron Donter’s eyes glinted, but he did not look offended. After all, the countess had invited him to eat with her. And if his men had to eat in the kitchen, at least it wasn’t the stable.

As they walked through the great hall, Lily decided to have a quiet word with Jaimie. If the meal did not go well, she might offer the men some compote of aconitine or mezereum jelly.

Jokes aside, if you try to mess with me, I’ll make sure you come down with a bad case of diarrhea. You won’t have time to even think about taking up arms against me.

Lons bowed as they reached the dining hall. The baron did the same, tossing his cape over his arm and offering it to Lily. She now knew that this was proper etiquette. She smiled sweetly and put the tips of her fingers on his arm. They were already warm.

The meal was preceded by large quantities of syrupy local wine. Lily smiled and was charmingly polite. The baron grinned at her like he was selling something. Lily had ordered Martha to keep Mirrie locked in her room until after their guest departed. Martha readily agreed. She had heard rumors about the baron.

The servants came and went like mice. Emma was as regal as the king’s own flagship.

As they waited for the food to arrive, Lons conversed politely with the baron. They discussed the weather, horses and hunting dogs. Lily smiled and looked interested. Soon the food was served. Baron Donter seemed pleased with what was offered. Spices were highly valued, and the new cook Emma had hired knew how to use them to good effect. Lily tried small portions of each dish and was impressed with the honey-glazed smoked ham, the goose poached in wine, the chicken broth with cream and, of course, the steamed vegetables.

I wonder how she put this together so quickly? Did she just heat up some leftovers? If so, good for her!

Lily held up her end of the conversation, but she could see that Lons was doing most of the work, and doing it so well that the baron never even noticed.

I need to learn how to have a decent conversation as a countess. And I’ll teach Mirrie, too.

Pleased by the attention, Baron Donter let Lons steer the conversation in any direction he wanted. Soon, Lily learned that the Earta was a decent river near its mouth, but that not far past her castle it became impossible, with sharp rocks rapids around every corner. She also learned that, unlike her husband, the baron had his own harbor on the coast. However, he did not use it for trade, since the coastline in those parts was dotted with reefs, shallows and difficult currents. Sailors, said the baron, were of the opinion that anyone sailing to Earton or Donter had better be prepared to swim to shore.

Lily smiled at the baron to acknowledge the humor. Then she looked up as the door opened softly. It was Erik. The modest Virman – all of six-and-a-half feet tall and at least three feet wide at the chest – looked impressive. His chain mail glinted, his axe reflected the light from the window, and his helmet shone like a mirror.

He reminded her of the Terminator in the third movie.

“My lady, may I give you my report?” His voice rumbled so deeply that Lily saw a cobweb come loose in the far corner of the room.

“The boats are repaired. All that is left to do is apply pitch. If you wish, I can…”

“I do wish,” Lily nodded. “I will have pitch delivered tomorrow. Thank you.” She paused. “Are you here with your men?”

Erik nodded. “Yes, my lady.”

“Good. You can take your meal in the kitchen.”

“I thank you, my lady!”

“I am the one who should thank you,” said Lily with a smile. Erik turned and left. He hadn’t expected to be invited to share her table, but he understood that the baron needed to see him. Now he was free to head to the kitchen for his food. In his brief time at the castle, he had found that excellent food was prepared for everyone, not just for the countess.

Baron Donter watched Erik leave with round eyes. “Who was that, my lady?”

Lons jumped in to answer. “I’m sure you understand that the countess needs guards, living out here as she does.”

“But Virmans?” He sounded like a pious Christian speaking of devils with horns.

Lons shrugged. “The countess is a woman. If her husband desires something, she would never cross him.”

It was all Lily could do to keep from laughing. Lons, of course, knew the truth, but there was no way for outsiders to see through her. For all they knew, the earl issued commands and his wife followed them.

The baron nodded politely. He heartily agreed that husbands should be obeyed. Lons turned the conversation back to the weather.

The baron’s five men in the kitchen were having a lovely time pinching the servant girls, eating all they wanted and cracking bawdy jokes. Their bacchanal continued until the Virmans appeared. Erik and ten of his strongest warriors in chain mail made such an impression that a chicken leg fell out of one man’s open mouth. Erik grinned. He had noticed that people were afraid of his smile, but he wasn’t sure why. Sure, he was missing a few teeth and some of the others had been filed into points, but he was a seafarer, not a lady’s man.

“Good health to you!”

“And to you!” one of Donter’s men managed to cough.

“Yes, and to us.”

Suddenly no one was in the mood to tell jokes or pinch behinds. Erik might have considered it, but he restrained himself. Instead, he politely asked for food for himself and his men. Their plates soon appeared.

Three hours later, the baron was three sheets to the wind, so Lily had him sent home in her carriage. She would have gone to even greater lengths to get rid of him; however, she suspected that she was much more likely to see the baron again than her carriage.

He’ll be back. Asshole.

After waving her handkerchief at the disappearing carriage, Lily blew her nose on it and turned to Lons. “You have my gratitude, Chevalier Avels. You certainly helped me today.”

“My lady, it was nothing. Any nobleman would do the same.”

Lily bowed, and he returned the bow. They understood each other

“I owe you.”

“I know.”

The words were not spoken, but Lily knew how to show gratitude, and Lons knew how to be useful. Two intelligent people can always reach an agreement.

August tore his hair when he received Taris Brok’s letter. An attempt on her life? Lily was living in awful conditions? It took him all of five minutes to realize what must have happened. When he had sent people to check on her before, they had always traveled to Earton with the earl.

What if he was reading her letters all along?

He knew his Lily to be a shy girl, the much-loved daughter who had grown up motherless. He could well imagine that she would be too scared to complain to him.

You just wait, Jess Earton! I may not be a count, but I’ll have you crawling on all fours in front of your wife!

August had never had any illusions about his son-in-law. The young man wanted August’s money and his boatyards. Jess’ uncle had an interest in them, too. The king had acted as Jess’ father at the wedding. He was also a witness to the marriage contract. August had known that Jess was not in love with his little Lily, but he had thought they would grow together over time. Once they had children, they would be parents together. Now, he feared something awful had gone wrong.

Abandoned by her husband.

Living in terrible conditions.

An attempt on her life!

August couldn’t imagine who would want his daughter dead, but he would not act hastily. This was a serious matter. He would wait for Brok and then go see the king.

Knocked out by strong drink, Baron Donter only opened his eyes when the carriage entered his own estate. Lily had done her best. Her homebrew was powerful, but it had no odor and almost no flavor when added to the local wine. Better yet, it could knock out a horse, even in small amounts.

The servants had outdone themselves, and the baron had drunk much of the doctored wine. He had a splitting headache, but he did not attribute that to the countess. In fact, she had made a very positive impression on him.

She’s a nice little housewife, teaching her stepdaughter, embroidering flowers everywhere and staying out of men’s business. That chevalier…I suppose he’s the husband’s manager.

Slowly, a thought tried to form itself in the baron’s brain.

What happened to Etor?

Baron Donter had known Etor well. But now Etor was gone. Who had fired him?

The countess?

That was ridiculous. Another thought struggled to articulate itself in his mind.

What if the earl was suspicious of Etor and sent someone to get rid of him?

He shook his head. That was unlikely. If the earl suspected Etor of theft, he would never have let him take his wife and leave.

Unsurprisingly, the baron never considered the possibility that Lilian Earton’s body had been taken over by someone else – someone who knew nothing about this new world and did whatever came to her mind. No, he decided that the earl had dealt with Etor.

Etor must have really screwed something up, and it caught up with him.

Clive wasn’t worried at all about the countess. What concerned him was the large number of Virmans. They complicated his plans. It was a sad prospect, especially when viewed from a bad hangover.

I’ll think about what to do once my head stops hurting. Winter will be here soon.

Lily was very busy over the next few days. She was mad at herself, so she turned her anger into a whirlwind of productivity.

There was plenty for her to be upset about. All the healthy Virmans were either repairing boats, helping build the smokehouse and the salt pits, or already preparing fish for the winter, but people in and around the castle were dragging their feet. When Lily went to see how Jaimie’s infirmary was coming along, what she saw depressed her. Even in her own world, building a health clinic was no easy task. Here in her new world, without antibiotics, all they could do was wash wounds with strong homebrew and pray to whoever would listen.

But that was not the true cause of Lily’s annoyance.

She was upset about the baron. He was an evil man and could cause her all sorts of problems. Lily wasn’t used to feeling defenseless. Leis had just five of his men at the castle: the rest were either with Taris Brok or helping the peasants gather stones to repair the wall around the castle. That meant that she had a fighting force of five soldiers plus Leis.

That isn’t enough. It was such bad luck for the baron to turn up just now. Or was it?

When she mentioned the matter to Erik, he replied, “You must have trees felled to create barriers around the estate. And build guard posts with pigeon coops. Otherwise, anyone who likes can march over your lands.”

Lily nodded in agreement. “I want you to start on that as soon as the last boat is repaired.” Then she apologized for not inviting him to share her table. “The baron is a foolish man. I was afraid he might pick a fight with you. I don’t need trouble with my neighbors.”

Erik smiled and put one hand on his axe.

She turned back to the matter at hand. “Where will we get pigeons from?”

“Leif has a coop, and there are several coops in the village.”

Lily jumped as if she had been stung by nettles. “Who has them?”

“Fred Darcy and Erk Grismo.”

“Why didn’t…” She stopped herself. It was a stupid question. Why didn’t she know? Why hadn’t she been told? For a moment, she said nothing. Then she decided to tell Erik everything that had happened since she woke up that fateful morning. No, she didn’t tell him that she was from another world.

Good God no! That would be a short path to the stake, even if they aren’t currently running an Inquisition here.

She told him that her estate manager was a thief, and that he had fired all the castle guards, and that she had sent him packing. Finally, she told him that wolves had gotten Etor as he left Earton.

Erik listened intently. Suddenly, he broke in with a question. “My lady, where did they bury this Etor?”

“I don’t know…”

“Did you see his body?”

She shook her head. And then she realized what he meant. “You think he’s still alive?”

“Possibly. He could be hiding out with an accomplice. And another thing: how long has it been since your husband was here, my lady?”

Lily counted back. “About six months.”

“When is he due back?”

The answer – Only
Aldonai knows – was written in large letters across the countess’ face. Erik sighed. She was a strange woman. She knew a great deal about many complex things. She could hold her own in a dispute with the healer, and she conversed with men freely. But she could also be shockingly naïve.

“My lady, how long would your manager have lived if your husband had found out that the castle was falling apart, the guards were gone, his reports were falsified and you were not being taken care of? Think about that.”

Lily thought. “Maybe half an hour.”

“If that long. That means…”

“He had a plan?”

“Of course.”

Lily pondered that. “He had money, and plenty of it. What I shook out of him was more than enough for me to buy supplies for the winter. And I got only a small part of what he had taken.”

“Yes. What can you conclude?”

“He wasn’t going to wait around for the earl’s return.”

Lily had forgotten all about ranks and titles by that point, and Erik didn’t want to remind her. She was above him in rank, to be sure, but she was also a beautiful woman. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were shining and her breasts…her breasts!

Lily felt none of this. She was too busy thinking.

They took everything they could from Earton. Shirvey was in on it. It was his job to warn Etor if the earl planned a visit. But where did he plan to go?

“We have to find his accomplice.”

“Accomplices, my lady.”

“What do you mean?”

“He had to have helpers. Otherwise, how would he get away? My lady, if what you tell me about his dealings with the slave traders is true, all of your peasants should have run off by now. But they are still here.”

“But…”

“There are only two possibilities: either they had nowhere to go, or it was too dangerous to leave.”

“Why would it be dangerous to leave?” She called for Emma.

The housekeeper admitted that yes, some people had tried to run, but their bodies had been found outside the villages.

“Who could have killed them?”

“They say it was Baron Donter, my lady.”

“The young baron?”

“The old one.”

“I thought he was supposed to be better than his son?”

That turned out to be a complicated question. The old baron hadn’t made trouble for other nobles, but he had been known to whip peasants mercilessly. It was also said that he killed his wife when she had an affair and got pregnant.

Lily waved those stories away. “Do you think it was the baron?”

“I believe it was.”

She turned to the Virman. “Erik, when you start felling trees for blockades, I want you to keep an eye on the villages. See who has pigeons and…”

“You wish to use us as bloodhounds, my lady?”

Lily sighed. It was a fair question. “You are wolves, not bloodhounds. I know that. But you have the same sense of smell. Please use your abilities for the good of the earl’s house.” She paused. “Chevalier Avels, Lady Miranda and myself eat in the small dining room every day. Eight in the morning, one o’clock in the afternoon, and six in the evening. If you are able to join us, we will be glad to see you.”

Erik shook his head. “I’m a Virman, my lady.”

Lily knew that Virmans didn’t believe in Aldonai. They had more than enough of their own gods. For this reason, mainlanders preferred not to get too close to them socially.

“What difference does that make? I eat with Lady Miranda, Chevalier Avels, Pastor Vopler and his son, Leif, Ingrid and Captain Antrel. We aren’t the worst company, I promise you.”

Erik agreed with this sentiment. “My lady, I will join you if I am at the castle.”

“Good. Will you start on the blockades and guard posts?”

“I have to go to one of the far villages to get pitch for the boat. I’ll keep my eyes open while I make the trip.”

Even after this progress, Lily was still angry at herself.

Why was I afraid of the baron? Because everyone else is. Mass hysteria is the most communicable disease I know of. I should have kept my cool. I’m in charge here.

She reflected that a cool head wouldn’t help her much if the baron decided to cause trouble.

Of course, I can always write to the king, but it would take months for anyone to get here. I wonder if medieval bureaucrats are like the ones I’m used to?

Lily sighed and went back to her tasks. She attended Mirrie’s lessons, kept order in the castle, continued her inventory with Emma, wrote out more notes on medicine, listened to the men’s reports on their work, gave orders…

And I thought aristocratic wives sat around embroidering! I’ve never worked so hard in my life. It’s time to ask for a raise. As if.

Lady Amalia, Duchess of Ivelen, born an Earton, slipped into her husband’s study. He was looking over some papers. When he looked up and saw his wife, he put them aside and smiled. “Come in, my dear. Has something happened?”

“Nothing serious, my dear. It’s just that I’m worried about Miranda.”

Peter pulled his wife to him, kissed her hand and stroked her round belly. “I would rather have you thinking about our child.”

“Miranda is family.”

“She has a father.”

“But she has no mother. And Jess is sweet, but he doesn’t know how to be a father.”

“I remember, my dear,” Peter agreed. He rubbed the small of her back and then let his hand wander down to a place slightly lower.

“We were raised by governesses. Father was always working, and Grandmother and Grandfather didn’t like to spend time with us. You have no idea how we dreamed that someday Father would spend the day with us. A whole day!”

Peter tried not to grimace. He had heard all this before.

You’re married now, my dear, and you have your own family. You shouldn’t be wasting energy on a brat who has more bad habits than brains.

He said none of this aloud.

“My dear, if you wish, I will send a letter to Earton and inquire after Miranda.”

“Oh please do!” Amalia’s dark blue eyes lit up. “Please write, my dear!”

“You don’t have to ask, love.”

Peter pulled her onto his lap and kissed her. If Lily had been present for the scene, she would have asked if anybody needed a tissue, but no one saw the husband and wife at this quiet moment. And no one noticed the shadow of displeasure that flitted over Peter’s face when Amalia spoke of her brother.

It wouldn’t have done much good, anyway. You can’t use a shadow against a man.

A few days later, Lily decided she had been right about the baron. Strangely enough, it was Jaimie who enlightened her. They weren’t exactly friends, but Lily enjoyed talking to the healer about various subjects, including those that were of professional interest to them both.

They were sitting in the infirmary when Jaimie spoke up. “My lady, the baron is a brute and a nasty piece of work, just like his mother. And his father.”

Lily nodded, as if to say “I agree. Do you have any details?”

That was all the encouragement Jaimie needed. It turned out that Baron Donter wasn’t a baron at all. In fact, he had as much claim to the Donter estate as Lily had to the Great Wall of China. Approximately thirty years ago, the estate was held by the old Baron Donter, who had a son and a daughter. The daughter married for love – her husband was a landless chevalier, but he was handsome enough to steal her heart.

A few years after the marriage (which had yet to produce children), the story got more interesting when the chevalier’s sister moved in and the baron’s son was killed in a hunting accident. He and his friends had been chasing a wild boar that was already full of their spears – something no one with any common sense would ever do – and the boar turned suddenly and gored him.

In short order, the daughter’s husband became the new heir to the estate and title. The old baron wrote to the king and asked that his son-in-law be allowed to inherit. Some said that the old baron had already lost his mind from grief when he wrote out the petition, but that was just peasant gossip.

His daughter was locked up in the castle and didn’t dare say a word against her husband, who had threatened to kill her.

By this point in the story, Lily had put her work down and was listening intently.

The king gave his permission for the son-in-law to inherit, and the story took a tragic turn a few short years later when the baron’s daughter disappeared.

Where did she go? No one knows.

There were several explanations. Some people said that she had been unfaithful to her husband and ran off with one of his guards, taking a fair amount of her husband’s gold with her. Others said that she died of childbed fever. Yet others claimed she went insane and drowned in one of the nearby bogs.

It was a riddle wrapped in a mystery.

The new baron and his sister remained on the estate with her son. Yes, she had a son of her own. She had gotten pregnant by another chevalier who unwisely got himself killed while hunting. The brother and sister petitioned the king to name the boy the heir to the estate. The pastor refused to attest to the boy’s lineage, which was required since illegitimate children could never inherit land. However, the brother and sister found a loophole and made use of it.

Lily sighed. Two things occurred to her. First, her neighbor was obviously a dirty bastard with a shady past. Second, there were entirely too many man-eating beasts in the woods.

When August finally finished reading his daughter’s letters, his hands began to shake. He had waited for Taris Brok to return in hopes that the news would relieve his fears, but things were worse than he had expected: his precious daughter, the little girl he had raised like a hothouse flower, was living in a falling-down castle, she had no guards, her manager was stealing from her, and the earl had found another woman.

And her letters! What suffering must she have endured in order to write that way?

He noticed immediately that she didn’t complain or cry or beg for help. She just laid out the situation, writing like a woman who was twice her age and had seen much of life. August didn’t want to think about what had happened to make his daughter grow up overnight. He did, however, want to think about catching up with Jess Earton and knocking him into the next life.

Son of a bitch!

Like everyone in his world, August believed that a woman’s place was in her husband’s home, where she belonged. He didn’t question how the world worked, but he had done his best to keep his daughter safe by writing the marriage contract himself. He remembered putting in terms about her happiness and safety. There was nothing in there about living in a falling-down castle without guards.

What other terms is Jess violating? If he’s touched the money that was supposed to belong to Lily, that’s serious. And if he has committed adultery…

In short, August’s first thought was to beat his son-in-law to death. His second thought was to tell the king. His third thought was that he should bide his time and collect evidence. The king was very fond of his nephew, so August would need incontravertible proof of any claims he made. As a father, he believed Lily without a doubt, but he feared that the king would not see it that way.

Slowly, he began to make his plans. He would make sure that Edward sent Lily an invitation to the palace. While he was at it, he would let the king know how difficult her circumstances were, and he would make sure to read the report from the king’s envoy. August knew full well that his plan would not be easy or quick, but he could not bear to leave his daughter at the mercy of a husband who didn’t love her.

Divorce never entered his mind. A divorced woman was marked for life, worse than a leper.

What about a separation?

That was possible. It would free Lily from her complete dependence on the earl, and it would force him to handle her with greater respect.

August set aside the letters and called for Taris Brok. As his agent answered his questions, August’s surprise grew even greater.

Intelligent, strong-willed, ambitious…is this my shy little girl he is talking about?

As he thought back to scenes from his own youth, however, he began to feel a warm sense of pride. His father had tried to force him into a military career, but he had run away from home at the age of ten and found himself a job working for the master shipbuilder Torney Faray. Old Faray saw that the boy was ready to sell his own soul for a chance at building ships, and he taught him everything he knew. August remembered his third and last wife, old Faray’s youngest daughter Mariella. A magical girl who reminded him of the ocean, she was many years younger than August and her family’s favorite, but she had always stubbornly insisted that she would marry him someday. And she did, giving birth to a tiny daughter before dying of a fever.

August had loved his third wife with all his heart, just as he loved his daughter. He would walk through fire and water for Lily, and it brought tears to his eyes to hear that she was spreading her wings.

There’s no surprise there. Old Faray was as stubborn as rock and was bossed by no one. Mariella was always very determined, too.

He could still remember the look on her face when she announced, “You just wait. I’m going to marry you.” It mattered nothing that he was already married at the time. She had her plans and would wait to see them through.

No, upon reflection, August was not terribly surprised that his daughter had turned out like her parents. He nodded for Brok to continue.

Taris had been watching the play of expressions on his master’s face. He handed him a scroll. “This is the confession of the man who tried to kill her.”

August took the scroll and unrolled it. He read it closely, paying attention to each word. Then he frowned. “How do we know about the mistress?”

Taris raised his eyebrows. “The man said that he was hired to get rid of your daughter.”

“I understand that. But how did he know who hired him and why?”

“We had the same question.”

“And?”

“Apparently, he went back to the tavern the next day and saw the man who hired him. He followed him back to where he was staying.”

“Is that so?”

“He saw him go into a house that was frequented by the earl. It was the home of a woman named Adelaide Wells.”

“I see.”

“Jerrison Earton often visits her there.”

“And?”

“Our man wasn’t as big a fool as you might think. He talked to one of the servants and found out that his client was Lady Adelaide’s cousin, and that she and her cousin have a very interesting relationship.”

“How delightful.”

“She has an interesting relationship with your son-in-law, as well.”

August frowned. “So says the servant. That isn’t enough.”

“Of course. But with a little effort we could…”

“I will consider it. You may go.”

Taris bowed and left. August sat down to think out his next steps. He hated to watch and wait, but he saw no way around it. He would need to see the report from the king’s envoy in order to be sure of making a strong case against Jess. In the meantime, he would write to her and ascertain what her financial position was. He couldn’t leave his boatyards, but there was plenty he could accomplish without leaving home.

Imagine that you are sitting at home minding your own business, when suddenly a large mail truck pulls up to your house and dumps a mountain of packages and boxes at your door. That is how Lily felt when her livestock arrived in Earton. She briefly had time to be glad that she had ordered the peasants to fix up the barns before dashing off to make sure that the animals were properly taken care of.

The barns and sheds were all teeming with cows, pigs, goats, chickens and geese. Lily’s original intent had been to give the livestock to the peasants, but she began to wonder if that was a good idea.

If they have trouble keeping themselves fed over the winter, how will they feed all these animals? I bought good breeding stock. I have to make sure they are in good shape come spring.

She decided to keep all the livestock in her own barns for the time being, which multiplied the already long list of things she had to oversee and otherwise see to. Emma helped as much as she could, and so did Ingrid, who had hastily returned from the shore. Still, there was much to do each day. In the evenings, Lily fell into bed, almost too tired to tell Mirrie a story.

Mirrie. There’s another problem. I love that little girl. What will happen to her if I can’t find a way to get along with her father?

In the end, Lily had no time for spiritual conundrums, because the king’s envoy finally arrived.

Adelaide Wells was extremely pleased with herself. Why shouldn’t she be? She was a lovely, charming woman (or girl, as she preferred to think of herself). She was traveling with Prince Richard’s delegation as a future lady-in-waiting for the future princess. Once he chose his bride, Adelaide would befriend her and tell her all about her new home…and many other things, as well. She knew that some women managed to hold onto the post of lady-in-waiting for years. They shone at court, engaging in intrigue and taking lovers. Life at court was a dream come true, at least for Adelaide.

She frowned. Unfortunately, her income was insufficient to support that dream. Her cousin Alex was poorer than the proverbial church mouse. His only merit was between his legs (and in his quick mind), but still… At the moment, she was providing for Alex with some of the money she received from Jess. The earl was another serious problem to be solved.

Adele had no illusions about her lover. He was a smart man. He was skilled at business and knew how to play the role of the king’s right-hand man. With women, however, he was weak. He said he loved her, but she knew he would make love to any woman who offered herself without feeling that he was unfaithful.

Adele’s hands balled into fists. It was so unfair! Why did Jess – handsome, wealthy, insatiable in bed – end up married to a fat cow, while she – intelligent, sensitive and generally wonderful – had spent her best years married off to an old goat who constantly farted whenever he wasn’t asleep? She deserved so much more.

She had already written back to Alex, telling him to get rid of the countess no matter what it cost him. Once she was gone, Adele knew that Jess would be hers. She would not lose him.

Both helplessness and flattery were skills that Adele had perfected over the years.

Now, however, she was feeling impatient. She picked up a pen. There was still time to write another letter before the diplomatic mail went out. Her letter would be cautious, with veiled phrasing, but its point would be clear. Alex must remove the woman whose place Adele intended to take: the Countess of Earton.

“Your Majesty?”

Gardwig turned and saw his adopted brother at the door to his study. “Don’t just stand there, Altres. Come in.”

Altres Lort went to bow, but the king stopped him. “Next you’ll be crawling on your belly! Aren’t you tired of that?”

“I’ve been bowing to you all these years, so no, I’m not tired of it.” Altres could see that the king was in a fine mood, so he sat down next to him and nodded at the bottle of wine on the table.

“Pour yourself a glass and pour me one, too.”

“You should drink less wine. The medicus said…”

“I should have a pair of those fraudsters hung from a high tree. Idiots! If only one of them knew anything!”

“They do know a few things, and they are telling you the truth.”

The king sneered. “Want to hang with them?”

“Fine. I apologize.”

Gardwig nodded. “What did you want?”

“Our guests have arrived in Tarima. They should be here in a few days.”

“You should see Milia running around. Clothes, jewelry, balls, hunting…all that money would be better spent on ten new ships.”

“Gard, I’m sure you understand…”

“I know. I have to bait the hook if I want to go fishing.” He leaned back in his chair. “Do you remember running away from the summer palace with me so we could go fishing?”

Altres nodded. He let himself relax for a moment as he thought back to two boys climbing out of a window, wet grass under his bare feet, the sky still dark, feeling something heavy strike his hook… One of the boys became king, but they were still the closest of friends. Altres had never married or had children. His job kept him too busy, but he knew he didn’t have the looks for it, either. He might have found a woman who could overlook the fact that he was the king’s jester, but he didn’t know of a woman in the kingdom who would marry a short man with a hunched back and a pronounced limp. He was brave and intelligent and he was the king’s own adopted brother, but when women looked at him he saw curiosity in their eyes, often followed by disgust. Altres didn’t want to see that look every day of his life. So, he never married.

Altres looked up at the king. “I remember all of it. Let’s run down there this summer and do some fishing.”

“We still have to reach an agreement with Ativerna.”

“Ativerna.” Altres’ face became focused. “They threw a ball for Prince Richard in Tarima. I expect his delegation to arrive in another four days at the most.”

“Good. What do you know about him?”

“He’s smart. He had a little fun in Tarima, but he hasn’t brought any whores with him.”

“What did he do in Tarima?”

“He spent the night with a baron’s wife. In the morning, he gave her some jewelry. She was pleased. According to the report, he’s an ordinary man with no strange tastes.”

Gardwig nodded. “I’m glad to hear it. Anna is a stupid girl, but she is my daughter, after all.”

Altres said nothing. He had no intention of exposing exactly how stupid Anna had been. Gardwig would just get upset and do something stupid of his own. That was not part of the plan.

The king set down his glass. “Does he have any weaknesses?”

“It’s hard to say. Edward has been training him since he could walk. One weak point might be his cousin. They are close, almost like brothers. The man’s name is Jerrison, Earl of Earton.”

“What do we know about him?”

“He’s got brains, but he can’t stay away from women. He has one with him now. She’s officially called a future lady-in-waiting, but everyone knows that she’s his mistress.”

Gardwig smiled. In his youth, he had made the rounds of all the ladies at court.

Altres went on. “He keeps up appearances, but we can still use it against him. Richard trusts him implicitly.”

“Do you have something in mind?”

The jester nodded. “Yes. I will give Anna a few weeks to work her magic. If she is not successful, I have an idea.”

“Tell me.”

Altres looked his brother in the eye and began to speak quietly. The king leaned forward to hear him. Together, they worked out a plan. Richard would leave Wellster betrothed to Anna.

Lily sometimes thought that fire and flood would be less trouble than managing her estate. It took all the self-control she had not to use profanity, since Miranda was always right behind her and would be sure to pick up any useful new words. And Lons would look at her disapprovingly.

Chevalier Avels had quickly made himself irreplaceable, becoming something like a personal secretary to Lilian Earton.

“Lons, write this down! Tell so-and-so to do such-and-such! And by the way, I need to know the right way to do this, that and the other.”

He wrote, he gave orders, and he always provided the information she needed, all the while wisely keeping his opinions about the countess’ oddities to himself. Which was exactly what she required of him.

After just a few days, Lily realized why top managers all had secretaries. There were situations in which Lons was absolutely vital to the functioning of the estate. Like now, when two large ships came lumbering up the Earta and discharged a crowd of people.

There were Helke and his large family – Who are all these people? His wife and children? I thought he wasn’t married! – who turned out to be nieces and nephews.

Then there were Ali and Omar, both smiling. Ali was walking confidently without even a hint of a limp.

I did it! I fixed his leg, even in these awful conditions. That’s something to be proud of!

Ali was followed by an old man with a gray beard and a strange animal sitting on his shoulder. There was another strange animal looking out of a fold in his tunic. Lily knew she had seen similar animals before, but she couldn’t remember where.

Then she caught sight of an obviously important courtier, who bowed politely to her. “My lady, allow me to introduce myself. I am Chevalier Hans Tremain, envoy of his majesty Edward the Eighth. The mayor of Altver, Torius Avermal, said that you needed to see me.”

Tremain neglected to mention that he had also been sent to Earton by the express wish of the king. He knew better than to release information when it wasn’t strictly necessary.

Lily smiled and bowed her head slightly. Once again, she thanked the heavens that she had Lons to train with. It was a perfect bow, slightly deeper than what she would have given her own secretary. Tremain was just a chevalier, but he was the king’s envoy.

“I am glad to see you in Earton. I hope your trip was pleasant?”

“It was long, and I am thankful for a chance to rest.”

“Chevalier Avels?” She glanced at Lons. He stepped up and bowed to Tremain, who was almost his equal.

“Chevalier Lons Avels. Please follow me. Our accommodations are nothing like what you are used to, I’m sure, but we will find room for you.”

“Why do you say that? This is the family seat of the Eartons.”

“True, but the earl is only here a few times a year. And there was trouble with the manager…”

Lily didn’t hear the rest of their conversation, but she was confident that Lons would present a picture of Earton that was painted in the blackest of tones. He would also whisper to Emma what she was to say.

He’s right. We have to try to look worse off than we really are whenever officials come snooping around.

She turned back to find Ali and greeted him warmly in the Khangan manner, arms crossed over her chest and eyes on the ground as a sign of trust. “May your legs be light, your horses swift and your wives beautiful. What brings you to my humble home, friends?”

Ali’s smile flashed against his dark beard. Omar smiled, as well. “My lady, may the light of your loveliness shine on all those around you, and may white roses grow wherever you set your foot. We were brought to Earton by the winds of fate, which bring good fortune to all of us.”

Ali had much more experience with this sort of conversation. After about three minutes, Lily could no longer tell what they were talking about. When he saw that she was confused, he stopped and smiled. “I am so glad to see you, my lady. Did you see me walking?”

“I did. You will have to let me examine your leg later, but I am almost sure that everything is as it should be. Have you been drinking milk as I instructed?”

“That is all I have been drinking. It does not mix well with wine…”

Lily laughed.

“But I did not come all this way to complain about my treatment,” Ali continued. “I want you to meet Tahir Djiaman din Dashar.”

The old man with the funny little animals took a step forward and gave a low bow. Lily responded in kind. She wouldn’t stand on ceremony with the friend of a friend. Also, she knew that women were chattel property in Khangan culture, so the fact that they were talking to her as an equal was a great achievement.

“Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton. Countess of Earton. I am pleased to meet you.”

“My lady, I heard of your art and decided I must meet you.”

“My art?”

“You healed Ali’s broken leg. I could never have made it straight again.”

Lily took a deep breath. “Are you a medicus?”

“I have devoted my entire life to the art of healing. If the Star Mare allows it, I will continue as a healer for the rest of my days.”

A local doctor. Wonderful.

“I’m sure we will find plenty to talk about,” Lily said. Addressing all three men, she continued, “I will be honored if you will stay at my home as my guests.”

Ali shook his head and gave a long speech that boiled down to one simple fact: he would be delighted to stay, but the storm season was already upon them. He would stay the night so that the countess could examine his leg one last time, and then he would head for home in the morning. She could expect him to come for a longer visit in the spring.

Lily nodded and replied that she would be overjoyed to see her friend again in the spring. Then she turned to the healer. He indicated that he would stay until Ali’s return if the countess would have him. Lily tried to contain her excitement.

A Khangan healer! To stay over the winter!

As things stood, she was afraid to treat people because she feared that rumors about the strange countess were already getting around.

If I have this Khangan as cover, I might actually be able to get something done.

Once the ships were unloaded, Lily had the satisfaction of looking over her purchases. Torius Avermal had sent some of the things overland, but the rest had come in Ali’s ship. The greatest prize of all was several cages of carrier pigeons. She told some boys where to put them and ran back to trade a few more bows with Ali and Omar.

It was late afternoon when she finally found Helke in the courtyard, overseeing the movement of his family’s many boxes and bags. They were not alone, but no one was close enough to hear her, so she asked him why he had left Altver. The Eveer’s story gave her pause. “You are certainly welcome to stay here, and I am glad to see you. However, now that you no longer have a shop in Altver, we have to decide how to sell the things we make.”

Helke’s eyes sparkled. “My lady, if we do this right, people will sail directly to Earton to buy from us.”

“Do you think so? For now, you need to rest and I need to speak with the king’s envoy.”

“My lady, be cautious in your dealings with him.”

“I am the one who asked for him.”

“Yes, and Baron Avermal wrote to the nearest envoy, but this is a different man. He arrived in Altver on a military ship with instructions to follow to Earton.”

“When did he arrive?”

Helke gave the date and Lily pondered for a moment. By her calculations, Taris Brok and her father had nothing to do with it. The envoy was obviously here for some reason other than to simply take the would-be murderer off her hands.

“Thank you, Helke. I will be very cautious.” She turned to go into the castle.

“My lady!” She turned. It was Ali, holding the bridle of a… of a…

Lily had never been crazy about horses, but as soon as she set eyes on the stallion – and she could tell right away that he was a stallion – she knew she had to love him. She saw a fire-red coat, a long, black tail, a black mane, and enormous dark eyes. The stallion stamped his fine, long legs and tossed his long, thin head. He was gorgeous and he knew it.

“This is an Avarian stallion.” Ali was proud. “We never sell our mares. They stay in the Khanganate. This one is named Lidar. It means “wildfire.” I would like to give him to you as a gift.

Lily almost fell over. “But…”

Ali was decisive. “This is the most valuable thing a Khangan can have, and it is the least I can give you for saving my life.” She looked into his face. He would not back down.

“I thank you for this gift, and for finding me to be worthy of it. It is truly a gift for a king.”

“For a queen,” Omar whispered.

Lily smiled at him and turned to the horse. She approached him slowly and reached into her pocket, where – thank the gods! – she found an apple (it was autumn and there were apples everywhere, so Lily had taken to snacking on them). The stallion took the apple neatly with its lips. Then it sniffed her hair, snorted into her ear, and seemed to decide that she was worth his attention. Lily was lost to the world around her. The horse was wonderful. She could already imagine riding around the estate. Then a terrible thought occurred to her.

“Will my grooms be able to take proper care of him? They will do anything I say, but I’m sure they’ve never seen a beast like this before.”

“I will leave you my own groom, my lady. He will care for Lidar.”

Only then did Lily notice the short, dark man standing by the horse.

“This is Lisam,” said Ali. “He will remain with the stallion. I brought enough feed for several months.”

Lily could no longer contain her thanks. Ali was pleasantly gratified.

That evening, a large group gathered around the dinner table. The countess was joined by Miranda, Chevalier Lons Avels, the king’s envoy Chevalier Tremain, Ali and Omar. Lily invited Erik, but he declined, as did Tahir Djiaman din Dashar. Helke knew not to expect an invitation. After all, an Eveer could not be seen at the same table with such company. Leif and Ingrid were not at the castle, but Pastor Vopler joined the party at dinner, as did Maria Reichart, who wanted to keep an eye on Miranda’s manners (and Lily’s, as well).

Lons directed the conversation skillfully, often drawing the guests’ attention to the earl’s neglect of his estate and to all the hard work the countess was forced to take on her lovely shoulders. Hans listened intently. Ali spoke warmly in the countess’ favor. Maria pecked neatly at her food and gave whispered instructions to Miranda. The pastor supported Lons’ account of affairs at the castle and praised the countess for undertaking to rebuild his church. Omar said nothing, but kept his shining eyes on the countess throughout dinner. In a word, everyone was busy.

Problems did not start until the next morning, after Lily bade farewell to the Khangans and turned her attention to the king’s envoy. She invited him to join her in her study. When he sat down, he changed his manner almost immediately. Gone was the kindly man from dinner the night before. In his place, Lily saw the Grand Inquisitor.

“My lady, what can you tell me?”

Lily was not the least bit phased. “About what matter, Leir Hans? You will have to be more specific, since so much has happened lately.”

“Let us start with the complaint you filed.”

“You refer to the attempt on my life?”

“Yes.”

Lily took a scroll from her desk. It was the record Pastor Vopler had written out of the questioning. “I have nothing to hide. Read this.”

Hans raised an eyebrow. Apparently, he had expected her to react differently. Lily suspected he knew how to make an impression on the locals, but she – or Aliya, rather – had seen worse. Plus, she had read plenty of mystery novels.

Now he wants to play “bad cop.” We’ll see about that.

When he saw the countess had nothing more to say, Hans started to read the scroll. His eyebrows kept going up and up. Lily watched, idly wondering how many wrinkles he could fit onto his forehead. Three? Four?

“My lady, how ever did you survive…”

“It was a miracle,” Lily sighed. “My guards saved me just in time.” That wasn’t exactly the truth, but she had no intention of sharing everything with this man.

“And this scoundrel says…”

“That he was hired by the lover of my husband’s mistress. The man is still alive, by the way. You can ask him anything you like.”

“I will be taking him with me.”

“Thank you for that. We barely have enough food to go around for the winter. I’d rather not feed the wretch.”

“Not enough food? But…”

“Leir Hans, do you have any idea what condition the estate is in? Do you see how hard we are all working?”

“I see that, my lady, but…”

Lily later reflected that the monologue she gave at that point should have been set to music. It was pure Greek tragedy. The way she told it, she had only the faintest memory of her life before the miscarriage. She suspected she may have been poisoned. She had no proof, why should a healthy young woman suddenly fall down the stairs and lose a large chunk of her memory? It was strange, to say the least.

Leir Hans had doubts on that point, but he didn’t want to argue with the countess.

Lily went on. She told him about her thieving estate manager and pulled out all the account books she had found. She told him that Etor had fired her guards, and that he had been selling local youths into slavery. She invited him to ask the servants or anyone else he liked. He could question every single person in Earton and she would ensure their cooperation.

Once he realized that the countess was telling the absolute truth, the envoy’s heart fell. He had hoped that this would be an easy job – just talk to the hysterical woman, calm her down, and make haste back to the capitol. Unfortunately, now he could see that the woman was not hysterical, and that the situation was serious. She also had serious guards at the castle.

“Why do you have these Virmans, my lady?”

“What if the slave traders come back? My husband is not interested in my safety, so I have to think for myself. And for his daughter, as well.”

“But I see that his soldiers are here.”

“Fifteen men? Do you find that to be a sufficient number?”

“Perhaps not, but from the looks of it, you are preparing to defend the castle from a siege.”

“Better prudent than dead,” Lily shot back. “Although prudence is not cheap.”

“What about the estate’s revenues?”

“What revenues? That man Etor stole everything but the curtains in my bedroom. I know he had accomplices. One of them happens to be sitting in the dungeon right now. I also have four slave traders locked up. Since we’re on the topic, I also have several dozen people that my Virmans saved from the slave traders. Go speak to them, if you like! In short, Earton is a terrible state. I have no idea what the earl was thinking of when he sent me here. I know that he does not love me, but I can’t understand why he would send his daughter here, too. I suppose he wants to be done with both of us.”

“Watch your words, my lady!”

Lily laughed bitterly. “Watch my words? Leir Hans, I don’t have to convince you of anything with my words. Ride around Earton and talk to people. Question the men in the dungeon. Then decide for yourself what is going on.”

“What about these Eveers?”

“Where else was I supposed to turn for money?”

“And the Khangans?”

“My Virmans saved their leader, Ali, from being trampled by a bull. He came to express his gratitude for saving his life.”

Lily did her best to turn every topic back to her husband. If he hadn’t abandoned her, she never would have had to raise money and hire guards. She was a weak, frightened woman who had been left to a cruel fate.

After half an hour’s talk with the countess, Hans headed down to the dungeon. Lily gave vent to some elaborate profanity (looking over her shoulder after every word). Then she went out to the stable to see her Avarian stallion. She wondered if her husband would try to take him from her. She hoped not.

Alex was working to pull off the plan that had been devised by his dear Adele. He had already hired a soldier from the unit that was following the earl’s daughter to Earton. In truth, he was not very hopeful of the man’s success, but it was worth a try. Adele was good at getting information out of the earl. She knew when Lady Miranda was supposed to leave with the soldiers, and five days had been plenty of time for Alex to pick a man. One man was not enough, however, so Alex sold Adele’s costly ruby brooch, earrings and ring (gifts from the earl) and went to strike a bargain with the leader of a band of mercenaries.

“One hundred coins.”

“Five hundred.”

“One hundred and fifty.”

“You’re joking. Six hundred wouldn’t be enough for a job like that.”

“I won’t give you more than two hundred. All you have to do is ride out there, pretend to be pirates or brigands, kill a couple of people and ride off. There aren’t any guards to speak of, and even if there were, there are fifty of you in your band. You won’t be outnumbered.”

“If the king finds out, he will hunt us down like dogs.”

“Don’t get caught. The estate is a backwater. No one will know.”

“She’s a countess. If we get caught, they’ll break us on the wheel. Four hundred.”

“Two hundred. That’s my final offer.”

“That’s not enough for the murders and the simulated attack.”

“It would take you six months to earn that much.”

That was the truth, but the mercenary made one more attempt. “Two hundred and fifty.”

“Two hundred. And ten more for you if you pull it off.”

“We want to see the money.”

“I’ll pay twenty upfront and the rest when you return.”

“It’s a deal.”

“Where do we go?”

“Earton.”

“But that’s the end of the world…”

“Not true. You’ll be there in three weeks.”

“It’ll take longer this time of year.”

“Bad weather is already included in the price.”

Alex was a reckless haggler. He had pulled together three hundred gold coins using every trick he knew, and he was prepared to fight to the death for each one of them. The jewelry hadn’t been enough. He had been forced to borrow against other assets, but that didn’t stop him.

All that mattered was that he had found a group of mercenaries who agreed to do the job. They weren’t the best out there, but there were forty-five of them. That should be plenty to take out Lilian Earton and little Miranda Catherine.

The mercenaries didn’t like anything about the job, but they had gone many months without work after a regrettable incident in which they had played too hard with other men’s girlfriends and ended up stabbing a couple of idiots. Now they were forced to take on an assignment that they would normally have turned down. In the end, they decided to sail out to Earton and see how things went. Their leader didn’t like the looks of this particular client, but the advance was sufficient and – who knows? – they might pick up other valuables while they were there.

Two men met in the shadows of the woods.

“When are they supposed to arrive?”

“They said they would get here before the storms start.”

“The storms are already here.”

“Then they’ll be here any day.”

“We have to warn them, or else the Virmans will see them.”

“See them? There’s about fifty of them. They’ll run right over the Virmans.”

“You think so?”

“There’s nothing to think about. The countess doesn’t have that many Virmans, and they’re all spread out. Some are at the shore, others are in the villages. Some are off on odd jobs, and some of them are sick. If they’re lucky, they can get twenty men together at short notice. They’ll be overrun.”

“Still, maybe we should send a boy to warn them?”

“Go ahead, if you want.”

“I’ll send my son to the dock. He can wait for them there.”

All the next week, Lily was up to her ears in work. She left castle affairs up to Emma and farm work to Ingrid, who went with Leif to see what kind of stores the villagers had for the winter. At the last minute, Lily had asked them to take Pastor Vopler with them. Before they left, she took Leif aside and reminded him that no one expected him to change his religion, but that he should avoid offending Pastor Vopler at all costs.

Leif frowned. “What do you need this man for?”

“Because he is the pastor. I have fifteen hundred people on the estate and one little church. He wants to find a place to put a second church, so let him do it. And don’t bother him if he wants to hold services in the villages. You don’t have to attend.”

Leif grimaced, but promised to tolerate the pastor. “He can do as he likes, Holosh[4] take him.”

Lily repeated her admonishment to be careful and keep both eyes open. She wanted to know where Etor went after she kicked him out. Leif nodded grimly. Once again, Lily saw quite clearly that Leif – cutthroat and sea wolf – wouldn’t be in Earton at all if it weren’t for Ingrid. She wondered if she would ever find a husband who cared for her that strongly. She doubted it. And in all honesty, if her prince on a white horse had ridden up just then, Lily would have told him to go to hell. She didn’t have time for love.

There were too many important things going on that needed her attention. After Tahir Djiaman din Dashar read through her notes on human anatomy, he begged her to share the source of her information with him. Thinking quickly, Lily told him that she didn’t know what the source was called. When she was a girl, she had found some old scrolls at her father’s house that interested her. They were falling apart, so she had copied them for her own benefit. If he wished, she would look for the rest. He did wish it, very much so.

When she was alone, Lily put her head in her hands and began to think. She had already written out what she remembered of anatomy and pharmacology – her two worst subjects. She had planned to move on to pediatrics and surgery, but now she thought it might be more useful if she wrote out her notes on nursing. Once that was done, they could organize a nursing course at the castle.

That’s what I’ll do. I’ll write out everything I know about nursing: how to prevent infections, how to treat bed sores, all the different ways to dress wounds. Tahir can take that and teach others, and I’ll pretend to be learning from him, too.

Meanwhile, Lons was setting up a school for all the children running around the castle. The Virmans had brought twenty children with them, boys and girls ranging from three to twelve. Lily told the tutors they would be teaching all of them, as well as Miranda and the pastor’s son, Mark. Anyone who didn’t like the terms of employment was free to leave. The tutors wisely decided to adapt to the new conditions.

After the children had their lessons, they were marched out in small groups to help the adults with their work. Emma found a job for each child, even Mirrie. The earl’s daughter whined, but she had to learn to manage a household along with all the other children.

Once the small people were used to their new routine, Lily sat down with the blacksmith and the glassblower, who had brought back plenty of sand and chalk from the shore, and tried to work out a process for making high quality glass. She knew that large pieces of glass were cast onto a layer of molten pewter, but they would need tools that the blacksmith was not sure how to make.

Their first attempt was a learning experience for all three. They blended quartz sand, soda and lime using a ratio Lily remembered from her school days, heated it until it melted and poured it into a mold. When the glass cooled, they saw with disappointment that it was full of large bubbles. Lily’s only consolation was that they had made a small batch.

For the next batch, they poured the glass onto a layer of molten pewter, and it cooled into a smooth, even layer. However, the bubbles remained a problem. Eventually, the blacksmith came up with a tool that could be used to stir air bubbles out of the glass before it cooled. They also did a better job of sifting and grinding the sand, and their third batch turned out a decent piece of glass.

After their twelfth attempt, Lily picked up a sheet of perfect clear glass and felt immense pride.

That’s why I never skipped chemistry. With a little chemistry, you can accomplish anything!

The blacksmith and glassblower were just as proud of their contributions to the enterprise. Lily knew the theory behind glassmaking, but they did all the hands-on work themselves and did it well. Never one to rest on her laurels, Lily suggested that they add a little iron oxide for green-tinted glass and sulfur for brown glass. She hadn’t found any cobalt or manganese yet, so blue and red glass would have to wait.

That’s no surprise. I can’t expect to find everything I need right here at my feet. Earton has peat, and it has amber. Those are good resources to start with.

When Helke learned about the amber, he took his nephews and dashed off to the shore to find more. His sister stayed behind and quietly took over control of the kitchen. She was an excellent cook, and much to Lily’s taste. She was also economical in the extreme, which Lily appreciated after years of Etor's excesses. With Loria in charge, Lily found that they were all eating plain, healthy fare without any fancy flourishes.

Some days, that good food was all that kept Lily on her feet. It was hot in the glassblower’s workshop, and she often left there after a full day of experimenting not sure she could make it back to her own room. Still, she was overjoyed when they made their first piece of good glass. The method they invented became known as the red cross method of casting glass. Lily did not want to use the Earton crest or her own Broklend crest. No, for now, everything she did would be marked with a red cross.

She was also pleased with herself for bringing the blacksmith and the glassblower together. It had never occurred to anyone that masters with two different arts could join forces, but Lily had done it. Once the two were accustomed to working together, she told them she wanted them to make a new kind of mirror. Following her instructions, they coated one side of a piece of glass with a thin layer of silver. When that dried, they went over it with black paint. Thus, Earton was the birthplace of that world’s first glass mirror. Lily felt no compunction about taking it for her own use. It was a sign of her achievement, and she also wanted to look at herself.

What she saw in the new mirror pleased her: a handsome woman who looked to be about five feet ten inches tall and weighing just shy of two hundred pounds. She did some quick math.

That gives me a BMI of about 28, maybe a little less. I still have a ways to go, but I’m building muscle. I’ll call it good after I lose another twenty pounds.

She reflected that she wasn’t really dieting anymore because her work kept her on her feet all day: from Mirrie’s lessons to the glassblowing workshop to the dressmakers (who were constantly running into trouble with their lace) to the stables, to the infirmary, Lily lived at a breakneck pace.

If I don’t get enough calories, I’ll fall over dead!

All this time, Hans Tremain had been poking around Earton and asking questions of everyone he met. Eventually, he was forced to admit that things were even worse than he had thought. Personally, he disliked women who couldn’t be controlled and admired Edward the Third, who had whipped his wife to keep her in line. However, Lilian Earton was not out of control. Quite the opposite: he found her to be a woman in steely control of herself who was busy morning to night. He knew for a fact that she often missed meals. She attended church in the morning, followed by her stepdaughter’s lessons, household affairs and meetings. Glassmaking was the only work of Lily’s that Tremain did not entirely approve of, but he had to admit that good glass was a useful thing to have on hand.

Since their first conversation when she acquainted him with the estate’s condition, the countess had not complained to him once. Hans was now convinced that she had not been exaggerating. All the older servants told him that the countess had been a quiet, shy woman. She sat in her room, praying and embroidering while she waited for her husband to visit. When asked about the earl, they said he was a good master, may Aldonai bless him with years of health, but that he was rarely at the estate and taxed his peasants to the point of starvation. Everyone he spoke with was delighted by the changes in the countess and the work she was doing.

Hans sat down to sum up what he had learned. Before she lost her much-anticipated child, Lilian Earton had been a quiet girl who never complained about her husband, even though she had much to complain of. The earl treated her poorly, turning up once every three or four months for short visits during which he spoke to her rudely. The countess often cried after he visited her bedroom at night.

The envoy didn’t like to involve himself in private family matters, but he couldn’t help but wonder at Jess’ behavior.

She is his wife, after all, and he ought to show proper respect in front of the servants. It isn’t right for them to know such things.

He was not a particularly religious man, but he believed that Aldonai gave women to their husbands to love and cherish. A man who disrespected his wife disrespected himself.

Hans reviewed his notes. The countess had had an accident that resulted in a miscarriage. She almost died. When she finally recovered, she was like a different person. That made sense to him. He didn’t think she was right to fire Etor for stealing, though. The man should have been held in the dungeon until the proper authorities could question him. However, he admitted that she was in a bad position and may not have known what else to do, especially since all the castle guards had been sent away.

For now, it looked like Lilian Earton had done everything she could have done. Not knowing if or when her husband would show up, she dealt with Etor’s treachery the best way she knew how.

He stretched and looked out the window.

But what about those Virmans?

He supposed she didn’t have a choice, especially since the slave traders had grown used to filling their ships in Earton. Hans knew about the illegal slave ships that hunted up and down the coast. The king wanted the trade suppressed, so he would do his part to suppress it. For her part, the countess was doing her best to take care of the estate and the peasants. He might not agree with how she went about it, but she was a woman and she was trying her hardest. Mentally, he wrote down “Virmans” in the column he was keeping against the earl.

After interrogating Shirvey, Hans just shook his head. He had no trouble believing that Shirvey and Etor had banded together to defraud the earl, but he couldn’t see why the earl would leave his pregnant wife to their care. In short, the envoy was not pleased.

While he was in the dungeon, he found time to interrogate the slave traders. Afterwards, he admitted to himself that the countess’ Virmans could be quite useful in some ways. None of the slave traders wanted to be left alone with them, so they told him many things that Hans found it worthwhile to know. He was looking forward to reporting back to the king.

When he spoke with the former slaves who had found themselves in Earton entirely by chance, he heard even more in the countess’ favor. She was giving them clothes, food, and a roof over their heads. True, they had to work hard, but she had promised to pay them. And they were free to go wherever they liked.

A true bureaucrat, Hans examined the episode with the slave ship from all angles to make sure that there was nothing he could pin on the Virmans. They hadn’t broken any laws, as far as he could tell. They seized a slave ship and then turned the slaves over to the countess for her to deal with. The king would find no fault with them.

True, the envoy had heard a few voices of dissent about the countess and her Virman guards, but he was inclined to disbelieve them (although he would file those statements away with all the others, just in case). For example, Lady Miranda’s former nursemaid swore up and down that the countess was a terrible tyrant and that she was engaged in some kind of dark devilry. Even worse, she was keeping the Virmans so that she could fornicate with them.

There was also one tutor who complained that the countess allowed the commoners on the estate entirely too much freedom. He was upset about having to teach Virman children, and he hinted that Lily was too free in her attentions to men.

Hans filed these statements away, but he doubted they had any value. He felt it was more likely that the nursemaid had lost her position because she wasn’t very good at it. In fact, he was sympathetic to Lily for letting the woman stay on as a stable hand. He knew many noble families where she would have been handed her things and told to leave.

The tutor is a similar case. For the money she pays him, he ought to be happy to teach anyone or anything that shows up for lessons. And I’ve kept an eye on her and those Virmans. Jess Earton is no cuckold, of that much I am sure.

During his stay at the castle, Hans had seen Lily shovel in her dinner and fall into bed every night. He also knew that Lady Miranda slept right next door and that the door between their rooms was always unlocked. Several of the maids confirmed that Miranda often spent the night in her stepmother’s bed. There was no doubt in his mind that Lily had neither the time nor the inclination to commit adultery. True, the Virmans checked her bedroom every night before she went to sleep, but that made perfect sense, since the murderer had been hiding in her room.

The envoy went over what he knew of the attempted murder. Someone connected to the earl’s mistress wanted Lily dead. His mistress was the very same Adelaide Wells who had been included in Prince Richard’s delegation upon the earl’s request.

Did the earl know about any of this? If he did, he’ll be in a bad place when it all comes out.

He reflected that Lilian Earton could have a magnificent scandal if she wanted one. That said, he was fairly certain that she wasn’t interested in scandal.

He sighed.

Tomorrow I’ll ride out to the villages and see what else I can find out.

Big Jim, the captain of the She-Wolf, viewed the coastline with an experienced eye. He and his men had been coming here for ten years. Once Etor was appointed manager, they had been able to work in the open. They had sailed in one day to pick up their cargo and any debtors for sale, when Etor had made them a curious offer. A castle. An entire castle without guards. They could come and take whatever they wanted. Etor guaranteed that there would be no defenses. Big Jim hadn’t gotten the letter he expected, but Earton was such a backwater that it wouldn’t surprise him if the letter got lost.

The smugglers (call them pirates, call them slave traders – it’s a hard world for nice young men trying to make a living) dropped anchor in a quiet cove and prepared to go into the nearest village once it was dark. The boatswain’s brother lived somewhere nearby. Part of the plan had been his idea.

Amber was incredibly rare and incredibly valuable, and the boatswain’s brother was one of the few people that knew about a large seam of it running through some black rocks on the coast. The present earl’s grandfather had known about the deposit, but he had kept it under wraps because he didn’t want to share with the king. Three of his men had also known about it, including the boatswain’s father. The old earl’s wife had not known – she was mean enough for ten women, with barely brains enough for one – and the present earl did not know. No one knew the details, but the men had heard that the Earton family split into two camps following a scandal of some sort.

Once old earl died, the boatswain’s father made sure that the two other men who knew the secret met sudden and accidental deaths, leaving him the only one in possession of the valuable knowledge. He dug the amber quietly, selling it in small quantities and building up his farm on the proceeds. His oldest boy grew up to be a village elder, and the youngest ran away to sea and became boatswain on a slave ship.

When his younger son came home for a visit, they soon realized that they had the beginnings of a profitable trade. Big Jim was let in on the secret and decided it would make a nice side venture to the pillaging he had planned with Etor. He had brought another man with him, Captain Darvin of the Salty Dog. One of them would load up the amber while the other took care of the castle. Once they were in the clear, they would split the proceeds.

Big Jim brought his ship in close to shore in a secret location. He knew that sailors liked to blow hot air about the shoals and reefs along Earton’s coastline, but he was a crafty old salt. There was always a way in, you just had to find it. Sometimes you had to time the tide just right, and you couldn't necessarily get out again until the next high tide, even if you had a shallow draft. He still hadn’t decided what to do with this particular cargo. He couldn’t risk sitting too low in the water, so he might have his men bring it back to the ship in rowboats.

But first, he would send the boatswain to see his brother. If the coast was clear, they would load the amber. Then they could turn toward the castle.

I want to get my hands on the loot that won’t bite, first.

“There’s a sail!”

Virmans had never enjoyed the luxury of negligence. They always had both eyes open. Gel was the first to notice the sail.

“Who is it?”

Olaf squinted at the horizon. “It’s a Wellster-built tub. They’re the only ones with a bow like that. I can’t make out a name yet.”

“Where is it headed?”

“To shore.”

“There’s no place to anchor here, but they may get through if they’re sitting high enough.”

“It looks like they know where they’re going.”

“So they’ve been here before.”

Olaf grimaced. He remembered the countess’ words about slave traders, and he suspected that he was about to meet them in person.

We’ll hand them their asses.

The countess had said that once and Olaf had liked it and filed it away.

“Stop all work. Get everyone in the smokehouse and keep them quiet. I want to see where they anchor. Then we’ll send out scouts. Gel, you're the lightest of us. I'll give you a horse. Get back to the castle and tell the countess.”

Gel nodded. There was no time for discussion. “What do I tell her?”

“That a ship arrived. We need reinforcements. We will watch them for now, but if they make trouble, we won’t be able to hold them for long. Hurry.”

Gel ran toward where the horses were tied. He was glad he wouldn’t have to run the whole way.

Olaf turned to his men. “Find the Eveer and his family. The countess will not want anything to happen to them. They have Hleig with them, but he is just one man.”

Anna of Wellster shook as if she had a fever. Time was passing. Soon…soon… Richard would arrive soon. Would she be able to captivate him? What if he wanted a blonde? What if…

Her nerves were shot. The jester was standing next to her, and that didn’t help. Anna had been right about him. He was an evil, clever beast. If he raised a finger, no one would ever find her body.

Richard will be here soon. People say the day after tomorrow.

Anna went to the mirror and looked at herself. She was beautiful. Not too tall, with a lovely figure, generous breasts, sleek, dark hair pulled up into a complicated style, red lips, and deep, dark eyes. She was charming. She had all the gorgeous dresses a girl could want. She had a rich dowry. She was the king’s daughter! What else could a man want?

I have no idea.

The jester told her that Richard wasn’t known to favor any particular type of woman, and that he hadn’t brought a mistress with him.

I have a chance, but how much of one?

She would do anything to become queen. She would lie to, sell, betray or sleep with absolutely anyone. She might even kill to get what she wanted.

They can all go to hell! I have to protect myself!

Her lawful husband didn’t even enter her mind. She was too busy trying to save her own life.

Helke had seen the ship, too. He followed his instincts, gesturing for his nephews to get down. Then he looked around cautiously. It wasn’t good. The Virmans were far away. Instantly, he had a plan. They would get off the beach and into the trees, and then they would run towards the Virmans as fast as their legs could carry them. Eveers had been hunted on and off for many years. Helke knew that the less noticeable they were, the more likely they were to survive. The amber could wait. Now his goal was to get his family back to safety.

Hleig confirmed his fears. “Pirates. Let’s go.”

They began to crawl toward the trees. Helke cursed his luck. They had wandered far from the Virmans’ camp, and the ship would soon be between them.

“Uncle!” His oldest nephew Trost grabbed Helke by the sleeve and pointed to the beach. He saw a seated figure. It was a boy. He looked to be about twelve years old, and he was waiting for someone.

The ship?

Helke thought quickly. For now, he was fairly sure they couldn’t be seen from the ship, but he needed to make up his mind immediately. He had his two nephews with him and one Virman, and Helke was armed. He was an expert at throwing knives.

“Uncle, we can do it quietly,” Trost whispered.

Caleb, his other nephew, a serious boy of about fourteen, nodded. “If they’re pirates…”

Helke needed no explanation. Lilian Earton had spoken openly with him when he arrived. She had told him that there may be trouble ahead, describing what she foresaw and promising to do her best to keep him safe. Now, her safety depended on the Eveers.

He let out a breath. “Can you take him? I will cover you from the cliff.”

Hleig looked at the jeweler with fresh respect. “You Eveers are courageous.”

“We’ll be hard pressed later if he gets a message to them.”

The Virman nodded. “You take the younger boy and get behind the cliff. If anything goes wrong, run.” To Trost, he said, “You follow me. Do as I say.” Trost nodded.

Together, the man and the boy slipped down to the beach like a pair of lizards. Helke gripped the handle of his knife.

Let them live. Let this work out.

Gel spurred his horse like a madman. Finally, it faltered, and he leaped off and ran the rest of the way. When he burst through the gate roaring “Slave traders!” even the chickens fell off their perches. Lilian raced out of the glassmaking workshop.

“What did you say?”

Leis materialized next to her. “Did he say slave traders?”

“Two ships, both large but with shallow draft. No flags. They are approaching the shore confidently. They have been here before.”

Lily bit her thumb. “Are they the ones from before?”

“I don’t know.”

“Could they be merchants?”

“I doubt it. Why would they be here?”

“To take on water.”

“There’s no fresh water down there. If they wanted water, they would head for the mouth of the Earta. They’re going right over the reefs. They know what they’re doing.”

“How many men?”

“Judging by the size of the ships, there could be up to a hundred men.”

Lily wanted to scream. She felt like someone had hit her upside the head with a log. She wanted to run, but she stood still where she was.

Calm. Stay calm. If I panic, I’ll lose their respect.

She looked at Leis. “Can we take them?”

He thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Erik is at the river with about twenty men. Leif has thirty more, but five of them are on the coast and ten are away with him in the villages. I had fifteen soldiers, but five of them went with your father’s agent.”

“How does that leave us?”

“We have around fifty men, not counting the fools from the village.”

Lily held her breath. “Best case, it’s one to one. Worst case…”

“The wall is almost finished. We can repel an invasion, my lady.”

Just then, Lons came running up. Somehow, he was aware of the situation. “Why should we wait out a siege, my lady, if we can get help? Where is Leir Hans?”

Tremain stepped forward, his face grave. “I am here.”

“Leir Hans, what do you suggest?”

“We could get word to your neighbors.”

“Baron Donter?”

Lily thought that was a bad idea. She turned to Leis. He, too, looked doubtful. “I think we should start by sending out scouts.”

“Olaf sent scouts when he sent me here. He won’t start a fight. He will wait for reinforcements.”

Lily gasped. “Helke is down there with…”

“Our men will take care of them, my lady.” Gel’s assurance felt solid.

She let her breath out. “Captain Antrel?”

“I will gather our forces. We march as soon as Erik arrives.” Leis whistled to one of the Virman boys running around the yard and gave him concise orders.

Lily suddenly felt unsure. “Should I go with you or stay here at the castle?”

The men standing around her stared. She realized it was a stupid question and nodded. “Fine. Leave me five men in case I need them. Peasants will do. Now go. I have to talk to the healer. Will you take him?”

“Yes, if he will go.”

“All my hope is on you.” With that, Lily turned and went into the castle. She needed to be alone for a few moments, so that no one saw her pace the room in panic. She had known this was coming, but she hadn’t expected it so soon. Deep down, she had hoped it wouldn’t come at all.

Keep it together, Lily. Keep it together.

Leis watched the countess’ upright figure as she walked away from the men gathered in the yard. Then he started to issue orders. First, he sent a runner to tell the Virmans on the shore not to let themselves be seen until help arrived. Next, he sent a runner to find Leif, who should be with his men and Ingrid in High Wold. He didn’t think Leif could get back quickly, but it was worth a try.

What about the baron?

Leis thought about this for a moment. Then he told the runner to take his time. Baron Donter didn’t need to be the first to know about the trouble in Earton.

Helke gripped his knife. In the end, his help was not needed. There was not much a young boy could do against an adult Virman. Hleig grabbed him, tied his arms behind his back and dragged him off the beach. The ships were still waiting for the tide to rise, and Helke hoped that they had seen nothing.

Five minutes later, he and Hleig sat down to question the boy.

While Trost and Caleb averted their eyes, Hleig held a sharp knife in front of the boy’s face so that he could see the sunlight glinting off its honed edges. The boy was pale and afraid.

“Are you ready to talk?” Hleig sneered.

The boy shook like a lamb’s tail, but gave them nothing. “I j-just came down to s-sit on the beach…”

“Which ear do you want to keep? Left or right?”

Hleig was a professional. After the first small cut to the boy’s ear, he started to talk. Helke swore inwardly as he listened.

The boy said that his uncle was a pirate, and his father had arranged for them to take as much amber as they could carry. He had been sent to warn the ships that there were now armed men in Earton.

“Who is your father?”

“Erk Grismo.”

“The village elder in Riverton,” Hleig muttered. “Very interesting.”

Helke turned to the Virman. “What do we do now?”

Hleig looked at the boy and then at the Eveer. “We need to stop them here.”

“Here?”

“On the shore. We can’t let them get to the castle.”

“But…”

“We have to stop them.”

“But how?” Helke felt faint. He knew what was coming.

“Caleb and this rat are about the same age. Hey, you. Will Erk send anyone else?”

The “rat” sniffled. After they threatened to cut his nose off, he said that no, he was the only messenger. He was supposed to wait for his uncle and show him the way as he had done before.

Helke cursed. “Caleb can’t do it. All we can do is run to the smokehouse and tell them what we know.”

“No. Trost will stay.”

“But…”

“If they leave the beach, you won’t be able to run fast enough.”

“No, that’s true.”

“Let Caleb run. You take the boy and make your way to the smokehouse. Trost and I will stay here.”

Helke turned to his nephews. They were afraid, but they were also burning with excitement. He looked at Hleig. “Fine. Do not take any unnecessary risks.”

The Virman nodded. He turned to the boy. “Rat, is anyone else coming here?”

The boy shook his head. He had been given food for several days, so no one would look for him yet. They still had time, but it wasn’t enough. Caleb took off running.

Helke untied the boy’s legs, put a noose around his neck and stood up. “Do as I say or you’ll end up dead. Understood?”

The boy nodded.

Hleig reached out a hand. “And one more thing. Take off those clothes.”

The boy obeyed and handed his clothes to Hleig. Hleig turned to Trost. “Put them on.” The young Eveer pulled the clothes on over his own.

Hleig was satisfied. “Keep them on for now.”

Helke shook his head. Trost might pass for a local from a distance, but only if no one looked closely. His hair was too dark and his eyes were too intelligent. But they had no choice. The Eveer gazed at his nephew for what seemed like a long time. Then he turned and followed the boy.

Lily found Jaimie, told him to pack his things, and ran off down the hall. The young man did as directed. When she turned the corner, she ran into the Khangan healer, Tahir.

“What is the trouble, my lady?”

“Pirates. I’m a poor host, Tahir.”

“Lilian-jan, all the pirates in the world are nothing compared to the knowledge I have acquired here in your house.” The countess and the healer were already on familiar terms, using each other’s first names and sometimes adding “jan,” which was the honorific used by the Khangans for close friends.

“I am glad of that, but I must ask you not to leave the castle for a while. The pirates are looking for a place to land and we don’t know their intentions.”

“Could they be looking to take on fresh water?”

“Our coastline is an extraordinarily difficult one to navigate. If they needed water or supplies, they would have headed for Altver. I’m afraid that’s not what they are looking for.”

“Is there a village nearby?”

“Riverton. Even that is a long walk. But…” Lily grabbed Tahir’s sleeve. “Tahir-jan, come with me!” It took her just three minutes to explain her idea to Jaimie and Tahir. Then men balked for an instant, but then agreed that it was worth a try. Jaimie started pulling out herbs and bottles, and Tahir produced a mortar and pestle from out of nowhere.

There are two seasonings that work well with any dish: sedatives and laxatives.

If it had been up to Lily, she would have fed the pirates both seasonings all at once, but she would have to divide up whatever the men were able to concoct so that both Jaimie and Erik would have something to work with when the pirates showed up.

Just then, Erik flew into the courtyard with fifteen more Virmans hot behind him. Lily ran out to greet them. As always, Erik bowed politely. Lily smiled.

There’s something sweet about Erik, even if he is a cutthroat.

As quickly as she could, she told him about the pirates, what Leis was doing and what the healers were cooking up.

He nodded. “We will protect the boy. I may have to get my hands dirty today. Time to swing my hammer!”

“Erik!” It was Leis, who had come up behind her.

“Captain.” The Virman nodded and turned back to the countess.

“How long do you need to get ready?” she asked.

“An hour, no more, my lady.”

“Do you have enough horses?”

“No, but it doesn’t matter. They would only be in the way.”

Lily saw his point, but persisted. “Still, you should take a pair. What if you need to bring back wounded?”

“Anything that must be carried we will carry on our backs. And the healer is going with us, my lady.”

“Yes. He is taking some important things with him. A sedative and a laxative.”

“Poison?”

“No. They won’t kill anyone, but men can’t fight when they are asleep or have diarrhea.” Erik looked taken aback. Leis was in favor of her plan.

Lily was pleased. The blend of henbane, wolf’s bane, jimsonweed and hemlock would do no one any good, even in small doses. Jaimie had brought plenty of the herbs with him, and she had her own stores, as well.

More is always more. That’s what I say.

About an hour later, a very interesting troop of men marched out the gates, wearing everything from chain mail to cheap leather coats. They were obviously untrained. The Virmans cared little for marching in formation, and Leis hadn’t had time to work on young men who had been peasants until quite recently. Still, fifty men was a force to be reckoned with.

She watched the guards close the gates behind them and wondered if she should announce martial law, with curfews and patrols.

It probably wouldn’t work. I’d better put together a field hospital for the wounded we’ll be getting.

Helke’s younger nephew came running to Ivar and told him that his uncle was alive and bringing back a spy who knew who was coming and why. At first, Ivar was genuinely pleased. Soon, however, he began to think. How much would the young spy know? Who sent him? He would have preferred to capture a pirate, but he wasn’t sure how to do it. His second thought was to grab Erk and interrogate him, but there was no way to do it without raising a fuss. There was only one thing he could do: sit and wait for reinforcements and hold on to the spy.

More waiting.

Big Jim and Darvin set foot on the beach, never once suspecting that they were being watching most intently. Hleig and Trost counted the men in the rowboats. They saw that each one held an average of twelve men at a time. They counted six rowboats. In the last two, they saw a pair of men who were better dressed than the others, but obviously still pirates.

“There must be more of them back on the ships.”

“Probably not too many.”

Trost looked up at the Virman. “What do we do now?”

“We wait. They’ve arrived, but there is no one here to meet them. What would you do in their place?”

Trost thought. “I would wait for nightfall and send someone to my brother in the village.”

“Exactly. We’ll wait to see who goes. And we have to wait for our men to show up.”

Trost nodded, his eyes glowing with delight. Hleig turned away. He knew that the boy had not seen anyone die yet. He couldn’t know the danger he was in.

Big Jim turned to his boatswain. “There’s no one here to greet you.”

Sim Grismo was unconcerned. “They might have been delayed. It’s happened before.” Nothing seemed out of place. “When it gets dark I’ll run over to home.”

“Fine. We’ll set up camp here.”

Lily had everyone at the castle hopping. Servants and ladies’ maids were ripping sheets to make bandages and preparing cots for the wounded. Tahir was making a quick study of the surgical instruments Lily had ordered in Altver. He was up against something completely new, but as a scholar and a man of science, he was prepared to leave the mysteries for another day. Today he needed to survive.

Ivar heard a low whistle and turned to scan the trees.

Help is here!

Gel had arrived in time, as had Leis. Now they could attack. Helke told them what he knew and then left under guard. After questioning the boy in detail, Gel decided to send ten men to Riverton and the rest to the pirate camp. There would be no yelling and waving of axes: the Virmans would set up a quiet ambush and wait. The two groups agreed on their signals and parted in the dark.

Night had fallen. Sim Grismo looked over at his captain. “I guess I’ll be going.”

“Take Tom and Sam with you.”

“Yes, sir. Will you stay here for now?”

Big Jim was cautious. “We will wait until daylight. Then we’ll decide.”

Darvin made an impatient gesture. “We didn’t come all this way to turn around and leave!”

“Better to be poor and alive than dead on the road to riches,” Jim shot back.

“You said the guards are all gone. We can just walk in and take what we want.”

“Something might have gone wrong.”

“Send some men to scout around.”

Big Jim thought that sounded reasonable. “Yes, let’s send scouts out now.” In the end, they decided to send scouts to the castle. In the time it would take their scouts to walk all that way, take a look around, and return to the beach, the other pirates would load all the amber and be ready to turn their attention to the castle.

Hleig watched the three men heading toward him. They were going to Riverton. “I can’t take all three of them by myself.”

“Can I help?” Trost asked in a low voice.

“You don’t know how.”

“Even a boy can fight.”

“But can he get out of a fight alive?”

“We don’t have a choice. I know how to use a knife.”

Hleig shook his head. The boy may have stabbed somebody once, but that didn’t mean he was a skilled fighter. But he was right, they had no choice. They couldn’t retreat into the woods. They had to grab the men, interrogate them and kill them.

“Listen to me. This is what we will do…”

Sim Grismo didn’t even have a chance to yell when he was hit. Hleig dropped down on him from a tree, knocking the man out with his massive body. He jumped up and turned to the second man. His knife was swift and accurate, getting Sam in the heart. Tom took a step back – he had never been much for heroism – but Trost had lashed his knife to a long stick and slashed at the man’s legs. He fell onto one knee and Hleig finished him off with a knife to the throat. Then he tied up both men for good measure.

“Good job, boy.”

“I’m not a boy.”

“Still, you did a good job.”

Trost blushed with pride.

When Sim came around, he was in terrible pain. Hleig had just cut his ear off. The man tried to scream, but he had been gagged. A knife appeared in front of his face.

“I’m going to take the gag off. If you yell, you’re a dead man. But I’ll cut your eyes out first.”

Sam believed the voice. He kept quiet.

“Who are you? Where are you going and what for?” Shaking and stuttering, Sim began to talk.

Erk was sound asleep when the door to his cottage burst open. Rough hands dragged him from his bed, tied his arms behind his back and set him on his knees. He looked up and saw a giant Virman. He had seen him before. With one hand on his axe and the moonlight playing on his chain mail, Erik was a sight to frighten a braver man than Erk Grismo.

“Talk.”

Erk swallowed hard. “I haven’t done anything, sir.”

“Where is your family?”

“Here.”

“Which of them do you not care about? Your wife? How about your daughter? Erik had always excelled at field interrogations, even though he didn't know that was what his skill was called. Erk didn't know, either, but he soon began to talk. Erik’s face darkened as he listened to the village elder. He was relieved to find that this affair was Erk’s own private undertaking. Other than his brothers, no one else in the village was involved. Erik sent five Virmans running to the brothers’ houses on silent feet. Then he considered what else he had learned.

There were at least fifty pirates, and they had their sights on robbing the castle. Erik knew that some men would have said that this was not, strictly speaking, his fight. He did not have to get involved. But that was not the way he saw it. The countess had hired him to protect her. She had given him a roof over his head and a place to repair his ship. She was paying him. He would earn his keep.

He turned to his men. “To the beach.”

“What do we do with this one and his brothers and his family?”

Erik didn’t need panic in the village. “Is there a cellar?’

There was. It was a good, deep cellar. The Virmans tied their prisoners and set them in the cellar a good distance from each other, just to be safe. Two of the Virmans stayed behind to guard them.

Erik turned to Erk Grismo. “You wait here. The countess will deal with you.”

Erk closed his eyes and whimpered.

Then the Virmans left the village, making as little noise as they had made coming in. They were not out to scare people. They were hunters looking to kill.

Trost heard someone coming. He grabbed Hleig’s sleeve. The two slipped silently into the bushes. A few minutes later, they gave a low whistle and stepped out when they recognized Erik. He went for his knife, but put it back when he saw their faces.

“Hleig, who is this?”

“Trost. The jeweler’s nephew.”

“Why didn’t he stay behind?

“He is helping me. How many men do you have?”

“Ten. How many pirates are there?”

“Six boats landed, each with twelve men. We caught two of them.”

“Let me see them.” Erik made Sim Grismo repeat everything he knew. In the end, he was somewhat relieved. None of the pirates knew that Earton was guarded by Virmans.

He turned to Trost. “Young man, I have a serious job for you.”

About two hours later, Trost crept toward the pirates’ campfire. He was shaking, but he hoped no one would notice. Under his shirt, he had several packets that Jaimie had given him. He hoped he would have time to use them.

Suddenly, he felt something sharp between his shoulder blades. “Who are you?”

“Uncle Erk sent me. Is Big Jim here?”

The knife moved. “Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

“Keep walking. And keep your hands where I can see them.”

Trost nodded. He took a few steps forward and found himself in the circle of firelight. The pirates’ faces were evil and cold. Trost swallowed and tried to control his shaking.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Erk’s nephew.”

“What nephew? I don’t know about any nephew.”

“My mother is his sister, Arina.”

“Where is Erk?”

“His children are sick.”

“Is that so?”

“There is red rash[5] in the village.”

Big Jim said nothing.

“I didn’t catch it, so he sent me to wait for you.”

“Why didn’t he come?”

“He and my old man sat for a while.” Trost made a gesture to indicate that they were too drunk to walk. “They didn’t want to go through the forest at night.” Some of the pirates nodded. The gesture was one they were familiar with.

Big Jim winced. He had done the same many times. “Is the plan in force?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the situation in Earton?”

“The manager sent everyone away. You can go take what you want.” Trost’s voice was calm.

The pirates exchanged glances. Big Jim cleared his throat. “I’ll divide you all into groups tomorrow. Half will stay here to get the amber, and the other half will go to the castle.” They soon forgot about Erk’s “nephew.” He slipped over near the cooking fire, where a big pot of meat was bubbling.

I won’t risk it now, while they’re all awake. I can do it in the early hours, before they eat breakfast.

The packets under his shirt tickled his skin.

The countess’ guards were watching the pirates. Leis squinted. He saw them break into two groups. He saw the boy. Eveers were a strange people, and Leis had no great hopes that the boy would succeed in getting to the fire.

If he can’t manage it, we will ambush them. If he does, we won’t have to.

The minutes ticked by. As far as Leif could see, Trost hadn’t been able to get to the fire. He wasn’t overly concerned. He had several good fighters preparing to ambush the pirates from more than one direction. They were cutting into the trunks of trees, preparing to push them over onto the path at just the right moment. In the confusion, they would be able to take down some of the pirates with their crossbows. If any of them tried to climb over the trees, they would get them at close range with their axes.

We can wait as long as we need to.

Erik had taken some of the Virmans with him on a breathtakingly fast march to where Leif had his ship moored. It was small but maneuverable, the perfect vehicle for attacking the two pirate tubs. Before Erik left, he and Leis had conferred about the tides. At high tide, Erik and the Virmans would sail in and attack the two pirate ships from behind.

The rest of the Virmans stayed behind with Leis, ready for hand-to-hand combat. It was almost time.

It happened at the hour of the wolf – in the hour before dawn – when sleep is heavy and sweet and guards begin to drowse. As far as the pirates knew, they were on a perfectly safe beach where they had been many times before. They lay wrapped in blankets, dreaming of unguarded castles and treasure.

Moving silently, Trost made his way to the cooking fire. He emptied one of his packets into a pot of water.

Leis couldn’t count on Trost to succeed. Even if he did, the captain of the guards doubted how effective the herbs would be – in a life or death situation, a man can fight even with an aching gut. No, he would not rely on healers and young boys. He had another plan.

Several of the Virmans undressed and swam out to destroy the pirates’ rowboats, cutting them off from their ships. In that time and place, pirates did not generally use rowboats, preferring to bring their ships as close as they could to shore to ensure a fast retreat. Earton, however, had a dangerous coast and poor anchorages. Treasure was another factor in their decision to come to shore in small boats. They were expecting to have a lot of booty, which would make their ships too heavy to get back out over the reefs.

If the pirates had been able to see in the dark, they would have seen strong-swimming Virmans, their light hair tied with dark rags to make them invisible. Behind the pirate camp, Leis awaited the signal.

Meanwhile, Trost did his best to go unnoticed and make his way to the edge of the camp. The Eveer’s nephew might not have been a hardened warrior, but he wasn’t naïve, either. He knew he might look like a peasant boy in the half-dark, but once the sun rose he would be in trouble. When the boatswain failed to return, they would question him.

He looked down at his hands. A jeweler’s hands were nothing like the hands of a peasant. The calluses were in all the wrong places. Trost had little faith in his acting skills. He needed to disappear before things went downhill for him.

Suddenly, he heard the cry of a seagull. It came from somewhere on the water. The camp guard turned to look, but he never had a chance to grab his weapon. The Virmans were expert at killing, and Leis’ soldiers had no love for pirates, either. Leis had ordered the younger and less experienced men to surround the camp and prevent any pirates from breaking away toward the village or the castle. Then, faces coated with clay and strips of cloth tied around their upper arms to distinguish them from their enemies, they broke on the beach in a silent, dark, terrible wave. Earton’s defenders made no sound, dispatching their enemies with cruel efficiency.

At first, the only sound was the wheezing of wounded men. Soon, however, a knife missed and one of the pirates gave a shout. At that point, Erik, who had requisitioned one of the strange new fire missiles from Leif’s ship, yelled to his men, lit the fuse and tossed the missile into the middle of a group of pirates who had just woken up and still didn’t know what was happening.

Flames leaped up. The pirates began running in all directions, but they were lit from behind by the fire, and the Virmans were able to pick them off with arrows.

Trost, who was observing the scene from under a log on the beach, thought it looked like wolves attacking a flock of sheep in a pen. Some of the Virmans swung axes and short swords. Others used their bare hands. Leis’ men were knocking pirates down and tying them together, but the Virmans simply killed them outright. Some of the pirates put up a fight, but their numbers were few and they were outmatched in skill. Soon, the battle devolved into a handful of skirmishes, and eventually it dwindled down to two centers of resistance around the pirate captains. Erik went after one of the captains, while Leis turned on the other. Neither pirate lasted much longer.

A few of the pirates turned and tried to run to the boats, but instead they ran right into the arms of wet Virmans who were chilled from their swim and ready to warm up in a fight. The men left behind on the two ships ran back and forth on the decks and called to their comrades, but there was nothing they could do. None of them relished swimming through the dark, cold water just to try their luck against a band of enraged Virmans.

As soon as the tide came in, both ships turned to escape, but just then a sleek Virman ship lunged out from behind a cliff and rode the swells over the reef. Every sailor in those parts feared the sea wolves of Virma, and the pirate ships had too few men to fight. When the Virman ship raised a flag that offered surrender or death, the pirates chose the former. Once they boarded the ships, the Virmans discovered just five men on each and quickly secured their prey.

It was all over by sun-up. All of the pirates were either dead or tied up, and Leis walked the beach as he calculated his profits and losses.

His profits included: two almost undamaged ships; three dozen prisoners; ten dead pirates; the Grismo family; and the amber, which had been shown to him by Erk. It was not a bad haul for one night.

His losses were also significant: fifteen men killed (five Virmans, five of his own soldiers, and five peasants, who were killed when some of the pirates tried to run into the woods); and fifteen wounded, some of them with serious injuries. To this tally, Leis added a cut he had taken to the left shoulder. It was unpleasant, but he didn’t think it would kill him.

All in all, he felt lucky that more blood had not been shed.

The Virmans were exceedingly pleased with the attack. They were all salaried fighters, but they suspected that the countess would be generous with prizes. She was and odd woman, but they had never known her to be tightfisted.

They had lost five of their own, but death was something they were used to and none of them took the losses too hard. The men had died with honor and would feast with the gods. The job of the living was to count the spoils and chase down any straggling pirates. As the sun rose in the sky, their minds turned to plunder.

Erik, covered with his own dried blood and that of other men, caught up with Leis. He was limping, but his blue eyes shone with adventure and his smile flashed brightly. “How are you?”

“Counting the profits,” Leis laughed. “Will you tow the ships?”

“We will. Where is Leif?”

“He may not know about any of this yet.”

“Well, we did well. I lost three men and eight are wounded. You?”

“We lost fifteen. I haven’t counted the wounded yet. Have you bound your prisoners?”

“How can you ask?” Erik was jubilant.

Helke was on his knees in prayer. He had Caleb with him, but Trost was somewhere out there in the night. The old Eveer prayed to his gods for one thing only: that his nephew survive.

Keep your hands on his head. Direct his feet away from danger.

Next to him, Caleb prayed as well. There was nothing else they could do, so they waited. Suspense is the worst torment of all.

The pirates lay on the beach, tied up like firewood. Big Jim was lucky to be dead, since his men would have found a way to strangle him for getting them in this mess. Darvin was alive, but he had lost one ear and a chunk of his scalp, which made him look pitiful. The other pirates looked no better.

The Virmans refused to touch the bodies of the dead pirates. Instead, they untied a few of the survivors and watched as they piled up their own dead.

Trost crawled out from under his log. When he caught sight of some of the uglier casualties – men with heads split open and guts spilling onto the sand – he turned as green as a young pine tree and retreated into the bushes, where the others heard him retching. Two Virmans sitting nearby looked in his direction and shook their heads. All of them had been there before. When he started to scream, however, they jumped up and ran in his direction.

Bill Rummy had been hiding in the bushes, scared out of his wits. To be precise, his feelings were a mixture of fear, anger and hatred, all directed at the Virmans, his captain, and himself. Bill had been hit in the face when the fighting started. Knocked out, he fell into the bushes. He would have crawled away, but unconscious men don’t crawl. When he came to, it was too late to run. The camp was overrun by Virmans and strangers he had never seen before. All of his own men were either dead or tied hand and foot and sitting under guard.

He considered crawling away, but he didn’t have any idea where to go, and there were too many Virmans standing around. If he made the slightest noise, they would finish him off. So, he lay in the bushes and waited to see what would happen. Then, all at once, the kid that had been talking to the captain the night before came stumbling into the bushes and vomited right in Bill’s face.

Bill’s first thought was that he couldn’t hide anymore. And he couldn’t run – they would catch him easily. He was angry.

I’ll kill the little bastard! I can only kill this one, but that’s my revenge!

His hand went for his knife.

Trost was saved by pure coincidence. When he ran into the bushes, he was bent over double and that made him harder to aim at. And to add to that, Bill was still dizzy from taking a hit to the head, and Trost suddenly vomited all over his face. Since he couldn’t see, he lashed out blindly. Instead of hitting the boy between the ribs, the knife slashed his side. The second blow would have finished the boy off, but just then the Virmans appeared behind him. All of Bill’s plans and calculations were finished off once and for all with an axe to the head.

The Virmans carried Trost back to the beach. Their faces became grim when they saw his side. After bandaging him tightly to stop the bleeding, they put him on a homemade stretcher. All in all, they agreed that the boy had been born under a lucky star. He had lost a lot of blood and would have a scar for the rest of his life, but things could have been much worse.

Erik came over to check on him. “Is he alive?”

“He’ll live. But he should see a healer.”

“The countess’ healer is here.”

“He can’t do anything. He says we need to get the boy back to the castle.”

“Why is that?”

“A famous Khangan healer is visiting.” The Virman looked around. “And I hear that the countess is skilled in these matters, too.”

Erik shrugged. “Fine. Once we have the prisoners ready, two of them can carry his stretcher.”

Trost heard everything through a fog. His body ached, his head swam, and he was afraid to die. The boy wasn’t interested in fighting anymore.

Lilian Earton spent a wakeful night. She locked herself up with Tahir, Jaimie and Mirrie and told Mary to bring them cold water for drinking and washing. Once they were alone, she started teaching her team everything she knew about emergency medicine.

Jaimie already knew some things because Lily had worked with him on their trip back from Altver. Tahir knew a great deal about herbal remedies, but he knew nothing of disinfection, the various types of stitches and knots, and how to put in wound drains. He listened to her with rapt attention, often shaking his head and saying “Lily-jan, it’s worth dying just to have this knowledge.” Jaimie took everything in silently. He knew that Lily would teach him what to do, but that she would give no explanation about where the knowledge came from other than a reference to ancient scrolls.

Miranda did her best to get in the way and get a good look at everything the adults were doing. Lily tried to keep her interference to a minimum, but she let her stay and watch, telling her that in dark times a person couldn’t know too much about fixing up wounds.

Meanwhile, Hans Tremain examined the castle walls and inspected his small militia. He could see that the men wouldn’t be good for much in a fight, but the gates were closed and he hoped that no one would be inviting the pirates inside. Still, he was worried.

I wish I had stayed with the king’s ship with its armed soldiers.

King’s envoy was a difficult job to do right. On the one hand, an envoy had tremendous power over the people, but on the other hand, he had to navigate a treacherous path between the king and local nobles, who objected to meddling outsiders. For this reason, the king generally chose minor nobles without estates or families to serve as his envoys. He paid them handsomely to keep them independent, and they were allowed unheard-of privileges at court – a chevalier who acted as king’s envoy could speak as an equal to an earl, as long as he was reasonably cautious.

Those privileges came with heavy responsibilities, however. Envoys had to be scrupulously honest if they wanted to stay in the king’s favor. They also had to handle secrets that could be very dangerous – revenge was a constant threat, and it was not rare for an envoy to leave his position in a pine box. Still, despite the hardship and danger, there was a constant stream of men vying for the position. The pay was good, and the social benefits were significant (an envoy’s sister would have better marriage prospects, and his brother could be granted land). Ativernese kings took care of their own, and Edward was no exception. The price for all these advantages, however, was a heavy one: constant danger and permanent loneliness.

Hans understood these things perfectly. When he was on a mission, the people he visited and questioned treated him like an expensive vase. Aldonai forbid that he be displeased, or that they lose sight of him.

Lilian Earton’s behavior was like nothing he had ever encountered. When she spoke to him, she was friendly and open, as if she had nothing to be afraid of.

Does she not understand who I am? Does she think I can’t threaten her? Or does she just have a clear conscience?

Hans didn’t know what to think. Everything he observed about the countess left him wondering. She was friendly and polite with everyone and rarely raised her voice, but her orders were followed instantly and to the letter. She was a quiet homebody, but she could have a man whipped or expelled from the estate without raising an eyebrow.

He had seen the countess’ face when she was told about the pirates. She was afraid, but she immediately got her emotions under control and began organizing something – what was the word? – a hos-pi-tal. He had never heard of such an undertaking, but he was impressed that she jumped right in to do the one thing she knew how to do. As far as Hans could tell, she was doing a fairly professional job of preparing to receive and treat wounded men.

I wonder where she learned these things?

Hans continued his inspection of the wall. He kicked one of the peasants and yelled at another who had nodded off. When he went back to check the castle, he saw that everyone was occupied: servant girls were ripping cloth for bandages and boiling them in large cauldrons of hot water. The Eveer and the countess were running an installation the likes of which he had never seen. It stank to high heaven. The countess tried to explain what it was, but Hans’ eyes widened when she used words like “anti-inflammatory.”

There will be time later to ask her about these strange things and to file away her answers.

Watching the servants prepare bandages, Hans remembered something else he had learned while at Earton. Several of the servants had told him that the countess was forced to sell her dresses and jewelry in order to buy livestock for the estate. No one had ever seen any gifts or other goods arrive from the earl.

I suppose the law does not oblige him to send her anything, but she is his wife and she was carrying his child. Why wouldn’t he want to care for her?

Lily had given Hans all the letters she had found in the castle. Reading them had reinforced his conclusion that the earl never gave a thought to his wife.

He turned and went back out to the wall.

“Leir Hans?” The countess had come up behind him silently. He thought that was odd for a woman of her proportions. That was another strange thing he had noticed about Lilian Earton: sometimes she moved like a warrior, and sometimes she stumbled clumsily. When he turned to her, he saw that she was moving slowly, like a person who is exhausted.

He bowed. “My lady, why haven’t you retired?”

Lily was so worked up that she suspected even an elephant’s dose of Temazepam wouldn’t knock her out. But she didn’t want to explain that to the king’s envoy. “I am concerned.”

“Don’t be. Everything will be fine.”

She gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, Leir Hans. You have no idea how long it’s been since I heard those words.”

Hans felt his face go warm. “Have no fear, my lady. We will keep the pirates away from the castle.”

“Of course, but men will be killed and wounded.”

“Their job is to defend you. I believe any of them would be glad to lay down his life for you.”

The countess’ eyes were sorrowful. “I have seen so much death, Leir Hans, starting with the death of my child. How many more will die?”

“It is a man’s job to fight, and a woman’s job to wait for him and treat his wounds.”

“I am waiting for my husband,” Lilian sighed. The piety in her voice was thick enough to spread on a piece of bread. “And I am concerned about Miranda. Aldonai forbid that anything happen to her.”

Hans couldn’t help but think that she was right. It was not his place to be here on the wall defending Earton from attack. The earl should be here. Instead, he was off cavorting with Prince Richard while his wife was robbed blind by the manager and then attacked by pirates.

Lily seemed to read his thoughts. “Is everything in order on the wall?”

“Yes.”

“Then I will go in. I must continue my preparations for the wounded.”

“My lady, how do you know so much about the art of healing?”

The countess shrugged. “I don’t. Tahir is the healer, and Jaimie knows a few things. I am simply there to learn and to give orders.”

“Do you trust them, my lady?”

“Who else can I trust, Leir Hans? I do not see a line of men waiting to serve as my medicus. I did have a medicus, but he knew nothing. He let my blood after I lost the baby. I could have died.”

“But my lady,”

Lily gave him a sharp look. “Leir Hans, I find it strange that I have to explain this to you. But if you insist, I will try. When a woman loses a child, she also loses a lot of blood. Letting more blood is deadly. Any one of us will die if we lose just a quarter of our blood. Now tell me, what kind of an idiot would do that?”

Hans pondered her question. It did seem strange to let the blood of a woman who was already bleeding. What was the medicus thinking? He would file a report when he got back to the capitol.

The countess sobbed quietly. Hans had been distracted, so he had not seen her pinch her arm so hard that it brought tears to her eyes. He looked at her with alarm.

“Forgive me, but it is hard for me to think of these things. I am sorry…” She turned and left, looking small and helpless. The envoy felt like a beast.

Why did I press her? Now she’s upset. Her life is already difficult enough, with the castle and estate on her shoulders and a stepdaughter to raise.

Hans looked up at the stars. He would have to get through the next day somehow. Either the Virmans would defeat the slave traders or the slave traders would defeat the Virmans. If the former happened, Hans’ work would only just be beginning. If the latter happened, he expected to die there on the wall alongside Earton’s defenders. That would be disappointing, of course, but he had never expected to die in his bed of old age.

Lily sighed. She had taken a walk, gotten some fresh air, and pulled the wool over the envoy’s eyes. She thought she had done well, even without preparation. Now she had work to do. She pushed Tahir and Jaimie until sunup, making them practice laying stitches on a pillow.

It’s better to be tired now than dead later.

People in her new world were not completely unaware of how to stitch wounds, but they had never seen proper surgical technique before. Lily knew that Tahir would have endless questions for her, but it would have to wait until later.

The first wounded were delivered at noon. It was hell.

Work, work, work… Lily felt like she was back on trauma rotation. She was terrified, but she had to keep sewing men together and cleaning and bandaging their wounds. When she checked Erik’s leg, she saw that Jaimie had already cleaned and bandaged it properly. The Virman tried to smile at her, but it came out as a grimace. Any other time, she would have sat with him and made sure he was feeling better, but she had to rush on to the next wounded man.

The slave traders had been taken completely unawares. As a result, they were unable to mount much of a defense, and the defenders’ wounds were fairly uncomplicated. The most unpleasant part of the day came when Lily had to stitch up Helke’s nephew’s side. She couldn’t take the time to feel bad for him, so she poured him a glass of homebrew and started sewing. Once the wound was closed, she checked him for broken ribs and bandaged his torso tightly.

I’ve seen worse. I remember observing an operation on a man with a knife wound that nicked his stomach. The surgeon had to remove his spleen. By comparison, this is nothing.

Tahir was busy, as well, assisting Lily and stitching up his own patients whenever she didn’t need him. The wounded just kept coming.

Lily did what she had been trained to do: she packed away her emotions and used her hands to fix the damage that she found on the bodies presented to her. As the only properly trained surgeon in the whole entire world, she had no choice. Her methods were simple. She had each patient sit or lie down and drink a glass or two of homebrew as an anesthetic. Then she took off Jaimie’s bandages, checked the wound, cleaned it, and stitched it up. Once that was done, she applied a layer of honey and a fresh bandage and turned to the next man.

At best, this will keep only half of them from getting serious infections. Her hands kept working while her mind strategized. Bread mold. I could try applying plain old bread mold to their wounds. It won’t save them all, but it might help.

The next man she turned to had been stitched up sloppily. She could tell Jaimie was just trying to stop the bleeding. Taking a deep breath, she carefully unpicked the large stitches and re-did the work professionally.

Soon, Lily lost all sense of time and her surroundings. She only saw each man, each wound, treating them the very best she could. Her back hurt. Her head ached. Her arms were sore. She had given the only large table to the less-experienced Tahir, so her own patients were on blankets on the floor. Giving up on propriety, she hitched her dress up and got down on her knees to save her back. Several maids put their hearts into the effort, pouring homebrew for the men and holding them down when necessary. Watching Lily, they began pulling out long hairs from their braids, washing them in homebrew and handing them over for use in stitching. Even the children did their best to help the wounded men, some of whom were their own fathers.

By evening, the countess was tripping over her own feet in exhaustion. She couldn’t believe it when she looked up and saw no more men waiting to be stitched up. No one had brought any of the slave traders into her field hospital, and she wouldn’t have worked on them anyway. Earton had too many defenders in need of help. She finished working on the man in front of her, sat down on the floor, and wiped the sweat from her face with a relatively clean section of her dress.

“Son of a…” (No one knows exactly what the countess said when she finished the last surgery of the day.)

Utterly depleted, Tahir and Jaimie fell down on the floor next to her. Lily looked over at Jaimie. He was white as chalk and his eyes were huge.

“Both of you, go to bed.”

Tahir nodded. He stood up slowly and held out his hand. “My lady.”

Several servants were still bustling around in what had become the operating room, but Lily no longer cared who saw her exhaustion. She took Tahir’s hand and let him help her to her feet. She was dizzy, so she held onto him for a moment.

“We’ll live.”

“We will, my lady. Can I take you to your room?”

Lily shook her head like an old war horse. “No.” She looked around and focused her eyes on one of the maids. “Mary, bring me some cold water so I can wash. And find out where Leir Hans is. I need to speak with him.”

Mary nodded and disappeared. Lily put her face in her hands. Her forehead was hot, but her fingers were icy cold.

What does that mean? I should check my blood pressure…

She immediately dismissed the idea. She was in charge, and there was still much to be done that evening.

His Majesty Edward the Eighth, by the grace of Aldonai king of Ativerna, read Hans Tremain’s decoded letter. All of the king’s carrier pigeon letters were copied out by his personal secretary, a discreet and highly intelligent man who transformed the miniscule shorthand used for letters sent by bird into a large, handsome script that was easier on his majesty’s eyes.

“Your Majesty!” Tremain had written.

“On your instructions, I have arrived at Earton and find that I am obliged to stay here for the present. The manager was stealing and selling the earl’s peasants to slave traders. The castle is in terrible shape. The guards were sent away. Winter may bring starvation. I am still investigating the attempt on L. Earton’s life. M. Earton is alive and well and adores her stepmother. L. Earton is doing everything she can to improve the situation, but she needs help. I remain your devoted servant, Leir Hans Tremain.”

His majesty rubbed his eyes. He was still no closer to understanding what was going on in Earton. Tremain was one of his best envoys. There was obviously much more to the situation than what Jess had led him to believe. It had been such an easy story: his wife lived on the estate year-round because she was ugly and selfish and didn’t know how to behave in polite society.

Edward looked down at the gold pen in his hand and at the inkwell on his desk. August’s gifts were a delight to use. The pens never needed sharpening, and they wrote beautifully. The king had already told his secretary that he wanted all of his residences to switch to the new pen and inkwell sets. After trying them out, his secretary wholeheartedly agreed. He hated to see a nice, expensive piece of parchment ruined by spilled ink.

The king sighed again folded his hands.

Jess was always a good, smart boy. How could he let his family down like this? Something about this story just isn’t right.

August Broklend looked sternly at his agent. “Taris, I fear I must send you on another trip.”

“Will I be going far?”

“I want you to go see Lily again.”

“But sir!”

“Don’t ‘but sir’ me! You had only the most flattering things to say about her.”

“It’s not that. Lilian Earton is a wonderful woman, an excellent host, and the best of company. But how can you ask me to go back down there during the stormy season? I barely made it out alive last time.”

August snorted. “Be that as it may, I can’t leave my daughter defenseless.”

“But she has an army of Virmans!”

“Even so, I want you to take some carrier pigeons and ride down there. If you are well motivated you will arrive in one piece. Once you are there, I want you to help her with the estate. You say she fired the manager?”

“She didn’t even give him time to put his things in a sack. He was tossed out the gate the same evening.”

“She takes after me,” said August, hooking his thumbs under his belt. Taris did not bother voicing his own opinion, since everyone knows that children get their finest traits from their fathers and their worst traits from those fathers’ mothers-in-law. “Now listen,” August continued. “I will give you a letter and some money for her. You are to stay there and help her manage Earton. Tell her I will make sure she is invited to court.”

“When do I leave?”

“In ten days.”

Taris sighed. August patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, my boy. Once you get to Altver, it’s not that long of a trip to Earton.” Taris felt the heavy hand on his shoulder. He wouldn’t be able to get out of this assignment.

Hans Tremain brought the countess good news. “My lady, our attackers are slave traders. I have already questioned several of them. I learned something important: they have been here before.”

“That’s why we caught them so easily.”

“Yes, my lady. They didn’t expect resistance.”

Lily nodded. She had already deduced as much. All the wounds she had seen were flesh wounds; only two of the men had injuries that went deeper. The slave traders hadn’t had time to mount a defense. She couldn’t find it in herself to feel sorry for them.

“Your men knocked off most of them, but we still have some important witnesses, my lady. Were you aware that the boatswain on one of the slave ships has family in Riverton?”

“I suspected they had help on shore, but I wasn’t sure. Probably one of the elders.”

“Indeed. You should have had them all tortured,” Hans stated matter-of-factly. “It probably isn’t too late to try now. According to the accomplice, my lady…”

“Was it Erk Grismo?”

“Yes. Now listen. He says that there is a deposit of amber on your coast.”

“That’s good to know.”

“It’s very good. They worked it very carefully over many years. You know how expensive amber is, don’t you? They sold it in very small quantities to avoid arousing suspicion. Just enough to provide a comfortable life for the family.”

“What changed?”

“You arrived, my lady. And your husband brought in a manager who found out their little secret. They had to take him in as a partner. With every month that went by, Etor became more and more demanding. I suppose he paid for that in the end.”

“He did. I had him expelled from the estate. I acted hastily.”

“Very hastily. You had no way of knowing, my lady, that Etor had a chest full of amber. I’ve been told that you were able to get some money out of him. Is that true?”

Lily sighed. “I had no idea they were stealing on such a large scale. What I got back from him was enough to hire the Virmans and to purchase supplies.”

“And yet it wasn’t enough, was it? I don’t know of a single woman who would sell her dresses if she didn’t need money. Do not be overly modest, my lady.”

Lily lowered her eyes. She was the picture of humility and modesty. Inside, she was grinning.

I get ten points!

She had been delighted to unload all those pink silk rags, but if the envoy saw her every move as a noble sacrifice, then she had already won. Hans saw her as a decent, upright woman suffering terrible privations all on her own.

“Tell me what you learned about Etor, Leir Hans.”

“It was simple. He got in on the amber work and started putting pressure on the Grismo family…”

“Family?”

“Erk and his two brothers.”

“I see.”

“Eventually they decided that it was time to close up shop. They wanted to get as much amber out of the deposit as they could, fill in the deposit with rock and leave Earton altogether. Remember, they had a sea-faring relative.”

“I see. And the slave traders…”

“At first, they came here to pick up slaves. The brothers kept the amber to themselves. It wasn’t difficult.”

Lily was dying to ask how much amber was going for these days, but she decided against it. “Did they fill in the deposit?”

“Not yet, my lady. They wanted to remove more amber, first.”

Lily pulled her wrap tighter around her shoulders. “That is good news. I will want to make the most of it. Can you give me any advice, Leir Hans?”

“I will be happy to advise you, my lady. In fact, I will stay here a while longer. This has been an unusual case.”

“I certainly appreciate your help and your company, Leir Hans.”

Tremain smiled. In all the conversations he had had with Lilian Earton, he had never caught even the slightest hint of snobbery. She was a countess and he was a lowly chevalier, but she treated him like a man who was older and wiser than herself. Hans had been involved with more noblemen and ladies than he could even remember, and all of them were unfailingly polite to the king’s envoy, but their eyes always said “you lout.” Lilian Earton thought nothing of the kind. He could tell. Conversing with her was pleasant, and Tremain was enjoying himself in Earton, despite the adventures of the last night and day. He would certainly not leave a woman in trouble. He would help her get her affairs in order and go directly to the king.

“By the way, my lady, if you wish to send a letter to his majesty, or to your husband, or to your father, I will be honored to deliver them for you. And, of course, I can deliver your tax payment for the amber at the same time.”

Lily gave her most charming smile to cover for her confusion.

Write to the king? To my husband? I don’t have anything to say to either of them!

Aloud, she said, “I thank you, Leir Hans. I will certainly make use of your generous offer. What will you do with the slave traders?”

“Pack them into the hold and take them with me. Not all of them will hang, but I can’t leave the rest for you to feed. You are already struggling to feed everyone.”

“No one will go hungry, but I’d rather not have the extra mouths.”

“Of course. You have no obligation to feed them.”

“None at all,” Lily agreed. “I will ask Erik to go with you. He can take a letter to Baron Avermal and bring back more supplies from Altver.”

Hans nodded. “My lady, I won’t be leaving for another ten days.”

“And I am in no hurry.”

The two negotiators parted in complete satisfaction with each other, and Lily went straight to bed. Tomorrow would be another long day.

Anna of Wellster was a bundle of nerves. She had already slapped her lady’s maid that morning and yelled at Milia’s lady-in-waiting. When her stepmother rebuked her for it, it was all she could do to keep from screaming.

It’s easy for you to stay calm, you cow! What if Richard doesn’t fall in love with me? Do you think they’ll just let me go back home and pick up my lessons again?

Anna was preparing for the battle of her young life, and she would fight it to the death. In the midst of a whirlwind of emotion, she forgot all about her husband. Lons was nothing at all. Her life was hanging by a thread, and she would do whatever it took to win.

The small bottle of poison lay hidden in a far corner of her commode.

Giles Lennard, chief steward at the city residence of the Earl of Earton, opened the massive front door.

“A letter for his lordship.”

“Giles nodded, took the letter and closed the door in the courier’s face. He looked down at the scroll.

“Pastor Simon Leider. Altver.”

That seemed strange. Why would a pastor from somewhere as far away as Altver be writing to the earl? Orders were orders, however, and Jerrison Earton had explicitly instructed his steward to forward all correspondence. Giles put the letter away. He would forward it as soon as he had the chance.

Richard examined his reflection in a polished sheet of silver.

“We’re handsome devils,” said Jess from behind him.

“I don’t need your sarcasm,” Richard growled.

Jess answered him with an innocent smile. “That’s true. You’re the one who has to view the potential bride tomorrow.”

Richard grimaced. “Don’t remind me.”

They were approximately three hours away from the capital, and their official visit to Gardwig was planned for the next morning. A runner had just left the delegation with official letters. Now the diplomatic dance would start: the runner would give the letters to Gardwig, who would reply with a polite letter of his own and a representative to greet the delegation. There would be all sorts of pleasantries expressions of affection for the prince and his delegation, followed by an official reception where Richard would finally lay eyes on his potential bride. That was when the real game would start.

Richard knew without a doubt that Wellster wanted the match. He wasn’t sure he did. His heart was free of any serious attachments and he had no real desire to marry. Still, at least he had a choice, unlike his cousin.

“Have you heard anything from home?” he asked.

“Not yet. My steward collects letters until he has enough to send. Hopefully my cow gave birth.”

“To a calf, begotten by a bull,” Richard needled him.

“You’ll be doing the same.”

“I’ll be striving in the interests of the state. That’s different.”

Jess grinned. “If only the state appreciated the effort.”

Richard shook his head.

Jessamine.

He remembered his stepmother, her love, her kindness, her sincerity. He remembered how her eyes lit up when his father entered the room. Aldonai willing, he wanted to have at least half as much happiness as they had enjoyed. If not…

I’ll still survive.

But he preferred not to think about it.

Martha brought her little girl a glass of warm milk before bed. She sat down next to her and stroked her hair. “Lily, my own little girl…”

Lilian Earton turned and buried her face in her nanny’s warm shoulder. “Nanny, you have no idea how tired I am.”

“Of course you are! Whoever heard of a countess patching up a bunch of peasants?”

Lily smiled sadly. “You are the one who taught me how to embroider neatly, and you know that I do it better than anyone else. And don’t forget that they were defending us.”

Martha snorted, clearly not prepared to change her mind. “But why are you teaching these things to Lady Miranda?”

“Because I’m the only one who can teach her. Nanny dear, you must know by now that anything can happen in this life. We never expected this nightmare, did we?”

“You’re my smart girl.”

Lily rubbed her cheek on Martha’s shoulder. In that moment, she didn’t care about the woman’s dirty dress or her body odor. She just needed to feel loved.

“Nanny dear, I couldn’t live without you.”

Martha stroked her head. The countess was a grown woman, but to her nanny who loved her, she was still just a child who needed to be supported.

Tomorrow you will be in charge again, but right now, just drink your milk and go to sleep. Close your eyes and I’ll sing you a lullaby…

Lily fell asleep to the words of a song she had always known. She didn’t even notice when Mirrie got in bed next to her. Martha shook her head but said nothing. Silently, she closed the door behind her.

Hans Tremain was waiting outside the door. “Has the countess gone to bed?”

“She’s sleeping like an angel, Leir Hans.” Martha was allowed to be more familiar than other servants because she was Lily’s beloved nanny. “She worked herself to death today.”

“I was surprised to see that she has such knowledge of healing.”

“After she lost the baby she started to ask questions and learn things. She never was interested before, but she almost died herself, you know, and that changes things.”

Tremain could not argue with that. “Have you been with the countess since childhood?” He pressed.

Martha straightened her back. “I raised her with these two hands. She’s only ever been with me since her poor mother passed.”

“What about her stepdaughter?”

“Lady Miranda? She’s in there.” Martha nodded at the door. “She adores Lily, and there’s nothing strange about it. Every child needs a mother.”

“True,” Hans agreed. “Were they close before?”

“The earl never brought his daughter here before. Now if you’ll excuse me, Leir Hans, I don’t have time to stand around chatting.”

Hans took the hint and bowed as Martha went down the hall. Before he turned to leave, he cast one last glance at the closed door.

What kind of woman are you, Lilian Earton? Strong? Weak? Or simply forced to be strong?

He would find out everything. That was the job of a king’s envoy.

First thing in the morning, Lily began her rounds of the castle. A quick conversation with Hans provided her with information that boosted her mood. He told her that the slave traders had confessed to their plot, which meant that her Virmans and Leis’ soldiers had every right to use force against them, and that they would receive prize money from the king. Lily had no idea what prize money he was talking about, so Hans explained everything to her as if she were a child.

Erk Grismo and his relatives had been interrogated using some of the simpler tools available in the castle dungeon. In the end, they admitted to digging around a hundred pounds of amber. That was a fortune in Lily’s new world. If all that amber was sold, there would be enough money to buy another whole estate like her father’s Broklend, even after the king took his quarter.

Yes, she would have to pay the treasure tax. There was a yearly ten percent tax, which some nobles paid when they were in the city on business, while others waited for heavily guarded men like Hans to arrive and collect the tax. But the treasure tax was different. If anyone found a deposit of gold, he could do as he liked with it, but the king got one-quarter. The same was true of precious stones or anything else that was dug out of the earth.

That suited Lily just fine. With her knowledge and experience, she was confident that she could turn her share of the treasure into such riches that she wouldn’t even notice that the king’s share was gone.

Helke and I will have to get together and make more business plans.

Helke and his sister Loria had both visited Trost after his surgery, and they were overcome with gratitude to the countess. They knew that most people with serious injuries ended up dying, no matter how well they were cared for.  But Lily had taken the Eveer boy and washed and bandaged him and put him in a separate room with servants looking after him. Even the king would have envied their Trost. When they left the boy, Helke fell to his knees to pray for the countess.

Leif and Ingrid had arrived late that night and missed all the excitement, which disappointed Leif. He rebuked Erik for wasting a valuable fire missile. He tried to find something to criticize Leis for, but in the end he gave up and admitted that Earton’s defenders did a pretty good job.

Pastor Vopler was busy praying. Emma had found him and asked him to pray for the health of all the wounded men. He did just that, going from cot to cot in the hall and praying for all who needed it. When Hans Tremain expressed surprise at this, he just shrugged.

“We are all children of Aldonai, Virmans and Eveers alike, even if they are not aware of it. And Aldonai is merciful to all of his children.”

Hans shook his head. He disagreed with this type of free thinking, but he supposed that it didn’t much matter in an out-of-the-way place like Earton. When he mentioned this conversation to the countess, she wholeheartedly agreed, saying that she would refuse assistance to no one based on the god he prayed to. Again, Hans shook his head, but he was no priest or theologian, and he preferred to stay on the firmer ground of finance and taxes. He told Lily that she had one hundred pounds of amber, minus the king’s share of twenty-five pounds. She was also the proud owner of two pirate ships. They were nothing special, but they were probably worth something, and she needed to decide how to dispose of them. The slave traders would be removed to Altver, but the two ships were hers to keep or sell.

Her first thought was to sell the ships, but then it occurred to her that she still didn’t have a reliable way to retreat from Earton if necessary. And if she had her own ships, she wouldn’t have to walk or ride to Altver every time she needed something. The Virmans could train crews over the winter, and by summer she would have her very own navy. Or merchant fleet. She had plenty of ideas for goods to trade by sea: amber, glass, salt, paper, and whatever else she and Helke came up with.

It would also be a good idea to have the ships in case I need to retreat from Earton.It could happen. Going on the bits and pieces of Jerrison Earton that were left in her memory, Lily could tell that he didn’t love his wife. If he tried to boss her around or put her under lock and key, she knew she could knock him out, even without a frying pan in each hand. But then she would have to run.

Maybe I could buy some land near my father’s estate. He could hold title to it, or maybe I could even hold title to it, and I could build my business there. I need to get a monopoly on my methods for making glass and paper. Once that’s done, I’ll open a publishing business with the help of the church, damn it to hell…

All of those plans would have to wait, however. She had letters to write.

Sitting in her study, Lily stared down at her parchment. She hated writing, but she knew Hans had given her good advice. This new world was probably very much like her own world, where it was an excellent idea to cover your ass, preferably with something written down on paper. Then, if questions arose later, she could say that she had dotted all her i’s and crossed all her t’s. Doctors knew that better than anyone. In her old life, Lily had often wished that she could hire a personal assistant to do all her paperwork for her.

There was no one to write these particular letters for her, however, so she buckled down to get it done. Three hours later, the four letters were ready. The first was to her father, short and to the point.

“My dearest father, I have excellent news: a deposit of amber has been discovered in Earton. I have other successful endeavors to tell you about, as well, but I cannot describe them on paper. I would like to get advice from you or your agent. I need to know how to recover the amber and how to invest the profits. Is it a good idea to invest in Earton? I hope that I still have your love and devotion. I remain your loving daughter, Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton.”

The second letter was to her father, also. She would send him the first letter using her own messenger, and the second one would go with Hans Tremain. It was a public letter that anyone could read.

“My dear father, I hasten to let you know that I am alive and well. A band of slave traders in two ships tried to raid Earton, but my guards beat them back. In the end, I was left with a share of the profit, and I would like to talk to you about what to do with it. I trust in your love and in your advice. How is your health? I pray daily for your wellbeing. I remain your loving daughter, Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton.”

She decided to send the first letter via Torius Avermal, and enclosed a small mirror that was backed with silver and set in a frame of Helke’s making. (The jeweler had been delighted with the result, and predicted that people would flock to Earton in droves to buy the new mirrors. He also pronounced the countess worthy of an honorary membership in the glassblowers’ guild.)

We’ll see what my old man says when he sees it. At the very least, he’ll see that his daughter has grown up and learned a few things.

Lily suspected that there was peril involved in showing off too much knowledge.

It’s dangerous, but what else can I do?

The third letter was to the king.

“Your Most Gracious Majesty, I pray you will be so kind as to accept this letter from the Countess of Earton (born Lilian Broklend). Since my husband is away and unable to handle the affairs of the estate, and since our manager was stealing from us, I make haste to inform you that a large deposit of amber has been discovered in Earton. Your envoy, Chevalier Hans Tremain, is bringing with him the share that is yours by right and custom. I will send you further installments of your share as we are able to recover the amber. As the roads will not be passable this winter, I will store Your Majesty’s share here at Earton, where it will be guarded by men I have hired until the roads become passable in spring. My guards have already shown themselves to be useful: they captured a large group of slave traders that have been plaguing Earton for the past several years.

I must also inform Your Majesty that an attempt was made on my life. I beg Your Majesty to investigate this terrible crime and punish those who are responsible. I would like to express my enormous gratitude to Leir Hans. He has done all that is possible and even impossible. Without him, I never would have known what to do. There is no man in the kingdom kinder or more just. Truly, your envoy reflects the greatness of Your Majesty’s rule and the limitlessness of your grace. Allow me to fall at your feet to express my gratitude.

Your faithful servant,

Countess Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton.”

Reading over the letter again, Lily was pleased. She hadn’t directly shamed her husband, and she wasn’t trying to get out of paying her taxes. Quite the opposite: she was neatly hinting that she could do perfectly well on her own. Her only request was that the king investigate the attempted murder, something he was already supposed to do.

Any other woman would have sounded the alarm all over Ativerna by now!

Lily snorted, imagining the king’s face when the hired killer was questioned:

“Who hired you?”

“The Earl of Earton’s mistress’ lover.”

It was a balm on her soul. Mistresses couldn’t be allowed to run around killing off lawful wives or the institute of marriage would fall apart.

So you’re sleeping with a handsome man. Who cares? That’s no excuse to kill his wife. Everyone knows that men like Jerrison Earton marry one kind of girl and sleep with another. So pardon me, Adelaide Wells, but if you had just kept my husband busy with your perky breasts I would have showered you with money and even made friends with you. I don’t need the bum around here. But no, you tried to kill me, and now you’d better watch your back.

The last letter was to her husband.

“My beloved lord and husband.”

It hurt her to write the words. She would have preferred to bury him under his own outhouse, but she intended to keep everything smelling like roses on the outside.

“I must inform you that a terrible misfortune has befallen us. I lost our first child, and I suspect that there is foul play behind it, although I have no proof, only suspicions. I almost died after losing the baby. When I finally came to, I discovered that the castle was in a terrible state, with very few servants and no guards left. Of course, I began to investigate and discovered that the manager has been shamelessly stealing from you and from the estate. In all of this he has been aided by your agent, Shirvey Lindt.

I immediately had the manager thrown out of the castle and bought supplies to keep the people of Earton from dying over the winter. I also hired new guards.

Misfortune struck again when the church of Aldonai burned to the ground. Miraculously, no one was hurt. Then, as soon as your soldiers arrived in Earton, one of them tried to take my life. In his clumsy attempt, he almost killed your daughter. Shortly thereafter, Leis Antrel and his men heroically defended us from slave traders who were directed to Earton by Etor and Shirvey Lindt. I handed Lindt over to the king’s envoy, along with the traitorous soldier and the surviving slave traders. All of them will be tried and will likely hang.

The one bright note in all that has happened of late is that a large deposit of amber has been discovered in Earton. Several peasant families had been digging amber in secret. Your manager kept this from you. The king’s envoy will see that the guilty parties are duly punished. It remains, however, to determine how best to proceed with the amber. I have already sent the king’s share with his envoy and will continue to do so.

Please also find with my letter some copies I had made of your manager’s accounts. These are all the accounts I was able to find. You may review them to convince yourself of his dishonesty. Miranda Catherine is happy and in good health, as am I.

I pray for your health and wellbeing.

As always, your loving and devoted wife, Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton.”

Lily wiped the sweat from her face. All her correspondence was ready to leave with Hans Tremain. She suspected that he would be in Earton for another week or two while he questioned the last of the slave traders and helped her organize teams to recover the remaining amber.

She took a deep breath, sealed her letters, and left her study. There was much work left to do.

Gardwig had a commanding presence, but when Richard first set eyes on him, all he felt was pity. He saw an overweight man with red eyes and a bandaged leg, and he thought to himself that it would be better to die quickly than to rot away slowly, day after day. He noticed that the attractive woman standing next to the king looked on him with sincere love and care. Gardwig was one of the lucky ones. He had found his Jessamine (after several failed attempts).

Gardwig and Richard had already exchanged letters, and the prince listened patiently while the old man complimented him loudly: he was intelligent, and brave, and a copy of his father. A son like himself was worth his weight in gold. When it was his turn, he praised the king to the skies: there was no better king on the Earth than Gardwig, and his kingdom had prospered under his reign. His wife was a beautiful angel. Aldonai had blessed him with sons, and it was to be hoped that they would take after their father.

Both sides poured on the honey as best they knew how. Gardwig introduced his wife, and Richard was careful in his compliments. She was much younger than her husband, but he didn’t think she would ever betray him. From the way she spoke to Gardwig, he surmised that she was a homebody. Richard felt that he was a pretty good judge of character.

Finally, Gardwig held out a hand. “And this is my eldest daughter, Anna.”

There was nothing warm and fatherly in Gardwig’s voice, and Richard noted it. This was his daughter from his first wife, a woman he had not loved. He had wanted a son, but the daughter was not bad at all. She was a small brunette with smooth, olive skin and intelligent eyes.

It was Anna’s eyes that unsettled Richard. She was sizing him up, and she was nervous, but behind it all, he saw cold calculation. She looked at him the way women at court looked at their prey as they calculated what they could gain in return for their services.

He kept his thoughts to himself. Bowing politely to Anna, he expressed his admiration for the princess: her beauty outshone the sun, and her eyes were like stars. Anna whispered the proper response, and Richard held up his end of the conversation, feeling like a fly caught in a bowl of honey (while being eyed by several hungry frogs).

After an hour of ceremony and diplomacy, Gardwig finally opened the dancing. Naturally, Richard danced with Anna, occasionally finding time to dance with other ladies of the court. All the while, one thought circled in his mind: “She isn’t my Jessamine. She isn’t my Jessamine.”

Anna was cold and a little afraid. He didn’t believe she was capable of sincerely loving someone, but he had to admit that she played the game well.

Finally, Richard was able to slip away and take a break behind one of the heavy drapes that lined the ballroom. Three minutes later, Jess slid in next to him with a goblet of cold wine in his hands. Richard tossed it back like water, leaned his forehead against the stone wall and groaned.

“So, you don’t like the princess?”

“Not particularly.”

“She’s not bad, you know. Did you see her breasts? She’s got everything.”

“Not everything. They forgot to include kindness and love.”

“Listen to yourself! She’s a nice little piece of ass, Richard. She’s shy, that’s all.”

Not exactly. Richard trusted his instincts: Anna wasn’t shy, she was just playing the role she thought he expected of her. The strongest feeling he got from her was fear. She was afraid of something or someone. Her father? It was possible. Gardwig had never been known for his good humor.

Richard shook his head. “I’ll give her a chance, but I don’t think she’s the woman for me. I’d like to see Lidia.”

“Do you think she’ll have a better body?”

Richard looked away. He loved his cousin, but sometimes he was disgusted by Jess’ habit of comparing women’s physical attributes. The prince would have liked to see a woman who could challenge his cousin’s opinion of himself, but so far it had never happened. Looks, wealth – those were the things that caught Jess’ attention. Richard already had wealth and title, and he wondered if he would ever find a woman who looked past those things and saw him as a man. He was tired of people looking at him like pedigreed livestock. A little bit of warmth was what he wanted in his family.

Anna stood off to one side after Richard slipped away. He wasn’t interested. She could feel it with her skin. There had been no chemistry, no miracle, no lightning. Richard was not interested. He would be polite to her, but she did not attract him.

“You won’t catch this one by putting your breasts in his face.”

Anna jumped and turned in horror. The jester had stolen up to her silently. “Try harder, girl. You have one month.”

“And then?”

“And then I’ll get involved. It’ll be better if you do it on your own.”

Anna nodded. She was terribly afraid of this man. Altres Lort gave a crooked smile and slipped away into the shadows. Anna looked around the room to find Richard. She would do her very best. She would walk through fire to make Richard fall for her. If she failed, she would no longer be needed, and she knew what her father did with women who were not needed.

There would be no mercy.

“My Lord, I hasten to inform you that the cow is very friendly with the king’s envoy. Amber has been discovered in Earton. Slave traders arrived, but they were beaten back. I await instructions.”

A group of mercenaries was traveling the back roads of the kingdom. They made little noise and avoided being seen together. The only mischief they made was raping a couple of peasant girls, but they didn’t think anyone would mind. Some of the men joked that they were improving the local stock.

Earton was far away, but there were no other jobs to be had, and they had hopes of picking up work along the way. That was the mercenary way of life.

The next twenty days went by in such a flash that Lily later had trouble even remembering them. She was busy doing good work around the estate, but each week flew by in what seemed like minutes.

Hans took over directing the work at the salt pit and smokehouse on the coast, while Lily focused on how to pay the peasants who actually did the work. She knew that she could have ordered them to do it for free, but she also knew that they all had fields and gardens that would have to be tended by others, and she wanted their families to be secure. She also finalized her list of things that needed to be bought in Altver and prepared to send Torius a collection of the latest items Helke had made. Erik had promised to make the trip for her, and she trusted him. In any case, there was no one else who could go.

Lily wanted to find time to sit down with Helke and talk about what they could make out of amber, but there were problems with the deposit that had to be dealt with first. The men who examined the site told her that the deposit was small at the surface, and that most of it was located at a much greater depth. That explained why Erk Grismo and his family had decided to bring in the slave traders – they needed more men to retrieve the amber. Her estate was sitting on top of great riches, but it would take serious thought and much work to recover it all.

One afternoon, Lily sat down with Hans and made him an offer. She knew she owed the king one-quarter of the value of the amber she recovered, but she proposed that, instead of sending raw amber, she would give the king finished jewelry. The royal treasury would benefit, and she would get free advertising. Hans thought for a moment and nodded. He had heard of such arrangements.

While her other projects were bubbling along, she found time to lock herself in her study for a few hours and draw some of the things she wanted Helke to make out of Earton amber. Lily knew she was no artist, but she hoped her sketches would at least give him an idea of the possibilities.

When she showed her drawings to Helke, he did a fair imitation of a man having a heart attack and told her that it would take him a month to make what she wanted, even if he had excellent apprentices and slept just two hours out of every twenty-four. Hans, who had enjoyed Helke’s performance, just smiled and offered to stay for another month so that the Eveer could complete the work. Since the king had not sent for him yet, he could use his own discretion.

Lily suspected that Hans had developed a taste for life in Earton. With the slave traders out of the way, he enjoyed the peace and quiet and being entrusted with important work. It made for a nice change after the intrigues and back-stabbing at court. Sometimes Hans told Lily about life at court when they ate dinner together. The countess caught her breakfast and lunch whenever she could, but she always made time to sit down for dinner with Miranda (who was increasingly proud of her new table manners), the pastor and his son (whom she graciously allowed to join them), Leif and Ingrid (when they were at the castle), Erik, Leis, Lons Avels, Helke and his sister, Tahir… It was an extremely eclectic group of people gathered around the table every evening, but Lily didn’t mind at all. These people were her team. She would have let some of the craftsmen join the table if she had dared.

Speaking of craftsmen, the glassblower and the blacksmith now hung on the countess’ every word when she stopped by their workshop. The young men already thought of themselves as Creators with a capital c. No one had ever put glass and metal together, and now they were doing it and getting outstanding results. Lily hoped that they would pass on their knowledge, so that in another hundred years or so there would be craftsmen capable of making things like the Venetian glass of her own world. In the meantime, they adored her like a pair of puppies, and she suspected that they would never leave, even if she tried to fire them. (However, she reminded herself that she still needed to ask the pastor to bless the new mirrors. Otherwise he might start to get ideas.)

Marcia and the other two dressmakers were in love with Lily, as well. They had already churned out several hundred feet of lace, stopping only to eat and sleep, and were constantly begging Lily to give them new patterns and ideas. She gave them basic diagrams for shawls, belts, gloves, scarfs, veils and mantles, which they slowly perfected until they had a garment they could be proud of. Once the mastered each design, they worked on making their work neater and more elegant.

Soon, Lily hinted that they should try incorporating beads in their lace. Helke just moaned when she informed him of the quantity of beads they would need, and put both of his nephews and some of the older Virman children to work making beads out of leftover bits and pieces of amber.

Trost was already much better. Watching him run around helping his uncle, Lily remembered that she needed to improve her rudimentary still so she could produce decent alcohol to use as a disinfectant.

None of the wounded men had died, so Tahir followed Lily around in hopes of gaining more knowledge. Jaimie was always close behind him.

Whenever Lily managed to shake off the craftsmen, the dressmakers and Tahir and Jaimie, there was always Miranda, who looked up at her with adoration. Lily found that she had strange feelings about the girl. Was it just tenderness? Or was it love? She would do her best to make friends with her husband, if only for the girl’s sake.

Most days, Lily felt like a rope with ten ends, all of them being pulled in different directions. When she got up in the morning, she opened her wardrobe and looked at herself in the long metal mirror. A tall blonde in a trim green and white outfit looked back at her.

Who am I now?

As the days wore on, there was less and less of Aliya left in her. She couldn’t remember what Alex’s eyes had looked like, or how her father laughed at off-color jokes, or what the head of surgery said to her the first time she walked into the operating room. It was all gone. Her new reality was the castle, Earton, and these strange people that she had to build a life with.

What has happened to you, Aliya Skorolenok?
Who have you become?

The reflection said nothing, because there was nothing to say.

Richard was lying on his bed when Jess walked in. “Well?” he asked.

“What do you mean ‘well?’ Can’t you greet me properly?” Jess objected. Richard reached for a pillow to throw, but his cousin put up a hand. “I give up.” He sat down on the bed. “Here’s what I’ve learned. Anna has been living like a hermit in the country. Once he heard there was a chance of marrying her off to you, her father brought her back here and had her dressed up for show. There’s nothing compromising in her past, or if there is, nobody knows about it.”

“Not bad.”

“But you don’t like her.”

“She’s attractive, but the more I see her the less I am able to imagine her as my queen.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can see straight through her. She’s petty and spoiled and loves to have her own way.”

“Of course she does. She’s a woman.”

“Do you remember Jessie?”

Jerrison shrugged. “Women like Aunt Jessie are one in ten thousand. Why do you think you’ll get lucky?”

“I don’t know. But Anna is just…”

“She isn’t stupid.”

“She is. She may know enough about everyday things, but she isn’t capable of thinking about anything more complicated than how to pull out her rivals’ tail feathers. That isn’t intelligence. It’s cunning.”

“Are you ready to leave?”

“I can’t. We have to stay here for at least a month. And I’ll need to write to my father for instructions.”

Jess sighed. “Gardwig needs this union.”

“I won’t choose blindly. I need to see Lidia.”

“I’ve met her. She’s about as pretty as a wool sock. Is that what you want?”

Richard put his head in his hands. “I’d rather marry an ugly girl with brains than a beautiful idiot.” The two cousins sat for a moment, side by side, each thinking of his own problems of the heart. Richard spoke first. “When are you going to get tired of that girl you’ve been seeing?”

“Adele?” Jess shrugged. “She’s a tigress in bed, but afterwards she always cries.”

“That’s too bad. No one likes a woman to be a nuisance.”

Standing on the other side of the door, Altres Lort frowned. Anna hadn’t managed to catch her prince. He knew she had tried. He had been watching. But no matter, he still had a month. It was time to talk to Gardwig and schedule a royal hunt to include their distinguished guests.

The jester quietly stepped away from the door and slipped away through a secret passage.

There was a letter from Hans Tremain on the king’s desk. It was the second letter his envoy had sent.

“Your Majesty, Earton was attacked by slave traders, but we fought them off. I have learned that there is a large deposit of amber on the estate. The old manager and his accomplices were selling the amber in secret. I must stay here for now to help ensure that the estate is capable of recovering the remaining amber efficiently. I will bring the taxed share with me. Miranda Catherine and the countess are well. I remain your faithful servant, Hans Tremain.”

Edward felt the letter left much unsaid. There was amber in Earton, but who found it? Slave traders had been plaguing the estate, so why did Jess send his daughter there? And why had he left his wife there? Lilian might not be the loveliest girl in the world, but Edward had no desire for a falling out with August Broklend, who was prepared to go through fire and water for his daughter. The king knew he could put pressure on August, but he hesitated to anger a valuable and talented man. There was no other boatbuilder like him in the kingdom. He tapped a finger on the envoy’s letter.

How much am I asking of Jess? Lilian is not the wife he wanted. I understand that, and I understand why he wants her to stay in the country, but I don’t see why he can’t ensure that she is safe, at the very least. Now I hear that the manager was a thief who fired the guards and stole valuable resources from the estate, and that slave traders have come to see Earton as easy prey. What in the world is the boy thinking of?

The king put his head in his hands. He loved his son, but Jess was begging to be taught a lesson.

Meanwhile, life continued apace in Earton.

One day, Baron Donter showed up without warning for a repeat visit. Just when Lily thought she would have to put on another show to entertain him, Hans Tremain sailed out into the courtyard. He held up a large gold medal so that the baron could see it clearly and asked him – very politely, of course – what business he had in Earton.

The baron went pale and swallowed hard. After an uncomfortable pause, he explained that he was just paying a social call on the countess.

“When her husband is away, Honorable Donter?”

Lily thought Hans would have made an excellent inquisitor.

The baron was reduced to stuttering. “I…uh…was simply t-t-trying to b-be n-n-neighborly.”

Hans gave him a withering look. The king’s envoy obviously did not believe in neighborliness. The baron bowed to Lily, kissed her hand, and beat a hasty retreat.

Once he was out of the gate, Lily turned to Hans, “You’ve sent him back where he belongs. Thank you, Leir.”

“I don’t like the fact that he came at all, my lady.”

Lily voiced her agreement, but soon she forgot all about the baron. That was a mistake. She would have been more careful if she had seen what happened when the baron and his companions were out of sight: one of the men got off his horse and snuck back to the castle, where he spoke briefly with a woman before returning to inform the baron of what he had learned. The baron’s face went dark and he spurred his horse toward home.

The band of mercenaries settled into a small tavern in Altver. They wanted to rest and enjoy themselves after the long trip, but they had little money to spend. While they nursed their beers, they began asking questions about Earton and the countess. Unfortunately, they were not at the Pig and Dog, which was too expensive for their budget, as their pockets held little beyond a few lice.

They learned that Earton was south of Altver, and that you could theoretically get there by sailing up the Earta River, but that most people went over land. There was nothing much of interest once you arrived. Fellow drinkers informed the mercenaries that the countess was friendly with Altver’s mayor, but that she had had a serious falling-out with his son. On the whole, people felt that there was something odd about her. By the end of the evening, the mercenaries’ leader, a man named Royce Fletch, decided that he had heard too much empty talk and gained too little useful information for his liking. He told his men that they would stay in Altver a few more days to pick up anything else they could learn about their target before making their way quietly to Earton, where they would stay hidden until the time was right.

Fletch didn’t want to kill Lilian Earton. Given the choice, he would never have touched this job. However, he was in desperate need of money. There were too many Virmans for hire in the kingdom in those days, and they were driving down prices. As a result, men like Fletch and his band of mercenaries had to grasp every opportunity that came their way.

It wasn’t that the job was difficult. All he had to do was get to Earton, arrange the accidental deaths of one woman and one child, and get back out. Just to be safe, Fletch gave no one his name while they were in Altver. Once he was paid, he planned to disappear like a breeze in the tall grass. His other plan – he always had another plan – was to forget about the countess and tell the man who hired him that the job was done. By the time the man found out the truth, Fletch would be gone.

He didn’t yet know which plan he would follow. He wanted to set his eyes on Earton first.

Baron Donter sat hunched over a goblet of wine. His toadies did their best to stay out of his way. When the baron was in a black mood, they all feared his rawhide whip. Finally, late in the evening, the baron rolled quietly under the table. He stayed there until morning, when he woke with a splitting headache.

One of his toadies tiptoed over to him. “What’s the matter, Clive? Why are you so sullen?”

“There’s a king’s envoy in Earton, and my partner has been captured.”

The woman who had spoken to his man (it was Calma, of course) told him that one of the ship captains had been captured. She couldn’t remember his name, but she thought it was something like Jim or Jack.

“So what?” the toady shrugged. As far as he was concerned, this was someone else’s trouble.

“Fool!” Clive erupted in anger. “He will tell everything he knows to the envoy.”

His toady whistled. That was bad. “Then what?”

Baron Donter explained slowly. Slave trading was against the law in Ativerna, and that was putting it lightly. In actuality, that meant that even a baron could be whipped and thrown in prison or worse.

“We have to do something about this,” he wrapped up his explanation.

“But how?”

The baron cursed inventively. That was something he was good at. “I don’t know yet. But I don’t want anyone to find out about what I’m up to.”

Edward looked up at the lady. She was tall and ugly and skinny as a nail, with thin, pale hair hanging limply on both sides of her peevish face. Alicia Earton, born Alicia Weeks. It was an understatement to say that she was not appreciated at court, but no one risked saying anything about her aloud. The king was known to favor Jyce Earton’s widow.

“Come in, my dear.”

Alicia entered the study and bowed. “Your Majesty…”

Edward cut her off gently. “I want you to write to your daughter-in-law.”

“Whatever for?” she asked, genuinely surprised.

“I know you don’t often see your son and daughter-in-law. Sit down, Alicia.”

She took a seat on the very edge of a high-backed chair. “Your Majesty…” she began again.

“Alicia, we have known each other for a long time. I know you to be a woman with a strong mind.”

“But…”

“I would ask you to go down to Earton, but I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble. So I would like you to write to Lilian. Tell her she is invited to come to the palace. And when she arrives, keep an eye on her.”

“But I don’t…”

“My dear, something very strange is happening in Earton. Jess is with Richard’s delegation. I don’t want to waste any more time.”

Finally Alicia burst out, “But I’ve never even been to Earton, Your Majesty.”

“I know that. Jyce was my good friend, remember? I know you can keep a secret, Alicia. I want you to make friends with Lilian and then tell me your opinion of her.”

“I will do as you ask, Your Majesty.”

“She lost her baby very recently. After it happened, she expelled the medicus. He has said some very negative things about her, but I think there is more to the story.”

“Your Majesty…”

“I understand that this is not a task to your liking, but I must ask it. I will not forget this. I promise.”

Alicia stood up and bowed again. “Your Majesty, I will gladly do anything you ask of me.”

Edward watched her as she turned and left.

Alicia. Alicia. Only four people knew the secret that Jessie and I kept. Now, only you and I remain. You may be an evil-tempered bitch, but you aren’t stupid. If something is wrong with your daughter-in-law, you will find out faster than I ever could. Jess is far away. He and Richard won’t be back before autumn. Her father is partial to her and thinks she hung the moon. A woman will get to the bottom of things. I am counting on you, Alicia, even though I never liked you.

Edward picked up a pen and quickly dashed off a short letter on a piece of parchment.

“Hans, please pass along to the countess my invitation to court in the spring. I will send an official invitation, but these pigeons are faster. You can give me the details of the matter when you arrive. If you feel you must stay, then by all means, do not hurry. I want you to watch Lilian Earton. What kind of woman is she? How does she treat Miranda Catherine? How does she manage the household? I will await your detailed report.”

He handed the letter to his secretary to be copied out and sent by carrier pigeon. The king knew Hans to be a good envoy. He could get to the bottom of anything.

Meanwhile, Alicia was already back in her room writing a letter to Lilian. A request from the king was the same as an order and must be performed immediately.

“My dear daughter-in-law, I heard about your troubles and wanted to write to you. How is your health? Medicus Craybey told us that you lost the baby. Do you need anything? Should I send you a different medicus? How can I be of help to you? You are welcome to stay with me while my son is away. His majesty the king wishes to see you at court in the spring. I hope you will at least stay with me then. I can provide you with a dressmaker and a hairdresser. We can talk about all of that when you arrive. I eagerly await your reply. Alicia, Dowager Countess of Earton.”

She sealed the letter. It would go out by runner.

Alicia wondered why the king was interested in her daughter-in-law. The one time she had seen her, at the wedding, the girl had struck her as a dimwit, and she had wondered at her late husband’s choice. Yes, there were the boatyards and August’s money, but Lilian was not the right girl for Jess. She wasn’t the right girl at all.

While Alicia had no real love for her “children,” she understood that their wellbeing had a great influence on her own wellbeing. Jyce had left her enough money to live at court, and Jess helped her out on occasion. They were not close, but still, there was something between them. She had pretended to be his mother all those years, after all. The secret never bothered her. She had grown used to it. She enjoyed her life at court, and she was grateful to both Jyce and Edward for ensuring that she had everything she could possibly want. In that frame of mind, Alicia was prepared to do whatever the king asked of her.

A quill pen scratched across a piece of parchment. The letter would soon fly away tied to a pigeon.

“The cow must be killed, along with the little girl. It must be an accident. Try to accomplish this by spring. I await news.”

The man folded the piece of parchment into a tiny square, tied it to the pigeon that stood on his desk and, not trusting any of his servants to launch the bird, sent it out the window. In the hotbed of gossip that was the royal court, what he was doing was very risky, but he needed Lilian Earton dead. And Miranda, too.

Lily gave Miranda a hug and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

“Don’t catch cold.”

She had taught the servants how to burn peat, but the castle – like all castles – was still drafty and cold.

“I won’t. Lily, will I ever have my own horse?”

“You most certainly will. If you want, we will take Lidar to meet a pretty mare. Their foal will grow up to be your horse. Or we could ask Ali to bring you another Avarian, a young one. Is that what you want?”

“Yes!”

“I will talk to the groom, but you have to promise to be careful.”

“I will.”

That was hard to believe, so Lily added a condition. “Until you are bigger, you have to ride facing forward and there will be no jumping. You have to have someone with you all the time when you ride, and you have to take care of the horse yourself. Can you promise me all of that?”

“Oh, yes! Yes!” Mirrie would have promised her stepmother the moon in return for a horse of her own.

Lily hugged her again and kissed the top of her head. “You will have your horse.” She looked down at the little girl’s shining face. “How do you like your new playmates?”

“They are strange.”

“They know many things. Mirrie, I want you to learn how to throw knives at a target.”

“What for?”

“Do you remember that man who tried to hurt us? I want you to be able to defend yourself.”

Miranda nodded. “I can do that.”

“I will ask Erik which of his men can teach you.”

“Will you do it with me?”

“Of course.”

Mirrie looked up trustingly. “Will you ever take me with you somewhere?”

“Come spring, I promise. Right now the weather isn’t good enough for me to drag you around the kingdom.”

The little girl buried her face in Lily’s neck. “You’re so sweet. I thought you were mean before. But you’re not.”

“I am mean.”

“You’re wonderful.” Mirrie’s voice got softer and softer. Finally, her head lolled on Lily’s shoulder and she fell asleep. Lily lay quietly, looking out the window and thinking.

It was late summer when you woke up in this world, all alone and at death’s door. Look at you now.

Mirrie mumbled something in her sleep. Lily stroked her head. She pressed her lips against the girl’s forehead.

Why do you love me? I’m mean. I’m trying to survive, and I’ve been using you as a tool against my husband. And still you love me. As I love you. I’m not as lonely in this world anymore. It’s my world. My new world. No matter what happens, I can handle it. I am Countess Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton. I have a daughter, Miranda Catherine Earton. I have a home. It isn’t exactly mine, but still… Things are falling into place and becoming familiar. I have work to do. I have friends. These people are almost my team. And I’m responsible for them.

I am home.

Lily rolled onto her side and tucked the little girl next to her. She shut her eyes. Tomorrow would be a new day. A good, new day.

Tomorrow…

She was almost sure that she was doing everything right. She had always been a top student.

Her last thought before she fell asleep was: I think I’ve got the housekeeping under control. It’s too bad there’s no one here to notice.

Medieval Tale:

First Lessons

The Clearing

Palace Intrigue

Book Recommendations:

Thank you for carrying on in our exciting journey.

Book 3 Palace Intrigue is out now for order.

If you like this book then please consider joining our Facebook group.

I would like to draw your attention to some other great works from Litworld.

Fayroll by Andrey Vasilyev is an exciting adventure story about Harriton Nikiforov, a journalist forced to write a story about the newest online craze ‘Fayroll’. Along the way he meets a variety of interesting characters and finds a life changing epic quest that will change his life forever. This series was a best seller in Russia when first published.

Fayroll:

More Than a Game

The Road East

Winds of Fate

Gong and Chalice

Sicilian Defense

Under the Black Flag

Different Sides

The Crown and the Key

Word and Steel

Andy finds himself in a life and death struggle as he must adapt to his new environment and undergo the ancient ritual to become a Dragon to survive after accidentally falling through a portal to another world. Read this exciting adventure now by the best-selling author Alex Sapegin available on Amazon:

Becoming the Dragon

Wings on my Back

A Cruel Tale

Crown of Horns

[1] Shilda – the local equivalent of a succubus, a female demon who seduces men.

[2] Local names for marjoram, thyme and fireweed

[3] Hammer of Witches, a medieval book on, among other things, how to prosecute people for witchcraft.

[4] In Virman mythology, Holosh is the god of tricks and devilry, along the lines of Loki.

[5] Chickenpox

Table of Contents

Contents:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Book Recommendations: