shadow and lace by Teresa Medeiros

hair out of her mouth. A smile of terrifying sweetness appeared. She extended a grimy palm to Rowena.
    "Come, Lady Precious. If I am to be denied my ambush, I've time to find you some garments for the feast. If you go down wearing that silly rag, you'll quite fade in the presence of so many ladies. 'Twould not be your desire, would it?"
    Rowena reluctantly took the hand Marlys proffered, half preferring a cuffing to this unexpected kindness.
    The door creaked open on iron hinges. Rowena clutched Marlys's hand and peered around the taller girl's shoulder. Marlys moved forward into the shadows of the chamber, her normally exuberant footsteps muffled.
    The chamber was not in total darkness. The afternoon sun touched the sheets of velvet spiked over the windows, casting a pall of blue gloom over the shrouded furniture. A delicate mingling of rosemary and mildew wafted to Rowena's nose, making it itch. Marlys's hand slipped from hers. Rowena pinched back a sneeze.
    "Everything's the same," Marlys whispered.
    Cobwebs draped the candle sconces in elaborate falls of gray and white. A canopied bed frame even larger than Gareth's sat in the center of the chamber, covered by a single linen sheet. Rowena half-expected the shapeless mound beneath to rise and float toward them.
    Marlys shook her head as if to clear it and crossed to an oaken cupboard in the corner. "I daresay we'll find a kirtle for you here."
    Her matter-of-fact words were both comforting and irreverent. Rowena started as the door of the cupboard crashed into the wall. While Marlys dug through the cupboard, Rowena sidled toward the bed. She reached out a tentative finger and poked at the lump in its center. The straw tick erupted in a frenzy of squeaking and skittering, and she snatched her hand back.
    "Mice," Marlys pronounced without turning around. "There would be, you know. The cats don't come here. Keep an eye out for rats, won't you?"
    Rowena peered around, unnerved by the sheer size of the chamber. She sat down on the corner of the bed frame. Her toe explored the dark stain spilling over the stone floor beside the bed.
    From beneath the bed came the faint skitter of claws on stone. Rowena jerked her feet up. Marlys paid her no heed; she had crawled into the cupboard. Only the soles of her boots were visible. Her voice was muffled. "Used to hide in here when I was little. Goes clear through the wall. Big enough for a family of ten."
    Rowena leaned over the side of the bed and gingerly lifted the sheet. In the eerie light, she could barely make out the faint outlines of a cradle. She ran her hand along the beautifully carved surface. Her finger came back furred with dust.
    She dropped the sheet guiltily as Marlys rose from the chest with a hiss of satisfaction, unfurling a mound of peacock blue trimmed in ermine. In the eerie blue light, the crushed velvet seemed to hover above the floor with a life of its own.
    Marlys lifted one trailing belled sleeve of the matching undertunic. "What do you think? Perfect for you, is it not? Blue to match your eyes."
    The rich blue was not near to the color of Rowena's eyes, but she did not say so. " 'Tis a lovely kirtle. But I dare not wear another's garments without their leave."
    Marlys snorted. "The lady who would mind is long gone. My stepmother has been dead for nigh on twenty years. You have
my
leave. 'Tis all you need."
    She piled the dress in Rowena's arms, then dove back into the cupboard to pull out a wimple and girdle. Marlys muttered to herself, "Stand up straight, Marlys. Comb your hair, Marlys. Don't slouch like an ape, Marlys. Silly bitch thought she'd make a lady of me."
    "Silly, indeed," Rowena said softly. A veil came sailing over to land on her head. Rowena swept the gauzy softness from her eyes. "Was she pretty?"
    Marlys threw back her head in a bay of assent.
    "God, she was beautiful! With raven black curls that tumbled to her waist and flashing blue eyes."
    Rowena touched the cradle with her toe. "Did she and