“We are in danger. Lord Claybrook is trying to take over Hagenheim.”
Bezilo’s eyes went wide. “I knew it. I never trusted that foolish looking foreigner.”
“Well, my friend — for indeed, I consider you my friend and one of my father’s most trusted guards — this man here is also a foreigner, from England, and if not for him, we would not have known of Lord Claybrook’s treachery.”
Bezilo turned to Colin and nodded.
“We don’t have much time,” Margaretha went on without translating for Colin. “I need you to get a message to my father as soon as possible. We need to let him know that Claybrook is plotting with his uncle to take over Hagenheim and kill my father and Valten. But I’m not sure where Father is.”
“Duke Wilhelm and Lord Hamlin were checking out some reports of brigands to the north. I shall find them, don’t worry.”
“What did he say?” Colin asked, tapping her arm. “Translate for me.”
“Just a minute,” Margaretha told Colin, barely glancing away from the guard. “How will you leave without Claybrook’s men seeing you? His guards are milling about the stable.”
“I can leave the castle gate on foot and get a horse from town.”
“They’re watching the castle gate as well.”
“I’ll say I’m going to see my sister who sells vegetables in the Marktplatz. ”
“What are you saying?” Colin demanded.
Margaretha explained briefly to Colin what Bezilo planned to do.
“Good.” Colin nodded approvingly at Bezilo, as if with the authority of Duke Wilhelm himself. “But before he goes, he should alert the other guards that there will be a fight in the morning at dawn, or probably sooner. Or perhaps he should alert one guard and let him tell the others, but only the ones they are certain are loyal.”
Margaretha relayed his message to the burly guard.
Bezilo grunted. “Very well, I shall. But do you have a plan, Lady Margaretha, for you and your family to escape?”
“Yes. We shall say we are going to visit someone, or that we are going on a picnic. You must tell Father and Valten that we are at the manse in the forest.”
“I will. Now I am off to warn the other guards. You two stay here a moment so that we are not seen together.”
Margaretha translated to Colin as Bezilo walked away. Colin looked sharply at her, his hands clenched into fists. He had changed so much since the first time she saw him, lying almost lifeless on Frau Lena’s narrow bed, covered in dust and grime and dried blood. And then later, wearing those green-speckled clothes.
Now, even with the brown woolen tunic and hose of a stable boy, when she looked into his intense blue eyes, he made her breath catch in her throat. His hair was clean, thick and wavy, a dark-brown-almost-black which set off his bright blue eyes. His expression was less wild but every bit as intense as when he had demanded to speak to Duke Wilhelm that first day. His cheeks were no longer hollow and his shoulders brawnier after eating the hearty fare the cooks fed the servants.
It must have been a powerful spirit that had brought this foreigner, this peculiar stranger, to their town. He had come and everything had changed. She’d always felt so safe, and if not for Colin, she never would have suspected Lord Claybrook of being a murderer and a violent usurper.
“Margaretha, we must hurry. Claybrook will be expecting you.”
No one besides her immediate family members called her by her given name with such familiarity, but she was not in any mood to scold him for it.
She followed him out of the low garden gate and back toward the castle.
Colin dropped back to follow behind her as they walked. “I will hide in the library, which I saw across from the Great Hall,” he said quietly.
“Very well.” Ahead of her was Hagenheim Castle, a place more dear to her than any other. Its soaring towers never failed to fill her chest with contentment. To her left was the town of Hagenheim, where lived the families
Bezilo’s eyes went wide. “I knew it. I never trusted that foolish looking foreigner.”
“Well, my friend — for indeed, I consider you my friend and one of my father’s most trusted guards — this man here is also a foreigner, from England, and if not for him, we would not have known of Lord Claybrook’s treachery.”
Bezilo turned to Colin and nodded.
“We don’t have much time,” Margaretha went on without translating for Colin. “I need you to get a message to my father as soon as possible. We need to let him know that Claybrook is plotting with his uncle to take over Hagenheim and kill my father and Valten. But I’m not sure where Father is.”
“Duke Wilhelm and Lord Hamlin were checking out some reports of brigands to the north. I shall find them, don’t worry.”
“What did he say?” Colin asked, tapping her arm. “Translate for me.”
“Just a minute,” Margaretha told Colin, barely glancing away from the guard. “How will you leave without Claybrook’s men seeing you? His guards are milling about the stable.”
“I can leave the castle gate on foot and get a horse from town.”
“They’re watching the castle gate as well.”
“I’ll say I’m going to see my sister who sells vegetables in the Marktplatz. ”
“What are you saying?” Colin demanded.
Margaretha explained briefly to Colin what Bezilo planned to do.
“Good.” Colin nodded approvingly at Bezilo, as if with the authority of Duke Wilhelm himself. “But before he goes, he should alert the other guards that there will be a fight in the morning at dawn, or probably sooner. Or perhaps he should alert one guard and let him tell the others, but only the ones they are certain are loyal.”
Margaretha relayed his message to the burly guard.
Bezilo grunted. “Very well, I shall. But do you have a plan, Lady Margaretha, for you and your family to escape?”
“Yes. We shall say we are going to visit someone, or that we are going on a picnic. You must tell Father and Valten that we are at the manse in the forest.”
“I will. Now I am off to warn the other guards. You two stay here a moment so that we are not seen together.”
Margaretha translated to Colin as Bezilo walked away. Colin looked sharply at her, his hands clenched into fists. He had changed so much since the first time she saw him, lying almost lifeless on Frau Lena’s narrow bed, covered in dust and grime and dried blood. And then later, wearing those green-speckled clothes.
Now, even with the brown woolen tunic and hose of a stable boy, when she looked into his intense blue eyes, he made her breath catch in her throat. His hair was clean, thick and wavy, a dark-brown-almost-black which set off his bright blue eyes. His expression was less wild but every bit as intense as when he had demanded to speak to Duke Wilhelm that first day. His cheeks were no longer hollow and his shoulders brawnier after eating the hearty fare the cooks fed the servants.
It must have been a powerful spirit that had brought this foreigner, this peculiar stranger, to their town. He had come and everything had changed. She’d always felt so safe, and if not for Colin, she never would have suspected Lord Claybrook of being a murderer and a violent usurper.
“Margaretha, we must hurry. Claybrook will be expecting you.”
No one besides her immediate family members called her by her given name with such familiarity, but she was not in any mood to scold him for it.
She followed him out of the low garden gate and back toward the castle.
Colin dropped back to follow behind her as they walked. “I will hide in the library, which I saw across from the Great Hall,” he said quietly.
“Very well.” Ahead of her was Hagenheim Castle, a place more dear to her than any other. Its soaring towers never failed to fill her chest with contentment. To her left was the town of Hagenheim, where lived the families
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