Chapter. 7

Franco seldom worked past nightfall. I thumbed through my wardrobe for something practical and dark. The dress I settled on had two dissimulated pockets, where I could easily hide folded scrolls, and the key to Franco’s office.

The Duke’s office was conveniently close to my bedroom, but so were my entire adoptive family’s chambers. The difficult part wouldn’t be getting in, but getting there. Indeed, Franco had entrusted me long ago with a key to his office. Thinking of it now, I was baffled by his blind confidence. The trust he put in me was only comparable to the trust I used to put in him. Mine stemmed from the desperate desire to be loved, but he came from the tranquil knowledge that I would forever remain his docile soldier.

I quietly turned my doorknob and set out down the corridor.

Over the years, I had unintentionally learned which floorboard would creak under my footfalls: I often used to pad down to the kitchens after Mara had fallen asleep, scouring for food. As I progressed towards the Duke’s office, I heard Athenais and Georgina’s hushed gossiping. If they were to find me outside of my bedroom at this time...I pushed away the horrific thoughts.

When I finally reached the office, I quietly removed the key from my pocket. I turned it in the lock, ever so gently, and slid in before locking the door behind me. I sighed in relief, recognizing the familiar setting. The wooden desk was piled high with diplomatic documents I had always associated with afternoons of boredom. But if I were to convince the demons to take me in, I would have to prove my value. Tonight, these were treasures. I knew I couldn’t touch the first few scrolls, as these were the ones Franco would review tomorrow.

So I sifted through the bottom of the stack, folding the useful documents and stashing them away in my dress: locations of Thornland’s armies; secret maps of faraway kingdoms; names of Thornland’s spies. When I was done, not only was I confident that I would be able to find shelter in Voke, but I was entertaining the idea that I could stop the war.

A thought tugged at the side of my mind. King Luther. What if I could prevent his death?

I was going to reveal my situation to Spendios in two days when the demons were coming to court. I would make a bargain: my survival for the documents. The part of the plan I hadn’t ironed out yet was the other demons... Fear twisted up my spine. One step at a time, I reminded myself.

As soon as I turned to leave, I heard the sharp slap of Franco’s boots in the distance. Panic rose in my chest. He was coming down the hall. There was nowhere to hide. I knew Franco’s office well enough to be aware of its starkness. I scuttled in a dark corner, behind a large chest.

Franco walked in, and I froze, willing my body to suspend all of its motion for an instant. In two strides, he reached his desk.

Don’t sit. Don’t sit. Don’t sit. I squeezed my eyes shut as if it would make me invisible.

Next, I heard the ruffle of fabric, and just like that, Franco was outside again and locking the door behind him.

I opened my eyes and surveyed the room. The green doublet that was on his chair was gone. He had just come to fetch his coat. I suppressed a bubble of laughter that threatened to burst at my throat. I was safe.

The next morning I was right back at the scene of my crime, but with the confidence that my loot was stashed away in a location even Marielle wouldn’t find. Still, I was on edge, my brain and body electrified by a constant wash of adrenaline. Franco had called me in to go over the events of the next day.

“There will be a lot of eminent demons present,” he told me.

I drew a ragged breath. I interpreted negotiations every week, I reminded myself. It wouldn’t be any different this time. All I had to do was imagine that I was negotiating on behalf of the King. Not me.

“Tatiana, I want you to be accurate with your words. The demons are going to try and glean every opportunity they can to have the upper hand. Their looting has to stop.”

I nodded, and Franco, dismissing me, sat at his desk. As I exited, I prayed for him not to touch the stack of documents. Not today.

The final step in my plan involved Louise. While I hated to bring her in on the secret, I also had the certainty that once I was free, I would come back for her. I went down to the servant’s quarters as soon as I had a moment and found Louise busy folding laundry.

“How are you going to sneak past the guards?” Louise frowned.

I knew that she disapproved of all of it.

“I’m not. I’m going to run. Someone will be waiting for me by the Ceres Grove.” I asserted.

“Oh. Well, I suppose one guard is a drunkard and the other one is old. They’re not blind, though.” She paused. Both of us burst out laughing at the foolishness of my plan.

I was going to get myself in trouble with Marielle again, on laundry day. Like last time, I would be sent to do her laundry chores. Once by the castle gates, I would casually walk up to the guards, and then take off as far as I could into the Ceres Grove. I would confide all this to Spendios tomorrow and arrange for him to wait for me there.

It was far from perfect, but it was all I had. I was hoping to outrun the guards. They were older and weighed down by armor. But more than everything else, they weren’t inhabited by the same fury that started consuming me since I had died and come back to life.

Before I went back up to my bedroom, Louise gave me a hug that had the desperation of farewells. I held back tears. Now wasn’t the time to yield.

When I went back to my bedroom, the door was ajar. As I pushed it cautiously, I saw Marielle bent over my desk. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes.

“Get out,” I ordered, feeling déjà-vu.

“I know you’re up to something. Do you think no one’s noticed that you’re...different?”

Practical and rational, I thought. I no longer stash away my secrets underneath slats in the floorboard.

Louise had agreed to hide the documents and my backpack in her bedroom. No one would ever think of looking there.

“Her Grace is onto you,” Marielle continued.

I willed my face into a blank expression and smiled naively. “I am just doing my duty and serving the duke. Speaking of serving...isn’t it tea time?”

Marielle’s eyes turned dark.

“We are not done, you and I,” she threatened before exiting.

Oh, but we will be soon, I thought with relief.