Magdalen’s heart thumped harder as they drew near to Wolfberg Castle. They could not let any of the guards see them entering, so they left their horses at a stable in the village at the base of the castle mount. Steffan led them on foot around the front gate through the woods.
Neither of them spoke. Magdalen followed as he dodged around trees and bushes. She was completely lost, but he grew up here, so he knew where he was—she hoped.
“We have had quite an exciting quest, have we not?” He raised one brow.
She couldn’t help smiling at him. “Yes, if you think running for our lives and nearly getting killed or captured is exciting.”
“You should admit that you enjoyed our adventure.”
She drew in a quick breath. “Highly presumptuous. I suppose that is the way with dukes.”
“Other dukes. I am merely being honest and prompting the same honesty from you.”
“Oh, is that what you call it? Very well, I do enjoy being with you. It is the most excitement, as you call it, I’ve had my entire life. But you seem to think it is nearly over. We still have to defeat your evil uncle and cousin. We have no assurance that we shall have any allies in our fight, and Lord Hazen and his men could return at any time.”
“I like to think we have survived the most difficult parts.”
They moved through the trees down a shallow hillside until they came to a rushing stream. It was narrow enough that he was able to leap over it. He turned and extended his hand to her. She grasped it and jumped across. Then they moved up the hill.
“We’ll spend the night inside the castle, but we’ll have to hide out here in the woods until it gets dark.”
“Inside the castle?”
“I know every inch of Wolfberg Castle, including one place I don’t think even my uncle knows about.”
“At least he wouldn’t think to look for us in the castle.”
She couldn’t help watching his face, noting every nuance of his profile, memorizing each line and curve of his jawline and nose and brow and lips. Ever since he kissed her cheek, she’d been half afraid, half hopeful he might kiss her again. But she could not encourage such a thing.
Twilight was falling as they neared the meadow where they used to graze their sheep and geese. They hid in the shadows and watched the new goose girl herd her gaggle of geese along the path and out of sight on their way to the goose pen. The sheep were nowhere in sight.
They sat and ate some of the food they had been given at the abbey. Then they went to the place under the rock where Steffan had hidden his important things. He dug up his metal box, dumped everything into his traveling bag, and waited for nightfall.
When it grew quite dark, they crept toward the castle. As they watched from the cover of the trees, a guard strode by, keeping close to the castle. Several minutes later, he came by again.
When the guard was out of sight, they hurried to the small door at the rear of the castle that was always locked. Steffan took out his key, opened the door, then locked it behind them.
They were inside.
Steffan and Magdalen both wore their servants’ clothing, so they would not stand out too much, but all servants should be in their beds at this hour. They had to move with stealth and hope no one saw them.
Steffan headed down a corridor Magdalen was probably unfamiliar with as he made his way to the east wing of the castle. He found the door he was looking for. It was locked. He took out his key and opened it.
How fortunate that he had taken this key with him when he went to Prague.
The door led to a small room and a winding staircase that went up and around in a circular fashion. They walked to the staircase and started up.
“I’ve never seen a staircase such as this,” Magdalen said. “It almost makes me dizzy.”
They came to a small window. They were in the highest tower of the castle. Magdalen stepped onto the stair beside him and they both looked out.
The view of dark-blue waters seemed to go on forever, and from here they could see a glimpse of white cliff faces jutting into the edge of the water.
“You are so fortunate to grow up in a home as magnificent as Wolfberg Castle, and one from which you can see the ocean . . . I can’t think of anything better.”
His heart grew so big it filled his chest. But he replied, “I am glad you approve of the view.”
“I like the hills where I live, with the thick forests, but you have both forests and sea. Did you miss it when you were in Prague?”
“I did. For a long time it was hard to go to sleep at night without that distant roar.”
“What was it like to be with men who were focused on learning?”
“Some were not always focused on our studies. Some were more focused on pursuing . . . women and drink.”
“But not you?”
She just assumed he did not pursue the sins of the flesh. His heart expanded again at the thought of her faith in him.
“I had seen them, the way they looked when they came back from a night of drinking and carousing—sick and dirty and barely able to hold up their heads—and I was not tempted to join with them.”
“That was wise and mature of you.”
“I had two friends who felt the same way. We sometimes played tricks on the other fellows, and we went to dances and festivals. We enjoyed our time together.”
“Were they also dukes?”
“My two closest friends were earls’ sons, but we kept our titles a secret.” He suddenly wished she could meet them.
“What were their names?”
“Mertein and Claus.”
“The best friend I ever had was Avelina—Lady Thornbeck—but I only was able to be with her for two weeks. She promised she would send a group of guards to escort me to visit her after her baby was born. But then I sent her a letter telling her I was going to marry you.” Without pausing, she stood. “Shall we go on the rest of the way? It cannot be much farther, can it?”
“No, not much.”
They were quiet the rest of the way up. He could hardly wait to show her the view from the top.
He did not even have to use his key, as the door was slightly ajar. He pushed it open, and once they were inside, he locked the door behind them.
“No one ever comes up to this room, but there is also a secret hiding place, which I will show you later.”
The room was relatively clean, in spite of being unused for so long. Some broken furniture and other clutter—old clothing and a couple of trunks, some tools and some paintings—were stacked against the wall.
She started toward the window. She had already noticed the view. “Oh, it is beautiful from up here.”
All the windows had been inset with glass several years before, but the thick panes caused a somewhat distorted view.
“Better to see it unobstructed.” He used considerable force on the metal clasp. It finally gave way, and the window swung outward on its hinge, opening a one-foot-wide by three-feet-high space, letting in the cold evening air.
“I can hear the sea. That sound is so different from anything I’ve heard before.” Magdalen leaned on the windowsill and let her head hang out. She brought her head back in quickly. “I don’t suppose it’s wise of me to let anyone see us up here.” She grimaced. “But I can hardly wait to see what it looks like in the morning light.”
Air filled his lungs at her delighted smile. How could he bear to let her leave after this was over? Could she ever love him? He kept remembering her joy at not ever having to marry. How much time did he have to talk to her before Lord and Lady Thornbeck would arrive, ready to save her from her nightmare? How soon would her mother come with her own men to take her back to Mallin?
He turned away from her. “I’ll go find some food for us.”
“Are you sure that’s safe?”
“I will do my best to avoid anyone seeing me. The only people who should be roaming around the castle this time of night are the guards, and there shouldn’t be many of those.”
“Be careful.”
“I can only lock and unlock the door from the outside. I’ll try to come back as soon as possible.”
She suddenly put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “I will pray for you.”
“Thank you.” He hugged her in return until she pulled away. But then he kissed her cheek, just as he had done a few mornings ago.
His heart pounding, he turned away before he could see her reaction.
He had two choices before she left Wolfberg. He could simply bid her farewell, or he could ask her to stay forever. But he was sweating just thinking about it.
Magdalen searched through the things in the room until she found an old tarp and a sheepskin and a few old, worn blankets. She used them to make two beds for them, along with the blankets in their bags they had brought with them. Oh, how long it had been since she’d had a proper bath and clean bedding! For this alone Lord Hazen deserved to be punished.
As she lay on the floor looking up through the window at the sky, Magdalen’s mind was fixed on Steffan. It had seemed so wise for her to keep her feelings about him a secret. After all, what could she say? I think if you loved me, I could love you too? That she would like to marry him because she thought he was a good, kind man and she felt this strange longing for him?
She could not say any such things. Nor would she. She would not humiliate herself over a man who had once told her people should marry for a better reason than love.
Then why did he kiss her on the cheek, twice? Some families, certainly, were more affectionate than her own. Her mother never kissed her, but she and Avelina had kissed each other on the cheek. Magdalen kissed her sisters on the cheek sometimes. Perhaps Steffan thought of her as a sister and that was why he kissed her. But she had met Steffan’s sister, and Gertrudt had not seemed particularly affectionate.
Her mind and heart were full of him. “Oh God,” she whispered, “take this longing out of my heart, or let him care for me as much as I care for him.”
Three soft raps came at the door, then she heard the key clicking inside the lock, and the heavy wooden door opened.
“I brought some food.” Steffan entered and opened his bag. “Oh, you made us beds.” He smiled.
He sat beside her, and they ate and drank and then lay down.
She made sure the beds were not too close together but still close enough that she and he could talk.
“Just knowing Lord Hazen could come back any moment makes me nervous,” Magdalen whispered from her makeshift bed. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep.”
“Shall I sing for you?”
“That would be lovely.”
“But you might not like my singing, and I’m not sure if I can sing quietly enough.”
“Oh no, you cannot not sing now. You must.”
“Will you laugh at me if I sing poorly?”
“Probably. No, please, do sing something. I’m sure you have a lovely voice.”
“Well, there is a ballad that Engel, one of the nursery servants, used to sing to me at bedtime.” He began to sing. When he reached the end of the first verse, he stopped.
“You sing beautifully. Won’t you sing all of that song?”
“That’s all I remember. Are you not sleepy now? Have I not put you to sleep?”
“If you sing it again, I think it will.”
“Very well.” He sang it again, and her eyes locked on his as she watched his face in the scant light that came in through the window glass. His eyelids were beginning to droop, and he lay down.
“Thank you. You have a good voice.” Truly, he had sung very well, so well that she was afraid to say just how impressed she had been.
Steffan mumbled something she didn’t understand, and then she heard the regular, even breathing that signaled he was already asleep.
They spent the next morning talking quietly, and Magdalen’s heart nearly burst every time she looked into his eyes. It felt as if he wanted to tell her something. Several times he opened his mouth and she thought he was about to confide something important, but then he would give a slight shake of his head and look away.
Steffan said, “I need to show you something, in case our secret place is found out and Lord Hazen tries to come up here.” He led her over to the cluttered side of the room where a broken table lay top down on the floor. He moved the table with care so as not to make too much noise—and showed her a tiny handle in the wooden floor. When he lifted the handle, a three-foot square came up with it, revealing a hole in the floor.
“It’s called a trapdoor. A ladder leads down to a small room. My father showed it to me before he died, but I was too afraid of dark holes to go down in it and explore, and I don’t think anyone else even knows about it. So if you hear anyone coming, I want you to hide here.”
“And you.”
He shrugged, then nodded.
The hole was very dark. Poor Steffan. How would he manage hiding in such a dark, tiny hole? She would just have to pray that they would never need to.
“I’m going down to the west wing to try to spy on Alexander and Agnes. I want to see what they know.”
“Don’t be gone long. Please?”
He looked back at her. Then they both seemed to step toward each other. She hugged him and he kissed her cheek. Then he departed while her stomach flipped around inside her.
When Steffan returned half an hour later, they took out the food that Steffan had scavenged the night before.
“Tell me everything you heard Alexander and Agnes say.”
He sighed and his brows drew together.
“What is wrong?”
“Nothing, but . . . it was very confusing.”
“Confusing?”
He stared down at the bread in his hands. “I always hated Alexander, even though I haven’t spoken to him much in years. So to hear the way he speaks to Agnes . . . it doesn’t make sense.”
“What do you mean?”
“He said he knew it was wrong to pretend to be me, but he didn’t know what else to do. He was afraid of his father.”
“He must have told Agnes the truth.”
“Which was shocking enough—”
“Ja, since he didn’t have to tell her the truth. She wouldn’t have known, since I didn’t tell her.”
“But he also said he was glad he had done it because it had led him to . . . fall in love with her.”
Magdalen absorbed this information in silence. She could not imagine anyone falling in love with mean-spirited little Agnes.
“But I still want to plant my fist in his face.”
“Agnes doesn’t deserve . . .” She almost said, “Doesn’t deserve to be loved,” but that sounded cruel.
“What she did to you was wicked and unjust.”
“Perhaps they are both sorry.”
Steffan gave a slow nod. “But it’s best not to trust them.”
Ugly thoughts and feelings churned inside her. Her longings felt so unfulfilled. Was it right that Agnes had gotten exactly what Magdalen had wanted? Agnes had gotten true love and wealth by stealing them. Would her wrongdoing be rewarded?
Would Magdalen be punished for not taking what she wanted? For not fighting back and for being too kind and gentle to kill Agnes in her sleep? Magdalen had refrained from telling Lord Hazen the truth partially because she did not want him to execute Agnes. Still, she wasn’t sorry she hadn’t killed Agnes.
“Wait for the Lord,” she whispered.
“What?”
“In the Psalter it is written, ‘I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’ ”
He sat quietly for a moment, then took her hand in his and squeezed it. “That is what we will do. We will be confident in the Lord’s goodness, and we will wait for the Lord.”
Her heart soared at the way he was looking at her, at his warm eyes and sweet smile.
“Besides,” he went on, “the way of the wicked will not prosper for much longer. We shall regain our proper places soon, and they shall get what their actions deserve.”
Would he take revenge on his uncle and cousin? Or did he only mean that they would be justly punished?
He let go of her hand, and they both went back to eating.
“What else did Alexander and Agnes say? Did you learn anything?”
Steffan opened his mouth, but then raised his hand, as if to keep her from talking. Then she heard it too—the noise of many bridles clinking, horses’ hooves, and men’s voices.
He helped her to her feet and they both looked out the open window.
“Don’t get too close,” he said, his hand on her shoulder. “We don’t want them to see us.”
Many men on horseback made their way through the castle gate. She caught a glimpse of Lord Hazen near the front, his head high.
As she strained her eyes to recognize the faces of the people entering the gate, she said, “I see Katrin. She’s to the right of Lord Hazen.”
“I see her.” Steffan’s voice was grim.
“Do you think your uncle knows we’re in Wolfberg?” Magdalen put her arms around herself, resisting a shudder.
“He at least suspects it. We should be extra quiet and careful. And if he comes looking up here, we will hide under the floor.”
She recalled Lord Hazen’s arrogant face. The man would do anything to keep Wolfberg, she was quite certain. He would not hesitate to murder the true heir.