Thornwood by Leah Cypess (read after .txt) 📕

we have,” Edwin said. “We met in the castle this morning.” He looked me over carefully. “You don’t remember, do you?”

“I don’t remember much from this morning.” And I didn’t know why. “So, um, we met already? How did that go?”

Edwin looked down. “It was so embarrassing, I don’t want to speak of it.”

My face went hot. Then I saw that he was fighting a smile, and I mock-punched him.

“You were very nice to me,” he said, dodging. “I told you I was newly hired and lost. You showed me how to get to the kitchen. Then you stood there, looking around like you were waiting for someone, and when I asked, you said your friend Margot had promised to wear a dress that matched your sister’s birthday cake and you wanted to see it.”

I blushed again. Margot was one of the kitchen girls, and I had thought she was my friend. She was bubbly and round, with hair that sprang from her scalp in tight curls, and she liked to play a card game called Beanstalk. We used to play for hours.

But she’d lied when she told me about her dress. She had never planned to come to the castle on Rosalin’s birthday. And she hadn’t told me that.

Maybe she wanted to, but she was afraid I would tell my father. Or maybe the other girls had pressured her out of it….

Stupid, pointless hopes. Anyhow, I would never know now. Even if—when—we got out of the castle, what was I going to do? Ask her grandchildren if she had ever talked about me?

Edwin watched my face. His voice softened. “I knew Margot from the village. She mentioned you once. She said you were very kind.”

I gave him a skeptical look.

“What? You do seem very kind.”

I hoped I was. But Margot wasn’t. I doubted she had ever spoken a word to the village dolt, about me or anything else.

“You’re kind, too,” I said, “for trying to make me feel better. But Margot isn’t important anymore. The only people who matter now are the ones who are trapped in this castle with us.”

Edwin snorted. “It seems to me there are only two people who matter: your sister and her prince. The rest of us are just sitting around waiting for the consequences of whatever they do.”

My shoulders twitched. His words made me feel like something was itching at the inside of my skin.

“When I saw you the second time this morning,” he added, “I was following your sister, because I wanted to make sure she would actually…you know. Prick her finger. Everything depended on whether she did. I saw you lead her to the tower—”

“You saw me do what?” Once again, I searched my memories. Still nothing after I left Rosalin’s room. “Are you sure it was me who was with her?”

“She was saying that your hair looked like a bird started building a nest in it, then gave up halfway through.”

“Definitely me, then.” I chewed my lower lip. “And I was leading her into a room with a spinning wheel in it? Are you sure?”

“Definitely. I was paying close attention. You looked exactly the way you do right now—scared, but also brave and determined.”

Was that how I looked? I tried not to ruin it by blushing yet again.

Brave. Determined. And I knew where the magic sword was. Combined, those three things led to one conclusion: there were more than two important people in this castle. Because Edwin and I were going to be the ones to get us out of here.

“Come on,” I said, and whirled. My dramatic gesture was slightly ruined when I tripped over my hem, but I recovered and marched grandly toward the stairs.

I was somewhat relieved when Edwin followed me. I must have looked like I knew what I was doing, and even though I didn’t know what I was doing, the fact that I could look like I did made me feel oddly confident. I slowed down so Edwin could walk beside me, and gave him what I hoped was a gracious and self-assured smile.

“Thank you for accompanying me,” I said. “Once we are free, I will make certain that you are rewarded.”

“That’s great,” Edwin said, “but do you actually know what you’re doing?”

So much for that. “Of course I do.”

“Do you know it well enough to explain it to me?”

“That…might be difficult,” I admitted.

Edwin chuckled. For some reason, that made me feel even better than thinking he believed my charade.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s keep going. It’s time for us to find a way out of here. And we don’t need a prince to do it.”

We passed a pair of laundresses, then encountered a nobleman in the middle of the stairwell. Edwin faltered, but I strode forward without slowing down. The nobleman stepped aside at the last second and watched us pass with hard, angry eyes.

I wondered why the people still here had chosen to stay. Had they believed we would manage to escape the spell? Had they had nowhere else to go? Had they decided that staying in a castle, even a cursed one, was better than setting out into the world on their own?

I also wondered how long the castle could function without servants. They kept the place going. For example: Where would breakfast come from? My stomach was letting out embarrassingly loud rumbles.

So when we got to the royal sitting room, I was relieved to find my parents there. But I was even happier to a see a plate of pastries on one of the tables. They smelled like cinnamon and sugar and strawberry jam and had clearly been meant for Rosalin’s party.

I was less excited that Varian was there, too, sitting on the couch across from my parents. It was just him—Rosalin, presumably, was still in her room primping. I didn’t want to tell the prince that we had found his hidden sword. Maybe I could find a way to get him