The Lady and the Prince
Chapter 32

Parker froze for an instant, but there were two other men behind Walter, and one of them he recognized—Mr. Winkershime. Ralph raised his eyebrows at the younger man who recovered himself and ushered the king’s messenger into the main hall.

Nick rose when he saw Walter, and everyone else did as well, realizing something important was happening. Walter approached the prince and bowed correctly, saying, “Your Highness, I have an official communiqué from the king as well as several other letters for yourself and Lady Elizabeth.”

Nick just nodded, and Walter produced a message tube sealed with the Warwick crest. Nick took it, broke the seal, and opened it. Whatever else Walter had to deliver would wait until the official portion of his visit was completed.

Everyone stood silently waiting. Gwen and Reggie and the new guards didn’t really understand the situation, but they stood patiently, seeing the tension in Lady Elizabeth and the prince. Nick read silently for a few minutes and then laughed.

“I guess this is an early birthday present. I am now the Duke of Sothalia. Well, I guess that’s one way to get someone on the Council who will vote for changing the witchcraft laws.”

Sylvie was confused and said quietly, “Is that a demotion then or something?”

Nick responded, “No, it’s an added title. I’m now Prince Henry Nicholas Warwick, Duke of Sothalia. When we marry, Elizabeth will become Princess Elizabeth Mary, Duchess of Sothalia. Subordinate titles are often passed out to younger royal sons for income. I think this is the first time anyone has gotten a dukedom though.”

He turned back to Walter and asked, “You have other missives for us?”

Walter bowed, ending the official portion of his duties, and presented letters to both Nick and Elizabeth. She turned to Ralph and said, “I didn’t expect to see you so soon. Have you eaten? How’s your arm?”

Ralph replied, “My arm is much better, thank you, and yes, we ate before we broke camp this morning. Let me introduce our companion. This is Mr. Childers, he’s a civil minister. I thought you might need one in a couple of days.”

Elizabeth’s face lit up, and she hugged Ralph. “We do. I’ve been looking for someone who could legally marry us, but there aren’t many people back yet, and everything is in confusion. Thank you!”

Ralph smiled smugly over her shoulder at Nick, enjoying his hug, but Nick didn’t begrudge Elizabeth’s affection. He was quite sure who she loved most. He said, “Unfortunately, we can’t offer much in the way of accommodations. A place by a fire is all we can do. Bring in your camping equipment. Harry, help them and see to their horses.”

The three men had come with only one pack horse and just small tents and blankets, no folding furniture. The servants gave up their seats and Ralph, Walter, and Childers sat down while Nick and Elizabeth eagerly read their letters.

Nick had three—one from the king, one from Anne, and one from Arthur; Elizabeth had two—one from Anne and one from Gramp, which she opened first to get news of her family.

Nick became quiet and serious as he read the king’s letter. “My father hasn’t been able to find the right people to promote to Ulle, Denland, and Montexter, so for now he’s just sent troops and civil administrators. At this point he doesn’t think there will be a Council session again until spring.” Nick looked up and continued, “So tomorrow is Harvest, the day after I turn sixteen and become a condemned man.”

He looked at Ralph, who nodded a little but didn’t seem very concerned. Nick quickly read Anne’s letter that reported the same situation and told him she was now taking on all of his responsibilities, including Head of Commerce. He understood that when she said, “All,” that included being Spymaster. But she also mentioned that Giselle had written to her and that she and Richard planned to return to the palace in spring, so she would soon have expert advice at the very least.

Elizabeth’s letter from Anne said much the same but also added a few words about fashion and a greeting to Sylvie. Nick opened Arthur’s letter, the tension in his shoulders easing as he read.

“Arthur says he has no orders to do anything about me for now. The conscripts have all been sent home, and some of his troops have been sent north. He hasn’t any to spare for chasing witches at the moment. But he’ll be recruiting and training new guards over the winter, and I should expect another letter in spring as soon as the roads become passable. I guess that means he’ll wait until the spring session of the Council to see what happens to the witch law before he comes after me.”

Ralph added, “He told me to tell you he won’t be in any hurry either, and he trusts that with enough warning he won’t be able to find you if he has to come looking. The other bit of news that isn’t in the letters is that Princess Eugenie thinks she is pregnant. It’s not being spread about yet until she’s sure, but Edward is strutting around like he captured the moon.”

There was a pause in the conversation, and Walter cleared his throat and said, “Will there be replies, Your Highness, Lady Elizabeth?” Nick and Elizabeth had forgotten he was there.

Ralph quickly said, “Don’t worry. Walter doesn’t hear anything that isn’t official, right, Walter?”

The messenger nodded and said, “Of course not. I am the king’s messenger, not a gossip.”

Mr. Childers decided to go to the market in case there was anything for sale that could be used for the wedding, and Walter went with him. It would be held in the main hall, which was empty except for camp furniture and stacks of firewood along one wall. They doubted they could get anything like flowers, but perhaps they could find something bright and cheerful to decorate with.

Elizabeth went too, looking for more food to buy for the Harvest celebration and also to spread the word that there would be a festival of some sort, and to bring your own cup since Sothalia didn’t have extras at the moment.

Nick took Ralph to the tower. He wanted a private conversation, and he also needed to look for a book or two on stonework or brickwork. The east wall needed to be repaired, and repaired well if it was going to hold off Arthur in the spring. Nick fervently hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but if it did he wanted Sothalia to be defensible.

They took the Warwick banner with them. Nick hadn’t wanted to fly it before, but now that Sothalia was officially his, the flag needed to be shown. The Sothalia flag represented Duke Hubert, and with no known heirs his banner would never be flown again. But Nick had already decided to incorporate elements of it in a new Sothalia flag, melded with the Warwick dragon, perhaps, to honor Hubert’s loyal service to his king. Nick had always felt the dragon represented him better than the lion—to him the lion represented bravery in battle, more like Richard and Arthur. But dragons were magical beings, just like he was, although they probably didn’t really exist.

Ralph was a little nervous at being floated up in the air but was fine once they got into the tower. He explored the top three floors slowly, while Nick went straight up to the roof and seated the flag in the holder provided for the purpose. There were actually three holders—one for the king’s flag, one for the duke’s, and one for the banner of the noble who occupied the tower.

Nick came down and picked out a couple of books, and they both went to the sitting room, brushed the dust off a couple of seats, and relaxed on the comfortable furniture. Ralph’s first words were, “Why aren’t you living in this tower? It just needs a little cleaning, but it actually has furnishings.”

“You can’t feel anything odd?”

Ralph sat still for a moment, looking inward. Then he said, “I think perhaps, I do, but just like someone is watching us.”

“Which is not what anyone would want for their wedding night.”

“True. Do you know any more about what it is?”

“Yes, there’s a crypt in the lowest floor. I’ll show you, but first tell me what’s going on.”

“I’m retired, Nick.”

“Uh-huh, and I’m a griffon. Tell me.”

Ralph sighed and said, “I really am retired, but I do hear things. My old friends visit me, and their habit of feeding me information hasn’t stopped. Well, King Louis is sulking and has called for anyone with magical talent to report to the palace for training. The word is weak talents won’t be burned out but nurtured. Personally, I think he might make weak talents slaves of sort, appealing to their loyalty to start a breeding program. Next time he invades anywhere he wants a lot more sorcerers, just in case one pops up like you did.”

“Drusia is nervous about spring, and their ambassador is hinting that Anglia should lend them some witches to keep Franck at bay. He doesn’t quite believe we don’t have them hidden in every village. In Drusia, the rumors have turned you into a half dozen witches, and the number is growing every time the story of our defense is told. It might be a convenient place for you to visit in spring if need be.”

Nick grimaced. “Drusia is all right, but if I leave I might never be able to get back. And I’m an Anglian, Ralph. I don’t want to be permanently exiled.”

Ralph continued, “Your decision, of course. On the home front, King William isn’t well. He’s having more digestive problems, and there are rumors that he is dying. He certainly has lost weight and is in some discomfort, but I don’t really know if it’s that serious. He offered Denland to Elizabeth’s grandfather, who refused it. That’s in the letter to Elizabeth, but what isn’t in the letter is that Baron Stratton has had a couple of fainting spells and thinks he may not have that long to live. Jamie and Charlie might be able to handle the barony. They know it well, and he’s been training Lord James for several years now, but they would be hopelessly out of their depth trying to run Denland.”

“Elizabeth should visit home then and soon. But our wedding is coming up, and there will be snow in a week or two, so she can’t go now and get back again, and in the spring…”

“Things are likely going to get busy and possibly dangerous. Edward is taking over more of the day-to-day reigning duties and handling them competently. He’s never been brilliant, but he works hard, and the general opinion is that he’ll do well as king. Richard may resume being Spymaster when he returns in the spring, but that’s not certain yet. That’s all I know, Nick. Now what about this crypt?”

“I’ll show you,” Nick said and led the way, providing bright light on the stairs down. When they came out into the gray stone room, both of them just stood and stared at the white coffin above them for a minute.

“Do you know what that is for?” the prince asked, pointing at the embedded silver ring.

Ralph shook his head. “Does it bother you at all? Can you touch it? Cross it?”

Nick knelt down and touched it lightly with one finger and then put his hand on it. “I don’t feel anything special from it. It might actually be silver, not just silver-colored. There’s no iron in it at all.”

Nick stood up, stepped across it, paused for a few moments, and then stepped back. “Inside the ring, I could feel him very strongly. He’s interested in me, very interested, but not exactly hostile. I got a much clearer sense of him. Outside the circle, he’s just an amorphous presence. Inside, he’s a personality. He was a powerful witch with some connection to Duke Hubert, a distant ancestor, I think, and he was deeply disturbed at the deaths here. No, not disturbed, enraged is more like it.”

“So you think there’s a ghost in there, but he means you no harm?”

“I wouldn’t say that precisely. There’s something, a ghost is as good a term as anything, but I don’t know about the no harm part. The way he regards me is a little creepy, and not because he’s a ghost. My mother was a ghost, and there was nothing creepy or scary about her at all. I can’t say that for whoever he was or is.”

“Is there any way to, I don’t know, disperse him or something so the tower would be useable?”

Nick thought a little. “If the castle still stood, I would probably do what Duke Hubert did—lock it up and forget about it. But we need to use the tower. I can look through the books and scrolls to see if there’s anything about ghosts.”

They went back upstairs, and the prince took another book and a scroll that appeared to be on the right subject, and they left the tower, Nick floating them both gently to the ground. He spent the rest of the morning with his books, while Ralph went out to explore and see for himself the condition of the town. Nick was quite sure he’d be reporting back to Anne, at the very least.

Nick nibbled absentmindedly on whatever he was given for lunch while studying how to rebuild a wall properly. He needed to use whatever daylight he had on nice days to put Sothalia back together as much as he could. Creating enough light to work by and heaving around large stones would be difficult, so he would do that sort of thing during the day, and he could study about ghosts and magic after dark.

The prince took Vernon with him when he went out, working his way to the gap in the east wall. Vernon cleared away the smaller rubble, while Nick picked out good stones and stacked them. Gradually they attracted a small crowd, some people making a sign against evil when they saw magic, but most just watching. Now and then someone would call out a suggestion, and finally one old man started giving directions on how to rebuild the wall. After a bit, Nick realized the man knew what he was talking about and had him step forward and direct the work.

Having someone with experience help him made the work go faster and the wall stronger. The young prince quickly began to see the errors he had been making and started moving stones more confidently and with less correction from Todd. That was all the name the white-haired man would give him. Nick got the impression that Todd thought that giving the prince his full name might give Nick some kind of power over him.

When the wall was rebuilt, Prince Nick turned to the crowd and announced that the castle, what was left of it, would hold a small Harvest celebration on the next day and told everyone to bring their own cups and spread the word. Then he asked, “Todd, what else needs to be rebuilt and sooner rather than later?”

The old man hesitated and then said, “The public wells are the most urgent, Your Highness. Some have collapsed, others have been fouled. If you could remove whatever is at the bottom of the fouled ones…”

Nick just nodded and said, “Show me.” He had a good idea what had been tossed into some of the wells and didn’t look forward to retrieving rotting corpses, but it had to be done, and using magic he didn’t have to actually touch anything.

The prince and his guard spent the remains of the afternoon following Todd and going from well to well and cleaning them out. Sometimes it was just trash or small animals, other times what he pulled up had once been a human being. Todd had a few friends who tagged along and used whatever they could find to carry the human remains out to the cemetery for burial. Crowds tended to gather and watch whenever Nick began using his magic.

One well not far from the castle was particularly distressing. He first brought up a small sword and then the remains of an older child. Nick felt a little sick thinking that it might have been Hubert’s son Ronald. The prince could sense more small bodies as well. Perhaps all the bodies had been his children. Nick couldn’t remember exactly how many there had been or their sizes. Instead of bringing anything else up, he replaced everything back in the well and caved it in. He couldn’t imagine anyone ever wanting water out of it.

“This will be a tribute to all Sothalians lost in the war with the Francks,” Nick announced to the crowd. “Bring broken stones from every street to fill it in. In the spring, I’ll erect a monument here.” The crowd murmured in approval and dispersed to collect the stones.

It was late by the time he and his guard returned to the castle. They were both tired, and Gwen was irritated because she had been holding dinner for them, and now it was overdone. Nick just shrugged and said sorry to everyone in general and sat down. He didn’t taste what he ate anyway and only had one helping of whatever it was.

“Are you all right?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes, I’m fine, just tired. After we finished the wall, we cleaned out some of the public wells that had been fouled, and it was unpleasant, very unpleasant. I need to get some reading done. I’m going to my room now.”

Elizabeth looked at Ralph, who just shrugged. Then she turned to Gwen and said, “We’ve a lot of baking to do before tomorrow. Sylvie and I will help. Parker, Harry, Vernon, get the wine and ale kegs set up here in the main hall. Reggie, move what furniture we have by the far wall so we can put the treats on it tomorrow.”

“Ale?” said Harry.

Elizabeth nodded. “There was a fellow trying to set up his pub again, but all he had was three kegs of ale and two dozen mugs, so I bought the lot. That and the wine should do for drinks, but oh, I forgot. We need someone to lead the crowd tomorrow and a costume for them to wear.”

Ralph said, “No one will have costumes, and there aren’t many other doors a crowd could reasonably knock at. You don’t have candies? Well, I suppose tossing a few pennies would gather people in. Do we have any musicians?”

“Not one, I’m afraid. I looked and listened, but I couldn’t even find a street musician. I don’t suppose begging will be a very lucrative occupation in Sothalia for quite some time.”

Ralph turned to Mr. Childers and raised an eyebrow. Childers said, “Well, I do play a bit of pipe, and I brought mine with me. A little music is always good while the crowd is gathering for a wedding, and I can often make an extra bit of coin playing at the feast afterward. Now if we could round up a drummer…”

“I can do that,” said Vernon. “I’m no expert, but I can keep a beat and maybe do a bit more besides if you can find something for me to use.”

It didn’t take long to find some larger pieces of firewood that hadn’t been split and were a bit hollow and some sturdy sticks. Outside, the sound wouldn’t have carried well, but in the hall it was loud enough for dancing. Vernon practiced a little until Parker and Harry made him stop and help with the kegs again.

Parker volunteered to lead the crowd if someone came with, and Reggie was pleased to oblige. Harvest was his favorite holiday, and having the chance to be a leader was an opportunity to fulfill a longtime wish. Sylvie took them off to fashion something out of one of the tents. The inside hangings were lighter weight and in various mild colors, and one or two could surely be spared.

By the time everything was ready for the following day, Elizabeth was glad to escape to her room and finish writing her letters for Walter to take back with him. There was still a light showing under the door in Nick’s room, so she knocked. The prince answered it and gave her a quick smile.

Elizabeth asked, “How are you doing? Have you learned anything interesting?”

Nick motioned her in, and they sat side by side on his cot. His own letters were stacked on his chair, folded and sealed. “The ghost is the spirit of a witch. According to the scroll, it’s not all that unusual for a magic user to continue some sort of existence even after death. There’s actually a spell for it.”

“Would you do that? Become a ghost?”

“Only if there was a need for it. My mother did it for me, at least for a limited time. I don’t think I would ever do it as a permanent thing like our ghost seems to have done. I don’t know exactly who he was. From the amount of dust in the tower and the outdated clothing, he must have died a long time ago, maybe a century or more.”

“And he’s just been waiting all this time?”

“I think as long as he had descendants in the castle, he was sort of asleep. Ghosts don’t really sleep, of course, but I sensed absolutely nothing when we were here before and we were within fifty feet of his sepulcher.”

“Can you do something? Send him away, put him back asleep, or get rid of him somehow?”

“The book says that it’s possible, especially tomorrow night. That’s the time my mother was able to come to me, so that’s when I should be able to confront him.”

“Does it say what you should do?”

“Yes, there’s a way I can try to send him to…wherever. But I have to go into the protective circle around his coffin, and it could be dangerous.”

“Nick, maybe you shouldn’t. You could wait until next year after we’re married.”

“We’re too crowded, and the tower is nice. It has to be this year. Tomorrow is the festival, and I’ll get rid of the ghost tomorrow night. The next morning I’ll get Sylvie, Gwen, and Reggie to clean in the tower, at least the top three rooms, and we can spend our wedding night there.”

“That sounds like a workable plan as long as everything goes all right.”

“There’s no reason why it shouldn’t. We’ll have the wedding late in the afternoon, so there will be time to decorate and cook and everything. By the way, try this.” Nick handed her his bottle of wine from the tower, now open.

Elizabeth realized he didn’t have a glass, so she took as ladylike a swig as she could from the bottle. “It’s very good,” she said in surprise.

“And there are more bottles, so we can use some of them to celebrate our wedding, but not too many. I want to be clearheaded all night long on our wedding night.”

“Nick, we’ll have to get some sleep.”

“Well, maybe a little,” he replied and nuzzled her neck, which led to kissing and fondling. Elizabeth eventually drew back. “We need to get a good night’s sleep tonight, Nick. The next two days are going to be very busy, and if we’re going to be up so much on our wedding night, then we’d better sleep well tonight. You’ll be up late tomorrow night then?” S~ᴇaʀᴄh the FɪndNøvel.ɴᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Yeah, but I can catch some sleep after the job is done. Don’t worry, everything will be fine, Elizabeth. Tomorrow we host our first Harvest Festival, and the next day we get married. I’m glad I’m almost an adult, or I’d be too excited to sleep tonight.”

“You’re adult enough. Now good night.” She went to her own room, but Nick stayed up a while to reread everything he had about ghosts.

In the morning everyone just went in the kitchen, got a plate, took what they wanted for breakfast from various pots and serving dishes, and ate standing up. Chores still needed to be done, and Sylvie had some finishing touches to complete on the costumes. The ones for Parker and Reggie were more elaborate and included a sort of bag with eyeholes cut out for their heads and a long cape with arm slits and the edges cut into fluttering strips instead of being hemmed. She had made simple sort of costumes for everyone else, just long pieces of cloth with holes in the middle to put one’s head through with ragged edges. At least they would look different, if not exactly in costume.

Nick and Elizabeth wouldn’t dress up, of course. As the hosts, they would just go as themselves. Nick thought of the balcony back in the palace where the nobility would sit and look down on the people celebrating below. He didn’t have a balcony, he barely had a roof over everyone’s head, but that didn’t matter. He was determined to have fun regardless of the sparseness of the celebration.

As soon as lunch was finished, they started putting out the honey cakes and little cheesecakes Gwen had invented. Reggie and Parker dressed in their costumes, and there were last-minute adjustments. Both had staffs, heavy purses of pennies, and Gwen produced two large bags of nuts for them to give out too. She had been pleased and generous when a peddler had come to the kitchen with them instead of taking them to the market to sell; people were learning.

Elizabeth wondered a little what she and Nick would do when they ran out of money. Well, that was a worry for much later, not now. Parker and Reggie went out, followed by Harry and Vernon without their guard sashes. They would join the crowd as it grew just in case anyone decided they would try to take all the pennies instead of what they were given.

It would take hours for them to work their way all around the town. Some of the wealthier houses were repaired and occupied, so there would be at least a few other doors to knock on. There was little to do but wait. Elizabeth kept an eye on Nick, half-expecting him to try to try to sneak a cake early, but it was Ralph she caught. He just smiled and said, “I had to make sure they were good, right? Besides, it’s a privilege of getting old, being indulged in childish behavior.”

Nick just laughed and shook his head and went out to the tower. Up on top, he could watch the progress of the crowd as it emerged from behind buildings and ruins into the squares. The market was mostly empty; few people were going to be shopping today.

He was glad to see children in the group, and he could occasionally hear their high, excited voices. He had been starting to wonder if there were any in Sothalia at all, but their parents had just been keeping them close by and after all that had happened he couldn’t fault them a bit. Nick was very happy to be able to provide some sort of Harvest Festival for them. Everyone needed a party; there had been so much fear, sadness, and worry in the past few months and no fun at all. Winter wasn’t going to be easy; this was likely the only relief that most people would have until spring.

Ralph took on the duties of the doorman. The crowd finally approached a couple of hours before sunset, and Reggie pounded on the door and cried, “Give us drink! Give us food! Save us from the dark!” Ralph opened the door and stood aside as Reggie and Parker danced in, the throng following gaily.

Gwen and Sylvie passed out mugs to those who had forgotten theirs or didn’t have one at all, and everyone was soon happily exclaiming over the little cakes and downing ale and wine. Vernon took up his place by his logs, Childers started a lively song on his pipe, and Harry stood by in case anyone got too rowdy from the drink and excitement.

Prince Nicholas and Lady Elizabeth greeted everyone cheerfully. Some of the better dressed bowed and curtsied to them with some grace, while others executed their courtesies more awkwardly. But once everyone had a drink and the music started, rank distinctions faded.

Being male, Nick could choose his partners and asked many of the cleaner-looking women to do a turn with him. Rich or poor, thin or fat, young or old, he showed no preference, just gave as many as he could the chance to dance with a prince. Elizabeth was supposed to wait to be asked, but there were overall more men than women. She found she had only to smile at a man and he would be at her side grinning and leading her out to dance, so she actually got to choose as well.

The children danced in their own way, gobbled treats, and were given heavily watered wine to drink. Some of them chased each other through the crowd, becoming a bit of a hazard on the dance floor, but everyone avoided having a major collision, if only just barely in some cases.

After a couple of hours, the younger children had settled down to games or naps along the wall out of the way, while the older ones climbed up on the woodpile and watched the adults. But sunset was approaching, and Ralph took on the duty of the seneschal, calling out, “The dark is near!”

Mr. Childers and stopped playing, and the crowd finished off the last of the treats and refilled their cups for the last time. Gradually, they started drifting out, thanking Nick and Elizabeth, who waited by the exit. Some were more formal, bowing and curtsying again, but most just nodded, thanked them, and complimented them on the party with big smiles and laughter.

Ralph called out, “The dark is at the door!” The few remaining people drifted out trailed by a young woman, who stopped in front of them and curtsied properly.

“Your Highness, Your Ladyship,” she said, waiting for permission to speak.

“What is it?” Elizabeth asked.

“My name is Laura. I…I was in service here before the Francks came; just a cleaning maid, and new at it at that. But I escaped, although not before those devils caught me; four of them it was. And now I’m with child, and I’ve no family left. I was wondering if you could use a cleaning maid? I know there’s not much here to be cleaned, but I’d do anything you needed, and I’d work hard for just food and a safe place to sleep and have my baby.”

Nick fidgeted a bit. Elizabeth knew he was thinking about where they would put her and if he could provide for her too. She said, “Well, you’re right. We haven’t very much to clean yet, but we haven’t a cleaning maid at all, so I suspect one hardworking woman could take care of it. We can’t give you more than a place by the fire on the floor and a blanket, food, and a little money, if that would be all right.”

Laura’s face lit with relief. “Oh, my lady, that would be wonderful. And I have my own blankets. I’ll just go fetch my things and be right back.” She hastily bobbed a curtsy and trotted off.

Nick turned to Elizabeth and said with a sigh, “We’re just going to hire everyone who asks, aren’t we?”

“Very likely, at least now before winter. Of course, if you can rebuild the castle we’ll have more room and need more people anyway.”

“Hmm, I think I’ll go figure out a system of taxation before I rebuild the castle. We’re going to run out of money at this rate.” He looked around at the mess in the main hall. “Well, I’ll leave you to direct the cleanup while I go take a nap; being a prince does have some privileges. Let me know when dinner is ready.”

Elizabeth gave him a little peck and let him go. He was going to be dealing with the ghost later, so a nap was a good idea. Then she got everyone working—Gwen and Reggie to the kitchen to wash up the serving dishes and used mugs and start dinner, Parker, Vernon and Harry to check on and feed the horses, and Ralph and Mr. Childers to restack the wood people had pulled down to sit on. She and Sylvie grabbed brooms and started sweeping out the hall.

Laura returned with her blankets, and Elizabeth gave her the other small room next to the Bakers’. Ralph and Childers were sharing the larger one, so anyone else who knocked on the door would be sleeping in the barn or the main hall, at least until she and Nick could move into the tower. She was glad she had only hired two guards so far. She wasn’t sure how many more would fit in the remains of the stable, and people sleeping in the main hall would be inconvenient.

Elizabeth fetched a sleepy Nick for dinner. Afterward she asked him to take someone with him to the tower to confront the ghost.

“No one can really help me,” Nick responded.

“Maybe not with the magic part, but if something goes wrong…”

“They would be trapped in the tower.”

“You said that there was a door to the prison area.”

“There is, unfortunately I don’t know where the access is at the other end. It’s apparently blocked off, so that wouldn’t provide a way to escape either. And if I fail, anyone in the tower with me could be in mortal danger.”

“Nick, what’s the worst that could happen? Is your life in danger?”

“I don’t know. The ghost didn’t seem threatening, but if I try to get rid of him he could be. Being dead is apparently not a total barrier to acting in this world. My mother did it, sort of. Our friend might be able to do something too, even magic.”

“I hate this. I want it to be over. I want us to be married and happy, Nick.”

“So do I. We’ve been through a lot, dearest. We’ll get through this too. Just one more night. Focus on tomorrow, not tonight.”

“You’ll come and tell me when it’s over, even if it’s the middle of the night?”

“I promise, but it might take as long as dawn, so don’t be frightened if it’s late and I haven’t come yet, okay?”

Elizabeth kissed him and said, “I will be frightened. Don’t tell me what to do, love.” She kissed him again. Nick realized the longer he stayed, the harder it would be to go, so he gathered up his magic books and said good-bye.

He raised himself up and entered the tower. He could feel the ghost in the back of his mind. Was it stronger, closer? Perhaps. He went up to the desk and put the scroll and book back and sat leafing through some of the others in case there was anything else he had missed about how to dispel a ghost. He had time yet, his mother had never visited him this early. Midnight until dawn was the period that the veil between the worlds was thin, at least according to legend.

Nick could feel it when midnight passed. The entire atmosphere in the tower changed. He put down his books and headed for the crypt; time to face the ghost.

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