The Princess Spy (12 page)

He followed Lady Margaretha up the stairs. No one was around to question what he was doing in the castle. She led him up to the solar where a woman he assumed was Lady Rose sat stitching something. Also in the round tower room was a beautiful pregnant woman who looked to be near her time, as well as a girl a little younger than Margaretha who was playing with another girl of about six years.

If the two younger girls were Margaretha’s sisters, and the pretty pregnant woman was the Earl of Hamlin’s wife, along with Lady Rose, they were all about to receive a great shock. And he had to think of a plan to save them. He would rather forfeit his own life than allow them all to die, as he had allowed Philippa and John to die.

Margaretha approached her mother. “I have something I must tell you, but promise me you will not become too alarmed.”

“Of course, darling. But first . . .” Mother was the picture of calm as she laid her embroidery across her lap and smiled up at Margaretha. “Lord Claybrook asked if you would go riding with him this morning. He said he would wait for you in the Great Hall. I told him you would be awake soon.” Her face clouded. “What is amiss? You look pale.”

“Mother.” Lady Margaretha took her hand and knelt before her. “I have discovered something about Lord Claybrook.”

She was speaking quietly, and Gisela moved closer to listen. How she hated to frighten them all, especially when Gisela was so near her time. Even Kirstyn and Adela turned their attention to Margaretha as she went on. “He is not the man he pretends to be.”

“He’s not Lord Claybrook?”

“He is Lord Claybrook, but he isn’t the harmless person he would want us to believe him to be. He intends to use his men to attack Hagenheim.”

Her mother drew back slightly while her sisters gasped. “How do you know this?”

“I overheard him telling the captain of his guard. They were making plans to attack while Father is away. He will pretend his uncle, the Earl of Keiterhafen, is attacking us, but it was his plan all the time. And I never would have known if not for this man.” She turned and looked at Colin. “He is from England, from the same region as Lord Claybrook, and he knows of Claybrook’s treachery there, where he actually murdered a young lady. He came here to warn us. He warned me, but I didn’t believe him at first.”

Mother’s eyes were round and her face had turned pale. “Are you sure?”

“Mother, I heard Lord Claybrook with my own ears. He is plotting to take over Hagenheim. Believe me when I say that we are not safe. Our family must flee, and we must send word to Father and Valten about the danger. It is Lord Claybrook’s plan to kill them both.”

Gisela stood. Adela began to cry, and Kirstyn rasped, “That can’t be true. What kind of person would do such a thing?”

Colin stepped forward and said in English, “We need a plan, and we must not let Claybrook know we are suspicious of him.”

“What is he saying?” Her mother rose from her seat, her embroidery falling to the floor.

“He doesn’t speak much German, Mother. He says we need a plan and we must not let Claybrook know we know his plans.”

Colin kept speaking and Margaretha translated his words to her mother, Gisela, and her sisters. “We must get the family out of the castle, but quietly, so Lord Claybrook does not become suspicious. We must alert the guards who are still here at the castle and in Hagenheim, and we must send a message to Father and Valten alerting them of the danger.”

“We can go to the house beside the river,” Gisela said with a grim set to her mouth, “where Valten and I stayed for a few days after our wedding. It’s in the forest. I doubt Lord Claybrook or his uncle even know it exists.”

“Yes, that is a good idea,” Mother agreed.

Margaretha translated their conversation to Colin, who said, “But they must not all leave the castle at once. It will attract too much attention.”

Margaretha translated his words to Mother and Gisela.

“I am assuming it is far enough away that they will need horses?” Colin asked.

“Yes.”

Looking grim but determined, Colin went on. “They should go in two groups, an hour apart. If they are asked where they are going, one group will say they are going on a picnic by the stream. The other group will say they are going for a ride, or to visit . . . someone, and will return in a few hours. Make up a likely story. By nightfall Claybrook will probably realize they have escaped him, but by then it will be too late.”

Mother and Gisela agreed, while Kirstyn tried to comfort and reassure Adela.

“In the meantime,” Colin went on, “you and I will alert your father’s guards to what Claybrook is planning, and find one of them to take a message to your father. But we must be careful.” Colin pinned her with his blue eyes. “Some of the duke’s guards may not be loyal to your father anymore. Claybrook may have bribed them or otherwise won them over to his side.”

Margaretha nodded. She was surprised she felt no fear, only excited energy surging through her. It was good to have a plan of action, and Colin seemed to know what to do.

When they were ready, Margaretha embraced first Gisela, then Kirstyn and Adela, kissing their cheeks. Her mother hugged her, then looked into her eyes. “I will be praying for you. You will not be afraid, but you will do whatever you have to do to stay safe.” Her look was fierce, even with tears in her eyes.

“I love you, Mother. God will keep us safe.”

She and Colin hurried away down the stairs.

Chapter
12

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Lord
Claybrook entered the Great Hall only a few feet in front of them. She shrank back, instinctively throwing her arm back as though to hide Colin, who flattened himself against the stone wall. Lord Claybrook walked confidently through the doorway, never glancing in their direction.

Margaretha sat down on the steps, placing her hand over her heart. It vibrated against her hand, so hard was it pounding. “He nearly saw us.”

“If he sees you,” Colin whispered, “do not act as if anything is amiss. But if he sees me, our plan is ruined.” He grabbed her upper arms, forcing her to look at him. “You must help me find a few loyal guards, men you are certain would never betray your family. Then you will need to go to Claybrook in the Great Hall. Since he asked your mother to tell you to meet him there, he will become suspicious if you don’t show up.”

Margaretha’s heart fluttered. He seemed so wise and capable, his hands warm and reassuring as they gripped her arms. Thanks be to God that he was here, helping her.

“Will you come with me?” she whispered.

“Yes, but you must lead the way.”

He let go and she hurried to leave the castle by a back door. Colin followed just behind her to the gate.

When they arrived at the gate house, a guard was there, but Margaretha did not know him. With him was one of Lord Claybrook’s guards, wearing the blue and gold of Lord Claybrook’s uncle. Margaretha smiled at them, hoping she didn’t look suspicious. A glance behind her showed Colin hanging his head, no doubt trying to hide his face.

Margaretha turned back toward the castle, and when she did, she saw more of Claybrook’s guards near the stable. Were they trying to keep track of who was coming and going?

She clasped her hands and bit her lip as she walked, keeping to the back side of the castle so as not to be visible to Claybrook from the windows of the Great Hall.
God
,
have you truly entrusted
me
,
a girl who has never faced danger of any kind
,
to help
save Hagenheim? To place such a responsibility on me
,
when I never
imagined I would need to do anything like this . . .

“Do you know where you’re going?” Colin whispered behind her.

Margaretha kept walking as she turned her head to answer. “Of course. I know every foot of these — oh.” She ran into something . . . or someone.

“Careful, Lady Margaretha. You should look where you’re going.”

She took hold of his massive arm. “Bezilo.” He was as loyal as any of her father’s guards. She would wager her life on it. “We must speak with you, Bezilo, but we need to go where no one will hear us. Please come with me.” They were near the flower garden, which was behind the castle, sheltered partially by trees. She led the two men through the short iron gate and motioned them to follow her to the shade of a low-hanging mulberry tree.

Once they were under the relative seclusion of the thick leaves and branches, she told Bezilo in a hushed voice, “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.