I watched the sun rise over the desert. I stretched, feeling the rich fabric of my nightclothes. It was familiar enough to be second nature. I closed my eyes, trying to remember faces. Try as I might, I couldn't remember what Clark really looked like, I couldn't remember the details of my father's face. The only face I still saw clearly in my mind was Jasyn. Even Tayvis was fading. That realization hurt.
I turned my back on the spreading angry light of morning. I stripped off the nightgown, dropping it on the floor. The servants would clean it up later. I pulled on whatever clothes I touched. They were all expensive fabrics, expensive designer cuts and colors. They were fabrics I would have loved years earlier, before they became too familiar.
I slipped out of my room and down the stairs. The house was quiet. Early morning rarely saw Vance or his friends. His mother kept to herself until later in the day.
I was determined to get inside her study and find something, anything, to incriminate her and let me leave with my integrity intact. I'd agreed to find the traitors. I had to look.
The door to the study was closed and locked. I pulled a bit of stiff wire out of my sleeve. I found it in the flowers on the table last night. The wire was not as good as a real lockpick and I was out of practice. It took a long two minutes to pick the lock and slip inside.
Sunlight seeped past the shades drawn over the windows. I needed to find something and quickly.
A glint of light off the far wall caught my eye. I crossed the room and knelt in front of the spot. I ran my fingers over it. There was a hidden button. I pushed it. A keypad slid out of the wall, just at the right height to be comfortable if I were sitting. A screen glowed blue, set in the wall behind the paneling.
A smile crawled over my face, a cruel twist of my mouth. I wiped it off with the back of one hand. I was becoming too much like Lady Candyce and Ginger and all the others. I didn't want to be like them. Ever.
I entered a file inquiry into the pad. I got a long list of innocuous sounding names. I clicked on a few at random. They were household accounts. I didn't have time to wade through the whole pile. Lady Candyce wouldn't keep records of her treasonous activities out in the open anyway. She wasn't stupid, but she was predictable.
I changed the inquiry to coded and protected files. The list was somewhat shorter. The names were cryptic. I read through the list. The names were more obvious than Lady Candyce intended them to be.
The computer wanted a password before it would open the files. This wasn't my area. This was where I needed Scholar and Clark. I tried the name of the butler. I tried her name. I tried any other name I could think of. None of them worked.
I swore under my breath. I almost had the information I needed, but time was slipping away. Clark had shown me once how to open a back door into a file. I accessed the programming that should have made it possible. The computer beeped. The screen dimmed and cleared. The file opened.
I leaned forward eagerly to read it.
It was gibberish. From the words I could decipher, it appeared to deal with some kind of society group she belonged to.
I heard footsteps in the hall outside. I wiped the screen and turned the computer off. The keypad slid back into the wall. The door was opening. I ducked under the desk, hiding and not sure why I bothered.
I watched Georges' black shoes cross the carpet to the far side of the room. The shades rolled up with a soft humming sound. Sunlight flooded the room. The black shoes crossed soundlessly in front of me as I crouched under the desk. Georges paused near the wall. He was silent for a very long time. The shoes left quickly, hurrying out of the room.
I bolted, making my escape while I could. I hurried out of the office and down the hall. I made it to the main entrance to the house before I saw anyone. I slowed down and pretended I'd just come down the stairs from my room. The maid gave me a funny look, but said nothing as she continued her cleaning.
I was shaking, my heart racing. I took a deep breath before I pushed open the door to the dining room. I smoothed my face, acting deliberately casual.
I shouldn't have bothered. No one was there. I helped myself to breakfast and sat down to eat.
I took my time, waiting for someone to join me. Someone usually did, eventually. This morning, I ate by myself, though the sun was rising high in the sky outside.
The house remained silent. I wandered out of the dining room. I walked the halls, wondering why it felt so empty. I heard voices near the front entry and hurried that way.
Vance's mother stood near the front door. Georges was closing it. I heard a flitter lifting away outside. Vance's mother glanced over at me. I tried not to shiver at the menace in her face.
"Vance has been called away." Her voice carried and echoed through the vaulted entry. "His presence as Second Speaker was required." She put a subtle emphasis on his title. "His friends have gone home. Most left last night. They were sorry you were not there to wish them good journey."
I hadn't known they were leaving. Why was she trying to make me feel guilty about it? I was glad they were gone. Vance knew I was here. He could have waited for me to say goodbye.
Lady Candyce watched me with cold eyes. I shivered.
"It seems you and I will be here alone for a while. What an opportunity to get to know each other better."
"We can finish planning the wedding," I said, determined not to let her intimidate me. I could play the game better than she could, or so I tried to convince myself.
"The time would be better spent in polishing your manners," Lady Candyce said. "They are really quite unacceptable."
"I look forward to the lessons."
"Then we will begin immediately."
I should have bit my tongue, not that it would have done any good. I spent most of the day in a room with Georges and one of the maids and an old fossil of a woman. She had a short wooden stick that she cracked across my hands any time I did something incorrectly. Georges enjoyed every slap of wood on flesh. The corners of his eyes crinkled every time she hit me.
I would have taken the stick away from her if I thought it would do any good. I was still playing a part. I pretended to want to know how to sit correctly and how to hold the dainty cup and saucer she made me practice with. I pretended while my hands stung and my pride suffered. I promised myself full revenge on Lady Candyce someday. Maybe I would marry Vance just to spite her.
I didn't see Lady Candyce again until evening. She sent me to my room without supper, telling me I hadn't worked hard enough. I went without argument. I could always slip down later and raid the kitchen.
Georges walked me up to my room, a silent shadow two steps behind me. He opened the door to my room for me and waited until I crossed the threshold.
"Lady Candyce values her privacy," he said as he pulled the door shut. I heard the lock click in the door.
It wasn't a problem. I could pick the lock. It was an open declaration of war between us, or as close as I was going to get. I took out the wire and inserted it in the lock.
I found myself staring at the ceiling, flat on my back halfway across the room. The wire was twisted and blackened in my hand. The lock looked the same as before. I slowly pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them. The wire fell from my fingers to the floor.
The lock was charged. I wouldn't have been able to pick it even with the sophisticated lockpicks I'd once owned. It wasn't as obvious as a force shield around the door, but it was just as effective.
I looked around the room, seeing it differently. It wasn't a suite of comfortable rooms anymore. It was a very cleverly disguised prison. There was no other way out. Lady Candyce held me at her mercy.
Or so she thought. I fought away the helpless anger surging through me. She wasn't going to win, not this easily. I'd been a slave and I'd survived. I'd been beaten and tortured and held prisoner before. Lady Candyce was not going to win. I was strong. I was going to survive.
And I was going to win. I was going to find out why she locked me up. I was going to find her secrets. I was going to ruin her.
The glittering ring on my finger caught my eye. What about Vance? What would it do to him if I destroyed his mother's reputation? He cared about her. I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't see any way to avoid it. The whole engagement was a farce.
Or at least it was supposed to be. It had become much too real. I buried my face in my hands and wished I were anywhere else but here.