Gerta spent just enough time in the Princess’ bedroom to strip the used linens off the bed before she returned to the sitting room. Princess Esmeralda was standing next to the fireplace, which Gerta hoped was a good sign.
“Your Highness,” Gerta said, “could we talk in the bedroom?”
Princess Esmeralda nodded consent and swiftly headed into the bedroom with Gerta following, closing the door behind her.
“We must be quick, Your Highness, for there isn’t much time. You, as you are now aware, you have been kept under control since leaving the capitol by some type of concoction. Trying to act as if you still are must be an enormous strain, and unfortunately could be seen through at any time. There are some folks loyal to the Regent, and not you, who think now is the time to eliminate you. Your very life is in danger the longer you stay in Snoddleton. I’m not trying to be overly dramatic about this. There are those who were loyal to your mother the Queen, and thus are loyal to you. We would help you.”
Princess Esmeralda had always been a quick study and had spent a lot of the previous day trying to figure out what had happened to her. Someone had certainly been putting something in her food or drink that had allowed her to function but had not allowed her to really be in command of herself. She had been like one of the puppets in the market square that entertained children, but as yet she was not completely sure who was pulling the strings. Obviously, it had to be someone in high command, since she had been surrounded whenever she left the royal manor by a group of royal guards, and not the royal guards she knew. Her ladies-in-waiting had not been allowed to come on this trip, which was unusual, and the maid they sent along seemed scared of her own shadow most of the time. Princess Esmeralda had begun to suspect not all was well in Sommerhjem earlier in the year, and her concern had grown as spring flowed into summer. It would do no harm to listen to what the housekeeper had in mind.
Having been given consent to continue, Gerta said, “We have gained information that the man called Raven is in town and is being held in reserve to ‘take care of the Princess’ should you somehow gain any kind of backbone, more than insisting that you want to attend the summer fairs. He will be instructed to dispatch you without haste. You are not safe here nor are you safe in the capitol anymore. To put it bluntly, Your Highness, you need to survive until your birth date, which will land on the third day of the grand fair at the capitol at the end of the summer.”
If the Princess was shaken by this information, she did not show it, which impressed Gerta. Maybe there was hope yet, if Princess Esmeralda could be given a chance to grow into the type of ruler her mother had been. Peace was always a tenuous gift in Sommerhjem, and there had been scattered reports filtering in from the border to the north that there were changes happening that might not bode well in the politics of the land across the border. There was also the growing dissatisfaction with the Regent’s handling of his duties, and what many saw as an over-stepping of his authority. Tension was building both within Sommerhjem and to the north.
“What do you suggest?” asked Princess Esmeralda.
“We need to get you out of here to a place of safety, and we have very little time. Here is what I propose. I asked Clare, the head royal baker’s apprentice, to help me clean this day. She left minutes ago just before the changing of the royal guards. The new royal guard doesn’t know she was here. I stole her cloak and propose that you walk out wearing it, carrying the used linens and towels on your shoulder to cover your face. You will need to go down the back servant stairs and out the back door. We are fortunate that it has been raining, and looks to do so again, so once you are outside, you can keep the hood up on the cloak. You will need to head towards the fair. A man in Glassmakers Guild livery will catch up with you. Ask him if he knows where you can find a vendor who carries pilcher cream. He will answer you by saying ‘Why yes, you can find it at Mistress Ruezakee’s shop. Do you know the way?’ Can you remember that?”
“Yes. Is there a back up plan if I do not run into this man?”
“Yes. If for some reason, you don’t run into the man from the Glassmakers Guild, then head into the fair and go to the booth of Shueller the shoemaker. His booth is along the inner wall. Make sure no one is in his booth and then enter it, and again inquire about pilcher cream. I know this is a very risky plan, but it was the best we could do on short notice. The only thing we have on our side is surprise.”
“What of you? They will blame you for me being missing.”
“I have an idea on how to avoid that,” Gerta said with a sly smile.
“What do you need next?” Master Rollag asked Jonzee through the back of the wagon.
The wagon was tucked away inside a rickety back garden shed, hopefully away from prying eyes. Master Rollag had arrived there a short while ago to try to assist in any way he could.
“Can you hand me that small hand plane? No, not that one, the one next to it. Yes, that’s the one. It’s too bad Nissa isn’t doing this. She’s a much better hand at wood than I am. This panel is getting hung up on the lower edge. There, I hope that takes care of it. Ah, that fits now. Come on in and see if you can detect any gaps or difference.”
Master Rollag entered the wagon and walked to the front to crouch beside Jonzee. Moving his lantern near the front panel, he looked closely but could detect nothing but what looked like the front of the wagon. Jonzee then reached out and pushed against the top left side of the front panel, and it silently swung open, revealing a small space containing a bench and nothing else.
“It can be locked from the inside, and while cramped, it should be adequate for a short distance. I have drilled a series of small holes under the driver’s seat, which should escape detection but will allow in fresh air and some light. Small tight places are bad enough without also having to sit in total darkness.”
“I have all of the boxes at the Hall of Masters you will be carrying to Springwell-over-Hill, plus two small stained glass windows which you should be able to slide back far enough to open the panel. Everything is fragile, and you can call attention to that fact if you are stopped, but try not to call too much attention to yourself. Hopefully you will be out of the town before they know your ‘cargo’ has gone missing. Now we had best get the wagon hitched up and loaded as much as possible so you can get cleaned up and make your appointment,” suggested Master Rollag.
Gerta moved swiftly to the wardrobe and began moving things around. She emerged from the back with a small pile of clothing and handed it to the Princess.
“I would suggest that you change out of those clothes as quickly as you can and into these. They are clean and serviceable. Even with a cloak to cover you, your own clothes would be inappropriate for a baker’s apprentice, should the cloak blow open in the wind. In that small flat box on the bed you’ll find a pouch with some coin and a fair badge. Also, you need to put these boots on. They may be a little big but should be alright if you add an extra pair of socks, for your slippers would be even more noticeable.”
Princess Esmeralda had to agree, especially considering her slippers had the royal crest embroidered on them. The urgency in Gerta’s voice and actions were contagious, and so Princess Esmeralda quickly changed into the clothes the housekeeper had handed her. She still was unsure this was the right thing to do. The letter from Lady Celik had been genuine, that she was sure of. Gerta seemed vaguely familiar, and sometimes you just had to trust your instincts. The Princess’ instincts were screaming at her that she needed to hurry.
“Here’s what I think you should do next. Tie me to the chair here in your bedroom with the curtain tiebacks and place a gag in my mouth. That way I can look all weepy and confused when I am discovered and tell them that I just don’t know what came over you. When asked what you were wearing when you left, I can tell them you were wearing a baker’s apprentice’s cloak that she and I had thought the rag pickers had taken by mistake. I had had it with me when I came in. Please hurry, Princess, for there is not much time. Tie those knots tightly now and may luck be with you.”
Princess Esmeralda, with slightly trembling fingers, tied the housekeeper to the chair, placed a gag in her mouth, and gently tied it. She then put on the baker’s apprentice’s cloak, grabbed up the dirty linen and towels, placing them on her shoulder, and took a deep breath to steady herself.
She walked out of the bedroom, opened the sitting room door to the hallway, and said over her shoulder in a lower pitched voice than her own, “Glad I’d be to take this down to the laundry on me way, and thank ye Your Highness for likin’ me pastries.”
She hoped she was not overdoing it. She tried to walk normally past the royal guard and down the hall to the backstairs and must have succeeded, for the royal guard did not call out to her or even pay all that much attention. She supposed that the royal guard at her door was not really the biggest hurdle she would have to get by before she got out of the royal manor. Hopefully no one would be all that interested in a baker’s apprentice.
Shueller spent the morning packing most of his tools and supplies in his cart. He had spent the night before cleaning up his homewagon and making it ready for travel. He had several things to do yet this afternoon, but he wanted to have his booth closed and everything ready to go by the time the fair closed. Unfortunately, all of the rumors that were flying around were making folks anxious, and he had more folks dropping in wanting repairs and wanting him to produce new boots and other leather items in an instant. Under other circumstances, Shueller would have been delighted with the business, but this day he really wanted to get on with what he had to do.
By noon, all of the repair work was done, he put a closed sign on his booth and took off to the food market within the fair to gather supplies for the road, and then went on to a rover friend of his who was an excellent seamstress. He hoped she had been able to make up his order, considering the short notice he had given her. It was becoming worrisome that so many folks were involved in what was about to transpire over the next few days, but it could not be helped. It was risky to have more than one folk know a secret because it meant that more than one folk could inadvertently slip and give the secret away.
At least he knew that once he made the rendezvous point where he was to take on a passenger, no one else knew his plans. He had not told anyone about his plan to meet with the Neebing blessed rover lass, and what he would ask of her. It was better that way, for if questioned, the others could not give anything away. The riskiest part of the plan had been going to talk to the rover Nissa. He somehow had convinced her to go along with his plan and hoped he was not making a mistake.