Peter’s face looked twisted with shock and confusion from my hasty explanation. “So, if King Garrett is truly behind this, then sending you back to the castle might only endanger you and the queen further.” He spoke calmly as if I had merely asked him about the weather. “This assassin concerns me, though. You may have hidden yourself well, but I don’t know what this man is capable of, I would prefer you remain somewhere safe for the time being. We shall hide you in our compound until we can find a safe way to remove the king from Isalla.” He nodded in agreement with himself, then began to walk off.
“But wait!” I grabbed his arm, halting him with my shouted whisper. “How do you intend to hide me from all your soldiers? The draconian knight had infiltrated the castle for heaven’s sake. Who knows how many spies are among our military. If King Garrett learns that I still live, he could very well forgo his original plans and kill my mother without hesitation. I fear that I am the only one currently ensuring her safety. As long as he assumes I am dead, he will delay any violent outbursts for the sake of forging a lawful alliance,” I looked at him pleadingly, grasping his sleeve in desperation. He visibly softened when he saw my fear. I felt exposed for displaying such open emotions in front of a man I had just met, but something about his demeanor made him easy to open up to.
“You’re right.” He sighed, gently placing a hand over mine. I released his sleeve quickly at the touch, unaware that I was still holding him. “Until I can screen my men, you should remain where you are. If there are any other spies among my ranks, then they shall not remain much longer. If your assumptions are accurate, then we cannot risk the queen’s life anymore than yours. King Garrett should have arrived at the castle by now; therefore, he is dangerously close to Queen Minerva. Tell me, princess, in your current living situation, are you safe? Does anyone else know of your location?” There it was again, that worry that gripped his soft green eyes.
“Yes, I am safe,” I replied honestly. “It is not the quality of life I am used to, but I believe I am well-concealed and I trust the other women I am with. The only other person outside of the mill who knows I am there is an innkeeper named Franklin.”
He gave a slight nod in understanding. “Very well, I keep a close eye on him.” He walked out of the curtained dining room, ushering me to follow. He led me toward a narrow wooden cabinet and opened it to reveal neat rows of paperwork and other odd items. He reached behind a stack of papers and pulled out a small metal whistle on a chain. “Take this.” He pressed the small cold instrument into my palm. “I will station men near the edge of town where the mill is located, and I will perform routine visits as well. If anything happens where you feel you may be in danger, blow that whistle. The pitch will be recognized by any of my men as a distress signal, and they will alert me as soon as it is heard.” He reached around the cabinet and pulled the two cloaks off a peg nailed into the side of the wood. He wrapped mine lightly around my shoulders and placed Hazel’s in my arms.
“Thank you.” My voice sounded quieter than I intended. It felt comforting to know there was someone who wanted to protect me. Sure, it was his job, but his actions made me feel safer than I had in days. “I must get going as we have lingered for too long.” I turned to leave. He followed a step behind me, only stepping in front to hold the tent doorway open for me.
When we stepped outside, Hazel was already sitting on the wagon bench tapping her toes with a cheeky smile sprouting from her face. I climbed onto the bench, handing her the cloak.
“I knew you two would like each other,” she whispered into my ear giddily. “Peter sure took his sweet time handing you a couple of cloaks, hmm?” She looked utterly amused at the idea of us having been alone.
“Oh quit imagining things, Hazel!” I scoffed, though I secretly hid a quick blush under my hood. “He was only caught up in telling me some old story about politics.” She raised an inquiring eyebrow at me, though she seemed overall satisfied with my response as we pulled away from the outpost. I turned in my seat to give one last wave of goodbye to the captain. He offered a friendly wave in return, but his eyes were hiding a deeper concern. Before we were out of view, I watched as he called another soldier toward him with a stern call.
“Either way, he seems rather smitten with you.” She nudged me in the ribs playfully as I turned back around. “He couldn’t even keep his eyes off you! I wouldn’t be surprised if he started making regular visits to the mill.” She giggled at the idea as we bounced back through the forest paths.
“Perhaps he will.” I shrugged. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for the other girls to assume that the captain was keen on me. That would provide an excellent alibi if he was ever noticed lingering near the mill.
Hazel gave me bemused side glances for the entire ride back to the laundry mill. I was starting to regret leading her to the idea at this point. Fortunately, it wasn’t much time before we were back at the mill. We returned Dottie to her stable, then proceeded back to the cart to unload the pungent laundry bags. The other girls helped us bring the bags in so it didn’t take long before our work pile was back to its towering height. The rest of the day consisted of more scrubbing, drying, and the usual end of day folding. Once we had all gathered around the folding tables it only took Hazel approximately ten seconds to explode with today’s news.
“Captain Peter took quite the liking to Annie today,” she said in a sing-song voice, intentionally avoiding direct eye contact with me. “He told her that her eyes were captivating.” She held the shirt she was folding just below her eyes, then fluttered her lashes dramatically. The girls suddenly all looked to me with rapt attention. I buried my face in the jacket I was holding, unwilling to face their questions. My reaction must have spoken louder than words, because suddenly, the excited chatter of inquisitive girls spread through the air.
“My, my… Captain Peter is a fine young man, Annie.” Daniela’s sweet, patient voice cut through the jabber. “He has always been good to the girls who have worked here. Never been short with us over deadlines and always invites us to his table when he can. You should be honored to have earned the attention of such a gentleman.” I poked my eyes out from behind the jacket, feeling a blush warm my cheeks. Why was I getting so worked up over Peter? He had been nice, but he knew I was his princess, so he was obviously acting out of duty. I was beginning to think that the girls’ obsession of romanticism was starting to wear off on me.
“It’s not what you think,” I answered shyly, my cheeks still hot. “He was only being polite. I don’t think he was treating me any different than Hazel.”
“Hah!” Hazel burst out laughing across from me. “Yeah, right! He even held you back inside the tent while he sent me to ready the wagon. He’s definitely a sly, one I’ll tell you that.” Once again, all eyes were on me.
“He was only telling me a story,” I sputtered my words meekly. Not even I felt convinced by the words.
“Oh, you’re so lucky, Annie!” Bethanne shrieked to my right. “I would do anything to have a man like Peter pining for me, but I’m far too shy to actually talk to any.”
I smiled sympathetically toward her. The quiet, dirty blonde seemed very much like the timid type. It was no wonder they all enjoyed living vicariously through others.
“I understand how you feel Beth,” Delilah piped in. She was pouting with her elbows supporting the weight of her held chin against the table. “I once tried talking to a man who was dropping of his suit to be cleaned. I ended up slipping on a puddle and landed on my bum right in front of him.” She threw her face down into her hands, earning a chuckle from the other girls, and I laughed loudly along with them.
I couldn’t remember a time I had simply enjoyed the company of others like this. There were no pranks or flirtatious suitors, yet here I was smiling bigger than I had in years. Was this what it felt like to have friends? We continued giggling about each other’s embarrassing stories until we heard the distant clock tower signal that it was time to end the day. We wrapped up our bundles, but this time we moved them toward the front entrance instead of to the carts.
“These loads are for pick-up,” Sylvia informed me as we placed the synched bundles in a row along the wall. “Their owners will stop by throughout the day tomorrow, so whoever is available will just pass it off to them.”
We started to do our end-of-day cleaning while Glenda and Delilah made dinner. The smell of fresh warm bread filled the room and even overpowered the scent of cleaner as Glenda prepared a beautiful loaf. We gathered around the fire after a passable amount of cleaning had been done and watched with salivating mouths as Glenda pulled two loaves out from overtop the fire.
“I didn’t know you were a baker!” I exclaimed with fascination as I watched Glenda’s steady hand saw through the crisp crust.
“I don’t get to do it as often as I’d like to nowadays,” Glenda shared as she passed the piping bread around the room. “I used to own a bakeshop with my girl and granddaughter, but things aren’t as easy as they used to be, and we had to shut it down. They moved to the edge of the forest not long afterward, but I still see ‘em occasionally. About once a week or so I’ll bake a little something for everyone here so we have some good bread.” I thought back to the stale bread I had for breakfast and suddenly, I felt a much stronger appreciation for the meal.
“That’s very kind of you Glenda. Thank you for the meal.” I smiled and for a moment, I thought I had seen her smile in return.
“Yeah, well don’t go crying over it,” she retorted in her usual gruff tone. “Just eat it before it gets cold. It’s only fresh once, you know.” I ate my bread and drank the thin soup that Delilah had prepared. We all ate quietly, but there was a comforting peace in the air.
After dinner, Glenda and Daniela left for home while the rest of us winded down for the night. As I settled into my laundry bed that evening, I found myself wrapping my fingers around the cool metal whistle hanging from my neck. Quickly, the metal grew warm from my touch and the feeling reminded me of the warmth of Peter’s laugh at lunch today. He had been so kind and considerate of my situation. Perhaps he had been even more considerate than what propriety would have required for a captain of the royal army. I clutched the whistle close to my chest, now fully familiar with every bump and ridge along its surface. It made me feel safe, enough so that I believed I may actually survive these next twelve days and rescue my mother from King Garrett. I closed my eyes and pictured my mother’s furious blue eyes from the last time I saw her. Regret filled my heart as I recalled her anger at my actions. She was my mother, after all. Why had I done such an awful thing to her?
“I’m sorry, Mother,” I whispered nearly silently into my bedding. Something inside me just needed to voice the words out loud in order to feel they were real. The feeling of remorse was new, and it overwhelmed me. It shook me as I realized I didn’t want the last memory of my mother to be one where I felt she resented me. When I safely returned home and saved my kingdom, I would make her proud of me. She would never remember all the reasons she had to ignore me as a child.
I just had to find a way to remove King Garrett so he doesn’t kill us first...