The next day, Duchess Coroban took it upon herself to help me forget the previous night’s events. After breakfast, she treated me to a piano performance (her interpretation of the pieces was very energetic), then gave me a tour of the estate’s greenhouse, offering a detailed description of each species of flower and tree.
“Lady Helian, are you feeling well? You look a bit exhausted. I hope I haven’t tired you out with all my chattering.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine, Your Grace. I think the warmth of the greenhouse just made me a little drowsy.” I can’t show weakness in her presence without Rosa to cover for me.
The duchess nodded. “Yes, it does seem to have that effect on people, now that you mention it. It must be the pollen!” She clapped her hands together. “If you’re feeling up for it, I was thinking perhaps we could travel to the city for the evening? There’s a performance of If This Caged Wolf Could Sing scheduled for tonight, and if we leave now, we would have just enough time to enjoy dinner together before the show. How does that sound?”
That was an adaptation of the latest work from one of my favorite authors. I had not volunteered this information, which meant the duchess acquired it either through observing me in the estate’s library, or through espionage. I hoped it was the former. In any case, it sounded like a fun evening.
“That sounds lovely, Your Grace. I’ll return to my room and get ready, then meet you at the first-floor entryway.”
“Fantastic! While you do that, I’ll have a quick conversation with the head gardener to see if anything can be done about the pollen in here. Perhaps some selective breeding could take care of it…”
------
“No matter how much time passes, I never grow tired of a good performance!”
Her Grace enjoyed the play more than I did, even standing up out of her seat in excitement during the climax of the second act. Maybe it really was just a case of overlapping tastes. Her private box appeared to be stocked with half-empty bottles of her favorite liquors, so it was clear she visited the theater frequently.
Dinner had been relaxing. The duchess had chosen a restaurant on the outskirts of the city. The appetizers and main course had been substantial to the point of satisfaction, though not overly so that I was left feeling lethargic. I was filled with energy even after the play had concluded.
As we made our way back to the estate, the duchess’ carriage crossed over a large bump in the road and began to sway. Rosa snapped to attention and pulled me close. “Lady Saintess! Watch your head, it seems we’ve hit a pothole.”
Duchess Coroban, for her part, casually glanced out the window, then threw the carriage door open. “No, I’m afraid this is more than a bump in the road. Please stay inside, Helian.” With this, she leapt out of the moving carriage, leaving the door swaying in the wind.
Rosa closed the door and removed a dagger from a concealed holster on her thigh. She gripped it tightly. “Rather convenient timing, isn’t it, Saintess Helian?”
I did my best to remain calm. “Yes, it does seem as if this is becoming a pattern…”
Through the window to my left, I could see flares of light. Then, we heard screaming, the sounds loud enough to reach us inside. I kept looking out the window and saw the duchess eviscerating a group of would-be bandits who had attempted to stop the carriage. I foresaw another sleepless night ahead of me.
Meanwhile, the carriage, still swaying in a disconcerting manner, continued its trek to the estate. A few moments later, something heavy landed on the roof. Then, a loud knock at the door. Even without an answer, the door swung open–It was the duchess. With little effort, she launched her body off the roof and into the cabin, landing gracefully on her seat. “Pardon my intrusion!”
------
The rest of the night proceeded without any disturbances, and after apologizing profusely for the trouble, the duchess excused herself to head to her office to work for the evening.
“I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on, but I intend to send a sternly worded letter to the local constabulary about tonight’s incident.”
Rosa encouraged me to retire for the night, so after taking a bath, I returned to my room. Once she’d checked the space for any signs of an intrusion and securely locked the windows, she pulled a stool up next to the bed and beckoned for me to get under the covers.
“I’ll be here until morning, Lady Saintess.”
“Thank you, Rosa.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The young maid gently held my hand as she told me stories from her childhood. It helped my nerves settle. As she described an encounter with a pair of sleeping bears in the forest, I started to drift off, drowsily imagining Rosa clad in Goldilocks’ clothing, kicking down a door and holding the bears’ cub at gunpoint as she demanded the occupants’ most delicious porridge.
------
“Lady Saintess.” I snapped awake at the sound of Rosa’s voice. Had I been sleepwalking again?
“Yes, Rosa?”
“I need your assistance. My hands are full and there’s one more.”
I blinked. The scene slowly came into focus.
In the moonlight, I saw that Rosa had an assassin pinned to the ground with a knife to his neck. Yet another intruder was held up in the air by the throat, her fingers wrapped around his windpipe.
One more. And there was the third assassin, standing free on trembling legs like a frightened newborn calf, holding out his blade in a poor attempt at threatening her.
I climbed out of bed, allowing the rush of adrenaline to steady my nerves. I reached down to pick up the second assassin’s dropped sword. I turned it around in my grip, getting a good feel for its weight and balance, then made my way toward the weakling still left standing.
He waved his sword around in a panic. “Stay back! If you know what’s good for you, you’ll cooperate!”
“Cooperate?” I tilted my head. “Aren’t you here to kill me?”
“What? Uh, yes! That’s right! Surrender peacefully and we’ll spare your maid.”
I groaned. “Is this your first time killing someone?”
The young man adjusted his grip on his sword and turned his attention away from Rosa to face me. “I’m not afraid of you! I’ve got what it takes!”
“Why are you using swords, anyway?” I lightly tapped his blade with the tip of my sword. He flinched. “Daggers or poison are more appropriate for an attack like this. Who sent you?”
His trembling stopped for the moment as he clearly mustered up all his strength to confront me. He lunged forward, wildly swinging, shouting, “I’ll never talk!”
“Okay.” I parried his swing without a thought. As he stared at me in shock, I sliced through his exposed neck with a quick flick.
As his body landed on the ground in a spray of blood, I heard Rosa make an impressed sound behind me.
“Well done, Saintess Helian. Do you want to interrogate this one while I finish with the man on the floor?” Rosa gently shook the assassin caught in her grip, his body swaying limply, almost comically.
“Rosa, I don’t think she’s breathing anymore.”
“Oh, I must have squeezed too hard.”
------
Having seen the fate of his two comrades and with Rosa’s knife still pressed to his neck, the assassin on the ground was more than willing to spill his secrets. After thanking him for his assistance, my maid politely knocked him out cold—then painted the floor with his blood.
“Was that really necessary, Rosa?”
“Of course it was, Lady Helian. This way, it will be unclear how much you know.”
I nodded. “I see your point. Well, what next?”
“I expect the duchess will arrive to check on you soon. She is likely waiting for you to scream or call for the guards so she can swoop in and play the role of your knight in shining armor.”
“I was hoping the assassins had been hired by friends of the baron…”
“As was I, Lady Saintess.” Rosa wiped the blood from her blade on the dead assassin’s sleeve. She stood up. “I regret to tell you this, but I have no choice but to leave your side for the moment.”
Was I going to be abandoned again? “I’d rather you didn’t, Rosa.”
“I know, but the best thing for me to do right now is go get help. It shouldn’t take more than a few days. I would love to grab you and flee, but if the duchess were to pursue us with her full strength, there’d be no chance of escape. If I leave by myself, though, I should be able to evade her agents, and she’ll remain here to keep an eye on you. But before I go, Saintess Helian, one question, if I may?”
“Yes, Rosa?”
“Should this all be kept secret from XXXXX?”
If XXXXX learned of this, she would drop everything and rush to my side. Without a doubt. And as much as I wanted to see her right now, it was just too dangerous.
“Please do that.”
Rosa nodded. After giving me a salute, she leapt through the open window, skirt flowing in the breeze.
------
After some consideration, I decided to climb back into bed and pretend as if the entire incident had occurred while I slept, unconscious and unknowing. When the duchess finally arrived to check on me, it was easy to feign absolute terror. Especially since I discovered that the fear I felt in that moment was, in fact, genuine.
“Not to worry, Helian! It seems your loyal maidservant kept watch over you in my stead, and now that I’m here, everything is and will be fine. Do you know where she might be?”
I shook my head. “No, I haven’t seen her since I fell asleep… she was in the middle of telling me a bedtime story.”
Coroban nodded. “I see. She must have scurried off somewhere. Perhaps she heard a noise beneath the floorboards and went to investigate. Rest assured, I’ll have her found and ensure she’s safe from harm.”
The duchess would lock Rosa safely away in a jail cell, no doubt. “Thank you, Your Grace.”
Duchess Coroban extended her hand to me. “Let’s get you out of bed and to a safer room, shall we? My bed is unoccupied as usual, so you can sleep there. I’ll have guards posted to keep watch until I finish my work and retire to bed myself at that point. Everything will be fine.”
The rest of the night passed without incident, and hours later, as I lay awake, I felt the duchess gently climb into bed behind me.
She whispered in my ear. “Good night, Helian.”
