The Tower Princess by Shonna Slayton

Author:Shonna Slayton [Slayton, Shonna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780997449921
Publisher: Amaretto Press
Published: 2018-02-25T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 25

A n entire week in her bedroom and Gressa was ready to claw her way out. Old Anne was good company for the first two days, but now they were both tired of endless games of backgammon and their fingers red-raw from working the embroidery needle. Gressa needed to escape. She needed to go to the meadow. On day five of captivity she had broken her secret and brought out the spy lenses. She simply had to see if Manny was going into the wall without her. If Old Anne was shocked at the hidden spy lenses, she hid it well.

“May I have a turn?” Old Anne asked after Gressa had spent the morning spying out the window.

Gressa handed them over. “May as well. Nothing interesting going on out there, either.”

Old Anne smiled. “We’ll see about that.” She chose another window and leaned into the corner, training the glasses on the grounds of North Morlaix. “Hmm,” she said.

Gressa looked over Old Anne’s head, trying to see what she was seeing. “What is it? I can’t see anything.”

Old Anne stood and handed the glasses to Gressa. “By the gate. Tell me what you see.”

Gressa focused the spy lenses on a group of travelers that had just crossed the moat. Rich men, from the look of their clothes. They stood holding the reigns of their horses, with Herrick in the midst of them, gesturing toward the castle. He was likely inviting them to join him for dinner.

No, he was gesturing to the tower. Her tower. Even from such a distance, his attention unnerved her. She stepped back in case he could see her, trapped like one of the rats the cook oft caught in the kitchen.

“W-ho are they?” she asked. Her voice trembled.

“Me thinks a suitor.”

“A suitor?”

“For you.”

Gressa’s mouth went dry.

Moments later Ingrid entered the room. She had a bright smile on her face. “Daughter, good news. Tonight is a very special feast.”

Gressa cast a frightened glance at Old Anne, who had deftly tucked the spy glasses away. “Special feast? ‘Tis not a holiday or a Saint’s day.”

Ingrid clasped her hands together. “We have special guests dining with us tonight. From the old country.”

“Oh, Viking relatives? Grandfather, perhaps?” Gressa asked hopefully. Willing for there to be another explanation for the guests. “We haven’t seen him in ages.”

“No, daughter. Not someone from your past. Mayhaps someone for your future.”

Ingrid went over to Gressa’s gowns. She pulled out a rose-colored one. “Wear this tonight. It’s your prettiest.” Gressa looked out the window. Where are you Manny?

At dinner Gressa found herself seated at the front table beside a very old, very vile lord. He grinned at her with crooked, black teeth. When he spoke, the stuffed peacock he was eating lolled on his tongue. Wherever did Herrick dig up this suitor? He was punishing her, that much was for certain.

She leaned into the table to see past her father to where her brothers sat. Herrick was staring directly at her with his hard, black eyes.

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