Page 59 of The Noble Servant

“If you promise to be loyal, only to me, you may go.”

She seemed to try to nod.

Hazen jerked his head at Tideke, who let go of her neck.

She gasped and coughed, then scurried to the door, snatched it open, and ran down the corridor.

This girl was not Lady Magdalen. His son was a fool.

Magdalen’s step was lighter as she mounted the stairs to Agnes’s room carrying a pitcher of fresh water. Already Agnes had moved Lenhart from the stables to watch the geese, probably suspecting Erlich would not cease mistreating Lenhart if he remained nearby. And if Lenhart and Steffan could stay safe, she could concentrate on finding Steffan’s portrait.

She also needed to get those letters sent to her mother and Avelina and the margrave so they could come and help her, preferably before the wedding celebration, which barely gave her enough time.

Magdalen entered Agnes’s room and set the pitcher on the table next to the basin. There was no reason to think Steffan’s portrait was hidden in this room, but Agnes was nowhere in sight, and Magdalen had thought of her necklace every day since Agnes had taken it. She was determined to have it back.

She looked in the bottom of the large cabinet where Agnes hung her clothing. There was nothing there except shoes and a small box. She snatched up the box and opened it. Inside were ribbons of various colors. Magdalen pushed them aside, but there was nothing else except some metal hairpins scattered on the bottom.

She closed the cabinet and went to the trunk on the other sideof the room. She raised the lid and found her box where she kept her favorite rocks that she had collected. She looked inside it, but her necklace was not there. She definitely wanted that back when she was Lady Magdalen again, but she had nowhere to hide it at the moment.

She set the box to the side and kept looking, finding more shoes and different odds and ends. Then her eye caught something—a little leather side pocket attached to the inside of the lid. Magdalen stuck her hand inside it even as she heard footsteps in the hall coming her way.

Her hand felt velvet. She pulled it out. The footsteps were so close Magdalen didn’t even look to see what was in her hand. She closed the lid to the trunk, stood up, and slipped it in her apron pocket and quickly moved away from the trunk.

Agnes entered the room. She was breathing sharp and fast, her hand over her heart. Her face was pale, and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.

“What is the matter, Agnes?”

She drew in a loud, labored breath. “He knows.”

“Knows what? Who?” Magdalen approached her.

“Lord Hazen,” she said gruffly. “He knows I am not Lady Magdalen.”

“How could he know?”

“Did you tell him?”

“No. It was not I.” Magdalen searched her mind. Who knew that Agnes had taken her place besides Erlich and Steffan? There was Lenhart, but he couldn’t speak and most people avoided him as if he had the pestilence.

“He’s going to tell Alexander, I just know it.” Agnes’s voice rose in pitch with each word until she was almost screeching.

“It’s all right. Keep your voice down, and tell me what Lord Hazen said.”

“He asked me a lot of questions. He asked me if you were the servant girl who came with me from Mallin. He knows! You must have told him!”

“I did not tell him.”

“I thought it was a good idea to bring you into the castle, to keep you close so you wouldn’t run away and tell your mother what happened, especially when my husband said he didn’t remember what you looked like. But somehow Lord Hazen figured it out. I thought he was going to have me killed!” Tears ran down her face as Agnes clasped her hands together.

“What do you mean?”

“He had his guard choke me!” She pointed to her neck. Small red marks showed on her pale skin.

“And what else did he say?”

“He said I must be loyal to him. He frightened me so much.” She let out a sob.

“And what did you say?”