Page 10 of Fortress of Snow

“I’m sure Lady Delia will be happy to help,” Sir Berenger said. “Let us go and speak with her, shall we?”

“Thank you, that is very kind.” She wanted to take her brother’s arm, but the stiff way he held himself dissuaded her. Was he angry with her? Perhaps she should have thought more about a plan instead of impetuously setting out to visit John. She couldhave written to him, could have asked Warin for an escort, could have been more thoughtful.

But she was here, she had made it safely, and she had found her brother. And how much her brother loved her! So much that he was angry at the thought of harm coming to her. Still, she wished he would not carry on so.

She wanted to talk to him, to hear about his life at Strachleigh Castle, to tell him about how broken her heart was at their father’s death. She wanted him to have a good excuse for not coming to the funeral and the burial, wanted to hear him say how sorry he was that he had not been there to comfort her.

Instead, they walked in silence toward the castle, Sir Berenger in the lead. As they reached the castle kitchens, Sir Berenger asked, “Are you hungry?” He looked at both Mazy and Piers, while her brother completely ignored the humble farmer’s son.

“We have not eaten very much today.” Her empty stomach twisted at that very moment. All the walking and riding, with little food to eat, had at times made her dizzy.

“Go to the kitchen and get some food,” Sir Berenger said, “and I will fetch you when I find my sister, Lady Delia.”

“Thank you.”

His sister? Was the duchess Sir Berenger’s sister?

He entered the kitchen ahead of her, asked the kitchen servants to provide food for her and Piers, and then slipped out again. John must have gone with him.

The cook quickly gathered some leftover pasties, bread, butter, and cold meat and placed it all before them while one of the kitchen servants, a young woman, asked her name.

“Mazelina. But my family calls me Mazy.”

“Where did you travel from?”

“Wexcombe,” Piers said, his mouth full.

“How far away is that?”

“It’s a day’s ride on a good horse,” Mazy said, “but it took us two days.”

“I’ve never been anywhere.” The servant girl sighed and sat down across from Mazy on the bench, then propped her chin in her hands, her elbows on the table. She probably would not have spoken and behaved so familiarly if she knew Mazy was a baron’s daughter, but Mazy was glad. She liked that the girl was talking to her.

“This is my first journey.” Mazy was beginning to feel stronger and more hopeful now that she was eating.

“Everyone tells me I’m fortunate because I live in Strachleigh, with a kind master and an impressive castle. What do you think? Did you see anything very interesting on your journey?” asked the servant girl.

“I think England is very beautiful. I saw wildflowers I’ve never seen before, lovely trees and streams, and a few villages, but honestly, I did not see anything to compare with Strachleigh Castle. Even though I have not seen all of it yet, I can already tell that my father’s castle is small in comparison.”

Mazy instantly regretted letting it slip that her father owned a castle. She hoped the servant girl wouldn’t stop talking to her now.

“Your father has a castle?” The girl’s eyes, which were already larger than most, grew wide and round.

“My father was a baron, but he died.” She made the statementas blandly as she could, as though he’d been dead for years, hoping to keep the tears from springing to her eyes.

“Oh. My father is dead too.”

“Martha, why are you talking that poor girl’s ears to death?” Cook said. “She’s tired from her journey.”

“I don’t mind. It’s good to have someone my age to talk to.” Mazy smiled at her new friend.

The door creaked open, revealing Sir Berenger and John standing there.

“My sister wishes to see you,” Sir Berenger said.

She went with the two men, marveling at how much more muscular her brother had become, though he was shorter and less muscular than Sir Berenger, and the way he carried himself was different, less confident.

“But first, my sister wishes to provide a bath for you, if you like, and she is having some clothing brought to your room.”