Ildri left her belongings and made her way directly to the kitchen.  On the way she passed Missus White.  The housekeeper made a tight nod in her direction which was, for Missus White, a particularly friendly gesture.  Ildri continued until the heavy door stood before her, and she pushed it open.

"Ildri!" chef cried as soon as she looked up, and the normally unflappable woman rushed towards her and enveloped her in an embrace.  Chef's hug was surprisingly strong for such a delicate looking woman, and Ildri squeezed her back.

Chef pulled back and Ildri thought that her eyes looked unusually bright.  "Oh, Ildri girl, I was so afraid that you were dead.  I knew that you would never have left here willingly."

Ildri shook her head and smiled.  She loved chef so much, she imagined it was almost like the mother she barely remembered.  It felt similar.  She felt bad that chef had worried so but at the same time there was a feeling of relief and even satisfaction that her presence had been missed.

"Ildri's back?" came another voice.  Kallie walked in through the door and looked around and Matt followed behind her quiet but his shy eyes missing nothing.

"Y-yes," he agreed.

Kallie's brother Damani followed.  "Ildri!  You're back!  Did you see the scoundrel who abducted you?  Tell me who he is and I will avenge you."

Kallie wrinkled her nose and scowled at her twin.  "Damani's just started learning magic," she said, disgust evident in her tone.  "He thinks he's a wizard already."

"I am," Damani said.  "Lady Theresa says I am gifted."

"Lady Theresa is a nice lady, she would say something like that," Kallie said dismissively.

"Just you wait, Kallie, I'll--"

"Don't you dare, Damani.  I'll--"

"P-please don't fight," Matt pleaded over the twins bickering.

Ildri smiled in amused in spite of herself.

"Now," chef began to say, but she was interrupted by the kitchen door opening again.

"Is Ildri really back?" Hanna asked loudly.  She was followed by another upstairs maid named Rose.  Rose was an older woman who had been working at Wildwood for about as long as chef had.

"Ildri!" Hanna said happily.

Ildri had only known Hanna for a little more than a year, but they had become friends quickly.  Hanna was a nice enough woman but when she felt troubled she had a tendency to become overwrought easily.  She was working at Wildwood to help save her family and while Ildri felt sympathetic for all the pressures that faced Hanna, there were times that she felt jealous of the maid.  Ildri knew that her friend's life was hardly easy, but she at least had the family that Ildri so dearly craved.

But for all that, Ildri was pleased to see Hanna.  Rose, on the other hand, had likely come to hear for herself the freshest gossip in the castle.  She could always be counted on to tell you what was happening, but she also would tell everyone else your business.  Normally Ildri did not mind her, but this day she did not know how she felt, and she certainly did not want everyone else to share in her odd uncertainty.

"What happened to you?" asked Rose, confirming Ildri's suspicions about her reason for being present in the kitchen.

Ildri did not want to share what had happened with Ty with anyone, especially not that woman.  "The king told me not to speak of it," she said, glad for the excuse.

"The king?  You met the king?"

"Yes, well, mostly I just talked to his advisors," she said.

Kallie piped up, "Is he handsome?"

Damani did not give Ildri a chance to answer.  "Of course not," he said, his voice full of disgust.  "They don't pick kings because they're handsome.  He's probably quite terrifying," he added hopefully.

"He was definitely terrifying," Ildri agreed.

"I can't believe Anya had the audacity to try to kill him," Rose added.

Chef glanced a bit unpleasantly at Rose.  "These two children were at risk.  What would you do?"

"Well, I would not kill the king," said Rose in an arrogant tone.

Ildri felt annoyed at the other woman, though her attitude was one Ildri had shared.  "I'm glad that Kallie and Damani are alive," she commented dryly.

Rose looked a bit put out.  Ildri spoke again before she could open her mouth.  "But I'm tired.  I'm so glad to see you all, but we travelled hard.  I need sleep."

"Of course, Ildri," chef agreed.  "Everyone let Ildri alone."

Ildri escaped gratefully.  It seemed odd, after missing these people so much, to just want to escape from them.  She hurried to her room before anyone else could try to talk to her.

* * * * *

The next morning Ildri woke to the sound of men's voices making their way in through her window.  She got out of bed and went to her window.

The yard outside was as busy as the day before Lord Wildwood and Lady Theresa had wed, although the activity was much less fun than it had been then.  Men were streaming around doing various tasks.  It seemed that stone masons and the builders were working on the portion of the wall directly outside Ildri's window that very day.

Ildri shrugged.  She should probably be getting to the kitchen to help chef prepare the meals for the day.  She washed and dressed quickly and made her way to the kitchen.

When she entered, chef looked up from the bread that she was kneading.  "Oh, good morning, Ildri," said the older woman amiably.  Ildri was somewhat surprised to see two unfamiliar people working alongside chef.

"Ildri, I'd like you to meet Missus Palton and Mister Granter, the kitchen helper from Ambridge and the second chef from Waldwick, respectively.  They have come to assist while we have so many extra mouths to feed while the men work on all the building."

"I see," Ildri said, feeling unpleasantly wrong-footed.  "Nice to meet you," she added, realizing that she might have sounded rude.

"Good to meet you too, Ildri," agreed Missus Palton and Mister Granter echoed her words.

"What should I be doing?" Ildri asked, looking at chef expectantly.

Chef smiled maternally and clucked her tongue.  "You've been through a trying and traumatic experience, Ildri.  You just go rest yourself up a bit until you feel like yourself again.  Until then we've got everything under control," chef said.

"Oh.  I'll do that," Ildri said.  "Let me know if you need me, though," she said.

"I certainly will," chef said with a gentle smile, as if she was standing at the bed of a convalescing patient.

Ildri forced a reluctant smile to her face and turned and left the kitchen.

* * * * *

The day dragged on and everyone was being disconcertingly nice to Ildri.  She did not mind, of course, but there was something unnatural about not being snarled at by Missus White and not having any set tasks to do to fill up her time.

The next day was much the same.  Ildri suspected that Lord Wildwood or Lady Theresa had instructed everyone to give her time to rest but she was beginning to feel that the kindness was very misplaced.  The same unpleasant, useless and unneeded feeling began to creep over her as it had while she had resided in the royal castle and it was all the worse when she was at her beloved Wildwood.  She had always been happy there.  She had never before felt this uncomfortable discontent that she could not quite ignore.

Ildri told herself that it was only because she was newly returned.  Surely, soon Wildwood would be as it always had and Ildri would feel her peace return.

After a few days, Ildri finally convinced chef that she was not an invalid and she returned to her work.  There was something comforting in returning to her old routine but she could not quite grasp the quiet satisfaction she had always felt at her job.

It was surely that Wildwood had changed so much in the short time she had been gone.  There were more soldiers around the castle, observing with stern, quiet faces.  The new building was still being erected as a permanent housing solution for the new men.  Hanna and most of the other girls at Wildwood were positively aquiver at the idea of a permanent influx of men living amongst them.  Ildri supposed that she might have felt that way too, not so long ago.

But now, the changes were a constant symbol of what was occurring in the wider world.  It was not only the new soldiers and builders and the new walls and building that were being efficiently erected every rainless day.  Even the kitchen was different with the addition of the two temporary helpers.  They were nice enough, but it was not the same.

Nothing was the same.  Everyone seemed to want to know what had transpired while Ildri was gone, but at best all she could do was give a vague answers and talk about her time in the royal capital.  She was not about to disobey an order that had come indirectly from the king just to please her nosey fellow workers.  Perhaps, if she had been able to speak freely of it she might have felt better, but that was not an option open to her.

Rose, who had always been too disinterested to be anything to Ildri before, had suddenly seemed to have made it her new life goal to ferret out every piece of information she could.  Ildri wondered for a split second if the woman was not a spy, but dismissed it immediately.  Surely the forces of Scelus had more finesse than to use such a ridiculous woman.

Ildri was finished her work for the day and was walking near the servant's exit when she heard Rose's voice from around the corner.  She did not want the woman to see her, so she ducked through the nearest door, the one that led outside.

She stood for a few moments in the lazy evening sunlight.  She had not been outside since the moment that she had returned to Wildwood.  It was as it had always been.  Her heart thumped frantically and she could feel her palms begin to sweat as the familiar fear returned to her.

"No," Ildri told herself aloud, earning a couple of odd looks from the nearest workmen.  She ignored them.

The world was a dangerous place, but bad things could happen to anyone, anywhere.  She did not want to be afraid anymore.  It was ridiculous to be afraid simply to stand outside of Wildwood.

She had left the safety of the walls for Saul, lying and untrustworthy Saul.  This time, she would do it for herself.

Ildri took a step away from the castle, and then another, and then another.  She walked the entire way around the castle and returned to the servant's exit.  She felt shaky but she also felt good.  She went back inside and Rose was no longer there.