While Anya did Lady Theresa's hair, Lady Daphne buzzed around the room talking constantly.

Anya watched her out of the corner of her eye. Lady Daphne seemed every bit a lady, from the tip of the elegant hairstyle to her delicate form. If Anya did not know better, she would never imagine the lady in question to be capable of killing someone.

But she was and she had, if Thorne was to be believed. It was surprising that the lady was even capable of wielding a bow.  However, Lady Daphne's arms were surprisingly muscular for the life of a pampered noble, likely from practicing archery. It seemed an unlikely skill for such a lady to have.

Lady Daphne was talking. "So, after your wedding, Thomas and I are going to move to my estates for a time. We feel it is time to pay attention to them. It'll be nice to be by ourselves as well."

"Aren't you enjoying your time at Harding?"

"Of course I am. Everyone is so nice. But it's not the same. I mean, there we are just the son of the Lord and his wife. His father and mother run everything."

Lady Theresa's voice was slightly chiding, "Which is how it should be."

"Oh, I know. I simply adore Lord Harding. He's quite funny and entertaining. The stories he tells! And Lady Harding is nice too, of course," Lady Daphne said quickly.

Lady Theresa smiled sympathetically. "Trouble with the mother-in-law?"

Lady Daphne shook her head quickly. "No, of course not. Lady Harding really is nice to me. It's not the same though. It's like there is no place there for us to belong. It will be nice to reside at Tyndale and be a baroness in my own right. You're lucky that you don't have in-laws you'll have to deal with."

Anya saw Lady Theresa roll her eyes at her sister's thoughtless comment.

Lady Daphne must have realized what she said, because she continued, "Not that I want them dead! I didn't mean that! I just—"

"I understand what you meant," Lady Theresa said, forestalling what likely would have been a long and rambling explanation.

Anya put the finishing touches on Lady Theresa's hair. "All done," she announced.

"Oh, Theresa! You look lovely! Now let's go see that dress!"

There was a knock on the door. Hanna scrambled over and opened it.

"Is my wife here?" Anya heard a man ask.

"Sir Thomas!" Daphne squealed as she scurried over to the man who had stepped into the room.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked. Anya looked at the one who had shot the other arrow into Gage's back.

To Anya's jaundiced eye, Sir Thomas looked ineffectual. He was perhaps only a bit more attractive than average, and he had a weak chin in Anya's opinion. His clothing was impeccably neat and he looked like a dandy.

Lady Theresa spoke up, "Not at all. We were just having our hair done."

"You two both look lovely," he said gallantly, looking down at his wife beside him. Anya eyed the pair. They looked absurdly cute together, but certainly not like a team that could kill her older brother.

Gage had been strong and rugged. They looked pathetically soft. Perhaps Thorne really had lied to her, trying to bend her to his will. She would not put it past him to use lies to try to manipulate her feelings.

Sir Thomas suddenly looked directly at Anya. "You're a wizardress?" he asked suddenly.

"Yes," she said and she supposed that it was technically true now.

He nodded. "I wondered who cast the magic all over my wife's head." Daphne giggled in an annoying sort of way, as if his deduction was a great sort of brilliance.

It was a good reminder though. These wizards would be able to sense magic just as clearly as she could, although perhaps limited to the wizardly kind, like she had used on the ladies' heads.

It was clear that Sir Thomas could sense magic that was being maintained through her power. She would have to be careful when she finally acted not to draw attention to what she was doing.

"This is Thomas, Lady Daphne's husband, Anya.  Anya is my new lady's maid."

"It's a pleasure to meet someone who can highlight my wife's beauty so effectively," Sir Thomas said. Anya doubted that he would feel that way if he knew who Anya's brother had been.

"Oh, Thomas," Daphne said, blushing.

Anya nodded politely. She noticed that Lady Theresa had a half annoyed, half embarrassed expression on her face.

Sir Thomas spoke again. "I was going to invite my wife to go riding. Would you like to come, Lady Theresa?"

Lady Theresa shook her head. "No thank you. But don't let me stop you from going, Daphne."

"I will then. Do you want to take my hair down, Anya?" Lady Daphne asked.

"Why don't you wear it for the rest of the day and see how it holds up?" Anya suggested. "Everyone has different hair, so trying these things is always a good idea." Especially when one was pretending to be experienced.

"That is a fine idea," agreed Lady Daphne.

Sir Thomas frowned. "Are you certain that you can maintain their hair all day?"

"Yes," Anya assured him.

"You're a powerful wizardress, then?" he asked again. Sir Thomas' attention made her nervous.

"Not really. It's just a simple spell," Anya said carefully.

"A simple spell? I suppose. I don't know much about your sort of magic."

For a second Anya silently panicked. He knew that her magic was different? Would she have to leave if they knew she was actually a witch?

"I'm a healer, myself. I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to make hair do what I wished it to do. Or even what I wished." Of course he had been referring to her hair styling magic.  He was a wizard. Wizard's continually underestimated what a witch can do.

She appeared to be competent, therefore they would never suspect that she might not be a wizardress. She was both relieved and aggravated at the realization.

"It's not difficult," she emphasized.

"Lord Wildwood will certainly wish to meet you when he returns," Sir Thomas said as he took Lady Daphne's arm and led her from the room.

Lord Wildwood would wish to meet her? She wondered what Sir Thomas had meant. Was it a threat, or a warning?

"Don't look so worried. Lord Wildwood simply likes discussing magic with other wizards, that's what he meant," Lady Theresa explained soothingly.

Anya cursed herself for not schooling her expressions properly. "I'm not really worried. It's just the thought of meeting a marquis is a bit unnerving," she lied.

Lady Theresa nodded sympathetically. "My soon to be husband can appear to be quite intimidating, but he is a good man. You've nothing to fear from him. He helped me when very few others would or could."

Anya did not miss the obvious affection in Lady Theresa's voice when she spoke of her memories of Lord Wildwood. Would the torture never end? An anxious and guilty feeling seemed to be permanently lodged in the pit of her stomach and it flared up at any reminder of her purpose.

Hanna was moving about behind Lady Theresa and it reminded her of what she had suggested to the other maid. "My lady, might I make a request?" Anya asked in an effort to distract herself from her own guilt.

Lady Theresa smiled. "Of course you may ask. What is it?"

"After your wedding is over, I was wondering if I might teach Hanna some of my magic." Anya saw that Hanna's body grew stiff at the mention of her name.

"Of course. That sounds like a fine idea. What do think, Hanna? Would you like to learn?"

Hanna's voice came out in a cracked squeak. "Yes."

"Very well then. You can share your duties and spend the extra time studying. It's quite a good idea. I doubt there'll be time for that before the wedding, though."

"Of course not," agreed Anya.

Lady Theresa seemed about to say something else when there was a knock at the door. Hanna rushed to open it, her eyes still wide from her lady's words.

"Is Lady Theresa here?" asked a male voice. Anya knew it was not Sir Thomas, because the voice was deeper and the inflections on the words were less flowery. The opened door blocked Anya from getting a look at who it was.

"I can't believe that you are here already!" Lady Theresa nearly shrieked, and she jumped from the chair she had been sitting in. She clasped her arms around the newcomer briefly. "You weren't supposed to get here for two more days!"

When the two of them moved into the room and she finally got a glimpse of the newcomer, Anya understood immediately why Lady Theresa was in love with her future husband.

He was tall and broad of shoulder with a handsome face. His brown hair swept across his face. It was his eyes that caught Anya's attention, however. She could see that he was a good man. They were kind and warm as they looked down at Lady Theresa. She felt a feeling which was uncomfortably like jealously towards her lady and a deep regret that she would have to kill someone like him. Why could it not be someone else? Anyone else?

"My business went well, and I left early. I would hardly wish to miss your wedding. Better early than late."

"Well, it is wonderful to see you, Jim," Lady Theresa said with a brilliant smile on her face.

Jim? Keaton was Lord Wildwood's given name.

She should have realized that it was not the marquis. While his clothes were not shabby, neither were they richly made. Who was this man?

"It's wonderful to see you again, too, Lady Theresa. Your hair looks nice. Who did it for you?"

Lady Theresa gestured to Anya. "This is my new lady's maid, Anya Smyth. She's also a wizardress."

He nodded looking at her. She felt like squirming.

"This is the Wizard Jim, a friend of my husband and I."

She almost wished that he would not look at her. He looked curious and kind and the fact made her feel horribly guilty.

"She's quite skilled. I lucked out getting her at the last moment."

"I can see that," he agreed. "It's good to meet you, Miss Smyth."

"And you," she agreed quietly.

"Why don't we sit down and have tea?" Lady Theresa suggested. "You look tired."

He nodded. "I rode all day."

"Would you rather rest in your room? It should have been prepared for you."

"I've already been there. But tea would be good, my lady," the Wizard Jim said, and exhaled deeply.

Hanna was already on her way out the door. Anya did not know what she was supposed to be doing, so she just stood around in the background feeling useless and most probably giving the appearance as well.

"I'm afraid Lord Wildwood won't be back for a couple of days yet," Anya heard Lady Theresa tell Jim.

He leaned back in the chair he sat in. "Yes, I actually spoke with him before I left," Jim agreed.

"Has he dragged you into what he is doing?" Lady Theresa asked sharply.

The Wizard Jim looked at Lady Theresa carefully before answering. "Yes, he does have a couple of tasks for me."

"What does he have you doing?" she asked sweetly.

"I really don't think that he would want me to tell you, my lady," the Wizard Jim said slowly.

Lady Theresa scoffed. "He thinks hiding things from me will protect me! It just makes me worry more.  Bloody Wildwood! Furthermore, I'm not a fool. I know that he has been doing something actively for the king since shortly after we decided to marry. When I still had Francine's spells upon me, Lord Wildwood almost never left, but he's been dashing up to the capital quite frequently."

Jim shrugged. "He worries about you."

"He worries about me? I'm sitting here working on endlessly tedious wedding plans! He's the one off doing who knows what with who knows who! I worry about him and he doesn't seem to understand that." Lady Theresa's arms were crossed over her chest.

Jim smiled. "You'll just have to talk with him when he gets back."

"Oh, I shall," she agreed with a frown. "I almost lost him once. I really thought he was dead."

"I wish I had gotten there sooner," Jim said, his frown matching Lady Theresa's. "I should have been paying more attention."

"Don't blame yourself. Everything was Francine's fault, truly."

"Still. I arrived with the guards just in time to see that wizardress hurl you over the castle wall. Thought my heart would stop."

"Well, it all worked out."  Lady Theresa made a dismissive motion.

"Yes, it did." Jim seemed relieved that Lady Theresa was sidetracked from asking him about what Lord Wildwood was doing.

"Except for this whole nonsense with the king that Wildwood has managed to get into. Before we went to the capital Wildwood told me the king thought he was an eccentric recluse. But ever since that incident, it's like he's the king's favorite marquise. If he has to do anything once we're married I'm going with him," Lady Theresa said with certainty.

The Wizard Jim shrugged unhappily at her dogged insistence on the topic. "He won't like that. He wants you safe."

"Aha! I knew he was doing something dangerous!"

Jim looked very irritated with himself. Anya wondered what Lord Wildwood was really doing and she worried that it might be connected to her in some way.

Hanna interrupted the conversation as she entered the room with a tea tray. She placed it on the table before them.

"I'll pour it," Lady Theresa told Hanna.

Hanna walked over to Anya. "I've got other tasks to accomplish.  Can you attend to Lady Theresa?"

"Of course," agreed Anya, realizing what a concession it was for Hanna to ask for her to do anything. Hanna smiled and quickly exited the room.

They were all so heart wrenchingly trusting.