The next morning was almost as chaotic as the day before.  There was a large informal breakfast for the guests, and Anya was pressed into service again by Lady Daphne and many of the other ladies.

She received two more offers of employment and again she had wished she had known the high demand for such a skill before her brother had descended into darkness.

She decided not to send a message to Thorne, because she feared that she would be out of the range of upholding her spells.  Having all the spells fail at once would bring terrible attention to a visit to the woods that she wanted to remain unremarkable.

Surely, Thorne could wait one day.

Anya spent as much of the day as possible away from everyone.  Keeping the spells on so many people was beginning to wear her down.  She lazed around the most isolated parts of the castle.

"What are you doing?" a sharp voice asked.

Anya held in her sigh and turned to face the housekeeper.  She was not in the mood to tolerate the nasty hag's nonsense.  "I'm maintaining dozens of spells, actually," she said, looking right in the housekeeper's eyes.  Anya did not bother to stand up.  She almost hoped it would annoy the housekeeper.  She knew that she needed to keep a low profile, but she had enough of the bullying.

"You can do something else while you are doing that," Missus White snapped back.

"No, I can't. I'm exhausted by it.  Are you a wizardress?  Do you know how wizards are affected by maintaining multiple spells?" Anya asked evenly.

Missus White narrowed her eyes and Anya suddenly understood.  The housekeeper consistently dedicated her life to Wildwood estate, yet she could not be the thing that the lord of Wildwood prized above all else.  The housekeeper probably had no natural affinity for magic.

Even more likely, she had probably attempted to learn with little success.  It would explain why she was so angry and resentful, especially to Anya.

Since Anya was just a maid the woman obviously felt free to bully her.  Anya would not have it any longer.  She felt sorry for the woman if her intuition was correct, but it did not give Missus White a right to be so nasty.

However, Missus White seemed to have decided to leave Anya alone without any further encouragement.  She harrumphed and spun on her heel.  Anya watched the stiff back as it walked away.  Anya hoped it was the start of a trend.

* * * * *

Anya wearied of being idle and decided to go to the library.  As she opened the door she could hear several of the wedding guests carrying on animated conversations.  As Anya allowed the door to slide shut she heard an excited tone of voice that caught her attention.  She paused and listened.

"Did you hear about what happened to Lord Reid?" said a female voice Anya vaguely recognized.  It was a lady whose hair Anya had done the previous day.  Anya thought that her name was perhaps Lady Amelia.

"Lord Reid?" asked the voice of a different unfamiliar woman.  "Wasn't he that peculiar old man who never managed to sire an heir?"

Lady Amelia laughed and Anya thought that she sounded nasty.  "He was indeed.  You might recall hearing that a decade ago or so he was desperate to continue his line.  Two wives and not a child between them, let alone a son."

"Poor blighter," said a man Anya did not recognize.

"That's not the worst of it, though," returned Lady Amelia.  "He was murdered a week ago."

"Murdered?  Are they certain?"  The second woman asked.  She sounded excited and the thought that the woman was excited by the idea of someone being killed revolted Anya.

She wondered if they would produce the same sort of commentary once she had successfully assassinated Lord Wildwood.

"He was stabbed in the back, apparently and I've never heard rumors to the effect that he would be capable of that sort of feat on his own account."  The women tittered, as if Lady Amelia was delightfully clever.

The man spoke up again.  "Do they know who did it?"

Lady Amelia sounded speculative.  "They don't know, or at least the king's representatives aren't saying.  But I heard it was likely his nephew, Heathcliff.  He's been heir for a long time.  I figure he probably got tired of waiting for the old man to die..."

Anya let the door shut slowly, and walked away, thinking about what she had overheard.

These were the nobles that controlled the lives of the populace, petty and selfish.  From all that Anya had heard since the guests had begun to arrive was exactly this sort of nonsense issuing from the lips of those who were supposedly meant to rule over their inferiors.  They were the norm.  They added nothing of discernible value to the world.

They would barely be missed.  Yet the insidious Thorne had set her against the one fair lord who appeared worthy of respect.  Anya only grew more conflicted by the day and Thorne probably knew that she was and found it entertaining.

She could picture his face in her mind, mocking and evil.  She could easily picture him standing with the twins in a shadowy setting, Kallie looking afraid and Damani looking defiant to hide his fear.

Anya wondered how the twins were, if they were at least truly safe in the present.  So much rode on the honour of the dishonourable Thorne.

She would concoct a new plan and detail them in a message before Thorne had time to become impatient.

* * * * *

Anya walked through the quieter part of the castle.  The afternoon was approaching.  Some of the guests were just rising; others were becoming sluggish and heading off for naps.  A few were about and active, playing billiards or cards in the game rooms or riding.

The lull in activity for the time prompted Anya to head to the servants' dining hall and find something to eat.

The room was bustling with activity, but the food was not laid out yet.  She decided to make her way down to the kitchen and see if there was something that she could obtain unobtrusively to eat.

The kitchen was also busy, but Anya spied Ildri and slipped inside.  Ildri was stirring ingredients of some sort together vigorously.

"Anya," Ildri said, glancing up.  "How are you?"

"Good," Anya agreed.  "I was wondering if I could find something to eat."

Ildri smiled, "Anything for my favorite hairdresser.  Just let me finish this and I'll find you something.  Sit there."

Anya sat on the short stool in the corner that Ildri had indicated and watched Ildri work.  She hummed a bit while she worked even though she looked a bit tired.

"Did you have a good time last night?" Anya asked.

Ildri's happy little smile widened.  "I had a wonderful time!  I met with Saul and we spent the night together."  Ildri blushed, "Well, not the whole night!  But he really looked wonderful and he told me that I did too.  It was just the best night of my life!"

"I'm glad you had a good time," Anya said and meant it.  Anya remembered her night and it bore no resemblance to what Ildri had described.

"Didn't you?" Ildri asked innocently.

Anya looked at Ildri in surprise.  "No.  I mean, yes.  It's just that I was maintaining so many spells last night.  Tell me more about Saul," Anya asked in a quick attempt to remove Ildri's mind from what Anya had been doing the previous night.

Ildri happily obliged and talked about the apparently wonderful Saul while she finished mixing ingredients in such a haphazard fashion Anya was surprised anything she made turned out.

Ildri scurried around the room dodging the temporary kitchen staff and brought back two plates.  "These are just leftovers from yesterday."

"That's perfect," Anya said, thinking of the bedlam in the servants' dining hall and how she would not have to brave it.

Ildri put a plate in front of Anya and sat on another stool balancing the second plate on her lap.  "Lady Theresa and Lord Wildwood looked so happy, didn't they?" Ildri commented with enthusiastic delight.

Anya nodded and swallowed a bite past the lump in her throat.

"I hope that they have children.  More children in the castle would be lovely."

Anya nodded again and kept her eyes on her food.

"It really was a beautiful wedding," Ildri added.

"It was.  And the food was excellent," Anya mentioned.

It was the right way to distract Ildri.  She launched into a long discourse on the different dishes and how they were prepared and what ingredients were in each.  It was boring, but it was a far preferable topic as far as Anya was concerned.  It was also better for her appetite and Anya knew that she needed to eat while she was keeping so many spells in place.

Ildri's eyes opened wide.  "Oh, I just remembered that I heard some gossip today."

"What was it?" Anya asked without much interest.

"There was a murder in the capital."

"Really?" Anya asked in a neutral tone, although she was fairly sure that it was the poor Lord Reid that she had overheard being talked about before she came to the kitchen.

Anya immediately decided it was better to feign complete ignorance.  She did not want anyone associating her with knowledge about any murders anywhere.  She needed to look completely innocent.

"There was.  It was some duke or something.  I'm surprised that you haven't heard, the news is sweeping the castle," Ildri said.

"Well, I've been resting most of the day," Anya said truthfully.

"Oh, of course.  Are you still maintaining a lot of spells?"

"I am."

"I imagine that is quite draining.  Well, anyway, apparently some Duke Reed or something was stabbed in the back and died before anyone could find him.  I've never seen him since he never came to Wildwood, but I've heard that he was pretty old and his heir was impatient for his title and lands and decided to speed up the process.  But then I also heard that other people are saying that he has a close connection to the king and that there are stirrings of a rebellion.  I don't know which is true.  I just feel bad for the poor old man.  Some of the servants of the guests are mentioning gossip about how he couldn't produce his own heir, but I hardly see how that relates."

Anya nodded, trying to look surprised and impressed by Ildri's knowledge of the situation.  "It's all very sad."

"It is," agreed Ildri.  "I hope that they catch that nephew or whoever it was that did it."

"I do too," Anya agreed, feeling like a base hypocrite.  And she really did hope that murderer would be caught, but also that she would not be when she finally succeeded at her own plots.

Anya pushed away the rest of her food, her appetite completely gone.  "I've got to go, Ildri.  I need to check to see if Lady Theresa has need of me."

"I'll see you later, then," Ildri agreed amiably.

* * * * *

Anya made her way down to her lady's chamber, but found only Hanna inside.  "Where is Lady Theresa?" Anya wondered vaguely.

Hanna smiled and looked a bit embarrassed.  "She's still off with Lord Wildwood."

"Oh," Anya said.  "Do you think that she'll need me today?"

"Probably not," Hanna said with the same slightly uncomfortable expression.  "But I'm packing up some of Lady Theresa's dresses.  Their original plan was to go to Waldwick after the wedding and I assume that they still intend to.  I could use your help."

"Yes," agreed Anya automatically.  It would be good to have something to occupy her time.  "Will we be going along with them?"

She was more concerned about whether or not Wildwood would be out of her reach again.  If he left he might be gone for months.  The information she had received from Thorne indicated that he had other properties.  Anya could not imagine being left in such a state of limbo for such a long period of time.

She could not imagine what Thorne might do to the twins if she missed her chance.

Hanna shrugged slightly.  "I haven't heard.  Likely not, if it a short trip."

"If we stay behind I can begin to teach you about magic," Anya pointed out.

Hanna grimaced.  "Are you sure that I can learn?"

"Have you ever tried?"

"No," Hanna admitted.

Anya tried to think of the right words.  "There's nothing to suggest that you will not be able to.  Everyone and every living thing has a bit of magic in it.  It's just about learning how to make use of it."

"I suppose it won't hurt to try," Hanna said hopefully.

Anya and Hanna had nearly finished packing Lady Theresa's dresses when the door opened and their lady and her new husband entered.

"Good morning, Hanna, Anya," she said cheerfully.

"We were just packing for your journey to Waldwick," Hanna said slowly.

Lady Theresa smiled.  "I hadn't even thought of that.  When will we leave?" she asked her husband.

Lord Wildwood smiled back at her.  "Whenever you're ready."

"Perhaps not for a few days."  She smiled up at him with what seemed to be true affection.

Anya felt completely out of place.  A quick glance at Hanna assured her that she felt the same.

A knock at the door relieved some of the awkwardness of the situation.  Hanna rushed to open it and revealed the pompous little man who had delivered the goblet to the kitchen the previous evening.  He looked only slightly apologetic at intruding upon Lady Theresa's chambers.

"Can I help you?" Lord Wildwood asked evenly.

"Lord Wildwood, His Majesty regrets the necessity of requesting your presence.  He understands that the timing is poor, but news has reached his ears that..."

Lord Wildwood exhaled heavily.  "I understand."  He turned to his wife.  "I'm sorry, but..."

"I'll wait here for you," Lady Theresa said with a sunny but stiff smile.  She watched him as he walked out the door.

The moment the door swung shut behind him Lady Theresa collapsed into a chair.  She scowled up at the ceiling.  "I'm starting to detest that king.  He's always dragging Wildwood away from me.  He's perhaps the biggest pest in the kingdom."

Hanna nodded sympathetically.

Lady Theresa sighed.  "Could one of you go and find my sister?  I might as well use this time to visit with her."

"I'll go," Anya volunteered quickly.

"Thank you," Lady Theresa said, closing her eyes as if settling in to wait.

Anya hurried out of the room, glad to have an escape.