tears. Ariadne wound up consoling her for long minutes before her composure returned. When she had regained control she asked, “Will you help?”
“I don’t see that I have much choice, assuming I believe you, and I do. What do you want me to do?” answered Ariadne with some resignation.
“Let me finish this note. Then I will seal it and hand it over to you. Tomorrow or the next day I need you to find someone to take it to Joe McDaniels, in Washbrook. Tell no one about our talk,” Penny said.
“That doesn’t sound too hard,” Ariadne observed.
Penny gave a bitter laugh. “It will be. Things will happen between now and then. Please don’t be tempted to tell anyone what I’ve said,” she told her.
Ariadne hugged her. “I don’t know what sort of burden you are carrying Penny, but I won’t let you down. Trust me.”
Her pronouncement almost brought Penny to tears again, but she fought down the urge. With a nod she returned to writing her note. She struggled, trying to decide exactly what to say, too much and Mort would figure out what was going to happen, too little and he would balk at doing what was necessary. In the end she settled on keeping the note short and simple, trusting that Mordecai would heed her advice. I won’t know the outcome either way, she thought ruefully.
A short time later they returned to the main hall and Penny had to make a few graceful excuses for her absence. It seemed everyone was worried about her now. Eventually she side stepped the issue of her possible illness by claiming fatigue. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to rest,” she told Genevieve.
“Why naturally you do!” said the duchess sympathetically. She wasted no time calling one of the servants over to lead her to one of the guest bedrooms.
“I’ll go with her,” announced Miriam. “I wouldn’t dream of leaving my daughter without a watchful eye,” she said with a protective tone.
Although Penny appreciated the gesture, she wished she could convince her otherwise, but there was little hope of that. Dorian and the guards formed up to escort them through the halls. “That won’t be necessary,” Penny protested. “Dorian you’re enough by yourself, why don’t you let the men take their leisure?”
Dorian hesitated before answering, “I’m sorry Penny. I’ll have to insist, I promised Mort that we wouldn’t leave you unguarded.” He removed his helmet as he spoke, since its presence seemed rude within the castle.
She sighed regretfully. She had known it wouldn’t work but she had felt compelled to try. Taking Miriam’s arm she allowed herself to be led down the corridor.
“You’re shaking something dreadful Penny! Are you sure you’re alright?” asked Miriam worriedly.
“Don’t worry Miriam, I think I just need to eat something after what happened in the courtyard. My stomach feels dreadfully empty,” she lied. Her stomach was full of butterflies. As they walked Penny thought of something and glancing over she realized Dorian still had his helmet off. “Dorian would you mind putting your helmet back on?” she asked.
The large man looked askance at her. “We’re inside the castle Penny,” he said, stating the obvious.
She put on her best stubborn look, “If you’re going to insist on following me around playing bodyguard all day then I’ll have to insist you wear the armor my husband made for you.”
He stared at her for a long moment before settling the helmet back down on his head. “There, is that better?” he asked with a slight tone of condescension.
“Yes,” she replied, “but I want you to put the visor down as well.”
“You can’t be serious,” he said disbelievingly.
She stopped walking, forcing Miriam to stop with her. “I am absolutely serious Dorian. If you don’t put the visor down I won’t take one step further.” Everyone was staring at her now, including Mort’s mother. Unable to think of a rationale for her behavior Penny resorted to letting a bit more of her frustration show in the form of a wild expression and some tears.
Miriam waved her hands at Dorian, “Just put your damn visor down Dorian, we need to get her to a room.” Miriam’s face gave him an expression showing she understood his confusion.
Dorian complied with the request, though his body language showed how silly he thought it was. Penny didn’t care though, she was just glad to see his armor fully in place. A few minutes later they reached the guest room.
Once inside Penny was taken to the bedroom while three of the guardsmen were arranged in the antechamber. The fourth was set to stand guard outside in the hallway. Miriam was still paying her considerable attention, “Why don’t you lie down for a bit?” the older woman asked.
Penny found herself feeling bad for worrying the other woman. She embraced Miriam while speaking softly, “I’m sorry for causing such a fuss, but I’m not actually sick.”
Mort’s mother looked at her suspiciously, “What does that mean?”
Penny crossed the room to close the door. Before she did she looked out and saw Dorian lifting his visor again. “I said keep your damn visor shut!” she barked. Dorian glared at her for a second before his hand drew his helm’s faceguard back down. Penny shut the door and turned back to Miriam. “I’m sure Mort has told you about the visions I’ve had,” she began.
Miriam’s eyes grew wide. “In the courtyard?” she said suddenly.
Penny nodded.
“How bad is it?” asked the other woman.
“Bad, and I can’t tell you how or why, but I need you to trust me,” she said.
“What does that mean?” asked Miriam.
“It means I want you to follow my lead. Something bad is about to happen and I may say some things that don’t make sense but I want you to ignore that and go along with me,” Penny replied.
“Like Dorian’s visor?”
“Yes.”
“Something violent is about to happen isn’t it?” said Miriam.
A knock at the outer door interrupted their conversation and both women held their breath to hear what was happening in the outer room. One of the guards exchanged words with whoever was in the hall but they couldn’t make out what was said. A moment later Dorian knocked on the bedroom door. “Excuse me ladies,” he said politely.
Penny opened the door quickly. She was full of more nervous energy now than she could stand. “Yes?” she asked.
Dorian still had his visor down this time, which made his voice sound odd. “James has sent one of his men to request I attend him in his rooms,” he said plainly.
Penny swallowed before answering, her mouth had gone dry. “Then you should go,” she told him.
Dorian raised his hand to his helm, “What about this?”
Penny started to laugh but she stopped herself quickly as she felt hysteria creeping into her voice. “Keep it down until you reach James. Obviously I don’t expect you to wear it while you’re speaking with him,” she replied.
Dorian sighed again. Though she seemed normal Penny was obviously suffering from some sort of stress induced eccentricity. “The guard who brought the message will remain here in my place till I return,” he told her.
“That will be fine,” she answered.
Dorian turned and strode from the room, feeling ridiculous walking out with his visor down. As he went he stared for a moment at the guard James had sent to summon him. Something about the man’s face bothered him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. In any case, he didn’t recognize the fellow anyway.
After he had gone Penny returned to the outer room. She had too much energy to stay pent up in the bedroom. Her presence served to stifle the idle banter her guards had been engaging in and an awkward silence fell across the room. They didn’t have long to wait however, less than two minutes after Dorian left another knock sounded at the door.
The guard outside opened the door without waiting for a response, revealing a highly unusual woman framed by the opening. She was garbed in soft leathers, like a huntsman, though she bore more steel than would be necessary for such an occupation. Her hair was black and curled into delicate ringlets, it might have draped past her shoulders but she had it tied back into a businesslike pony tail. She strode forward into the room as though she
