I just hope I’m not boring her too much. At least I’m patient. Lordan used to get so mad when he couldn’t do something right that he’d storm off the field and go duck his head in the horse trough. And she can’t say I’m not determined.

The moon finally rose to a point where there was no light shining in the window at all. The bathing chamber was in complete darkness. And the wine was gone.

I guess it’s time for bed, she decided. Before I fall asleep in the tub.

She found the plug at the bottom of the bathtub with her toes, took the bit of chain attached to it between her big toe and the rest, and pulled. When Tarma had shown her the drain at the bottom of the tub, she’d been both amazed and amused—the tubs at home had to be bailed by hand, then tilted over on their sides to drain completely. She couldn’t imagine why no one had ever thought of something like this before.

She stood up, slowly; a thick towel hung from a rod at the side of the tub; it gleamed softly in the darkness, and she reached for it, then stepped out onto the tiled floor. That was the only thing wrong with this chamber; the tile made the floor cold!

Cold enough that she dried herself off quickly, and hung the towel back where it belonged. Tarma had given her one of those looks when she’d thrown it on the floor, and Kero had managed to deduce that there weren’t many servants in the Tower. Thereafter she’d put things away properly.

She pulled on the old shirt she used to sleep in, and walked slowly and silently across the floor to her own room; Tarma wanted her to practice moving quietly whenever possible, so that doing so became habit rather than something she had to think about. Kero had decided on her own that learning to move quietly in the dark would be a very good idea, so she practiced a little every night.

Once past the doorway, she turned to light the candle she’d left on a shelf by the door. And when she turned back with it in her hand, she thought she’d jumped into a nightmare.

Teeth, that was all she saw at first; huge white fangs, gleaming in the candlelight. And eyes the size of walnuts, shining with an evil, green glow all their own.

Seven

Seven

She shrieked, jumped back into the wall behind her, and dropped the candle, all at the same time.