At first all the servant could talk about was the war. The news was good at the start. The king had ridden off to Aston Castle merely to humor Prince Marcus, who everyone knew was mad. (“Begging your pardon, m’lady, but that’s what Cook says an’ she’s worked here for nigh on twenty years and the stories she tells, you wouldn’t believe, and it’s only proper you should know, seein’ the horrible way they’re treating you, which isn’t right, you being a fine lady yourself, if you are down on your luck . . .”)

Then something went wrong.

According to the servant, a messenger arrived in the middle of the night. They woke the Queen, and she and Gunderson and some barons who’d been hanging about eating the king’s food and drinking his wine held an emergency meeting, after which the barons looked grim, the guards on the walls were doubled and the local militia was drilling in the courtyard.

The next day, dark rumors started. A stable boy overheard a groomsman who overheard one of the barons saying that the king’s army had been defeated by an army of demons who had the fires of hell at their command. By that night the rumors had spread into the city—Satan’s army was on the march. This was the Apocalypse.

Shops closed. Inns emptied. Churches filled. The atmosphere around the castle grew increasingly tense. So pervasive was the mounting tension that it roused all Evelina’s instincts for self-preservation. Her interest in Marcus waned considerably as she heard horror stories from the servant about castles under siege, cut off from food supplies for months, so that the people inside were forced to eat rats, until they ran out of rats and eventually ate each other.

“If the demons don’t eat us first, m’lady,” said the tearful servant.

Thus it was that when Axe-Face made Evelina the offer, Evelina jumped on it with both feet.

“The ladies-in-waiting are being sent home under guard,” the woman told her. “Her Majesty has most graciously offered to dispatch you to a place of safety, as well.”

“Under guard?” Evelina asked eagerly, thinking of several of the handsome young knights she’d seen around the castle.

“Of course,” said Axe-Face coldly. After all, Evelina might be carrying the king’s grandchild.

Evelina was ecstatic. Not only would she escape the drudgery and dullness of her life in the castle, she would be furnished with male companionship for the journey. She didn’t care where she was going, and she was packing for the trip when the serving girl shed new light on the matter.