“Hmm.” Alys rose to her feet, slapping dirt off her rolled-up sleeves. “For all of our sakes, my young eyes and ears, I hope you’re right. But if I know the houses of Arden and Lune …”

Her face hardened. For one disconcerting moment, Cordelia glimpsed something cold and bleak and shadowed in her eyes—something Cordelia had never seen before in all their years of busy, stifling, jostling family life.

“Now that they’ve finally found a way into Kathryn’s forest,” Alys said softly, “today will be only the beginning.”

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

There was no time left for asking questions, no matter how many burned inside Cordelia. Mother swept through the castle like a thunderstorm, sending a cloud of impenetrable black smoke around all of the outer walls until it covered every window and arrow slit. It was as if she wanted to trap all of them in ignorance of the outside world forever!

Cordelia turned herself into a worm and burrowed furiously into the herb garden to eat dirt and seethe in perfect privacy. But she could never avoid her family for long.

“Mmmm!”

In worm shape, she had no ears. But the vibrations of a human voice echoed through the warm, dark soil, disrupting everything horribly. Light broke above her, irritating her sensitive skin, and a voice roared all around her: “Mmmmmm!”

That had to be Giles—and she was in no mood for one of his epic performances. Cordelia wriggled deeper into darkness as quickly as she could.

She wasn’t quick enough. He scooped her out a moment later, dirt scattering around her wildly twisting body, and lifted her high into the too-bright air. “Mmmmmm!”

Oh, fine. Cordelia shifted into human shape—and landed hard on her hands and knees on the ground as he let her go. “What?” Scowling at her triplet brother, she picked herself up and brushed off the green gown that she was once again wearing over her shorter undertunic. “I do not want to hear any songs about what’s happened. Go bother Rosalind if you want an audience! All I care about is who those people were.”

“You’re in a grumpy mood, aren’t you?” Giles grinned down at her. He’d changed clothes since she’d seen him last. Now he was resplendent in his favorite peacock-blue doublet and hose and bouncing up and down on the pointed toes of his shoes as if he might launch into a race at any moment. “It’s suppertime,” he told her, “and you shouldn’t have run off like that in the first place. I thought Connall’s head would pop off when he saw you were gone! He was convinced you must have thrown yourself into some terrible danger.”

“Hmmph.” Cordelia started toward the main courtyard without waiting for him to follow. “Connall worries about everything,” she said, and Giles wrinkled his nose in rueful agreement.