Cinderella Spell - Laurie Lee Page 0,88

the man pulled at her, making Marissa want to hide.

Mrs. Boyde moved them along the corridor. “What you need is rest. I can ease your memory, but you need strength to break the spell against Robert.” They kept to the main hallway, even though it would take a bit longer to get to the family’s quarters. Marissa didn’t mind. Shadowy places were not where she wanted to go.

Evening ended, and Marissa sank exhausted onto her bed.

Mrs. Boyde disappeared for a moment, then brought a glass of wine. “Drink this. You will sleep in peace.”

“What happened with Abigail?” Marissa took the glass, hating to see her hand shake.

“She has been deeply wounded. I have provided her with a few days of sleep without dreams. Cinderella will no longer have control of her, but she will have to decide to heal. Now drink. You need your own time to heal.”

“How can I help Robert if I sleep?”

“Cinderella will keep him from you. We know he is to work with Captain Standish tomorrow morning. You will find him then.”

Marissa didn’t have it in herself to argue. She drank the wine, then laid back. Restful sleep carried her away. There were no nightmares.

49

Robert did not show for his fencing match.

“Where could he be?” Marissa stood in the yard rubbing her arms as she faced Captain Standish.

His look was grave. “I received no note, and the soldier I sent round to his quarters reported his rooms empty, bed unslept.”

Marissa looked up at the colonnade. “She has him somewhere. I revealed my heart.” She stomped her foot. What had caused her to say so much? Her fist tightened on the bag she had brought with her.

“Noon is here, you have twelve hours to find him.”

“Can you not?” She turned to her companion. “Mrs. Boyde?” Marissa blinked tears from her eyes. Not now, with everything at stake.

“I should, but I have no sense of him. The spell is heavy upon us.”

Do not allow fear to reign, Mars. She closed her eyes and breathed. “Now is the time to break it.”

For hours she searched, wandering the halls and smaller rooms of the castle. A glimpse of a man riding in the fields beyond the grounds sent her to the stables. More than an hour wasted, searching the nether-reaches of the king’s land. When she returned to the stable, all the horses were accounted. Had he slipped past unawares, or had she been fooled? She dipped her hands in the cool basin of water kept near the entrance to the stable and rubbed her face. Foul deeds, indeed. She should be hungry, but her stomach turned at the thought of food. She had to find him. The sun was sinking toward the west.

Glimmers of light broke through the cords of gray clouds across the sky. Marissa paused, leaning against the door jamb. “Lord, help us.” No sooner had the words been spoken, the keep came to mind. Marissa ran to the undercroft, catching herself on one of the stone arches. In the dim light of evening, massive walls of the keep cast a dark shadow across the lawn. No light shown in any of the slim arrow holds, but Robert was within. She was certain of it.

Searching, ever searching. Her voice faded from crying his name. Foolishness, Cinderella probably heard each one and managed to keep ahead of Marissa. A bit of moon rose in the east. One room in the keep which did not show the years of decay, as most of the rest, had been lit with torches. A large box shape like a church alter covered with red cloth stood at the front. Like an altar, or like a coffin? Marissa moved the pair of candlesticks, a goblet with wine, and a book of verse from the top. She pulled the cloth away, but it was a table. Nothing hid beneath. No sign of Robert. This was where Cinderella planned to hold the wedding. Marissa ran from the room.

She went up. The stairs to the roof of the keep taunted her fears. The first stroke of midnight rang out, louder in its urgency. There was no time for fear. Marissa grabbed the wall at the bottom of the spiral stairs leading to the parapet. She lifted her skirts and ran, using the rope handrail to pull herself faster. But the old stone released the hold of the rail and she fell to her knees as the second bell tolled. Ignoring the pain, she pushed herself to