Beguiled (The Fairest Maidens #2) - Jody Hedlund Page 0,54

paused, taking in the gatehouse ahead with its imposing towers as well as the enormous castle beyond that was half-built into the cliff walls. Turrets rose high as if to compete with the mountain range upon which the fortress was built. The crenellations and merlons of the battlements were formed into diamonds, and the arrow slits in the towers were shaped like crosses.

In some ways, the royal residence set against the backdrop of the mountains reminded me of Bergenborg Castle, where my family had spent winters for as long as I could remember. But something about this city and Warwick set me on edge. No matter the similarities in geography between countries, the leadership made all the difference. And Queen Margery’s rule had created a realm where fear and hardship abounded rather than peace and prosperity.

Now that I’d witnessed Warwick’s fate under the queen, I prayed I would never forget to put the needs of my people above my own.

“Let us continue onward.” I lengthened my stride. “The sooner we conduct our business, the sooner we can leave.”

I feared the more time we lingered in Warwick, the greater the chances someone would recognize Pearl. Even more, I feared that if we waited until morn, Pearl would demand to join me inside the castle. As it was, after arguing, she’d glared at me but thankfully agreed to wait in the chamber we rented above an obscure tavern until our return. I couldn’t come back without Ruby and thus disappoint her. To ensure her cooperation, I’d enlisted the tavern owner to watch her door and stop her if she tried to leave.

All the while I’d walked through town and up the path to the castle, I’d had the strange feeling something wasn’t right, that Pearl had acquiesced too easily. It was just one more reason to finish our business with the queen hastily.

As we hiked the last distance to the gatehouse, the setting sun glinted off a thick double iron gate. Gregor stopped a distance away, but I approached and was surprised to find both gates already closed. I peered up into first one tower, then the other. I didn’t see anyone, but I had no doubt the guards on duty were well aware of my presence. “I would like to request admittance—”

An arrow sliced through the air, and I dodged out of the way as it hit the spot where I’d just stood. “Leave at once or the next arrow will find its mark.”

I had no choice but to back away, all the while keeping my attention on the arrow slits in the tower.

Gregor and I retreated down the mountain path, walking backward and never once taking our sight from the gatehouse until we rounded the corner and were no longer within shooting range.

Once we were safe, I stopped and frowned. “I should have surmised from the scarcity of people climbing the path that the gate wouldn’t be open.” I didn’t give Gregor the chance to say that he’d told me so. Instead, I approached a beggar resting with his back against the hillside. “What time does the gatehouse close every day?”

The beggar held out a sagging cap, peering straight ahead with empty eye sockets. He jangled the few coins already inside his cap, as though to suggest payment before he would divulge the information I wanted.

I nodded at Gregor, who took a farthing from his pocket and dropped it into the hat.

“Obliged,” said the man, revealing several missing front teeth.

“The gate?” I persisted.

“It be closing at Vespers every day.”

The cathedral bells had rung for the six o’clock hour of prayer as we’d set out from the tavern. Surely if this beggar knew the castle’s timetable, then Pearl was aware of it as well. She should have warned me we wouldn’t make it to the top in time to enter.

“When does the gate open on the morrow?”

The beggar pressed his lips together and shook his hat. Stifling a sigh of irritation, I motioned for Gregor. At the clank of another coin dropping into the hat, the beggar smiled, once again showing his broken and crooked teeth. “The gate opens at the ringing of Terce.”

I should have guessed as much. Though I was eager to negotiate for Ruby and start on my way back to the island to finish my Testing, what was one more night? Tomorrow would be here soon enough, and I would accomplish our mission then.

Meanwhile, I would have to find a way to placate Pearl. She would be