Free shadow and lace by Teresa Medeiros Page A

fangs."
    Gareth lifted one eyebrow. "I thought you well warned of that after she knocked you over the head last night."
    "Mayhaps the blow dislodged my memory."
    "Not overmuch, I hope. I have a task for you, and your memory will serve you well." He threw open a chest and drew a plain black tunic over his head. He scrounged deeper in the chest and came up wielding a tiny silver flute. "What are your interests, Rowena? Music? Embroidery? Dancing?"
    Rowena looked puzzled. She knew of no interests except the gallant pursuit of food for their table. Gareth waved a scrap of linen embroidered with dancing pheasants beneath her nose.
    "Pheasant stew," she said suddenly. "That holds my interest."
    The scrap of fabric went limp. Gareth's eyebrows drew together in a forbidding line. He returned to the chest. "You mentioned Irwin telling you tales. Are you fond of the chansons, the romances?"
    She raised her palms in a shrug. She adored tales of monsters and heroes, but did not realize that was what he had asked her. Gareth gave an exasperated snort. "Are you fond of anything you cannot eat?"
    Marlys muttered something under her breath, which earned her a searing glance from her brother. He pulled forth a creamy sheet of parchment, a cow horn, and a feathered quill. "You may put your impertinence to good use, sister. You will teach Rowena to write."
    Marlys gagged. "I detest writing. And I detest catering to your doxies. If you must consort with uneducated villeins, could you not hire a priest to undertake their education? I would have thought she'd already know everything necessary for the tasks you have in mind. Some things do come naturally, you know. If she can lay on her back and spread her legs, then she ought to be able to—"
    "The lady Rowena is not a peasant. She is the daughter of a baron," Gareth interrupted, watching Rowena turn from pale white to pink to a mild shade of purple. " Tis no fault of her own that her education has been neglected."
    Marlys crossed her arms over her chest. "Command the village priest to come teach her. He has been idle too long."
    "You know 'tis impossible." Gareth slipped behind her and put his mouth next to where an ear should be. His soft words were audible throughout the chamber. "I suggest you follow my wishes. The next time you ambush me, I might forget you are my beloved baby sister and regrettably skewer you."
    Marlys's fingers flexed in her gauntlets as Gareth buckled on a silver belt. He started for the door, whistling a jaunty tune. "If you are entertaining notions of his goodness," Marlys snapped at Rowena, "then beware. He may kill you with kindness."
    Gareth stopped for a moment, his broad shoulders filling the doorframe. Then he continued on, and Marlys's low laughter flooded the chamber.
    Rowena sidled around Marlys, trying to steal a glimpse of the deformity the young girl must be hiding—a twisted lip or perhaps a milky white cataract.
    Marlys inclined her head. Her hair fell like a curtain over her anger. "You'd best break your fast," she muttered, "before Dunnla throws your porridge to the hogs."
    The memory of snarling dogs tearing at the remains of Ardendonne's feast sent Rowena rushing for the door, Marlys's face forgotten. She hesitated.
    Marlys anticipated her question. "Left, right, down, north, left and east. Take care not to get lost. We still haven't found the bones of the last chit who lost her way."
    Rowena's eyes widened. She stepped out the door and turned to the right. Marlys's laughter rang after her.
    Rowena wandered for an interminable time, trapped in a maze of corridors. She trotted along, out of breath, but refusing to sit down and rest lest they discover her bones months from now, crouched in defeat in some deserted corridor. She found herself at the door of Gareth's chamber twice before stumbling onto the wide stone steps that curled downward into the heart of the castle.
    Last night's impression of vast space was only reinforced by the beams of sunlight