Chane hesitated for only an instant. Was she leading them to Wynn or to whatever late meal had been prepared? Either way he would get out of this passage, past the guard without incident, and then choose what to do next. He followed, hearing Osha two steps behind him, and he made a brief peripheral assessment of the guard as they passed. The man appeared armed with only a sheathed longsword—no visible knives, daggers, or other secondary weapons.
As they neared the second floor, Chane heard familiar voices. He reached the next landing, and relief came at the sound of Wynn’s voice. Then he saw her with Nikolas coming down the passage, and Shade trailed behind them.
Aupsha paused, blocking Chane from going to Wynn.
“Chane ... Osha?” Wynn said at the sight of them. “We were coming to find you before heading to the kitchen.”
Chane cocked his head toward Aupsha. “We have an escort.”
Asking Wynn about what had transpired with Nikolas’s father would have to wait for privacy.
Aupsha turned back, heading to the next flight of stairs downward. Chane let Wynn and Nikolas slip by, but before he could step in behind her ...
Osha took advantage of his rearward position and did so, even pushing in front of Shade.
Chane clenched his jaw as he followed behind.
The tall servant woman led them down to the main floor, but instead of heading into the main hall, she turned right down a dim passage lined with several narrow archways. They passed rooms filled with casks and crates, and Chane assumed these were extra stores, though it was odd that they were stored in the keep’s main building. A short way onward, they emerged into the heat of a kitchen with food and simple place settings on a long wooden table ringed with stools.
“We are to dine in here?” he rasped, unable to keep distaste out of his voice.
Aupsha ignored him, but Wynn glanced back. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he covered quickly.
In his youth, when he had visited other noble families with his father, he had never once been expected to eat in the kitchen. He had rarely even seen such places where only servants went to bring a meal to a main hall or more formal dining chamber. However, his and his companions’ status here was uncertain.
Cutting Osha off, he followed Wynn to the far end of the table. Soon she, Chane, and Nikolas were seated, which put the elf at the far end near the entrance. Shade dropped her rump to the floor at Wynn’s side and snuffled repeatedly while starting to drool.
“I will return when you are finished,” Aupsha said, and she abruptly left.
Only two other people remained: a fat woman in a stained apron and one of the girls who had helped prepare their rooms. She looked to be about sixteen, overly slender with dark blond hair, and she kept her eyes down. The fat woman glowered first at Wynn and then at Chane from where she stood by the wood-burning iron stove.
Chane had no idea why she should be so insolent.
“We are sorry to have disrupted your schedule,” Wynn said to the cook. “We were delayed. I’m sure you were already cleaning up for the night.”
Their journey had not been delayed, for they had to travel by night, but Wynn’s apology seemed to have the proper effect. The stocky cook grunted with a nod and began dishing out boiled potatoes, glazed carrots, and what might have been roasted beef onto plates.
“Can’t be helped. You need to eat,” she said somewhat grudgingly.
Chane noted that she did not defer to Nikolas at all. So far the only person outside the family who had acknowledged the young sage had been Captain Holland out at the front gates. Something about this seemed relevant, but as of yet Chane was not sure why.
The shy girl brought them their filled plates, and Wynn smiled at her. “Thank you. What is your name?”
At first the girl did not answer. She cautiously set a plate in front of Osha while glancing up as if trying not to stare at his pointed ears and large, slanted eyes.
“Eliza, ma’am,” she said quietly.
“Thank you, Eliza,” Wynn responded. “Could you spare a plate for my dog?”
The girl’s posture relaxed slightly with a glance at Shade, and she nodded. “Yes, of course, ma’am.”
Chane always noted how strangers were either frightened or fascinated by the sight of a large black wolf kept as a “pet.” Either reaction could be useful, and even Shade took advantage of this at times. The serving girl appeared to fall into the latter category, and Chane knew exactly what Wynn was up to.
Servants knew secrets, whether useful ones or not. Befriending them was thereby useful as well.
“You ain’t giving that dog my good roast,” barked the fat cook at the stove, and she pointed to the kitchen’s rear chopping table. “There’s boiled bones over there.”
At that Eliza stalled with a plate already in hand. She set it aside to hurry in gathering stewed bones for the “dog.”
And an awkward meal began.
Chane knew that, given a choice, Wynn did not care for meat, but she dove into her potatoes and carrots. As a result she was too busy to speak. Osha was silent as well, and ate like someone uncertain where his next meal would come from. Nikolas would not look at anyone and pushed his food around his plate.
Chane looked down at a plate loaded with food he could not eat. He waited until the cook turned her back. When the girl spotted him sliding a gravy-soaked slice of beef over the plate’s edge—over the table’s edge—she smiled slightly and looked away as Shade snapped up each slice before it hit the floor. Then he forked his vegetables over onto Wynn’s plate. Eliza came around with a pitcher of ale to fill the clay cups, and Wynn took her own two slices of meat and passed them under the table as well—most likely to avoid offending the prickly cook. Shade had the best meal at the table and much better than a few stewed bones.
“How was your meeting?” Chane asked as softly as possible.
Wynn shook her head, whispering, “Later.”
Nikolas picked up his cup and downed half of its ale. He had not touched his food. Osha’s plate was empty, though he ignored the ale after taking a puzzled sniff.
“I think we are finished,” Wynn called to Eliza.
The girl nodded and darted out into the passage. She returned a moment later, led by Aupsha.
Chane found the entire situation odder and odder. Were they guests, prisoners, or simply a notch above the keep’s staff? Aupsha stood near the archway as the girl hurried about in cleanup.
Chane looked down at Wynn. “It appears our escort awaits.”
Wynn’s mind was busy as Aupsha led them up to the third-floor passage and their rooms. She was eager to speak with Chane and Osha but did not want Nikolas in on the conversation. Upon reaching her door, she feigned a yawn.
“I’m exhausted. Good night, everyone.”
Openly relieved, Nikolas nodded and hurried off toward his door. As Chane passed by, Wynn tugged his sleeve, tilted her head toward her door, and mouthed, Come in a little while.
Chane eyed Nikolas entering the far room and then nodded as he headed off to the second door. Osha followed him, though not before a quick, deep look that made Wynn swallow before she slipped inside her room.
She waited along with Shade until certain that Nikolas would be settled for the night, and then she changed her mind. It would be less notable to the guards if she went to the other room instead of Chane and Osha coming back out to enter hers, so she cracked the door open.
Both guards were still in place at each end of the passage. Both glanced her way. She stepped out and ignored them as she went to the second door and knocked.
“I forgot to give you instructions for tomorrow,” she called out.
The door cracked open, and she stepped in to find Osha behind it. Before he said a word, she put a finger over her lips.