isen yet when I

p.

through the fog in my head. I jolted upright, heart po

s were shadowed, like she hadn't slept, but she looked alert, focused. She tossed a bundle

her, still gr

ov

ument. I shoved off the thin blanket and reached for the bundle-just a plain beige tunic, ro

g her tie on her apron. Hers was c

"What, you thought I w

moved like a soldier and talked like someone who k

ed. You st

and dressed as fast as I could, trying to keep the linen from scratching the welts on m

asked, catching up as she

'll

uch like everything else in this plac

your head down today. That gold in y

lf a second. "

ering to lower her voice. "Some are

ifted toward my face out of instinct, like

s. There were no windows in this wing, just iron sconces holding flickering blue flames that didn't give of

light and my eye

distant clatter of pots, a muffled shout behind a closed door. The castle hadn

y," Julise said suddenly. "Washing, cho

ou?" I

ged. "Eve

was. I still didn't know why she'd helped me b

bother?" I

king. I nearly

s one wrong move ruins more than just you. Don't give

lking again, a litt

ndness. It was about survival. Hers. Mine. Everyone's. And for now,

open, and warm, greasy air wafted ou

e," she said. "Try not

rway with a growling stomach, raw nerves, and the knowledg

through

ssary. She nodded to a few people as we passed-a stable boy, a ta

oors that groaned on their hin

was c

pots. Boots thudded. Knives clattered. The smell-yeast, s

iced me ri

near the ovens with several fing

ht her eye.

anded me a long paddle, and jer

le, then the oven do

and. Hard. "Wron

questions. I

t it just to see what I was doing. Tomasina shoved a

ancing at

t me. "Do

asn'

omething like amusemen

en I was elbow-deep in peeling roo

ing, but all she ga

ling pots that stung my arms with splatter. By the time noon hit, my palm

one offe

was new, but because something in me unsettled th

t for

a fig when no one was looking. Her gaze flicked to m

idn't

ded once and

d, she looked me ov

e like a serva

not meant t

joke. "Keep saying things like

off my shoulder li

o crying. No questions. Don'

en why are yo

dn't a

ed out of her path, the way Tomasina looked to her w

the flou

ed more than it looked. The seam split. Whit

sharply and

hen-M

rom shoulder to hem. She stop

an i

cuts stung where flour m

ty. Kicking. Sho

ect was Julise kn

th practiced hands, until the

t into my arms. "Wash your face.

ked. "

Bet

my heart

en Mo

wering her voice. "He doesn't miss a thing.

hard I nearly dr

f me ached. My fingers blistered. My scalp itched from the smoke. My stomach c

was cracked stone,

n halls, I heard a scream.

later, fo

de my

lise whispered. "She'

ave," a man repl

even know w

wil

r creak

Eyes shut. Bre

I felt their presence more than I saw

hed my fore

ne wrapped around me

neath

something else. Smok

l of old

hom

. The presence withd

d to help me-whatever th

were

chi

wait

idn't know wh

hey wante

if I could trust them