“Damn that magician,” Alex sighed, dropping her head into a pile of fabric. She couldn’t focus on anything. She needed something to distract her. Maybe she should visit the castle and Madame Rosamunde to experiment more with the sewing machines.
The fortune teller wrapped a blue wool cloak around her shoulders, tucked a basket of fabric under her arm and headed off towards the castle. Once inside, Alexandra headed up a set of stairs. She thought she was going in the right direction but, wandering higher and higher into the castle, realized she was lost.
Alexandra was just about to find the when she paused, her eye caught by a peculiar tapestry of a man bathing in the freshly spilled blood of a dragon, and as she stepped closer to examine it she heard a faint whistling sound and felt the fabric sway under her finger tips.
Curious, the fortune teller pulled it back to reveal a pierced metal gate set into the stone wall. And the gate was slightly ajar.
She knew that she shouldn’t pry into the royal affairs, but a secret passage way in a castle; it was too much for her to resist!
Tucking the sewing basket under her arm, she carefully pushed the gate open and slid through into the dim passage. Light filtered through from pierced grates set high in the walls, revealing clean stone walls, paved floor and small wooden shutter spaced irregularly.
Sliding one open, Alexandra found herself looking through the filigree in the frame of a mirror and into a luxurious bedroom with an enormous velvet draped bed. It could only belong to one of the many noblewomen who lived in Mad Ludwig’s palace. Her suspicions were confirmed as the occupant, a clearly tipsy woman with long copper hair stumbled into the room and onto the bed pulling an equally intoxicated gentleman after her.
“Oh my,” she murmured, hurriedly closing the shutter and continuing down the hallway. Alexandra was considering turning around when at the far end of the passage Alexandra heard raised voices coming from a large shutter just around the corner.
Once again her curiosity was piqued and she couldn’t help opening the shutter a crack to see what the commotion was about. Within she saw a duchess and a baron that she recognized from the dinner along with another man she had never seen before. They were standing, shouting loudly in German at another gentleman standing out of view in the shadows.
Alexandra knew only a few words of German, but she understood enough and from the shouting they were definitely having an argument about death or killing. Or maybe war? And there was something about a person with noble blood or royalty. She always mixed up her nouns.
But from the body language they were upset and angry. And worried, very worried about an assassination or death. They were planning on killing someone.
Alexandra drew back from the gate in surprise as final speaker stepped forward out of the shadows and came into view. It was the prince!
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