"You and Merlin need to practice how you address Royalty."
"I promise you, your highness, I try, but it's never done me any good in the past."
"Its Prince Arthur..." He paused, likely realizing he didn't know my name. "And you are?"
"I'm but a commo...
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UNLUCKY LETTERS Known also as... {THE MARK OF NIMUEH :: Part One}
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Maybe it wasn't wise to wander the kitchen halls in search of trouble. Maybe I should have put a bit more thought into this. Maybe I should have just stayed in bed for a few more hours.
The truth was, the last time I had something entertaining to do was when I had helped Merlin get rid of his dog problem- and that had been over a week ago. Other than that, I was either in Tom's forge or mixing herbs for Gaius.
So what better place to look for trouble than down in the depths of the warm castle kitchens where I knew a young bored boy would be more than willing to raise havoc with me.
The smell of spices and baked goods filled the air and made my stomach growl, making me regret having not eaten anything this morning. Maybe I could sweet talk a cook into giving me some scraps from the king's table like some young Street Rat.
"Anything I can help ye with, Miss?"
I turned on my heels to find a young girl staring at me curiously from a narrow doorway I had passed a yard ago. She had a dull red dress with a white apron and her black hair was pulled up into pale bonnet. She carried a wide wooden bowl filled with several lumpy bundles of cheese cloth.
"Oh, yes." I retraced my steps till I was a few feet from the girl. "I was looking for a Mrs... um, Mich- no." I felt like a fool stammering, scrambling for a name I already knew.
The girl's eyes brightened. "Ms. McBain, ma'am? She's the only woman down here who's last name is closest to that."
I nodded my head nimbly, an embarrassed smile on my lips. "Of course. It comes back to me now. I have a favor to ask of her. Is she down here?"
The girl shook her head with a lopsided smile. "Not yet, Miss." She shifted her bowl awkwardly so it rested against her left hip. "She's got laundry to deliver before lunch."
"I thought she worked in the kitchens?"
"She does. We're a bit short staffed at the moment." The girl's expression turned anxious. "Several of the maids have fallen ill. Poor Elizabeth. She does too much already-"
"What kind of sickness?" Had Gaius been down here yet? "A cold here or there isn't that uncommon with the change of weather we're experiencing."
Suddenly, the girl stifled a cry as she turned to hide her face. "It's no cold, Miss. We don't know what it is, but it's nothing like we've seen."
